i have been voraciously reading this story instead of doing my schoolwork.  i love it.  the attitudes are spot on, the dialogue is witty, you've taken dawn out seamlessy....  you are my new favorite.

In canon, Spike was in Buffy's basement stealing photos of her. That would be a reasonable thing to keep the same for what his character is feeling for her, so now I am very suspicious of what is in that journal you've mentioned before. :[ hmmmm....

The glimpse of Buffy reacting to her mom's visions of canon future was fun, and I really liked Buffy noticing Spike helping without really noticing and wigging out.

I know Buffy blamed herself for a lot of what was going on with Riley, so I'm glad you can stay in her perspective without making him the perfect boyfriend in her eyes. He is being a little self-centered and wanting things from Buffy when she's too stressed to cater to his neediness. It's nice that he's being supportive, but his concerns about himself and how Buffy should be treating their relationship are too much on his mind.

love, love, LOVE this story!  it just keeps getting better and better! I especially like the possibility that Spike is there for some other reason than stealing Buffy's stuff, that he's actually there kind of protectively (if I'm reading between the lines correctly...)...