A\N: Thank you to my new beta buffylives (Instagram) You're an amazing help for all those little mistakes I make :)
Buffy was snuggled up on the couch, one arm around her mother and the other around hersister. After what felt like hours of hugs and explanations, Giles, Xander, Willow and Tara finally left the Summers family to themselves. Joyce and Dawn had been the ones to ask the least amount of questions and were just glad to have Buffy back home again. They all wanted everything to be as normal as it could be, with the Miyrids still out there, so they were enjoying a girl night in. Of course, Dawn had taken the reigns on the evening's activities but neither Joyce nor Buffy minded. Since her first attempt, Willow had upped her game and learnt how to perform more advanced protection spells. With Tara's help, 1630 Revello Drive was now surrounded by a heavy duty shield. Joyce suggested that the rest of the scoobies stay with them in the mean time but of course, Anya wanted her own space and Willow was reluctant since Tara was new to all this and didn't want her feeling uncomfortable. The slayer couldn't help but let her mind linger to the thought of Spike. Where had he gone? He'd barely been living in Sunnydale before so she didn't think he had anywhere to go.
It's for the best.
She had kept telling herself this but it didn't seem to be making a fat lot of difference. Maybe the Miyrids weren't through with him yet. Not that she cared. She just didn't want him revealing all their intel.
"Buffy!", Dawn called for the third time.
"Huh?"
Dawn rolled her eyes at her sister. She was so busy wrapped up in her own thoughts that she wasn't focusing on the activities at hand.
"You're really not up for this are you?", she sighed. Buffy tried her hardest to focus.
"Yeah! Sure I am Dawnie. What's next?"
Dawn nor Joyce looked convinced.
"It's okay Buffy", Joyce intercepted.
"You've been through a lot. I can't imagine sleeping in a car for weeks had it's perks."
Buffy began to blush.
Well...
"You get some sleep. We'll do this another time."
Dawn nodded in agreement.
"Thanks mom."
The sheets felt glorious against her skin. She'd taken proper beds for granted and was so thankful to have her own back again. She scrunched the ends of covers in her fists and drew them up to cover her face all the way up to her nose. They smelt like vanilla and coconut just like they'd always done. Would she finally be able to rest properly tonight? She was at home, with the 2 people she loved most in the world in the other room, safe and cocooned in soft, comfy sheets. What could be better? No matter how peaceful her slumber was however, she wasn't used to sleeping on her own and dreamt of a certain dashing vampire in shining armour, crawling in beside her...
Sunday was the Summers' residence 'traditional' pancake day but Dawn had insisted bringing it forward a day. So they were now gathered around the dining room table, stacks and stacks of soft steaming pancakes surrounding them. The truth was that Buffy wasn't very hungry. She'd been so used to living on minimal food that she was finding it hard to get back into the swing of eating large amounts of filling food.
"You hungry Buffy?", Dawn mumbled with a mouthful of food.
"Not really", she sighed in response.
"Gonna take me a while to accept that there's food, other than salad, in the world again."
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and Joyce jumped up to answer it. She was rather skittish at the moment. Who wouldn't be? The 3 women were relieved to discover that Xander, Willow, Tara and a very fed up looking Anya in the background were waiting on the doorstep, big smiles all around. Not forgetting Anya's clearly fake one.
"Hi Mrs Summers!", Willow chirped.
"Is Buffy awake?"
"She sure is. Come in." She stepped back and her head disappeared round the door.
"Buffy!", she called.
"You have guests!"
Willow was the first to enter, of course, and hurried into the other room.
Her smile could've melted anyone's heart. Buffy almost squealed as her friend pulled her into a tight embrace that even she found hard to breathe in.
"Did you sleep okay? Must've been more comfortable than the Desoto. All those bumps in the night right?"
Buffy could feel herself blushing again. Was everyone trying to make innuendos on purpose?
"Right."
In walked an awkward looking Xander, Anya trailing behind him, her arms folded.
"Hey Buff."
"Hey Xander. Anya."
Anya tried too hard to be enthusiastic.
"Hey Buffy! How's life?"
Buffy looked taken aback.
"Good, I guess. You?", she almost giggled.
"I'm good. Yes. Thank you for asking."
Okay, there was definitely something up with Anya. Tara shyly began to shuffle forward.
"H-Hello Buffy. I-I-I'm glad you're alright", she stuttered. Anya pulled Xander to the side as soon as she saw Buffy engaged in a conversation.
"Alright yippe she's okay. Can we go now?", she snapped a bit too loudly. Willow gave the ex vengeance demon a irritable stare.
"In a bit Ahn. We haven't seen Buffy in months and she needs our support."
Buffy overheard Xander's last comment. What? They thought she needed support? She wasn't some mentally scarred little girl in need of support and counsel. She was a woman scorned needing help to end the lives of the creatures that were trying to end hers.
Once she had finished talking with Tara, she got to her feet.
"I hate to be all Miss negative guys but we need to focus on the Miyrids. None of us are safe until they're all dead. Do we have anything new to go on?"
Stony silence spread across the room.
"We've been trying Buffy but we were more focused on trying to get you back", Willow admitted.
The slayer stared in shock at her friends.
"So you've been spending more time trying to get me to come home when the reason I left in the first place was to keep you safe so that you could find out how to kill the sons of bitches?"
"We were reasearching but we needed you around. We had so many questions and no way in getting in contact with you."
Buffy was too far gone to take their point of view into account.
"Are you serious?! I told you everything I knew before! So all the things Giles had been telling me about not being able to find anything was just a bullshit cover up because you'd stopped looking?"
Dawn was looking alarmed now.
"No! Of course not!"
She didn't believe it. The 3 months she spent away from Sunnydale, away from her family. The time she spent reluctantly letting Spike take care of her was just a waste of time. They knew the Miyrids were skilled fighters, centuries old and mortal. That was about it.
"Where did Spike go?", she suddenly interrupted. The whole room looked at her in confusion.
"What? Why?", Xander snapped.
"Did anyone see him last night? This morning?"
"I did!", a squeaky voice came from the corner of the room. Anya stood by Xander, her hand raised mid way into the air.
"I saw him pacing around the graveyard at about midnight. He looked surprisingly miserable."
Willow and Xander gawped at Anya whereas Joyce, Dawn and Tara just started at the floor.
"What?", she asked, genuinely confused as to what she'd done wrong. She pointed to Xander.
"You're the one asking me to be more helpful and bam I help and still no one appreciates all the time and effort I put into contributing. It's seriously taxing work!"
Buffy ignored her and pushed past her circle of friends.
"Sorry mom, Dawn. I'll be back later." With that, she was outside and down the path in seconds.
Buffy'd been waiting in the graveyard for what felt like hours now. She wandered aimlessly amongst the tombs and crypts, relying on Spike's spontaneous arrival. He could've moved on by now. The possibility still didn't encourage her to leave. She quickened her pace, becoming more and more frustrated, and stumbled over a rock. She fell against a crypt wall and into a strand of cobwebs. She frantically wiped the sticky threads away when she noticed that the door to the crypt was ajar ever so fractionally. That was odd. She'd patrolled the graveyards of Sunnydale many a time and most of the mausoleums she'd come across were sealed shut. She cautiously approached the darkness, trying to peer inside without shifting the door. Suddenly, there was a crashing sound that came from inside. The slayer automatically went to grasp her stake. She hadn't done that for a while. She hadn't needed too. The door swung open, sending a gush of wind into her face, temporarily stunning her. An exhausted looking Spike stood there, his hair free from it's usual waxed back style and his shirt unbuttoned with a bag of blood in his hand. Buffy shoved past him.
"Won't you come in?", he grumbled sarcastically.
"I need you're help."
The pair were facing eachother now.
"Really? Don't know where I've heard that one before."
"Quit it with the clever comments! Willow and Giles have gotten nowhere with research and I don't know how much longer we can keep the Miyrids from hurting us now we're all together. They're getting stronger every day."
Spike looked completely zoned out.
"So, wha'dya need me for? Case you haven't noticed, I'm hardly Sherlock bloody Holmes."
"I don't know yet. What I do know is that you're the only one that wants this to be over as soon as." - RIGHT HERE
The vampire didn't like the way Buffy was presuming to know him.
"Who says I care about all this anymore? How d'ya know that I don't wanna just get away from Sunnyhell and leave you and your pathetic Scoobies to rot?"
Buffy didn't look at all shocked by his comment.
"I know. And that's not what you're thinking."
Buffy skulked past him again but Spike grabbed her arm before she could go out into the sun. They were so close that their noses were almost touching.
"I'm doin' this to save my own skin from those poncy Miyrids. You bloody well better not think that I'm doin' this entirely for you."
The word entirely struck them both. Spike, for saying it in the first place and Buffy for not hearing him denying that he was trying to help her.
"Got it?"
"Got it... "
A\N: Any predictions that you have in mind?