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After a good few hours of retail therapy, she was feeling somewhat better – after all, what seventeen-year-old girl wouldn’t be happy with new shoes? – but her cheer was quickly running out. Her mother was being great, not mollycoddling her or constantly cooing over her or even trying to make her talk about it, but giving her some space and distracting her with talk of everything and anything. As the sun started to set though, she was more than ready to go home and maybe have another attempt at patrolling – with actual slaying this time, hopefully.

“Are you ready to go home?” her mother spoke up, as if reading her mind.

“Definitely,” she answered with a slight smile, “Thanks for this, Mom. I really… I needed the distraction.”

Her mother reached out and placed a hand over hers.

“It’s what I’m here for.”

She smiled and they got to their feet, bags gathered up in their hands. As they were heading for the exit, they suddenly spotted two familiar figures: Xander and Willow. They spotted the two of them instantly and headed for them, both smiling widely and Buffy realised that she’d actually sort of missed her friends.

“Buffster!” Xander greeted her as soon as he was within earshot, “Mrs. Summers.”

“Hello, you two. I’m just going to pop into the bookshop, Buffy. Come get me when you’re ready to go.”

Her mother gave her a soft squeeze on her arm and with a little wave at her friends, disappeared in the direction of the bookshop, leaving the three friends alone.



“So, what are you guys doing here?” Buffy asked with a smile, moving to the side and leaning against the wall.

“We just came to hang,” Willow explained, “See if there was anything interesting going on.”

“You know everything’s dead in the summer.”

“Literally, in Sunnydale!” Xander quipped and both girls smiled.

“So, Buffy, what are you doing here?”

“Mom-sponsored retail therapy. After last night, I needed it.”

“Oh, yeah, how was patrol with the Undead Wonder?” Xander asked with a wide smile.

“Stake any vamps?” Willow asked eagerly, throwing a warning glance at her friend.

“I wish,” she groused, “No action to be had. Although staking one vamp was definitely looking tempting.”

“Spike annoying you?” Xander asked with an understanding smile.

“What?! Oh no, not Spike,” she answered absentmindedly, having been descending into bad memories of the night before, “Angel.”

“Angel?” Willow repeated, eyes going wide, “I thought you two were like… apart.”

“We are. He showed up to tell me he was leaving town.”

Somehow, the more she said it, the less it upset her and the more it made her angry.

“He what?!”

“He’s leaving Sunnydale. Apparently it’s best for me. Because I need to be with someone ‘real’,” she got out bitterly, frowning at the memory of his words.



She was drawn out of her daze when Willow stepped forward and placed a hand on her arm.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m getting there,” she answered with a tiny smile, “Last night… well, last night I was mess. But the more I keep thinking about it, the more I’m just… angry.”

“He’s an idiot,” Xander piped up decisively and she smiled softly.

“That’s what Spike said. He also offered to kill him, which is looking more and more tempting the more I think about it.”

She sighed and turned her attention back to her friends.

“So, yeah, in definite need of retail therapy,” she commented, gesturing to the bags she was holding.

“I know exactly the thing to cheer you up!” Xander declared, “Bronze-ing.”

“I don’t know, guys, I-“

“Come on,” Willow coaxed, “You can get out and show Angel just what he’s missing out on.”

“I’m really not in the mood, guys. Not tonight. Tonight I just want to slay and then go to bed and die.”

Both gave her a sympathetic look and she gave them a twisted smile.

“How about next week then?” Willow suggested, “When you feel more up to it.”

“Sure,” she agreed weakly, “I could probably do with a night out.”

“Great!”

“Well, I better go get my mom,” she murmured, “Time we got back and made dinner anyway.”

Willow moved forward and gave her an impromptu hug and she hugged her friend back tightly, smiling weakly at Xander over her shoulder.

“Look after yourself, okay?” Xander remarked softly, resting a hand on her shoulder. She nodded and pulled back with a watery smile.

“I’ll see you guys next week.”

They nodded and she finally moved away to find her mother.



As they barrelled through the front door, laden with bags, they were astounded to smell food cooking and they shared a confused look before heading through to the kitchen. They found Spike at the oven, stirring something with one hand while adding a sprinkle of herbs to another and he turned to them with a start, an embarrassed look crossing his face.

“I just, erm,” he started, clearing his throat nervously and turning to them, “Didn’t know when you’d be back. Thought you might want dinner ready when you, err, got back.”

“Spike, that’s wonderful of you!” her mother exclaimed, moving forward and placing her bags down, “Really, you didn’t have to.”

“Didn’t have anything better to do,” he murmured shyly with a shrug.

“You sweet boy!” her mother remarked, going up to him and pressing a kiss to his cheek, “We’re going to have to hold onto you, aren’t we, Buffy?”

She was sure if vampires could blush, he would be bright red right about now and she smiled softly, nodding as she moved into the kitchen.

“Definitely. Our very own vampire chef.”

He smiled shyly – but she could see the pleasure it gave him and it made her wonder just why he was so unused to praise and affection. Not wanting to think about that though, she slid onto a stool, watching him as he moved around the kitchen, effortlessly mixing and adding ingredients.

“Well, you’ve already beat my cooking record,” she remarked with a smile, “Nothing’s on fire yet.”

He flashed her another shy smile but quickly averted his eyes, turning back to the cooking.



About twenty minutes later, they were all seated at the dinner table, tucking into the meal.

“This is divine, Spike,” her mother commented after a few bites, “Where did you get this recipe?”

“Just something I improvised,” he answered with a hesitant smile.

“Amazing!” her mother exclaimed, giving a hum of pleasure as she took another bite.

“It’s really great,” she added, simply for the pleasure of seeing just how his eyes lit up with the praise. He bowed his head quickly though, turning to his own meal and she smiled affectionately.

Post-soul, he was such a strange contradiction of shyness and confidence and she wondered if he had been like this at all before, but she had been blind to it because all she had seen was a vampire, her enemy. She knew he could care, could love – had seen it clearly with Drusilla – but what if there was so much more hiding behind the Big Bad façade he had constructed? If she was honest, she couldn’t wait to find out. She forced her attention back to the present and turned to the vampire.

“So, what have you been up to this afternoon?”

“Not much,” he replied, “Had a nap… watched some TV… started a book.”

“The English Patient?” her mother questioned eagerly.

“Yeah.”

“I really think you’ll enjoy it. It’s one of my favourites. And I’m sure the historical side of it will be especially fascinating for you.”

“Yeah. Always loved Italy. Especially after the war.”

She was lost – after all, books and history weren’t exactly her best subjects, as Giles would easily testify. Seemingly sensing her confusion, Spike turned to her with a smile.

“Anyway, I’m only a few pages in. So, what did you buy at the mall then?”



She would never have imagined that Spike would fit so easily into their life. Her mother adored him and she couldn’t help but like him too. She felt more comfortable around him than she did around some of her friends and they spent several late nights talking, exchanging stories – and even more nights patrolling together, she relishing the company of a fellow fighter. It wouldn’t be a lie if she said that Spike had become one of her closest friends in the last few weeks.

At first, she had been drawn to him because of what she felt was her duty but now she sought out his company for the enjoyment she derived from it. He had his moments of pensiveness, but he was regaining his confidence on a daily basis and she was more than glad to see it. He made it so easy to forget that they had once been enemies and whenever she did suddenly remember, it seemed so strange, now, when they were so close.

He also made it easy to forget about his grandsire, who she had heard nothing from in several days. She dreaded the next meeting – dreaded the announcement of his departure – but she was learning to deal with the pain. And a night out at the Bronze with her friends was just what she needed to forget about Angel and enjoy her life for one night.





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