Fucking hell, she makes me want to kill her sometimes, he seethed as he stood in the Summers kitchen, clutching a still-smoldering blanket. The sun was just setting outside. Spent a bleeding week sorting this all out, and now she’s looking at me like I’m something she scraped off the grill at her posh new job.

"What did you say?" That particular mix of scorn and threat was a Buffy Summers Special. It drove him mad.

So naturally, he did the one thing sure to drive her mad in return. He smirked. "You getting hard of hearing in your old age, Summers? I said pack a bag. We’re getting the hell out of Dodge for the weekend."

He could practically see steam coming out of her ears. It was so much fun, winding her up like this. He hadn’t meant to get into an argument, but she’d started it. As she so frequently did. She advanced on him, brandishing a wooden spoon she’d been using to stir the instant soup on the stove. "If you think I’m going to ditch Dawn and my job and everything else just to go on some little love jaunt with you--"

Leering. Ranked just behind Smirking in the List of Things That Send Buffy Round the Bend. "Not such a bad idea, luv, but that wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. Sorry to disappoint."

She spluttered for a couple of seconds before taking a deep breath and fixing him with a long-suffering glare. "What. Exactly. Did you have in mind, Spike?"

Suddenly, he felt a nervous fluttering in the pit of his stomach. Oh, grow a pair, mate, he told himself sternly. You’re taking her on vacation, not asking her to the sodding prom. Covering his discomfort with another smirk, he pulled the brightly-colored tickets out of his pocket and held them out to her. "This."

She looked at them, then at him, then back at the tickets. He could almost hear the wheels in her brain spinning. Something clearly wasn’t computing. Finally, she seemed to find her voice.

"Disneyland, Spike?"

"Easy drive from good old Sunnyhell, innit?" He was beginning to feel like an idiot, standing there holding the tickets while she just stared at him. Maybe this wasn’t such a hot idea.

"You… want me… to go to Disneyland… with you?"

He snorted. "Yeah. ‘Cause I hear the little kids turn out in droves to watch the flaming vampires. Good plan, brain trust." Then, as he watched the fire start to flare up in her eyes, he held up a hand. "Simmer down, Slayer. I’m just the chauffeur. The tickets are for you and Dawn."

And her eyes went all blank and questioning again, anger forgotten. She reached for the tickets, tentatively. "Dawn? Dawn loves Disneyland… Dad used to take us there every year, for her birthday."

"I know."

"How?" She looked up at him, surprised.

"She told me. This summer." He could see that threw her, too. This wasn’t going at all like he’d planned. "Look, Summers, you need a break. The Niblet does, too. You’re both working so hard to take care of everyone else, you don’t take any time for yourselves." He lowered his voice, intent. "You’re not happy, Buffy." Then he smiled tentatively, hoping she didn’t notice that he couldn’t quite keep the sadness out of it. "Disneyland’s the happiest place on earth, right?"

She met his eyes again, clearly tempted. And clearly, though he could hardly believe it, touched. Once again, he thanked the gods he couldn’t blush.

"Spike…" Then she shook herself. "I can’t."

"Can’t what?" Dawn’s voice surprised them both. She was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, and even though Buffy tried to hide them, it didn’t even take half a second for Dawn’s well-trained eyes to identify the tickets in Buffy’s hand. Even Slayer speed was no match for teenage greed.

"Disneyland!" Dawn squealed, rushing to Buffy’s side and snatching the tickets. "What do you mean you can’t? Buffy. You so can."

"I have to work, Dawnie--"

"Just tomorrow night. You can call in sick, just this once, right? You’ve been working all these double shifts, they can get by without you."

"What about Will? I can’t leave her alone," Buffy protested.

"She can stay with Xander and Anya. They won’t mind. Xander’s offered to help out with her before, you know that. It’s only a couple of nights. And they could fill in on patrolling, too. Tell them we needed some sisterly bonding time. This is Disneyland, Buffy. Overpriced food, big funny animal costumes, rides, cotton candy…"

Spike could see the Slayer weakening. He knew first-hand how hard it was to say no to Dawn when she got that look in her eyes.

"Where would we stay?" she asked feebly, a last-ditch attempt.

"Got it all taken care of," Spike interjected smoothly. "Hotel not far from the park. Shuttle will take you there in the morning and back at night. Clean, safe, demon-free. Except for yours truly, of course. And," he continued as Buffy opened her mouth to protest, "Two rooms. I promise your virtue is safe with me," he added dryly, and had the satisfaction of seeing her blush.

Dawn didn’t notice, fortunately, having got stuck on the word "shuttle." She was looking at him quizzically. "Shuttle? You aren’t coming with us?"

"I sunburn easily, remember, pet? Besides, like you said, you and big sis need some quality time together. As long as I’ve got a window shade and a telly, I’ll be sorted."

"Oh." Dawn looked disappointed, and he was foolishly pleased that she’d want him along. "Well, I guess we can hang out at night, anyway." She turned those puppy-dog eyes on Buffy again, full force. "Please, Buffy? I’ll be good when we come back, I promise, I’ll come straight home from school and call if I’ll be out late and help with all the chores and--"

"All right," Buffy said quietly. Spike had to restrain a smug smile. Caved like a… thing that caves easily, he thought with satisfaction, only slightly annoyed he’d been unable to finish the simile.

Dawn froze in mid-plead. "What?"

"I said all right. Go pack. We’re going to Disneyland."

"Yeeeeeeee!" Dawn screeched in incoherent glee and threw her arms around her sister’s neck. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

And then it happened. Buffy smiled. A real smile, the first one Spike had seen out of her in months. It warmed his bloodless body right down to his toes, and he was sure, in that moment, that this had been the right thing to do. He was so distracted by Buffy that he didn’t even realize Dawn had moved until he felt her arms around him.

"Thank you, Spike." She hugged him tightly. He patted her back uneasily, aware of Buffy’s eyes on the two of them. Dawn lowered her voice, whispered right in his ear. "Thanks for letting me tag along. You didn’t have to."

He squeezed her a little, by way of response, then pulled back. "Go get packed, sweet bit. The sooner we get on the road, the better chance you’ll have of a good night’s sleep. Big day tomorrow." Her grin was a mile wide as she skipped off towards the stairs. "Bring your schoolwork!" he called after her automatically. "You can work on it in the car!"

He realized Buffy was staring at him as if he’d suddenly grown another head. "What?" he asked defensively. "Did you think we just let her run wild all summer, while you were gone?"

"I…" She trailed off, totally at a loss. Finally, quietly, not looking at him: "Thanks, Spike. It’s not easy to make her happy these days."

"You either," he replied, just as quietly. There was an awkward silence.

"Where’d you get the money?" she asked eventually, a hint of suspicion in her tone.

"I didn’t steal it, Slayer, if that’s what you’re implying. One nice thing about all that shite Dawn convinced me to get for my crypt--gives me something to sell when I need a little cash. So no need to get all guilt-ridden. You’re not benefiting from my ill-gotten gains."

A tiny smile quirked at the corners of her mouth. "And you got this… shite… how, exactly? Just happened to find it lying around?"

He grinned at her. "Cut a man some slack, luv. Points for effort, right?"

She laughed a little, wryly. "Right." Shaking her head, she headed upstairs to pack.