"How was last night?" asked Giles. "Anything out of the ordinary?" Buffy plopped down in an empty seat in Giles' magic shop. "No, nothing." she replied. "Are you sure? It looks like something is bothering you." Giles asked again. "No, it's nothing. Just I ran into Spike again and, uh. Never mind. It was nothing." Buffy quickly stopped herself. No one was going to know she had feelings for Spike and that every time she saw him, it killed her. But he was a vampire and she was the Slayer. She wasn't going down that road again. Too many bad memories. Plus, what would her friends think? None of them liked Spike, especially Xander. Like so many other times, she looked for a solution but there wasn't one. Spike wasn't accepted and she couldn't be with him. Case closed Buffy thought.
"Spike huh? Does anyone else want to dust that guy?" Xander asked the group. "What a pathetic excuse for a vamp? I mean he comes to Sunnydale, gets his butt kicked. Then he comes back again and gets his butt kicked. Over and over. Is anyone else seeing a pattern here?"
"Xander?" Buffy asked. "Yeah Buff-myster?" replied Xander. "Shut up." she said bluntly. Xander was puzzled. "I didn't mean to...." he looked around the room. Willow looked at him and shook her head as if saying, let it go. "I'm going for a walk. I need some fresh air." Buffy said as she got up from her seat. "Oh, well don't be late getting back," said Giles. "I want to do some training with you."
The sun beat down on Buffy's face. She looked around and smiled. It seemed everyone was happy. People were riding bikes, children were playing, people were laughing with one another. It reminded Buffy of why she did what she did. Why she alone risked her life night after night. She smiled to herself and then noticed a couple. They were out for a walk too and were holding hands, kissing and giggling. "Why can't I have that?" she asked herself. "Just a nice normal guy. Or even a guy with a working heart," she said as she her thoughts came to Spike.
"Well so far so good." came a voice. Buffy turned to see a face of the past standing in front of her. "Oh my God, Riley!" she couldn't believe it. "What did you say?"
"I said so far so good. You said you wanted a guy with a working heart? Well here I am." smiled Riley. "How have you been?"
"Uhhhhh, I've been good. How have you been? I mean what are you doing here? I thought you were on a mission with the Initiative? And I thought...." Buffy trailed off. "Why don't we go somewhere to talk? I'll answer all your questions." laughed Riley as he put his hand on her back and began to guide her to the nearby cafe.
