Previously: 'Well I dunno about you guys but I could sure do with some sleep' Angelina yawned. Her balance was off and so she was leaning against Lorne, but didn't actually notice until her knees buckled and she almost fell.

'Me too' Buffy faked a yawn and everyone said their goodbyes and arranged to meet up at some stage tomorrow.

There was to be no happy person awake that night.

Chapter 51

Candice, Carly and Dawn had returned to the house a little shaken up. Candice more than others. Bonnie had stayed up in order to let them into the house, seeing as Candice had forgotten her keys. Upon seeing the expression on Candice's face, she had known something was wrong. Together they had sat down and spoken about it all, Bonnie healing Carly's arm as they retold the accounts of the night.

Afterwards Candice had apologised and said she needed to be alone. Carly and Dawn understood completely. It wasn't everyday you staked your sister. It must have been hard on the girl.

Candice left to sleep in her room for the night, while Carly and Dawn slept in the lounge room.

They were worried about their friend, but knew that she would pull through in the end.

She had to…

~**~

Anya and Xander had lingered in the hallway, which they knew probably wasn't safe, but they wanted a brief moment of privacy.

'Well done tonight' Anya said

'Not so bad yourself' Xander joked. He knew she didn't do much, thought that was a relief to him. He still loved her, and would hate to see her hurt.

They continued to talk for a few minutes or so, giving Faith and Robin time to stop whatever they were doing. They hoped.

They knew that it wasn't safe, but they had been meeting each other in the hallway since Robin and Faith arrived to live with them.

They had enjoyed each other's company and had had late night talks and watched movies together. All the things a normal couple would do, except they weren't a couple. Just friends.

'Well goodnight' Anya breathed.

'Yeah. Night' Xander nodded.

Anya leant in and kissed Xander on the cheek and then headed to her door, unlocked it and went inside.

'Love you' Xander whispered, now alone in the hall.

~**~

Angelina woke the next morning feeling like a truck had hit her. She hadn't slept well for at least three or four days and as she had found out last night, it was beginning to take its toll on her. She knew she was lucky Spike had helped her; otherwise she might not have made it out of the brawl alive.

She quietly sighed and rolled onto her side to observe the demon sleeping beside her. True, he was no fighter, but he made up for that with kindness and pizzazz. She had never met someone who dressed like him, nor someone who was so different, to be so kind. She was grateful for that. Life had been difficult for her. Maybe Lorne was god's way of saying 'sorry'?

She smiled to herself as she recalled all of the crap that had happened in her life and how since moving to Cleveland, her life had turned around. Being a slayer wasn't that bad she figured. It had its perks.

Lorne muttered something in his sleep but Angelina didn't manage to catch it. Slowly, Lorne's arm found its way to her waist, where it settled happily.

Angelina gently kissed the green arm and saw Lorne smile. She wasn't sure if he was actually asleep or not, but she was willing to stay here for most of the day.

She closed her eyes and hoped for sleep to come.

~**~

Staying at Red's wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. I wanted my own bed back or at least, to be able to share Buffy's.

Buffy. I missed her. It was hell to stay away from her for more than five hours. Damn Watcher. If only he lived in the same bloody building.

It was plain he didn't really like me, but I would love to piss him off every morning by walking through the door and going straight to Buffy, planting a kiss on her lips and rubbing it into Giles' face that I had something he didn't. A lover.

I sighed as I rubbed my eyes. I had slept well, but was kinda worried about the fact that we didn't exactly know what Angelus' plan was or where Dru had gone. I had a feeling she hadn't actually been turned to dust last night.

I grabbed the remote that lay on the floor next to the couch I was lying on and switched on the tv.

The news appeared and seemed to be showing a street. The news reporter was giving her account of what happened that night. Though she wasn't there, so how was the bird to know? She was just basing things off police guesses and the scorch marks the fire of fire left. No one actually knew what had happened. Except for us.

Willow was still asleep, so I had the tv volume on low, so I wouldn't wake her. I told myself I wasn't being soft, just considerate. I was after all being her roommate for who knows how long. It was the least I could do.

I was hungry and so rolled off the sodding couch to find breakfast. After raiding the fridge I found blood and wheat-bix. Figured I give the blood some texture today. I microwaved the blood and crushed up the cereal, and then when the blood was warm enough stirred the wheat-bix through.

It was different, which was good. Change was good. Well, most change was good.

I returned to the couch and flipped the channel to some sort of cartoon where a little yellow square sponge and a starfish were dressing up in Halloween costumes. Bollocks. Today was Halloween. I inwardly groaned. Today was going to be hell.

But on the bright side, I looked human. Poor Lorne was going to have a hell of a time.

I chuckled to myself. It must suck being green sometimes.

I switched the channel again to some music channel. It wasn't bad either; all the old songs. I kept the volume low and continued to watch until Willow decided to rise. Then we'd go and met the rest of the gang at the magic shop.

I took a casual sip of my blood as some bird flashed the band that was playing and crowd surfers began to rev the crowd.

It was probably going to be a lazy morning.

~**~

'Anything else on the not so little child?' Buffy asked from the kitchen.

She had been half asleep and had wandered around Giles' apartment for at least twenty minutes until she realised she was hungry, then it was straight to the kitchen.

It was amazing how his apartment in Cleveland looked so much like his home in Sunnydale. Weird.

'Not yet' Giles stated. He had been up early this morning researching the story and trying to find any clues as to who it could be. So far he hadn't gotten any further than the rest of the group did the other day. It frustrated him to no end too. He was the Watcher, he was meant to know these things.

'Well maybe you should leave that for a while and actually eat something' Buffy placed a bowl of cereal in front of the man. He had had nothing but coffee and two apples. Buffy had found that out when she went to get coffee for herself and found the coffee pot empty. That, and her apples were missing.

Giles sighed and pushed the book aside. He needed a break. Maybe then he could look at the facts again and figure it all out within seconds. He doubted it, but it sounded good. Buffy ventured back into the kitchen and returned with another bowl of cereal for herself. Together they sat and ate in polite conversation. Their relationship wasn't as good as it had once been, but it was better than what it had been recently. Which to Giles meant that he was slowly building Buffy's trust in him. Which was the way it was meant to be. A slayer had to trust her Watcher completely.

They finished their breakfast, Buffy taking the plates and cups and washing them, while Giles once again looked at the story and the facts and contemplated some more.

An hour later Buffy came back to his side.

'You know, we should get to the magic shop' she hinted.

Once again Giles sighed. 'Is that the time already?' he gazed at the girl.

Buffy nodded and Giles then began to pack up his books and notes.

They left the apartment together and made their way to the shop.

Buffy with a stake in hand and Giles with his books and notes.