A/N: Xander never had his little encounter with Warren, he's just showing up at Buffy's to talk.

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"Buffster, you home?" Xander shut the door gently behind him and glanced around. "Hello?" His eyes flitted from the living room to the stairs. "Buffy?" Putting his hand on the banister, he began to walk upstairs, but halted.

His hand ran over something cool.

"Not seeing Spike my ass…." He muttered as he clenched the vampire's jacket in his hand. With a huff, he the threw it to the ground and stormed up the stairs. A tiny stream of light floated into the hallway from underneath Buffy's door. Clenching his fists, Xander pushed the door open forcefully. "Where is he?!"

"Xander?" Buffy asked, surprised. She was sitting on her bed, phone tucked between her shoulder and ear. She gave him a weird look and set the phone back down on the base. "What's wrong?"

"Where is he!?" The infuriated boy demanded once again as he stormed into the room.

"What are you talking about?" Buffy demanded as she stood, holding her arms out to the side.

"You know perfectly well who I'm talking about, Buffy. Where's Spike?"

"Spike? I haven't seen Spike since last night Xander. I recall yo standing right next to me when I saw him too."

"Then why is his coat downstairs?" He demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

She looked at him in disbelief. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"Not when I find major parts of Dead Boy's clothing laying around your house." He spat.

"Wait, his coat?" She asked, her anger fading.

"Yeah, I found it down on the banister." He answered, mellowing down a bit himself.

"Bastard…" The slayer muttered, placing her hands on her hips. He must have been here earlier looking for her.

"You haven't seen him?" Xander asked halfheartedly, feeling a bit guilty.

"No Xander, I haven't…" she answered quietly. "And I don't plan to anytime soon." She added harshly. Her mind was suddenly brought back to the matter she had been attending to when she heard a small whimper come from her bed.

Spike was laying near the edge of the bed, staring at her with wide eyes, his muzzle hanging over the side of the bed as he wagged his tail. Hey, if he was going to be stuck as a dog, he sure as hell was going to milk it for all it was worth. Plus, it eant cuddles with Buffy.

"Wait…you have a dog?"

"As of ten minutes ago, yes." Buffy replied, smiling as she walked back over to the bed. She sat down and the rather large pup scurried into her lap, wagging his tail happily as she scratched behind his ears. "He was in the hallway… my only guess is he got in through the back door when I was taking garbage out earlier. I tried to call the pound, but there's no one there until morning."

"You gonna keep him?" Xander asked, taking a seat beside her. They seemed to have both forgotten the anger lingering between them, the anger caused by a certain blonde vampire by the name of Spike.

"No." Buffy said quickly, shaking her head. "I can barely take care of Dawn, let alone a dog."

Spike stopped wagging his tail and stared at her. He had no idea why he was like this and if he didn't figure it out he'd be shipped off to the pound where they'd…neuter him. Not in the chippy-kinda-way, no no, but really neuter him.  Bloody great. His ears drooped and he whimpered pitifully.

"Aww, see Buff, he doesn't wanna leave." Xander pointed out as Buffy scooped the dog from her bed and set him on the floor. He sat at her feet, staring up at her.

"He's not staying, Xander. I'll take him to the animal shelter in the morning." Buffy said sternly, watching the dog. "What kinda dog is he, anyway?"

Xander shrugged, looking the dog over. He was probably around thirty pounds, his thin, muscled body covered in white and black fur. He had large blue eyes and HUGE paws. "Looks like a husky… maybe a little lab in him or something."

"Great, a mutt…" Buffy muttered sarcastically.

"Oh, come on, every puppy needs a little love." Xander said cheerily as he reached down to pet him.

Spike's eyes darted to Xander as he reached down to touch him. No bloody way, Whelp. Standing quickly, he ducked his head away from his hand and began to growl at the boy.

"Woah, easy boy." Xander said quickly, pulling his hand back. "You sure it's safe to keep him here, Buff? He could be dangerous."

I'll give you dangerous. Spike's ears perked up and he looked back to Buffy, wagging his tail happily. Standing on his hind legs, he put his front paws on her knees and let out a small yip. It had the desired effect and Buffy smiled, scratching him behind his ears once more.

"Yeah, Xander, real dangerous." She replied, shaking her head as she stood.

"He tried to bite me!" Xander exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at the dog. Spike growled once more.

"Xander, chill. You probably just….smell funny… or something." She shrugged.

"I do not smell funny, thank you." He nodded and inhaled deeply. His face fell. "Okay, maybe I could go for a quick shower…"

"As could I, now do you mind? I'm kinda sleepy… long night of falling on gravestones." Buffy retorted, smiling.

"Yeah, I think we both could use a little rest. Maybe tomorrow we could talk, you know, do they 'friend' thing? You up for it?"

"Yeah, sounds good." Buffy said, nodding. He was right, they both could use a little more time to clear their heads.

He nodded and walked backwards through the door, "Night Buff."

"Night Xander." The slayer muttered as she watched her friend leave. After hearing the front door click shut downstairs, she fell back onto her bed with a sigh. "God…" she mumbled, draping her hand across her face. Her life had been so screwed up lately….

Sodding Whelp. Spike scurried up onto the bed and pushed his nose under her hand, forcing it away from her face. No need to hide that, Sweets. Buffy's eyes rolled open and she smiled at him, running her hand over his soft fur. He layed himself out next to her, resting his head on her shoulder.

"Yes, you are really dangerous, aren't you?" She muttered, chuckling. She closed her eyes, but her fingers continued to gently stroke his thick fur. "Night Boy.."

Night Slayer. Curling his tail around his paws, he curled up closer to her. God, was she going to kill him when she found out about this. No need to worry 'bout that now though, right now all he was concerned about was the fact that he was close to her and she didn't mind.