Author's Note: This is my first Buffy fanfiction. Any comments and constructive criticism is welcome. I hope you enjoy reading this.

It was a light Friday evening. Buffy was pleased that she'd made it through her first week at UC Sunnydale without incident. Aside from dropping a pile of books on Professor Walsh's TA's head and having to deal with the vampire gang that were picking off freshman students, things had been relatively quiet on the demon front. She knew this wouldn't last, it never did, something always inevitably happened to throw her life into chaos. Whatever was brewing, she hoped it didn't pick tonight to start happening; she had a date with Parker. Facing the gloriously mundane dilemma of which top to wear, Buffy turned to Willow for advice. "So what do you think, this one or this one?"

Willow, who had been Buffy's roommate since the start of term, gazed up from her book at the two tops Buffy held in her hands. One was cream, floral and off the shoulder whilst the other was a far more risqué red number. "I don't know" she shrugged. "What kind of look are you going for?"

"One that says I like you but I'm not being obvious about it" answered Buffy. "You know, just being casual."

Unsure whether she was the best person to ask, Willow gave it her best shot. "The cream one. It's cute rather than sexy."

Buffy looked down at the red top. "What's wrong with sexy?"

"Nothing!" Willow replied hastily. "You know what, go with the red one. Sexy is good."

Finding Willow's response only marginally helpful, Buffy could now make her choice based on the outcome of a question: Did she want to be cute or did she want to be sexy?

Willow watched Buffy spend ten minutes deciding on which top was better before eventually settling on wearing the cream one. "You look nice" she complimented.

"Thanks" said Buffy, checking her appearance in the mirror before returning the red top to the closet. With her hair and makeup already done, she was ready to go and was just waiting for Parker to pick her up. She paced nervously. "Are you sure this looks okay? I mean, does it give the right vibe?"

"The vibe is fine" Willow reassured her. "Parker's going to love it."

Buffy breathed a sigh of relief and tried to distract herself from the impending date. She caught sight of Willow's book. "Whatcha reading?"

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's stone" enthused Willow. "It's about a boy who discovers he's a wizard and he goes to a magical school called Hogwarts and-"

"I get the picture" Buffy nodded, regretting she'd even asked. There was a knock at the door and she went to answer it, glad of the interruption.

"Hey, Buffy" greeted Parker. "You ready to go?"

"Sure!" she beamed. "Let me just grab my bag. See you later, Willow."

"Have fun!" Willow called as Buffy closed the door behind her. She returned to her book, engrossed in what was going to happen next. The bedside phone rang, disturbing her from her reading. She picked up the receiver and put it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Will" came Xander's voice. "I've got two tickets for Dudley Do-Right. You fancy seeing the movie with me?"

"Uh…sure" Willow agreed. "When do you want to go?"

"The next showing is in forty minutes, you think you can make it?"

Willow was surprised by how soon Xander expected her to be there. "Forty minutes?"

Xander was apologetic. "I know it's not a lot of time but I'll explain when you get here."

"Okay, I'll see you soon." Willow put the phone down, fetched her coat and purse from the closet and left, locking the door behind her.

Xander looked at his watch as he stood waiting for Willow outside the Sun Cinema on Maple Court. It had been thirty five minutes since his phone call and there was still no sign of her. He contemplated calling again but then reminded himself that Willow wouldn't pick up if she was already on her way.

With three minutes to go until the showing, Willow appeared, red in the face and out of breath. She'd gotten there as fast as she could, cutting through alleys and running as much as her legs allowed. "Sorry I'm late" she puffed.

"Don't sweat it. If we hurry, we can still make the trailers." Xander pulled her by the hand as he sprinted inside.

An hour and a half later, they emerged from the cinema slightly disappointed at the quality of the movie. It was dark now, well past sundown, and they wanted to get home before they ran into one of Sunnydale's nocturnal citizens.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Willow turned to Xander. "So what's with the shirt and aftershave? Do you have a date?"

"I had a date" corrected Xander. "Or rather I would've if Molly had bothered to show. We were supposed to get some food before the movie so I waited, after an hour it became obvious she wasn't coming."

Willow was sympathetic. "You waited an hour?"

"Like the idiot I am" responded Xander bitterly. "I swear women look at me and see one big joke."

"You're not an idiot" comforted Willow. "And you're not a joke. I don't know who this Molly is, but she's the idiot for standing you up.

"Thanks, Will" smiled Xander, feeling a little cheered up. "How come you're on your own tonight, I thought you'd be with Oz or Buffy?"

"Oz has a gig and Buffy's on a date with Parker" explained Willow.

"The fabled Parker" mused Xander. "What exactly do we know about him?"

Willow began to tell everything she knew about Parker, some of which she'd gleaned from Buffy. "He's in my Psych class, he has a reflection and goes out during the day-"

"Always a plus" interjected Xander, remembering how Buffy's last boyfriend was a vampire that tried to send the world to Hell.

Willow ignored Xander's comment and continued. "He's got brown hair, blue eyes. Tonight is his and Buffy's third date. She said he was taking her to a bar, she didn't know which one, but there was going to be dancing."

Xander stopped walking, realisation sinking in. "Parker doesn't want to dance. He's taking Buffy to a bar where he can get her drunk, probably so he can have sex with her."

"Nonsense" scoffed Willow. "Parker's a nice guy. Besides, she's Buffy. If he tries anything untoward, she'll kick his ass."

"I hope she does or else I will."

Willow rolled her eyes before being distracted by a noise in the dark alley behind her. "What was that?"

"A large cat" lied Xander. "Come on, let's go."

Willow didn't move. "What if someone needs our help?"

"What if someone wants to kill us?" Xander shot back. A noise in the dark in Sunnydale often meant a vampire or demon was nearby and he didn't bring any stakes.

"We can't just leave" said Willow defiantly as she entered the shadowy passageway.

"It's a bad idea, Will!" Xander protested, but he was met with deaf ears. With no other choice, he followed Willow and hoped that they made it out the other side alive.

They both crept quietly, trying not to make a sound as they turned the corner. They came up behind a female vampire who, lit by a solitary streetlamp, was feeding on a helpless victim.

"Quick, pass a stake" Willow whispered.

Xander shook his head. "I didn't bring one. I was supposed to be on a date, remember? You try and explain to a woman that the long hard thing in your pants isn't what she thinks it is, see where it gets you."

The vampire dropped the lifeless woman to the ground and caught the scent of Xander's aftershave. She turned towards them, ready to make another kill. "Are you spying on me? That's not nice."

Willow stared in shock as she was confronted by Drusilla, her face in vampire form.

"We've gotta get out of here" Xander urged but Willow was frozen to the spot. "Will, come on!"

Drusilla approached swiftly, pushing Xander out of the way and grabbing Willow by the throat. She slammed her hard against the brick wall, giggling with amusement as the young witch let out a cry of pain. Holding the struggling girl steady, Drusilla grinned with glee as she joyfully tightened her grip.

Willow couldn't breathe. Her head was spinning and her vision started to blur. She didn't want to die.

Xander saw what was happening and lunged at Drusilla, tackling her to the ground.

Her airway no longer compressed, Willow gasped for oxygen as her knees buckled beneath her.

Drusilla hissed in anger at having her fun interrupted and lashed out, punching and kicking as Xander tried to avoid the blows. She caught him in the face, knocking him off balance, which gave her the opportunity to dive forward and sink her teeth into his neck.

Seeing Xander in trouble spurred Willow into action. She found a discarded glass bottle beside her and smashed it into Drusilla's head as hard as she could.

Drusilla yelped, caught by surprise at the fresh attack, and quickly got to her feet. She glared at Willow malevolently before retreating.

"Are you okay?" Willow asked worriedly, rushing to Xander's side.

Xander sat up and clutched his neck. "I'm fine. We have to find Buffy, let her know that Spike and his wacky girlfriend are back in town."

Willow wasn't keen on the idea of Spike being back in Sunnydale, not after how terrifying her previous experience with him had been. Being threatened with having a broken bottle shoved in her face was not something she wanted to repeat. She helped Xander get up. "We don't know Spike is with Drusilla, she could be here alone?"

"I seriously doubt it" argued Xander. "Drusilla doesn't exactly play with a full deck, and considering what happened last time we saw the guy, the odds of him not being around somewhere are slim."

Willow was reluctant to admit that Xander was probably right. The thought of Spike, and his reaction to their fight with Drusilla, filled her with dread.

Xander saw the look of fear on Willow's face. "Hey, it's going to be all right. We'll tell Buffy, she'll dust them, and we can all live happily ever after. Okay?"

Taking a deep breath, Willow nodded and did her best to remain calm.

"Okay then. Any chance you could fix this hole in my neck?" said Xander, trying to take Willow's mind off of Spike and Drusilla.

"There's a first aid kit in my room back on campus, I can patch you up there."

They warily made their way back to Stevenson Hall, keeping watch for any more danger. The campus lights were comforting and there were still plenty of people meandering about the grounds, making another vampire attack unlikely. Willow unlocked the door to her room and they entered. She retrieved the first aid kit and took out a Band-Aid before cleaning the wound. The puncture holes weren't as bad as Willow thought they were going to be and she applied the dressing easily.

"Thanks, Will" smiled Xander. "Is your head okay?"

Willow rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, a little sore but still intact. Buffy should be back in an hour or two, I think we should tell her about Drusilla together."

"Good idea" Xander agreed. He caught sight of Willow's book lying on her bed. "Whatcha reading there?"

Meanwhile, under the streets of Sunnydale, Drusilla glided sulkily along the tunnel. She saw Spike discussing something with another vampire so she left him to it and made her way to their sleeping quarters. Miss Edith was sat on the desk laughing at her so Drusilla threw her across the room to teach her a lesson. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist from behind, accompanied by a familiar scent.

"Is something the matter, pet?" Spike asked, kissing Drusilla's cheek.

Drusilla leaned back and ignored the question. "I thought you were finding my ring?"

"Be patient, love. I was talking to Brian just now, he says we need to dig from underneath the crypt where the walls are thinnest. We'll start doing that in the morning, the Gem of Amara should be yours by the afternoon." He kissed her again before releasing her. "I'm going to get something to eat, fancy coming?"

"I've already eaten."

"You never said you were going out" remarked Spike, disappointed that once again Drusilla would rather eat alone than with him.

She brushed past him and wandered over to the bed. "I was bored and you were busy."

Spike followed. "I always have time for you, you know that."

Drusilla pouted, she didn't like being bashed in the head by the slayer's friend. She turned to face Spike. "Do you love me?"

"Always" he answered without hesitation.

Satisfied with his response, Drusilla stepped closer and nipped at his neck before whispering in his ear. "Hurry back."

Spike smirked as Drusilla lay down on the bed, her invitation clear. He had no intention of disobeying her request. He quickly picked up his coat and left.

It was two o'clock in the morning when Buffy arrived back at her dorm. She had planned on staying with Parker for the night but found his snoring too irritating to abide. She quietly closed the door and tip-toed across the floor to her own bed, not wanting to wake Willow who was already fast asleep. At least that had been the idea. She tripped over something in the dark and let out a yell as she went tumbling to the floor.

Willow switched on the bedside light, having been woken by the loud crash. "Buffy?"

Buffy looked to see what she'd fallen over. "Xander? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you, we thought you'd be back hours ago" replied Xander, rubbing his leg. "We need to talk."

Buffy groaned. It had been her first time having sex since Angel, a big step in her and Parker's blossoming relationship, the last thing she wanted was a lecture. "I'm tired. Can't it wait 'til morning?"

"Drusilla's back in town and we think Spike is with her" blurted out Willow.

Buffy let out another groan. She knew the peace was too good to last.