See, this is fun - I originally put in those thornbushes just because I thought it would give me more visual interest to talk about, but here you are tying them thematically into the relationship issues! And yeah, it does work! Cool! I love this sort of thing because it makes me look like I planned this much more carefully than I did. : )

I may not have the next chapter up before Halloween, unfortunately. We're throwing a party on Friday. Poor Spike might just have to hang out in null space until the weekend...