Chapter 27

Riley stopped the car in front of Buffy's house and she didn't move for a few seconds. She then looked up and felt more tears form in her eyes when she saw Spike walk out of his house. She suddenly got out of the car and ran over to him, Riley not that far behind. Spike was confused when he saw her get out of another man's car and even more confused when she attacked him in a big hug. He wrapped his arms around her and could tell that she was crying. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asked and all she could manage was a shake of the head. Riley finally caught up to her and gave Spike a smile.

"She had some trouble at school. I was just giving her a ride home." Spike nodded and wondered what could have happened. He was about to ask Buffy again, when Dawn and Harmony then walked out of their house and noticed Buffy.

"What happened?" Dawn asked as she went over to her sister.

"I don't know yet. Could you two take her inside?" They nodded and Spike let Buffy go, only to have her hold on to him tighter. "It's okay, love. I just want to talk to your friend here. I'll be right inside." He told her and she managed to let go after a few seconds. Dawn and Harmony each grabbed one of her hands and pulled her into the house. Spike then turned back to Riley when they were gone. "What happened to her?" He asked and hoped that this other man wasn't responsible for the way she was acting.

"It looked like this guy was getting rough with her outside of the school. I'm new here and I didn't really know who he was, but it didn't look like he was a friend. I hate to say this, but it looked like he was trying to rape her." Spike felt pure rage at the thought of anyone touching Buffy in that way. "I tried getting her to talk in the car, but she wouldn't say anything. She's pretty shaken up." Spike nodded and took a deep breath.

"Thanks, mate. I'm glad you got there when you did. My name's Spike, I'm Buffy's boyfriend." He said as he held his hand out and Riley shook it.

"Riley Finn, nice to meet you." He replied and they dropped their hands. "You have yourself a great girl there." Riley told him and Spike agreed.

"Yeah, I should probably check on her. Thanks again." He said and Riley nodded as Spike made his way over to Buffy's house. He really hoped she was okay.

Buffy went to hug Spike again when he entered her room. He returned the hug and sat down on her bed, pulling Buffy down with him. "It's going to be okay, baby. I've got you now." He told her in a comforting voice.

"I was so scared." She whispered and Spike nodded as he held her tighter. He gave her a few moments and then finally pulled away to look at her.

"Who was he, love? Is this the bloke that sent you the necklace?" Buffy nodded and took a deep breath before she told him.

"It was Warren Mears. He's in a few of my classes. I helped him out last year when a few guys were picking on him. He seems to think that we're meant to be together from that. I always knew he was weird, but I never thought he was crazy. I didn't think he would actually try and hurt me. I heard that he once built a robot girlfriend. I never really believed it, but now I'm not so sure. He seems pretty desperate. He said he wasn't finished with me. I don't even want to think about what he would do next." She explained in a shaky voice and Spike took everything in.

"You have to report this, Buffy. He'll never leave you alone if you don't." Buffy nodded and wiped at her eyes, she didn't even realize that she was crying again.

"I don't want to go to the police. I don't even have any real proof, but I can talk to Principal Wood tomorrow. I know he'll believe me." Spike nodded also and figured that was better than nothing.

"Okay, but I'm going with you. I'm sure he wouldn't try anything with me around." He stated and Buffy shook her head.

"I can't have you do that. You have your own classes to deal with. I'm not even sure how I would explain that." Spike tucked a lock of hair behind her ear; there was no way he was letting her go to school alone.

"I'll tell them that I just decided to visit. A lot of graduates come back to visit their old teachers. I can miss one day of classes, this is more important. I don't want you out of my sight." He told her and she gave him another hug. It was great to have someone that cared about her like that. If it was possible, she loved him even more.

"You're too good to me." She told him as she rested her head on his shoulder and he put his arm around her.

"No one hurts my girl." He said and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "If I see him though, I won't be held responsible for what I do. You may need to hold me back." Buffy laughed at that and Spike was just glad to cheer her up a little.

"I'm pretty sure you can take him." She responded and Spike agreed.

"You're damn right I can. I remember that ponce from last year. He was always walking around with his nose in a book, caused a few accidents that way. Those are the ones you usually need to look at for. It's always the quiet ones." Buffy nodded and decided to change the subject.

"So, Riley seems nice. There's no telling what could have happened if he didn't show up. I don't even want to think about it. I can't believe I actually thought that he was the stalker. I think he might have a crush on me though." Spike shook his head and didn't know how to break this to her.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't think you're the one he's crushing on. Trust me, I can always tell. I saw the way he was looking at your sister when she came out of the house." Buffy then pulled away to look at him.

"Wait, are you saying that he likes Dawn?" Spike laughed and shook his head again.

"No, I was talking about Harmony. Yeah, I wouldn't really believe it either." He said when he saw the look on her face.

"Wow, I never would have guessed. Riley seems a lot smarter than that, not that I think Harmony's so stupid or anything. She can actually be smart when she puts her mind to something, every now and then. She just doesn't seem like his type. You know, this could actually be a good thing for her. She needs a guy like him. Maybe I could set something up; things went well with Faith and Tara." Spike placed a finger on her lips to quiet her. She could sometimes go on forever.

"I think you just need to worry about yourself right now. If it's meant to be, it has a way of working itself out." He said as he removed his finger and Buffy nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, guess you're right. My mom should be home soon, so you should probably go. I'm hoping everything with Warren will just go away tomorrow. I don't need her to know about it. This is the last week before we're out for winter break and I want to have a peaceful holiday. I won't let some creepy guy ruin everything." Spike smiled and gave her a peck on the lips.

"That's the spirit. Don't forget, I'll be going with you tomorrow." He said and she wasn't about to forget. He gave her one more kiss and then left the room. Buffy just watched him go and lay back in her bed. She really hoped everything would work out, but she felt a lot better knowing that Spike would be with her.