Here and Now

Thanks to Spikedchick, Kimber, Anon, and txjmfan.

A/N: Okay, since I don't believe that these people will be showing up anywhere in this fic, I decided to make them friends of Dawn in her class... And yes, I am borrowing a page or two from the "Harriet the Spy" movie. I just couldn't help but think of how truly vicious children can be.

The past couple of weeks, Dawn felt almost as if her family unit was complete. Buffy was almost always around one way or another- especially since she had become friends with Willow. Dawn simply couldn't help herself from practically bouncing off the walls with happiness. Though she had to admit that Buffy was more like a big sister than a motherly type. But she didn't mind. Her dad seemed to really like Buffy too.

"Buffy is just so cool you guys. You have to come over some time when she's over, which is like almost always." Dawn said as she washed her hands. Her friends Tara and Janice listened attentively, prolonging their bathroom break so as not to be back in class too early. After all, gym was next.

"D- do you think they'll get married?" Tara asked, happy for her friend. Dawn shrugged her shoulders as she silently pondered the question.

"It sounds like she'd make an awesome step mom though." Janice said.

"Yea. But I don't see myself calling her that. She'd still just be Buffy."

"Too bad she's not your *real* mommy." Kiersty said as she approached the threesome, backed by her two lackies. Kie was was the type of girl who thought she was better than everyone, and spent most of her time making fun of the other kids in class. She more or less thought she was god's gift, with her expressive (though sinister) hazel eyes and long, flowing blond hair. Though she was popular, a lot of the kids still didn't like her. Dawn narrowed her eyes at the girl.

"Hey- back off. It's none of your business." Janice said defensively. Tara looked at Dawn with a worried look on her face. Kiersty held up her hands in mock defense.

"It's not my fault if her mommy didn't love her." All of the girls in the wash room stopped whatever it was they were doing to listen then. Everyone had a look of shock on their faces at the statement. Except for Dawn. She looked crushed.

"What are you talking about?" Dawn asked tentatively, feeling her blood rush. She just knew she was blushing from impending embarassment.

"I heard my parents talking before. Your mother isn't dead. She just simply left cause she couldn't stand *you* anymore." she said snottily.

"Shut up, Kiersty. That's enough." Tara said firmly.

"Yeah. You would stand up for your band of freaks, wouldn't you Tara?" Tara just stared at the other girl. She didn't know what else to say.

"She said shut up. And if you don't, I think I'll have to make you." Janice said, stepping in front of her two friends. It was more or less a staring contest until the bell rang. The girls began to disperse and head to the gym, all except Dawn, Tara, and Janice. Dawnchedched Kiersty leave, her pony tail swinging behind her as if it was mocking her too. How she hated her.

"You okay Dawn?" Tara asked. Dawn just nodded her head. She followed her friends out of the wash room as she continued to think of what was said about her mother. The more she thought, the more she saw red...


************


"Mr. Giles, some kind of punishment must be executed. I'm afraid, Dawn will have to serve a week's detention." Ms. Li, the principal explained calmly.

"I understand." Spike said, thinking that Dawn got off kind of easy.

"What?!" exclaimed Mr. Hawthorne, Kiersty's father. "She cut off my daughter's hair! A few days detention is all you can do?!" he exclaimed, turning red in the face from all of his yelling.

"Well I've gotta say, your daughter did provoke the incident to occur. She really shouldn't have said that." Spike said. He had heard the story, from Dawn, Janice, Tara , and a few of their classmates. After gym, Dawn came up with the clever idea of waiting for Andrew, the boy who sat behind Kiersty to leave his seat during the health movie. Evidently, his going to the bathroom was like clockwork because of his weak bladder. Dawn quietly slipped into his desk behind the girl with a large pair of scissors borrowed from the teacher. In one swift, cutting motion, Kiersty's long, golden braided pony tail was gone.

"It was just words! She never touched her." Mr. Hawthorne exclaimed, jumping up from his seat and looking down at Spike and Ms. Li. Spike rolled his eyes before looking at the man.

"They were fighting words. Maybe your daughter should learn to keep her thoughts to herself." he said calmly. Mr. Hawthorne stood up to his full height, which was about a good three inches more than Spike's, locking his eyes on him.

"I think what would be fair is if your daughter's hair was cut too." He said in a loud voice. Spike stood up then.

"Are you thick or something? You must be insane if you think I'll allow that to happen." He said, narrowing his eyes at the man. Seeing another possible situation, Ms. Li walked around her desk and stood in between the two men. With her hands on her hips, she looked pointedly at Mr. Hawthorne.

"Dawn will serve the punishment that I have issued. Under the circumstances, and since this is a school, my school to be exact, I
know what is appropriate. Dawn will serve out her weeks detention for what she's done, and both girls are going to apologize to each other. That will be the end of it." She said, her tone of voice leaving no room for arguments. Mr. Hawthorne sent an angry glare at both of them before leaving.

"Thank you Ms. Li. I'll talk to Dawn about her vengeance streak. I can assure you it won't happen again." Spike said to the woman.

"I hope so, Mr. Giles. But then again, there isn't much to cut now, is it?" She said with a twinkle in her eye. Spike grinned back at her.

"Everyone should know our school policy by now: if you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all. I don't agree with Dawn's tactic, but I do believe that Miss Hawthorne will be keeping all ill thoughts to herself from now on." Spike was utterly shocked when the school called him for a conference about Dawn. She had never been in trouble before, and now here she was with a week's worth of detention. As much as he wanted to be upset, he simply didn't have the heart. She was hurting and lashed out. To be frank, he wasn't sure how to handle the situation exactly.

"So, are ya mad at me?" Dawn asked quietly from the passenger side of the car on their drive home. Glancing at her briefly, he answered a mere, "No." Dawn exhaled a sigh of relief as she collected her thoughts.

"Dad, she didn't die, did she??" she asked cautiously. They never really talked about her mother. Spike swallowed hard as he thought of what to say.

"No. She left." He said quietly.

"Why?" She asked, confused and a little bit hurt.

"I don't know, baby. I just think that she wasn't ready to be a mum yet. I'm sorry I lied to you sweetheart. I never meant to hurt you." Dawn looked at him then, thinking back on how their lives of just the two of them together had been. She loved her father more than anything, and her mother, whoever she was, must have been stupid miss out on an awesome family like theirs.

"Well, she must have been a bleeding idiot then." Dawn said with a grin, knowing that saying "bleeding" would lighten the mood. But she knew she risked getting in trouble for the profane language, even though it was a British curse word.

"Dawnie, language." Spike said with a grin of his own. He decided to let her get away with it.

"Dad, I can't help it. I learned from the best."


***************

After nearly two weeks, Willow finally worked up the courage to try something new with Xander. Unfortunately, her timing was off. Her Aunt Flow had come to town with a vengeance, so she was limited for the next week. The week before, her and Xander had the "make up" sex. Try as he might to get out of their little rut, it was more or less the usual. She was correct in thinking that the major changes would ultimately be left up to her. She decided to catch him completely off guard.

"Xander, I've been thinking..." She started. He was straightening his tie in the bathroom mirror. She glanced at his reflection briefly before looking over his attire. She began to brush off imaginary lint from his shirt, surreptitiously moving lower to his trousers.

"Bout what, honey?" He asked, completely oblivious to Willow's seemingly innocent ministrations.

"Wow, you're really linty. What will your co- workers say? Here, let me fix it with the lint roller." She said as she unbuckled and unzipped his pants, pulling them down around his ankles. Xander, still completely blind to what was going on, began combing his hair.

"As I was saying, people can grow apart." Xander stopped what he was doing and glanced down at her when she said that. He had gone decidedly pale in the face.

"Will- what... apart?" She gave him a mishievious grin at that.

"Or, they can grow closer." She stared up at him as she pulled down his boxers, licking her lips slowly. Xander had a look of confusion and anxiety on his face. It turned into one of desire as she sensuously ran the the tips of her fingers up and down his muscular thighs. His arousal grew as she began massaging his sac. He closed his eyes at the contact, saying her name in a voice resonating his want of her.

"I want you, Xander. Every drop of you. We both know its right." She then engulfed his hard member into her mouth; hollowing out her cheeks and moaning as she moved back and forth. One hand helped to caress his length as her tongue explored him as never before, while the other continued its personal massage on his balls. Xander couldn't last long, and came in a way he never had before.


A/N: Sorry for the delay, but I couldn't quite figure out the order I was going to put this and the next chapter in (which will be posted in the next three to four days). Huge, and I mean HUGE Spuffy is in the next chapter, along with an old visitor from the past... Can you guess who? Hope you enjoyed this one, and as always please review.