Disclaimer: Not mine. All Joss'. Chapter titles are Evanescence lyrics.
A/N: Thanks so much to DGtek-CrazyaboutAngel, paige, funkydevil206, AvidTVViewer, and msberry for your encouragement and reviews!
Summary: Buffy returns to Sunnydale for her father's funeral, and has gotten in touch with some old friends in the meantime.
Ring. Ring.
Buffy groaned and rolled over to reach for her alarm clock, only to be reminded that she was far from her L.A. apartment when she fell out of bed.
Landing with a thump, she detangled herself from the bed sheets and searched the foreign room for the source of the annoying ring.
Her gaze fell on the cell phone on the nightstand. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Buffy reached up and answered it.
"'ello," she mumbled.
"Morning, Buffy," the voice she knew all too well drifted over from the other end.
"Ahhh! You're doing this just to torture me, aren't you? That's two mornings in a row, Ahn," Buffy accused.
"Sorry, nope. The Buffy-torture's just an added bonus," Anya answered in a chipper tone.
"Ugh! Fine, what now?" Buffy knew that very little fazed or offended her expressive friend. It was one of Ahn's best and worst qualities.
"Just calling to remind you that the funeral is tomorrow," Anya explained.
"Yeah," Buffy sighed, "I remember."
"Good." Anya answered, then immediately switched to a different subject. " You know you're not where you're supposed to be, Buffy? I tried calling your hotel first, but the front desk said you never checked in."
"Oh! Yeah, I'm staying with a friend."
"A friend? Like a friend from before your running away thing? Or like an orgasm-buddy friend that you just met and decided to copulate with?"
"What! You know I wouldn't do that! Definitely the first one." Buffy decided that Anya was a scary force to deal with in the morning.
"Hey! That's great … but you said you weren't going to see anyone you knew."
"I was going to be avoidy-girl, but then I ran into Willow, and … things weren't as bad as I thought they would be."
"Ha! I told you so."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, fine, you were right."
"'Course I was … listen, I just wanted to check in with you – make sure it was all going OK. Talk to you later?"
"Yeah. Bye."
"Bye, Buff."
Buffy hung up and glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Argh. It's only 6:30.
Deciding that it wasn't worth it to try to get more sleep, Buffy took a quick shower and got dressed. Then she went downstairs.
Hearing someone shuffling around, Buffy bounced into the kitchen, expecting to see Willow. Instead …
"Oh, its you."
Spike half turned and glanced at her. "Good mornin' to you, too, luv."
He stepped out from behind the refrigerator door, revealing the fact that he was only clad in a pair of jeans. Buffy felt her mouth become dry as she stared at his well-muscled upper body and wondered …
Whoa. Where did that come from?
She shook her head to clear the lusty thoughts as she realized that Spike had spoken to her.
"Wha'?"
"I said, you never use' to like gettin' up so early. I 'membered."
"Oh, yeah, a friend decided to give me a wake-up call … not much with the sleep-age after that," She answered dismissively as she sat down at a counter stool. "You didn't like getting up early either."
"As I recall, a certain someone decided to hijack my bed and make me sleep on the lumpy couch."
Buffy blushed, but returned his gaze defiantly. "Not my fault I beat you to it." She abruptly changed the subject. "What're you making?"
"Breakfas'." Spike saw her hungry look, and decided to take pity on her. "Want some?"
Buffy nodded eagerly. The two lapsed into a laden silence before Buffy ventured, "Are you … still mad at me?"
Spike glanced at her curiously. "For wha', pet?"
Flashback
William glanced at his friend with worry as he cleaned her wounds. "He did this to you, didn' he?"
Buffy refused to meet his gaze. "What're you talking about, Will? I fell," she answered stubbornly.
"Right, you fell and got a black eye an' split you lip," Will began to grow angry. "'M not blind, Buffy. Why won' you tell anyone?"
She flinched, and he immediately felt a pang of regret for yelling. "'M sorry. 'M jus' worried 'bout you," he said contritely.
Buffy smiled as best as she could. "I know, Will." She hopped off the sink counter and gave her friend a hug. "But I can take care of myself."
Will pulled back to look his friend in the face. "You know, you can always tell my da' –"
"No," the blonde girl said sharply. "I'm fine, so drop it, ok?"
"Fine," Will answered tightly, his face clouded with irritation and concern.
"It's only worse in the summer 'cause I'm around more. It'll get better when school starts."
"If you say so, Buff."
End Flashback
After that, their arguments over this subject had grown more heated, until William left for England at the end of the summer, refusing to talk to Buffy.
Buffy shrugged. "Dunno. For … before, for me leaving. Just …" She trailed off.
"I never could've stayed angry at you for long. You know tha', luv. Might've regret that we parted wi'out sussin' everything out, though," Spike answered.
He set a plate of pancakes in front of her, and the pair chewed in thoughtful silence for a few moments. Buffy took the time to study Spike. She took in his chiseled face and bleached blonde locks. Suddenly, he noticed her perusal.
"Wha'?" He questioned. "Do I 'ave pancake batter on my nose or somethin'?"
Buffy ignored his attempt at levity, and said solemnly, "You've changed."
He looked at her curiously. "Yeah, people tend to do tha', pet. You're not exactly the same as before, either."
"Yeah, but you're like a completely new person. What happened to make -"
Willow suddenly stepped into the room, cutting off Buffy's inquiries. "Morning, you two."
"Morning, Wills."
"Morning, Red." Spike stood up.
"Spike, put a shirt on. You're going to catch a cold that way." Willow admonished after glancing at her friend.
"Yes, 'mum,'" Spike replied with a smirk.
Willow grinned and stick her tongue out, stealing a bit of Spike's pancake.
Buffy smiled at their childish behavior.
After a few moments, Spike got up. "'M goin' ta get dressed an'make sure Bit actually gets up in time for school today."
He left the room, and Buffy heard him pound up the stairs a few moments later.
"Hey, sleep OK?" Willow asked her friend.
Buffy smiled. "Yeah, felt at home."
"I don't have any classes today. Do you have time for some quality girl-bonding?"
"Yup, sure. All for the girl-bonding-ness."
"Great! We could hit the mall, then tonight the gang could go bronzing. Plus, I'm guessing you haven't talked to Xander yet."
"Oh! Yeah, can't wait to see him."
Willow sat down with her own plate of pancakes. "Un-huh. But now, you promised to tell me what you've been up to, so spill, missy."
Buffy grimaced. "You sure you don't want to tell me what you've been doing instead?"
"Nuh-uh." Willow shook her head for emphasis. "You promised."
Buffy began. "Right. 'K. So you remember when I left?"
Willow nodded.
"Well, I managed to get a ride to L.A., and there I found this seedy diner place where they were willing to hire anyone without asking questions …"
Buffy gave Willow an account of what had happened in the last 5 years. In short, Buffy had worked at the diner for the first two years until she legally became an adult. After the first few months, she had managed to save enough money to rent a place to live. Once she became legal, she found a different job singing in a nightclub. There, she met Anya, who liked her voice, and offered her a chance at a show-biz career …
"… and, Wills, remember yesterday when you said you thought you saw me on T.V. once?"
"Yeah …"
"Well, that sorta, might've actually been me," Buffy admitted, avoiding Willow's eyes.
The redhead gaped at her friend. After a lengthy silence: "No. Way."
"Um, yeah …"
Willow suddenly came to life, jumping up with a squeal and hugging her friend. "Wow! I can't believe you're famous! I am so happy for you …" Here, she pulled back and looked at Buffy for a moment. "You are happy, right?"
Buffy quickly assured her friend that she was, and Willow went back to being bouncy and congratulating.
A voice cut into the friends' conversation. "So were you too busy being a 'star' to remember what you left behind?"
Buffy glanced at the kitchen doorway. "Dawnie - "
"No!" Dawn said sharply. "You don't get to 'Dawnie' me and expect me to listen to you ... I'll see you later, Wills."
Dawn pushed out the backdoor furiously.
Willow put a hand on her friend's arm to prevent her from going after her sister. "Give she some time, Buff. She took it really hard when you left. Somehow, Dawn knew you had gone when she woke up, and she kept repeating something about a promise …"
FlashbackThe 8-year-old held her little sister's hand tightly as the watched their mother being lowered into her grave.
"Buffy, what's happening to Mommy?" young-Dawn whimpered, sounding lost.
"She's going to heaven, Dawnie," her sister explained somberly.
"Will she come back?"
"No, but someday, we'll meet her there."
Dawn looked ready to cry again. Her mother's death had not really seemed like anything significant until now. "But I need her."
"I know. But you still have me. And I'll always take care of you."
"Promise?"
"Pinky-swear."
The sisters hooked their pinkies together in a solemn bond.
End Flashback
" It'lll work out, Buffy. We can get Spike to talk to her later, if it helps." Willow said anxiously.
Buffy forced herself to push away her troubles. "Thanks, Willow. I'll worry about it later. Ready for some serious shopping?"
The redhead smiled to see her friend's happier mood. "You bet'cha."
"Let's go, then."
Thoughts, comments, criticisms ...
le faye