Dawn knocked, but there was no answer. He had to be there – it was the middle of the afternoon, where else would he be? She slowly opened the door.
"Spike? Are you there? It's Dawn."
She could hear something from – erm, downstairs? - and then he called out:
"I'll be right there."
A moment later he came up the ladder. Dawn stared at him.
"What?"
"Uh, nothing. It's just -" She'd never seen him right out of bed. He'd obviously just thrown on his jeans and t-shirt, and his hair looked – different. She pulled herself together.
"I just came to say I'm sorry. You know, for not telling you about the bot. I guess we just didn't – we weren't thinking, Spike. I'm sorry. We should have told you."
Spike gave her a small smile.
"You had a lot on your minds, all of you. I'm good."
Dawn nodded.
"OK, I'll just get back then. Sorry for waking you up."
"Now that I'm awake anyway, why don't you stay a little?"
Great, Spike, could you sound any more pathetic? Dawn hesitated.
"I guess..."
They looked at each other for a moment, unsure what to do, and then Dawn's eyes turned soft.
"You're all alone. You're always alone. How do you do that?"
Spike averted his eyes.
"I manage. I'm a big boy, you know?"