Author's Chapter Notes:
U almost posted 25 so I hope this is right.....

Please read the note at the bottom
Chapter 24

Buffy was supposed to be happy. Supposed to be, so why wasn't she? She had her house back to herself and she was back to working regularly after her two week semi-vacation. Everything was back to how it had been before...before Spike had come. So why was it suddenly not quite what she wanted?

Buffy had called her boss shortly after she'd stopped crying and told him that she would be working regularly now and that she hoped the few days she'd taken off wouldn't be a problem. He assured her that it wouldn't be a problem and he was happy to have her back. Apparently people--men specifically--liked Buffy's bit of innocence; the same thing she was trying to hide and, well, get over.

Her house seemed so lonely now; something she hadn't expected to happen. While Spike was there it seemed so crowded and busy, but now that he was gone it seemed so empty. And lonely. Buffy couldn't understand why after months and months of living alone, just a few weeks with Spike left her wanting someone there to live with her.

Not just someone, Buffy corrected herself. She wanted Spike there. She needed to get over that, too. Spike was gone and she needed to accept that and move past it all.

She needed to go back to being the Buffy that she was before she'd even talked to Spike.

Now she just had to figure out how to do that.



The plane ticket had cost him a pretty penny but Spike had managed to get on a flight just hours after he'd told Rupert he was leaving. The four hour flight had given him some time to think, but he wasn't so sure that that was a beneficial thing. The more he thought about it, the more deplorable his words towards Buffy seemed.

To say he had not meant to hurt her would have been a lie; in that moment he wanted her to hurt like hell. Like he did. He was a grown man, hell he was thirty-three, but he still couldn't keep his senses about him when it came to love. He always fell too hard and too fast...and for someone who didn't want him. Some days he wanted to just lock all of them--his exes and whatever the hell Buffy was--in a room together and just...yell at them.

He'd even had a dream of doing it while he was on the plane. What the bleeding hell is wrong with you bloody women? What the hell does it take? Why do you bitches torture me? They had all been there, mocking him. But even with Drusilla and Cecily there, he knew the one he wanted was Buffy.

What was wrong with him? He wanted the girl that had done nothing but bring him pain—well, there had been quite a bit of pleasure in there, but she had done her best to show him that even those times could be looked back on painfully.

He wished that that night had never happened. If they could just get rid of that night...then, even with all the yelling and leaving and hateful words, he could still look back on some events fondly; instead of looking back on them with disdain like he was.

She was a nineteen year old little girl...a girl...but she had all the power over him...him, a grown man...she had all the power, and she knew it.

She knew it and she'd used it to break him down; to break herself down. She had the lowest self esteem of almost anyone he'd ever known but she also had an incredible amount of strength in her.

Strength that she was currently using to make herself miserable.

He could only hope that someday, someone would be strong enough to help her use that strength for something better. It was just a shame he couldn't be there to see the result.


Rupert Giles was beginning to think he'd made a mistake.

A very, very big mistake.

He'd had the conversation with William thinking that he was doing the right thing, but now he was not so sure. William had left, immediately in fact, something that he had not expected in the least bit to happen. Joyce was angry with him about William's leaving and was currently taking it out on both him--for talking to William--and Buffy--for supposedly being the source of the problem. And Buffy...Yes, Buffy, his dear, dear daughter; she was having the worst reaction.

While Joyce was open in her anger and pain over the young man leaving, Buffy was trying to play it all off, to pretend like she didn't care at all. Yet Giles could see that she did. She had already been betrayed by two men in her life once before and she was taking this third occurrence rather unwell.

What surprised him though was that she was not mad at him but at William. And only William.

He had been sure when William stormed out of his study that he was going to have Buffy in there yelling at him in just a matter of minutes, or Joyce. But neither of them had come, not for several hours that is.

Joyce came in to announce dinner and asked him what had happened as Buffy had just informed her that William was gone.

Rupert had carefully explained that he'd talked to William earlier and that he was not exactly sure why the man had left--never once bringing up the possible 'relationship' he believed the two young people to be involved in or what exactly he had said to William.

It was a lie and he knew it, but he thought that it would be for the best. He asked Joyce not to let Buffy know that he had even talked to William and she had readily agreed, both of them agreeing it would be easier that way.

But Buffy hadn't ever come in there to yell at him, hadn't even sent any hateful glares his way during dinner that night. William hadn't told her.

He wasn't sure what that meant but he knew it meant something. But he didn't need to figure it out now; William was gone, Joyce would get over it, and Buffy would be better now. It was all going to be okay.


TBC........Please Review

I know my updates have been pretty off schedule (and you'll get 25 ina few hours to make upfor that), but it's--sadly--not going to get better for at least 3 weeks...we're going to visit family and for various reason, we're driving...so no internet there...I'll update when i can, but if you want to know when I update, I'd suggest joining my mailing list

Okay, now back to packing since I have to leave in the morning...but I'll be back in a bit with 25.......you can read 'Just a Thing' while you're waiting


oops, forgot to say that I've revamped my site: here if you'd like to check that out...

and thanks to Buffypurple12 for adding me to her fav author list.....(btw, I'll probably repeat this whole thing next chapter, sorry)





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