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Author's Chapter Notes:
many thanks as always to my reviewers Angi, Codykitten and Ariadne, and thanks for the wonderful compliment Ariadne, I don't think I've ever been inspiration before.
hope you enjoy the update
‘Happy Birthday Sis,’ Dawn said as she came in and threw her bag onto the sofa. ‘Still watching Spike Atherton on ‘youtube’? You are sad, do you know that?’

‘Thank you Dawn, yes I know, but I enjoy it, now why don’t you go and do something useful like order the Chinese takeaway for tonight?’ Buffy answered.

Buffy had had the whole day to herself, and had thoroughly enjoyed it. Dawn had stayed over at Janice’s house the night before and gone straight to work from there. Fran was on a field trip with her school and Buffy had treated herself to a morning at the spa, come home and simply put her feet up. A whole day for herself. A real luxury. Buffy loved her job working with troubled teenagers and running the gallery; she loved caring for Dawnie and Fran, but some days it was nice to forget you were a grown-up and play hookie from all the jobs, especially on your birthday.



Dawn looked at Buffy still watching some clip or other on the computer, it was one where Spike was losing a play fight with the dolphin from his TV show. Buffy looked a lot younger than her 42 years when she laughed. Dawn was glad that she’d had Buffy. Buffy who kept the bitter winds of life from harming her little family. She had worked hard and kept them together, supported Dawn throughout her childhood. Dawn loved Buffy as though she were her real sister and she loved little Fran too. Doyle had always teased Buffy about her infatuation with Spike Atherton, had offered to pay for Buffy to go to one of his concerts, but she had always refused. It seemed wrong to her to drool over one man in the company of another. Doyle had known everything about Buffy’s life, had known and understood about the Garden. It helped that he had dreams as well. Everyone does; what they don’t realise, but Buffy and Doyle knew, was that this was a part of everyone’s life, they were just lucky to remember it.

Dawn had a secret. Buried in the bottom of her bag were three tickets to the Spike Atherton concert here in Sunnydale at the beginning of April. Dawn and Fran had worked hard all over Christmas and had bought them with their own money. Buffy thought Fran was working for college cash, but this was the big ‘thank you for being there’ present she had been saving for. Dawn was getting nervous: $200 was a lot for tickets and she’d paid for every extra going, including drinks afterwards in the bar.

‘Happy Birthday,’ she whispered again to Buffy as the three of them sat down to the takeaway. Fran grinned up at her mom. Eighteen years had turned Fran into a beautiful young lady: she was able to wear figure-hugging jeans and always had something with an elephant on it. She dreamed of them often, riding with one, swimming with one. It was her secret place.

Buffy opened the envelope carefully. She couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw what was inside three tickets to see Spike Atherton in concert in just two and a bit months time.

‘How, what, how?’ Was all she managed to say.

Fran and Dawn caught each others’ eye and started laughing. It wasn’t often they managed to make Buffy speechless.

‘Tickets for Spike Atherton!!’
‘Yep, not only that, I’ve booked us in to a hotel as well. It’s not a brilliant hotel, but it’s close to the theatre.’

‘How can I thank you?’

‘Enjoy, mom,’ Fran said and Dawn just grinned.

THAT day came round very quickly. Buffy felt like a young girl on her first date. She had gone through the whole of her wardrobe to find the perfect outfit. It had to be just right.

She was worried, three separate thoughts kept flying through her brain. What if he didn’t recognise her? That would hurt, but what if he did know her, and he didn’t want to see her? What if he did want to see her, what would that do to their lives? It was all very well to live in a fantasy of being swept off ones’ feet but when faced with the reality she felt like running away. It was only the thought of how much the girls were looking forward to seeing the concert that kept her in the room and concentrating on putting on her boots. Boots she could understand. Buffy got up and looked at herself in the hotel mirror. Her girls had done her proud and Buffy was so very proud of her two girls. Dawn had finished college and was studying law. She had a real gift for languages, and her sharp brain, honed for years with arguing with her sister, could see the points in a legal argument quickly and precisely.

Fran was developing into a wonderful young lady, a senior, she was ready to start college in September. Buffy couldn’t believe that eighteen years had gone by since Fran had been born. It only seemed like yesterday.

The knock on the door brought her round from her memories. ‘Are you ready mom?’ Fran shouted.

‘Ready and here I come!’

Buffy opened the door and Fran took a deep breath.

‘Wow, you look amazing.’ She said. And Buffy did. Jeans and a white blouse topped off with a silk jacket made her look a lot younger than her 42 years. Buffy felt wonderful.

‘Wouldn’t Doyle being giving you hell about now?’ Dawn said with a grin. ‘He always loved to tease you about Spike Atherton.’

‘Spike Atherton has a very special place in my heart,’ laughed Buffy, ‘a place that you save for whoever was the pin-up in your room when you were 17.’

‘That would have been Orlando Bloom,’ Fran pointed out helpfully.

The three of them made their way down and into the taxi that would whisk them away to the small theatre where the performance would be held. Outside, every surface was covered with posters of Spike Atherton. ‘Tony and Oscar winner Spike Atherton, star of Stage and screen, Hero from Vampire Chronicles, here for two nights only.’

The queue was huge. Hordes of people waiting, hoping for a returned ticket.

Fran was excited. She was nearly eighteen and feeling like she was eight and at Disneyland for the first time. It was her first proper concert.

The theatre was heaving. People of all ages and types crowded in to hear and see one of the Hollywood greats sing and perform from his most recent book of poetry.

Buffy and the girls took their seat in the centre front row of the auditorium. Dawn had managed to get really good tickets.

The announcer started with the warnings: ‘Please turn off cell phones, no photography, no touching the star, no kissing the star…’ The list of rules went on and on.

Xander and Lorne listened in from the wings. They had come with him for the first time in years. There were art galleries and furniture shops they wanted to visit, and this had been the perfect opportunity.

Fred ran around checking all the last minute details. Her husband, Wesley Price, had driven all of them to the theatre earlier and was now waiting in the backstage area. He liked to oversee security whereever they were, especially when his wife was involved. Lorne and Xander had kept well out of the way as Fred bustled in and out of the room.

‘3 minutes, Spike,’ she shouted through the door to the bathroom where he was fixing his hair. He appeared looking every inch the star. Lorne gave a wolf whistle and Spike just grinned. He looked amazing. Ripped jeans, while tee shirt, red dress shirt and his black leather jacket. He looked around the room and picked up his guitar and went out towards the stage. The roar of the crowd was fantastic. It always made him high. Spike loved doing these concerts, and it was really great when he could raise money for a good cause at the same time.

The concert was everything that Buffy could dream of. Seeing Spike so close was the culmination of a dream. The girls thoroughly enjoyed it as well. No teasing for Buffy about her infatuation: Fran had bought her a programme and Buffy held it tight in her arms. The spotlight hit Spike and the concert started. Buffy screamed herself hoarse, along with the three hundred others in the audience. Buffy’s heart flew high, she felt as though she were drugged as she danced through the night

It was over all too quickly. Buffy picked up her jacket and headed towards the exit, ready to leave when Dawn started laughing. She took Buffy by the arm and led her towards the bar.

‘What’s going on?’ Buffy asked the two grinning girls.

‘We paid extra for the after-show drinks party, you even get your picture taken with Spike Atherton. Happy birthday, again.’

There were tears in Buffy’s eyes as she made her way through the crowds and into the heaving bar.

The announcer started again with the ‘don’t touch the star’ bit. Buffy couldn’t hear what was being said: she was far too nervous. Her hands were shaking so much that Dawn offered to buy her a drink to calm her down. The queue at the bar was deep and Dawn had to wait for quite a few minutes before it was her turn. She was standing next to a lovely man, chatting, when the barman finally came for her order.

‘Beer, coffee and coke,’ she said.

Lorne looked at her. She didn’t seem the type to normally come to these shows.

‘Big fan, are you?’

‘No, that would be my sister, she’s over there with my niece waiting for Spike Atherton to turn up.’

‘He normally has a shower first, says he smells like a demon if he doesn’t.’

Dawn laughed and went to pick up her drinks. Lorne offered to carry the soda for her as they made their way back to where Buffy and Fran were waiting.

‘I’ve got coffee for me and beer for you, Buffy,’ she said before nodding towards Fran to show where the soda belonged.

‘Two of the major food groups,’ Buffy smiled.

‘What’s the third?’

‘Chocolate!’ all the girls chorused together.

Lorne smiled and then was submerged in the crowd as they surged forward to get a glimpse of Spike as he came into the room.

Buffy, Dawn and Fran waited their turn for their five minutes with the star. He was everything Buffy could have dreamt of. Of course he didn’t recognise her, but an arm went around her and Dawn, and a photo was taken of the four of them, Fran snuggled against her mom. Spike gave Buffy a kiss on the cheek and just for a moment caught the look of familiar green eyes shining up at him. He tried to remember where he had seen her before but Lorne called him from the other side of the room and the memory was fleeting.





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