Be A Man

Spike dropped Dawn off at her door, promising to come back for her first thing in the morning after he'd pawned their loot. Dawn grinned at him, giving him a hug before scampering inside before Buffy returned.

Spike watched through the window as she gave Joyce a goodnight kiss and ran up the stairs to write everything down in her diary. Satisfied that she was safe and Buffy wasn't around he slipped away.

Closing the blinds as she saw Spike leave, Joyce smiled. It was a pity that Buffy couldn't see the nice young man that William was. She left the light on for her eldest and took herself up to bed, making sure that Dawn was tucked into bed.

Buffy glared blearily in the direction of the front door as the sound of the doorbell echoed in her head. Joyce smiled fondly as Buffy found her way to the aspirin and swallowed a handful before going to answer the door.

"Spike?" Buffy spluttered. "What the hell are you doing? It's daylight!"

Joyce appeared behind Buffy and smiled at him. "Buffy. This is my friend who can go out in daylight and earn a living." Dawn told her sister from where she'd appeared on the stairs. Grinning at Spike as she laced up her shoes she was practically bouncing with excitement.

"Where to first?" He asked.

"Oooh! The new ones by the beach." Dawn replied as she tugged on her jacket and waved goodbye to her mom and sister.

Spike grinned as Dawn bounded along, almost excited enough to jump about with her but barely restraining himself.

"So how much did you make?" She asked, stopping her bouncing to walk normally by his side.

"Bout half a mil." He chuckled as she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Half a million bucks?" She gasped. "For all that jewellery? Can we go back and get me some?"

Spike smirked at her as he continued walking, purposefully avoiding the shadows as he made the most of the morning sunlight. "We'll go back and get you some." He told her. "But it's for your college fund. Not for candies and CD's. Got it?" She smiled gratefully and pointed out the block of penthouses that Xander's construction company had finished earlier that year. Heading over to the entranceway Spike looked up at the size of the building. The top floor must have spectacular views over the ocean as well as half of the town.

The real estate lady unlocked the door to the top penthouse and Dawn gasped. It was gorgeous.

Beige and white as a standard but the charcoal metal that adorned the two spiral staircases and the railings stood out and gave the place a class and style that Spike admired. On the first floor was a living area and a kitchen tucked under the second with a study hidden behind a doorway at the side, the first spiral staircase led to an open plan lounge area, perfect for entertaining. The final staircase led up to the top floor of the entire building and there, with the staircase in the middle of the floor were four double bedrooms, one in each corner of the building.

"Please Spike?" Dawn practically begged. Spike asked the sales lady the price and left Dawn to explore as he went back down to sign the papers.