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Spike walked out of the bathroom at the same time Buffy entered the diner. He was shocked and appalled at the response she'd gotten. His heart went out to her as he watched her uncaring facade appear. Silently he continued to watch her, as she nonchalantly walked to get in the carry out line. Decision made to show her his support, he walked quickly over to join her.

He noticed a couple of secret glances she made toward a certain booth. Turning to see what was attracting her attention, he noticed four people sitting there acting strangely. The redheaded girl was blushing and was obviously avoiding looking over at Buffy. The boy beside her with orange hair was holding her hand supportively.

The other couple appeared to be arguing about something and the dark haired girl was saying something to make the boy beside her duck his head. From what he could tell, the dark haired girl was either giving them the word about dissing a friend, or she was making sure they stayed away. He couldn't tell and he wished he did.

*******

Willow kept her head down as Cordelia went on about how Buffy was sleeping with Angel and Darla. Preaching on and on about how Buffy was never who they thought she was and their parents were right to make them stay away from her.

"Look at her, standing there like nothing ever happened." Cordy went on, "My mom says Dawn would never have been hurt if Buffy hadn't left her alone."

Xander bit his tongue, wanting to defend his one time best friend, but knew he'd be girlfriendless if he did. He knew Willow's parents would have banished him from Willow's life if he'd stayed friends with Buffy.

"Some say she's the one that killed Dawn." Cordy went on to say, not caring if she was making things difficult for those sitting with her.

"I know she didn't." Willow defended Buffy. "She came over right after she called me, saying Dru had come home."

"But Dru hadn't come home, Duh!" Cordy challenged. "Could be she did it and then came over."

"Stop!" Oz growled. "Enough." He said when Cordelia was going to say something. "Buffy didn't kill her sister." He didn't believe it, and disagreed with Willow's parents, but they were in charge.

He knew her parents had threatened to send her away to school if she tried to see Buffy behind their backs. So she'd written a letter explaining that until she turned eighteen she'd do as they said, but once she was on her own she'd be Buffy's public friend again. He tried to give Buffy the letter, but found it impossible, so he'd climbed her tree and slipped it in her window.

Cordelia huffed as she glared at Willow's boyfriend. She'd been shocked that his voice actually changed from his normal mild mannered tone. Her sister, Harmony, and Dru were good friends, and so it made her privy to things the others didn't know. She knew that even Buffy's parents held her accountable for Dawn's death, to the point they were getting ready to send her to a boarding school. To hear Dru talk, her parents were grieving themselves to death over what to do about Buffy.

"Can we talk about something other than Buffy?" Xander asked, and smiled when Oz asked him if he wanted to go to the Green Day concert.

*******

Buffy stood in line trying to avoid looking at two people who used to be her best friends. She felt a touch of anger start to surface and then beat it down, telling herself it wasn't worth getting upset about. Just because they wouldn't look at her when she walked in shouldn't bother her anymore.

"How's business?" Spike asked softy as he got in line behind Buffy. He'd noticed how the diner had suddenly become quieter when she walked in.

It really pissed him off to see how they treated her. He wanted to stand up and shout at them to keep their big gobs shut. Who were these people to cast stones on a young woman so easily? What kept him from doing it was the sadness he felt about how easily Buffy seemed to accept their treatment of her. On top of that he didn't want to embarrass her with the rude outburst he played out in his mind.

"Where's your other sneaky half?" She answered as she stepped up in the line.

"Gone shopping with your Mum for food."

"Wow, so like Dru. Suck up to Mom."

"Care to join me for lunch?"

"Yes, I care not to, if you don't mind." Buffy replied, "I'm not my sister's boyfriend's keeper. I have money to make and a reputation to keep up."

"Buffy, please don't treat me like the enemy. You might find that I'm not." Spike said, so only she could hear.

Buffy turned to look at him and noticed he seemed sincere but said, "You so don't want word getting back to Dru we spent time together. Then you wouldn't have that perfect girlfriend anymore, you would find the bitch that lies underneath her perfect skin and hair. She grows these nasty teeth and will try and rip a hole in your neck."

Spike tilted his head and smiled, "I'm not her lap dog."

"Are you sure?"

"Can I take your order?" The waitress addressed Spike instead of Buffy, pissing him off.

Spike leaned in asked Buffy, "Do you really want to stay here? I suddenly lost my appetite for this place."

Buffy looked up at him, finding it hard to overlook the obvious banishment. She'd come here often, and this was the first time anyone was outright rude to her. Digging her nails into the palm of her hand she decided to bow down yet again.

"Could you order a chef salad with lite Italian dressing for my boss?" She asked Spike, deciding she wasn't hungry after all.

Spike looked at Buffy before turning to the waitress and saying, "I think you owe her an apology. Your behavior is rude, and you should be let go. But, if you'd be so kind, get me a chef salad with lite Italian dressing."

"I think you both can find service elsewhere." The woman replied. "And before you ask for the management, I'm in charge today."

"Fine, I guess we will, with better service," Spike agreed, "and I still say you need to find another job, away from the public. Maybe they're hiring in the morgue."

Buffy's eyes grew large as she watched him flip the woman a backwards peace sign before taking her hand in his and leading her out of the diner. He kept mumbling about stupid, ignorant, backward people as he led her to his car.

*******

The anger surged through him as he watched the blonde haired punk take his girl's hand and lead her out of the diner. This stranger's actions were unacceptable and stepped on the verge of overstepping his bounds. She was his, and no one else's.

It was enough he heard the garbage coming from Miss Chase's mouth and maybe his demon would have to reassess who he wanted to torture. He was sure the beast could make what it did to Dawn look like child's play once he was done with the homecoming wannabe.

She would be sorry she mentioned his girl is such a manner. But it showed the poor upbringing the spoiled brat was given. Her father was a thief and his time would be coming, or so his friend at the IRS had told him at lunch the other day. Her mother was just a socialite with no sense of how to take care of herself. He was sure the apple didn't fall far from the tree when it came to mother and daughter Chase. He left money on the table that would take care of his check and made a swift exit so he could follow the man who had the nerve to manhandle his girl.

*******





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