Buffy sighed as she brushed out the tangles in her hair. She had to give herself credit. Three years of being abused by her husband and still no one knew about it, or at least she didn't think so. She finished brushing her hair and left her bathroom. Riley hadn't woken yet and she was quiet so she didn't wake him. After his little rage fest the night before he went to bed, leaving her in the living room. She didn't know why she forgave him, but she just had to. She couldn't help that she was in love with him, and she was. She loved him more than she wished she did.

Buffy dressed nice. Today was her meeting with Mr. Rossman at the college. She put on a pair of black slacks, a pink dress shirt and a blazer to match the pants. After dropping her daughter off at her mother's she proceeded to the college.

"Okay, Buffy, you can do this. Just smile and nod and try not to make a complete fool out of yourself" Buffy told herself and knocked on the door.

"It's open," a man said and Buffy opened the door.

"Hi, I'm Buffy Finn" Buffy said.

"Hello, I'm Frank Rossman and these are my associates, Jennifer Haller and David Crosby" Mr. Rossman said.

"Nice to meet you" Buffy said politely.

"Take a seat Mrs. Finn" Mr. Rossman said and Buffy did so. "You've been chosen to take a course of your choice in England for one semester which starts next month. If you accept and choose to go there are some conditions."

"I understand" Buffy said.

"Condition one is that you keep your GPA above a 3.5" Mrs. Haller said.

"I can do that" Buffy said.

"The second is that at the end of the year you must write an essay for the school newsletter telling of your experience and how it has shaped your life" Mr. Rossman said.

"I can do that too" Buffy said.

"And the third condition is that you must stay for at least three weeks. After which you can leave if it doesn't suit you. Now the semester is six months, can you commit to that?" Mr. Rossman asked.

"Yes, definitely" Buffy said.

"Well, then congratulations" Mr. Rossman said.

"Do you have any questions?" Mr. Crosby asked.

"Yes, one, can I take my daughter with me? I have a three year old daughter at home" Buffy asked.

"Of course. We'll provide you with on campus housing" Mr. Rossman said.

"Okay, thank you" Buffy said.

"All right, well, we'll meet again next month to give you everything you need, including the plane ticket, have a nice day" Mr. Rossman said.

"Thank you, you too" Buffy said and shook everyone's hands and left. After leaving the college, Buffy went to Willow and Tara's dorm to tell them the good news.

"Hey, Buffy" Willow said and let her in.

"Hey guys, well, I just got done with my meeting and I'm all set. Leaving February 23rd. I'll be gone until August" Buffy said.

"August, wow" Tara said.

"We're sure gonna miss you, Buff. I mean, we're happy for you, but will miss you" Willow said.

"Are you taking Gracie?" Tara asked.

"Yeah" Buffy said.

"What do you think Riley is going to say about this?" Willow asked.

"I don't know. But, this is my decision. I mean, I love Riley, with all my heart, but I can't give this up" Buffy said.

"Well, we're happy for you, even if he isn't" Willow said.

"Thanks guys" Buffy said and hugged them.

Buffy arrived home a while later and Riley was there sitting on the front porch reading the paper.

"Hey" he said.

"Hi honey" Buffy said and sat next to him on the porch swing.

"Where's Gracie?" Riley asked, putting down the paper.

"Oh, my mom wanted to keep her a little longer. She took her to the zoo" Buffy told him. "So, I uh…I went to that meeting today, the one about England."

"Really? Are you going?" Riley asked.

"I want to" Buffy said. "If it's okay with you."

"It's not my decision to make. If you want to abandon me, go ahead" Riley said.

"Honey, I'm not abandoning you" Buffy said. "You've left for a period of six months before. I'm doing this for my career."

"Fine, you wanna go, go" Riley said and went into the house. Buffy sighed, but she couldn't hold back a smile. She was so excited to go to England.

The Next Month

Buffy packed her last suitcase. She had just came back from her last meeting with Mr. Rossman and had her ticket and everything she needed. She put the last piece of clothing she needed in her suitcase and closed it.

"You ready?" Riley asked in monotone. He had hardly spoken to her over the last four weeks.

"Yeah" Buffy said. "I have Gracie and my suitcases, most our downstairs, this is the last."

"You are such a bitch," he said. She looked at him confused.

"What?" she asked.

"You're lucky I don't kick your ass. If it weren't for your mother and everyone being downstairs I would" Riley said.

"Riley, what are you talking about?" Buffy asked and he pushed her up against the wall and put both is hands on the wall on both sides of her head and she gasped.

"If you think that this is gonna be a way to escapes from me, you're wrong. You forget, I can drop by whenever I feel like. All I got to do is get on a plane. If I find out that you've been sneaking behind my back with another guy, I'll kill you" he said.

"Riley, I love you. I'm not doing this to escape from you. I'm just doing it because it'll be a good opportunity. I'm gonna come back to you" Buffy said.

"You better, or you'll wish you never met me" Riley said and left the room. Buffy sighed and realized that she was shaking. Shaking it off she picked up her suitcase and went downstairs to join everyone who came to see her off.

"You ready?" Joyce asked.

"Yeah, all set" Buffy said.

"Okay, come on, we've got to get to the airport before you miss your plane" Joyce said and everyone except for Riley piled into three cars, Joyce's, Xander's and Giles'.

They arrived at the airport and helped Buffy with her luggage. All teary-eyed, they said goodbye.

"Okay, have fun. Work hard" Willow said. "And you better call me."

"I promise" Buffy said and they hugged.

"Have fun, Buffy. We'll miss you" Tara said and they hugged.

"See ya, Buff. Call, write, e-mail, the whole nine, okay" Xander said and they hugged.

"I will" Buffy said and moved on to Giles.

"Have fun. England is a beautiful place, you'll like it there" Giles aid and hugged her. "Maybe I'll come and visit."

"Okay" Buffy said.

"Bye, Buffy. I'm gonna miss you" Dawn said and they hugged.

"I'll miss you too, honey" Buffy said and moved to her mother. Dawn picked up Gracie.

"Bye mom" Buffy said.

"Bye honey. Have a good time. I'm so proud of you" Joyce said and kissed Buffy on the forehead. Dawn handed Gracie to Buffy. "Bye my little princess" Joyce said to her granddaughter and kissed her.

"Bye Grammy" Gracie said.

"Okay, we've gotta go. We'll see you in August" Buffy said and waved bye before going to her gate and boarding the plane. "England, here we come."