Away From It All
Chapter 2: Getting Into the Grove of Things
By: Rogue-Slayer13
Summary: See pervious chapter.
Disclaimer: The characters of Btvs and Ats belong to Joss Whedon. Spike's family members and other character you've never heard of before are mine.
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"Fred! Fred get up!" Willow gently shook her roommate.
"What? Huh?" Fred sat up in bed and looked around the room that was mostly hidden behind stacks of boxes.
"We need to finish moving today."
"We're moving? To where?" asked a confused Fred.
"I got up before you and went downstairs to find my mom cooking breakfast. She said that she knew all about the PTB and what happened in the alley and I asked her to fill me in. She said we're moving to England, cause I want to be closer to Oz and you want to travel."
"Why do I live with your parents, shouldn't I live with my own?"
"From what I can tell, you and your folks moved up here with your brother Jeff, but the house was small and so once you turned eighteen in moved in with me . . . next door."
Fred got up and looked out the bedroom window to the house right next to ours.
"You mean my parents live right over there?" Fred pointed to the house.
"Yeah, it's only a two bedroom house and you couldn't stand sharing the bathroom."
"That sounds like me," replied Fred as she watched her dad walk outside to check the mail, he spotted her and waved before going back inside.
"This is weird, I don't even get a day to adjust to being normal and I'm already moving to England. Do we even know anyone in England besides Oz?"
"Spike, Gunn, Faith, Anya, and Xander are there. Angel's in Dublin and Cordy's here in California, but she wants to be closer to Angel."
"How'd Faith, Gunn, Anya, and Xander end up in Europe?"
"Faith's dad works as a professor there, Anya's parents moved the entire family there because her grandma died and they inherited a bunch of stuff, and Xander's a sort of permanent exchange student."
"Wow, this is weird, but in a good way . . . I think."
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"Buffy! Dawn it's time to get up!" Joyce called from downstairs.
Dawn sat up in bed and looked around the room that she apparently shared with her sister.
"Buffy, get up!" Dawn threw a slipper at her sisters head, which caused the older Summers to sit up in bed and glare at her sister.
"What do you . . . where are we?"
"I'm guessing this is our chance at normalcy," replied Dawn.
"Are you two up yet?" Joyce poked her head into her daughters' room.
"Mommy?" Buffy looked at her mother in shock.
"Oh right, I forgot. You two have some adjusting to do." Joyce came in and took a seat on Buffy's bed.
"Where are we?" asked Dawn.
"Sunnydale, minus the Hell Mouth and plus a Star Bucks or two."
"Do we know anyone else in town?" asked Buffy.
"The Rosenbergs' live a few houses up the street from us and the Burkles' are right next to them, Fred's been staying with Willow to save space at her house."
"What about Xander?"
"He's in England as an exchange student."
"To get away from his parents fighting?" guessed Buffy.
"Yeah, but he's happy and that's what's important. Cordelia lives a couple a blocks away as well."
"What about everybody else?"
"England mostly, Spike's there, Faith and Gunn are there, Oz is there, Anya's there. Oh, Angel's in Dublin I think."
"Joyce!"
"Up here dear," called Joyce.
"Was that . . ."
"Giles!?"
"Oh, good to see that the two of you are up and about, well, you're up at least."
"What are you doing here?" asked Buffy.
"He lives here dear, he's your step dad," replied Joyce.
"I knew it! I knew you two had a thing for each other!" exclaimed Dawn happily.
"Do you two mind?"
"Not at all," replied Buffy. "It's cool."
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Spike followed his parents through the busy shopping mall. His oldest sister Bridget who was seventeen was walking beside him, while his little brother Samuel, who was fifteen was walking behind them a bit. His youngest sisters Eryn and Mary who were fourteen and thirteen respectively were at the back of the group chatting about the latest school gossip. Spike had forgotten what it was like to have siblings, let alone five of them (thankfully his older brother Thomas who was twenty already had plans), and having siblings in the twenty-first century was a whole new ball game for him.
In the Victorian era you didn't have to listen to your sisters talk about which shade of lip gloss goes with which skirt for forty-five minutes straight and yes, that had been Eryn and Mary's previous topic of choice. Samuel had been unusually quiet, normally he'd be chatting up a storm right alongside the girls.
"It's nice isn't it."
"Huh?" Spike looked over at Bridget.
"Being able to do this all over again in the twenty-first century. I mean there's so many more options now then we used to have."
"Yeah, like the telly and better indoor plumbing."
"Aren't you just a ray of sunshine. What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing, just getting used to this is all."
"I'd cheer up before tomorrow."
"Why? What's tomorrow?"
"Church my friend, and we all know how mum is about church. If you're already in a foul mood, tomorrow will blow more so then usual."
"Great, first day back as a human and they throw me into the arms of the lord."
"It's very ironic," piped up Samuel.
"I forgot he was even there," whispered Bridget.
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To Be Continued . . .