Dawn practiced what she would say to Buffy when her sister opened her bedroom door, all sleepy-eyed and sheepish. But after knocking twice, she went in to find the room empty, bed tousled, clothes everywhere.
Then she heard them, downstairs, trying to be quiet as if they hadn’t made noise enough to wake a five-block radius the night before.
She found them in the kitchen, eating what was left of the mangolassi cheesecake. They ate from the same dish – why bother with plates, right? They leaned over the bar, across from each other, talking in hushed voices. William was without shirt.
Dawn watched the pair for a moment. Then, she said, “If you guys are gonna go all 9 ½ Weeks, I can vacate.”
Buffy stammered. William just smiled. Dawn floated in, feeling as smug as she no doubt looked. She took a bottle of water from the fridge and edged up onto the counter.
“Hey,” Buffy said. “How do you even know about that movie?”
Dawn did her obligatory eye roll. “In Sunnydale, you were out most nights.”
Buffy stabbed her fork into the cheesecake. “I knew I should’ve figured out that child-block thingy. I’m a neglectful parent,” Buffy said.
“Like she never saw worse in her real life at Hellmouth High?” William said.
“Yeah,” Dawn said, looking grateful.
“Not helping,” Buffy said.
“Oh hey,” Dawn said. “Giles wanted me to tell you. They found something or other in France. Nice or Niece, or someplace. He sent Willow and Kennedy to fetch. So Kennedy won’t be at the school.”
“France?” Buffy said. “Such short notice? Did he say when they’d be back, or what it was?”
Dawn shrugged expansively. “And I have soccer practice after, so I won’t be home till seven. Giles also said he’d be leaving early for Amesbury. Or Amersberry. I didn’t follow. He was all Hugh Grant...”
“Stonehenge?” William asked.
Dawn shrugged again. “Just the messenger. Can I have some of that?”
“Oh. Yeah,” Buffy said. She slid the cheesecake toward her. Dawn slipped from the bar and took a spoon from the drawer.
“So,” she said, taking a bite of cake, “How’d it go last night?”
Buffy shot William a big-eyed look of surprise.
Dawn smirked. “I was talking about patrol,” she said.
“I-it was good,” Buffy managed to say.
“I’ve still got it,” William said.
Dawn narrowed her eyes at him, grinning. “So I’ve heard.”
“Dawn,” Buffy said.
“I do know about these things,” Dawn countered.
Xander chose that moment to walk in on their pleasant kitchen tableau. Everyone fell silent.
“I trust everyone slept,” he said. Then he shook his head. “Not even gonna,” she said. He swiped a croissant from the breadbox and headed for the front door.
Buffy followed him. “Hey, Flash...” she said, catching his elbow.
He gave her an exasperated sigh. “Look, Buff. I can’t even begin, so let’s don’t.”
“But Xander,” she began.
“Look, um. I gotta go.”
“Willow’s gone to France,” Buffy said.
Xander stopped. “I know.”
“Do you? You do know? Do you know why?”
Xander scratched his head with the croissant hand, then let it drop. “A Slayer?” he offered.
“Maybe, but...”
“Do you like it here, Buffy?” he said.
She blinked. “What?”
“Here. Do you like it? Us, this house? Snug bugs in rugs, right? No attacks. No broken windows. No wounds or near deaths in like, months.”
“Xander,” she said.
Xander’s tone turned to bitter oranges. “No, you listen,” he said. “It’s been three months since I’ve even peeked in the first aid kit, and then it was because I cut my finger slicing blood sausage.”
In the kitchen, Dawn and William exchanged questioning glances.
Buffy squared her shoulders to Xander’s.
He looked hurt. “Are you willing to put us all at risk? Because it is just so possible that our undoing walked through this front door with you last Saturday. You don’t see it cause you never have. He just rides along in the ever-present Spike Blind Spot.”
“Blind spot? Xander...”
“He means danger for us all,” Xander said.
“Not now. There’s no reason.”
Xander whispered, “You’re forgetting the attack in Italy.”
Buffy’s brows knitted tight. “I am not forgetting. We just don’t know... And, it was months ago. Chalked up to random demons pulling a ‘when in Rome.’ Remember? That’s what Giles said, not me.”
“Just,” Xander drew a deep breath. “You know what. I’m not gaining any ground with the broken Spike-Is-Evil 45. Just take care, and for all our sake’s I hope you’re right. You’re taking a lot on faith here.”
Xander stepped out of the front door. Before closing it, he said, “And if you need me, call.”
“I will,” she said. “It’ll be fine.”
Buffy came back in to find William and Dawn pretending not to have heard everything that had just transpired.
“It’s okay,” Dawn explained to William. “He’s in permanent bad-mood mode these days.
William stared down at the cheesecake. His head slowly cocked to one side. Confusion clouded over his eyes.
“It’s slipping,” he said. “Right off the shelf. Off it goes.”
“Hello?” Buffy said, snapping her fingers under his chin. “Nothing’s slipping. No slipping.”
Dawn flicked Buffy’s arm. “It’s like the donut episode,” she said. “Sugar makes him all wonky. Or maybe it was last night...”
“Last night,” William said. He looked at Buffy. “All so neat. Neat as row houses. Are you sure we’re here?”
Buffy smoothed her fingertips over his brow. “Okay, so not liking the Drusilla meanderings right now. We are here. And you... Are you remembering?”
“Trembling earth,” he said. He bobbed his head once, matter-of-factly. He took a deep, steadying breath and laughed. “I’m here. I’m...”
William snapped back to himself. “This kitchen is odd, you know. Special? Something here, all cozy’ed up.”
“Yeah. Willow’s doing. Goddess of the Hearth. Wholesome-y with the love and nurturing. Like Keebler’s Elves.”
Buffy nodded, curtly. “Yep. You’re coming with me today,” she said. “It’d be good to see the school. Hey, maybe you could even help out?”
William nodded. “Sure. Yeah. Why not?”
“I wanna come to the school,” Dawn said, pouting.
“Please,” Buffy said. “You don’t even know where Amesbury is.”
“Do so,” Dawn said. She eyed Buffy through her lashes. “It’s in England.”
“You have your own school to attend,” Buffy said.
“Uck. Like they have anything valid to teach me...”
“They do,” Buffy said, turning grave. “Means to an end, Dawnie. You can go to Oxford, or the Sorbonne, which is in France. Point is, you can get our of here and into a normal life.”
“Why would I want that? Normal? So boring. It’s...” she searched for the right word then locked her eyes on William’s. “Inconsequential. Am I right?”
William looked from her to Buffy. “No?” he said.
“Thanks,” Dawn said, looking scandalized. She left the kitchen and clomped up the stairs.
“Inconsequential?” William asked Buffy.
Buffy inched in his direction. “Okay, Mr. Former-Iconoclast: Dawn is college-bound. No discouraging.”
“Wouldn’t dream, Slayer,” he said.
Buffy was closing in on a kiss when Andrew walked in.
“Blah,” he said. “Get a room, you two.”
“Where does this one sleep? In the space under the stairs?” William asked.
“Heh heh heh,” Andrew said, not laughing. “My room’s next to yours.”
William sucked in his cheeks.
Andrew came around to pick at the cheesecake. “Hey, so I thought, what with Giles out on his Watcher research trip, and you’re gonna be hard at work the schooling of Slayers, maybe Spike and I can clock some Play Station hours,” he said.
“Well, I...” Buffy said. “We better...”
“Yeah,” William said, picking up her cue. They made a hasty exit from the kitchen.
Andrew called after: “I have Knights of the Old Republic!”
Seconds later, he heard the door slam to Buffy’s apartment.
With a theatrical sigh, Andrew sat down on the stool. “Whatever,” he said.
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