'The Harsh Light of Day' Story Code '4ABB03' by Jane Espenson

While at ‘The Bronze’, Buffy admits to Willow that she has been hanging out with Parker; later, Willow helps Oz and the rest of the Dingos band load up their van, but she is attacked by the vampiric Harmony, her former classmate from Sunnydale High. Before the creature can bite her, Oz intervenes, and Harmony flees into the night. After Parker tells Buffy that he is traumatised by his father’s death, she tells him how she nearly drowned, and agrees to accompany him to a party the following night. While at Giles’ house, Xander is stunned when Anya, the ex-demon who was his date for the Prom, appears and demands to know where their relationship is going. Meanwhile, Harmony’s latest boyfriend is revealed to be Spike, who is busy digging his way into an underground crypt; to keep her quiet, he promises to take Harmony to a party. The next evening, Buffy and Parker arrive at the party, where Buffy is amazed to see Spike and Harmony there as a couple; she chases them from the party, but Spike punches her. Harmony gloats, telling Buffy that Drusilla left Spike for a fungus demon, and that Buffy will be sorry when Spike finds the Gem of Amara. Anya arrives at Xander’s basement apartment, takes off her dress, and tells Xander that she has feelings for him, and is certain that they will disappear once they have sex together; despite Xander reminding her that they hardly know each other, they kiss. Buffy contacts Giles and informs him about the gem; she and Parker then go back to his dorm and sleep together. The next morning, Parker tells Buffy that his Mom is coming, and she leaves. Back at Xander’s, a post-coital Anya declares that she is now over him. Giles arrives at Buffy’s with news about the Gem of Amara, believing it to be hidden in an underground crypt. Buffy decides to go hunting for Harmony and Spike, but wonders why Parker has not called her. Meanwhile, Spike and Harmony have broken into the crypt, where Harmony finds the Gem; Spike rips it off her finger, reducing her to tears. Oz, Xander and Giles watch a newscast that reports a sinkhole appearing near U.C. Sunnydale; Giles realises that is where the crypt is, and they go to get Buffy. When Buffy sees Parker coming onto another girl, she is hurt to discover that Parker sees their night together as just fun. Spike appears - in broad daylight - and together he and Buffy fight. While the Slayer discovers that her stakes have no effect on the vampire, Willow, Oz and Xander find Harmony crying in the crypt; she attacks them, but Giles manages to subdue her with a cross, learning that Spike has taken the Gem from her. Xander meets Anya in Buffy’s dorm room, where she tells him that she was wrong - she is not over him at all. Buffy and Spike are still fighting when Xander tries to intervene, but he gets pushed away by Spike; Buffy manages to get the ring from Spike, who is forced to flee to the sewers for cover from the sunlight. Learning that Oz and his band have a gig in Los Angeles, Buffy asks him to take the ring to Angel. Later, Buffy laments to Willow about Parker and the way he has treated her...

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Seth Green (Oz), Anthony Stewart Head (Rupert Giles), James Marsters (Spike), Emma Caulfield (Anya), Mercedes McNab (Harmony), Adam Kaufman (Parker), Jason Hall (Devon), Melix (Bryan)
Directed by James A. Contner

TX (US): 19th October 1999
TX (UK - Sky One): 21th January 2000
TX (UK - BBC): 12th October 2000

Notes:
*Featuring Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, Oz and Reily

*This story is a cross-over with the 'Angel' episode 'In the Dark'