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Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the last part. I had to put the last chapter and the epilogue in the same chapter, to fill the 1000 word minimum.

I don't own any of the characters.

Thanks to my Beta, Nichole, for all her help.
Four

Spike was sitting in one of the chairs next to Buffy’s bed when detective Collins walked into the room. He looked up as he heard the door close.

“I thought you’d like to know that we got him.” Spike felt relief rush through his body at the detective’s words.

“Of course, he hasn’t admitted anything, but it doesn’t matter. We’ve got all we need.” She looked at the other people in the room; Xander and Willow who were asleep on a bed that one of the nurses had been kind enough to bring in and Mr Summers who were sitting in the other chair, his head resting against the wall behind him, snoring lightly. “I’ll be back in the morning.” She said before leaving the room again.

*****

Like she had said, detective Collins came back the following morning. They were all sitting around Buffy’s bed eating an improvised breakfast of machine food when she walked in. As she saw that Buffy was awake she smiled.

“Hello Miss Summers, I was wondering if I could talk to you a little?” Mr Summers stood up and crossed his arms in front of him.

“Can’t this wait? My daughter has been through a lot the past twenty-four hours.”

“It’s OK, dad.” Buffy said. “I want to get this over with.” She looked at the detective.

“Maybe we should do this in private?” Collins suggested, but Buffy shook her head.

“I only want to go through this once.” The detective nodded.

“If it’s OK, I’ll record it. You probably don’t have to testify if we do that.”

“OK. Good.” Buffy sighed in relief.

Collins pulled a chair up next to the bed and placed her tape-recorder on the table next to the bed.

“Interview with Buffy Anne Summers regarding Mr Riley Finn. Present detective Collins, Hank Summers, Willow Rosenberg, Alexander Harris and William Giles.” She turned to Buffy. “Could you tell me about your relationship with Riley?”

“What do you want to know?” Buffy asked.

“Why don’t you start from the beginning, how you met, and just take it from there.” Collins suggested.

“I dropped a book on him.” Buffy smiled sadly at the memory. “Willow and I were in the campus book store, and I was getting a book off the top shelf. I couldn’t reach it and ended up pushing it off the shelf and onto Riley’s head.

We were friends first, but then he asked me out and we started dating. It was great in the beginning, he was really sweet and caring. Then my mom died, and he moved into the house with me. He took care of me when I needed it the most. I cut myself off from everybody, he was the only one left.

A month or so after my mom died, he yelled at me for the first time. He had been waiting for me after class and saw me talking to a guy, I had asked him about the homework, but Riley didn’t believe that. He thought I had been flirting and was furious. I said that nothing happened and promised I wouldn’t talk to the guy again. After that, the verbal abuse just got worse.

He’d tell me how ugly I was, how fat and stupid and how I should thank my lucky start that he put up with me, because no one else would ever want me. Every Friday night, we’d go out with his friends and their girlfriends. Before we left the house, he’d inspect what I was wearing. Every time he said I looked like a whore and made me change into something else, that he’s told me I looked like a whore in just the week before. When we’d get home, he’d start yelling about how I flirted with all his friends, even if I didn’t talk to them, and call me all kinds of names. It was like that for the rest of spring, and then we went o Iowa to visit his parents for the summer. He was a completely different person there. Sweet, attentive, caring. I thought maybe it was going to be OK after all. But then we went back here and school started again, and things went back to the way they had been before the summer.”

Tears were running down her cheeks, but Buffy had to keep going. She knew if she stopped, she would never get it out.

“The hitting didn’t star until Christmas two years ago. I was putting the presents under the tree, and he asked who they were for. I told him I’d gotten presents for Willow and Xander, and that I felt like I had been neglecting them since my mom died. He just slapped me. Out of the blue, right across the cheek. I had a bruise for almost a week after, but that was the only time he hit me where someone could see it. Until now.

He was so upset after. He was crying, saying he hadn’t meant to hurt me and that he would never do it again. I believed him. But of course it did. The smallest things could set him off, so I started watching my back all the time, afraid he’d be mad because of something I did. I didn’t talk to anyone, because that would make him mad. I tried to do everything I could to keep him calm, but it wasn’t enough. Some times he’d make up an excuse, something that never even happened, because he was mad at something else and wanted to take it out on me.

That’s how it’s been for the past two years. Most of the time it would be a week or so between the beatings, but sometimes it was quiet for months, sometimes for only a day or two. I never knew what would cause it, and didn’t know how to stop it.”

“Can you tell me about what happened yesterday?” Collins asked carefully. Buffy nodded.

“A couple of weeks ago I started to suspect that I was pregnant. I went to get a pregnancy test at Student Health, and they called me yesterday asking me to come in to talk to Dr Carey about the results. I missed Riley when he was picking me up, and when I got home he was furious. I told him where I’d been and about the baby. I didn’t know how he’d react, and he went crazy, started yelling about me sleeping with someone behind his back, and that it wasn’t his. The last I remember is lying on the floor in the kitchen.”

Buffy finished her story and Willow squeezed her hand in a supportive gesture. Buffy smiled at her through the tears. Detective Collins turned off the tape-recorder and put it in her bag.

“Thank you. This and the photos should be enough to get a conviction.” She stood up to leave. “You just make sure to get well, OK?” She smiled at all of them before leaving the room.

*****

When the detective had left the room, Buffy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It had taken a lot out of her to talk about the past couple of years. When she opened her eyes again, she met Willow’s, who were filled with tears.

“Why didn’t you talk to us?” The red head asked in a thick voice.

“I don’t know... I guess I was ashamed, because somewhere deep down I knew what he was doing was wrong, and that I shouldn’t have to put up with it. I was afraid that you guys would think I was weak.” Buffy sighed. “And, on some level, I believed him. That I wasn’t worthless, and that no one could ever love me.” She added in a whisper.

“Please don’t believe that, sweetie.” Buffy’s dad took one of her hands in his. “You have a lot of people who care about you. I’m sorry I haven’t been around much, maybe if I had been...” Buffy cut him off.

“No, dad, this is not your fault.” She insisted.

“Maybe you should come with me?” Mr Summers suggested. “Back to Miami, finish college there, with me and Dawnie, get away from here.” Buffy shook her head.

“I can’t run away. If I do, I might never be able to go back. I have to face it.”

“We’ll all be here to help you.” Willow said. “Right?” Xander and Spike nodded.

“We’ll help you get through it.” Xander said, taking Buffy’s other hand. “That’s what friends are for.”


Epilogue

Buffy jumped off the low wall she had been sitting on when she saw Willow, Xander and Spike exit the court hall.

“So?” She asked nervously.

“Guilty on all charges!” Spike announced before he put his arms around Buffy and lifted her into the air. Riley had been charged with attempted murder as well as assault and rape. “15 to 25. We won’t be seeing him anytime soon.”

Buffy felt relief wash through her and put her arms around Spike, returning the hug. They had started dating a couple of weeks ago, and were now officially a couple.

Buffy felt tears form in her eyes as Spike let go of her.

“What’s wrong sweetie?” Willow put her arm around Buffy’s shoulder. “They got him, that’s good.” Buffy nodded, drying her tears.

“I’m just so glad that I have you guys, I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

Xander joined the others, looping his arm with Willow and the four started walking towards the parking lot. Spike squeezed Buffy’s hand.

“Let’s never find out.”





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