DISCLAIMER: Buffy, Angel and the gang belong to the evil Joss and I only own the characters I make up. In a perfect world however I would own all of them, Buffy and Angel wouldn't have broken up and Riley would never have existed.
SUMMARY: Buffy and Angel try to work at their relationship. Hope and Dev get closer. Spike hangs around.
RATING: PG
SPOILERS: General (if any)
TIMELINE: Over 17 years after IWRY
DISTRIBUTION: You want you can have it, just tell me where you put it.

"Hey" Hope called out to her boyfriend Dev, when she spotted him at their usual meeting place.

"Hi" he said, kissing her hello. "What's up? You're in a good mood and last night..."

"Things change" she told him cryptically.

"What things?" Dev asked, pulling her closer to him.

"Well, for one thing most of them have gone, in fact all except my dad and Spike. And mom and he are gonna try and work it out..."

"You're moving aren't you?" Dev asked, panicked.

"No, I'm not going anywhere" Hope told him, soothingly.

Dev ran his hands through his hair, "I can't believe I just said that, I sound like a teenager".

"Actually you sound a hell of a lot like Peaches" said a voice, from the shadows.

"Spikey, what are you doing here?" Hope asked, thinking Spike always picked the worst moments to show up.

"I wanna help you patrol" Spike answered, dishonestly. Then after she shot him an evil look, he said "I didn't wanna hang around the house while Slayer and the great sodding poof had another shagg-a-thon".

"So, what. Get lost" Dev told Spike. He didn't know exactly why, but he totally hated Spike and it wasn't just because he was evil either.

"Hey, play nice Bloodbag" Spike replied, laughing.

"Stop it" Hope told them, she was so sick of them two baring their teeth and fighting whenever they got near each other.

"Fine, I'll go. Since nobody loves me" Spike said, moving away. He was waiting for Hope to call him back and say that she loved him, but she didn't. He finally realised that she didn't worship him anymore, her world revolved around a new vampire and for some reason that really bothered him.

*

An hour later, after they'd patrolled the graveyard they entered Dev's apartment, it was the first time Hope had ever been there. "This place is great?" Hope told him, truthfully. The apartment was sparsely decorated but the items of furniture and bric-a-brac that were there were top quality and most were obviously antique.

"Really?" he answered. For some irrational reason, he'd needed her approval on his apartment.

Hope sat herself down on his couch and patted the seat next to her, "Sit down, I don't bite".

Dev sat and she curled up next to him and put her head on his shoulder. "So why did you want to come here?" he asked her, a few minutes later.

"Well, I wanted to see where you live..."

"And" he prompted.

"I don't wanna go home until my parental units, so called 'shagg-a-thon' is over" She finished.

They sat there for awhile just enjoying being there together and then Hope kissed him. Things were starting to go further than they ever had, so

Dev asked "Are you totally sure?"

"Totally" she assured him.

He picked her up and carried her into his bedroom.

*

The next morning, Angel came downstairs and headed towards the kitchen when he heard the phone ring. "Hello" Angel said, cheerfully. He was in a good mood for the first time in more than 17 years.

"Uh...Hi" a voice said, carefully. "Is Hope there?"

"Sure, I'll get her. Who's calling?" Angel said

"Abbie Swanson" the girl on the other end replied.

Angel put down the phone and was just about to go get Hope, when he saw Buffy at the top of the stairs. "Can you get Hope, she has a call" Angel asked.

Buffy replied, "Sure". She went to get Hope and found the room empty, and the bed unslept in. She made her way downstairs in a state of shock and sat down on the bottom stair.

Angel saw Buffy's face and told Abbie that Hope would call her back. "Buffy, what's wrong?" he asked, gently.

"Hope's room is empty".

"So..." Angel, new to this whole parenting thing asked.

"So she didn't come home last night" Buffy told him.

"Vamps?" Angel said, afraid he'd lost his little girl so soon after he'd found her.

"Just one" Buffy remarked, dryly.

"Dev? Are you sure about that?" Angel asked, praying she wasn't sure.

"No" Buffy answered, "But the only times that I stayed out in high school, were when I was with you".

"Oh boy" Angel replied, "What are we gonna do?"

"We'll give her a chance to explain, and then we ground her for the rest of her natural life" Buffy said.

They sat there holding each other and waited for Hope to come home.

*

Hope woke up when she felt like she was being watched. "Morning" she mumbled, sleepily.

"Morning, I love you" Dev said, kissing her.

"Love you too" she replied, snuggling closer.

"How are you feeling, this morning?" he asked, concerned. He wanted to make sure he hadn't hurt her in anyway the night before.

"I've never felt better" Hope said, kissing him and pushing him back down on the bed.

"What are you doing?" he couldn't believe she wanted him again.

"If you don't know then I'm obviously doing it wrong. I guess I'll need to practice" Hope said, kissing him again.

Dev rolled her on to her back and began her practice session.

*

A few hours later, Hope let herself into the house and found two angry parents waiting for her. "Hi" she said, cautiously.

"Where have you been?" Buffy demanded, angrily.

"At Abbie's house" Hope replied, hoping the excuse would hold.

"Wrong answer" Angel told her, "Abbie called here looking for you".

Hope stood there under their close scrutiny, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

"Did you spend the night with Dev?" Buffy asked, with a calmness she really didn't feel.

"Yes" Hope replied, in the same tone of voice.

Buffy and Angel were totally unprepared for a confession, especially that particular confession. "Go to your room, we'll discuss this later" Buffy said, knowing she needed to think through what to say.

They watched Hope go to her room and Angel said, "I'm sorry I have to leave you with this..."

"But you've got the agency to run" Buffy finished for him.

"Yeah, but I'll be back soon" Angel promised.

"I know. I love you" Buffy said, kissing him goodbye.

"I love you too" Angel said, climbing in his car.

Buffy watched as he drove away and sighed, knowing that she'd now have to talk about last night with Hope.

*

Buffy slowly walked up the stairs and towards Hope's room. She knocked on the door and entered without waiting for an invite, she found Hope lying on the bed staring at the ceiling.

"Wanna talk about it?" Buffy asked.

"Not really, but we're gonna anyway, right?" Hope replied.

"Yep".

"Alright, lets see if I can answer all your questions. Yes, I did sleep with him, but then I'd already admitted to that. Yes, it was my first time and our first time together and yes, he still has his soul" Hope told her mother.

"Well, the good thing about this is he isn't evil and going to kill us all" Buffy commented, dryly. She looked at Hope seriously and asked,

"Were you sure you were ready to take that step?"

"Since it was my idea, I'm sure" Hope replied.

"But you're so young?" Buffy said. She didn't want her little girl to grow up.

"I'm about six months older than you were" Hope told her.

"You got me there" Buffy replied. She hugged Hope and said,

"Since Dev's a vamp and all, I guess this means I don't have to give the safe sex lecture I've been practicing?"

Hope rolled her eyes, as Buffy got up. As she was about to leave the room, Hope said "Speaking of safe sex. What about you and dad?"

"That is no none of your business and would probably give you nightmares" Buffy said, leaving as she heard Hope's laughter. Buffy went into her own room and sat on the bed. She was thinking about what Hope had said, and was worried because birth control was the last thing on either her or Angel's minds over the last two days.

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