thedeadlyhook

I can't believe it's finally done. I mean it this time - it's finally done! And it's a BIG chapter. Long. Hopefully, worth all the wait, but even if not... it's done!

Story recap: ( The Story Thus Far )

Previous chapters here. ( Does It Have to Mean Something? Chapter 17 )

Read the sequel, The Center.

New chapter! This is kind of a long one. Dawn and Buffy talk about Spike, Angel... a lot of things. Sort of the first of two parts. A little author's note, before starting - slightly spoilery for the chapter itself, so save this bit for after, if you'd prefer.( Read more... )

Story recap, for the quick catch-up: ( The Story Thus Far )

Previous chapters here. ( Does It Have to Mean Something? Chapter 15 )

Angel explaineth more. Previous chapters here. ( Does It Have to Mean Something? Chapter 11 )

Not one hundred percent happy with this chapter. For those who care, I might run off at the gums about why, but it basically boils down to eventually deciding to not stress so hard about making this an important moment after spending a lot of time stressing about exactly that. Sigh. Previous chapters here. ( Does It Have to Mean Something? Chapter 9 )

I really hadn't planned on this segment going on so long. Sheesh. Next chapter, things get far more uplifting, I promise. Previous chapters here. ( Does It Have to Mean Something? Chapter 7 )

Okay, this part is a little bit shorter than some of the others, but the one after this is a bit of a change in tone, so I wanted to preserve the tension. Again, a bit with the cliffhanger. I'll get over the whole cliffhanger thing soon, I promise! Anyway, Buffy returns to our world from the pocket dimension. Hurry, Buffy, Hurry! If you need to catch up, there's a "previously" recap, or you can find the earlier chapters here. ( Does It Have to Mean Something? Chapter 5 )

This is the chapter that's gonna make everybody hate me. Please remember in reading it that I do have deep and abiding affection for both of these characters. Deep breath. (Edited to mention that I've edited the previous chapter to extend some of Buffy's thoughts, and also because I keep forgetting to put in a link to those parts, which is here.) ( Does It Have to Mean Something? Chapter 3 )

Well, I know I said I was going to finish "The Dead Walk" before getting started on this, but I just couldn't wait. Plus, there's a little more suspense with where Spike's head is at this way. [Edit: 7/1/05: There's also more edited-together version of this story at my website, Just Stake Me.]

Anyway, here goes - first chapter to my followup to "Dirty Back Road," tentatively titled "Does It Have to Mean Something?", set about one week after the events of the epilogue. Post-AtS Season 5, a few months after the events of "Not Fade Away." Buffy is living in Rome, she crosses paths with Spike, who happened to be there too for his own reasons... and then where do we go from here?

A word of warning to those who particularly enjoyed the uplifting ending of "Dirty Back Road" - that moment happened, it can't be taken away... but a relationship isn't built on one moment. So this is me trying to get to the heart of the Buffy/Spike relationship - are they really all that compatible, and if so, why? ( Does It Have to Mean Something?, Part One )