(Thursday 1:20 PM)
"Well don't go away mad Slayer, just go away" Spike said as he started laughing at her again.
Buffy spun on her heel and left the room heading for the ladder. She got halfway there when a parting comment came to her that she couldn't resist. She turned around and walked back to the doorway but before she could say anything she saw that Spike was laying down on the his bed. She froze as she saw him drawn up in a fetal position, his whole body convulsing as he cried into his pillow to smother any sound. Spike didn't see the look on Buffys face or see her turn around and leave his crypt.
*******
(Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
Willow was the first to notice and speak to Giles about it. She had gone to Buffys room on Friday night after she resumed patrolling and had made love to her. Buffy had responded to Willows love making, but she didn't initiate anything on her own. Saturday morning, after Dawn had left the house to go over to Janet's, Willow and Tara together had made love to Buffy again. Buffy was a willing participant and had made love in return with both of the young women, but there still seemed to be a disconnect between what she was doing and what she was feeling. Willow had told Giles that afternoon that whenever she looked into Buffys eyes it seemed as if she were in pain.
Xander had come by the Magic Shop on Sunday afternoon with Anya while Buffy was training and had gone into the back training room with her. When he started touching her breasts and kissing her, Buffy had gone down on her knees, unzipped his pants and pulled his cock out. She had sucked his cock until he came in her mouth and she had smiled at him when she finished, but Xander could tell that she was only going through the motions. Anya had come into the back room just as Buffy finished sucking Xanders cock and after kissing Buffy several times asked her to come to their apartment that night so that they could all have sex together. Buffy had agreed, but Anya had felt confused by her lack of enthusiasm. When Anya and Xander went back to the front of the shop, Anya asked Xander if he had done something to make Buffy not want to have sex with them anymore, or was Buffy still crazy? Xander told her he didn't know what was wrong with Buffy.
When Buffy came over to Xanders and Anyas apartment that night she smiled a lot and made love to both of them for almost two hours. She had sucked Xanders cock and fucked him, she had eaten Anyas pussy and Anya had eaten hers, she had several orgasms and had brought both of them to orgasm several times. But, both Anya and Xander could tell that even though she was going through all the motions and seemed to be enjoying the sex they were having with each other there was something missing.
Over the next several days Giles had talked to Buffy to see how she was feeling, but every time they talked she just smiled at him and said she was doing fine. Giles was at a loss as to what to do. It wasn't like when Buffy was crying uncontrollably and didn't have any control over her emotions. In fact it was just the opposite, she seemed to have her emotions under such tight control that she wasn't feeling anything at all.
*******
(Monday-Friday)
For the next week Buffy patrolled at night and worked at the Magic Shop during the day. She got Dawn off to school in the mornings and trained in the back room of the shop in the afternoons. She smiled at the customers when they came to shop, and killed vampires with machine like efficiency whenever she met them on patrol. She talked to her friends about superficial things and on the surface seemed to be back to normal, but Giles was worried about her. All of the Scoobies could tell that something wasn't right with the way Buffy was behaving. Buffy seemed disconnected from them, as if she had lost something inside of herself.
*******
The tension in the house had been building up all week. Everyone could tell that there was something wrong with Buffy, but no one knew what it was. Willow had tried to get Buffy to open up to her, but Buffy had insisted that everything was fine and had actually gotten into an argument with Willow. She had yelled at Willow that if they would all just stop hounding her everything would be fine. She later apologized for yelling at Willow and had kissed her to make up.
Xander had come over every morning to pick Dawn up and take her to school before going off to work himself. He had tried to make jokes and lighten the mood around the house, but the jokes had fallen flat and the dead silences seemed to fill the house. Buffy hadn't even seemed to notice. Xander had to force a smile whenever he looked at Buffy and was becoming depressed by the whole situation, which was overflowing into his sex life with Anya.
Anya was upset for two reasons. One was the fact that Xander was upset. Ever since Buffy went crazy two weeks ago Xander had become more and more hurt by the distance that was building up between them. Anya could feel his pain and his feelings of loss. The only time he seemed to feel happy was while they had sex with each other, but when the sex was over the hurt returned. The other reason she was upset was that she could feel Buffys pain. With over a thousand years as a vengeance demon that specialized in punishing men that hurt women she could sense the pain a woman was feeling. What she couldn't sense was who or what was causing the pain that Buffy was feeling, which upset her all the more.
Dawn was the most affected and the least able to understand what was wrong. The whispered assurances from Willow and Tara, the sudden stops in conversation when Buffy entered a room, the way Buffy seemed to ignore the tension between them, the distant look in Buffys eyes. All of these things were stressing Dawn to her limit. Several times she had broken down and cried after Buffy had left the house. She had gone to Giles for help, but he was unable to explain what was wrong with Buffy.
Dawn had tried having sex with Giles in the hope that it would make her feel better. But Giles was so worried and distracted by his concern over Buffy that he couldn't keep his mind on their love making. He had told Dawn that he had been watching Buffy on the hidden video cameras while she slept and that she tossed and turned all night.
When Giles was unable to help her or take her mind off of the problem with sex, Dawn had gone looking for Spike. Even though he had told her it wasn't safe for her to come to his crypt alone, she had gone there twice, but each time the place was empty. She did notice that he had cleaned the place up and had a lot of fairly new used furniture, including a big four post bed. She had wondered where he had gotten it all and why he was fixing the place up so much.
When everything else failed to make her feel better Dawn went shopping. She didn't have any money to buy things, she hardly ever did, so she started stealing whatever caught her attention. Mostly it was little things; makeup, lipstick, earrings, bracelets, things that she could slip into her pockets when no one was looking. The most expensive thing she stole was a pair of black leather pants. She had put them on in a dressing room and put her own pants on over them, then walked out of the store. When she got home with them she had to hide them in the back of her closet because there was no way that she could wear them, Buffy would notice them right away and ask where they had come from and how she had paid for them. It was the same with most of the other things she had stole. She put them in a box, with the price tags still on them, and hid the box in her closet. When she was alone at night she would get the box out and go through all the things in it for awhile, then hide them away again.
Tara, on the surface, seemed the least affected by Buffys behavior. But, under the surface, she was feeling Buffys pain every moment of every day. She was also feeling the pain of everyone else as they reacted to Buffy. Tara was a 'White Witch' and her power was centered on her ability to sense things in others. By nature she was a healer and every morning and evening she worked with her powers to cast a calming influence over the house to ease the tension and pain that was becoming stronger every day. Twice she had cast spells trying to find the focus of Buffys pain, to no avail.
*******
For the past nine nights Spike had avoided any direct contact with Buffy. He had also avoided contact with Dawn, Giles and the others. He knew that Dawn had been to his crypt twice in the past week and Giles had been there once. When Dawn had come by he had hidden in a secret closet and had watched her until she left. When Giles had come by he had almost come out of hiding, but decided against it. Giles had left him two pints of blood.
At night he had kept himself busy for the first few nights by breaking into several storage bins at a local rental storage place. He had only taken a few things from each bin and nothing that was of real value or irreplaceable, except for the bed. It was a huge four post bed and he hadn't seen anything like it in over a hundred years. It had taken him all night and six trips to get all the parts moved to his place and most of the next day to put it together.
He had also broken into the house of an old man that had died. Because of his death the powers that kept a vampire from entering a home uninvited no longer kept him out. He hadn't found much of anything that was of value until he discovered an old safe. It had taken him all night to break it open, but it had been worth it. When he finally got it open he had found almost a thousand dollars in cash and a bag of old coins. The money would keep him in blood, cigarettes and whiskey for quite awhile and the coins could be pawned off a few at a time when he needed more cash.
After five days of home decorating, and nights of breaking and entering, Spike was almost ready to smash the whole place up out of frustration and longing. Instead, he went out looking for something to kill. Twice he spotted the Slayer at a distance and went off in another direction. The next night he spotted her again and stayed at a distance, but followed behind her as she patrolled. Three times that night he saw her confront vampires and kill them with machine like efficiency. There was none of the usual quips or comments that the Slayer usually made when she made her kills, just deadly intensity.
For the next two nights Spike followed the Slayer as she made her patrol. He watched her as she made her kills and was disturbed by her behavior. In all the years he had known the Slayer, even when they were the deadliest of enemies, she had never been so intense when she made a kill. Twice he had almost come out of hiding to help her when she got into a fight with more than one vampire at a time. But each time she had turned the vampires to dust before he could make up his mind to take any action. Spike noticed that the Slayer was staying out later and later each night as she continued to hunt. He also noticed that the Slayer was staying completely away from the cemetery where his crypt was located.
*********
(Friday night)
Spike had been out for four hours looking for the Slayer, intending to follow her as he had for the past three nights. He had gone to all the usual places she patrolled and hadn't spotted her in any of them. He had actually run into a newly risen vampire while looking for her and had the chance to take out some of his frustrations on the vamp before he killed it. He was feeling pretty good after the kill and had decided to go back to his crypt for the rest of the night and forget about looking for the Slayer anymore tonight.
As he walked through the cemetery humming to himself he came around a large mausoleum and almost stepped on the Slayer where she was sitting on the ground next to a tombstone. Spike stepped back quickly not knowing how the Slayer would react to his sudden appearance. But the Slayer didn't react at all, she didn't seem to even notice him being there. He looked at the Slayer closely to see if she were injured, but from what he could see she was unhurt and he couldn't smell any blood, she just seemed to be in a daze or something. He then noticed the name on the tombstone, Joyce Summers, Buffys mother. Spike backed off further and moved into the shadow of a large tree. He continued to watch as Buffy sat there staring off into nowhere. For three hours he stood watching over her, ready to protect her from anyone or anything that might try to harm her while she was in this state. It was almost dawn and Spike knew that he would have to leave soon or be caught outside as the sun came up, but he couldn't make himself leave Buffy unprotected.
When Buffy moved it took Spike by surprise, she had sat so still for so long he hadn't expected it. Buffy slowly got to her feet and stood looking down at the tombstone for a few more minutes before she started to walk away. As she walked past the tree that Spike was standing behind, Buffy spoke, but didn't look in his direction. "Thank you Spike" was all she said as she continued walking away from him. Spike whispered quietly "Anytime Buffy. Anytime." When Buffy was out of site Spike started running as fast as he could to get back to his crypt before the sun came up.
******
(Saturday)
When Buffy got home the sun was just coming up. She entered the house through the backdoor and went up the stairs to her room quietly. She laid down on her bed with her cloths still on and stared up at the ceiling. She laid there wondering if Spike had made it to his crypt in time. It would make things so much easier if he hadn't she thought. If he would just die, or disappear, go away and never return, things would be so much easier. As these thoughts crossed her mind she felt an ache deep in her chest and a tear ran from her eye and down the side of her face. For the next hour she laid there trying not to think or feel anything at all. When she heard noises in the house she knew that the others were starting to wake up to a new day. She got up off the bed and went downstairs to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. At least that was something she could do right.
******
When Willow and Tara came downstairs and into the kitchen they found Buffy sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. Neither one of them commented on the fact that she was still wearing the same cloths that she had left the house in the night before.
"Good morning Buffy" Willow said in as cheerful a tone as possible.
Buffy looked up from the paper with a smile on her face, it was a sad little smile, but it was a smile. "Morning Wil, Tara. What are you guy's doing up so early? You don't have any classes today, do you?"
"No. No classes, but Tara and I are going to go to a 'Wicca Fair' this morning and we wanted to get there early" Willow told her. "Dawn wants to go with us, if it's okay with you? She's upstairs getting dressed now. If we hurry we can catch the bus."
"Sure, why not" Buffy responded quietly.
"Do you want to come with us" Tara asked? "It should be fun. There's going to be Palm Readers and Tarot Card Readers and Crystal Readers and all kinds of fun things. There's suppose to be a Cyber Witch there too. She's suppose to be able to draw information off of the internet without even touching her computer."
"No. I mean I can't. I have to work today. Anya is off today and I'm going to open the shop this morning" Buffy replied. "But it sounds like you guys should have a good time."
"Yeah, me too" Dawn said as she entered the kitchen "have a good time, that is."
Buffy smiled at Dawn and said "Yeah, you too."
Buffy sat there quietly for a few minute while Dawn wolfed down some cereal. "Willow" Buffy said quietly. "Why don't you guy's take the car instead of the bus? I'm not going to need it today!"
"Are you sure" Willow asked? "The car would be a lot nicer, but the bus is fine, we don't mind taking the bus, if you think you might need the car?"
"No. I mean it's fine. You guy's could drop me off at the Magic Shop and take the car to the Fair" Buffy said. "I have to work all day and won't need it."
"Great" Dawn said cheerfully, "that means there's time for some real food."
Tara got up from the table where she was drinking her coffee and walked over to the refrigerator and opened it. "French toast or eggs" she asked everyone?
"French toast with butter and syrup, please" Dawn said enthusiastically.
"Me too" Willow said smiling at Tara.
Buffy didn't say anything, but she did smile at Tara and nodded her head in agreement.
*******
When Willow dropped Buffy off at the Magic Shop, before she got out of the car, she reached into her pocket and pulled out some money and handed it to Dawn. "Have fun today, okay? And stay out of trouble!"
"Yeah, sure, like these two are going to let me get into any trouble" Dawn said as she made a face, then smiled at Buffy.
"Dawn, you don't have to look for trouble in Sunnydale, you know that! Trouble can find you all by itself" Buffy said in a serious tone of voice.
"We promise Buffy, no trouble. We'll watch out for her" Willow said in her own serious tone of voice.
"Okay. Have fun then" Buffy said to them all.
As Willow drove away, Buffy unlocked the front door of the Magic Shop, opened it and turned on the lights to show that the shop was open for business. It took ten minutes to get the money out of the safe and setup the cash register, and another five minutes to start a large pot of coffee. After that it was just sit and wait for a customer to come in to buy something. Anya was the one who normally opened the shop and she had duties to take care of to keep her busy. Buffy had only been working at the shop for a week and didn't have any special duties to perform.
It only took ten minutes of inactivity for Buffy to start feeling on edge. She got a feather duster and a cloth out of the storage closet and started cleaning the items in the show cases around the room and the cases themselves. When she finished doing that she got a dust mop out and went over the floors. There still weren't any customers so she searched through the storage closet until she found some liquid wax and started waxing the floors. When the floors were finished she started cleaning out the storage closet and putting everything back in an orderly way. It was almost noon before the first customer came into the shop. From that point on there was a steady flow of people in and out of the shop and for the next five hours Buffy was able to stay busy without inventing anything else to do.
At 5PM Buffy cleaned up the coffee pot, emptied the cash register and put the money from the days sales into the safe. She turned out the lights and locked the door behind her as she closed the shop for the day. As she walked home the thought ran through her mind that she really missed working at the Double Meat Palace. She had hated working there but the mind numbing hours of continuous repetitious tasks had kept her to busy most of the time to think about other things. If she was going to keep working at the Magic Shop she was going to have to find a way to stop thinking so much.
******
After dropping Buffy off at the Magic Shop Willow drove straight to the 'Wicca Fair' and parked the car. For the next three hours the three of them, Dawn, Tara and herself, roamed from booth to booth exploring everything that looked like fun. Willow and Tara talked to several people they seemed to know and bought some crystals and herbs at several booths. Dawn had her fortune read three times and each time it was a little bit different. The only thing that all of the fortune tellers said in common was that she was going to meet someone in the future that would affect the rest of her life. They couldn't, or wouldn't, be specific about who the 'someone' was or what kind of 'affect' they would have on her life or 'when' she was going to meet them.
Tara told her that it was a common prediction that almost all fortune teller made with someone her age. It was fairly certain that eventually the person would meet someone that they would fall in love with and that the person would affect their lives. As she was explaining this to Dawn, Tara slipped her arm around Willows waist and smiled at her. Dawn looked at the two of them and smiled at how happy they seemed to make each other. She wrapped her arms around both of them and gave them a big hug.
"I love you guys, you know that don't you" she asked them both as she hugged them?
"We know Dawnie and we love you too" Willow told her as she smiled at Dawn.
"Will always love you Dawnie" Tara told her "No matter what else happens, will always love you!"
Dawn was puzzled by the way Tara had made her statement but shrugged it off.
At noon Dawn told them she was hungry and they started looking for a booth that served food. As they walked around looking for something to eat they literally bumped into Giles as he was coming out of a tent. He had both arms full of books and had a distracted look on his face.
"Oh, excuse me, I'm so sorry" Giles said before he even realized who he had bumped into. When he did realize who they were he smiled at all of them. "Oh, hello there" he said to them. "Imagine bumping into you here."
"Wicca Fair, Witches, spells, incantations" Willow said with a straight face. "Not so big a surprise, is it?"
"Oh, I guess not" Giles said as he blushed.
Dawn started laughing and Willow couldn't hold her straight face any longer and started laughing too. Tara was smiling at Giles and he realized for the first time just how beautiful she was when she smiled that way. Giles smiled back at her first and then at the rest of them. As they stood there talking to each other, Giles explained that he had just bought several rare books, one of which was a very rare spell book on the 'Dark Arts' and that he had bought it as much to keep it out of the hands of some incompetent dabbler as he had bought it for his own collection. Dawn told him that they were looking for a food booth because she was hungry. Willow asked him to join them for lunch and offered to help carry the books. Giles agreed and the four of them continued the search for something to eat.
They had just found a booth that served food that looked good when Anya and Xander walked out of the booth with their hands full. Anya had a sandwich, fries and a small soda. Xander had four sandwich's, two orders of fries and a huge soda. Xander explained sheepishly as they all looked at the food he was carrying that he came to the Fair every year because they made the best cheeseburgers in the world and they were only in town once a year. Anya told them that she would find a place for them all to sit and they could all have lunch together. When they came out of the booth with their food Anya was waiting for them and led them to a table that Xander was holding. As they all sat around the table eating the topic of discussion turned to Buffy.
Each of them spoke of how concerned they were about Buffy and the way she had been behaving. They all admitted that there wasn't anything specific that they could point to and say that this was what was wrong with her, but each of them could tell that something wasn't right. When Anya told them that she could sense the pain Buffy was feeling but not what was causing the pain, they all sat silently. Tara told them that she had also been able to sense the pain but not the cause. She told them that she had been casting calming spells to ease the tension at home, but that everyday the pain that was radiating from Buffy was becoming stronger.
As Dawn listened to the rest of them talk about their concern for Buffy, tears started running from her eyes. It took several minutes before anyone noticed that she was crying because they were all so focused on their thoughts and feelings about Buffy. Tara was the first to notice and turned to Dawn and took her into her arms and tried to soothe her. Willow moved so that she was on the other side of Dawn and tried to soothe her also. Giles, Anya and Xander all tried to say things to her that would calm her. It took several minutes before Dawn was able to stop crying. As Dawn sat there drying the tears from her eyes and blowing her nose, she looked at the people sitting around her and realized that they were all feeling the same fears as she was about Buffy.
After a few moments Dawn took a deep breath and spoke to the rest of them in a choked voice, "Do you think she knows how much we love her?"
"I think she knows Dawnie" Giles said to her in a soothing voice. "I'm just not sure that it matters. Buffy seems to be locking up all her feelings and emotions for some reason. Ever since she broke down the other week she seems to be holding herself under such tight control that real feelings and emotions don't seem to be getting through to her or out of her."
"But, can't we do something" Dawn asked in a rising tone of voice. "As much as her crying seemed to be hurting her, it was better than this deadness she's walking around with all the time. I don't know if I can keep pretending that everything is okay. Everytime I have to talk to her I want to cry."
"I know Dawnie" Willow said to her in a soothing voice as she hugged her. "We all feel it, but every time one of us tries to talk to her she seems to draw further away."
"Why don't we just sit on her and make her talk to us" Anya blurted out. "We could tie her up and torture her." As the others looked at her after her last statement, she added "or tickle her, or something" in a quiet voice.
"I don't think trying to tie up the Slayer is a very good idea" Xander chipped in. "Oz and I tried that once and she broke the rope and banged are heads together. If were going to do anything at all it had better be the none violent sort of anything."
"I agree" Giles stated. "Buffy needs to get back in touch with her positive emotions somehow. Any attempt to force something on her could make things even worse."
"But we have to do something" Dawn said as her voice started to rise again.
"Ah guys" Xander said, "why don't we have a party?" When the others looked at him as if he were strange, he added, "Like the other week, when she was sick. You know food, drinks, dancing, good friends, love and hugs, that sort of party. It worked before, maybe it could work again."
"You know, that might be a good idea" Giles said to the group. "Maybe we could break through her shell that way. She knows we love her, maybe showing her how much will get through to her. It's a better idea than anything I've been able to think of doing."
Xander smiled a big grin at the group and said "Idea man. That's me!"
Dawn started laughing and the rest of the group, including Xander, joined her. Giles volunteered to pay for all the food and drinks, but asked Tara to go to the store with him to pick out the food that she would be cooking. Xander and Anya followed Willow and Dawn back home and the four of them straightened up the house. Willow used her magic and decorated the living and dining rooms in a festive way. By the time they were finished Giles and Tara arrived with the groceries and refreshments. They all help bring them in and sort them out, putting the refreshments in the refrigerator to chill. Dawn set out the company dishes and cleaned the silverware. Tara assigned chores to everyone else so that the food preparation didn't take very long. She put the roast into the oven and had everything else ready to cook when the time was right. Giles, Anya and Xander all left for their homes to clean up and change their cloths. Willow, Tara and Dawn rushed upstairs and took turns in the bathroom getting ready. Giles, then Anya and Xander arrived back at the house before 5PM. At 5, Tara turned on the stove tops to cook the vegetables and chopped up the lettuce for the salad. Willow mixed up a dressing that she knew Buffy really liked. They all sat around in the living room with music playing and refreshment on hand waiting for Buffy to arrive home.
******
When Buffy got home at 5:30 she noticed right away that both Giles and Xanders cars were parked in front of her house. At first she was concerned, had something happened to Dawn? But as she neared the front door she could hear the music playing inside the house. When she opened the door everyone was standing in the hallway waiting for her and shouted "Surprise!!!" when she stepped through the doorway.
Surprise was the least of what Buffy felt as she stood there with her mouth open. "What's going on" she asked them all?
Dawn rushed up to her and wrapped her arms around Buffy. "It's a party for you" Dawn said excitedly. "It was Xanders idea. It's a 'Surprise, We Love You' party. We couldn't think of any other way to tell you and this seemed like the best way." Dawn leaned back from Buffy and asked "It's okay, isn't it" with a tone of apprehension in her voice?
"It's fine Dawn" Buffy said after a few moments. "It just took me by surprise, that's all." Buffy smiled at her and gave her a big hug.
The rest of the gang gathered around Buffy and took turns hugging and kissing her and telling her they loved her. Giles was the last to hug her and kiss her on the cheek. "We really do love you. You know that, don't you?"
"I know" Buffy said quietly to him as she returned his hug.
Willow and Dawn hurried Buffy up the stairs to her bedroom and started pulling at her cloths to help her undress. Dawn had laid out the sexy black dress she had worn for Xanders birthday party and urged her to put it on. Buffy insisted that she be allowed to wash and fix her makeup before she put on the dress. Willow and Dawn acceded to her demand but urged her to hurry. Buffy didn't have time to put her hair up, but she did brushed it out and let it frame her face.
When Willow and Dawn led her down the stairs, Giles, Xander, Anya and Tara were waiting for her. Xander stood there speechless, just like the night of his birthday party when she had worn the same dress. Giles looked at her as she came down the stairs and seemed to blush. Tara and Anya both smiled at her with love and warmth in their eyes as they recognized the dress and remembered the last time she had worn it. Willow was beaming and smiling from ear to ear. Dawn was smiling at everyone and was up on her toes with excitement. Everyone took turns hugging Buffy again and complimenting her on how nice she looked. Xander copped a feel of her ass as he hugged her to him and kissed her gently on the lips. Buffy poked him in the ribs, but smiled at him just the same.
While Buffy had been upstairs getting ready, Tara had finished preparing dinner and with the help of Anya and Giles had moved all of the food to the dining room table. When Buffy entered the dining room and saw the food on the table and the way the living and dining rooms were decorated she was surprised again at all the effort they had all made to make things look so nice for her.
The dinner was long and drawn out. Willow and Xander told tales of their early adventures with Buffy while they were still in high school, making everyone laugh. They tried to stay away from mentioning Angel or any mention of the really bad times. They focused on the good times, the fun times. Only once, when Dawn said something about how much she wished Mom could be here tonight, did the joyfulness waver. But Buffy had touched Dawns hand and told her that she wished it too.
When they finally moved into the living room Xander claimed Buffy for the first dance. While they were dancing he copped another feel of her ass as he held her close to him. Buffy didn't poke him in the ribs this time and just smiled at him and hugged him back. The next slow dance went to Willow and then Giles. They stepped up the beat of the music when she danced with Tara, Anya, and Dawn.
Dawn was having a good time, but was watching Buffy closely to see if she was enjoying herself. From all that any of them could tell Buffy seemed to be having a good time as she danced and joked with all of them. More stories were told to the laughs of all. Giles told a couple of stories himself about his early days trying to adjust to the way Buffy handled her duties as the Slayer and had them all laughing. Dawn told a story about something that had happened when she and Buffy first moved to Sunnydale. Everyone ignored the fact that the story hadn't really occurred, because in Dawns mind it had, and in the rest of their minds also. They all laughed at the story and Buffy had hugged Dawn when she was finished.
The music and dancing continued through the evening. Around 10:30 Buffy excused herself to go upstairs, everyone thought she was going to the bathroom. When she came back downstairs she was wearing black pants, a black turtleneck shirt and her black leather jacket. Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched her come down the stairs.
"Sorry guys, it's patrol time for me" she said as she smiled at them.
"Buffy, do you really need to go out tonight" Giles asked? "I mean it's already pretty late."
"And here you were telling stories earlier about how I didn't take my Slayer duties seriously enough" Buffy said. She smiled at him to take any sting out of her comment. "No, I really do think I need to make a sweep or two. It makes me feel better if I keep an eye on things."
Giles walked up to Buffy and took her by the arms with both of his hands. "Buffy, there's not a person in this world that knows you that doesn't think you take your duties seriously" he said to her. "But, if you think you need to go, I'm not going to argue with you. Just be careful, all right?"
"Careful's my middle name Giles, honest" Buffy replied to him.
Buffy gave everyone a hug and thanked them for the party. She told them that they didn't have to break the party up if they didn't want to. When she went out the door everyone smiled at her.
As soon as she was down the sidewalk and out of hearing Dawn started asking all of them if they thought Buffy was alright now. But no one knew how to answer the question. Everyone tried to assure her that Buffy had seemed fine during the party and had seemed to be having fun. But no one knew if she was going to be alright tomorrow or not.
With Buffy gone everyone chipped in and cleaned up the mess still in the dining room and in the kitchen. Tara had insisted that they leave the dishes alone and that she would wash them in the morning. Willow used her magic to make the decoration disappear, the same as she had made them appear earlier in the day. Xander straightened up the living room and carried out all the trash. When everything was done Giles, Xander and Anya hugged Dawn good night and left for home. Willow, Tara and Dawn went upstairs to bed. Dawn went to her room and undressed for bed but didn't get into it. She was feeling tense again and was worried that the party hadn't been enough to bring Buffy out of her dark mood, or whatever it was that was bothering her so much. After pacing the floor for about ten minutes there was a knock on her door. When she opened the door Tara was standing there in her nightgown.
"Would you like to sleep with us tonight Dawnie" Tara asked her quietly? Dawn rushed into Taras arms and hugged her tightly. Tara wrapped her arms around Dawn and hugged her in return.
"Thank you Tara. Thank you so much" Dawn whispered into her shoulder as they hugged.
Tara led Dawn down the hall with her arm around her waist and took her into the bedroom she shared with Willow. Willow was already in bed but was holding the covers back. "You get the middle, is that okay Dawnie" Willow asked her with a smile? Dawn climbed into the bed and gave Willow a hug before she laid down for sleep. Tara got into bed next to her and snuggled up close. "I'm a snuggler, remember, is that okay with you" Tara asked? "Me too" Willow chimed in as she snuggled up to Dawn on the other side.
"You guys are the greatest" Dawn said to both of them, "the absolute greatest!"
*******
Spike had arrived at Buffys house well after dark. He wasn't sure why he had come. He knew that Buffy didn't want to see him, but after the way she had behaved the night before, he couldn't stop worrying about her. When he got to her house he could hear music playing loudly and moved around the house until he found a window he could see inside. He pulled a ski mask out of one of his pockets and slipped it over his head. He had used the mask before, it let him get close to the window without being seen from the inside, if he was careful.
Spike was surprised by what he was seeing. Buffy was all dressed up in a sexy black dress and was dancing in the middle of the room with Giles. The other Scoobies were also dancing with each other. When the music changed, Buffy changed partners and started dancing with Willow. Spike kept watching and was almost hypnotized as he watched Buffy move to the music that was playing. During one slow song he watched her dance with Xander and saw him give Buffys ass a squeeze. He thought at first that she would knock him on his ass, but she didn't do anything except keep dancing. He watched them dance and talk and laugh with each other and he watched Buffy smiling at all of them in a way that he would have traded his soul for, if he had one. He wished that just once she would smile at him that way.
He saw Buffy go up the stairs and was just about to leave when he saw her come back down the stairs dressed in black and ready to go patrolling. He watched as she gave everyone a hug and a kiss good night and head for the front door. Spike faded back into the shadows as he watched her walk down the sidewalk and down the street. He gave her a minute or so and started following her. She had put on some kind of strong perfume for the evening and he could follow her scent easily. He also thought it was careless of her and dangerous. If he could smell her scent other vampires would be able to smell her also. She wasn't going to be sneaking up on anyone tonight, that was for certain. But someone might be able to sneak up on her if she wasn't careful.
Spike hurried his pace until he could just see her in the distance, then started cutting through some yards and empty lots to get ahead of her. When he saw her enter a cemetery he ran around one side of it and entered from a different direction. He spotted her moving through the grounds and noticed that she wasn't even looking around for trouble. He moved in closer to get a better look at her and to be closer in case she might need his help. When she stopped next to a bench and sat down it surprised him. Sitting like that was making a target out of herself, especially when she wasn't paying any attention to her surroundings. As Spike moved nearer to the Slayer he could hear her crying. A shock passed through Spike as he heard her sobs. He stood there in the dark watching her cry, not knowing what to do. He had seen her cry before when she first learned that her mother was sick and was going to go into a hospital for tests. He had tried to console her then, but he wasn't very good at it because he hadn't known what to say to her. He knew that if he approached her now he still wouldn't know what to say to her so he hung back in the dark and watched over her.
Spike suddenly sensed movement off to one side of the Slayer that was moving in her direction. He immediately moved to intercept who ever or what ever it might be. When he got into position he knew right away it was a vampire and that it was homing in on the scent of the perfume she was wearing. From where he was standing it was like a beacon leading straight to her. Spike stood quietly in the shadows until the vampire was within arms reach of him. In a flash of movement he swung his arm out and drove a wooden stake straight into the vampires heart turning it to dust. He then carefully checked the area out to see if any other vampires were around.
When he was sure the area was safe he decided he needed to do something to snap the Slayer out of her crying jag. He started walking toward her slowly as he quietly sang a bawdy drinking song that he hadn't heard anyone else sing in over a hundred years. As he neared the Slayer he saw her raise her head and look in his direction. As he got closer she stood up and faced toward him.
"What are you doing here Spike" Buffy asked him in a raspy voice?
"Following me nose Pet, that's all. I could smell ya half way across the bloody cemetery" he said with a cockney swagger in his voice. "Bloody damned silly of you to be wearing it if your trying to sneak up on one of my brethren don't ya think?"
Buffy looked at him as if her were speaking a foreign language, not understanding what he was saying.
"The perfume Pet, you stand out like a forest fire in the dark. Any vamp that comes in down wind of you can smell you half a mile away" he explained to her as if she were a child.
When Buffy understood what he was saying she looked around the area carefully for the first time since entering the cemetery.
"It wasn't like I knew it was you, ya know" Spike went on. "It actually reminded me of your Mum, it did. Like something she use to wear."
"I think it was my Mothers, I'm not sure. Dawn sprayed it on me earlier tonight. I forgot I was wearing it when I left the house" Buffy said in a distant tone of voice.
"Well Slayer, if your going to keep wearing that stuff you'd better keep your eyes open. The next vamp you see might not be so understanding" Spike said to her in a serious tone. "You should stick to the stuff you usually wear. It's not so strong a scent and less likely to attract uninvited guests."
"Why are you telling me this Spike" Buffy asked with a puzzled tone in her voice?
"Just look'n out for me own interests, that's all Slayer. You go get'n yourself killed might not be so good for me, ya know. The next Slayer that comes to town might not think a chipped out vamp is so harmless and take me out right quick." Spike explained.
"Your not harmless Spike. You'll never be harmless" Buffy said quietly.
"Damned right" Spike said with a smirky grin on his face. "But with this damned chip in me head, let's say I've certain 'limitations' on me actions. Can't go hunt'n with the big dogs no more."
Buffy stood there studying Spikes face and processing what he had just said. Suddenly she moved and punched him hard in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. As Spike laid there on the ground he stared up at Buffy with a look of surprise on his face. "What ya do that for" he asked?
"Because I can" Buffy said to him in a mocking tone of voice. "No limitation!"
Buffy spun on her heel and walked off into the dark. Spike laid on the ground watching her walk away. "Bloody fuck'n hell" he said to himself quietly.
*******
(To Be Continued)