Written by Zinna

Buffy's relationship with Scott Hope represents her last chance for a normal high school boyfriend after having to kill her not-so-normal vampire love, Angel. Initially, when Scott asks Buffy out at the Bronze, she turns him down, distracted by a couple on the dance floor (one of them appears to be a vampire). The non-vampire part of the couple turns out to be Faith. In dealing with Faith and helping Faith face her demons, Buffy becomes ready to deal with hers. She ceremoniously says good-bye to Angel's ghost and accepts Scott's offer to a date (this is before she Angel returns from hell in Beauty and the Beasts). The pair begin dating.

Throughout their short-lived romance, Scott seems to be a very nice, intuitive guy and "quite a muffin" as Faith says in Beauty and the Beasts. He buys her gifts (a friendship ring like the one Angel gave her on her birthday), thoughtfully compliments her every chance he gets, and expresses concern about her nutritional habits (all jell-O lunches). All Buffy is emotionally available to offer in return are good-bye kisses and excuses for hasty departures.

In Homecoming, the pair reluctantly agrees to go to the dance together. Scott begins to notice Buffy's troubled and erratic behavior. On the other hand Buffy does not know that her sneaking off to care for Angel is noticeable and has convinced herself that Scott is exactly what she needs. In fact, she tells Angel about him despite his fragile state (having just returned from a hundreds of years of hellish torture). The next day Scott informs her that he doesn't think they should see one another anymore, claiming that she is distracted all the time. This comes as quite a surprise to Buffy, who then makes a brief attempt to convince him that she is ready for a drastic distraction reduction. In the end, all Scott can say is that he's sorry. Buffy goes off to punch out her aggressions in a training session with Faith.