Author's Notes:

I had a really hard time writing this chapter. I had a bad case of writer's block for this one. So bad, I had to get one of my friends to help me. Big thanks to Showndra Ridge! Not only is she my beta but also co-author. :) Check out her fics.

Chapter Seventeen: Dreading Tomorrow:

Buffy awoke the following morning. She took a quick shower, and got ready for work. Buffy knew she made a promise to call Dawn sometime today, but she couldn't do it now. She had to get to work. After work, she thought to herself. That's when I'll call Dawn.

Buffy made it to work on time. She thought it was going to be a quick day but she was wrong. The hours dragged on and on. What made it worse was the fact that she had to work over time. Think money, Buffy thought. The more hours you work, the more I get paid. After what seemed like forever, Buffy's shift was finally over. When her shift was over, she bought a few pizzas, and then left. She would take the pizzas to the turtles after she called Dawn.

When Buffy was finally at home, she placed the pizzas down on the coffee table. Then she sat down on the sofa, and pulled out her cell phone. She couldn't believe she was going to call Dawn after all this time.

Back in Sunnydale...

In the Summers' home, Dawn was in the living room watching TV. Tara and Willow were in the kitchen making dinner. They were also talking.

"So, have you've seen Spike since our last meeting?" asked Tara.

"No," Willow answered with a sigh. "I'm worried too. I mean what if he goes away too? How will Dawn react to that?"

"I doubt she would mind." said Tara. "She's still angry with him."

"I know, but maybe she'll get over it." Willow replied. "At least I hope so..."

Willow was cut off. The phone started to ring. Willow was going to get it but, she was stopped: "I'LL GET IT!"

Dawn dashed to the phone. She picked it up: "Hello?" No answer. Dawn tried again:

"Hello? Anyone there?" Still no answer. When she got sick of getting no answer, she said: "Jerk," and hung up.

Back In NYC...

"Jerk," Dawn's voice replied on the other end of Buffy's phone. Then there was a click. Dawn had hung up on her.

Buffy sighed as she put away her phone. She couldn't bring herself to talk to Dawn. "I can't do this." she said to herself. "I need to talk to Splinter more about this." With that said she got up, got the pizzas, and left her apartment.

Back In Sunnydale...

"So, who was on the phone?" asked Willow to Dawn.

"Don't know." Dawn answered. "I could hear breathing on the other end but no one said anything."

"I hate it when people do that." replied Tara.

"Me too." Willow said. "Well anyway, dinner will be ready in a minute Dawn."

"Okay, can I finish watching 90210 first?" she asked. "Steve is about to get into trouble... again, and I want to see it."

"No problem." answered Willow.

"Thanks," Dawn replied and went back into the living room.

When she was gone, Tara said: "That was Buffy on the phone wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was." answered Willow. "I'm glad that Dawn can't tell who is on the phone yet."

"I know," Tara said.

"What do you think Buffy wanted?" asked Willow.

"I don't know." Tara said. "I just hope she tries again soon."

"Me too." said Willow.

Back In NYC...

Buffy arrived at the den with the pizzas. "Hey guys! I brought you some pies!"

"I am sorry but they are not here." Splinter said as he came to greet her.

"Oh, well I brought everyone some pizza." she told Splinter. "I guess I can just leave it here."

"That will be fine."

"Actually, I'm glad they're not here." Buffy replied. "I need to talk to you. That is, if that's okay?"

"It's all right." answered Splinter. "Come, sit down."

Buffy and Splinter went into the living room. Buffy sat on the sofa while Splinter sat on a nearby chair. "What is it that you wish to talk about?"

"Well, I tried to call Dawn this morning," Buffy said. "I dialed her number but when she answered I couldn't talk to her."

"I see." replied Splinter.

"I just feel like I shouldn't talk to her over the phone." Buffy continued.

"Then do you want to talk to her in person?" asked Splinter.

"I don't know." she answered. "I mean I wanted to leave Sunnydale, but now I think I should go back, and talk to Dawn." Buffy went on. "I didn't know I would miss her that much..." then she thought: Or Spike...

"You should always think of the consequences before you do something." Splinter said.

"So, what should I do?"

"I think you should do whatever you think is best Buffy." answered Splinter.

"Whatever you chose, I will support your decision."

"Thank you Master Splinter." Buffy said. "I guess I should go and think about this." she paused, "I'm going to go ahead and go. Tell the turtles to enjoy the pies." She got up as well as Splinter. "Could you ask Raph to stop by at my apartment later, so I could tell him about this?"

"Of course," said Splinter. "I'll send him when he gets back."

"Thank you," with that said, Buffy left the den.

"Master Splinter! Were back!" called Mikey's voice, as he and the others entered the den.

"Yeah, and nothing too big happened tonight." Leo said.

"We just got to beat up a few punks." replied Donnie.

"Well, at least we got to them before they hurt anyone." Venus replied.

"We still got to beat some skulls in!" said Raph with a smirk.

They were going to continue talking but, Mikey said: "I SMELL PIZZA!" He turned and saw a couple of pizza boxes on the table. He dashed to them and started to pig out.

"Hey, save some for us!" said Leo, and he and the others went towards the pizza.

"Buffy brought those over." Splinter told them. He turned to Raph. "She wishes to see you."

"Really? When?" asked Raph.

"Whenever you can." Splinter answered. "It's very important."

"Oh," replied Raph. "Do you know what it's about?"

"Yes, but I think it would be best if she told you."

Up top, Buffy just entered her apartment. She went to the living room and started to pace. She had no idea one what she was going to do, but whatever she did she hoped that no one would be angry with her.

She continued to pace, and stopped when she heard a tap at the window. Buffy went to it, and opened it. There stood Raph. "Splinter said you wanted to see me."

"Yeah, come in." said Buffy. He came in, and Buffy closed the window.

"So, what's up?" he asked.

"Well, do you remember the conversation we had yesterday?"

"The one where you might call Dawn?"

"Yeah," answered Buffy. "I called her today."

"And?"

"I couldn't talk to her."

"How come?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe you were just nervous." said Raph. "You should try again."

"No, that's not it." Buffy said. "I couldn't speak to her over the phone. I think I should talk to her in person."

"That means you would have to go back to Sunnydale, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah," she answered with a sigh. "I still don't know if I'm going, I just wanted to let you know about it before I told the others."

"Thank you... I guess." he said.

"Buffy, one thing?" Raph asked after a second.

Buffy turned to him; she had heard the slight pain in his voice. "What?"

"Will you come back?"

That simple question stumped her. Did she want to come back to NYC? Yes in all honesty she did, would she be able to? She wasn't sure.

"I don't know."

Raph looked away from her towards the open window. "When do you plan to tell everyone else?"

Buffy glanced at her clock and saw it was late, while she had hoped to tell everyone tonight now it was too late.

"I'll tell them tomorrow, do you think you can get April and Casey to meet me down in the den?"

"Sure, and Buffy, I'll miss you." Raph told her and left.

Buffy watched amazed, she had, had a feeling Raph may have felt that way but to actually hear him say it was another thing.

Raph got back to the den and walked past his brothers and Venus, straight into his room. He had ignored Mickey, who had offered him a piece of pizza and the others questioning glances. He buried his head in his pillows and for the first time in a long time he cried. Buffy had slowly become more than a friend to him and now he would be losing her. He fell asleep like that.

The next morning Buffy went into work. The day once again crept by and when the end finally did come she got her boss alone and told him she would be quitting. He told her he would miss her as a worker and if she ever came back her job would be waiting. He gave her two pizzas free of charge along with her check and she left.

April and Casey waited uneasily with the turtles. They knew something was wrong from the way Raph refused to look at anyone.

When Buffy arrived Mickey took the pizzas from her. Even he wasn't his normal cheerful self and rather than dig in he set them down.

"What is it Buffy?" April finally asked,

"I need to go back." she told them.

"Why?" Leo asked.

"It's something I have to do."

"When will you be leaving?" Donnie asked.

"Tomorrow." was the sad reply.

"Will you come back?" Mickey asked, repeating what Raph wanted to know.

"I'm not sure." Buffy said her goodbyes and went back to her apartment.

When Buffy got to her apartment, she went to bed. She had restless sleep. Buffy's mind was on her decision about going back to Sunnydale. Whatever she decided, she would have to live with her decision.

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes: (continued):

So, how did this turn out? I hope it turned out okay. Showndra Ridge wrote half of it. Be kind when you review please. lol. Also, had to mention 90210. It's one of my favs, and Steve was and still is my fav 90210 character. Ian Ziering rules! *Ahem* Well, until next time.

Showndra's Author's Notes:

I decided to leave Mickey the way I spelt it. While Fancy spells it 'Mikey' I spell it 'Mickey' nothing wrong with either, I just find it interesting and decided to point it out. Oh yeah and when you review guess where I took over I wanna see if anyone notices the change in writing styles.