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"Miss Summers, may I speak with you?"

Buffy turned around before walking through the classroom door, going back towards the desk at the front of the room. "Yes, Professor Walsh?"

"I noticed you nodding off in class today."

"I'm sorry," Buffy replied. "I was trying to stay awake, my eyes just kept shutting on their own."

"So my class is boring then?"

"No! It's not that at all! It's just…"

"I don't want to hear any excuses, Miss Summers. I also want to say that I have already glanced at the paper you turned in Monday, and I am severely disappointed. It is not the quality I would expect from someone who has selected psychology as her major."

"I know it wasn't my best, but…"

"Everything you do in here should be your best."

"I realize that, but things have just been really hard lately, and…"

"School should be your top priority. If it's not…well, some people are cut out for college, and some people aren't."

Buffy blinked back tears. "I really am trying…"

"Try a little harder. That will be all, Miss Summers."

Buffy nodded and walked out of the classroom. She felt her eyes burning, as she fought not to cry. She'd heard from some of the other students that Walsh could be a real bitch, but she hadn't expected that. And what if the professor was right?

"Buffy, are you okay?"

Buffy looked up, smiling at Tara for only a moment before the tears came. "No."

Tara hugged her, patting her back. "What happened?"

"I'm not cut out for college," Buffy whimpered.

"Huh?"

Buffy pulled back, wiping at her eyes. "I just had a talk with one of my professors. She said my paper sucked and maybe I wasn't 'cut out' for college."

"Buffy, that is not true," Tara said. "That woman doesn't know what she's talking about."

"She might…"

"No, she doesn't." Tara put her arm around Buffy. "I was about to meet Willow and Xander for coffee. Wanna come?"

Buffy nodded. "I was going to go to the library and catch up on my reading, but I don't think I'm in the right frame of mind right now."

"Well then let's get you all caffined-up." Tara said with a smile.

Buffy smiled back as she walked with Tara down the hall.

*** *** ***

"The bitch actually said that? Man what a…well, bitch," Xander said after Buffy had related her encounter with Professor Walsh to her friends.

"Don't listen to her, Buffy," Willow said, sipping her mocha latte. "She doesn't know what she's talking about. You're a very dedicated student."

"Yeah. Most people who take on as much as you do would probably be insane by now," Xander said. "And you haven't, so you've got sanity going for you at least."

Buffy smirked. "Thanks guys. It's nice to know I have people in my corner."

"You've always got us, Buffy," Tara said. "You don't have to feel like you're alone or anything."

"I know. And I'm grateful for that." She nudged Xander, who was seated beside her. "If it wasn't for you guys I probably would be in a mental institution."

"So how's the roommate situation coming?" Willow asked.

"Not quite as bad as I thought," Buffy said. "Granted, he spends most of the day passed out drunk on the couch and Sunday there was some skanky girl in my bathroom, but he also went grocery shopping, so it's not all of the bad."

"Has he found any other possible places to live yet?" Xander asked.

"No. I don't think he's looking. He's trying to find a band to play with right now."

"Any prospects on that?" Tara asked.

"He thinks so. Some band with a funny name. Wolves Ate My Toddler or something."

"Dingoes Ate My Baby," Willow said softly.

"You know them?" Buffy asked.

"Remember the other day when I said I used to date a bassist?"

"Yeah."

"That's his band."

"Oh."

The table grew silent for a while, and Buffy glanced over at Tara, watching as the woman shifted uncomfortably. "So, anything else interesting going on?" Buffy asked, wanting to change the subject.

"We got a kitten," Willow said, grateful for Buffy's topic switch. "Tara and me. For our apartment." Willow reached out and gave Tara's hand a squeeze.

"Ooh, kittens are cute," Buffy said. "What did you name it?"

"Right now we're calling her Miss Kitty Fantastico," Willow replied.

"That's a mouthful," Xander said.

"We shorten it to Miss Kitty most of the time," Tara said, her hand still gripping Willow's.

"Well, she sounds adorable," Buffy said. "I'll have to come by some time and see her."

"Willow and I were talking about having you guys over for dinner some time," Tara said. "Is there any time coming up that would be good for you, Buffy?"

"I'm off from both jobs next Monday. Would that work?"

"Sounds good to me," Willow said. "How about you, Xander—could you come?"

"Free food? Count me in."

"Great," Willow replied. "Hey, Buffy, maybe you could bring that mother's-husband's-son of yours. I'm sort of curious to meet him."

"Me, too," Xander said. "See what sort of guy this is staying with you, Buffster."

"I'll ask him," Buffy said with a frown. "But he'll probably just say no anyway. We've had all of about five conversations since he moved in, and those weren't even real conversations. Just small talk here and there."

Willow shrugged. "Well, just ask him. If you want to, of course. If he's totally horrible, we'll sic Miss Kitty on him. Granted, we haven't seen how she does against a human yet, but she's vicious when it comes to a ball of yarn."

Buffy chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind."

*** *** ***

Buffy groaned as she saw Percy walk out of his apartment. He was not high on her list of people she felt like dealing with at the moment. Or ever for that matter.

"Um, hey, Buffy."

"Hello, Percy," Buffy replied. Something was different about him. He was being nice—and was that fear in his eyes?

"I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry about the music. I'll be sure to keep it down from now on."

Buffy blinked. "Um, okay, thanks."

"As a matter of fact, I'm getting rid of my subwoofer. So you can tell your roommate that, too. I won't be bothering either one of you. Okay, well, see you." Percy ran back into his apartment, shutting and locking the door.

Buffy went into her own apartment, finding Spike sitting on the couch watching television. "The strangest thing just happened to me," she said, setting her bookbag on the table.

"Oh? What would that be?" Spike asked, looking over at her.

"My neighbor who has been a total asshole since he moved in, just came and not only apologized for his previous behavior, but also said he'd keep his music down from now on. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"Oh, yeah. Percy. We had a nice little chat this morning."

"What brought that on?"

"I was hung over. He was loud. I showed him the error of his ways."

"Well, um, thanks."

"Didn't do it for you. I had a bloody migraine, and that shite he calls music was not helping. So how was school?"

Buffy sat beside him on the couch. "Awful. One of my professors lambasted me for not being dedicated enough to college."

"What? You? Bloody hell, all I ever see you do is school and work. You're the most serious person I've ever met. A bit too serious if you ask me."

"Yeah, well, apparently it's not enough for Professor Walsh. I kept nodding off in class today, probably because I've worked until after midnight for the past two days. Oh, and the paper I turned in Monday—crap."

"Are you working tonight?"

"No, thank god. I had to work a shift at the bakery before my first class, so I'm completely wiped."

"How much sleep did you get last night?"

Buffy shrugged. "Two hours. Maybe three."

Spike frowned. "Hey, why don't you go take a bath, soak out some of those kinks from the day, and I'll make us dinner."

"You can cook? You know, more than sandwiches."

"Yes. I'm a man of many talents. Now go, relax."

Despite the fact it felt weird to have Spike doing anything to help her, Buffy didn't want to pass up this opportunity. She gave him a smile before going to take a bath.

*** *** ***

Spike turned when he heard the bathroom door open. Buffy wore an old football jersey, although Spike could tell when she moved that she had a pair of shorts under it. Her hair was freshly dried, and even with the dark circles under her eyes, he thought she was beautiful. "Dinner's almost ready, pet. Have a seat."

Buffy did as he said, and a few minutes later, Spike set a plate of pasta and chicken with a white cream sauce in front of her. "Try it," Spike said. "Tell me what you think."

Buffy tried the pasta, her eyes widening a little as she did. "This is really good," she said after she swallowed. "I mean, no offense, but I sort of figured you'd be the type who'd burn water."

Spike chuckled, fixing himself a plate and sitting down across from her. "It's all right. I give off that sort of a vibe."

"So what, the leather and the metal jewelry is just a front?'

Spike winked. "Wouldn't you like to know."

Buffy blushed a little, twirling her pasta around her fork. "So, how did you manage to learn how to cook at least one thing?"

"I can cook more than this," Spike said. "And I guess from taking care of Dru. Had to make sure she ate."

"Dru?"

"Drusilla. My ex."

"Oh. Right. I think I heard Giles talking about her a few times."

"Probably about how she'd lead me astray, and how it was her fault I ruined my life," Spike said, poking at a bit of chicken. "I half expected him to gloat when I showed up in California. But I don't regret it, you know. Don't regret anything with her, not even the bad. I loved her. Probably still do."

"What happened?"

Spike shrugged. "She's crazy. Literally. Completely bug-shagging crazy. Used to talk to her little porcelain dolls, say they were tellin' her to do things. Got so bad for a while that I had to take care of her almost entirely. She could barely even get from one room in the flat to the other."

"That sounds like, well, like it would've been a lot of work for you."

"I didn't mind it. She was my dark princess. I'd do anything for her." Spike chuckled bitterly. "Guess the joke was on me in the end. She found someone else, decided she didn't need me anymore. Some bloke who played a soddin' reindeer in this Christmas play. When I met him, he had fiberglass antlers stuck to his head. And hooves. Bleedin' hooves. Do you know how humiliating it is to get dumped for a guy with antlers?"

"I can imagine it would be pretty humiliating," Buffy replied.

"But I'm better now. Picking up the pieces of me life. And I certainly don't need her. More pasta?"

"No, I'm good. Thanks." Buffy watched Spike for a moment, realizing she was seeing a different side to him. Since she'd met him at her mother's wedding five years ago, she'd thought of him as being callous and self-absorbed, caring about no one but himself. But now, after hearing that he served as caretaker to an insane woman out of love… "Hey, um, my friends Willow and Tara invited me over to their apartment for dinner Monday. Would you like to come?"

"You'd be willing to let me around your friends? I don't know whether to be touched or just think you really hate them."

"Ha ha. I don't hate them. And besides, they want to meet you."

Spike raised an eyebrow. "What, to put a face to the wanker they've heard so much about?"

"I've said good things about you!" Spike looked at her incredulously. "Okay, only a few. But I have said some."

"All right. I'll meet your friends. I guess I have to do something other than sit around getting drunk every night."

"Great," Buffy said with a smile before turning back to her dinner.

*** *** ***

In response to a few reviews I've gotten—I know things are moving slowly, and that several things are unclear concerning Buffy's past. I said in the beginning that this was going to be a long one, and I meant it. I'll reveal everything eventually, and Spike and Buffy's relationship will evolve. I just ask that you trust me, and let me move the story at my own pace. Thanks!

And as always, remember to review. :)





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