TITLE: No Matter What 1/10
AUTHOR: Goddess Isa
EMAIL: goddessisa@aol.com
SUMMARY: Buffy is just contemplating dating Riley when the unexpected happens....,
SPOILER: Pangs, IWRY - Doomed and Hush both took place before Christmas and the New Year and all. You'll see my explanation below.
DISTRIBUTION: Sandee, of course - My site - http://planetslaythis.homestead.com- Crystal and Butterfly if they want it - A Soul's Redemption - Anyone else - sure, just email me & lmk where it's going - I like seeing my name in print =)
RATING: TV-14 - for now
DISCLAIMER: Characters belong to Poophead Joss. I didn't come up with that name for him, but it's *so* true. The song, 'No Matter What' is what the title is derived from and it's by Boyzone.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is for Ashley - thanks for the kickass challenge idea! And thank you again for sending me the story I was missing. You're the best.
AUTHOR'S NOTES2: Okie, these are the ones that explain the timeline, so you may want to read it to understand. Buffy visited Angel in Los Angeles on November 23rd. Something Blue, Hush and Doomed make up the weeks 'till Christmas, and Buffy *NEVER* kissed Riley. He asked her out but she didn't accept. And now we're at December seventeenth, when all the students are packing up to go home for the holidays.



//No matter what they tell us

No matter what they do

No matter what they teach us

What we believe is true\\


"Have a holly, jolly Christmas!" someone's boombox was blasting in the hallway. "It's the best time of the year."

"Bah humbug!" Buffy walked over and slammed their door shut, locking the deadbolt for good measure.

"Buffy is not one with the Christmas spirit," Willow surmised.

"Neither are you," she shot back.

"Yeah, but I'm Jewish." Willow smiled. "You know Buffy, you don't have to stay here over the holidays just because--" 

"Just because my mom isn't home and she sent me a credit card and a blank check telling me to give myself a Merry Christmas? I'm really in the shopping mood right now." she crawled back in bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. "And what's more, I've had a headache for two weeks."

"I've noticed," Willow got out of her lotus position and walked over to her friend's bed. "You've been throwing up too, haven't you?"

She nodded. "It's just the flu."

"I dunno," Willow gently laid a hand over Buffy's forehead. "You don't have a fever, that's a good sign."

"It's just the flu," Buffy rolled over so that she faced her friend. "I'm just gonna catch a quick nap before patrol."

"Xander and I can cover it. We'll bring Spike." she giggled.

"I'm okay to go," she insisted. "I just need a little rest."

Minutes later, she was breathing softly and her eyelids were fluttering as though she were dreaming. Willow glanced at the clock, scribbled Buffy a note and went to retrieve Xander for patrolling.


*****


"Who are you?" Buffy asked. She'd been swimming in an endless pool for what felt like forever and now she was back stroking beside a beautiful young girl. She looked to be about ten or twelve and her straight, dark hair managed to stay dry even though she was in the water.

"Don't you know?" she questioned Buffy. "You should."

"Well, I don't, so tell me."

"I can't." she swam ahead of Buffy and she had to roll over and swim the regular way to keep up. She caught her at the ropes and tried to grab her arm. Her hand went right through the girl's skin.

"Secrets," she smiled. "Miracles. It's all about Magick."

Before Buffy could question her about what that meant, the girl was gone.


*****


"Ahhh," Buffy sat up in her room and looked around. All of the lights except her lava lamp were out and there was a note on the floor by her slippers.

Buffy - let you sleep 'cause you looked like you needed it. Stay in bed, I'll bring you some junk food. Willow.

The Slayer would've followed the exact orders but she had to sprint to the bathroom and throw up.


*****

"I'm really worried about her," Willow told Anya as they walked around campus together. The two of them had agreed to disagree on their feelings for Xander and decided they had to get along or it would break the whole gang up. Willow didn't really see how three people and Giles made a gang since Buffy was always an absentee anymore, but she said nothing.

"Uh-huh," Anya actually seemed to care. Either that or she was just trying to look interested until Xander got back with their doughnuts.

"I mean, think of it this way," Willow went on. "I know she hasn't....been with anyone since Parker, and that was two whole months ago. Don't you think if that was the case that she would've already know? Or already been sick?"

"How long has she been sick?" Anya fished in her purse for gum and offered Willow a piece.

"Don't you listen when I talk?" the Wiccan demanded.

"I must've been in the bathroom." Anya tossed the wrapper in a trashcan. "Go on, please. I do care. At least a little bit."

Willow rolled her eyes and went on. Sometimes she felt bad about discussing Buffy with another person, but it wasn't like she had Buffy to talk to anymore, and sometimes she just really needed another point of view.

"She's probably pregnant anyway," Anya said. "I've seen *a lot* of pregnant women from jilted men. We used to make their penises fall off so they couldn't get anyone else in the same position."

"How kind of you," Willow said dryly.

Her beeper went off and she pulled it out, cheering. "I've gotta go. I've got a meeting with my agent."

"Agent?" Willow echoed.

"Xander didn't tell you? I'm writing a book."

"About?"

"My life as a demon of course. No one will know it's true but it'll make for one Hell of a read, huh?"

"I guess." Willow shrugged.

"Listen, tell Buffy I'd curse Parker for her if I could." she gave a little wave and ran off.

"Great," Willow sat down under a tree not too far from a couple making out on the grass. "All alone in the dark on campus."

She spent the free time thinking more about Buffy, and when Xander arrived they ate and then she ran her theory by him.

"Buffy?" he asked. "Pregnant? No way."


*****


"Willow, I'm pregnant!" Buffy said desperately when she got home from patrol.

"What?" she threw her bag down and rushed over to her friend. "How? When? How?"

Buffy was sitting on the edge of her bed with a bucket between her legs just in case. "I was so sick that I was gonna read in bed all night."

"But you hate to read in bed," Willow pointed out.

"Exactly." Buffy said. "So I got out my new Seventeen to read and of course, when I opened it, I opened it right to this page that said 'Is teen pregnancy on the rise?' and then it hit me. It was like, Oh my God! I could be pregnant. So I went down to the campus store and put a ton of junk food and the test on my mom's credit card."

"At least it came in handy," Willow smiled. "What are you gonna do?"

"Well, I need to talk to someone, obviously. I'm not even sure how this happened, let alone....." Buffy sniffled, trying hard not to cry. "I guess I'm gonna go see a doctor at Planned Parenthood on Monday. They don't charge you anything if you want it to be anonymous, so I'll just give them whatever cash I have in their donation thing."

"Are you sure you don't wanna go to your own doctor?" Willow asked.

Buffy laughed. "Definitely. I don't want anyone to know about this besides us, okay?"

"My lips are sealed." Willow said. It wasn't until Buffy was in the bathroom throwing up again that she realized she'd basically already let the cat out of the bag.


*****


Buffy slept restlessly that night, dreams constantly filling her mind.

The first few were of herself bickering with Angel in a sewer, the next of them talking calmly in his kitchen.

The last ones both scared and excited her. She was in Angel's bed in LA, eating ice cream off his chest and making love to him all night long.