Buffy shook her head slightly. There was a peculiar buzzing noise coming from far away, and she wondered if the others could hear it. She looked back at Giles, who was hastily unwrapping another chocolate kiss and dipping it into the peanut butter jar he held clutched to his chest. "Marvelous," he murmured.

Buffy watched him as if he were standing behind a clear shower curtain. She could see him, could in fact see all of them, but they were wavering slightly in her field of vision, and for some reason all sound in the room had faded away. The only thing that was audible was a voice in her head.

/chocolate and peanut butter chocolate and peanut butter chocolate and peanut butter/

The room was tilting a bit at the edges, and Buffy reached unsteadily behind her for the arm of the sofa. Lowering herself onto it, bracing her weight behind her on her hands, she closed her eyes to regain her balance and was suddenly hit with a powerful pain directly behind her eyes. She cried out involuntarily, bringing the heels of her hands to her eyes, and toppled unceremoniously to the floor.

 

~*~*~*~*~*

When she woke, she was resting comfortably on the couch, with Giles pressing a cool cloth to her head. His mouth was a tight line, and Xander peered down at her from the back of the sofa. Willow knelt at her feet, holding the bowl of water for the cloth. Buffy's headache was gone, her vision clear.

She sat up abruptly, pushing the washcloth from her forehead, not caring that it left damp tendrils of hair sticking to her skin.

"Slowly," Giles said, supporting her back, but she brushed him off impatiently.

"I'm fine. Where are my keys?"

"Buffy, I don't think you should drive anywhere," Willow began.

"I'm fine," Buffy repeated, scanning the room for her shoes. "I,umm...haven't eaten, is all. Low blood sugar. I'll grab a bite on my way to--"

"To where?" Giles asked, concerned. "I'll drive you back to your dormitory. Let me just--"

"No!" Buffy said suddenly, startling them all. She lowered her voice and tried to smile. "I mean, no, don't leave here. You guys can continue your research and update me tomorrow. Really, I'm all right." She began backing to the door, trying to will the color back in her cheeks that she could feel were like ice.

The three of them just stood there, staring at her oddly, and Buffy felt a pang of guilt. "How about I call when I get home?" she offered, and Giles nodded.

"If you have not called within thirty minutes, Buffy, I'll be 'round to check on you."

"Thirty minutes, yep, got it." She nodded enthusiastically, causing Xander to raise his eyebrows in disbelief, but finally she had reached the blessed relief of the door. Slipping through with one last wave, she closed her eyes for a moment of thanks, then turned determinedly toward her car.

She had somewhere to go.

It took forty-five minutes to make the drive, with one stop at a pay phone to lie to Giles. The fact that Willow would discover her absence when she returned to the empty dorm room was a problem Buffy would worry about later.For now, there was a more pressing matter at hand.

She didn't go through the office, knowing people would be there. She went straight to the sub-level apartment, knocking on the door impatiently, and shifting from foot to foot. After what seemed an interminable amount of time, the door creaked open slowly. Buffy stared up unflinchingly at the one person who would always hold her heart in his hand, and spoke.

"I remembered."