he was her family in all but blood. dawn would almost call it alike the bonds she had with the scoobies, but spike was a bit different then that. since she was young they had a different kind of kinship. he was the big brother she never knew she needed until he was there, and then she couldn't let him go. grief remained from when she had mourned him before discovering he had returned from the grave. a deep need to hold onto him, to make sure he was really here and it hadn't been a dream. it remained within her like the need to exhale. not that she could ever tell spike that. he wouldn't want to have caused such feelings, and it was her burden to carry. "one of... ?" a frown on her face, looking at the ring on his hand. spike wearing jewelry wasn't new, but by his gesture dawn had to assume there was something special about it. "what does it do?" she asked and finally allowed herself herself to loosen. let go of that tightness, that fear it had been an intentional secret, and instead accept that it had been spike's brand of surprise. no malice intended. just... a surprise. and it was one. "not. cool." she smacked his shoulder putting no strength into it. even with the knowledge there was no world she could physically hurt him, it was natural for her not even to risk it. not that she could land a punch even if she really was trying. "new rule. no more surprising me, you've done it way too much." a pause, letting all the pout she previously carried melt back. "can i hug you now?"

"it's called a daylight ring . . it lets me walk around during the day and it protects me from the sun." spike answered. "this ring practically makes the world a bloody playground ! " he added, his accent heavy on his tongue. "given the option a hundred years ago i would have killed a priest and his mother for this ring." he joked fondly. although, spike knew with an advanage like that in the 1880's his kill count would have been tripled; and that's saying a lot for a vampire who was once called william the bloody. the platinum blonde haired male didn't need words from the brunet to know that she wasn't thrilled about the lack of communication on his part. even though dawn was like family it still felt different and perhaps even new to know that he had someone in his corner who needed to know if he was okay or not. a smirk appeared when dawn mentioned that his surprise was not, cool. the smacked to his shoulder issued a small chuckle. blue eyes finding her brown honeydews, amused by her reaction while reading between the lines. "i missed you too, dawny. more than you know." he admitted. spike was never into the touchy feely conversations, but when it came to the summers sisters he often made an exception without thought. "whatever you say boss." he agreed to the brunet's demands. " do you want that in writing, or . . " he teased, trying to make light of the situation, and perhaps help change her pout into a smile.

being annoyed was very classic on the spike chart of emotions, and it was because of that dawn refrained from hugging him for the time being (later, yes, but that was later). "i just don't see why there couldn't be a phone call of 'see you in mystic falls dawn.'" of course he would have made it sound cooler cause that was what spike did as a principle character trait. "or was i not supposed to know that you're here?" of course there was always the idea he didn't know. for all dawn knew no one even sent spike, he just came here on his own.

of course, he was keeping tabs on buffy and dawn. they had had too much history for him to not check on them. dawn had oddly become like a little sister to him; and although he knew he wasn't the best influence for her to be around, he felt better knowing that she was near. this way he could make sure she was safe. "sorry dawny but i've been rather busy getting one of these." he confessed, before lifting up his right hand and wiggling his fingers in the air to show off his new daylight ring. being a vampire with a soul had been torture enough, but being tied down to the night was getting a little too old. "and i wasn't keeping it a secret little bit...you just happened to find out before i could surprise you."