**C'mon get happy, people - It's the end of the angst! (Or at least a reprieve...) Here's a bright, cheery little chapter just for you. Snappy dialogue and delightful Riley bashing coming your way...enjoy!**




Chapter Twenty Five ~ A Fine Romance

“ A fine romance with no kisses. A fine romance, my friend this is.
We should be like a couple of hot tomatoes.
But you’re as cold as yesterday’s mashed potatoes.
A fine romance, you won’t nestle.
A fine romance, you won’t wrestle.
I might as well play bridge with my old maiden aunts.
I haven’t got a chance, this is a fine romance.”

~ Ella Fitzgerald


Buffy dried her eyes on the sleeve of her jacket and smoothed out her hair, calming down now. She snuffled away the last of her tears and straightened her clothes - preparing to fill their orders and get back to the Magic Box. There was still work to do, and she wasn’t about to give up. Not when she had so much to lose. Dawn and Spike belonged to her and she was damn well going to fight for them. There had to be a way to get her back home and defeat Glory that didn’t end in her death.

Feeling better and freshly determined she stepped from the shadow of the alley and into the warmth of the small café. It was bright and cheery inside bolstering her mood even more. It only took a minute to place their drink order and she filled her wait time with a thorough examination of the glass pastry case. Buffy had just added on some turtle brownies, lemon bars and biscotti when she was startled by a heavy tap on the shoulder.

She spun around to see the lunk towering over her.

“Riley!”

“ Hi, Honey.” He smiled brightly at her, obviously pleased to see her. She wished she could say the same. Pulling her in for a hug he said, “ It’s great to see you.”

*And my night just keeps getting better and better.*

She plastered on a fake smile for his benefit.

“ You too.”

“ What’re you doing here? I thought you were busy tonight.”

He asked, looking puzzled.

“ Oh, I am. Just gettin’ some coffee, taking a little break.”

She replied quickly.

“ Big study session?”

“ Yeah-huh. The biggest.”

Buffy nodded vigorously. The clerk called out for a pick-up of her order and Riley eyed the multiple coffee drinks and large bag of goodies suspiciously.

“ That can’t be for just you and Willow…”

Buffy looked down at the drink carrier and paper sack in her hands and laughed nervously.

“ Oh no, of course not. It’s for…for…” her brain refused to work for a moment – then aha!
“ For our study group. For History class. We’ve got a project due you know.” Could she improvise or what?

“ Oh, well – of course.” He smiled with apparent relief. And somehow she just knew what he was thinking – he was afraid she was doing late night research with the gang. And he didn’t want his sweet little fiancée involved with that anymore did he? An angry spurt of resentment surged into her belly. “ Glad you’re being so studious and taking your grades seriously this semester.” He added.

Had he always sounded this condescending? How had she missed that exactly? Buffy stifled the urge to shove a biscotti where it would do the most good and smiled winningly at him instead.

“ Thanks for your support, Sweetie. But I really have to be getting back now. Looks like an all-nighter.”

She tried to look apologetic. Riley appeared somewhat stunned by her dazzling display of teeth. Well, she had given him her famous1000 kilowatt no-boy-can-resist-it smile.

*I am so good.*

Buffy thought smugly. She planted a quick peck on his cheek and headed towards the door.

“ I’ll call you later though,’kay?”

“ O-okay, Buffy. Goodnight then.”

“ “Night!”

She called over her shoulder waving cheerily. And she rounded the corner and headed back to the shop as quickly as she could, considering the whole thing a VERY near miss. She settled out of her brisk trot into a steady walk and began to breathe normally again. It was getting harder and harder to talk to Riley these days. She wanted to blame it on this whole alternate Universe mess but she knew it started long before that. They’d been having problems for months now. The worst thing was that they never talked about it. He wouldn’t open up to her unless she broke him down with relentless questioning. She had to drag anything she wanted to know out of him kicking and screaming. It was becoming obvious that he didn’t trust her, and never had. Thinking back she could see how he questioned her and her motives over and over. It was also becoming clear how seriously insecure he was – he doubted her love and commitment from almost the beginning.

Look at how he’d responded to her relationship with Angel – and to Angel himself for that matter. (Not that Angel had handled that whole mess any better.) And then there was how he reacted to Spike – could he possibly be more aggressive? Jeeze! She could chalk it up to some subconscious sense of their mutual (ahem) attraction, but she really thought it was more than that. She rooted around in the bag for a cookie and then munched on it thoughtfully as she walked.

The truth was that Riley lived in a black and white world. Spike was a demon, Angel was a demon and demons = evil in Riley Land. End of discussion. (And how many times had she heard that little expression?!) Buffy rolled her eyes with annoyance. Riley’d said that to her at least a hundred times – anytime he didn’t want to talk anymore. So pretty much every time they talked about anything real or important. He said it so much you’d think it was the latest catch phrase sweeping the nation. She sighed with frustration and crunched down on her chocolate chip biscotti.

He was annoyingly narrow-minded. And it wasn’t just about demons. Everything seemed to fit into his black and white worldview. And talk about controlling! He had her entire life planned out here – and her own Riley was no better. How many times had he told her what to do, or what she needed? How many times had he preached to her about right and wrong? Ethics? Manners?

“Arg!”

The truth was staring her right in the face. He really was Captain America. (Thanks, Spike). And she was damn sick of it. It was like he was born into the wrong era. He shoulda been a G-Man in the 50’s. Hell, he was thisclose to McCarthy era politics anyway. Before you know it he’ll be spoutin’ off about commies and building a bomb shelter. That made her giggle.

*Hey, I actually learned something in History class! Go, Buffy!*

Wouldn’t Willow be proud? Buffy smiled brightly, feeling pleased with herself. But then she remembered the train of thought that led her here.

*Bleah. Riley.*

Where was she again? Oh yes, sick to death of his crap. His narrow-minded, preachy, condescending, self-righteous, shutdown, insecure CRAP. He’d finally worn her down, she’d had enough.

Honestly, if this is normal?

Who needs it?!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She walked back into the Magic Box in a much better mood than she’d left it.

“ Who has a sweet tooth?” she called cheerily “ I come bearing chocolatey goodness.”

She set her haul down on the research table smiling. Xander dove into the large paper sack greedily.

“ Ooo, chocolate chip cookie-things.”

He dug one out of the bag and began munching away.

“ They’re biscotti, you heathen.”

Buffy said, raising an eyebrow at him.

“ All I know is they make my mouth happy.”

He smiled back at her beatifically. Willow snagged a rich looking brownie dripping with caramel.

“ You got brownies?!” she exclaimed with glee. “I vote we send Buffy on ALL the snack runs.”

Xander looked offended.

“ Hey! I am the Snack Master here, there shall be no other.”

Buffy patted his shoulder in consolation.

“ Don’t worry, Xand. I wasn’t gonna quit my day job to become ‘Buffy the Munchie Slayer’.”

He ducked his head in a dignified manner.

“Good. As long as we’re clear.”

Buffy pulled up a chair next to Willow and pulled her mochaccino out of the carrier.

“ So, any new developments?”

She asked, barely daring to hope.

“ Actually there was something…” Willow looked down at her notes briefly then back up at Buffy.“ Did you say that Faith never appeared in your dream?”

The Slayer nodded.

“ That’s right.”

Willow frowned, contemplating the paper in front of her.

“ And Dawnie did?”

That faint hope was growing now in Buffy’s chest.

“ Yes.”

Willow nodded and flipped through the pages of the yellow legal pad she was holding.

“ Did you get any sense of her actually being your sister? Like did you notice her hair? You said her hair was different here…”

Buffy’s eyes went wide as understanding struck her.

“ Oh my God – I was back there...” she gasped covering her mouth with her hand.

“ In my dream – I was home.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“ That’s what we’re thinking, yeah. I went over my notes a few times and it’s the only thing that makes sense – based on the information you gave us.”

Willow chewed thoughtfully on her pencil and began flipping through the pages of her legal pad again, scowling. Buffy felt like jumping for joy.

*Finally a freakin’ break!*

“ Why aren’t you more excited about this? Guys, come on!” She was practically bouncing in her chair. Oh, to be home again! To see Mom, to hug Dawn and to… something Spike. She grinned at the thought. Nothing would make her happier right now.

“ Well, I’d like to be – but we still have no idea how you get there. Heck, we don’t even know how ya got HERE. And I’ve just about exhausted the resources I have, there’s still no answers and it’s not like Giles is being any help…” Willow frowned petulantly.

“ I heard that. I am right in the room you know.” Giles looked up at her from his spot by the register. Willow shot him an apologetic smile.

“ I’m sorry, Giles, I’m just frustrated. This is the craziest thing we’ve ever come up against.”

“ And that’s saying something.” Xander interjected.

“Indeed.” Giles began polishing his glasses as if on cue, stepping out from behind the counter. “ And I’m afraid my books aren’t of any use in this case. Everything I have references inter-dimensional travel at most.”

“ So we can send you into a wacky Hell dimension.” Xander smiled at Buffy winningly, aiming for good humor.

“ Or the world without shrimp.” Anya piped up.

“ But not home.” Willow said quietly. “ I’m sorry, Buffy. We just don’t know anything yet.” She gave her friend a regretful look then began flipping through the books in front of her once more. “ Magic maybe? Or the going to the Watcher’s Council?” Seeing Buffy’s horrified expression she backtracked. “ Or not. No Watcher’s Council. Bad, bad idea. I just don’t want you to be stuck here – and we’re running out of options… Erg!” She ran an aggravated hand through her already-tousled strawberry locks. “ We’re spoiled, that’s what it is. We’re just so used to finding the answers we need here. A problem comes up and we go runnin’ to the books. Then wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am,” She slapped her hand on the table for emphasis. “ There it is all solutiony.”

“ You’re right, Wil. We need to think outside the box.” Xander made a wide box-shaped gesture.

“ Yeah, but how?” Buffy rose from the table and began pacing. “I mean, when there’s a new Big Bad in town I’m the go-to girl. Gimme danger. But I don’t have the first clue about inter-diwhatsinal traveling, Universe hopping or…or any of it!”

She stopped and threw up her hands in exasperation. Xander patted her shoulder in a conciliatory way.

“ Don’t be so hard on yourself, Buffster. You research with the best of ‘em.”

“ I give it the old college try at least.” Buffy shot him a sideways smile. “But this is making me insane-o girl!” She turned to her Watcher. “ Giles, I need something I can slay here. Or at least, I need to slay SOMETHING." She looked at him pleadingly. “ Maybe I could get some info. out on patrol…”

“ We’ve already discussed this, Buffy. There are things it would be best for Faith not to know. Particularly if she is as potentially dangerous as you say. And if she were to see you… I’m sorry, but I do think it’s important we maintain normal conditions here.” He smiled at her apologetically. “Well, as normal as possible at any rate.”

Buffy sighed with frustration and pent-up energy. If she didn’t kill something soon…

“ Okay. I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it.”

She’d slipped unconsciously into her best pouty face. Giles took it as a warning that tempers were wearing thin.

“ Perhaps we should call it a night then. Resume our strategizing in the morning?”

“ Who knows, maybe we’ll have a breakthrough by then.” Xander was ever hopeful.

“ Maybe.” Buffy smiled at him distractedly.

“ You okay, Buff?” He asked, concerned.

“ Yeah, just a little restless. You know I’m all proactive gal.”

“ A little less conversation, a little more action?” Xander quoted, with just a touch of Elvis.

Buffy gave him a real smile this time.

“ Exactly.”

“ Think of it as a mini-vacation.” He draped a casual arm around her shoulders.

“ All slay and no play makes Buffy a dull girl?” she quipped. It was his turn to smile now.

“ Exactly.” He gave her a playful squeeze. “ You could use this time to spend with Riley. I mean I know he’s not exactly your Riley, but you do still love the guy, right?”

*SO skirting this issue.*

“ Right.” She gave him a bright faux smile.

*If only the right guy were available for a play date…*

She thought, remembering a certain set of cool, strong hands, his sweet, wet mouth and rock solid-

“ Buffy?” Willow called.

“ Yeah huh?” She felt a bit flushed. “ Sorry, just spaced out for a minute. Guess I actually do need some sleep.”

“ I shouldn’t wonder, after last night.” Giles looked concerned.

“ I was just asking if you wanted me to walk home with you. I’m planning on going to Tara’s, but it’s right on the way.” Willow also looked worried.

Buffy gave them a reassuring smile.

“ No, really – I’m fine guys. A little alone time will do me some good. Got a lot to think about right now.”

“ Of course.” Giles smiled back at her kindly. “ Do be careful though. Glory and her minions are still about, not to mention the various other vampires and demons Sunnydale has to offer.”

“ I know, don’t worry. I’ll give the bad guys a wide berth tonight.”

She did her best to sound sincere.

“ I promise.”



** Nahnahnahnah, hey hey hey, goodbye...say so long to Riley (and the Biley portion of our story.) I know you hated it - but at least I didn't subject you to the wretched, drawn out 'love' scenes like Joss did in the show. *shudder* And while we're on the subject why couldn't he have done the same for Spike and Buffy? But no, we get 60 second shots to enjoy the sweet Spuffy lovin' and have to settle for freeze framing the DVD's just to get a good look at Spike's drool-worthy...nevermind. I don't do that. No sir. Uh uh, not me. (Ahem) Anyway, more goodies to come. We're just getting to the good part, Folks. You're really gonna love the next few chapters. :D More to come ... xoxoxox Rosie **