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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks to Tasha for being my beta.
February 9, 1999 Sunday


The package, and accompanying note, arrived just after lunch by special courier. Buffy gasped with astonishment when she opened the gift to find the necklace her grandmother had given to her when Buffy was just a little girl. It was the necklace she had last worn on the fateful Halloween where everyone had turned into their costumes. After she gasped, Buffy ripped open the envelope and almost dropped the bright green emerald charm on the floor in her haste. She scanned the note in an attempt to find any clue as to how her secret admirer had found the necklace.

It would be a shame for something as beautiful as this necklace to remain lost. Your secret admirer.

The day after Buffy lost the necklace, she and Willow went back to comb every inch of the alley where the Slayer had wrestled with Larry the Pirate and the warehouse where she had fought Spike. The piece of jewelry was no where to be found, and Buffy tried to hide her sadness at the loss of her precious keepsake.

Later in the afternoon, Buffy called Faith to let the other Slayer know that she wanted to go ahead and patrol alone that night. She informed the other girl that she needed some time alone with her thoughts, but that everything was fine. After dark, Buffy changed into patrol clothes, said good-bye to her mother, and left the house twirling her newly acquired stake in her right hand.

Buffy strolled through the cemetery with her mind a million miles away. She absent-mindedly staked a newly risen vampire as she asked herself some tough questions.

Do I know who my secret admirer might be? Yes!

Do I care that it might be him? Not particularly.

Should I shoot first and ask questions later or let him seduce me to his way of thinking? Hmmm, seduction sounds wonderful.

Is everyone gonna freak when they find out? Probably. It might be a good idea to sound them all out first.

With that goal in mind, Buffy cut her patrol short and swung by Willow's house. When she knocked on the door, she was not surprised that Oz answered it.

"Hey Oz. How was the gig?" Buffy greeted the werewolf with a little wave of her hand.

"Fine," Oz answered. He stepped back to allow the Slayer to step into Willow's house. Oz closed the door behind Buffy, and he followed her into the living room where Willow sat on the couch watching a movie.

"Buffy, I'm so glad you stopped by. The gig was so much fun, even though Harmony was so cranky the whole time. She complained about everything. I almost slapped her on several occasions, and you know that's not me. How was your weekend? What did your secret admirer give you?" Willow finally ran out of air, and she received a small smile from Oz when he sat down beside her.

Buffy flopped down on the couch on the other side of her best friend. She grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl in Willow's lap. Buffy stared at the television screen while she tried to come up with a way to approach bringing up a new identity for her secret admirer.

Willow and Oz both turned their attention back to the movie. They could tell something was on Buffy's mind, but Willow learned a long time ago that pushing the Slayer wasn't a good way to find out what was up with her.

"You know, Wills," Buffy spoke casually, "We forgot to add one name to the secret admirer list." She grabbed another handful of popcorn

"Who's that, Buffy?" Willow asked. She glanced at her friend, but she found Buffy's face unreadable.

"Spike," Buffy answered. She kept her eyes glued to the television. So, she missed Willow's 'deer in the headlights' expression, but she couldn't miss the sharp intake of breath from Oz.

Willow quickly glanced at Oz, "W-what made you think of Spike?"

Buffy finally looked at over at Willow and Oz. She noticed that they were trying to silently communicate with each other. Hmm, Mom's been all sneaky with her comments all week. Now, Willow's getting all stuttery at the mention of Spike. Oh yeah, something's going on around here, Buffy thought to herself.

"Lots of little things, actually," Buffy replied. She fingered her necklace before she continued, "I got this necklace as my present today. We both know that the last time I wore it was on the Halloween that Ethan Rayne was in town. I've already eliminated Angel, Xander and Larry from the list."

"I knew about Xander, but Larry and Angel, too? How? Why? What made you think of Spike?" Willow demanded. She really wanted to hear the reasoning behind Buffy's conclusions. She chewed her lower lip nervously.

"Well, going over that night in my mind, I only came into contact with four guys. Larry's vibe has been off lately. So, I asked him if he was giving me the gifts. You should have seen his face, Willow. He was totally aghast that I would even consider him in the running. That's when he told me I wasn't his type." Buffy rolled her eyes. "Whatever that means. Xander's eliminated because he's serious about Faith. Angel once told me that Whistler showed me to him in L.A., and one of the notes said that my admirer first saw me dancing to a song that didn't come out until last year. Plus, Angel's leaving Sunnydale when we get the Mayor defeated."

"Angel's leaving? Aren't you upset?" Willow asked. She knew Angel was thinking about the move but not that he had actually decided to go through with it.

"He told me last night at the Bronze. No, I'm not upset. We can't be together. It's too dangerous, and I won't do that to all of you, again," Buffy answered.

"What makes you think Spike isn't as dangerous as Angelus?" Willow asked. She got up from the couch and paced back and forth in an poorly concealed attempt to show that she was unpleased with Buffy's line of thought.

"I never said that, Willow." Buffy smirked and rolled her eyes. "Spike is just as dangerous as Angelus was, but there is more to him than murder and mayhem. He doesn't need a soul to be in love." Buffy chuckled at a thought before she spoke again, "He's Love's Bitch, and he's man enough to admit it."

"Where the heck did you hear that from?" Willow stared at Buffy. That last sentence sounded like a very odd comment from the other girl.

"From the horse's mouth," Buffy answered.





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