Dawn threw her coat over the back of the couch and ran a hand over her face. Grabbing the remote she turned the television off. Rubbing the back of her neck, she made her way down the hallway. Passing Buffy's room, she sighed. She should apologize for what she said. She hated fighting with her. Turning around, she knocked on Buffy's door. Not getting an answer, she opened the door and peeked her head in. Holding a hand over her mouth when she saw the bleached blonde holding her sister, she couldn't help but smile. He's always going to hold her heart. Dawn thought to herself. Dawn smiled and went to answer the door when the doorbell rang.

"Angel…hi." Dawn said, her eyes wide.

"Hey Dawn, just came by to…are you alright?" Angel asked.

"Yep. Yep, totally alright. Thanks for stopping by." Dawn rushed and tried to close the door, but Angel put a hand up to stop Dawn.

"What's going on?" Angel said pushing the door open.

"Nothing." Dawn said and put on a fake smile.

"Then you won't mind if I come in." Angel said and walked past her into the living room.

Dawn closed the door and watched him. He was looking for Spike. She knew he was. He hated the fact that Buffy and Spike had been together and wanted to make sure it didn't happen again. Slightly panicking when he looked down the hallway, Dawn tried to think of something to stop him from going down there.

"So how's the apartment? Big enough for you and Buffy?" Angel asked looking around.

"Yep. Totally big enough. Again, thanks for stopping by." Dawn said and opened the door.

"Why are you in such a hurry to get rid of me? I just want to check out the place. Make sure everything is alright." Angel said. "So is Buffy here? I'd like to see how she's doing."

"Um, yeah, but she's in her room laying down. She wasn't feeling well." Dawn lied.

"She sick?" Angel said and started towards her room.

"No!" Dawn ran over to Angel and grabbed his arm, turning him around. "She needs to rest." Dawn said and tried to pull him back towards the door.

"I won't stay long. I just want to make sure she's okay." Angel said, pulling his arm away from Dawn. "What's going on with you? Are you ill too?" Angel asked, watching her strangely.

Dawn looked past Angel and saw Buffy's door begin to open. When she saw Spike start to walk out, her eyes widened. Spike saw Angel with his back to him and when he started to turn around Dawn panicked. Grabbing his arm and spinning him back around to face her before he saw Spike, she jumped up, wrapping her legs around his torso and slammed her lips against his. Shocked, Angel held onto her so she wouldn't fall and instinctively kissed back. Closing his eyes, he pressed her against the wall and gripped her waist.

Spike quietly closed Buffy's door and quickly moved down the hall. Dawn opened her eyes and saw Spike. Angel ended the kiss and Dawn waved her hand, telling Spike to hide and he jumped into the bathroom. Dawn ran her hands through Angel's hair and pressed his lips against her neck. When she saw Spike peek out of the bathroom, she waved her hand again, telling him to hurry. Mouthing 'thank you', he slipped past them and out the door. After giving Spike a few moments to make sure he was gone, Dawn pushed Angel away and put her feet on the ground.

"Wow, awesome kisser. Buffy always said you were. I'm going to bed. Thanks for stopping by, I'll see you tomorrow." Dawn rushed as she pushed Angel towards the door. She opened it and pushed him out. "Cya!" she said and closed the door.

The next day, Buffy woke up alone and couldn't help but feel a little hurt that Spike would leave without even saying goodbye. She didn't have bad dreams, but she would have liked to at least thank him for staying. Sighing, she got out of bed and got dressed. Making her way into the living room, she found a note from Dawn telling her to meet her in Angel's office. Giles was there and he needed to start training her. Dawn had told her about Giles the night before, before they had fought. He was some caretaker from a British Museum and he had trained quiet a few slayers, all of which were dead now. Except for her. Dawn tried to explain that Buffy had been the slayer since she was 16. That she was the best that's ever been and that she's saved the world more times than all the others combined, but Buffy found it hard to believe that a cheerleader from Los Angelus could be someone who fought demons. Dawn had told her that they were fighting a demon and she came into contact with it's blood and now she was the girl she was before she became a slayer. Which made Buffy think that Dawn was insane.

Sighing, she knew what she had to do. Pulling on her converse sneakers, she checked herself in the mirror. She was wearing a blank tank top that stopped just short above her belly button and black jeans with a studded belt and matching black and white converse shoes. Grabbing the key off the table, she headed out the door and went to visit Angel. Once she reached the office, she walked in and saw Angel, Dawn, Spike and who she guessed was Giles. He smiled and stood up.

"Hello, Buffy. I don't believe you remember me, but I'm Rupert Giles. I'm your watcher." He said and held out a hand.

Buffy shook his hand, then hugged herself. "I'm sorry you had to come all this way."

"Sorry? For what?"

"I'm not going to be the slayer. This whole thing, is stupid. I'm not a slayer. I'm a cheerleader from L.A whose mom moved to Sunnydale and whose sister is insane. I'm not doing it." She said.

"Buffy, you are the Chosen One. Whether you remember or not, but you need to do this. Its your destiny." Giles said.

"Well I'm changing my 'destiny'. I'm NOT being the slayer. Now back off." Buffy said and started towards the door.

"Buffy, you don't understand…" Giles started, but was interrupted by Buffy, as she spun around, fire in her eyes.

"No! God, what don't you guys get! You can't make me be the slayer. And I'm not going to do it! I'm going back to Sunnydale and I'm going to forget that any of this ever happened!" Buffy yelled.

"Why are you fighting this!" Giles yelled.

"If I accept it, then my nightmares are real!" Buffy yelled. "And I can't fucking handle that!"

Spike, Angel and Dawn watched as Giles and Buffy fought. They didn't know what to do at Buffy's last statement. She had tears in her eyes now, and they could clearly see pain written across her face. She waited for someone to say something but when no one did, she took a deep breath and walked out of the office. She was almost to the exit when Spike came running up to her.

"Buffy, Buffy wait!" Spike caught up to her and gently grabbed her arm to stop her. "Please, luv, just stop."

"Why? So they can tell me that I have no choice in what happens to me?" Buffy said pointing at Angel's office.

"No, luv, please, just listen." Spike said and when Buffy didn't say anything, he continued. "Look, I get that your scared, pet. I get that you don't want this to be real, but it is. You can't lie to yourself. This is real. There's no way around it." He said softly.

"It can't be." Buffy said, new tears forming in her eyes.

"But it is, Buffy. It's real. And you should be afraid. You're goin' to see a lot of things that you don't want to. You're goin' to be in pain. People who said they would protect you, will hurt you. They'll say they'll never leave, but they will. But it will pass, luv. It'll pass and all that fear will be gone and all that will be left it you. And to be honest, that's all you need. You're strong and brave and determined. And you've got a heart and thirst to save and protect people like I've never seen. You're the best slayer that's ever been. You just need to face the fact that this isn't goin' away."

Buffy didn't say anything. She simply watched Spike with an unreadable look he's seen many times before. The tears were gone from her eyes and she took a deep breath. Walking past him and back into Angel's office, Spike followed her and closed the door behind them.

"Okay." she said, her arms folded.

"Excuse me?" said Giles, taking off his classes.

"I'll do it, but I have a few conditions first." Buffy said, determination in her voice.

"You can't have conditions, you have to do it." Said Angel.

"I have a choice. You give me my conditions and I do it, or you don't and I walk away and even though this may not go away, do my best to forget it." Buffy said.

Spike looked between Giles, Angel, Dawn and Buffy, who hadn't taken her eyes off of Giles. "Well what are your conditions, luv?"

"If I want to stop, you let me stop and don't pressure me." She said, still not taking her eyes off Giles, who was starting to smile. "Second, you tell me why you're smiling like that, cuz it's creeping me out."

Giles chuckled and put his glasses back on. "You just…remind me of a slayer I had before you." he sad, referring to the her she didn't remember.

"Whatever. Third, if I'm going to be fighting vampires and fighting for my life every second, then I'm not going to be trained by some bookworm."

"I've trained quiet a few slayers, Buffy."

"That may be true, but if you haven't noticed, they're all dead. And I for one, would like to live."

Giles shifted uncomfortably. "I trained you before, I can train you again."

"You may have trained me before, but I died three times while you were my watcher." Buffy said remembering what Dawn had told her.

"You chose to, Buffy. You did it to save the world." Angel interrupted.

"I don't care. I still died. And again, if I'm gonna be fighting vampires, you're not going to train me."

"Then who is? Dawn?" Giles looked over at Dawn, who threw her hands up.

"No way. I don't want my finger prints on that train wreck." she said.

"A vampire." Buffy said firmly.

"What? No way. You may not want to be trained by me, but I am still your watcher and you are not being trained by a vampire." Giles said.

"I'm gonna be fighting them every night. Why not train with one so I know what I'm up against?"

Giles sighed, took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'll train her, Giles." Angel said.

"Not you, you tool." Buffy said looking at Angel, who was taken back a bit.

"Then who?"

Buffy looked over her shoulder at the bleached blonde who was sitting on the arm of a large chair. "Spike."