Favours (Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Fan Fiction)

I Need You To Punch Me

Chapter Four: I Need You To Punch Me

Three days had passed since the night Buffy had returned home. Buffy either felt as though no time had passed at all or the time had stretched over decades. The hardest part was not being able to tell her friends the truth. Everyday they seemed so happy to have her back that she felt guilty but when the anger washed over her, that was hard to control as well. She desperately wanted not to blame them, as they didn't know what they had done but the small voice in her head couldn't forgive how selfish their decision had been. Yes they had missed her, she wasn't going to take that away from them but had they needed her?

Dawn had told Buffy that Giles was arranging to come back to Sunnydale. She said she could hear Giles cleaning his glasses over the phone. Tara had moved out and according to Dawn this wasn't the first time she had either. Willow had barricaded herself in her room when she wasn't going to class. Xander was still angry with her for lying to him about the spell and it was obvious that Dawn and Willow were barely speaking even before Buffy's return.

Xander and Anya had come over everyday to check on Buffy. Usually that meant Anya dumping a lot of wedding plans on her at one time, including being a maid of honor. They never really talked about Willow but Giles said they'd address it formally when he arrived. So they bit their tongues for now and tried not to upset Willow for the time being.

The nights were the hardest for Buffy. Like tonight when Buffy woke up in a cold sweat as usual. She turned to her side to see Spike staring at her worriedly. "Nightmare, love?"

Spike snuck into her bedroom every night to sleep with her. It was the only time either of them felt any peace and quiet from their thoughts. Spike propped himself up on his elbow, the other arm reached out to pull her small shaking form towards him. She curled into him and he tried his hardest not to purr contently.

"I was in the coffin again," she whispered.

Spike rocked her, his eyes transfixed on her fist clenching his t-shirt tightly like a life line. He was worried about her. Dawn said she stayed in the house during the day and hadn't even asked about slaying at night. Spike was pretty sure she had maybe one meal since she had returned. But now looking at her still scabbing hand wounds he grew even more concerned.

"Your hands still haven't healed."

"So?" Buffy mumbled into his chest.

"No," he said pushing her back a bit. "You're the Slayer. They should be healed by now."

Buffy froze in realization. "But I broke out of the coffin. Fought those biker demons before I went to the tower," she began to reason.

"Adrenaline?" Spike mused. He got out of the bed, standing up right and motioned for Buffy to do the same. "I need you to punch me."

Buffy looked hesitant for a moment and Spike couldn't help but notice the small tank top and shorts she wore to bed. He wasn't paying much attention when she punched him solidly on the left cheek.

"That's for gawking at my boobs," she growled. Spike wanted to laugh, cock his eyebrow and reply with some kind of inappropriate remark. Instead he was frowning deeply. Buffy saw his expression and sunk back onto the bed. "I came back wrong."

"No, I think you just came back normal."

He was waiting for her reaction. She wasn't angry or disappointed.

"I don't remember Dawn," she said. "You can't tell anyone but the memories the monks gave me are gone. I think maybe when I died everything got reversed."

Spike sat next to her, confused. "We never got a new Slayer."

"That doesn't mean a new one wasn't called. I mean, Giles isn't a Watcher anymore. They wouldn't have told him anything I think."