Description: AU. Buffy as an army brat, imagine the possibilities. Anyway, she moves to Sunnydale and meets William "Spike" O'Connor. But Buffy's learned in the past not to get too close to people because she always ends up leaving. So what will happen when Buffy finally falls head over heels in love?

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Buffy/Spike (again.)

"WHAT?!" Willow yelled into the phone nearly deafening the party on the other end.

"Geez," Buffy mumbled on the other end, holding the receiver away from her ear. She had called Willow to see if the girl would mind tutoring her in some of their classes, but had gotten sidetracked with a recap of the day's events. Though Buffy had only known Willow for less than 24 hours, she felt a sort of attachment to her. The girl had been super sweet to Buffy from the second she met her and it was clear that she was over all a good- natured person.

"Sorry," Willow apologized sheepishly, "I just can't believe that you were in Spike's car." The red head sat on her bed, books and notebooks sprawled around her in awe. 'Buffy was in Spike's car!' "He never let's anyone in there-well-unless"

"Unless what?" Buffy asked, "Willow speak." The girl really didn't want to talk about Spike, but the tone of Willow's voice had sparked her curiosity in the subject. "What is it?"

"Well, really the only girls Spike ever gives rides to are-the ones he's interested in." Willow spat out the last piece of that sentence quickly and waited for a response from Buffy.

"Oh," Buffy replied, trying to hide the amusement in her voice, "So are you going to be able to help me with studying?" she asked, changing the subject quickly.

"Sure," Will complied, trying not to laugh. It was obvious to her that there was an attraction between Buffy and Spike. "We can stay after school tomorrow in the library. We'll study then, okay?"

"The library?" Buffy asked, wrinkling her nose at the thought. To Buffy library equaled mean, old lady librarian and rows upon rows of dusty books with way too many words than any human could ever need to know.

"It's not really that bad." Willow tried to convince the girl. "The librarian, Ethan, is pretty cool. Even let's you bring in food and you never have to whisper."

"He let's you call him Ethan?" Buffy asked, astonished. Going to countless schools on military bases, Buffy had learned very early to address every teacher as Ma'am or Sir. Calling a teacher by their first name was a completely new concept.

"Yeah," Willow mused over the phone. "He's very cool, very." she thought, searching for the right word, "retro. Hey listen, I gotta run, so are we set for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure." Buffy said scooting to the edge of her bed ready to hang up the phone. "Thanks Will, this really means a lot to me."

"It's no big. Just glad I can help."

Both girls said their goodbyes before hanging up the phone. Buffy lay back on her bed staring at the ceiling, and remembered everything that happened that day.

All things considered, this had been one of the better first days Buffy had experience. The school was nice with a big, outdoor campus and the teachers seemed to be relatively normal. Everything Cordelia had said about the chemistry teacher had been true, which unnerved Buffy a little, especially since she had to sit in the very front. But that was the only bad part, that is, if you don't count the whole Spike episode after school.

Buffy's heart raced and her stomach was suddenly the new residence of twenty or so butterflies just from thinking about him. Sure she'd had crushes on guys before, but it had never hit her this hard. He was.well to be perfectly honest he was a snide, cocky, arrogant, Billy Idol wannabe. But there was something about that combination that just seemed to intrigue Buffy; something about him that made her wonder. And, although she would never admit it to anyone, when Spike had put his arm around her for protection at the Junior High, Buffy had felt a degree of comfort that hadn't been in her life for a while.

He was good with Dawn too. When he had offered to drive the two girls home Buffy thought it was merely a ploy to get with her, but after watching Dawn and Spike argue and laugh that thought had been tossed out. Any casual observer would have thought them to be friends for years, or possibly even family, the way they joked. Buffy was almost sad to see her and Dawn's new house come into view-almost.

But at the same time, she knew nothing could happen, because sooner or later Giles would get transferred and the family would be on the move again. Buffy's heart would get ripped from her chest and split down the middle. It had happened before and she didn't have the will power to go through the grief again.

"Buffy?" a small voice beckoned, pulling the blonde from her thoughts.

Buffy rolled over onto her side and found Dawn peeking around her door. "What do you want?" she asked, the remark coming out a little angrier than she would have liked.

"Geez, what's wrong with you?" Dawn asked, upping the defensive side.

"Sorry," Buffy apologized sincerely, "what d'you need?"

"Mom said dinner's ready." She supplied, turning around and leaving. Buffy crawled off her bed and out of her room. She made her way downstairs to find her family already seated around the table.

"Hello sweetheart." Buffy's mother greeted her, placing an affectionate arm around her shoulder. "How was your first day at Sunnydale High?"

"Same old, same old." Buffy mumbled taking a seat opposite Dawn.

"Well I had a great day." Dawn announced happily.

"That's excellent darling." Giles commended her with a warm smile.

"Yeah," Dawn continued, "I met this really weird girl named Bridgett. She's like a total Goth, black lipstick, hair, nails, and everything she wears is black. She's taking me shopping this weekend for some new clothes." As Dawn concluded her little story two sets of very angry, very adult eyes were focused on her, glaring daggers.

"Dawn," Joyce began, resting her fork against the plate in front of her, "I'm not sure if you should be hanging around that sort of."

"Freak?" Buffy supplied, earning scowls from both Giles and her mother.

"Elizabeth Ann!" her mother berated her. "We don't use that language in this house."

Buffy glared across the table at her younger sister. 'Always getting me in trouble.' She thought bitterly playing in with Dawn's game.

"Dawn," Giles ventured removing his glasses and giving them a healthy cleaning, "you need to choose your-acquaintances very carefully, you don't want to end up in the wrong crowd."

The youngest Summers eyed her family warily. 'I can't believe they're falling for this. It's easier than I thought.' Suddenly she burst out in full on hysterics. She shot a pointed gaze a Buffy, who in turn began laughing as well.

"Um, someone want to fill us in here?" Joyce asked glancing from one daughter to the other.

"I can't believe you guys fell for it again!" Dawn shouted between fits of laughter. Noticing the blank looks on her mom's and Giles's faces, she continued, "Every time I go to a new school I tell you a met some rank new kid and that I'm gonna change my look."

"The biker boyfriend in Tulsa," Buffy commented, "When she wanted to join that cult in L.A. You guys are just gullible." Both girls were laughing so hard that they were almost crying.

"That wasn't funny, girls." Their mother scolded them half-heartedly.

"Calm down." Dawn waved her hand at the two adults at the table. Her laughter faded out and she looked at each other them a little more seriously. "I was just trying to prepare you for when you meet Buffy's new boyfriend."

Buffy's head snapped up. She was still laughing, until the words 'Buffy's new boyfriend' slipped out of Dawn's mouth. Dawn knew that Buffy wasn't allowed to technically date until she was 17, and she only had 3 more months to wait. 'What is she thinking?' Buffy thought icily, 'Is she trying to get me grounded?'

"Boyfriend?" Joyce asked in a hushed tone.

"He's not my boyfriend." Buffy quickly amended. "He's just-a friend I guess."

"Buffy," Giles began the lecture again. "You know very well that you're not permitted to date until you're 17. I don't think it's very wise of you to be gallivanting around town with a boy you just met."

"I wasn't gallivanting." Buffy protested. "I don't even know what that means! Listen, it's not what you think."

"And what exactly are we thinking?" Joyce asked.

"I met him in school, he was in a few of my classes. Everyone says he's basically an okay guy, and-"

"What do you mean 'basically an okay guy'?" Joyce asked, staring at her eldest daughter intently.

"Well he doesn't exactly have the best record, but he's not like a criminal or anything." She explained continuing with her recap of the day's events, "So anyway, I was walking home from school trying to find the junior high to pick up Dawn," Buffy pointed across the table at her younger sibling, "and he pulled up. Asked me if I needed a ride and I figured if I didn't take it I'd be left walking around town until I was late then you guys would freak. He drove me to the school, we found Dawn, and we came straight home. End of story." As she concluded, Buffy looked at her parents. They were both studying her with very intense stares. Dawn was watching her with a small grin on her face. 'I'm so going to kill her. Chop her body up in little pieces and hide them.'

"Well just so nothing more happens, I'm fine." Her mother said. "Rupert?" she asked her husband's opinion.

"Just be careful honey." He said going back to his dinner.

The rest of the meal was eaten with small talk from Giles about the base and the people he met. After dinner, Buffy cleared the table and went up to her room. She sat down on her bed and again attempted to understand her homework.

She was midway through an extremely difficult algebra problem when there was a knock at her door.

"Come in." she called, not even looking up from the pile of books in front of her.

Giles entered the room and took a seat near the bottom of the bed. "Well it seems you've got more than enough to keep you entertained for a while."

"Yeah," Buffy grimaced peering up at her stepfather. "Teachers don't really care if it's you're first day or not."

The Englishman suppressed a laugh. "Well if you need any help-" he began seeing the taunting look in her eyes, "you mother is always available."

Buffy let a small giggle escape her lips. "Thanks." Everyone in the family knew how horrible Giles was at anything that didn't require military training. He was smart, but math wasn't his best subject; it wasn't even on the list of subjects he passed.

"You know we're just looking out for you, right?" he asked suddenly.

Buffy let out a sigh and answered, "Yeah, I know. But trust me, there's nothing going on. I can't do that again."

"I know how much you cared for Eric." Giles ventured, watching as Buffy's body tensed at the name. "But I can't help when I get transferred."

"I know." She sighed, hating this subject. Every time they moved it was the same speech. "It's okay, I know you guys are just looking out for me, but you've got to trust me to take care of myself. I'm really good at it."

"I know you are sweetheart." Giles rose from the bed and planted a soft kiss atop Buffy's head. "Don't stay up too late." He called as he left the room.