DAWN AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY

   Fanfiction
      -My Fics
      -Collaborations
      -Other Buffy/Spike Fics
      -Series
      -Challenges
      -Non Buffy/Spike Fics
   History
   Links
   Link to Me
   Updates
   Awards Won


   Back to Main

   E-mail Hilary

Disclaimer: The genius that is Joss Whedon owns Buffy, not me, if I did, well, then let's just say there'd be plenty of B/S action going on. Anyway, the plot lines come from my twisted own head, but he can have them too.
Rating: PG-13
Distribution: It's cool with me, just be sure to let me know the site.
Feedback: YES! Just be nice if it's awful.
Summary: While someone tries to bring Buffy back from the dead, Dawn's having her own problems, hitting to close to home. Dawn's POV. (Okay, that made no sense, just read it)
Author's Note: Okay, yes, this is a Buffy story, but I read the first paragraph and I immediately thought of this book: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad day by Judith Viorst. That's where the title came from. Not me. This was my favorite book when I was little, and I recommend it to anyone, it's so cute. Anyway where was I? Oh yes. Enjoy…

Dawn and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Life was not fair. No matter what anyone said, how they said it, how famous they were, or when they said it, life was not fair. First I lost my mother, then I lost my sister, and now, the biggest jerk on the planet, Hank Summers, wants me to move back to L.A. with him and his stupid girlfriend. I am not moving, not with him. He didn't even bother to show up to my mother's funeral, he doesn't even care Buffy is "missing" he just wants me, cause I'm so damn cute. I am not cute. I am annoying. I hate L.A. there's too many people, and none of them are interesting. I am not moving to L.A. with him. I sure don't want to stay in Sunnydale, where there's so much pain, but I don't want to go to L.A. not ever, and never with him. Life isn't fair.

I think I'll move to England.

* * *
"Spike, did you by chance have something you wanted?" Xander demanded.

"Hey, public property, I can be here as long as I like," Spike grinned.

"Public property owned by me," Giles reminded him. "When I tell you to leave, you leave."

Xander waited for a few seconds. "Aren't you going to tell him?"

"He keeps things interesting," Giles sighed.

"Bloody right I do," Spike grinned. His head turned towards the door when the bells went off and he spotted me before the others.

"Hey Wil," Xander smiled, defeated. "What's going on?"

"Hmm?" Willow mumbled not looking up from her book.

"Okay, what a lively group this is," Xander sighed.

"I'm counting the money," Anya offered.

"That's nice," Tara nodded.

"Hey pet!" Spike called.

I sighed, I wished he hadn't called me that in front of my dad. It wasn't the nickname I minded. It was my dad I had the problem with. "Hey," I nodded. "Uh, I have to talk to you guys."

Instantly Giles head snapped up and everyone but Willow turned to look at me. But that was okay. Willow was convinced Buffy wasn't really dead, or she could bring Buffy back, but so far, she hadn't had any luck. Either way, it gave her something to hold onto.

Tara was the first to speak. "What's wrong Dawnie?"

"My dad," was all I could make out. After all, it was the truth.

"What about that lousy wanker?" Spike grunted. "That man has-"

"Hello," my dad said stepping in from behind me. The Girlfriend soon followed.

"What were you saying?" Xander asked turning to Spike, clearly amused by the whole subject.

"Uh, Red, can I help you over there?"

"So this is where Buffy hung out?" he asked.

The smile quickly disappeared off of Xander's face. I could see it in his eyes. Suddenly, torturing Spike wasn't enough. I could tell. Xander knew. "Mr. Summers," was all he could grunt.

"Oh, please, call me Hank."

"Mr. Summers."

"So, Dawn, what do you usually do here?" The Girlfriend asked. Like she really cared.

"You could help me count the money," Anya offered. Spike snorted and then pretended to be very interested in the book Willow had shoved under his nose.

"Oh look! There's a spell to, um, Wil, this is in Latin, I don't speak it, not bloody well any way."

"Sorry," Willow mumbled.

"So these are all of Buffy's friends?" he said. He sounded amused and shocked. "She always had more friends in L.A. Perhaps it was the influence of those here…" he babbled. I watched as Xander's hand clenched into a fist.

"Mr. Summers, Hank, whatever, is there anything I can get for you?" Giles asked.

"What do you mean?" he frowned. How stupid is this man? Good thing I got everything from mom and Buffy.

"It means, what in bloody hell are you doing here?"

I giggled. If anyone could make me smile, it was Spike. I could even see Xander relaxing a bit.

"Excuse me, young man?" he demanded turning to face Spike. "What did you say?"

"Sorry old lad, need a mate to speak up old man?" Spike demanded. "Oy! He just called me young! Wow, he sure made my day." Xander's fist unwound itself and I began to giggle even harder.

"You could at least have the decency to look me in the face when you say that," Hank grunted.

"And you could have had the bloody decency to show up to Joyce's funeral," Spike shot back. After a few seconds he added: "You lousy wanker."

"Dawn," the girlfriend said trying to stop this fight. "I have an idea."

"Oh goody," Tara mumbled under her breath.

"She talks," Xander whispered to Tara who smiled.

"Why don't we give you some time to have with your friends, and after the hearing, I take you out shopping, how does that sound?"

"You weren't blond by chance in a pervious life?" Spike asked.

"What hearing?" Giles interrupted.

"Oh the custody hearing. We've got a meeting with an officer and three to deal with where Dawn stays. We didn't want an ugly court battle," Hank explained.

"What!" I cried. I couldn't believe this guy. What made him think I wanted to go with him?

"What makes you think she wants to go with you?" Spike yelled. "Are you totally deranged?"

"Dawn, honey, we just want you back as soon as possible," Hank smiled. I tried not to roll my eyes.

"Well, that's not going to happen," Spike snapped.

"Oh, and why not?" Hank demanded.

"Because, no one, and I mean no one has ever beaten me," Spike said. Okay, so he was lying, there were a few people who had beaten him, Angelus and Buffy on numerous times. But no one was going to say that out loud.

"We'll see, we'll see."

"We bloody will, we bloody will."

"Is that a real accent?" The Girlfriend asked.

"Come on Cheri," he snapped and left the magic shop. Oh, so she has a name, I snorted.

"Spike, how do you plan to get out at 3 in the afternoon?" Xander demanded.

Spike stepped back and looked away from the rest of us, taking a few seconds to collect himself. When he turned around, he was back to normal, or as normal as he could get. "Dirty up the windows on your car Harris, I'm gonna get that sorry wanker if that's the last thing I do." Silence followed him. "Harris, your helping me whether you want to or not." Still silence. They didn't think he could win.

I think I'll move to England.

* * *

He stepped into the quaintest little shop in town. It was his favorite, the magic shop, even though he had more than enough magic supplies at home, there came a time, when you were out of something, and he always came her. You were always welcome here, demon or human. And that was just so…nice.

"Can I help you?" a man with a thick accent said. He seemed tired and bored, but that was okay with me.

"I'll take these," he said dropping the items onto the counter.

"That'll be 7.50 sir," he said placing the items into a basket after ringing them up. It was a good thing that the shopkeeper wasn't paying attention to what he was doing, or, he'd have a lot of questions to answer to, and they'd be hard to answer, for him. The shopkeeper smiled as he took the cash. "Have a nice day," he said. He turned and started to leave the store. He stopped suddenly as he saw the little girl. It was a pity she hadn't gone. It was a pity she was going to have to suffer, she was so cute. He glanced back, and saw the boy in the distance. He smiled. Many would think, that this was a truly evil deed.

He found it fun.

* * *

"Hmm," Anya said going through the recites at 2 in the afternoon.

"What, something made you go 'hmm,'" I said looking up at Anya.

"Willow, come here for a seconds," Anya ordered.

"I'm busy," Willow grunted.

"Oh, you can get right back to that, I mean this," Anya said. She pointed to the recite.

Willow sighed and got up. "Hmm."

I laughed. "Does all this have a point?"

"What does it do?" Willow asked.

"Well, that's why I asked you," Anya said. "You are a strong witch, so I figured that you would know what they did. It's not pleasant, if I remember."

"Yes, I don't think it is either, it sound familiar," Willow nodded.

"Giles, who bought these?" Anya called waving the recite in the air.

Giles walked over and looked at the recite. "A very old man," he said after a few seconds.

"Oh, like you?" Anya asked.

"Do you want to be fired?"

"Oh, he must have been very old," Anya nodded and turned back to counting the recites. "If someone older than Giles bought it, we should be fine, whatever it does."

"Whatever," Willow shrugged and went back to her book.

England must be more fun that this.

* * *

"I want to go!" I protested.

"I don't think that would be wise," Giles nodded.

"Why not?"

"Well, with Spike and Xander, it could get, very heated," Giles said.

"Now, you heard the wanker, 3:00 sharp, we don't want to make a bad impression," Spike sighed.

"I know! Let's show up a half hour early, make a better impression than he does," Xander snorted.

"Now your thinking," Spike nodded. He snapped his fingers. "Suits, we need suits, and briefcases."

"Perhaps you two are taking this to far," Giles sighed.

"And cell phones!" Xander cried. "And leather shoes. Loafers!"

"Perhaps?" Tara laughed.

"You have to let me go! This is effects me more than anyone!" I yelled.

"Dawn, you won't want to be there, just some boring legal things," Anya said. "Money is much more interesting."

I think I'll move to England.

* * *

It's quiet in this town now. I find that strange. It's never quiet. Well, if all goes well, which it never does, then I think that my spell will keep them quiet for good. They will pay for what they've done. They all will. Every last one.

But it never goes well. So in that case, let's make some noise.

* * *

"You ever get a feeling?" Xander asked.

"Yeah, all the time," Spike nodded.

"No, I mean one of those feelings, like there's two places you could be, and you can't be at both, and if you go to one you save on thing, but if you go to the other, you could lose everything," Xander said.

"Yeah, if I think I understand what the hell your saying, yeah, I have that feeling right now," Spike nodded.

"Me too," Xander said. "We should have gotten cell phones."

"Oh, yeah, and briefcases."

"So, how do you plan on beating Mr. Summers?" Xander asked.

"I have a plan. And you cannot interfere with this plan, or it will not work."

"Basically, your telling me, your going to lie to keep Dawn," Xander nodded. "I'm cool with that."

"I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this for Dawn," Spike nodded. "And Buffy," he added after a few seconds. He wiped the mist out of his eyes as Mr. Summers walked in with his girl trailing clueless behind him.

"Let's do this," Xander nodded.

"For Buffy," Spike agreed.

* * *

I checked my watch, it was 3:30 now. That meant that the battle had begun. That meant that my future was being decided, and I wasn't even there. And that was not fair. I was just sitting in the boring magic shop, staring at my watch, waiting for Xander and Spike to come and tell me that I had to pack my bags to go to L.A.

What my dad wants, he gets. He wanted a divorce and he got it. Spike and Xander have no idea what they are up against. And I fear for them, and myself. But my dad won't get me.

Cause I'm moving to England.

* * *
(Author's Note: I have no clue about the legal process, what so ever. My closest knowledge comes from Mock Trial competition, which I don't think has a great deal to do with this so. So um, this is basically all made up legal junk, so don't nitpick at me if it's not right. Basically, I have no clue what I'm talking about. So, now back to your regularly scheduled fic.)

"Mr. Harris, what makes you think that Dawn should stay with you? You are just a friend of her sister. While, Mr. Summers on the other hand is her father," the custody officer said.

"That's a good point. The girl should be with her father," The Girlfriend said.

"Yes, this father, this father that hasn't come around to visit the girls in five years? The father who always is out, the father who didn't bother to show up to his ex-wife's funeral, I might add. This man wasn't even there at a moment when his daughters needed him," Xander said. He watched as Mr. Summers face started to redden. That was cool; he'd never done that to anyone before.

"That is not the issue at hand," Mr. Summers snapped.

Spike held out his hand as Xander started to open his mouth. He turned to look at the lady who was the custody officer. He smiled warmly at her and she blushed. There was an "Oh G-d" murmur from Xander at the end of the table, Spike ignored it. "I'm sorry, miss, I'm afraid I never caught your name," he winked. Xander groaned again. Spike kicked him from under the table.

"M-M-Mary," the woman nodded after a few seconds.

"What a lovely name," Spike smiled.

"At-hem!" Hank cried.

Well, Mary, do you have children?" he asked with a smile.

"No, I hope to some day," she nodded, flushed still.

"Well, Mary, say you have children, and one day, you and your husband divorce, G-d forbid," he added after a few seconds. "Why a man would be dumb enough to divorce a woman like you is beyond me." Spike smiled. Another grunt from Xander followed but a giggle from Mary. "As I was saying, say you got a divorce, and your ex-husband, who your two daughters happened to be living with at the time, he died. Would you go to the funeral?"

"Of course. If not for that fact that I at one point loved the man, but for the fact that my children were there," Mary said.

"I would be there in a heartbeat," Spike said, still not looking away from her eyes. They were nice, but they weren't Buffy. Spike kicked himself, all he did was think about Buffy, you'd think he'd give it a rest for a few hours.

"I was in Spain," Mr. Summers snapped jumping to defend himself.

"With the lovely Cheri here?" Spike asked, Cheri giggled.

"Did you leave a forwarding address?" Mary asked. "It says here Joyce was sick, she had an operation, didn't you even bother to call or write your daughters, they must have been distressed," she cried. There was a sickness to her tone now, not like the gentleness that had come between herself and Spike.

Xander couldn't believe the lady was buying it, but who cared, as long as the evil daddy didn't take Dawn away.

"I didn't have the time," Hank sputtered.

Oh, wrong answer, Xander grinned to himself.

"Didn't have the time for your own children?" Spike shook his head. He looked at Mary and winked. Mary blushed and wrote something down on the paper.

"Your accent, is, is it real, it sound real, some people practice an awful lot," Mary smiled.

"Born in England, lived there till I was 16," Spike smiled. Okay, so the last part was a lie, but who had to know that?

"What did this guy do that was so special?" Mr. Summers demanded.

* * *

"Are you guys sure, you keep looking back at that recite," Dawn nodded.

"I don't know. Maybe we should pay more attention to it," Anya nodded.

"What makes you think that?" Giles asked.

"Well the last time we found two questionable recites, they belonged to Glory, and now, now Buffy's dead," Anya said. Suddenly she covered her mouth and her eyes widened in horror at what she just said. "I'm sorry," she whispered and darted into the back.

"I think I'm going to burn that recite," Giles snapped and shoved it into the cash register.

"Did I miss something?" Willow mumbled, shaking some hair off of her face.

I am so moving to England.

* * *

"Mr. Harris?" Mary asked.

"No, no, the blond guy," Mr. Summers snapped. "He's been complaining about my parenting but what did he do?"

"I'm sorry, I don't believe I caught your name," Mary said.

"William," Spike nodded. A snort from Xander.

"I'm afraid I'll need your last name also," Mary nodded.

Spike's mind went blank. Last name? His original last name had titles that went with it, he'd never bothered to memorize then all. "Blake!" He blurted after a few seconds, it was the first thing that had come to his mind.

"Like the poet?" Mary smiled. "Poetry?"

Spike did everything he could to keep from smiling. He'd never been called a poet before. This girl was so sweet; she called him a poet. Wow, after everything he'd-

"Spike!" Xander hissed and kicked him under the table.

"What did you do?" Mr. Summers repeated.

"I loved her," Spike said. His voice chocked and he felt a lump forming in his throat.

"I don't really think that qualifies you for taking care of Dawn. Just because you were in love with my oldest daughter and you're her best friend," Mr. Summers said, he leaned back in his chair, as if he'd won.

Mary nodded slowly. She looked at Spike and bit her lip, as much as he had charmed her, and as sweet as he was, Mr. Summer's had a point. "William, I-"

"I don't think he was finished," Xander said. "Were you, Mr. Blake?" he added and glanced at Spike. Then he bit is lip to keep from laughing. He couldn't believe he actually thought that Spike could get away with being a poet. What was wrong with him? He needed some fresh air.

"I didn't just love Buffy, as if I was in love with her, she was my best friend. She treated me like, like I was something special, I was something better. And she got it from her mother. I liked the lady. She was nice, and when I was upset, she would always sit and listen to me whine. And Dawn, Dawn, she's something else. She'll sit with you when your down in the dumps, and she'll tell you the dumbest jokes on the planet, or she'll follow you politely when your convinced you can find you way with out a map. They were terrific girls. And you know that, had you bothered to pick up the phone every once and awhile. So, I may have not been anything but an annoying friend, but at least I was there. And you have no idea what you've missed out on. And now you want Dawn, because she's "so cute", well, I sure wouldn't want to live with a man like you," Spike snapped. He chocked back a bit of emotion.

"Wow," Mary said. "I love sensitive guys."

"Him! Sensitive!" Xander snorted.

"Mr. Harris?"

"Excuse me," Xander said and looked down at his feet. "He just, he hasn't been the same since, since Joyce left us." He couldn't bring himself to the fact that Buffy was really gone. He just, he had a feeling.

"I have to go review my notes," Mary said and left the room in a flush.

"What are you trying to pull over us?" Mr. Summers demanded. "I mean, that accent!"

"Hey! This accent is bloody real you lousy wanker!" Spike snapped.

"What, do you watch the BBC all day or something?" The Girlfriend snapped. "How dare you try to take Dawn away from us?"

"You should talk!" Xander jumped in. "Don't you attack him for caring! Sure he has hair and clothing issues-"

"You're a fine one to talk!" Spike snapped. Just then Mary walked back in her cheeks flushed up again when she looked at Spike.

"Give me a break," Mr. Summers grunted.

Mary began handing out papers. "During what I have seen and heard today, my decision, along with a judge has been based on all that, and I feel that this will be best for the child, and not you," Mary said. "If you, wish, you can challenge my decision, but seeing as you didn't want to take this to court, which you will have to do, should you not agree with my decision, I'd recommend, we leave things just the way we are," Mary nodded.

"Oh my," Xander said. "The scoobies aren't going to believe this."

"Neither do I," Spike said.

"And William, I hope to see you around town," Mary said as she got up and left the room for the final time. Spike winked at her as she left.

"You charmed your way through this," Mr. Summers growled.

"Point being?" Xander grinned.

Spike held out his hand for Mr. Summers to shake. Mr. Summers hand snapped back. "I think it's best you leave."

Mr. Summers nodded. "We fly back to L.A. tonight."

Xander and Spike turned and started to head out the door.

"That was a nice little show you two just put on. But your friends, they all know the truth. And so did Buffy, you never loved her that way. Your just some dog who lusted after her," Mr. Summers growled.

"That's where your wrong," Spike said. "I loved her, and she may have never loved me. But at least she treated me like a man. I'll remember that. Even if no one else does," with that, he and Xander were gone.

"I hate that guy," Mr. Summers sighed and started to leave, as his girlfriend trailed behind him.

* * *

"I 'spose I should go pack now," I said as Xander and Spike walked in.

"You're not gonna believe this," Xander laughed.

"You won!" Tara cried.

"Oh yeah," Spike nodded. "You should have seen the look on the blokes face. I thought he was going to kill me."

"I can't believe you two beat Mr. Summers," Giles sighed.

"How'd you do it?" Anya asked.

"'Well, Mr. Blake, your such a poet'," Xander said and batted his eyelashes.

"Huh?" Tara frowned.

"Let me see the paper," Giles said, and Xander handed the paper to him.

"So, I don't have to move with him?" I didn't have to go to L.A. That was great. I mean, staying in Sunnydale was better than L.A. It was no England, but…

"See, it says, plain and clear, William Blake is the legal guardian of Dawn Summers," Xander nodded.

This caused even Willow to look up and snort.

"What the heck?" I demanded.

"That's the name I gave to the custody officer," Spike explained.

"Like the poet?" Tara asked. "You're a poet now?"

"Wait, Spike has custody of Dawn?

* * *
I was back in my house. Okay so it wasn't where I wanted to be, but at least it wasn't with my father. And at least I was with someone I trusted. Spike. And at least he cared for me. It was weird thinking of my guardian as Spike. The guy who was madly in love with my sister. Spike, who had bleached blond hair and dressed like Billy Idol. Spike, who couldn't exactly go into the sun.

"Am I doing okay?" Spike asked.

"About?" I frowned.

"Well, am I an okay, parent?" he asked.

"Better than my dad," I shrugged. It was true. He frowned a little. "Your fine," I said to him, as I sat on the edge of my bed. "It's just, well, there are so many more places I'd rather be than Sunnydale. L.A. wasn't one of them. I just I miss Buffy. And I didn't want to go with my dad." I interrupted, before he could start ranting about everything. "I'm just really tired, is it okay if I go to sleep?" I didn't bother to add I was always tired.

"Of course, right, sleep, always good," Spike nodded.

I actually smiled. "Good night Spike," I said and turned over and closed my eyes.

"Good night Dawn," he said and turned out the light and started to close the door. Right when it was almost closed, he stuck his head in. "Oh and Dawn?"

"Hmm?"

"Trust me."

"About what?"

"There are plenty of bad days in England too."

Unknown