Story Notes: Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

In order to make this work, I had to lengthen the time between Joyce being released from the hospital and the time Buffy finds out about Riley's trips to the bite shop.  Just assume that it took a couple days for Spike to finally approach Buffy after he discovered Riley's activities and it fits better.  Sorry that I had to tweak the timeline just a bit but if I didn't Buffy would have been in the beginnings of death spiral for the start instead of just skirting the edge of disaster.