Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait. The problem is that I have the entire story planned out in my head, so it gets kind of boring to actually write it all down. And if I'm bored then you guys are going to be bored. So I try to only write when I feel inspired. Which is rarely. Anyway, I hope this chapter was worth the wait.

"Ow! You're hurting me, you psycho!"

"Oh, gee, I'm sorry. Because I usually welcome intruders into my home with open arms," Buffy said sarcastically, not loosening her fingers from Dawn's arms. "Now answer my question before I rip out a clump of your oh-so pretty hair."

Dawn was starting to get really annoyed. Buffy could be such a bitch sometimes and she wasn't nearly as funny as she thought she was. "Ha ha, you don't know me. I'm so amused," snarked Dawn, trying to shrug Buffy's hand off her shoulder so she could get past her and go into her room.

But Buffy still didn't let go. In fact, her face hardened as she asked "What are you? Are you what was making my mom sick?"

Dawn felt tears well up in her eyes. Even Buffy wasn't usually this mean. She wasn't going to give Buffy the satisfaction of seeing her cry though. "You are such a bitch sometimes, Buffy. I'm telling Mom."

Buffy finally took a step back, looking confused. "What are you talking about?"

Dawn rolled her eyes. "What are you, on drugs? Or is this a spell or something?" She spoke very slowly, as if to a child. "I'm your sister, Dawn. I live here, with you and Mom. See? That's my bedroom over there," she said, gesturing towards her door.

Buffy's brow furrowed, but she nodded towards the door as if to tell Dawn to open it. Still rolling her eyes, but starting to get a let a little worried, Dawn stepped forward and opened the door, expecting to see her usual posters and furniture and pile of dirty clothes staring back at her. Instead, she was faced with a neatly made bed and beige walls with a few generic paintings on the walls. She spun to face Buffy. "What did you do to my room?"

"What did I do to your room? I can't believe I was almost half believing you for a second that there was a spell or something. What are you, stalking me? I don't have a sister."

Dawn was really starting to get freaked out now. "Buffy, this isn't funny anymore," she said cautiously. "And believe it or not, not everyone is obsessed with you."

"Look," replied Buffy, "I guess I believe you're not a demon, but believe me when I say I have more important things to deal with than delusional teenaged girls who think breaking and entering is fun. So get out of my house right now and I won't call the police."

"But Buffy—."

"Out. Now."

Dawn had never hated Buffy more, but she didn't want her to call the police, so she slunk down the stairs and out the front door, Buffy on her heels. The door was promptly shut and locked behind her. She had scanned for the purse that she had left hanging on the railing, but it, along with every other piece of evidence that she had ever existed, was gone. So now she was locked out of her house with not so much as a quarter to make a phone call.

She figured the best course of action would be to head over to Xander's. Out of all the Scoobies, he was the least likely to be able to help her, but he lived closer than Willow and Tara, and Giles had always made Dawn a little nervous, like he thought she was shallow or stupid or something. So Xander's it was. Everything would be sorted out when she got there, she told herself. After all, it wasn't like Buffy hadn't had spells put on her like a gazillion times before.

Xander's new apartment was way cute. Very retro. Dawn rang the buzzer, hoping Anya wasn't home. She didn't know what Xander saw in her.

To her relief, it was Xander's voice that came over the intercom. "Who is it?"

"It's Dawn."

There was a pause before the voice came back. "I'm sorry, who?"

Dawn's heart sank. The whole way over she had been trying to convince herself that the Buffy thing was some weird fluke and that everyone else would still remember her. Now she was getting really worried.

"Look Xander, I know you don't know who I am right now, but can you just trust me and let me in? I need your help."

Another pause. "Listen, you sound very nice and all and I'm sorry if we've met and I don't remember you, but I try not to invite strangers into my apartment. Why don't you phone me if you need to talk to me?"

"Xander, wait," Dawn started, but he didn't answer. She pressed the buzzer a few more times, but he wasn't picking up.

The encounters with Buffy and Xander set the tone for the rest of the day. Dawn walked all over town, trying to get help from anyone that might listen, her feet getting more and more tired. Buffy had apparently called Willow and Giles and told them about the "strange girl who thought she was her sister" and they wanted nothing to do with her. And it wasn't just Buffy's friends who didn't know her. Even Janice didn't recognize her when she bumped into her outside the Espresso pump. The only semblance of hope she had had all day had been when she was dejectedly leaving Willow and Tara's, only to have Tara call after her. She had been so sure that Tara had suddenly remembered, or at least had noticed something off about her aura or something. But Tara had only offered her a muffin, saying she looked hungry. Dawn had wished she had had the strength of character to refuse it, but she really had been hungry and so she took it. Now they were going to think she was a beggar or something.

The worst part of the day had been when she had walked past her house for the third time, only to see Riley driving Buffy and her mom home from the hospital. She was too beaten down by that point to attempt to hug her mom, knowing that she probably wouldn't remember her anyway, so she just crossed to the other side of the street with her head down and hoped Buffy wouldn't see her and yell at her again.

It was getting dark then, and she was getting really scared. She considered going to the police, but she had learned from experience that the police never did more than get in the way when it came to problems of the hellmouthy variety. Plus they would just think she was crazy and then put her in a group home or something. Dawn couldn't believe that she was thinking like this. It couldn't be a long-term problem, it just couldn't be. But everyone who could possibly help her wanted nothing to do with her.

Dawn tried to think of a place where she could go to escape, or at least postpone, the inevitable vampire attack that awaited her. The Bronze would be closed by two, but at least there was no cover tonight, so she headed in that direction.

She had almost arrived when a vampire lunged out of the shadows at her and knocked her to the ground. She struggled futilely and tried to scream for help when suddenly the heavy body above her was ripped away and hurled into the wall. She scrambled to her feet just in time to see the vampire crumble to dust.

Her rescuer turned towards and her and grumbled "Can you believe that idiot? Practically ran into my stake. I was hoping for a bit more of a fight than that."

"Spike?" she asked incredulously.

"Have we met?" he asked.

"No, guess not," she said sadly as the events of the day came flooding back to her.

He cocked his head at her, confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

It all came flooding out then. She didn't know why she bothered. If her own sister didn't believe her, why would he? But she was desperate for somehow to listen to her.

"So you're the slayer's sister, but nobody remembers?" he asked.

"Yes. I guess it sounds pretty stupid, huh?"

"Well, yeah. But why would you lie? To me, I mean. Nobody really gives a fiddle what I think, do they?"

Dawn was ecstatic. "You mean you believe me?"

"Well, not necessarily. But way I see it, if you are lying, then it's probably part of some grand plan to kill the slayer. Which I'm all for. And if you're not lying and I help you get your life back, the slayer owes me big time. Which I'm also all for."

Dawn thought she should be more bothered by the fact that he so eagerly spoke of killing Buffy, but she couldn't bring herself not be relieved by this turn of events. "So…does this mean I can, like, stay with you while we figure out what's going on?"

He shrugged and lit a cigarette. "Why not? Got nothing better to do right now. Killed a bunch of beasties earlier and now nothing fun is even coming near me." He tilted his head to indicate that she should follow him and headed in the direction of the cemetery. Dawn only hesitated for a moment before following.