Buffy entered her house through the kitchen and sat down heavily on a chair. It was only 5:30, but it had been a tough day auditing with Tara and Willow. I mean, Ancient Western Civ Lit? And was the Professor even speaking English? Well, maybe Willow had picked up on whatever foreign language it was, because she obviously understood it. Whatever. And now she had to cook dinner.

"Dawn?" she called up the stairs. "You home?"

She yelled Dawn's name a few more times before remembering that Spike had offered to tutor her about World War Two, considering he had lived through it and all.

"Great. Now I can't stick dinner on Dawn. Hmm…how about Pizza Hut? Aren't they having a special or something?" she mused aloud. But her pizza-liciois thoughts were interrupted as she remembered what Dawn had said to her earlier in the week.

****** Flashback ******

"God, Buffy. All we ever eat around here is pizza and Chinese. And the occasional take-out Buffalo wings from the Bronze when Spike drops by. All the time. Maybe I can cook something every now and then."

Buffy's brain immediately imagined her house on fire while she and Dawn narrowly escaped getting out alive. She decided at that moment to try out her cooking skills again, preventing Dawn from burning down the house.

****** End Flashback ******

Buffy grudgingly pulled pots and pans out of the cabinet and smacked them down onto the countertop.

"Maybe I can call someone to do it for me." She said, obviously very fond of talking to herself when alone. "Oh yeah, Buff. That'll do it. Hello? My name's Buffy, and I'm a vampire slayer with no cooking skills. Maybe you can help me out?"

She laughed as possible reactions ran through her head.

Buffy grabbed some wooden spoons from a container and then turned around, looking at the pots, absolutely clueless as to what to cook.

Absent-mindedly she began to tap the spoons on the drums as she thought of possibilities that were quick and easy. As less ideas came to her head, the more she began beating on the pots, until pretty soon she had her own drum solo going. As she realized what she was doing, she didn't stop, but an old song came into her head so she bellowed at what parts she knew, and made up what she didn't.

"They're coming to take me away! Haha! They're come to take me away! Hoho! Hee hee! Haha! To the funny farm! Where life is beautiful all day long! And I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats, and they're coming to take me away! Hahaaa!" she banged furiously on the pots and pans, complete with head bangs.

She heard a slight clearing of the throat coming in the direction of the door, and looked up to see Dawn and Spike standing there.

"I hope they're coming soon." Dawn remarked offhandedly.

"I have a feeling they'll be here shortly, Pet." Spike remarked just as casually.

The two walked into the living room without a second glance towards Buffy, who was staring at them through her messy mop of cropped hair, spoons still in hand.

She quickly cleared away her mess, and decided that cooking would not be an option tonight, and instead voted for ordering pizza. After calling Pizza Hut, and finding out about that special, she headed towards the living room where Dawn was watching TV.

"Hey, how was studying?" Buffy asked her little sister.

"Great! Spike helped me a lot." Dawn smiled before turning back to a rerun of her favorite show.

"Speaking of Billy Idol, where is he?" Buffy looked around.

"Outside waiting for the men in their clean white coats!" Dawn laughed.

Buffy scowled at her sister and then stepped outside. She found Spike leaning against a tree smoking a cigarette.

"Those things'll kill you. Oops! I guess you can't get any deader." Buffy smirked at him.

"Well I guess not, Ducks, but getting deader is better than going looney." He grinned at his Slayer.

"I was on a roll! A drum roll, more or less, but still. You have to admit, I was good." Buffy smiled back, taking the fag out of Spike's hand and crushing it under her foot.

"Oh yeah. Almost as good as the Sex Pistols." The vampire replied, slipping an arm around her waist.

"Yup. So I'm not loony. Just motivated." Buffy remarked as they approached the front door.

"Yeah, but Slayer, even if you were, I wouldn't let them take you away. No matter how white the coats or funny the farm" Spike said, and then mock grabbed his arm in pain when Buffy softly socked him on the shoulder.

"You wound me!" he cried.

"I'll show you wounding!" she laughed and then pecked him on the lips before closing the door behind them.