¡Yay! I'm happy to invoke the love! Of course, the basis for lots of fic is to change one thing and see what happens, so that's not exactly new. However, I haven't seen much (if any) fic where Spike seeks out Joyce right away, though I have seen lots of wonderful fic where he ends up at Revello Drive eventually. Once I had the idea, though, it seemed really silly that he ever went to seek help from Giles. (I mean, just because Kristine Sutherland — the actress who played Joyce — wanted to spend the year in Italy!? Pfft!)

Anyway, this does rather go off in another direction, so I hope you're still okay with it after chapter three. Thanks for commenting!