Title: Promised
Author: KurtCouper
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Spike/Dawn Friendship, maybe more
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.
Summary: Spike promised two years ago that it was her and him until the end of the world. But Spike lied and Dawn can't seem to forget that.

A/N: This is WIP as of now. There's talk of drug use, alcohol abuse, and sex references in this fic.

A/N: This is AU. Spike is not souled nor did he rape Buffy. This is set two years from the middle-ish of season 6. He and Buffy continue to sleep together. And Dawn is a senior in high school at 18.

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Prologue

My empty promises
led to our demise
And I could never tell you how I really feel
And for that I eternally apologize

3685- The Spill Canvas

The house was dark-silent-still-the brunette noted as she sneakily crept her way to it. It looked nothing more than a suburban house, filled with the typical mother, father, and 2.5 kids. So it was ridiculous to think that just behind that off-white door that more than ten people resided there, all who saves the world. Well, all those ten plus people that save the world minus her-the world destroyer. She can admit that, right? That she is the only one without training in the mornings, duties in the afternoons, patrolling at night. She was the one who slacked off cleaning duty, hid when it came to laundry folding, and snuck her way out the house nearly nightly. She didn't mean to boast either, but damn was she good at what she did. She mused that Faith might have given her a wink of appreciation, but she was trying too hard to get into the Scooby gang. And Spike would have been proud too, if they were on speaking terms and, well hell, being-in-the-same-room terms. Looking into the sky, the night a little lighter from the sun's almost rising, she realized that she didn't want to ruin her amazing night with the thoughts of Spike.

So here she is, on the balls of her bare feet, pushing up the less noisy of the windows in the house up. The straps of her heels were clinched in her mouth, dangling slightly as she blindly stepped a long leg into the house. Once feeling the cushy feel of the rug between her toes, she crouched her body down and easily slid her other foot through the window. With a mental dance of glee, the brunette shimmied the window back down to its place. With a quiet click she turned around and smiled to herself.

That is, until the light turned on to reveal a smirking Kennedy, a worried Xander, and an extremely pissed of Slayer.

Dawn mentally sighed and pushed her hair away from her face. "Buffy-let me explain," she started out, her mind trying to combine together twisted fabrics of stories until they made a perfect quilt in her brain. "I was-"

The blonde cut her off with a mere raise of her hand. "I don't want to hear it, Dawn," she started out, her voice rehearsed and deep. Dawn could tell that there was a river of fury lying too close to the surface. "This is the third time this month I have been told of your little escapes." Dawn cut a quick glance to the smug slayerette Kennedy and promised a dirty revenge later. That bitch was always against her. "... can't take it anymore. You're grounded."

Dawn twisted her face into outrage and protested. Her sister could just not do this. The brunette was pretty sure that it was illegal in at least five states! "Grounded! I'm 18!" she cried, frustrated. Buffy rolled her eyes. "I can vote and go to war...and call sex hot lines and you want to ground me?"

With a mere eyebrow raise from the Slayer, Dawn knew she had lost. There was no winning with any Slayer, Scooby, or Slayer in Training. It was her against them, all of them. It seemed to always be that way. As anger bubbled within her, she threw all in the room an evil stare and marched out. Yet not before she threw down the "borrowed" scuffed shoes in the process. Petty? She knew that, but it was all satisfaction that ran through her blood when she heard her sister bitch and moan, calling her all the four letter words she knew, as the brunette sauntered to her room up the stairs.

Dawn bubbled giddily as she closed her bedroom door. Being grounded was, seriously, the least of her problems resulting from the night. She could have been force to tell Buffy where she was and exactly what she was doing. Of course, she could have lied like she had on so many other events, but drunken lies never do make sense when told at four in the morning.

Humming a song that she had heard earlier that night, she begun to undress herself. It was late, well early, and she was tired. Exhausted, really. The night had truly worn her out. Her friends had picked her up early, ten or so, with their devilish smiles promising an exciting night. They had headed to LA with a mission-to get trashed and find boys. And they all fulfilled their missions, especially her, who found a hot college student, abroad from Spain. He whispered sweet Spanish nothings into her ear: "Te adoro, novia." And by Monday, she was changing her lifelong passion to study Spanish. The night was perfect, filled with fruity drinks, laughing, and a number exchange. So it didn't bother her too much that she was stuck in the Summers' Correctional Facility. Since everyone was too busy with training and such, no one really looked over her thus she was free to do whatever.

The brunette yawned, overcome by her exhaustion, and stretched gracefully as she slipped into her chilly sheets. Her bed felt like heaven as she wiggled around to find just the right spot. This was probably the best thing about her room-her bed. It was something that her mother had bought right before she had...died. And the longest nights of her life were spent on the very bed, pouring her sorrows into the sheets. Even Spike's own sadness was settled in the very weave of the fabric during that Summer.

...Spike...

Sighing, Dawn wrapped herself tightly in the covers and closed her eyes. She had promised herself she wouldn't think of Spike. It wasn't as if he was wasting his thoughts on her, so she swore to herself that she wouldn't waste hers on him, either. It seemed like a fair trade, but it was just so damned hard! Wherever she went, she saw a spot that used to be theirs or something that reminded her of him and it seemed that her heart broke just a little more.

Rolling over to her other side, the former key mentally kicked herself. She just would not discuss Spike. She will not talk of him, to him, or even near him.

"But he promised..." she whispered before she even realized . Scolding herself, she sighed and licked her lips. Dawn tried to close her eyes once again. The world was only a little spiny as she settled herself into the darkness that was behind her eyelids.