AN: Here's chapter two... hope you like this, again I've improved this, so reviews are much appreciated... um... that's about it for now!

Disclaimer: All things Buffy belong to Joss ...

Be Kind, Rewind

By Secret Slayer

Chapter One

Something She Should Know

As Buffy walked through the front door, she was bombarded by her mother. She came straight over to her, ready to fire questions about where she had been. Buffy sighed heavily.

"Where have you been young lady?" Joyce demanded, "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Sorry mom. I went to that new club, The Bronze, remember?" she looked hopefully at her outraged mother.

"Buffy, you were meant to be home two hours ago. What could have possibly happened to make you so late?"

"I got lost and it was dark and I don't know my way around that well yet and…" Buffy babbled.

Joyce decided to intervene, before Buffy fainted from lack of oxygen.

"Buffy, honey, I was just so worried. Just promise me next time you'll find someone to go out with?"

"Yeah, mom, I promise..." Buffy sighed in relief as she brought her mother in for a hug.

"Wow, Buffy I know your sorry, sweetie, but I promise I forgive you this once. What's with the super tight mom hug?" she looked curiously at her daughter, but Buffy remained quiet. Joyce smiled softly, planting a small kiss on Buffy's cheek and silently returned to bed.

"I missed you," Buffy whispered at the bottom of the stairs, once Joyce was out of view.

Buffy suddenly found herself alone in the dark house. She glanced either side f her, wondering what to do next. She was still far too awake to sleep yet, so she decided to walk around the house. The same house she thought she had sent to hell along with the rest of Sunnydale. She still had to figure out why and how on Earth she'd managed to end up back in a town that was a huge hole in the ground.

With a headache forming, Buffy walked into the lounge, finally finding something to smile about. It was perfect, just how it used to be when she was first called as the slayer. The scent of Joyce's perfume lingered. She had almost forgotten that floral smell. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, soaking in the heavenly fragrance, hoping that she'd never have to let it go again. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked around. The original coffee table was highly polished just like the surrounding shelves. The pillows on the couch were well organised. It was just how she remembered it before it all started. It was perfect, and with a content sigh, Buffy left the lounge.

After her quick inspection of the lounge, Buffy realised she was ore tired than she thought. She was about to go to bed when all of the sudden she got an odd tingling sensation on the back of her neck, like she did earlier outside The Bronze. She could sense something just on the other side of the front door. The same something she had sensed earlier. This time though, it was closer and stronger, so close her skin felt like it was humming.

She crept to the front door, avoiding the creaky floor boards that she knew well, so as not to let that something know she was coming. She pressed her ear gently to the door. No noise. Maybe she was imagining it. Things were definitely of the weird lately. She waited a few seconds, before turning around, and hopefully heading to bed.

However, as she got to the first step, she heard something. She froze. It was very quiet, almost inaudible, but it was there. She slowly turned her head to the door. Light tapping came from the other side. There were three, maybe four more light knocks before it went silent again. Just as before, she crept to the door. She put her hand to the cold handle and turned it, bracing herself for the something on the other side. It was two o'clock in the morning and from her experience, that never equalled anything good. She doubted now would be any different.

As the door slowly slid open, the hinges creaking slightly, a figure slowly appeared. She blinked once. It couldn't be. She blinked twice. The figure still stood there, smirking at her. One more blink and she's not going crazy. He stood there, nonchalantly lighting a cigarette and leaning against the open door.

"Are you gonna invite me in luv?" he asked after about five minutes. She stared blankly at him.

"Spike?" she finally asked.

"Yeah pet it's me. Alive and kickin', well kickin' any way," Spike chuckled slightly. "I'm glad you remember me. I thought it might just be me. I would come in but…" he held his hand to the invisible barrier that prevented him entering the Summer's home. He had never been invited in apparently. Strange, he thought, we must have gone further back than I thought.

"Come in," she said without hesitation, as a smile formed on her lips.

Before any more was said, she hugged him tightly, not even thinking twice about it. It was nice to have someone that was obviously in the same position as herself, especially if that someone happened to be Spike. She buried her head in his chest, listening for the heart that didn't beat. But that's the way she liked it, the way she liked him, loved him. He was a vampire, but he was also a good man. She wouldn't change that for the world.

If he could breathe, it would definitely not be an option now. Spike smiled though, glad to know that Buffy was pleased to see him, although he was beginning to find the vice like grip of the slayer slightly uncomfortable.

"Buffy, luv, although I don't use my lungs, I would prefer you didn't crush them," Spike joked, looking down at her.

"Oh, sorry," she said, releasing him and stepping back, revealing her broad smile.

"You don't look very sorry," he said, raising an eyebrow and doing his famous head tilt.

"It's just…you…with the not being dead…well deader," she explained, her face still beaming.

Spike shifted on his feet, feeling twinges of guilt, "I was gonna tell you, but things happened and at first I couldn't reach you no matter how much I wanted to. After that things got…"

"How long after the battle?" she suddenly asked, looking at him steadily.

"A few days," he replied sheepishly.

"Oh," she suddenly threw her fist back and hit him square on the nose. Just like old times, she thought.

"Bloody hell woman! What was that for?" he asked angrily, pinching the bridge of his nose to control the bleeding.

"Not telling me you were alive all that time," she answered, her hands on her hips.

"Well, it wasn't the easiest topic to bring up," he said, removing his hand from his face as the bleeding stopped.

"You could have told me," she sighed.

Spike raised an eyebrow at her, "And said what? ...Hello, Buffy. It's Spike. I didn't burn up like you thought. How are things?"

"OK, I guess the most important thing is, I know now," she sighed, "I missed you," she added in a small voice.

Spike's face softened, "Missed you too, pet."

They shared a small smile.

"I guess I can forgive you," Buffy finally said, smiling brightly again. "Anyway, we have much bigger problems to worry about. So, lets just move on and worry about the now."

"Right then, agreed. What's in the past stays there."

"Well if you think about it, it's kinda in the future."

"What ever luv, I'm just glad there are no hard feelings."

"Life's too short. Unless we keep going back in time, then I guess it's really long. Maybe even eternal," she made a vacant look.

"Uh huh."

At that moment a unexpected breeze blew the still open door shut. Buffy and Spike tensed as the loud bang echoed through the still house. Their worse fear came to life when the sound of footsteps hurried to the top of the stairs and before they knew it a panicked Joyce, in floral pyjamas, stood before them.

"Buffy what on earth…" her gaze fell to the bleach blonde stranger next to her daughter. "Who are you?"

"I…err…" Spike couldn't think of what was best to say.

"He followed me home. I left my purse at The Bronze and I was dancing with him and I must have left it at our table," Buffy quickly explained.

"Yeah, that's what happened. My names Spike. I just thought I better return it," he assured her.

"Uh huh," Joyce wasn't convinced.

"Mom…" Buffy was about to add more excuses for the British man with a strange name standing in the hall at two in the morning, but Joyce quickly intervened.

"Buffy I don't want to know any more. Let's just pretend this never happened because I am really tired and I have to be at the gallery early. Just ensure that your friend, Spike, gets home safely or he can sleep on the couch if he wants to. Just please tell me that this isn't going to be a regular thing in Sunnydale."

Oh no, things get much weirder than a British man with a strange name standing in the hall at two in the morning, she thought, just wait until the spells, the curses, the monsters oh and the candy.

Joyce didn't even wait for an answer before returning upstairs to bed. Spike and Buffy both sighed in relief. The vampire and the slayer both made their way to the lounge where Buffy set up the couch for Spike. He wasn't going to sleep in a crypt unless he had to. They said their good nights as both suddenly felt very tired. Spike settled comfortably beneath the light pink duvet, just hoping no body saw him snuggled under such a girly thing, and Buffy went to her much missed bedroom. As both lay down in separate rooms the same question crossed their minds.

Why?

AN: OK, so I hope that was OK... I did a lot of editing to this chapter, I would rally appreciate any positive comments... I really hope your enjoying this story! Again, please review...