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Chapter 30: Intervention




The door bell rang for the third time when Buffy finally decided to get up to investigate who had the audacity to so rudely interrupt her sleep. Didn’t matter that it was three in the afternoon… still rude.

She put on her baby blue satin robe and matching fluffy slippers and tiredly dragged her feet to the front door. There, on her porch, stood almost everybody she knew. Her jaw dropped and she stared at them, unable to form a word.

Cordelia, holding Camille in her arms, led the pack. One step behind her where Xander, Willow, Dawn and Joyce, and they were all wearing smiles that were almost creepy in their put on cheerfulness.

“What a lovely vision you are, Miss Summers. The ‘I-just-rolled-out-of-bed’ look suits you.” Cordelia said, fake smile still firmly in place.

Buffy glared at her friend, still too groggy to think of a suitable reply.

“You do know it’s, like, three in the afternoon, right?” Dawn commented. She was the only one who didn’t bother hiding her amusement at the pathetic sight her sister presented.

“Didn’t know there was a law stating that I have to get up in the a.m. But then again, I’m no lawyer so what do I know?.. What are you guys all doing here?”

“The L.A. gang is here to cheer you up Sleepy-head.” Cordelia exclaimed with enthusiasm. You could take the girl out of the cheerleader’s squad, but you certainly couldn’t take the cheerleader out of the girl.

Cordelia turned to the others, waiting for them to approve. “Isn’t that right?”

Everybody nodded vigorously, except Joyce.

“Technically, I live in San Francisco, so…”

“And I live here in Sunnydale.” Willow added, frowning slightly.

But at Cordelia’s raised eyebrow, they both hurriedly changed the subject and decided it was safer to agree with her.

“Cordy is right, honey. We’re all here to see how you’re doing and show you support after the horrible week you probably just had.”

There it was, Buffy thought. The worried-mom look. She tried her best to smile comfortingly at her mom, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Look guys, that was nice of you and all, but…”

Xander, who was loaded with bags, pushed his way through the door. Buffy didn’t have a choice but to step aside to avoid a collision.

“We’ve got food.” He said as a form of excuse.

Everybody else followed him inside, ignoring Buffy’s groan of protest.

“What IS this? An intervention? I appreciate the thought, really, I do. But I’m not depressed, I’m TIRED. And what is the best way to help tired people?.. Letting them sleep!” She waited for a reaction from the invaders, but they merely started setting the table. “Please?”

Buffy’s brain was having a hard time processing what had just happened. One minute, she was comfortably cocooned in her warm bed, the next, she was in the living room and there’s a bunch of people happily chatting and moving around in her kitchen. The smell of food, probably lunch if the smell was any indication, made her grimace in disgust. All she wanted was a very strong cup of coffee, maybe a toast, and some peace and quiet. She wouldn’t get what she wanted any time soon.

**God, what is this smell?.. Lasagna?! Ew.**

Seeing her big sister turning slightly green, Dawn walked up to her. She took Buffy’s hand and started tugging her towards the stairs.

“C’mon. Let’s get you all decent and pretty.”

“I don’t wanna.” Buffy whined.

Dawn stopped and turned to look at her. “What,” She whispered in a conspiratorial tone “You don’t want to get away from the cheerful intervention? I thought…”

She giggled when Buffy perked up at the thought and quickly nodded. They made their way to her bedroom and Dawn closed the door behind them. But when Buffy ran and took a dive into her bed, swiftly pulling the sheets over her head, Dawn’s mouth opened in disapprobation.

“Hey!.. That’s not… HEY! You’re cheating you big freak! I brought you here to get you dressed, not go back to bed.”

Buffy’s face reappeared from beneath the sheets, but only long enough so she could speak. “And I told you I don’t WANNA.” And she disappeared again.

“God, you‘re such a baby. Anybody looking at us right now would definitely think that you’re the college kid and I’m the mature adult. You do realize that, right?” She sighed when she didn’t get an answer. “Fine. Be that way.”

Dawn took her shoes off and climbed into bed with her infuriating sister. “Come on, move over, you bed hog.”

Buffy scooted over to give Dawn some room, and sighed contentedly when her not-so-little sister put her arm around her and cuddled. After a moment spent in that peace and quiet Buffy had been dreaming of since the moment her friends had walked in, Dawn spoke again.

“So Buff… What up?”

“Dawn! Don’t say that! ‘Wassup’ was already bad enough, now you kids had to go and remove the ‘s’ all together? That sounds so dumb.”

“And it also makes you feel like an old fart, doesn’t it?”

Buffy pouted. “Yeah.”

The brunette giggled, her blues eyes sparkling with mischief. “All right. What’SSsss up then? How come you’re not happy to see us? And what’s with your sudden inability to get your ass out of bed?”

“What’s wrong with sleeping the day away? I’ve had a rough week and it’s my day off. ”

“Yeah, I figured that much after I called you for the tenth time and you still haven’t called me back. So… That bad huh?”

“Yep. But it’s over now and everything seems to be back in order. Except that I’m exhausted. I think you’re right. I am an old fart.”

They smiled at each other.

“I’m always right. I get that from mom.”

“Smart ass.”

Dawn grinned at the comment, but her smile vanished quickly. “… You’re not happy to see us then?”

Buffy played with a strand of her sister’s long chocolate hair and waited a beat before answering.

“Of course I am. All my favorite people in the world here to show me support. How could I not be? But…”

“But you didn’t feel like having company today?”

“Something like that, yeah. But it’s ok. I’ll get out of bed, put on some clothes and a happy smile. I’m fine, Dawnie. I swear.”

The younger girl hesitated for a moment. “It’s not your fault what happened to that guy. I know you have a tendency to hold yourself responsible when something bad happens, like with Tara…”

“I know, Dawn. But I can’t help feeling a little bit guilty. The fact that I was spending some quality time with Spike when it happened…”

“Has NOTHING to do with it. If you hadn’t been with Spike, you would have been here, or in San Francisco with Mom and I. Same diff. Don’t go thinking it was some kind of punishment for spending time with your sweetie. Shit like that happens. At least, now you know not to throw the prisoners a Valentine’s Day bash.”

Buffy snickered. “Cute.”

Dawn grinned and disentangled herself from her sister’s arms to get up. “I know. Come on. Get up and put on that happy smile. I’ll go get you some clothes.”

Buffy sat up while her little sister disappeared in the walk-in closet. There was a soft knock on the door.

“Yeah?”

The door opened to reveal Cordelia.

“Hey Cord.”

“Hey yourself. Can I come in?”

Buffy’s eyebrows shot up in mocked surprise. “Since when are you all Miss Polite? Who are you and what have you done to my Cordelia?”

“You’re a riot, Summers. You know I can be polite… sometimes.” She sat on the bed next to Buffy. “Where’s Dawn?”

“In there stealing all my clothes.” She motioned with her head toward the closet door. “She said she was gonna find clothes for me to wear, but I’m pretty sure she’s putting half my stuff in a bag so she can sneak back in later and take it with her to L.A.”

There was a muffled “Hey! I heard that!” from the closet and Buffy and Cordelia both smiled at the familiarity of the scene. Dawn borrowing Buffy’s clothes had been the sisters’ number one argument topic when they were younger.

When it seemed obvious that Cordelia wouldn’t elaborate on why she was there, Buffy sighed and asked.

“So, are you here to ask me ‘what’s up’ too, or is there another reason you wanted to see me alone?”

“Well…” Her best friend looked down at her hands, hesitant, which was very uncharacteristic of her.

“Well what?”

“I was just wondering if you’re still trying to find a way to prove that your ‘boyfriend’ is innocent. I know with everything that happened since the holidays, you probably didn’t have much time to work on it.”

Buffy frowned, wondering where her friend was going with this. “Yes. I’m still trying. Not right now because things have been a bit crazy for me, but I’m not going to give up if that’s where you’re going with this.”

Cordelia stood up and handed Buffy what looked like a business card. She took it and looked at it curiously.

“No, that’s not where I’m going. I’ve been thinking about your situation and I realize that you’re going to go through with this. So I thought of this friend of mine who could help you. Give him a call. I already talked to him and he said he’d give you his ‘friendly price’. Believe me, his usual prices are not so friendly.”

Her eyes still on the card, Buffy didn’t know what to say. “Thanks Cordy. It means a lot…”

“Hey, don’t mention it.” She tossed her long hair over her shoulder and gave the blonde her brightest smile, her usual confidence firmly back in place. “Get dressed. Lunch is ready.”

Cordelia walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

“What was that?” Dawn asked, walking back into the bedroom with an armful of clothes.

“Not sure, Dawnie. I’ll find out tonight.”

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Buffy was sitting at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee and the phone in front of her. Everybody had left about an hour ago and she’d been sitting there since. The sun had set, leaving her in the dark, the only light coming from the halogen spots above the breakfast bar. She turned the business card in her hand, looking at it as if she’d just seen it for the first time. She was stalling and she knew it. So she grabbed the phone and dialed the number quickly before she could change her mind.

“Wyndham-Pryce Investigations, How may I help you?”

“Mr. Wyndham-Pryce ? My name is Buffy Summers. A friend of mine gave me your number… She said you could help me.”

“Ah. Miss Summers. Yes. Cordelia told me you might call. Please, you can call me Wesley.”

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A/N: I'll try to post another chapter before leaving for vacation next Friday. I promise to do my best. Please leave me a review to let me know what you think of this chapter. It's much appreciated, believe me.





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