Buffy looked about the kitchen nervously. The place looked like a junk food junkie’s wet dream. She had definitely overdone it at the grocery store, but to make up for her months of taking Dawn for granted, it was worth blowing the month’s budget—not that they really had any budget to speak of. Besides, it helped to get her mind off things—things like Spike.
She had gone to the crypt to end things, put an end to all the wrongness that Spike insistently believed was love. She hated how guilty she felt, but it just wasn’t guilt that she felt. She couldn’t forget that scene while she had stood outside his door. She had expected him to be angry, but she hadn’t expected him to call out another woman’s name, not even another woman, a vengeance demon.
“Damn!” she growled as she pulled the pizza pan from the cupboard only to have three more pans slide out along with it and land with a loud bang on the floor.
It figured! All she had to do was think of that vampire and things started going wrong. It was ridiculous to be so upset over his relationship with Halfrek. She had broken up with him, hadn’t she? Still, she felt curious. Perhaps, Anya was right, and Spike had made a wish. She had been rather doubtful when he had admitted to being a shy poet when he was alive. That little admission had come after a particularly long session of love mak…sex, she reminded herself. Love had nothing to do with what had occurred between them. Spike had never been ashamed of his violent past, but even he was smart enough not to bring up how horrible he had been in his mortal life as a topic for pillow talk.
She slammed the oven shut on the frozen pizza inside. What did it take to get that blond pest of her mind?! She was supposed to be concentrating on her relationship with her sister and getting their lives back in order. She was doing a really good job of it!
“Buffy?”
“What?” She turned from the stove with a start to find her little sister looking at her questioningly. “Dawn, I…I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Yeah,” the younger girl smirked. “You seemed pretty fascinated with the stove. Are you okay?”
She had been so deep in thought; she hadn’t even realized she had just been standing there staring off into space. Way to go, Summers! She wanted things back to normal, and there she was standing in the kitchen examining major appliances!
“I’m fine,” she replied crossing the room and ducking her head behind the refrigerator door as she reached for a can of soda to hide her flushed cheeks from Dawn’s view. “Just making sure everything is ready for our girls’ night of fun.”
“Night?” Dawn gave a little laugh as she placed her schoolbooks on the already crowded counter and took the soda the Slayer offered. “Did you leave anything on the shelves when you left the grocery store?”
“Went a little over board?” Buffy surveyed the stockpile of snack items littered about the kitchen.
“Maybe a smidge,” she agreed. “Buffy, you really don’t have to do this. I mean, if you have to patrol, I…”
“No, I do,” Buffy told her. “I’ve been a rotten sister since I came back, and I’m going to make it up to you. Besides, we deserve a night off. Tomorrow, it’s back to the real world for both of us.”
Dawn ran her finger over her drink thoughtfully tracing a little design in the condensation before she spoke. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”
“Probably not,” she replied. “I stopped by the Magick Shop today and talked to Anya.”
Dawn looked down at her soda. At the mention of the ex-demon her hands began to tremble. Anya had been far from happy when they had discovered her stash of stolen goods.
“She’s still pretty angry, isn’t she?”
“Well, she is upset,” Buffy replied, “but she’s getting over it. You’re going to have to pay for what you took though.”
“Pay?” Dawn eyed her sister nervously. “I know what I did was wrong, but she’s got to know we can’t afford…”
“We made a deal,” Buffy explained trying to sound firm, but praying they wouldn’t end up spending the night fighting. “You’re going to help out at the Magick Shop after school.”
Dawn rolled her eyes towards the ceiling. “Every afternoon?”
“Dawn,” she sighed impatiently. “You can’t expect Anya to just forget what you did!”
“It’s not that,” the younger girl giggled. “I’m just picturing the hours of wedding talk!”
“Well, as they say, you do the crime,” Buffy smiled. Maybe this wasn’t going to be as hard as she thought. “Maybe you can talk her out of those bridesmaid gowns!”
“I thought they were cute!” she teased remembering the look of horror that had crossed Buffy’s face when Xander’s fiancée had shared her top three choices. Calling them atrocious was a compliment!
“Um, you have to wear them too, kiddo!” Buffy reminded her.
“But I’m just watching the guestbook!” she protested. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Buffy smiled broadly at the girl on the opposite side of the counter. She should have done this earlier. For the first time since she had come back, she had actually gone a few minutes without thinking about the fact that she had come back. She actually felt normal again.
Spike hesitated on the Summers’ front porch his fist frozen in midair just inches from making contact with the door. It felt unusual to actually knock. He really couldn’t recall the last time he had actually knocked before entering the Slayer’s house, but this time was different. She was going to see that he could be different.
Still, he couldn’t shake the knot of fear that was forming in his stomach. He growled at himself. The Bid Bad didn’t feel fear! Then again, he reminded himself, he wasn’t exactly the Big Bad anymore was he?
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