Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Buffy...or any related characters...Why? Because Joss is too selfish to share, watch, when I create my own hit show, I won't share with him either. Man, I don't really own the plot either because it's largely based off of the drama, Stairway to Heaven.

A few weeks later

Buffy ran home, as usual, from school, and searched the mailbox. She searched through all the letters, and let out a sigh. It had been several weeks, and still no mail from Spike. Hadn't he promised to write to her? Making a slight face she trudged on inside. She locked the gate behind her, and as soon as she got into the house, she quickly and quietly tip-toed to the bedroom she shared with Glory.

She had a nagging suspicion that Glory had a hand in why she hadn't received any letters yet. She began to shift through the tidy stacks of paper on the desk, when she came across five letters...all from Spike, and addressed to her. She grabbed one, and shoved it into the gray skirt of her school uniform.

Just then Glory came into the room. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Reading MY letters." she replied boldly.

Glory sniffed, "You really think that William will remember you? All the girls in England will be all over him, and besides, when he comes back, I'll make him fall in love with me." she sing-songed as she danced around the room.

Buffy's hands rolled up into fists. "They're MY letters, you have no right to..."

Glory grabbed the remaining letters, "Sorry, without the address, there isn't much you can do." She taunted. Glory's mother came into the room, her entrance just barely prevented Buffy from slapping Glory.

Darla placed her hands on her hips, "What's going on in here?" she asked. Her blonde hair was piled high up on her head...and her nose. Buffy despised Darla's nose, it was really quite obvious that she had had a lot of surgery done on it.

"Buffy is trying to read the letters that William has sent to her." Glory explained handing the letters to her. Darla's sharp eyes saw the corner of another envelope sticking out of the waistband of Buffy's skirt. She reached out and grabbed it. She pulled out the letter in that one, and began to read it out loud.

"Buffy, why aren't you writing back to me? I miss you so much. It's so lonely over here in England. I wish you were here with me. Is your stepmother not letting you write back to me? I bet that's it, did you know that I dream about you, your voice, and I think about you all the time. I'll call you."

"STOP!" Glory shrieked. Darla smirked, and handed the letter to Glory while she sidled on out of the room with the other letters. Glory stuck her tongue out at Buffy, and ran out of the room.

"GIVE THAT BACK!!!" Buffy roared in anger. Glory had run into Angel's bedroom, and gave him the letter. He smirked a bit as well, and walked out onto the balcony outside his bedroom, and began fold it into an airplane. "No! Angel, please, that's my letter!" Buffy cried out. Glory began to laugh once Angel released the plane into the garden. "That was my letter!" she yelled at him.

He shrugged, "Sorry." He replied. Buffy bit her lip in an effort to hold in the tears, and ran outside into the garden. She searched all of the bushes, the shrubs, and the flower beds. She couldn't find it. Feeling so helpless she sank to her knees and began to cry.

Darla and Glory watched from the balcony of the master bedroom. Both had smiles on their faces. "Do you think she'll ever find it?" Glory asked her mother who was stroking her hair.

Darla laughed lightly, "Even if she does, you'll win William's heart. Don't worry. Remember darling, you are number one, and you will get whatever you want, as long as you put your mind to it." She planted a kiss on her daughter's forehead, and led her back inside.

Buffy came in about half an hour later when it was starting to get dark. Her eyes were puffy, and her emerald eyes didn't shine or sparkle as usual. She said nothing to her stepmother or Glory, and walked to kitchen to make dinner. Buffy checked the pot of boiling water, and then began to add the noodles for tonight's angel hair pasta.

Dinner went by as usual. Buffy went to sleep, but tried to stay awake as she remembered Spike's promise to call. He was in England now, they had a different time zone there. Too bad she didn't know the exact number of hours. She flopped over onto her other side so that her back was to Glory. Words couldn't even describe how she hated that girl. At first, Glory had been okay, but after she and Darla met Spike and Mrs. Cornelius, it had all changed.

Just then the phone rang. Buffy sat up, and quickly reached for the phone, but just as her hands touched it, it stopped ringing. Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, she picked up the phone, and listened. "Buffy? I'm not sure if she's awake." came her stepmother's voice. Buffy quietly put the phone down, and went back under the covers, and tried to look as if she was asleep the whole time.

Darla walked down into the girls' bedroom, and sat down at the end of the bed, "Yes, let me see if I can wake her up." she said in a disgustingly syrupy voice. She tapped Buffy lightly on the shoulder, "Buffy darling, wake up sweetie, someone wants to talk to you." Buffy opened one eye, and sat up. Her eyes met Darla's, whose eyes clearly said, 'you better make it quick.' Buffy timidly took the phone, "Hello?"

"Hey Buff." came the voice at the other end.

Buffy's eyes widened in surprise, "Spike?!" she asked in disbelief.

"That's right," he said, "Have you missed me?"

Buffy nodded vigorously, "Of course!"

"Then why haven't you been writing? Is it because of your stepmother?" he asked worried.

Buffy looked out of the corner of her eye, and saw Darla yawning widely, an obvious sign that she was 'getting bored.' "Oh wow, I better go now Spike." she said.

Spike grinned, "I suppose so, it's late there isn't it?" he asked. Buffy nodded. "I miss you Buffy." he added.

Buffy smiled, "You too...bye Spike." She waited until he said 'bye' back, and the line went dead. She didn't want to let go of the phone...Spike...he was, and had been her only hope...

Darla snatched the phone from her. "Go to bed...now." she hissed. Buffy glared at her with flaming hatred as soon as the door closed behind her. Suppressing a whole another round of spasmodic tears, she shut her eyes, and drifted off to sleep to a dream world...a dream world full of summers spent with Spike in his family's beach house.