Flipping off the engine of Giles's beloved car, Willow released a dreamy sigh, closing her eyes happily to reflect on what had to have been one of the best dates she'd ever had. Starting with the movie had been an excellent icebreaker: it was a truly horrible movie, which left them with a common enemy to verbally abuse as they giggled over their cappuccinos.

The more time Willow spent with Lindsay, the more relaxed she became. She was absolutely relieved to realize that Lindsay was a dork, so much so that Willow was able to totally unwind, letting that side of herself show for the first time in a long while. The Slayer had tried so hard to be delicate, but she was a clumsy eater; an amused Willow had noticed her sneakily wipe whip cream from her nose not once, but twice. Just the thought made her grin- someone she'd previously thought of as inhumanly graceful, with whip cream on her face. Lindsay's constant chatting turned out to be more of a nervous tick than anything; by the end of the date, they were hardly speaking at all, just enjoying each other's company, and shyly holding each other's hands.

Most of all, her chest still fluttered as she recalled Lindsay's gentle little goodnight kiss, starting at Willow's cheek, and hesitantly moving to her lips…

In more ways than one, the memory was her undoing. As a sharp bolt of energy made contact with her head, Willow's eyes shot open for only a brief moment before she was pulled, unconscious, from the driver's seat.

"SPIKE! Stop the car!" Dawn shrieked from the passenger's seat, her fingers shooting up to point at the scene that was unfolding across the car lot. The dark-haired witch was dragging Willow from Giles's car, moving as quickly as she could towards a dingy black vehicle parked at the lot entrance.

Slamming his hand across Dawn's chest to keep the jolt from sending her into the dash, Spike pulled the emergency brake on instinct. Before the vehicle had a chance to skid to a stop, Buffy flung herself from the backseat and onto the icy gravel in a practiced dive, coming up off a clean forward roll and running at her friend's attacker in a cold fury.

Dawn immediately moved to follow her sister, but Spike again forced her into her seat, snarling, already showcasing his demon features.

"No, YOU stay put. If you get an opening, get Red inside. Otherwise, you stay in this car. I mean it." Before she could argue, Spike was gone, flying after Buffy as quickly as the snow would allow.

"Get AWAY from her!" Buffy screamed. She had quite a head start, but Spike was hot on her heels. Both were within yards of the witch when she suddenly dropped Willow to the ground, lifting her hands towards them with a frigid sneer.

"That's quite close enough," she growled. A burst of light shot from her open palms, and Spike and Buffy both found themselves riveted to the ground, unable to move their legs, frozen to the spot by an invisible barrier.

Wake up, wake up, wake up! Buffy desperately willed her friend to move, but she remained helpless as Renata bent to gather up the motionless Willow.

Spike watched her intently as he strained to move his legs. She was familiar, but he couldn't quite place her in his memory… What he could see, quite clearly, was that the effort of keeping them both immobile combined with the physical effort of dragging Willow across the ground was draining her. Acting purely on a hunch, he shoved every ounce of energy he had into an attempted swing of his leg, and broke free of the spell with a triumphant laugh.

Panic in her eyes, Renata sent another bolt of light at Spike, this time sending him flying backwards, again struggling to move. Gasping for breath, Buffy found herself suddenly freed, and again ran at Renata, wishing she had a weapon of any kind.

Oh well, fought worse with less, she thought, slamming into the witch with as much of her heightened strength as she could. Her opponent flew backwards, the back of her head missing the side of the building by inches.

"You're lucky my aim is off today. Don't tempt me to practice."

Pulling a small, black dagger from her sleeve, Renata circled Buffy, trying to hide that she was favoring one side. She lunged to Buffy's left, which was easily batted away, the dagger clattering to the ground.

"I'm no fighter," she sneered, "But I have my tricks…" With a cruel smile, she turned her attention back to Spike, who was moving towards her, again released. He hit his knees as another burst of magic hit him, screaming in pain as a cloud of blue light circled his neck.

Before Buffy had time to react, Renata ceased to be a threat as a small green car slammed into her chest, sending her flying into the building, where she landed in a crumpled heap. Seeing Spike jump back to his feet, Buffy ran to Willow's side, who was starting to groggily lift herself up off the pavement.

Dawn rolled down the window as Spike stumbled towards her, smiling at him sheepishly. "...I didn't leave the car!"

"No, I guess not," Spike laughed, leaning up against the car with a faint groan. "You did good, Niblet. You did real good."

Dawn blushed, smiling back at him. Her smile vanished as she noticed the drifting dust where Renata had been, just moments before. The witch had escaped them again.

Having missed the action again, the boys were distraught when Buffy walked into the library, a weakened Willow in her arms again. Dawn burst out with the story, chattering excitedly as Spike went off to find Willow some water.

Returning, he pointed out worriedly that the snow was beginning to let up outside; they'd better head back before Angel and Spike needed to use their emergency 'travel blankets.' Ignoring Dawn's jokes that she "would be happy to drive" if he needed to hide, the group headed back for Giles's home to wait on the sun to go down.

"Buffy, could I have a word with you? It'll just be a moment." Giles gently tapped Buffy on the shoulder the second they'd crossed his threshold.

Nodding, she followed him up the stairs and into his study, slightly apprehensive when he quickly closed the door behind her.

"Buffy," he began again. "I wanted to tell you in private that Angel has decided not to come back here with us. He's staying elsewhere in the city, don't worry… and he can easily join us if we need him… but he thinks this is for the best, and I can't say I don't agree." He paused, pressing a small piece of paper into her hands before taking his leave of the room, shutting the door carefully behind him.

She unfolded the paper to reveal a quickly scrawled note:

Buffy, I know you've already told me you won't hold yesterday against me, but I do. Until I can promise it won't happen again, I think we need some time apart. I know you're with Spike… as strange as I find that... and I'm going to need a lot of time to get used to that idea. I hope we can be friends again soon, but I think for now we need to keep our distance as much as we can. I promise though, I won't abandon you. If you need me, I'll be there. Just say the word. -Angel

Breathing out deeply, Buffy was surprised at the relief that washed over her. Yesterday had reminded her too much of times she didn't want to think about these days, both of her past with Angel, and worse, her past with Spike.

After Spike's death, she'd had months of mostly isolation to reflect on the events of the prior years. Her time with Angel when she was younger had hurt her more than it had helped her in most ways; his departure had put an end to some of that confusion, but had hurt her even more in some respects. Riley leaving too had reopened and widened that wound, meaning Spike's initial confession of love couldn't have come at a worse time… and boy, had she punished him for that. She'd spent many nights over, alone in Cleveland, hating herself for every bruise she'd given him out of nothing more than a selfish need to take out her own frustrations on someone else. She knew now the struggle he'd gone through, trying to fight his demon, and wished she'd helped him rather than breaking him down.

Even knowing all of that, she had a hard time breaking that habit. She was grateful to her friends for their restraint when she'd revealed the relationship, but knew they still didn't approve of her choice, and the fight with Angel had brought all of that doubt rushing back for an awful moment. It's never easy, is it?

Taking another deep breath, Buffy slipped back downstairs to join the others. Meeting her eyes as she walked into the kitchen, Spike smiled warmly, reaching out to pull her to him.

Maybe not easy, but worth it.