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Author's Chapter Notes:
I wanted to try something a little different in this...see if I can do twists and make you guess what's really happening..hopefully I succeed!
Chapter Two

Buffy swallowed, "Gone? What do you mean ‘gone'?"

"What do you think I mean, Buffy? What does the word ‘gone' mean to you? She's not there. She LEFT."

"I told you that already," Lindsey piped up, looking up at them.

"Keep coloring baby. Uncle William and I are gonna go into the kitchen and make some coffee okay?"

"Okay, momma," Lindsey chirped and went back to her drawings.

Buffy grabbed William's arm and pulled him into the kitchen. "Where did she go?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know, Buffy? She's not there. She's gone. Apparently with Angel."

"How did you manage to miss your girlfriend LEAVING Spike?"

He smirked, "Oh I get ‘Spike' now. Something doesn't go your way and you resort back to that? And funny, but you missed your HUSBAND leaving. How does THAT happen?"

"They probably went for coffee and donuts," Buffy rationalized.

"You have donuts," he pointed to the open carton of Dunkin' Donuts on the counter. "And if I know Angel, you have coffee."

"How long have they been gone for cripe's sake?" Buffy asked rhetorically, rubbing her forehead. "They left a four year old downstairs by herself for how long?"

"You said yourself that she does well on her own; that she hardly ever gets into trouble when she's playing by herself," Spike pointed out.

"That doesn't mean you don't check on her!" Buffy exclaimed.

"Buffy, pet, calm down," Spike said calmly, wrapping an arm about her shoulders and pulling her into the warmth of his body.

"Something's not right," she said, pulling away from him.

"Here we go with all your gut feelings. Funny how you never follow your gut feelings though. You sure do get a lot of them to never follow them," Spike drawled.

"Shut up, Spike. Don't you feel it? Don't you see there's something wrong here?"

"I've been seeing that for a long time, pet."

"What is that supposed to mean? You were the one who was all about letting it all be in the past and moving on and being friends—"

"That was until YOUR husband ran off with MY girlfriend!" he bellowed.

"Quiet down! I don't need you upsetting Lindsey. She doesn't have a clue what's going on."

"There might not BE anything going on," Spike said through clenched teeth.

"Then why are you so angry?" Buffy asked pointedly.

For an answer, Spike stalked out of the room and up to his bedroom. Buffy slammed her fist on the counter.


*********************************************************************

Three hours later when Angel and Fred had not returned, and their cell phone's had gone unanswered and no one in their neighborhood had seen hide nor hair of them, Buffy knew it had to be true, though she didn't want to believe it.

Angel and Fred had run off together. It was obvious. Some of Angel's things were missing, and all Fred's things were.

"You bastard," Buffy screamed into the phone as she stood on their deck outside. "You left your daughter, how could you leave your daughter?" Not wanting her husband to know how he'd hurt her, she clicked off her portable and sank to the floor, sobbing. Whether it was more for Lindsey or for her, she wasn't sure. All she knew was the ever present betrayal she felt, the fear of what lay ahead, and all the questions of why. Frustration was strangling her and she wanted answers. Except, she had a funny feeling; she wasn't going to get any answers anytime soon.

"Buffy," Spike's husky voice sounded in her ears, and his arms enfolded her.
She twitched in his embrace but allowed him to gather her on his lap. "Lindsey?" she whispered.

"Napping."

"I don't understand why this is happening. Why, Spike? Why is he gone? Why did they leave together like that? Where did they go? Not even a note . . . "

"I don't know, sweetheart, I don't know. I wish I knew . . . I can tell you I see him again and I'm gonna kill him—"

"You can't. Lindsey," she reminded him.

"I don't get it. I mean . . . to just up and leave like that. Fred never said anything, I didn't even know, didn't suspect anything. How could this have happened?"

Buffy looked up at him. "Did you love her?"

Spike met her eyes, "I could have. Maybe in time. She wasn't . . . "

"Spike," Buffy whispered and buried her face in his chest.

He cleared his throat. "You can file a missing persons report after twenty four hours."

"They're not missing. They're just . . . gone. Together. They wanted to be together. It's obvious they didn't care about us, about what it'd do to us, to Lindsey," Buffy said defeated.

"I'll hire someone to find them then. Do it all quiet like. They can't get away with this Buffy. Fred wants to leave me, fine. Wasn't as if I was giving her much to begin with. But for Angel to leave you and Lindsey—his FAMILY?" He shook his head, "No. That's not right and I'm not going to just throw my hands up and say ‘oh well, they wanted to be together'. And I know that's not what you really want either."

"I just . . . I feel lost. I don't know what to do to make this right," she said tiredly. "What am I going to tell Linds?"

Spike rubbed her back slowly, nestling his face in her hair. "I'll take care of you. I won't leave you."

"You don't have to—"

"Shut up. I'm doing it."

"You know I'm tired when I don't even have the energy to argue with you."

"That's a first."

Not even having the energy to retort back with a witty comeback, Buffy nestled into the warmth
and safety Spike was providing and soon found herself falling fast asleep.



*********************************************************************



Going through the motions of making dinner, Buffy barely registered the phone ringing until the answering machine picked up and Angel's voice drifted to her.

"I'm sorry, Buffy. I had to do it . . ."

Her eyes widening, she lunged at the phone as Spike came barreling in, anxious.
Yanking up the phone, she said, "Angel?"

"I'm sorry, Buffy," he said again, softly.

"Where are you? Why did you do this?" she demanded, welling up in tears.

"I had to, I fell in love. It just happened.”

“Just happened? You’re going to throw away our marriage and your daughter over someone you just met?”

"Once we're settled, I'll send you money."

"Where ARE you? Once you're settled? What kind of shit is that?"

A click, and dial tone. She put the phone back in its cradle and looked up at
Spike who was watching her expectantly.

"He didn't tell me anything."

"Star sixty nine, woman!"

"He's on his cell. Caller ID," she pointed at the little screen. "He said he loved her He said he'd send money when they settled."

“Once they’re SETTLED? What the hell does that mean?”

Buffy welled up in tears, "It means he doesn't want me. And he doesn't want our daughter."

"Buffy—" Spike reached for her.

"Lindsey!" she shouted, "Dinner!"

"Buffy—"

"What?" she snapped at him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"For? For bringing that tramp in this house and breaking up my home?"

Spike's eyes narrowed, "Like this isn’t the first time he’s—“

"Momma? Are you and Uncle William okay?" Lindsey asked fearfully, coming into the kitchen.

Buffy wiped her tears away with the back of her hand and forced a serene smile at her daughter. "We're fine, baby. Come on, dinner's ready. I made your favorite."

"Pasketti?"

"Yep!"

"Yay! Uncle William, are you staying?"

Spike took a deep, cleansing breath and grabbed himself a plate, piling some spaghetti and sauce on it. He sat down across from his Lindsey. He smiled at her and looked up at Buffy. "I sure am."





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