FIC: When She Was Weird (PG-13, Dawn, Buffy/Angel) 1/1
Title: When She Was Weird
Summary: Buffy is acting just plain weird.
Word Count: 1,655
Characters: Dawn, Angel/Buffy.
Rating: PG-13
Author’s Notes: I snagged "When She Was Bad" for this challenge, so here’s how I think Dawn would’ve been involved in the episode. Thanks to Nikita for the beta.
Dawn was downtrodden. She and Buffy had just returned home from their father’s apartment, along with many gifts from him which were mostly for Buffy. And this summer had just been plain…weird.
As per usual, Dawn clung to her sister. She loved being around her. She was Dawn’s idol - beautiful, funny, and so smart - but something was off with her. She was always quiet, and extremely jumpy, but whenever she asked what was wrong, Dawn always got snapped at before the bedroom door was slammed in her face.
Dawn asked her father what was wrong with Buffy, but he always had the same answer; “Not now Dawnie, I’m busy.”
So Dawn entertained herself by watching TV and calling her mom and her only friend Janice back in Sunnydale. When their father had any free time, he would take her and Buffy shopping but would only listen to Buffy’s wants and needs, ignoring his youngest daughter’s every word.
One such day, Dawn and Buffy had been lazing around their father’s apartment when he had arrived home in the middle of the day. He pulled them both to their feet and directed them to his Jeep. They entered the closest mall and her father dragged them into the shoe shop and let Buffy choose anything, no matter what the price.
When Dawn piped up and asked if she could get something, Hank just brushed her off and carried the vast amount of shoes to the counter.
So Dawn plopped herself down on a stool and watched as her father took his credit card out to pay and Buffy leaned idly against a wall, looking into the distance.
Now Dawn was cooped up in her room. Buffy was supposed to be watching her but had snuck out of her bedroom window ten minutes after their mom had left for the gallery (something about a new shipment of Maori artwork).
This happened a lot, even before Buffy was kicked out of Hemry. Buffy would escape out the window and come back quietly in the early hours of the next morning. So Dawn locked the house up after herself and secluded herself in her room, writing in her diary.
But tonight, her small routine was interrupted by the ringing doorbell. Cautiously, Dawn exited her room and walked down the stairs slowly. Reaching the front door, she saw the most handsome man standing on the porch through the circular window.
From what Dawn could see, he had his hair spiked up and his complexion was shining in the full moon outside.
He rang the doorbell again.
Knowing she shouldn’t, that her mother and her sister would be upset and angry with her, Dawn unlocked and opened the front door. The man was so much taller, and Dawn realised that she knew who he was.
“Angel!” she squealed, smiling up at him.
“Hiya, Dawn. Is…uh, is Buffy home?” he asked, looking around the foyer and into the living room.
“Nope. She snuck out about an hour ago. I thought she was meeting you…you know, for smooches and hand-holdin’?” Dawn quipped quickly, before she blushed at the realisation of what she had said.
Angel’s eyes fell to the ground before he looked up at her again.
“No, she isn’t.”
“That’s weird. But then, she’s been weird for a few months now, you know.”
“Yeah?” Angel asked, intrigued.
“Yeah, ever since she got bitten by that angry puppy after that spring fling thing. I mean, who’d be so lame as to actually get bitten on the neck by a dog?”
Angel chuckled as he took a step back.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“I always am,” Dawn said, feeling proud. She watched as Angel took another step back, “You could wait for her here, if you wanted? It’s just me here tonight, no need to worry about mom.”
Shocked, Angel returned to the threshold, “Buffy left you all alone? Where’s your mom?”
“She’s at work; some new pieces were shipped late or something, so she said had to work through the night. Buffy is supposed to look after me, but she slipped out. Again.”
Angel’s eyes took a dark turn.
“So she just left all on your own?”
“Yeah, but its okay, I can take care of myself. I am eleven, you know.”
Angel smiled before looking over his shoulder at the dark street, “Maybe I should stay, at least ‘til Buffy gets back.”
Letting him in, Dawn slammed the front door shut and giggled.
“So, what do you wanna do?”
------
Dawn had fallen asleep against Angel’s shoulder around half eleven. He swooped her up in his arms and carried her to her bedroom and returned to the kitchen.
Around a quarter past midnight, Angel heard the quiet movements on the back porch before the he heard a key twist in the lock. Buffy slowly opened it, wincing at the creaking, before gently closing it behind her.
She was almost at the island when she noticed Angel leaning against the sink, arms drawn across his chest. She near enough jumped from her skin at the sight of him, even though the lights were on.
“God, Angel, stalker much?”
“I wasn’t stalking, I was waiting. For you. We need to talk.”
“Let me guess, the anointed is amounting a vast army that will suck the world into hell?”
“I already told you all I know about the Anointed One. We need to talk about you, Buffy,” Angel said, striding forwards, towards her. His right hand rose, gently cupping her face in his hand and feeling her lean into his touch.
“Did you leave Dawn alone tonight?”
For a moment, Buffy blanched, and then she sighed heavily and looked at him with her arms tight across her body.
“So what if I did?”
“Not one day ago did I tell you that I missed you, and you just blanked me and gave me this crappy line about moving on. I came over tonight, to see you, apologise. And I found your eleven year-old sister home alone! I can’t believe you just left her!”
“So what if I did? I locked up the house before I left, everything would’ve been fine, and it obviously was.”
“So, what was so important that you had to leave her all alone and not tell me or Giles?”
Buffy laughed. “You checked up on me?”
“Nobody knew where you were. We were all worried.”
“We were, were we?” Buffy said sarcastically. She paused for a moment, smirking at Angel. “So that’s why they were both weird with me tonight.”
“’They’? Who’s ‘they’?”
“Willow and Xander. I met up with them at the Bronze, we did Bronze things. I had a run in with Cordelia, we snarked, I left. I checked up on the Master, you know, just for kicks. And what did I find out?” Buffy asked, stepping closer to Angel.
“What?”
“He’s gone. Someone…something dug him up and dragged his bones away.”
Aghast, Angel turned to Buffy. “The Anointed One. That’s why he’s been gathering the Order together.”
“They’re gonna bring him back, aren’t they?”
------
Dawn heard the shouting as it echoed through the quiet house, then nothing, then the front door opened and closed. The stairs creaked as someone climbed up them.
Two knocks on her bedroom door were followed by Buffy calling out her name.
“C’min,” Dawn answered, signing off in her diary and sliding it under her pillow.
Smiling, Buffy sat Indian style on the bed before her sister. “Updating your life story?” she asked.
“Oh, just telling it ‘bout my sister and her boyfriend arguing.”
Smiling sadly, Buffy looked down at her hands. “Yeah, sorry about that.”
“You two are going steady, aren’t ya?” Dawn asked.
“Yep. I just don’t know where it’s going.”
“Do you love him?”
“Yeah.”
“Then a direction isn’t needed,” Dawn simply said, as if that solved every one of her sister’s problems.
“When did you get so wise?” Buffy joked.
“Around the time you got so…scared.” Dawn said, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
“Scared?”
“Yeah, ever since that dance before summer, you’ve been extra jumpy.”
Looking away, Buffy ran a hand through her hair roughly. She quickly got off the bed and headed for the door. She suddenly stopped, returned to Dawn’s side and pulled her into a tight hug.
“I’m sorry I left you alone tonight.”
“Don’t worry; I had a tall, dark and handsome guy look after me. Pity he’s your boyfriend though.”
“Pity.”
Buffy stood and walked out of the room, heading to her own.
------
The next night, around half eight, Dawn was in the kitchen eating some of the pizza that her mom had ordered before heading to work. She pulled the extra anchovies off Buffy’s slices and stuck them on her own.
She was dancing to some teen pop, pizza slice in hand, when she heard the front door creak open and then close gently. She heard sniffing, and decided to investigate.
Buffy and Angel were sitting on the couch, Buffy holding onto Angel’s chest for dear life as her salty tears ran fast. Hearing the scuffle of Dawn’s feet, Buffy pulled back from Angel and rubbed at her face.
“Hey Dawnie, how you doin’?” she asked, a smile on her face, the first real one that Dawn had seen on her sister’s face in a long time.
“I have anchovies galore on my pizza, and Joey held my hand today, so I’m doing brilliantly,” Dawn said, smiling brightly.
“What happened to Chris?” Buffy asked, dabbing at her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket.
“He is just so immature. And he kissed Sarah…on the lips!” Dawn said, flopping onto the sole chair opposite her sister and her boyfriend, only to notice her sister covered in a light white powder which was almost like dust. “How are you?”
Smiling at Angel, Buffy looked at her sister, her smile infectious. “I am excellent.”