Disclaimer: Joss owns all!
A/N: All the crap with Glory never happened...just to clear things up (i've had to do that a lot lately...it's my first fic...forgive me!)
Chapter 1
Buffy is on patrol at the cemetery. Spike appears, wanting the same thing he always does.
Buffy hears a creaking behind her. Vampire. She waits for the right moment. Then, suddenly turns around and lunges her arm forward.
"Whoa! Watch it! You could kill someone...again...with that!" Spike suggests as he darts away. Buffy roles her eyes.
"How do you know I wasn't trying to kill someone?" Buffy says "a-matter-of-factly". "Especially you…." she sighs.
"Hey, I know I'm not your favorite person right now…uh…or ever…but I came here to inform you that your friends are worried. About you." Spike points out. "You've been bummin' over that Riley git and it's taking a toll on you. We all see it."
"Ok, so let me get this straight. My friends are worried and they send you as their messenger?"
Spike puts his hands on his hips, blinks a few times and looks down at his shoes. He realizes he's caught.
"That's what I thought." Buffy says to herself as she juts her jaw out. She turns and starts to walk away.
"Don't get all avoidy on me, Slayer!" Spike yells after her. She ignores him and heads toward home.
It's midnight. Dawn is awake and in the kitchen with Willow getting a snack. Willow had been staying with Dawn a lot lately when Buffy went out.Although they had nothing to dowith Spike's butting-in,Willow and Dawn (along with the rest of theScoobies) weren't oblivious to the way Buffy was acting since Riley left.
"It's been 4 weeks." Willow says with a worried look on her face.
"Well maybe she's…" Dawn starts to say, but stops herself when Buffy enters the kitchen.
"Well maybe she's what? Are you guys talking about me?" Buffy says cheery-like, trying to avoid her frustration over Spike.
"No! What? No…" Willow answers.
"We were just talking about Anya." Dawn lies.
"Really? What about Anya?"
"Oh, you know, the same old 'I'm an ex-demon' thingy. Did you know that she almost slapped me for wanting a rabbit as my pet?" Dawn covers.
"Wait, you're getting a-a rabbit? How cute!" Willow added.
Already suspicious, Buffy asks, "Do you guys think I'm spending way too much time on the whole Riley incident?"
"Uh, well..." Dawn mumbles.
"Do you think you are?" Willow asks carefully.
Buffy grabs a cookie from the counter and starts eating it, "I don't know if I am. Spike thinks so."
"You saw Spike tonight?" Willow inquires sympathetically. "Buffy, I'm really getting a little freaked out by the 'I'm Spike and I'm in love with Buffy' thing."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Buffy gives a look of disgust.
"Spike's always been nice to me." Dawn adds.
Buffy and Willow both look at her. 'If only Dawn knew how stalker-ish he really was!' Buffy thought to herself.
"Oblivious much?" Buffy said instead of saying what she really wanted to.
"What?" Dawn asks.
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