Prologue
One Month Ago
Sunnydale High School
Dawn hurriedly shoved the last of her books into her locker. The warning bell had already rung and if she got another tardy she knew Buffy was going to kill her. Tossing her backpack over one shoulder, she locked her locker before hurrying to her Algebra class.
She made it through the door just as the bell rang.
“Cutting it pretty close, Miss. Summers,” Mr. Furnish called from his desk.
Dawn blushed as all eyes turned to her. “Sorry,” she mumbled, before quickly taking her seat.
As the class settled down, Janice, her best friend, started their tradition of passing notes as the teacher rambled on about x, y, and probably half of the other letters in the alphabet, stuff that Dawn didn't understand why she had to learn in the first place. I mean, how was ‘finding x’ supposed to help slay demons or save the world? And to think, Janice was the only one who shared her opinion. Well, not the only one. Most kids didn't like Algebra, but that was normal. No, Janice thought it was a waste of time for the same reason she did.
Unbeknownst to Buffy, Dawn had told Janice about Sunnydale's nightlife, or un-life in this case. She didn't see what the big deal was. If anything, it had only made Janice more careful about where she went and when. The most Dawn was afraid of was that she would find Buffy more interesting than her. After all, Dawn was just the key, her sister was the one with all the cool powers.
Only, Janice didn't think Buffy was better than her. She saw things how Dawn saw them. She listen to her rants of how Buffy and her friends thought that they were so cool just because they'd saved the world a few times, and she understood her need to be included, while her own family thought she'd be better off left in the dark.
Of course, it wasn't easy to get Janice to believe her when she had told her about the things that went bump in the night. When she had tried to tell her, Janice had thought it was a joke, no matter how much Dawn had tried to persuade her that it wasn't, and that went on for about a month before Janice had finally gotten tired of hearing about vampires and demons that she didn't think existed. So, long story short, they had taken a break from their friendship. But in the end, it was an encounter with a vampire that finally made her believe she was telling the truth.
They were at the Bronze on a Saturday night about three months ago, and even though it wasn't a school night, mom and Buffy had said that she couldn't go, but she wasn't about to miss the opportunity to make things right with her best friend. Of course, at that time, she didn't know that she was the key and what would happen if Glory got her hands on her. But, being the teenager that she is, she had snuck out of the house through her open window with a stake in her back pocket and a few dollars in her front. You could never be too careful in Sunnydale.
When she'd arrived at the Bronze, Janice was already there and making it a point to ignore her. Dawn had rolled her eyes and made her way through the crowd towards her friends. Janice had immediately left the table when she saw where Dawn was heading and made her way to the dance floor. Obviously being ignored, Dawn changed direction and headed towards the bar for a non-alcoholic drink if the glow-in-the-dark stamp on her hand was any indication.
As she'd waited on her coke, Dawn turned back around to face the crowd. Standing on here tip-toes she'd searched the swarm of people for her friend, but what she'd seen made her freeze. Janice wasn't on the dance floor any longer. She was headed toward the exit with a guy. A guy with pale skin, and if she looked close enough she could see his eyes flash yellow.
Ignoring the angry bartender asking for his money, Dawn had pushed and shoved her way through the crowd and towards the door that Janice had already disappeared through. When she had finally made it through the back door and into the side alley, Janice was already shoved up against a wall, screaming, whilst the vampire made his way to her neck. Acting fast, Dawn had shoved the stake she had been carrying with her all night through the vamps heart before he even realized she was there.
After that night, nothing had been the same again, but in a good way. She and Janice had rebuilt their friendship and it was now stronger than ever. Not to mention that even the hottest guy in school, Blake Hunter, had asked her out, and as it turned out, Janice, the little sneak that she was, had given him her number. Not that she minded, but she had to make sure that Blake had asked her out because he'd wanted to, not because of Janice. So, just last week, when she'd questioned Blake about it after one of his football matches that she'd practically had to beg her mom to let her go to, he'd confirmed that Janice had only given him Dawn's phone number and that was it. Then they got back to their heated make-out session behind the bleachers.
Just thinking about that night made her blush.
Janice clearing her throat to get her attention was a welcome distraction. Now was not the time nor place to be thinking naughty thoughts of Blake. So she quickly grabbed the small note that Janice held in her hand, not giving Mr. Furnish any time to catch her in the act.
As she read the question on the small note in her hand, Dawn smirked.
'Well, did you sleep with Blake or not?'
Spike's Crypt
Buffy finished buttoning up her shirt, trying to avoid making eye contact with the naked vampire sprawled on the crypt floor. She knew it wouldn't take much for him to get her to stay a few more hours, and she had to get home before anyone noticed she was gone. She'd already been there too long as it was.
“Where you off to, pet?” Spike asked from his position on the floor.
“I have to get home before Dawn gets in, Spike. You know that.”
Spike watched as she gathered up what little belongings she'd had with her on patrol. As thrilling as the whole sneaking around thing was, he was beginning to get tired of it. Sure, she said she'd tell her friends when the time was right, but when was the time ever going to be right. He didn't want to push her, to make her upset, but he wanted to be with her whenever he could, to show her off as his girl, not just whenever her friends weren't around.
Buffy turned from grabbing her stake of the floor from where it had landed last night to catch Spike staring at her with that look on his face. She knew what he was thinking and it hurt to know that he doubted her, but she had been promising to tell her friends for the last month now, and she had come close to it, but every time something seemed to get in the way.
Hoping to cheer him up, she climbed on top of him and pulled him close for a heated kiss, which ended much sooner than either of them wanted. Buffy took a breath, as rested her forehead against his.
“After Christmas, I promise.”
Christmas. He'd almost forgotten about the holiday before Buffy had mentioned it a few nights before, saying that it would be the perfect time to tell her friends about them at the party her and the Scoobies were having, a party that he apparently wasn't invited to.
Not that he cared or anything. Oh bugger, who am I'm trying to fool. I'm going soft.
As Buffy made her way off him and up the ladder towards the upper half of his crypt, he pulled his jeans on and followed her. Before heading out the door, Buffy left him with a chaste kiss.
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!