I'm not saying a disclaimer with every chapter now. It's on both chapter one and chapter two. See those chapters for proper ownership of characters, etc. I don't own 'em, but wish I did…
New Note: Also updated on June 26, 2003. Yay me!
Chapter Two: Of Departure and DeathAs much as Buffy loved Riley, she knew she could not remain in Sunnydale. At least, not for the time being. Both Riley and Buffy were unprepared for marriage. After all, they had just shared their first kiss. Buffy knew that real life wasn't like the fairy-tales. (Yup, it was after fairy-tales. But it was before folk tales. Morals had no place in fiction.) A long kiss and a declaration of love do not immediately guarantee "happily ever after." Sure, the happy ending would come eventually, but one would always have to do a little bit of work to get there.
While the sun set behind Sunnydale's small movie theatre, Buffy gently broke news of her departure to Riley. "I've got to leave," Buffy told Riley, solemnly. "This," she paused, gesturing to Riley and herself, "just can't happen yet. We just aren't ready. I mean, we've only just started dating and all. And then there's the whole lack of job thing. The only money I have is from the 'Take a penny, leave a penny' jar at Walgreens. Not exactly enough to support us for long. Hence, the necessity for me to leave. The bus for LA leaves the depot in an hour, so…"
Needless to say, Riley did not handle the news of Buffy's departure very well. It was a very emotional time for him. "Are you really going?" Riley asked, blue eyes downcast. "It's just…I'm afraid I'm never going to see you again."
"Course you will," Buffy asserted. "Sure, it might take me a little while to get to LA." (This was after bad Southern California Traffic. No one has ever been able to build roads well enough to prevent jams. Traffic congestion has existed since Adam and Eve were first kicked out of the Garden of Eden. And they probably had to wait in a line for an hour just to do that.) "And sure," Buffy continued, "it will probably take a while for me to get the whole job thing happening, but…" The petite woman trailed off, realizing her words were not helping Riley's condition. She knew what she wanted to say, but somehow seemed to have difficulty transferring her thoughts into words. A second attempt would be necessary.
"Listen to me: I'll always come back." Buffy stood on her tiptoes, raising her hand to Riley's cheek. She desperately wanted to comfort her lover. "I promise…"
"But how can you be sure?" Riley questioned, still dubious of Buffy's promise. He feared that something would happen to her, preventing his love from ever returning to him. "How do- how do you know?"
Buffy smiled at Riley. "Yay, you're giving me an easy one. Here I was thinking you were going to try and give me a stumper." Even Buffy noticed that her feeble joke attempt had fallen flat. Riley refused to perk up. "Riley," She said slowly, affectionately stretching out his name. "This is true love. Stop and take a look around!" Buffy motioned to the couples with fantastically amazing timing, who just happened to be emerging from the nearby movie theatre.
One middle-aged couple was shouting so loudly, they could probably be heard inside the Bronze. Even though the club was blocks away, had closed metal doors, and always played blaring music, the fighting couple's words would still be audible. "You always do this!" They heard the woman bark, her scrunched face changing into an uncomfortable beet red. "You always blame it on me! You always blame me for all your problems!" The couple began to move down the street, their arguments reaching a fevered pitch.
Buffy then pointed to another couple. A younger man and woman were also exiting the theatre. The man had his arm around his wife's shoulder, and it was obvious the hand was only there from habit. It seemed that physical contact between the two was something they both abhorred. Their heads were turned in opposite directions, as if even a glance at their partner was horribly repugnant. The pair was eerily silent.
"See?" Buffy asked Riley, with a grinning impishly. She just loved being right. "This is true love. Don't you understand? This kind of thing doesn't happen every day." She raised her face to smile up at Riley. Finally, Riley smiled back. His hand drifted to the back of Buffy's head as the two lovers shared a final, passionate kiss.
***
Following Buffy's departure, Riley could do nothing but mope. The woman of his dreams had left, Sunnydale life lost all meaning, he was desolate, how could he continue on, yadda yadda yadda. Only after his friends had routinely taunted him and the title of "Sissy Boy" had permanently attached itself to his name, was Riley able to console himself. Of course, the entire mocking process had only taken about ten minutes to occur.
Riley quickly realized the error of his sulking. Buffy was on her way to Los Angeles. Who knew what she'd encounter there? Perhaps Buffy would run into a hot, young, dangerous movie star (even worse- what if it was a hot, young, dangerous, FOREIGN, movie star. From what Riley heard the British imports were the biggest threat to the ladies…) and promptly forget all about Sunnydale and Riley. Or, even worse, what if she came back and said, "You have moped way too much. You used to be all muscular and sexy, but now you've gained a lot of weight and the muscle's definitely all fat. Your skin's lost it's healthy tan glow and you're eyes have gotten all big and bulgy from too much crying. Now you look more like the Pillsbury Doughboy than someone I would ever want to marry. I'm hooking up with a college freshman who lives in a dorm nearby and is always in peak condition."
Riley vowed never to disappoint Buffy. Out went the Johnson and Johnson's baby shampoo and Iowa farm clothes. In came a sleek new hair cut, hair gel, and a studly leather jacket. A new gym membership increased his muscles and killed his leftover baby fat. In a short number of days Riley sailed up the beauty charts. He was no longer squeaking into the top twenty. Now, he ranked number one.
All of his actions had only one purpose: to intensify Buffy's love for him. Riley still loved her furiously. He would talk to anyone about Buffy, sometimes going on for hours about how wonderful her hair was, or how amazing a kisser she was. He spoke with his friends, neighbors, the mailman, the waiter at Pizza Hut, and dog from down the street about the wonders of Buffy. The conversations quickly drove them insane, but what could they do? It was obvious that Riley was completely in love with everything Buffy.
Which was why Riley was so devastated days later.
Buffy never reached her destination. She was attacked by the fierce Watcher's Council, whose vampire slayer never left anyone alive. When Riley learned that Buffy had been murdered–
***
"Finally!" Giles interrupted, enthusiastically. "Something good is happening. A murder, wonderful!" This new vampire slayer murder could really improve the story. "Murdered by a slayer is good!"
"Done talking?" Dawn asked, giggling slightly. She'd never forget Giles comment on murder. Next time a big bad showed up trying to end the world or whatnot, she'd have to remind Giles of what he just said. "'Cause I want to go on now. The good stuff hasn't even happened yet…"
***
When Riley learned that Buffy had been murdered – he went into his apartment and shut the door. For days he neither slept nor ate. He knew that he would never love anyone again.