Buffy Summers was sure that the librarian was always looking at her strangely. Not in that ‘Ew, sexual predator’ kind of way. Gross. But in that ‘he knows something about you’ way.

Weird.

Rupert Giles was his name, though all of his students called him Giles. He wasn’t a bad guy; in fact, he was really nice and always wanting to help.

But still…it was that way he looked at her.

“Get the book you wanted, luv?” Buffy heard the familiar voice ask, breaking her from her thoughts. Turning to face the bleach blond, she smiled.

“Yep, think so.” She looked down at the book in her hands. “Why does the Mrs. Fisher insist on making us read things like this? When am I ever going to remember the time I read the classic of ‘Jane Eyre’?” She asked, adding an eyeroll of sarcasm to top it off.

The boy chuckled to himself before walking over with her to check it out. “That’s the point of teachers you know. To make our lives hell and teach us things we’ll never use.” This gained a smile from Buffy, which he knew it would.

“Hello, Buffy,” Giles greeted as he scanned the book.

“Hey, Giles.” There was that look again. She really wished he’d stop. When he handed the book back to her, she smiled politely and left with the blond guy.

“Spike,” Buffy started, pushing the book into her bookbag as they walked out of the school doors and toward the parking lot. Most of the other students were already gone, so the courtyard was mostly empty.

“Hmm?”

“You never answered my question from earlier,” she said quietly, keeping her head down.

“Which question was that?” He asked, knowing full well what she was talking about.

“You’re a senior this year. I’m still a junior. That equals you graduating a year early…moving away to some great college…meeting some hot girl and--”

“No,” he interrupted suddenly, giving her a stern look. He hated when she got so self-conscious and thought he’d leave her for someone else. “No other girls, and you know that, Buffy.”

“Right. So, you move away to some great college…I don’t graduate ‘til next year…” She pouted slightly, finally looking up at him as they both got in his car.

“Buffy…This school year just started a few weeks ago. We’ve still got an entire year to figure out what we’re gonna do.”

Buffy kept her pout in place as she buckled her seatbelt. He was right. She was only 16, to be 17 in about five months. And he was only 17. They still had this school year left to talk about what would happen.

“Buffy…” Spike sighed, starting the car, but not leaving. He instead turned to face her. “I love you, you know that. Nothing’s going to keep me from being with you. I promise.”

Before she could reply, he leaned forward to place a gentle, loving kiss on her lips. She was smiling when he pulled away, and it was enough to make him smile too. “Love you, too,” she told him with a grin as the car left the parking lot.

----

“Mom! I’m home,” the blond teen yelled as she walked through the doors of her house.

“Oh, hey, Sweetheart. She’s working at the gallery,” a man said with a smile as his daughter hugged him.

“Thanks. Hey, Dad, bunch of friends want me to go with ‘em to the Bronze tonight. Is that okay?”

Hank just smiled at his daughter, nodding his okay. “Be home by eleven.”

“Twelve?”

“Eleven-thirty,” Hank compromised with a roll of his eyes.

“Thank you,” she said proudly as she hurried up the stairs.

“Teenagers,” Hank mumbled good-naturedly as he went back to drinking his afternoon coffee.

---

“You made it,” Xander Harris announced as Buffy approached the table.

“So I did,” she answered, giving him a friendly hug.

“Hey Buffy,” Willow announced and Buffy nodded with a grin.

“Spike here yet?”

“Umm…” Willow and Xander both began to look nervous as they tried hard not to gaze toward the bar.

Buffy, seeing their hesitations, looked toward the bar to see Spike standing there. The bartender, who happened to be a girl, was going all out with the flirting.

Turning back to her friends, Buffy eyed them curiously. “Are you guys okay?”

“Yeah, but…Buffy…”

“Wills, he’s just getting some drinks.”

“And checking out the waitress who happens to be bearing Cleveland to him,” Xander added.

Buffy turned back to see the girl still going at it. She was bending over with her low-cut shirt showing everything. Her fake laughs and overdone posture clearly showed her intentions. And there stood Spike, politely laughing also. He nodded whenever she said something, but more or less looked impatient.

“No, he’s getting some drinks,” Buffy said with a shrug as she turned back to her friends once more.

“Buffy…he’s not telling her to get lost or anything. He’s being as flirty as she is.”

“Xander, did you just use the word ‘flirty’?” Buffy asked with a grin.

“So not the point, Buff.”

Sighing, Buffy shook her head. “Guys, I’ve been with Spike since I was 13. I love him. And I trust him. If some skank wants to dangle her overexposed body in front of him, I know she’s not getting anywhere with it.”

“Sure are confident,” Willow said with a small Willow Pout.

“Yes, I am. There wouldn’t be much of a relationship if I thought he was cheating on me with every girl he talked to. She’s flirting, and he’s just not being rude.”

“Codeword? Flirting,” Xander said flatly, gaining a glare from Buffy.

Buffy rolled her eyes as she turned back toward Spike. He finally had the drinks and smiled when he saw her at the table. She smiled also and scooted to make room for him at the table. But after he sat the drinks down, he picked her up, sat in her seat, then set her on his lap.

Giggling, she reached over and grabbed one of the sodas.

“I suppose you caught that show, then?” Spike asked with a sigh.

“Yep. Willow and Xander seem to think you’re in trouble,” she said with a grin.

“Am I?”

“You know you’re not.”

“I really don’t deserve you,” he told her with a soft smile as he leaned forward to kiss her.

“Whoa, this would be a public place,” Xander said, rubbing his eyes. “And I’m gonna go make myself blind now.”

Buffy and Spike simultaneously rolled their eyes as he walked off.

“Oh, Oz is here,” Willow announced and quickly hurried off to her boyfriend.

“I got something for you,” Spike told her when they were alone.

“Oh, really? Present for me?”

“Yep. Here, sit right-” He picked her back up to set her on the seat next to him and she pouted at having to move. “-here,” Spike finished with a grin as he pulled something from his pocket.

Buffy stared at the velvet box as he opened it and pulled the ring out. “This is my promise ring to you, Buffy Summers,” he told her, enjoying the emotions that ran across her features. “To promise to you that I’m not leaving you. Not for college. Not for girls. Nothing. I don’t leave you, alright?”

Buffy could only nod in reply. She gulped slightly when he took her left hand and began to push it onto her ring finger. “And maybe…one day…it can mean something more,” he said softly, meeting her gaze once the ring was on.

“You are…amazing,” Buffy replied and leaned forward to meet his lips in a passionate kiss.

“I know,” he said in mock-arrogance and shared a smile with her. “I’m just too good for you and we both know it.”

Rolling her eyes one last time, Buffy leaned forward to resume the much-missed kissing.

A/N: Okay, this chapter was mostly to lay out the relationships, and I know it seemed more or less rushed. Just to let you know, this is /not/ a high school fic. Book One of this series, this book, will have chapters in the beginning where it's high school. But that isn't going to be the case for very long. Enjoy the fluffiness while you have it, 'cause it's going to get angstier...that's not a word is it? :P

I decided to play around with Hank actually being a good father. You don't see that much, but I wanted things to start out happy so it would be a bit more dramatic when things fell apart.

Now, I'm going to warn you now. Buffy and Spike are going to have one hell of a bumpy road ahead of them. It's not happiness and kisses all the way through. And, Book One may not end the way you want it to. But, I PROMISE that if you stick around 'til the end, you'll get your nice, Spuffy ending.

Well, leave me some reviews. Pretty please? :D

“Have you seen New Girl?” Xander asked his friends as he stuffed food into his mouth.

Buffy raised an eyebrow at him as she and Willow shared a look. “New Girl? I’m guessing if you’ve gone through enough trouble to give her a nickname, then she must be ‘hot’?” Willow laughed a little as Xander missed the sarcasm.

“Yep. Have you seen ‘er Spike?”

Spike shook his head. “Tragically, no,” he answered, also using sarcasm that Xander missed.

“Oh, c’mon! She’s the brunette gal with green eyes. Very nice looking…”

“Oh, you mean, Paige?” Willow questioned.

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“Oh, well, she’s in my calculus class. But she’s been here for like a week.”

“Wish I would’ve known. I didn’t see her ‘til today,” Xander announced with a sigh.

“Speaking of, here she comes,” Willow said, nodding toward the approaching Paige.

“Um, hey,” she said politely. “Willow, right? You’re like the only person I’ve met since I’ve been here, and I figured it wouldn’t be too much of a problem if I sat down?” She asked hopefully.

Buffy scooted over, allowing room for her to pull a seat up. “No problem,” Willow answered. “This is Buffy, Xander, and Spike.”

“Hey,” the new girl greeted them. Her gaze landed on Buffy for all of two seconds but Buffy saw something there.

Something familiar.

Then it hit her. It was the same strange look that Giles would give her.

The rest of lunch went by without importance. Turned out Paige was a nice girl, and Buffy found herself making a new friend already.

It was hard to ignore ‘the look’, though.

Thinking she was only paranoid, Buffy tried her best to disregard it and the table had an okay lunch.

“Hey, Paige. We’re going to the Bronze,” Xander started. “Any reason why you couldn’t join us?”

Buffy rolled her eyes and turned to Spike. “He is so flirting with her.”

Spike smiled at her whispered announcement. “Jealous?”

Buffy smiled evilly. “Maybe.”

Spike’s smirk fell instantly. “Hey!” He cried indignantly as she started to walk off.

Buffy giggled when she felt him grab her waist and begin to tickle her. “No! I’m sorry! I take it back!” Spike grinned at his victory and placed a kiss on her neck.

“Better be.”

The other students in the hallway were looking at them strangely, but Buffy and Spike just ignored it.

---

“So where’s the Buffster?” Xander asked as he and Paige came off the dance floor. Paige was smiling, seemingly having a good time.

“Dunno,” Willow said with a shrug. “She hasn’t shown yet.”

“She’s already an hour late,” Spike added, sounding more than worried.

“Maybe she forgot?” Paige offered, trying to be helpful.

“No, she--” Spike was cut off by the sound of his ringing cell phone. “Hello?”

“Hey,” came Buffy’s voice. Just by that one word, Spike could tell she’d been crying for hours. She sounded like it took a lot for her to even speak.

“Buffy? God, luv, what’s wrong?”

“I need you,” she said, sobs returning to her voice.

“Buffy, I need you to tell me what’s going on.”

“There…there was so much blood. She wouldn’t…her eyes were open Spike, but she wouldn’t blink.”

Spike was trembling a little himself now. “Buffy, pet, you’re scaring me. I need to know what happened.”

“Please just come, Spike…”

“Where are you?”

“The hospital.” That was all Spike needed to hear and he was running from the club to his car as he said his goodbye.

“I’ll be there in a minute, baby. I swear.”

---

The second Spike ran through the hospital doors, he spotted Buffy. She was sitting in the waiting room, in a chair with her knees pulled to her chest.

“Buffy,” he sighed as he pulled her up and into his arms.

She immediately responded by letting the sobs return. “She wouldn’t answer me, Spike…she was just staring and…”

It was then that he noticed Mr. and Mrs. Summers sitting on a bench opposite them. Joyce looked like she’d been crying longer than Buffy. Hank didn’t even look alive he was so pale. Returning his attention to his girlfriend, he soothingly ran his hands up and down her back.

“Here, luv. Why don’t you sit down here.” He helped her into a sit down in the chair and then took off his jacket and lay it over her. Turning from her, he looked from Hank to Joyce. Joyce looked like an empty shell, but Hank looked like he was sane enough to talk. “Mr. Summers?”

“I’ve told you before, William…just Hank.” Hank’s tone was not reassuring. His voice sounded as empty as his face was blank.

“Right…Hank. What’s going on?” Something then clicked. “Where’s Dawn?”

“They took her in there,” came Buffy’s voice and she pointed to the double doors. Turning his attention back to her, he kneeled in front of her.

“Buffy, luv…I really need to tell me what’s going on. I know it’s hard, but you have to so I can help you, alright?” She took a moment to nod and then gulped.

“Dawn was at Janice’s studying tonight…and she was supposed to walk home. It was around eight, and I was leaving to meet you guys at the Bronze. I-I got outside…and there was someone…”

“Buffy,” Spike encouraged.

“There was someone a few feet away from our house…down the sidewalk. And he had Dawn held really close. Using his…arm to cover her mouth. She fell to the ground…and he just left…” She took a deep breath. “Oh, God…Spike…there was blood all over her. And…”

“Shhh, it’s alright.” Pulling her close, he once again let his hands make soothing motions on her back.

When Spike heard a man clearing his voice, he turned to see a doctor standing there. Joyce and Hank were now fully alert as well as Buffy.

“Is she alright?” Spike asked, silently pleading for God or anyone to let her be okay.

“You may want to sit down.”

That statement was enough for Buffy to start crying silently.

“Dawn…she suffered severe blood loss…too much. We did everything we could but she--”

Buffy suddenly lunged forward, intent on killing the doctor. But Spike’s reflexes caught her by the waist. She struggled, still trying to go forward, but Spike endured the small amount of pain her nails and kicks were giving him.

“Don’t you say it!” Buffy screamed, grabbing the attention of everyone in the waiting room. “Dawn is fine!”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Summers, but she--”

“Shut up!” She was no longer struggling against Spike, but he still held her in a strong enough grasp.

“We tried, but--”

“Then try harder!” The situation and reality slowly caved in on Buffy and she collapsed into Spike’s arms.

The situation, also too much for Spike, sent him on his knees, but he still held Buffy in his arms, both sobbing out their pain.

Dawn had always been like a sister to him. And now…

Joyce and Hank broke out in their own agonizing sobs as the turned to each other for comfort.

---

“In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life
through our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to Almighty
God our sister Dawn Summers, and we commit her body to the ground;
earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless
her and keep her, the Lord make his face to shine upon her
and be gracious to her, the Lord lift up his countenance upon
her and give her peace. Amen.”

Buffy stood with a blank look on her face, leaning against an equally depressed Spike. Next to her stood Joyce and Hank: holding hands and sharing the same downcast looks.

Willow, Xander, and even Paige had come in support of their hurting friends. They were nowhere near as close to Dawn as Spike and Buffy obviously. But it still hurt to lose someone they loved.

Paige, who’d never met Dawn, only felt sad for the fact that her only friends at this school were hurting.

Family members began to file out to their cars. Friends left and soon it was only Buffy and Spike left standing there. Even Joyce and Hank couldn’t stand the pain of being so close to someone they could never hold again.

The ones who were supposed to bury Dawn went forward to close the top of the casket so that they could begin to lower her. “Wait,” came Buffy’s hoarse voice. “Can…can I have just a moment?”

The two men nodded sympathetically and moved away.

As Buffy went forward, she kept Spike’s hand held tight so he would be right beside her. “Hey Dawnie…I’m so sorry, sweetie. Maybe if I’d left a few minutes earlier, I would’ve seen what was going on or…” She trailed off when she felt Spike squeeze her hand. He didn’t want her to take the blame for this. “I love you and I hope you’re happy now.” She ran her hand over her sister’s hair.

Suddenly, something caught her eye. “What the…” She moved her sister’s hair away from her neck to reveal to jagged marks on Dawn’s neck. “What is that?” Buffy asked Spike, her confusion taking her mind away from the pain.

Spike eyed the marks for a second before taking Buffy’s hands and pulling her back. “Doesn’t matter now, Buffy.” He brought her close to hold her against him. “C’mon, we need to go now.”

Nodding, Buffy followed him out of the cemetery just as the sun disappeared over the horizen.

A/N: I know, very unexpected. Especially when you didn’t even know Dawn existed in this fic :P. But, there’s a purpose for this. Unfortunately, you probably won’t find out what that is until the second book. Hehe. I’m evil.

Paige is also going to become an important character, but probably not too important, once again, until the second or third book.

Yeah, long series ahead of us. :D

“Buffy!” Spike called as he saw Buffy coming up the sidewalk toward the school. Since the funeral a week ago, he hadn’t been able to get in touch with her at all.

Buffy briefly looked up to see Spike running toward her. As he finally stopped, he just stared at her for a moment. “Buffy?”

“Hey,” she said quietly before moving to go around him. His arm shot out to stop her, though he didn’t hold her in a firm grasp. “Buffy?” He repeated. “I’ve tried calling. Mom said that you didn’t want to talk to anyone right now.”

“Yeah. Surprisingly, it still hurts that my baby sister was murdered,” she said in a cold voice. She was lashing out at him, she knew, for no good reason. He’d done nothing wrong. In fact, she knew he was probably more upset for her than he was himself.

That’s what scared her. She and Spike were getting so serious that he was putting her pain before his. He’d do anything to make sure she was okay without worrying about himself. But, she knew if he played the strong part for to long, it would break him down and do bad things for their relationship.

Spike looked at her in confusion and hurt, though he tried to mask the latter. “I didn’t say that you shouldn’t hurt, pet.”

“I know,” she said with a sigh. “I’m just being all bitchy ‘cause I’m hurting, you know? Really, really bad hurting.”

Spike eyed her for a moment. She hadn’t cried at the funeral, and her eyes weren’t even watering up now. “Then why won’t you cry?”

Buffy just looked down. She’d hoped that if she looked like she was okay, that maybe he’d let some of his pain out. But it wasn’t just that. If she stopped and thought about it too long, then she would have to really accept that Dawn was gone.

And that just hurt too much.

“I have cried.”

“You cried at the hospital. That’s it. Buffy…you can’t keep it bottled up. You know that I’m here for you.”

“You can take this away then?” She asked, her voice a whisper. “Can you?!” Much louder this time. “You think you can take me in your arms and make all the hurt and loss go away?! I don’t need to be held! I need to move on. She’s dead, there’s nothing we can do. We both need to get the hell over it!”

Spike’s instincts were to hit her for the way she was lashing out. But he’d never hurt Buffy like that. Ever. If he ever hurt her physically, it’d be the last thing he’d ever do. That’s the promise he’d made to himself.

“Shut up,” he commanded in a firm, low voice. He clenched his fists at his side as he tried to control his temper.

“Why? She’s dead right? Six feet under and whatnot? I’m just stating the facts, Spike!” Buffy didn’t even notice how her eyes were glossing over. “What? You’re gonna get mad because I’m not turning to you? I. Don’t. Need. You! If you think that holding me tight is going to make the pain go away, you’re wrong!”

“You don’t mean that.”

“You know what I’m thinking now? That’s rich.” She suddenly blinked when she realized her vision was clouding. She couldn’t cry. Not now. But when the first tear slipped from her eyes, she didn’t try to stop the rest. “There. You wanted me to cry? Well, here I am.” Her eyes suddenly turned dark as she used all her will to stop the flow of tears. “That make you want me, Spike? Seeing me weak? That why you want me to cry?”

Spike had no clue where she was getting any of this. But it was pissing him off. “Stop. Now.”

“No.” Her tears had completely stopped, but she seemed to permanently have foot-in-mouth syndrome. “You like seeing me weak. Reminds you of what Parker almost did to me last year, doesn’t it?” Spike’s eyes hardened completely when he was reminded of the Parker incident. The attempted rape against Buffy. God, he had never wanted to kill anyone more than he did Parker. “S’that what you plan to do?” She asked in a mock-weak voice.

Spike felt himself snap at that comment. Clenching his fists tighter, he set his jaw hard before turning to walk away. “Hit a nerve, then?” Buffy asked cruelly.

He suddenly turned back to her and she inwardly winced at how angry he looked. “I love you, and you know that. If you ever suggest something like that again…” He trailed off, shaking his head as he walked toward the parking lot anyway.

“You’re not worth it anyway,” Buffy said loud enough for him to hear.

“I’ll remember that,” he called over his shoulder as he climbed into the driver’s side of his car.

Buffy’s whole insides turned to ice when the reality of all her words came crashing down on her. Biting her lower lip to keep the tears away, she turned her back on the school and began to walk away.

She could skip today. Life didn’t seem to have anything important in store for her anyway.

A/N: I know, I know. Bitchy Buffy. Ouch. But, next chapter holds Spuffy. So, there’s something to look forward to. :D Just to let you know, the whole Dawn’s death thing has nothing to do with the plot. It’s just a little bit of angst before the real storm comes.

Boy is it gonna be a bad one. :D Hehe

Don’t worry. Big Spuffy ending and all.