A/N: This has been reedited from its original version. If you read the original, please take a moment to reread this chapter.

Chapter 4

The car slowed to a stop out front of the two story house. The passenger down opened and out stepped a young, dark-haired girl. She picked her backpack up off of the car floor before thanking her ride and walking up the pathway to the house.

"Buffy?" she called out as she stepped through the door. "I'm home."

Buffy stepped into the doorway that connected the foyer and the living room. "Hey Dawnie can you come sit down for a minute?" she asked gesturing towards the couch.

Dawn looked over at his sister, "Alright." she said going to sit down on the couch. As she passed by the first thing she noticed was the blinds were drawn, when she turned she saw a bleached blond man sitting in the chair.

"Spike what are you doing here?" she asked slightly excited. She hadn't seen much of him since Buffy had him uninvited from the house and had missed him being around.

Spike smiled slightly. "'ey Little Bit."

Dawn looked at them both worriedly. "So what's going on guys?"

She watched as the two of them traded looks as Buffy sat down on her right. Buffy sighed and spoke up first. "Dawnie there's something we have to tell you." she said seriously.

Dawn silently panicked inside. The last time she had been pulled aside like this by Buffy had been when their mother had died. "Wh-what's going on?" she hoped they couldn't detect the fear resounding in her voice.

Buffy took a deep breath. "Spike is..."

"Moving in." he chimed in and Dawn watched as they did the silent communication thing they unknowingly did on occasion, not that they'd admit it if they did notice.

"Yeah..." Buffy continued on., "we decided that with Glory hanging around and trying everything she can to find of the Key, it would be best that we had some extra help around the house?" For some reason to Dawn's ears it sounded like a question, like it hadn't been what Buffy had planned on saying.

She tried to think of what they could be trying to hide and her eyes widened. "Are you guys dating?" she squealed.

This time it was Spike that initiated the unspoken conversation between him and the slayer. She watched as Buffy sighed for a minute before turning back to her.

"No, this is just a precaution to keep you safe from Glory." Buffy told her. "This way someone will be around the house all of the time in case she decides to drop in again."

Dawn nodded slightly. "Is he going to stay in Mom's room?" she asked softly. The room had been vacant since their mother's passing as neither one was ready to clear the room out completely.

Buffy smiled at her sadly. "No Dawnie, he's going to stay in the basement."

Spike nodded. "It's safer for us flammable types." He said trying to get a smile out of the girl.

Dawn smiled weakly at them. "Can I go upstairs now? I have homework."

Buffy nodded and hugged Dawn before letting her stand up. On Dawn's way to the stairs she stopped to lean down to hug Spike, who was still in the chair. "I missed you." she whispered in his ear.

"Missed you too, bit." he whispered back and she thought she detected a bit of sadness in his voice. She kissed him on the check before going on up to her room leaving Buffy and Spike alone in their living room.

TBC...