RILEY: I think, when this thing started, it was just some stupid, immature game. I wanted to even the score after you let Dracula bite you.

BUFFY: I did not *let* Dracula-

RILEY: I know. On some level I know that. But I was still spun. (pause) I don't know, I - I wanted to know what you felt. I wanted to know why Dracula and Angel have so much power over you.

BUFFY: You so don't get it.

RILEY: I wanted to get it, Buffy. I wanted to get you.

BUFFY: So this is my fault? Hey, gee, Buffy's so mysterious, I think I'll go out and almost die. I think I'll go and let some other w...

(She stops and looks down.)

RILEY: This isn't your fault. It's mine. I feel like hell for what I've put you through. It's just... (sighs) these girls-

BUFFY: Vampires. Killers.

RILEY: They made me feel something, Buffy. Something I didn't even know I was missing until-

BUFFY: I can't. I can't hear this.

RILEY: You *need* to hear this.

BUFFY: Fine. Fine! Tell me about your whores! Tell me what on earth they were giving you that I can't.

RILEY: They needed me.

BUFFY: They needed your money. It wasn't about you.

RILEY: No. On some basic level it *was* about me. My blood, my body. (sighs) When they bit me ... it was beyond passion. They wanted to devour me, all of me.

BUFFY: (teary) Why are you telling me this?

RILEY: It wasn't real. I know, it was just physical. But the fact that I craved it ... that, that I kept going back ... even if it was fleeting, they made me feel like they had such... hunger for me.

BUFFY: And I don't ... make you feel that way?

(Riley looks away)

BUFFY: How on earth can you compare me to that? How can you tell me you understand what those vampires are feeling? You aren't a passion to them, you are a snack! A willing, idiotic snack.

RILEY: (angrily) No, I know exactly what they feel when they bite me, because I feel it every time we're together. It's like the whole world falls away. And all there is is you.

BUFFY: And you think that I don't feel the same way about you? How dare you tell me what I feel?

RILEY: You keep me at a distance, Buffy. You didn't even call me when your mom went into the hospital.

BUFFY: (incredulously) Oh, I'm sorry. You know, um, I'm sorry that I couldn't take care of you when I thought that my mother was dying.

RILEY: It's about me taking care of you! It's about letting me in. So you don't have to be on top of everything all the time.

BUFFY: But I do. That's part of what being a slayer is. And that's what this is really about, isn't it? You can't handle the fact that I'm stronger than you.

RILEY: It's hard sometimes, yeah. But that's not it.

BUFFY: Then what? What else do you want from me, Riley? I've given you everything that I have, I've given you my heart, my body and soul!

RILEY: You say that, but I don't feel it. I just don't feel it.

BUFFY: Well, whose fault its that? Because I'm telling you, this is it, this is me. This is the package. And if it's so deficient that you need to get your kicks elsewhere ... then we really have a problem.

• Angsty Traumatic Confrontations
• Buffy & Riley

written by: Marti Noxon; Transcribed by Joan the English Chick (pisces@englishchick.com).. Full transcript at:
http://www.studiesinwords.de/88intothewoods.html