Dawn rolled over in her bed, tired and with the hint of a headache. She wanted to open her eyes but decided against it. It was summer and she could sleep as late as she wanted. She smiled and rolled over again, and it was then that she noticed how large her bed had become. She opened her eyes and sat up quickly, observing her surrounding.

"Oh shit!" She whispered, she was really deep in it now. She looked around her to see stone and dirt walls that really resembled the lower level of Spike's crypt. She looked down to see herself in Spike's bed, wearing her clothes from the night before.

She looked around again and didn't see Spike, but decided that she must have fallen asleep last night when she came over after they're dance at the Bronze. She remembered that they came down to the lower level, he lit some candles, and. oh! He was telling her horror stories from his badass days. She could've sworn that she had only closed her eyes for a second. And why the hell couldn't Spike have woken her up?

"Buffy will never forgive me."

Dawn climbed out of the bed and felt her bare feet hit the carpet and Dawn started to wonder how Spike got a carpet, not to mention a bed into his crypt. She stopped and then wondered how her shoes came off. She looked around the floor and saw them placed at the foot of the bed. She smiled to herself because she remembered that she hadn't put them there, Spike was becoming a real big bad babysitter. Dawn placed the shoes on her feet and proceeded to the upstairs level of the crypt.

She opened the trap door and walked to the over to where Spike was sitting. When he saw her he smile, and put down the box of Weetabix he had in one hand and the mug of blood he had in the other.

"Morning, Nibblet. Thought you'd sleep the rest of the day."

Dawn rolled her eyes at him and turned her attention to his breakfast. "How can you eat that stuff?"

"What? The blood? Kind of a necessity, pet."

"No, I mean the Weetabix. It's like shredded cardboard."

Spike laughed at Dawn as she turned around and started looking for her bag, she mumbled under her breath: "Buffy is so going to kill me."

"Don't worry about it, love."

"Oh, I'm worried. Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Sorry, Dawn. Just, you were really tired and I didn't want to disturb you. Besides, I would have you know, told Buffy where you were but, there's the whole daylight thing as well as the no phone thing."

Dawn nodded as she found her bag; she looked inside to see stakes, crosses, holy water, and her cell. She looked up from the contents to see a box of Peanut Butter Ritz Bits sitting next to the fridge.

"Oo! Crackers," she said as she picked up the box and shoved her hand in hungrily, "I'm starved."

"Help yourself then, you can take'em on the road if you like, I can get more."

"Nah, I can chill a minute for breakfast with my favorite neutered vampire."

Spike gave her a look that told her she was pushing it, but she just laughed and sat on the tomb that was in his crypt. Just as she was about to put the first cracker into her mouth, the door of the crypt slammed open, bathing Spike in the glistening sunlight.

"AHHHH!!!"

Xander walked in, quickly closing the door behind himself. "Uh, sorry. Hate to pop by at such a flammable time of day but have you seen.Dawn!"

Dawn smiled guiltily and waved at Xander, her mouth full of cracker. "Morning Xander."

"Morning? It's almost one in the afternoon. You scared us all half to death. You went out patrolling at two in the morning and you weren't back yet. What are you doing here."

"Um, I came here after patrolling and we went downstairs and I fell asleep on his bed."

"Why were you on his bed?"

"We were talking, Xander. I fell asleep and he said he didn't wanna wake me. Don't be mad at him."

"Yeah, I'll bet he didn't want to wake you," Xander mumbled under his breath.

"XANDER!" Dawn yelled at him, angered by his accusation.

Xander just rolled his eyes. "Look, we better get you home before your sister has a heart attack."

Dawn nodded. She walked picked up her bag and walked over to Spike, placing her arms around his waist. He returned the gesture and ruffled her hair after she let go.

"You'll be by tonight, right?"

"Yeah, 'round ten, the great poof is gonna call me."

Dawn laughed and nodded at him, as Xander followed her out of the crypt.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"You were WHERE all night?" Buffy asked her sister angrily as Xander told her where she had spent the night.

"I don't see why you are making such a big deal out of this. I was sleeping."

"Why I'm making such a big deal? Dawn, you were out all night with a vampire and you said you were going patrolling."

"So, do you want me to count the nights you snack out to be with Angel at his apartment, and I'm not even involved with Spike. Or, or, or, how about running away for three months without a phone call?"

"That was different."

"No it isn't Buffy! Why is it that you got all these special privileges? I'm the slayer too, remember? It's not so different. You just say it is so that you can boss me around."

"But Spike? Why does it have to be with Spike? Why can't you just go to the Bronze like other normal teenagers who sneak out?"

"Because someone I love is going to be putting himself in mortal danger and so god forbid I should want to spend a little time with him before he dies."

The Summers' living room became silent between Buffy, Dawn, Xander, Willow and Tara. They all just stared at the young, and very frustrated slayer.

"You love him?" Buffy asked hey sister quietly.

Dawn groaned angrily, made an about face and stormed up the stairs. She got about half way up before turning around, and walking storming back over to her sister and looking at her dead in the eyes.

"You know Buffy, you can be really thick sometimes," Dawn stated clearly and coldly before finally turning around, walking to her room, and slamming the door behind her as loudly as possible without breaking it.

Buffy looked from her friends to the stairs and back to her friends again. She sighed heavily and walked up to her sister's room where the door was shut. She knocked three times and asked if she could come in. She did anyway before Dawn could say no.

"Hey Dawnie."

"I didn't say you could come in," Dawn told her angrily, not turning around to look at the eldest slayer.

"I know, I want to talk to you," she said softly, sitting on her sister's bed.

"Oh great, this should be fun."

"Look, I'm sorry I lost it down there, I just worry."

"Okay, I get. So, because you worry, I can't do anything."

"Dawn." Buffy stated warningly. "I'm not worried about you handling your own, I've seen you do it, and your amazing. I'm just worried about you spending so much time with Spike?"

"What? How could you? What are you afraid of? Do you think he's going to hurt me or something?"

"No, it's not like that. He adores you, I know it, I'm pretty sure we all know it. It's just that you don't know the Spike I knew five years ago. I don't believe that he could just change like that in that amount of time. He spent over a hundred years murdering people, slaughtering half of Europe. Whether you want to admit this to yourself or not, Dawn, he's evil."

Dawn sat up and shook her head. "You have no idea how wrong you are."

"Wrong how?"

"I was do know what Spike was like five years ago. Or have you forgotten? Angel kidnapped me, remember? I met Spike and Drusilla."

"I remember Dawn, I just didn't realize-"

"He was in a wheelchair, from when you collapsed an organ on him. Dru would threaten to eat me, and that was when he started calling me Nibblet, you know? He said that I'd be tasty. He said what his baby wants his baby gets. Then, they made out in fron tof me which was wicked gross but Buffy, I do know what he was like. I didn't like it, I hated him. And I still can't believe that that was the same Spike."

"But that's the thing Dawn. Him getting a chip in his head that neuters him doesn't make him a good person. He still evil, soulless,"

"See, that's your problem Buffy, everything is just black and white for you. And it terrifies you that maybe, just maybe you've found the gray. It was so much easier when everything had a place, and that's why you broke it off with Spike, because it scared you."

Buffy's face became pale. She hadn't slept with Spike in over a year. "How do you know about that? Did he tell you?"

"No, I figured it out while it was still going on. I would talk to him about it sometimes, but he didn't tell me initially."

Buffy nodded. She knew exactly what Dawn meant, and she was right. Buffy was terrified of Spike, terrified of how he made her feel. Feel in the literal sense and figurative sense. Every touch of his burned her and made her feel like she was real, and plain, and alive. But he was a vampire! He couldn't be good. He was only doing this so she wouldn't kill him, right? But Buffy knew the answer, and Buffy knew that every day she was falling more and more in love with him, so why could Dawn admit it, and nor her.

"It's so complicated, Dawn. It's just so-"

"Stop. Everyone is always telling me that it's complicated, like I don't understand or something. But I'm not a little kid anymore, I get thing, life thing, more than any of you care to notice. You were my age once, not that long ago. Spike was a teenager like, 120 years ago, but he still gets me better than any of you. I think what's really complicated is you and you just can't admit it so you put it all on me and-"

"STOP IT! How dare you talk to me like that?"

"What? Can't deal with the truth? It's not the first time though, I shouldn't be surprised."

Buffy slapped her before she even knew her hand had left her side. After she had done it, Dawn just stared at her, contempt flaring in her eyes.

"Get out of my room."

Buffy nodded and left. She couldn't believe what she had done. Was that her? Was that her hand that violated her sister's face? She didn't know what was wrong with her. Everything had been so perfect till Spike said he was leaving. He always had to fuck up her life. Come into it and fuck it up. He had no idea what he was doing to her. How he was killing her inside. She thought it was bad being with him, but it was so much worse being without him. And then what? She took it out on her little sister? She loved Dawn more than anything in the world. How could she do that to her?

Buffy walked into her room and shook her head at herself when she saw her reflection in the mirror. She was utterly ashamed. She was buying a one way ticket to self-destruction, and she didn't know what she could do.

Buffy heard a light tapping on her door and she turned around quickly to see Tara standing on the other side of the threshold. Buffy nodded and Tara walked over to her.

"Is everything okay?"

"She knows," Buffy told her with a monotonous tone.

"Knows what, sweety?"

"About me and Spike. What we were doing last year."

"You told Dawn?" Tara asked surprised at Buffy's supposed forwardness.

"No. She just knew. Spike didn't tell her either. She just knew. It's like she knows me better than I know myself."

"Well, you said it yourself, she was made from you."

"What? How could you-"

"Remember that when I was in 'La La Land'?" Tara finished Buffy's question lightheartedly. "I could here you. My true essence was still in my body Buffy, I heard everything."

Buffy nodded and made a failed attempt at a smile. "I don't know what I'm going to do, Tara. He's really leaving. He's going away and what if I never tell him how I feel?"

"How do you feel? Do you love him?"

Tears filled Buffy's eyes. "Yes! Yes Tara! Everyday I'm falling even more head over heels in love with him and the more I avoid him the more I want him."

"So why don't you tell him then. Go now, no one will judge you."

"Oh right, the way I'm always not judged on everything I do. Everyone thinks that because I'm the slayer, I'm always okay. I can handle anything and everything and it'll always turn out okay. But then second I do the tiniest thing that anyone disapproves of, the fucking state is jumping down my god damn throat."

Tara walked over to Buffy and took her hands. "If it helps, then, I won't judge you. I never have, and I promise you, I never will."

Buffy broke down and fell into Tara's welcoming arms. She felt like she did the first time that she broke down in front of Tara, when she first confessed her relationship with Spike to anyone. She always knew she could trust Tara with her secrets, and Tara enjoyed being trusted.