A/N: Um, yeah, I haven't died or anything, so … here it is …

Thanks you, Casey, Mony19, funkydevil206, soccerchic1099, and Moonjava, for the reviews!

Disclaimer: I am the evil genius, Joss, and I control the characters of BtVS! Muhahahahaha! … Or I'm just a demented teen sitting at home with illusions of grandeur. I still get to borrow the characters to play with them , though … hehehe …

Rating: PG-13. Swearing, angst, violence. You have been warned …

Pairings: B/S eventually. W/T, X/A.

Distribution: Yeah, sure, take it. Tell me first, though.

Reviews: Much appreciated. Much loved.

Previously: Buffy has a stalker, Xander and Anya meet, and Buffy and Dawn make up …

She couldn't help it. A snort escaped her before she could bring her hand up to cover her mouth.

"'Ey! 'S not funny!"

"Yes, it is," Dawn said while Buffy gave up trying to hide her laughter.

The sisters stared at the bleached blonde, who had gotten his hands hopelessly ensnared in a maze of yarn and knitting needles.

Knitting had been a pastime the younger Summers had picked up from Tara a while ago. In turn, she insisted on teaching Spike (though he really suspected that Dawn just wanted an excuse to laugh at him) whenever he was home.

After all this time, he still hadn't gotten the knack of it. More often than not, their knitting sessions ended with Dawn giggling her head off and helping Spike unravel whatever mess he'd managed to make.

Today, for lack of anything better to do, Buffy had decided to join the two.

"'Ey, stop laughing!" Spike complained. "'S not like you're doin' any better."

Buffy looked down at the little, tangled lump in her hands that was the product of an hour's work.

"Yeah? Well, at least I didn't end up with my hands tied together."

Spike pouted, and Buffy almost felt sorry for him – until she realized that he was doing it on purpose.

Just then, Anya danced past the living room, poking her head in briefly and only noticing the two blondes. "Whoa, bondage games with yarn? Kinky," she observed.

Immediately, Dawn dropped the scarf she had been making (never mind that they lived in California, she heard that scarves would be in style this year) and covered her ears as if they had been burned. She began her mantra of "ew, ew, ew …"

A thoroughly mortified Buffy turned beet red and exclaimed, "Anya!"

It was too late, though. Her wayward friend had already gone out the door to meet Xander for their date.

Buffy looked back to see Spike's shoulders shaking in silent laughter. She rolled her eyes and poked him in the ribs, but he only looked at her with amusement.

She once again marveled at how comfortable Spike was with himself. Before, he would have been even more embarrassed than she was.

"You know, I think you've all gone crazy and I'm never teaching either of you to knit again," Dawn declared randomly before leaving.

Spike went into another spasm of laughter and when he finally caught his breath, he told Buffy, "Now 've got to thank your friend, Anya, from savin' me from Dawn."

"Right, 'cause Dawn with a knitting needle was just so scary," Buffy said sarcastically.

"You 'aven't been goin' through this for months, luv."

Dawn stuck her head in the room. "I heard that! Now see if I help you unwrap your hands!"

She poke her tongue out and then ran upstairs.

Spike glanced at his hands in dismay, then turned to Buffy beseechingly. "Luv?"

"Hmm, I dunno," Buffy pretended to consider it. "For one thing, you can't tickle me anymore with your hands tied up."

"'Course I can!" He waved his few free fingers menacingly, but could not produce the same effect.

His friend relented. "Fine, I'll help," Buffy sighed, as if it were a great burden. "But you have to tell me your story."

"What story?" Spike played innocent.

"You've been avoiding telling me what you've been doing for the last couple of years. You know my story and I've heard everyone else's. So it's your turn to share." She emphasized this with another hard poke to his stomach, then began to work through the knotted yarn.

He shrugged noncommittally. "Not much to say, luv. Graduated high school early, went through college. Now 'm writing."

"You make your life sound boring," Buffy observed, still intent on her task.

Spike glanced sideways at the girl sitting next to him, a sudden thought flashing through his mind about how cute she looked with the tip of her tongue poked out the side of her mouth in concentration.

He shook it away before answering with a slight shrug. "That's the gist of wha' happened, pet."

"Your accent's different."

Spike raised his eyebrows at the sudden change in subject. "I spent at while in different parts of London, luv. Must've picked it up somewhere."

He rubbed his wrists as Buffy finished undoing the last knot.

"Thanks, Buffy," he said as he stood up. "Wills and Tara 'ave gone out, too. Want me to make dinner?"

Buffy looked up with surprise. "Um, sure."

"'K, pizza or Chinese?" The bleached blonde replied with a smirk.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Knew it was too good to be true. Pizza."

He ignored her first comment. "Pizza it is, then. Still like pineapples, luv?"

"Yeah," Buffy called back as she went up the stairs, "thanks."

oOoOo

"Hey, Dawn." Buffy looked into her sister's room, where Dawn sat on her bed reading a magazine.

"Hey, Buffy. Didya get Spike untangled?" Dawn greeted as she looked up.

"Um, yeah, he's getting dinner now."

"You mean: he's on the phone ordering pizza?" Dawn raised an eyebrow in a Spike-esque style.

"Yeah," Buffy laughed as she came in and sat down next to the teenager.

"So … what's up?" Dawn asked.

"Dawnie …"

"Yeah?"

"What's he been like, the past few years?"

"Who? Spike? He's been … I dunno, Spike. I guess I'm used to him now, but I think he sorta went through a major change after you left."

Buffy cocked her head questioningly, asking Dawn to continue.

"Well, he was really worried about you, that first summer, when he learned you'd left. I wasn't really there, but I think he had a fight with Wills …"

Flashback

"How could you just let her leave!" William exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, William," Willow answered quietly. "But she was so determined to go and …"

"She's only sixteen! She's a minor! She's your best friend! You could've talked her out of it or somethin'!"

"You're only a year older, Will. And you know that Buffy's always had to act older than her age."

"Are you guys looking for her? Do none of you care that she left?"

"God, Will," Willow jumped up, suddenly incensed. "What kind of question is that? Of course we care! Giles is asking the police every other day if they've found her yet. But … she told me – I mean, Buffy said that she wanted to do this for herself. I'm .. not sure she wants to be found, exactly…"

William couldn't exactly counter that. It sounded like the very thing his impulsive friend would do. "'M sorry, Wills. I know you care, but still …"

"It's Buffy, William," Willow countered. "Do you think I could have stopped her? Besides, I trust her."

"So do I! But …"

Willow walked over to William, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. " I know you're worried and so am I, but we've done all we can and Buffy knows what she's doing," she explained softly.

William got up. "I … I can't think right now. 've gotta do somethin'."

He walked out the door. Willow stared after him, worried.

The next day, Giles found a note from his son, explaining that he had gone to L.A. …

End Flashback

"He's spent every summer looking for me?" Buffy asked.

"Um, yeah. That was where he was when you came back last week. He's traveled to lots of place by now."

"You still haven't explained about the 80's look and sudden bit of extra-confident egomaniac-ness, though," Buffy pursued.

Dawn looked a little bit uneasier with this turn in conversation. "Um, I think that's more like Spike's story to tell …"

"Nibblet! Buffy! Pizza's here!" The girls heard Spike call up the stairs.

"Let's go. Dinner time." Dawn got up.

With their talk forgotten for the moment, the sisters raced each other down the stairs, giggling all the way.

oOoOo

"Buffy!" Willow stepped into the house as she came back from school and called out as she flipped through that day's mail. "You've got a letter!"

Elephant feet were heard crashing down the stairs, and the blonde appeared a moment later. "I've got mail?" Her brows knitted together. "But no one knows I'm here."

Willow shrugged and handed the envelope to her friend.

Eagerly, Buffy opened it and pulled out the contents; but just as suddenly, she dropped it and jumped back, as if burnt.

"Buff? What's wrong?"

Shakily, Buffy pointed at the picture that lay on the floor.

"Oh, Goddess," Willow breathed, staring at it with wide eyes.

The photo was one of their entire group of friends the summer before Buffy left. They were all smiling happily, crowding together to get in the picture.

What was disturbing was the fact that Buffy's head had been cut out. And, everyone else's eyes had been scratched out.

"Oh, Goddess," Willow repeated.

Reviews are happy! ... yeah, i think i'm completely high or something right now ...

le faye