Spike woke up with a start. He was alone. He frowned, remembering the night before, how heartbroken Willow was. He sighed.

He went downstairs. Willow was sitting at the table, crying softly.

"Red?"

She turned. He noticed there were two plates at the table. "I forgot," she whispered, "that he wasn't here anymore. I set him a place at the table."

He rubbed his face. How do you answer to that? He glanced around. "Thanks for setting the curtains up, pet," he said. He winced. His voice sounded a lot meaner than he meant it.

She laughed softly. "I lost Graham. I didn't want to loose you too." She fidgeted. "I...didn't know how long you were staying, so I went ahead and went to the butcher's....I got you some blood."

He smiled. "Thanks, Pet." He sighed and walked into the kitchen, fixing breakfast for himself. He went back to the table and sat across from her, avoiding the chair where Graham would have sat. He proceeding to feed.

"Where have you been the last ten years?" Willow asked suddenly, picking at her food.

He looked up at her. "Huh?" She wasn't meeting his gaze, only staring at her food, chewing her bottom lip.

"Why did you leave me...us?" she asked. "We really could have used you. Buffy...almost died. If Angel hadn't of come..." She fought back a sob. "Apparently only a vampire could kill that particular demon." She sighed, her voice a whisper. "And...I missed...you."

Pain flashed on his face. He mentally reprimanded himself, thankful she wasn't looking at him. He set his face to be emotionless.

When he spoke, his voice was hollow. "I was angry because of Adam, how he betrayed me. You know that. And none of you even bloody cared, just went on about your happy little hellmouthy lives. Hell, you were happy I still had the chip. There was no reason to stay. Sunnyhell only held bad memories. My sire was smart enough to get out, so I figured I'd follow suit."

Willow frowned, looking up at him. She opened her mouth to speak, then shut it. In that moment, he saw the Willow he knew in her, the way her eyes blazed when she was angry. As soon as he noticed it, the spark was gone. "My spirit died with Graham. I don't want to fight about it again."

He took her hands. "Pet, staying in Sunnyhell was too hard for me. I had a lot going on in the old cranium....things none of you knew about. I needed to leave to save the little sanity I had left."

She digested those words for a moment, then spoke again. "So, do you still have the chip?"

"No," Spike replied.

She studied him curiously, yet not frightened. Spike was thankful for that. He had almost told her a lie, so she wouldn't shriek in fear from him, but knew not to lie to her. "How?" she asked.

"Peaches did a favor for a bloke in the military. Operation Chip Removal was his pay back," Spike answered.

"So, you've gone back to your evil killing ways?" The fact that a bloodthirsty monster who could kill her in a heartbeat was sitting in front of her didn't scare her. It almost relieved her. If she found death by his fangs, then she knew that she would be with her beloved again. "Occasionally," he shrugged. "Unfortunately, my time with the Slayer and her pets warped me. The Big Bad isn't so bad anymore."

"I still trust you, chip or no chip." No matter what happened, whether she lived, died, or became a vampire, she knew Spike would take care of her.

He smiled. "Thanks." He pulled his hands away from hers. "Now eat. The gang already lost one person. We don't want to loose another."

Willow sighed and began to eat.