smoke5

DISCLAIMER: All hail Joss Whedon, UPN, the WB, FOX , Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox Film Corporation. Theirs not mine.

He pulls out a chair for me. I sit down, looking up at him. �Before you say anything, Buffy, let me tell you about my day. I get in this morning from a business trip to Spain, and there are two messages waiting for me. One is from your friend Willow, telling me that you girls are in trouble, and the other is from your friend Xander, telling me I need to come to Sunnydale. I go to a briefing, am gone two hours, and then I get a phone call from Dawn. A very illuminating phone call, I might add.�

He shoots me an icy look. �I know exactly what�s going on here, young lady.� My father leans forward, staring in my eyes. �You have been trying to play the hero. Trying to solve all of the world�s problems. You think that it�s up to you to slay the demons for everybody else?�

Taken aback, I start to interrupt. �But Dad, I�m the-�

He hits his fist on the table. �Shut it, missy. I know the score. Dawn explained to me exactly what is going on here. �

I look over at Dawn, and she looks at me reassuringly, giving me a small smile. He reaches behind him and pulls papers out of a briefcase. �Dawn�s school records. Abysmal. Your school records from UC Sunnydale. Doing fantastic until your mom fell ill, then you withdrew and didn�t sign up for the fall semester.� He takes more papers off the table in front of him. �The mortgage on the house has fallen behind. There is nothing in the bank, nothing in savings. I understand that your mother�s car was repossessed over the summer.� He looks up at me, sorrow in his gaze. �I can�t even begin to tell you how horribly disappointed I am.�

I thought there was nothing else that my father could ever say to me that would hurt so much. I was wrong. I feel the tears burning at the back of my throat, and I try with all my might not to cry. Not in front of him. Not again.

He gently puts his hand under my chin and pulls up. His eyes are so much like mine. �I am so very disappointed in myself, Buffy. I let you down, and I let Dawn down.� He looks down at his hands, his fingernails bitten to the quick. �I let your mother down.�

Leaning back, he sighs, running his fingers through his hair. �It never occurred to me to dig deeper. I assumed that what Dawn told me all summer was true, that things were just hunky dory here. I should have known that you girls had too much pride to come clean.� He smiles at us both. �Summers pride, girls. That, you got from me.�

Reaching back in his briefcase, he pulls out more documents, and three checkbooks. �The mortgage is paid off, Buffy. I spoke to the lender this afternoon, and it is taken care of.� He tosses Dawn a set of keys, and places another set in my hand. �Cars for you both. You�ll need them to get between home and school.�

He hands me a set of forms and catalogues for UC Sunnydale, handing another packet to Dawn. �Buffy, I expect you to select your classes as soon as possible for the spring semester. You have been reenrolled, but the classes are filling up quickly. Dawn said that evening classes would be best for you, and there seems to be more availability in those anyway.� He picks up the schedule of classes, showing me where he has highlighted class sections. �These are the next series of classes for your psychology major. You should focus on those first, I think.�

�Dawn and I discussed this and she would like to go to Mission Grove Prep here in Sunnydale. She will be a boarding student during the week and is free to come home on weekends. This way, you will both have the time and energy to focus on academics and lead your own lives without worrying about each other every minute.�

He hands me the checkbooks. �One of these is for household expenses, one for yours and one for Dawn�s. There is ample cash in these funds for the next semester, and the same amount will be coming until you are both done with school.� He rests his finger together on the tabletop. �I expected you girls to show some initiative. You have done that, and I am so proud of you both. But you need someone to take care of you. Right now, that�s me.�

He gives Dawn a hug and kisses her cheek. �I want a word alone with your sister, sweetheart.� She leaves the room, looking over her shoulder at me.

�There is something going on here that I would like an explanation for, Buffy.� Dad looks at me searchingly. �I know you�re an adult, and you don�t answer to me. Both Xander and Willow said that you were in a bad relationship, that some guy was making you do things that you don�t want to do. That he was a monster.� My father�s brow wrinkles in consternation. �But Dawn said that you were in love with Spike, the same Spike that I�ve been hearing so many good things about from her for years now. I know how much he helped her through the rough time she has after your mother passed. So is he the monster that your friends say that he is, or is he a good man?�

My father looks at me seriously, and I can tell that whatever he has failed to do before, he cares. He really is concerned.

�Spike comes from kind of a rough background,� I explain, searching for the right words. �He made a lot of mistakes. But he really has changed. He loves me, and he loves Dawn. I would trust him with my life.�

�Are you really serious about this boy? In a long term kind of way?�

I smile at my dad. �As long term as you can get, Dad.�