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She would look at him sideways as he would read the paper. His lip would turn up as he makes some stupid insult about the local police. It would seem a ritual now, only for a few days. When her sister..left, they varied their routine.

"Why are you doing this?" she would ask, just like everyday. He would fold the paper down and his lips would purse.

"I made a promise to a wonderful lady." He would reply, just like he always did. She would nod and stand up.

"I'll see you in the morning?" she would ask, afraid he might leave and she would wake up alone.

"That you will, love." He would say, just like every night.

He takes comfort from it too. Knowing she needed him, like he needed her. She would wake him up with a slight shove or throw water in his face. She would push on just like her sister. She would accept apologizes and pitting glances with a seemed ease. She would hold his hand while she cried and would say sorry afterwards.

He would watch as she climbed the stairs, pausing, like every night, at the pictures that hung on the wall. She would trace the same smiles and glow around Buffy's hair. She would whisper "I'll see you tomorrow," like Spike couldn't hear her. He would watch as her tears fell softly on the carpet, leaving stains, just like every night.

He would listen as her door closed and open again. The door to Buffy's room opened. He heard the same music every night. Her sigh, the creak of the bed and then her hitched cries. He would stare at a small stain on the carpet, a few feet away.

Angel would be there soon. Just as he came every week for the past five months.

He would carefully knock, like they weren't expecting him, and hesitate. Staring at the stairs, willing for Buffy to walk down them. Just like everyone else. He would hang up his coat. He would sit across from Spike, brows knitted together. Spike would just be relieved his Sire was there. Sometimes they would talk, about nothing, sometimes Buffy, but Spike didn't have the strength. He could tell by Angel's eyes, neither did he.

Angel would walk up to Dawn's room, knowing she wasn't there. Next came Buffy's and he would kiss Dawn's forehead saying "Night", never "Good night", because without Buffy it never was. He would sit on the end of the bed, just watching, like he did with Buffy, just like every night.

Angel would hold Dawn's hand as she slept, wiping away her tears as she called out Buffy's name. She would be comforted, but Angel's hand was slightly larger than Spike's, she could tell the difference.

Spike would patrol, safely knowing that Angel was there with Dawn. When he would come back, Angel would be asleep, one lid barely open, watching as Spike moved up the stairs. He had taken to sleeping in Joyce's room, upon the pleading of Dawn. He would pull back the black sheets and bury his face in the pillows. He would spray Buffy's perfume on them, to dream about her eyes when he would sleep. The nights would be the hardest, his time to reflect back on how he didn't save her. He would linger on how her lips curved into a gentle smile as she lay dead. The tears would began to fall.

Dawn would wake, the day not yet risen and listen. Would listen to the clock as it ticked and as two loved vampires wept. Dawn would walk across Buffy's room, leaving the sheets the same as Buffy did five months ago. She would place the pillows as they were five months ago, and she would finger Buffy's leather jacket that Buffy left on the back of her chair, five months ago. She would walk into Spike's room, crawl into bed with him and wet his shirt with her tears. She would awake before him, shoving him and sniffing the air for breakfast. Angel would be downstairs making waffles. He would stop and hug Dawn when she entered the kitchen. He would ask how she was and she would say "I would be better." "With Buffy here", but she never said it. She would watch her sister's lover make orange juice with the curtains closed and would smile lightly. Her smile would widen as Spike strolls in. She kept smiling as he calls her 'love' and Angel 'Peaches', bickering over how long Angel would stay, Angel would win and stay two more nights. They would all sit down and eat waffles. Their glasses would clink as they would raise them up and say, "In Buffy's name". Just like everyday.

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