4 reviews for last chapter, 3 of which are from new people (where are Lilith Sora and uskohakuchan?). So thankyou muchly to RabidReject (thankyou again), JessAngelus (I like that you like), redheadreader (you rock too) and rocks and glass (whose review I actually squealed a bit at). I love you all, as you know. :D

That last chapter was a bit of an in-between, so hopefully things should pick up from here.

Any similarities between the beginning of last chapter and the beginning of this chapter are totally intentional, I swear.

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The sun glinted off Buffy's bleached-blonde hair as she walked briskly down Revello Drive. She felt its warmth on her back, on her legs. She had been so worried about never getting a tan again (and then additionally worried about thinking like that when she knew that there were much bigger complications to consider). The Gem of Amara flashed on the had she was repeatedly using to pinch herself, convincing herself that this wasn't all a dream.

She reached the door of her house, now rubbing her slightly pink arm, and paused before knocking. What would she say? It had been a few days now since her mother had thrown her out, and she was worried about how shocking and unexpected her return would be. At least it won't be anything new, she mused, Buffy returns after being chucked out, just another day in the Summers house.

She gritted her teeth and knocked three times. Joyce Summers opened the door, jumped about a foot in the air, screamed loudly, and dropped the tray she was carrying.

-

There was almost total silence as Buffy sat on the couch, sipping a glass of orange juice and trying desperately to think of something to say.

"I was always going to let you back, Buffy. Please don't think I only did because of your magic ring." Buffy burst out laughing. "What?"

"I'm sorry… it's just 'magic ring' sounds so stupid." Joyce smiled, then started to laugh along with her daughter.

"I'm just glad you can still go to college, and get a job." She paused, looking a little worried. "Can you still get a job if you're…" she trailed off, looking a bit awkward. Buffy nodded.

"I don't see why not. I mean… as long as it doesn't involve crosses, or holy water…"

"Damn, I was hoping you'd be a nun."

"Very funny, mom."

-

Across town, in Giles' apartment, Willow and xander were arguing about the recent turn of events. Giles had chosen not to participate in this, not just because he found arguing with Xander quite unproductive, but because their argument had not yet covered Buffy's current state of mind. Although it had improved since the (extremely fortunate) discovery of the Gem of Amara, he could not push the incident at the Bronze out of his mind. Neither Buffy nor Angel had told him the full story of what had happened, but he could guess enough to know that Buffy was teetering on the edge. He did not want to see his Slayer spiral out of control.

In the other room, all that Xander and Willow were worrying about was Buffy stumbling into a college meeting of the Young Catholics' Society. Giles didn't want to plague them with his concerns, and busied himself with the kettle, trying to push his thoughts away.

Nevertheless, his thought continued to swirl in his head. One thing was certain, Buffy's and Angel's relationship was now one of codependancy, and if they were isolated from the rest of the group it was all the more likely that they would drag each other down, more likely that they would give into the bloodlust that ruled them both. He prayed that Buffy would spend more time with the humans in her life in the sun, rather than with her vampire mate in the shadows.

-

Angel was reading. The book in his hands was very old, a book of victorian poetry. He knew he should feel glad for Buffy, being able to walk in the sun, go to college, do almost all the things she could have done as a human. However, he could not help but feel a shade of resentment, and a sense of loneliness returning. He thought he would have someone to share the days with, but now he realised that they would be spent alone, again. He sighed, and placed the book on the table in front of him.

"Hey." It was Buffy. He smiled, relieved to see her.

"I thought you were going to spend the day with your mom." She laughed, and flopped down beside him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You know I can't stand being away from you." He tried not to smile too much. "besides, you and me forever. We need to get used to spending all our time with each other." She snuggled closer to him and shut her eyes. He held her closer still, smiling.

What was there to worry about? They had all the time in the world.

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Hope you enjoyed that. Shorter than the last, but I think it's going a bit more smoothly now (not for the characters, haha, for the plot) but maybe I'm wrong.

Any questions, comments? Three guesses what I'm going to say…

Review!