(no subject)
Sam stood alone in the kitchen, listening to the whistle of the tea kettle before pulling it from the burner. He slowly poured the hot water into two separate cups, nearly overflowing the second cup as he got lost in thought.
He'd been the one to break the news to the others, knwoing that Buffy just didn't have it in her. The news had been met with shock and pain and grief, all things he expected. But none of them knew just how bad things had gone, none of them knew that there was a good chance that as he was breaking the news, Faith was already dead.
Two cups in hand, Sam walked into the study, where an air mattress had been set up earlier in the day for he and Buffy. He knew she would come here after getting patched up. It was one of the few places in the house where she could actually shut a door and shut others out. When he walked in, he wasn't shocked to see Dawn as well.
She sat in the middle of the air mattress, and in a reversal of roles Sam rarely saw, Buffy laid next to the girl, her head in Dawn's lap as Dawn stroked Buffy's hair. He smiled at the girl in acknowledgment and Dawn smiled back before looking down at her sister.
"I'm gonna check on Xander, Buffy," she said softly, shifting in her seat as Buffy sat up. The two girls stared at each other for a moment before hugging tightly. They'd lost a lot of girls tonight, innocent girls, but Sam knew that it was Willow's death that teared them up the most.
Pulling apart, Dawn scooted off the air mattress. She gave him a tight hug around the waist, head buried in his chest, and Sam hugged her back as best as he could without spilling hot tea on her.
Dawn pulled the door closed as she left, leaving Sam and Buffy in silence.
"Hey," he said, making his way over to her. He knelt beside the mattress, placing two cups of tea on the cardboard box they were currently using as a makeshift nightstand. "I brought you something to help settle your something."
He sat down beside her on the mattress, his back resting against the wall of the room. He reached over and gently stroked her hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear. "How you holding up?"
He knew it was a stupid question, but he needed to ask.