Buffy closed her eyes, allowing the water to wash away her tension. The hot water had started to cool, signaling Buffy that she would soon be forced to leave the confines of the shower. She was only a couple of hours into her day, but it had already become stressful. Fighting demons was hard, but at least it was easy to understand: Kill the demon or it kills you. It was the stress from her everyday life that was making her feel overwhelmed! And I thought sacrificing myself to save the world would be tough. The brochure didn’t mention that I’d be ripped from heaven then deal with my friend having magicks withdrawal, a runaway groom, nerds trying to take over Sunnydale, and now finding my way out of an alternate reality!

Dawn’s voice jolted Buffy out of her thoughts. “Buffy! Hurry up, I gotta pee!”

Buffy rolled her eyes, turning off the calming stream of water. “Fine, I’m done,” she called to her sister waiting on the other side of the door.

Buffy dried off, wrapping the towel around her. She opened the door, watching as Dawn danced around uncomfortably. Amused, Buffy teased, “Working on a new routine?”

“Ha ha, very funny,” responded Dawn, pushing herself past Buffy and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Buffy laughed as she heard a faint, “ahhhh...” coming from the bathroom. Then, remembering that Spike was in the house, she hurried over to her bedroom to get dressed. She had just slipped on her top when she heard a knock on her door followed by Willow’s voice, “Buffy?”

“Yeah Will, c’mon in.” Buffy sat down on the bed as Willow entered the room.

Willow joined her friend, “How are you feeling? Everything ok?”

“Yeah, fine... why?”

Willow shrugged, saying, “I don’t know. You just looked like something was on your mind earlier.”

Buffy didn’t remember seeing Willow this morning. “Earlier?”

“Yeah. I told you Xander had called and was on his way over and you just walked to the bathroom like you didn’t even hear me. I just figured something was bothering you,” Buffy’s friend explained.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t see you.” Buffy decided to take this opportunity to see if Willow saw any problems with Buffy’s current situation. “There is one thing I wanted to talk to you about.”

“I’m all ears,” responded Willow, cheerily.

“Well, I’m a little confused. I fought this weird demon last night, and I’m having some, uh, memory troubles today.”

“You think the demon effected your memory somehow?” responded Willow, eager to help her friend.

“Something like that.”

“Well, what kinds of things are you having trouble remembering?”

Buffy swallowed nervously, “You know, things like ‘Where are my shoes?’, ‘Did I leave the stove on?’, and ‘I got married?’ Nothing major.”

Willow blinked a few times, wondering if she heard Buffy correctly. “So, you’re saying you can’t remember getting married or is it that you can’t remember if you’re married?”

“Getting,” answered Buffy, examining the puzzled expression on Willow’s face.

“Buffy,” Willow said slowly and in a calming tone, as if she were talking to a child, “You are not married.”

“What?” It was Buffy’s turn to look confused.

“You aren’t married. You’re not even seeing anyone... not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

“Then what’s with the wedding pictures?” Buffy jumped up from the bed, rushing over to grab the evidence... except the photos weren’t on the dresser. In fact, the antique dresser wasn’t even there! In its spot sat Buffy’s original dresser. “What the hell is going on?!”

Willow noticed the Buffy’s frantic mood and hurried over to Buffy’s side. “We’ll find out, don’t worry.”

The doorbell rang, causing the girls to divert their attention momentarily. “I’ll get it!” yelled Dawn, as she rushed out of the bathroom and down the stairs.

Willow turned back to her emotional wreck of a friend, “That must be Xander. You said something about fighting a demon last night? Why don’t you come downstairs and we’ll figure it out Scooby style, ok?”

Buffy nodded and allowed Willow to lead her out of the room.
-----
“Xander!” exclaimed Dawn as she wrapped her arms around him, “We missed you so much! Are you ok?”

Xander managed a weak smile, returning Dawn’s hug, “Yeah, I’m ok.” He looked up as Willow and Buffy came downstairs to greet him, “Hey guys. Have you heard anything from Anya? I went by her place, but she wasn’t there.”

Willow shook her head, “No. I think she just need some time to sort things out.”

Xander nodded sadly, then noticed the blank stare coming from Buffy. “Hey, Buff.”

Buffy jolted back to attention, “Huh? Oh, sorry. Hi.”

Xander, Willow, and Dawn exchanged worried looks. Willow spoke up first, “Something’s up, demon-wise. Let’s head over to the living room and talk things out.”

Buffy pulled a chair over so she could talk to her friends, who were seated on the couch, face-to-face. She began by telling the group about waking up in her room, which had mysteriously changed overnight. She decided not to mention that Spike was sleeping next to her. She still didn’t want to believe it, and she was sure her friends wouldn’t either. However, she didn’t see how she could avoid telling them about the pictures or the wedding band that had appeared on her finger. Buffy took a deep breath, “The freaky part is, in where-ever-I-was, I was married. Complete with a ring and corny pictures.”

“Wow, Buffy, that’s... great?” joked Xander, “ I mean, should I be happy for you or totally freaked out?”

“Definitely freaked out, considering who ‘he’ is...”

“...So who is he?” asked Dawn.

Buffy sat there for a moment, trying to work up enough courage to continue.

“C’mon Buffy, who’s the lucky man?” Xander prodded.

“Ok, ok. But if you tell him I swear to God you will never use your tongues ever again!”

Xander and Willow nodded in agreement while Dawn just rolled her eyes.

“Spike.”

The room fell silent.

Buffy swallowed hard, not sure how long her audience needed to recover from the disturbing announcement. She decided to continue before they had a chance to ask her about her ‘husband’. “Anyway, a lot was still the same. Willow, you and Dawn were here, and we still all lived together. It just seemed so real. I thought I had time traveled or something, until Spike mentioned that Xander and Anya had returned from their honeymoon. Then I took a shower and somehow I was back here.”

Xander’s eyes had widened upon hearing the word ‘honeymoon’, leading Willow to rub slow, comforting circles on his back as she said to Buffy, “Tell us about the demon.”

Dawn looked from Willow to Buffy, obviously troubled. “What demon?”

Buffy’s mood turned somber as she recalled losing the fight. “Last night I went out looking for Warren and his friends and some kinda gross, waxy, demon thing poked me.”

Xander needed some clarification, “And when you say poke...”

“In the arm!” Buffy stated defensively, “It stung me or something.”

“Well there you go!” exclaimed Willow, startling everyone with her upbeat tone of voice, “It must have injected you with something, some toxin to make you hallucinate. We can fix this.” Willow stood up from the couch, “All in favor of research?” She raised her hand and waited as Xander and Dawn did the same, “Motion passed!”

The couch emptied as Willow added, “Don’t worry, Buffy, it’ll be ok.”

“I hope so,” she muttered, watching as the others hurried upstairs to hit the books.