Disclaimer: I am here owning nothing.
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed the last two chapters. It definitely makes me write faster. Makes me want to please y'all.
Spike kissed Buffy on the shoulder as she sighed, "I think it's time to get you back to the shop and then back to the hospital."
Buffy made a small sound of protest, "I like it here. I don't have to think about anything difficult."
"Like your sister and mum?"
Buffy turned over in his arms to face him, "I know. All right, I'm moving."
Buffy laid perfectly still, "Pet?"
Buffy smiled slightly, "Any second now."
Spike lowered his head to hers and kissed her softly. "Come on. I'll take you back there. I love you pet."
Buffy stood and grabbed her pants, "All right. I don't think being naked in the park is a good idea anyway. Last thing we need is to get caught."
Spike felt a twinge of sadness and even a little bit of anger. Was she that ashamed of him? Did she not want to be seen with him?
Buffy knelt and kissed him, "We could scar a bunch of kids or worse, we could scar nuns for life."
Spike smiled and grabbed his jeans.
She didn't want to go in. Once she did, she was going back to a situation she didn't know how to deal with. She was going to go in though. Her sister needed her. Her mother needed her.
Spike squeezed her shoulders gently from behind, "You need to go in pet. When you're done, I'll be at the crypt. If you need me just come round. But I think it would be a good idea to stay with your mom and sister."
Buffy turned around and gripped his arms, "Come with me? I think that Dawn would like it too. She seems to like you."
Spike smiled, "Well then she has better taste than her sister. But I can't come with you Slayer."
"Why not?"
"Soldier boy might turn up." Buffy stumbled over her words trying to find a way round this. Before she could, he kissed her quickly, "See you soon."
Before she could stop him, he seemed to melt into the shadows.
Joyce patted her hair, "Oh do I have bed hair? I don't look like scary mom do I?"
Buffy touched her mom's hair, "No. You look beautiful."
Joyce looked as though she was about to cry again, but she swallowed it down, "Okay, let's do this. Stay close?"
Buffy nodded. Her mom was right. Dawn would need a minute.
Buffy slipped out of the room as Dawn slipped into it and into her mother's arms. Closing the door a little Buffy turned and saw Riley. He touched her face and she fought not to flinch. She didn't want to be comforted. "How are you doing?"
Buffy swallowed, "Minimal damage of the fighting kind. It's all the other kind."
Riley slipped his arms around her. "It's okay, just let it out."
Buffy felt her body tremble. Didn't he understand? She couldn't let go. Not right now. Her mother and sister were in the other room. They needed her to be strong for them. They didn't need her to fall apart. She could fall apart when they weren't leaning on her. She had had a cry tonight, and she didn't doubt that she would cry again, but not now. "I can't, not now. They need me." At the hurt look on his face she tried to explain a little, "If I start now, I won't be able to stop."
Riley wanted to comfort her. He wanted her to lean on him. He wanted to be allowed to be there for her. But she wouldn't let him. Even as he reached to stroke her face he heard her mother call for her. Without a backward glance, she turned and walked away from him closing the door behind her. Riley stood, he felt so hurt. He couldn't stand it. Why wouldn't she rely on him? Why wouldn't she let him take care of her? It was hard enough that she treated him like a child now when they went on patrol, like he wasn't as strong as her. Well, maybe he wasn't, but now . . . now he felt it. He felt weak and useless. She didn't need him. But there was something that did. Riley headed out.
Xander, Willow, and Giles fought for their lives. They shouldn't have gone on patrol without Buffy. They all knew it. It wasn't a good idea. But with Riley, they might have been okay. Strength in numbers and all that. Now they were fighting two particularly strong vamps and they seemed to be losing quickly. Xander had almost been staked and now he and Giles were being strangled. Willow fought to get back on her feet. She had to save her friends. Willow ran over and staked the demon that had once been a woman. The vampire exploded in a cloud of dust and the two men fell to the floor clutching their throats.
As they walked through the cemetery, Xander voiced what they were all thinking, "I think we should get points for showing up unlike some Riley Finn, who shall remain, unnamed."
Giles, ever the optimist tried to excuse him, "Yes that was disappointing he may have been useful."
Willow seemed to be on something of a high, "Oh piffahoonies him when I'm dusting two at a tim . . ." She came back to earth as her knees gave, "Maybe it would have been good if he had shown up."
Giles looked behind him as though the ex-soldier would be stood there, "Perhaps he forgot."
Riley lay there. On a filthy couch as a demon suckled on his arm. There was no denying that it was sexual. He was hard from it. He shivered as the vampire pulled more blood from him. He didn't want to leave.
Buffy had gone to see Spike that night. In fact, she had gone to see him every night for the past week and a half. They had only made love on three of the nights. Granted they had . . . well, a lot. But the other times he had held her, they had even talked and she had let go and cried. She had really cried. One night she had even hit him. She hadn't meant to, he hadn't held it against her. She hadn't even hit him hard, and there hadn't even been a reason. He had just taken her in his arms.
She had spent every day at the hospital since. Dawn had been at school of course, but every spare moment was spent at the hospital. He sister was taking it very hard. She wasn't even crying in front of her mother but Buffy had heard her at night. Sobbing her heart out. One of the night's Buffy had even brought Dawn into her room. They had talked until Dawn had fallen asleep. Buffy was trying to help Dawn cope but it was hard for her to cope anyway. So, she helped her sister, and Spike helped her.
They were all at the hospital again. Buffy felt like this place was becoming a home away from home. All her friends were moving in and out of the place all the time and all of the staff knew them pretty well by now. Willow came to the door and waved her arm at Buffy signalling her to come out.
"Mom, I'll be back in a few minutes. Dawn, look after her again."
Dawn smiled at her sister, "Okay."
Buffy slipped out of the door. "What's up Will?"
Willow smiled, "I didn't know if you wanted to be interrupted. Just thought maybe you wanted to talk?"
Buffy smiled at her friend, there were only a few people in this world she couldn't fool. Willow was definitely one of them, "Oh. I'm okay. A little . . .oh, I don't know. Worried, all the time. We just found out that mom's having her operation the day after tomorrow. Mom is torn between happy that it's finally happening and worry that it's happening. I don't know what to say. I never know what to do. I'm trying to look after Dawn all the time and not tell her how worried I am. She was crying so hard the other night that I had to being her into my room. I . . . I . . . "
Willow pulled her friend into a hug, "Needed to let go little?"
Buffy gave a half sob half laugh, "Yeah. I guess. Actually there was something that I was going to tell you before all of this happened."
Willow flopped down into a chair, "Gossip? Ooooh. Do tell."
Buffy laughed a little, "It's not that interesting. Well . . . yeah okay it is."
"What? Don't keep me in suspense."
"Well. I found out a couple of weeks ago that . . . Spike's in love with me."
Buffy watched as Willow's mouth fell open, "What?"
"Yeah I know. I was going to tell you sooner but what with mom. Well . . ."
Willow waved it away, "So? What did you say?"
"I didn't know what to say. And you mustn't tell anyone about this right. No one. Only you and Giles know. You mustn't tell anyone."
"I won't. I swear." Willow scowled a little, "Now wait. The only reason you wouldn't want to tell anyone is if you thought you had something to hide. Why would you? If it was, just a Spike crush you'd tell and we'd laugh about it. Do you have feelings for him?"
Buffy looked at the floor and nodded ever so slightly, "Maybe a little, okay a lot."
For the second time in as many minutes, Willow's mouth fell open. "Spike? The Spike that tried to kill us? The one who unleashed the Judge? The one who threatened to shove a broken bottle in my face?"
Willow didn't actually sound angry, just surprised, "When you say it like that it sounds bad."
Willow shook her head, "Well there are some definite good sides. I mean it's not like he has a soul to lose. And well . . . he's been a little bit different. He hasn't been evil per se for a while. So I guess, I think I could get used to him. I don't hate him. He's definitely a bit different to the types of vamps you usually deal with."
Buffy threw her arms around her friend, "See? Now this is why I chose to tell you first. I knew that you'd never judge me. Whether you agreed with me or not. This is why you're my best friend."
Willow grinned and blushed, "Of course I'd never judge you, but . . . what about Riley?"
Buffy's smile faded, "I'm still with Riley. I just wanted to tell you how I felt. I'd say straight out about Spike's feelings if I didn't think that Xander be incredibly sarcastic and disparaging. But obviously mine are a little more . . . well, controversial."
"I'd leave off telling Xander for a while if I were you."
"Don't worry I plan on it."
Willow hugged her friend again, "Okay. Anyway, I have some stuff in the bag for you. And your mom."
The book of spells had gone down particularly well with Dawn. Willow was glad that she had given that to her. What she wasn't glad about was that she had seen Joyce . . . go weird. It had apparently scared the hell out of Dawn. "What was she talking about? That was weird."
Willow didn't really know what to say, fortunately, Buffy came out of the room shutting the door, "I'm sorry the doctor told me and I should have told you. The thing, that's pressing on her brain. Sometimes it might make her say weird stuff."
Dawn flinched, "Does she know she's saying it?"
"Not really. But you saw her two seconds after, she was normal."
Willow linked Dawn's arm, "And after the operation, she'll be all normal all the time."
The girl's strolled down the corridor talking a little. Just as they reached the chairs a man turned and stared at Dawn. " . . . A picnic is in order. What is that thing? . . There's no pictures on this one . . .what is the data . . . there . . . what is the data? There's no one in there."
A look of horror filled Dawn's face, "Buffy."
Willow frowned as she followed Buffy and Dawn away. That was weird.
"You know some of the stars we're looking at, don't even exist anymore. In the time it takes for their light to reach us they've died, exploded, poof."
Tara looked over at her girlfriend. She felt the urge to put her arms around her. Willow was very close to the Summer's family and she was feeling little of what Buffy and Dawn were feeling. Tara knew that Joyce had been there for Willow before, when a teacher had been killed, when they had fought the Initiative. Willow cared very much for Joyce, "Were things rough at the hospital?"
Willow just shrugged. Tara took that to mean 'yes'. "I used to love to look up at them when I was little. They're supposed to make you feel all insignificant but they made me feel like I was in space. Part of the stars. There Cannas Minor and Cassiopeia."
Tara looked up and pointed at the stars, "And the big pineapple."
Willow frowned, "I don't think I know that one."
Tara smiled, "Oh it's a major one. You see those three bright stars over there?"
Willow nodded, "Yeah."
"And see those other three stars there? That's the bottom of the pineapple. The real ones never made any sense to me. I kinda have my own."
Willow touched Tara's arm, "Teach me."
Tara smiled and leaned her head towards Willow, "See those stars there? Short man looking uncomfortable." Both of the girls giggled, "Those, moose getting a sponge bath. And those, a little pile of crackers. That was a bit of a stretch." Willow laughed, "You try it. What would you call that one?"
Willow relaxed a little, she appreciated Tara's change of topic, "I see." Willow's relief lasted a few seconds until she saw a comet, "A huge flaming meteor about to crash into something."
Both the girls stood and watched as the meteor came crashing to earth.
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed the last two chapters. It definitely makes me write faster. Makes me want to please y'all.
Spike kissed Buffy on the shoulder as she sighed, "I think it's time to get you back to the shop and then back to the hospital."
Buffy made a small sound of protest, "I like it here. I don't have to think about anything difficult."
"Like your sister and mum?"
Buffy turned over in his arms to face him, "I know. All right, I'm moving."
Buffy laid perfectly still, "Pet?"
Buffy smiled slightly, "Any second now."
Spike lowered his head to hers and kissed her softly. "Come on. I'll take you back there. I love you pet."
Buffy stood and grabbed her pants, "All right. I don't think being naked in the park is a good idea anyway. Last thing we need is to get caught."
Spike felt a twinge of sadness and even a little bit of anger. Was she that ashamed of him? Did she not want to be seen with him?
Buffy knelt and kissed him, "We could scar a bunch of kids or worse, we could scar nuns for life."
Spike smiled and grabbed his jeans.
She didn't want to go in. Once she did, she was going back to a situation she didn't know how to deal with. She was going to go in though. Her sister needed her. Her mother needed her.
Spike squeezed her shoulders gently from behind, "You need to go in pet. When you're done, I'll be at the crypt. If you need me just come round. But I think it would be a good idea to stay with your mom and sister."
Buffy turned around and gripped his arms, "Come with me? I think that Dawn would like it too. She seems to like you."
Spike smiled, "Well then she has better taste than her sister. But I can't come with you Slayer."
"Why not?"
"Soldier boy might turn up." Buffy stumbled over her words trying to find a way round this. Before she could, he kissed her quickly, "See you soon."
Before she could stop him, he seemed to melt into the shadows.
Joyce patted her hair, "Oh do I have bed hair? I don't look like scary mom do I?"
Buffy touched her mom's hair, "No. You look beautiful."
Joyce looked as though she was about to cry again, but she swallowed it down, "Okay, let's do this. Stay close?"
Buffy nodded. Her mom was right. Dawn would need a minute.
Buffy slipped out of the room as Dawn slipped into it and into her mother's arms. Closing the door a little Buffy turned and saw Riley. He touched her face and she fought not to flinch. She didn't want to be comforted. "How are you doing?"
Buffy swallowed, "Minimal damage of the fighting kind. It's all the other kind."
Riley slipped his arms around her. "It's okay, just let it out."
Buffy felt her body tremble. Didn't he understand? She couldn't let go. Not right now. Her mother and sister were in the other room. They needed her to be strong for them. They didn't need her to fall apart. She could fall apart when they weren't leaning on her. She had had a cry tonight, and she didn't doubt that she would cry again, but not now. "I can't, not now. They need me." At the hurt look on his face she tried to explain a little, "If I start now, I won't be able to stop."
Riley wanted to comfort her. He wanted her to lean on him. He wanted to be allowed to be there for her. But she wouldn't let him. Even as he reached to stroke her face he heard her mother call for her. Without a backward glance, she turned and walked away from him closing the door behind her. Riley stood, he felt so hurt. He couldn't stand it. Why wouldn't she rely on him? Why wouldn't she let him take care of her? It was hard enough that she treated him like a child now when they went on patrol, like he wasn't as strong as her. Well, maybe he wasn't, but now . . . now he felt it. He felt weak and useless. She didn't need him. But there was something that did. Riley headed out.
Xander, Willow, and Giles fought for their lives. They shouldn't have gone on patrol without Buffy. They all knew it. It wasn't a good idea. But with Riley, they might have been okay. Strength in numbers and all that. Now they were fighting two particularly strong vamps and they seemed to be losing quickly. Xander had almost been staked and now he and Giles were being strangled. Willow fought to get back on her feet. She had to save her friends. Willow ran over and staked the demon that had once been a woman. The vampire exploded in a cloud of dust and the two men fell to the floor clutching their throats.
As they walked through the cemetery, Xander voiced what they were all thinking, "I think we should get points for showing up unlike some Riley Finn, who shall remain, unnamed."
Giles, ever the optimist tried to excuse him, "Yes that was disappointing he may have been useful."
Willow seemed to be on something of a high, "Oh piffahoonies him when I'm dusting two at a tim . . ." She came back to earth as her knees gave, "Maybe it would have been good if he had shown up."
Giles looked behind him as though the ex-soldier would be stood there, "Perhaps he forgot."
Riley lay there. On a filthy couch as a demon suckled on his arm. There was no denying that it was sexual. He was hard from it. He shivered as the vampire pulled more blood from him. He didn't want to leave.
Buffy had gone to see Spike that night. In fact, she had gone to see him every night for the past week and a half. They had only made love on three of the nights. Granted they had . . . well, a lot. But the other times he had held her, they had even talked and she had let go and cried. She had really cried. One night she had even hit him. She hadn't meant to, he hadn't held it against her. She hadn't even hit him hard, and there hadn't even been a reason. He had just taken her in his arms.
She had spent every day at the hospital since. Dawn had been at school of course, but every spare moment was spent at the hospital. He sister was taking it very hard. She wasn't even crying in front of her mother but Buffy had heard her at night. Sobbing her heart out. One of the night's Buffy had even brought Dawn into her room. They had talked until Dawn had fallen asleep. Buffy was trying to help Dawn cope but it was hard for her to cope anyway. So, she helped her sister, and Spike helped her.
They were all at the hospital again. Buffy felt like this place was becoming a home away from home. All her friends were moving in and out of the place all the time and all of the staff knew them pretty well by now. Willow came to the door and waved her arm at Buffy signalling her to come out.
"Mom, I'll be back in a few minutes. Dawn, look after her again."
Dawn smiled at her sister, "Okay."
Buffy slipped out of the door. "What's up Will?"
Willow smiled, "I didn't know if you wanted to be interrupted. Just thought maybe you wanted to talk?"
Buffy smiled at her friend, there were only a few people in this world she couldn't fool. Willow was definitely one of them, "Oh. I'm okay. A little . . .oh, I don't know. Worried, all the time. We just found out that mom's having her operation the day after tomorrow. Mom is torn between happy that it's finally happening and worry that it's happening. I don't know what to say. I never know what to do. I'm trying to look after Dawn all the time and not tell her how worried I am. She was crying so hard the other night that I had to being her into my room. I . . . I . . . "
Willow pulled her friend into a hug, "Needed to let go little?"
Buffy gave a half sob half laugh, "Yeah. I guess. Actually there was something that I was going to tell you before all of this happened."
Willow flopped down into a chair, "Gossip? Ooooh. Do tell."
Buffy laughed a little, "It's not that interesting. Well . . . yeah okay it is."
"What? Don't keep me in suspense."
"Well. I found out a couple of weeks ago that . . . Spike's in love with me."
Buffy watched as Willow's mouth fell open, "What?"
"Yeah I know. I was going to tell you sooner but what with mom. Well . . ."
Willow waved it away, "So? What did you say?"
"I didn't know what to say. And you mustn't tell anyone about this right. No one. Only you and Giles know. You mustn't tell anyone."
"I won't. I swear." Willow scowled a little, "Now wait. The only reason you wouldn't want to tell anyone is if you thought you had something to hide. Why would you? If it was, just a Spike crush you'd tell and we'd laugh about it. Do you have feelings for him?"
Buffy looked at the floor and nodded ever so slightly, "Maybe a little, okay a lot."
For the second time in as many minutes, Willow's mouth fell open. "Spike? The Spike that tried to kill us? The one who unleashed the Judge? The one who threatened to shove a broken bottle in my face?"
Willow didn't actually sound angry, just surprised, "When you say it like that it sounds bad."
Willow shook her head, "Well there are some definite good sides. I mean it's not like he has a soul to lose. And well . . . he's been a little bit different. He hasn't been evil per se for a while. So I guess, I think I could get used to him. I don't hate him. He's definitely a bit different to the types of vamps you usually deal with."
Buffy threw her arms around her friend, "See? Now this is why I chose to tell you first. I knew that you'd never judge me. Whether you agreed with me or not. This is why you're my best friend."
Willow grinned and blushed, "Of course I'd never judge you, but . . . what about Riley?"
Buffy's smile faded, "I'm still with Riley. I just wanted to tell you how I felt. I'd say straight out about Spike's feelings if I didn't think that Xander be incredibly sarcastic and disparaging. But obviously mine are a little more . . . well, controversial."
"I'd leave off telling Xander for a while if I were you."
"Don't worry I plan on it."
Willow hugged her friend again, "Okay. Anyway, I have some stuff in the bag for you. And your mom."
The book of spells had gone down particularly well with Dawn. Willow was glad that she had given that to her. What she wasn't glad about was that she had seen Joyce . . . go weird. It had apparently scared the hell out of Dawn. "What was she talking about? That was weird."
Willow didn't really know what to say, fortunately, Buffy came out of the room shutting the door, "I'm sorry the doctor told me and I should have told you. The thing, that's pressing on her brain. Sometimes it might make her say weird stuff."
Dawn flinched, "Does she know she's saying it?"
"Not really. But you saw her two seconds after, she was normal."
Willow linked Dawn's arm, "And after the operation, she'll be all normal all the time."
The girl's strolled down the corridor talking a little. Just as they reached the chairs a man turned and stared at Dawn. " . . . A picnic is in order. What is that thing? . . There's no pictures on this one . . .what is the data . . . there . . . what is the data? There's no one in there."
A look of horror filled Dawn's face, "Buffy."
Willow frowned as she followed Buffy and Dawn away. That was weird.
"You know some of the stars we're looking at, don't even exist anymore. In the time it takes for their light to reach us they've died, exploded, poof."
Tara looked over at her girlfriend. She felt the urge to put her arms around her. Willow was very close to the Summer's family and she was feeling little of what Buffy and Dawn were feeling. Tara knew that Joyce had been there for Willow before, when a teacher had been killed, when they had fought the Initiative. Willow cared very much for Joyce, "Were things rough at the hospital?"
Willow just shrugged. Tara took that to mean 'yes'. "I used to love to look up at them when I was little. They're supposed to make you feel all insignificant but they made me feel like I was in space. Part of the stars. There Cannas Minor and Cassiopeia."
Tara looked up and pointed at the stars, "And the big pineapple."
Willow frowned, "I don't think I know that one."
Tara smiled, "Oh it's a major one. You see those three bright stars over there?"
Willow nodded, "Yeah."
"And see those other three stars there? That's the bottom of the pineapple. The real ones never made any sense to me. I kinda have my own."
Willow touched Tara's arm, "Teach me."
Tara smiled and leaned her head towards Willow, "See those stars there? Short man looking uncomfortable." Both of the girls giggled, "Those, moose getting a sponge bath. And those, a little pile of crackers. That was a bit of a stretch." Willow laughed, "You try it. What would you call that one?"
Willow relaxed a little, she appreciated Tara's change of topic, "I see." Willow's relief lasted a few seconds until she saw a comet, "A huge flaming meteor about to crash into something."
Both the girls stood and watched as the meteor came crashing to earth.