She rose from the couch with a small groan, it was nearly noon and she hadn't planned on falling asleep. Crawling upstairs and slowly getting herself dressed, she went down the stairs to grab the money from the "food jar". She sighed…money was running tight still and the money here, though it was supposed to last the month, would probably last a week. She shoved the money into her pocket and headed out the door. Shielding her eyes against the blinding sun she moved her way slowly down the porch steps. She was half way to the sidewalk when something laying on the ground by their large tree made her freeze. She felt her hands start to shake as she walked slowly over to the tree, not really sure if she was ready to see what she already knew was there. Only confirming it she picked up a few cigarette butts off of the ground. A tear crept from her eye as her mind flashed back to a night in a falling down building. A wave of anger and passion washed over her as she saw herself being thrust against a wall. Hating herself and at the same time knowing what was displaying in front of her was everything that she had needed. Her mind brought her back to the present time the cigarette butts covered in dirt still laid across her palm. Still shaking she shoved them in her pocket, "Holy shit…" she said to herself in a whisper before running back into the house.
"Willow…please come home…I need to talk to you it's important….can't you miss this class just once..ok..thank you Will, it means a lot to me. K' see you when you get here." Buffy hung the phone up on the wall before laying down on the couch. Placing a pillow over her head was not enough to cover the scream that erupted from her lips. She sat herself up and hugged the pillow to her body as the moisture started to creep slowly little by little from her eyes. God...what am I going to do…what if he try's to convince me that he loves me again…why…why can I hate everything about him and still feel a sting of relief that he is back?. These thoughts continuously ran through her head until she heard the door shut loudly, snapping her out of the trance she was in. Willow coming in and seeing her friend puffy eyed and more scared then she had seen her in a long time, she needed no explanation for now and hurried to her friends' side to embrace her in a tight hug.
"Buffy...hun, I'm sorry if I would have known it was this bad I would have been here sooner.." Willow said, offering words of comfort to her close friend trembling beneath her. "Sweetie...can you tell me what has gotten you so worked up?"
"He….he's back.." Buffy slowly choked out in a hoarse voice so unlike her own. Shaking, her hands reached into her pocket to pull out the butts from on the ground. She dropped them into Willows' outstretched hand. Willow didn't say a word; sat there in silence for a moment…she understood only too well how Buffy felt now. The reason for her depression and habit of wanting to be alone had returned. The hope of being able to get over the trama of what had happened had just floated through the window. Willow gently placed her hand over her best friends' and a small smile crept to her lips.
"Buffy…it'll be ok, we'll get the rest of the scoobies on tracking him down and running him out of town before he can even get to your front porch again." She said with a reassuring smirk played across her face. Buffy imitated this mainly for show, she knew it wasn't the truth and he would probably return again, the thought of him standing there against his tree was enough to make a shiver run down her spine.
"Will...I…I think I am going to try to go and rest for a while..ya know get this all off of my mind." Willow nodded and watched Buffy ascend the stairs before running into the kitchen to make a few phone calls…
He awoke in his empty crypt; it was quiet as it had always been since he had returned except for the background noise coming from the television. He could tell from the creases around the door that the sun had not yet gone down and he still had a few hours before he could do anything. He lazily strode over to the fridge to grab a package of pigs blood, Almost out…have to run down to the deli at sundown and stock up…, he thought to himself. He sighed, trying to figure out how he could possibly miss the annoying gang of scoobies. They may have gotten on his nerves and treated him like something they stepped in and couldn't get rid of but, they were at least better to have a conversation with then himself. Surprising, even to himself, he suddenly was filled with anger and threw a punch filled with fury at the wall. Looking down at the blood dripping from his hand he let out a small chuckle. He wasn't shocked at how much it relieved him…after everything he had went through, the punch felt like he had just stubbed his toe. In the months he had been away his body had hardened and pain was more or less meaningless to him now…physical pain anyways.
His mind focused itself on the slayer…he imagined a night at the bronze and how simple everything had been then. He had always known she was just using him and the sex had never been the part he and enjoyed the most. He loved the closeness that they had when she wanted him, when he could smell her intoxicating scent, run his fingers through her silky hair, and… that hunger she held in her eyes when she would kick his door in and rush over to him. Every once in a while she would approach him angrily and more than likely punch him full in the face but, he grew used to it and in turn grew to love that about her too. Her passion and fury were two of the things that excited him the most about her, it amazed him how someone burdened with so much could possibly still have that much strength in her. A small smirk crept across his face…If only she knew how much I love her…how much I need her. Maybe then she would understand why I have come back, why I can't just leave…. A few more dents into the wall he slowly started pacing the length of the crypt, waiting for the sun to fall….
Let me know what your thinking! Any suggestions to what you would like to happen give me some ideas! Thank you