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Buffy’s knee bounced uncontrollably while she sat on the edge of her bed staring at the door. There had been no sign of Spike when she had returned home. It hadn’t really been a surprise—not after what happened. He had probably dropped by Willy’s before coming home, and that only made her worry more. He wasn’t well liked there to begin with since his discovery that he could still hurt demons in spite of the chip. She dreaded the idea of what would happen if word got out about Spike’s newly found humanity.



Her ears perked at the sound of steps coming down the hallway toward her door. He was obviously drunk—stomping down the hall not caring if he woke up the entire house.



“Spike!” she growled as the door shot open prepared to berate him for being so loud. “Dawn?”



“What did you do to him?” the teenager demanded slamming the door shut behind her.



“Dawn,” she repeated trying to keep her voice steady, “what are you doing home?”



“Janice and her mom had a fight, so I came home,” Dawn supplied as she stood by the door with her arms crossed tightly over her chest and tapped her foot angrily. The sight would have been intimidating had she not been wearing a pair of blue flannel pj’s sporting a teddy bear design. “Now, are you going to tell me what you did to Spike?”



“It’s three a.m., Dawn,” she scolded glancing at the red glow of the alarm clock on her nightstand. “You know better than to go walking around Sunnydale at night by yourself.”



“Her mom drove me home,” the teenager snapped. “Would you quit avoiding the question!”



“I didn’t do anything to him,” Buffy sighed. Well, nothing she wanted to discuss with her little sister.



“I saw the marks on his shoulder…”



“You saw Spike?” she demanded turning her full attention to her sister. “When? Where is he?”



“Like you care,” she snorted. “He’s downstairs. I went down to get a drink, and he came stumbling in. I asked him what was wrong, but all I could catch was your name before he passed out on the couch. So what happened?”



“Dawn, I didn’t do anything,” she replied quietly. “We were surprised in the cemetery by a demon. It managed to catch Spike before I got a chance to kill it.”



“Okay,” Dawn replied a little calmer now, but her foot continued tapping impatiently. “That explains the cuts, but he’s been attacked by demons before, and he didn’t go out and get sloshed. So what else happened? You didn’t start another fight with him, did you?”



“No. Well, nothing more than the usual,” she admitted drawing her legs up on the bed hoping her sister might get the idea that she wanted to go to bed, and then she could go downstairs and check on Spike. “We were talking, the demon attacked, I killed it, and then…and then end of story.”



Dawn eyed her sister suspiciously as she curled up on the bed against the pillows and stifled a yawn. She knew there was more to it than that, and she wasn’t leaving until she got the whole story. Slowly she crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed net to her sister.



“Not end of story,” she sighed. “Now, come on, Buffy, spill. What else happened?”



“Dawn, I really don’t want to talk about it,” she protested. “It wasn’t anything…”



“Meaning you don’t want to talk to little sister about it,” Dawn broke in giving the Slayer her harshest glare.



“It’s not that, Dawn,” Buffy insisted. “It’s just that it’s…it’s about…”



“About sex.” Dawn finished her sentence making Buffy wince in response. “Come on, Buffy, it’s not like I haven’t figured it out. You had sex with Spike. You can talk to me about it. I’m fifteen. I do know a little about the subject.”



Buffy looked at her sister deciding what to do. Discussing sex with her sister—with anyone—was really not an appealing idea, but she did feel like talking to someone. Spike was unconscious, and Willow hadn’t returned home apparently spending the night with Tara. Still discussing the subject with Dawn was taking an effort.



“Fine,” Buffy relented all the air exiting her lungs in one long sigh. She couldn’t believe she was going to tell Dawn this, but it wasn’t like she hadn’t already figured out what her sister and Spike had been up to. “Spike and I had…we…”



“Had sex?” Dawn supplied helpfully.



“Yes, well, no,” she continued—and she thought conversations with Spike could be unnerving. “Not exactly. Do you have to be so blunt?”



“You’re rambling,” Dawn smiled encouragingly. “So what happened to make Spike so upset?”



She studied her trembling hands as she twisted her fingers together. Things had been so much easier when she had been seeing the vampire in secret. She had felt guilty, but that was nothing in comparison to the embarrassment she felt having this little sisterly chat.



“It wasn’t me,” she insisted. “Well, I don’t think it was. Everything was fine, and then he just couldn’t.”



“What do you mean couldn’t?” Dawn asked catching the look on her older sister’s face. “Oh, you mean couldn’t.”



“Yeah,” she sighed. “I don’t know what happened. It just didn’t happen, and then he took off.”



“Well, it’s probably nothing, Buffy,” she told her giving her a hug. “He’s been stressed out lately, becoming human, dealing with the gang. I’m sure it wasn’t your fault.”



“I know, but…”



“No but’s. I’m sure things will be better in the morning,” Dawn gave her a smile that reminded her of their mom, “as she crossed the room to the door. “I’m going to get some sleep, and Buffy, thanks.”



“For what?”



“For not talking to me like I was a little kid and for giving Spike a chance. Night, Buffy,” she answered as she left the room to leave Buffy to lie on her bed wondering who confused her more—the ex-vampire sleeping it off on her couch or her sister’s newly found maturity.





***







“Good morning, sunshine,” Buffy gave the blond sitting at the island in the kitchen with his fingers wrapped around a nearly empty glass of water a smile. She was rather surprised to see him conscious considering the shape he had come home in. It was obvious from his expression he was enjoying the full effects of the past evening and his present state of health made her decide that jumping into a discussion about their relationship was probably not the best idea.



“How are we feeling today?” she asked reaching into the fridge and pulling out a carton of orange juice.



“Don’t ask,” he groaned gripping the glass a little tighter.



She pulled a glass out of the cupboard and poured herself a healthy dose of juice. He definitely looked miserable as he closed his eyes and rubbed his temples slowly.



“I take it vampire Spike didn’t get hangovers?” she asked keeping her voice low, remembering how she had felt after her drinking binge after the geek trio had decided to start screwing with her life.



“Feeling like death warmed over when you’re already dead wasn’t all that bad,” he replied, his voice raspy. “Just all kind of blended together.”



“I can get you an aspirin,” she offered. “I always have a fairly large supply on hand.”



“What’s with the Florence Nightingale routine, luv?” he eyed her suspiciously. “Not complaining or anything, mind you.”



“Just concerned, I suppose,” she turned quickly trying to hide the redness rising in her cheeks and began to search for her supply of aspirin. “I’m planning on heading over to the Magick Shop later.”



“Still looking for a way to get rid of me?” he grumbled.



“No,” she replied placing the pills on the counter next to his glass of water. “I do want to see if Anya’s found out about any kickbacks from your wish, but I need to check and see if we’ve made any progress on finding Warren and company, and I want to check on that demon we ran into last night. It’s probably nothing, but I’d still like to check it out.”



“Sounds like a fun-filled day,” he commented pooping a couple of white tablets into his mouth.



“Yeah” she replied between sips of juice, “the exciting life of a Slayer. You don’t have to come though. I mean, if you’re not feeling up to it.”



“No, I’ll go,” Spike replied not sounding overly excited about the idea. “Just give me some time to feel human again.”



She smiled behind the rim of her glass. It was definitely a comment she never thought she would hear coming from Spike’s mouth. “That will give me time to grab a shower.”





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