Title:               The Mexican Hat Dance and Telephone Conversations

Summary:       Buffy gets some sense talked into her—Again.

Spoilers:         Post "As You Were"; "Hell's Bells" and "Normal Again" didn't happen and won't.

Pairing:           Who do you think?

Rating:            PG

Disclaimer:     You know the deal.  Even though I wish I owned Spike, I own nothing.  All belongs to Joss.  I just play.

She awoke to the Mexican Hat Dance playing in her head.  No, she wasn't hung over despite how terrible last night was.  Her cell phone that was lying on the bedside table was going off.

" 'ello," she mumbled sleepily.

"Buffy!  It's been two days and you haven't called yet!"

Willow.  Shit.  She knew she forgot to do something when she got to LA.

"Sorry, Will.  It's been kind crazy the past 2 days."

"So??  Any luck with the Spike hunting yet?"

Buffy sighed.  "I'll explain it all when I get home tonight."

"'Home tonight'" another voice chimed in.  Anya.  "Did you find Spike?"

"And is he coming home with you?"  That was Dawn.

"Yes, found him in a bar.  Big surprise there.  And no, he's not coming with me."  She paused for a second.  "Wait a minute.  Am I on speaker phone??"

"Yep," other two voices spoke up.  Xander and Tara.

"Well," Dawn said impatiently.  "Why isn't he coming home?"

"It's a long story.  I'll explain when I get in."

"Buffy," Tara said sternly.  "Tell us now, before you wind up making another mistake."

She sighed yet again.  "Do I have to?"

"Yes," all five of them chorused.

"Or we'll tie you up and drag you back to LA ourselves," Willow stated firmly.  Buffy could almost see her ending the sentence with a sharp nod of her head.

It was going to be a long morning.

                                                            *****

"…. And then he sang that awful song that basically said that I was a heartless bitch. He hates me and doesn't want me any longer," Buffy finished up.

"Okay, so explain to me one more time why you're coming home again," Willow asked.

"Gah!  What part of 'he has someone else and doesn't love me anymore' do you not understand?" 

"I understand," Xander agreed.

Everyone turned to look at him.  "Well I mean, he's not obsessed anymore.  Good thing, right….What?"  He started to squirm as he got four sets of evil glares.

 "Xander," Anya whispered.  "We are supposed to be supportive!"

"Hey Xand," Dawn said.  "Come here for a second."

He went over to Dawn and she leaned over to whisper something in his ear.  "Naked push-ups," she said with a wicked grin.

"Oh god," he said as he covered his mouth and ran to the bathroom.  After Spike left and Buffy got depressed, he had put two and two together about certain things.  The results were not good.

"Dawn, that was mean," scolded Anya.  "I know he needs to lose weight before the wedding, but come on!"  Dawn just giggled.

 "Listen," Tara stated, giving her attention back to Buffy.  "We're going to go through this one more time.  I don't care what you saw.  He. Loves. You. Period. End of story."

"But—"

"No buts.  He's done everything for you.  Got thrown off a tower.  Got beat almost to death by Glory.  He fought along side us all summer all because you asked him to protect Dawn.  And he stayed even though you were gone."

"When he saw your body, he cried.  I've never seen a vampire cry before," Anya added.

"Sometimes he used to sit by your grave.  He didn't do anything.  Just sit hours upon hours," Dawn said softly.

Willow added one more thing.  "He was going to stake Drusilla for you.  His love.  He loved her for over a hundred years.  He'll love you for two hundred." 

Buffy didn't know what to say.  Could he still love her?  But what about what she had seen and heard?  She was so confused.

"What about all that's happened the past two days?  How do you explain all that?"

"You haven't even talked to the guy yet," Anya put in.  "You don't know if what you've seen is true or not!  It's inadequate evidence."

"But he promised he'd never leave Dawn and me and he did!  He left!"

Willow was getting frustrated. "Buffy, do you remember what happened with Acathla," she asked.  "You and your mom had that fight, and then you had to kill Angel to save the world.  You were hurting to much inside.  What did you do?"

She closed her eyes at the memory and had to swallow a few times before she could answer.  "I ran away."

"Spike is hurting right now.  He's been hurting for god knows how long.  When he couldn't take it anymore what did he do?"

"He- - - he ran away, too."

"Now, are you going to run away again and come back home, or are you going to stay, talk to Spike and find out what the hell is going on?"

Something finally clicked inside of Buffy.  Her friends –well excluding Xander—liked Spike.  A lot.  He was a friend to them, too.  And they weren't disgusted by her being with him.  They wanted her with him.  She remembered all the times she had played out in her head how they would react if they ever found out.  There was no disgust or anger or revulsion like she thought.  Just support.  She felt like the weight of the world was lifted off her shoulders.

"I'm going to stay," she said with new determination.  "You guys are right.  I haven't found out anything worthwhile yet!"

She laughed as she heard them cheer over the phone.  "And don't you come back without Spike," Tara yelled.

"Okay, calm down," Buffy said.  "Willow, I need one thing, though."

"Anything!  What can I do for you?"

"Could you hop on the internet and look up an address in LA for me?  Name:  Cecelia Lantham……" 

End Part 8

*  Sorry I'm taking so long between updates.  Term papers are a bitch!!  Taking away from my writing time!  LOL  *