Title: Little Girl Grown Up
Author: Settiai
Disclaimer: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and other related characters are all properties of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and other related corporations. No infringement is intended. This story, such as it is, was written as a sign of respect and love for the characters, the show, and their creator. I claim no ownership of the aforementioned show and characters.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: She wasn't a little girl anymore.
Feedback: Comments and helpful criticisms are always appreciated.
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She'd never told anyone, but Dawn's first crush had been Faith.
Well, if she wanted to be technical, her very first crush had been Angel. Then she'd found out that he was a vampire, and her infatuation had disappeared in about two seconds. But her second crush had definitely been…well, her second crush had been Spike, now that she thought about it. After he had tried to kill her, though, she had decided that he wasn't crush material either.
And, of course, there had been Xander. And Oz.
Okay, so Faith hadn't been her first crush. She had definitely been her first girl-crush, though. Well, except for that four month period when she'd pretty much obsessed over Kendra. Not to mention how she'd felt around Cordelia for well over two years. And that little thing she'd had for Willow the summer Buffy had been hiding out in Los Angeles.
Now that she thought about it, Faith hadn't really been her "first" anything. Still, Dawn had without doubt had a crush on her since she was twelve, and she was finally going to act on it. She was nineteen, attending university, living somewhere away from Buffy, and there was absolutely no reason she couldn't act on her feelings.
Except for the fact that Faith was avoiding her.
Dawn let out a sigh as she sank back in one of the library's chairs. She hadn't spent much time at the new headquarters of the Watchers' Council since she'd started university, but luckily for her some things never changed. The particular section of the library that she was currently hiding in was almost always abandoned, unless some poor Slayer was unlucky enough to get on Giles's bad side. Luckily for her, that wasn't the case at the moment, so she had the entire place entirely to herself.
"I'm such an idiot," she said with a sigh.
Sinking back even further in the comfortable chair, Dawn carefully let her mind run back over the events of the night before. She'd only been back in London for the holidays for a couple of days, and pretty much everyone in the old gang except for Giles and Andrew had been out of town.
Xander was back in Africa, along with Willow who he'd dragged along to help her forget about her breakup with Kennedy. Oz was somewhere near what used to be Los Angeles, working with Spike and Illyria. Angel…well, the rumors were that he was still around. Buffy, of course, was back in Rome, and Faith had been in France with Robin.
Or, at least, everyone had thought that Faith was in France with Robin until she had come storming into the building, cursing him with every other word. Giles and Andrew hadn't managed to pry the whole story from her, and Dawn hadn't even tried, but they'd all gotten the general gist when the name Jeanne had come up several times followed by "slut" and "pregnant."
After Faith had casually put a fist through the wall and informed the three of them that she'd like to be left alone, Giles and Andrew had disappeared for the rest of the night, the two of them practically tripping over each other trying to get out of Faith's way. Dawn, on the other hand, had merely walked to the study where Giles hid his private stores of liquor, pulled out a bottle that even she recognized as the good stuff, and made her way back to where Faith was trying to cover the fist-shaped hole in the wall with a framed painting.
When Faith saw the bottle Dawn was holding, her face had lit up. They'd made their way to one of the lounge areas, helped themselves to a couple of glasses, and had promptly tried their best to drink themselves into a stupor. They'd had a couple of drinks, started talking about old times…it had been like they were two friends having some girl talk.
Dawn shook her head and pulled her legs up in the chair with her, sighing as she skipped ahead in her memories. Things had been going so well until she'd messed up.
A few of the things that took place the night before were a blur, but Dawn remembered the important part. Somewhere after her third or fourth glass, she'd leaned in and kissed Faith…and Faith hadn't kissed back. Instead, she'd practically beaten Giles's and Andrew's speeds in getting out of the room as fast as she could.
"Damn, it was just one little kiss," Dawn muttered. "It's not like I pounced on her and asked if she'd fancy a shag."
Then she paused, mentally repeated exactly what she had just said, and groaned. "I've been living overseas way too long."
An amused snort came from behind her, and Dawn spun around in the chair. When she saw Faith leaning against one of the bookshelves, she let out a moan as her face turned bright red. "How long have you been standing there?" she choked out.
Faith shot her a cocky grin. "You might have had a more interesting night if you'd done the pouncing thing," she said with a wink.
Dawn's face turned even more red as she buried her face in her arms. "You could have told me you were here," she said, her voice muffled. "I already made enough an idiot of myself last night."
"You're not an idiot," Faith protested instantly.
Dawn reluctantly pulled her face up out of her arms. "I know you've been with other girls before," she said. "So why won't you give me a chance? Believe it or not, I'm not a little girl anymore. I know what I want."
Faith gave her a weak smile. "Yeah, I like the occasional girl," she agreed. "That doesn't mean I'll make out with you after a couple of drinks."
"You're just mad because Buffy turned you down back in high school," Dawn muttered.
Faith closed her eyes for a moment as a quick flash of hurt ran across her face. It disappeared almost instantly, and there was an amused glint in her eyes as she reopened them. "And where would you get an idea like that?" she asked cheekily.
Dawn ignored the hurt look, instead choosing to merely smirk. "I used to read Buffy's diary all the time."
For a few seconds, Faith stared at her. Then she flung her head back and let out a loud laugh. "Man, you're really a piece of work."
She shook her head as she met Dawn's gaze. "D, I've had a lot of flings," she said pointedly. "Trust me, I'm not losing sleep over your sister turning me down."
Dawn managed to give her a weak smile. "Great, so my sister's not the reason you turned me down. It's entirely me."
Faith rolled her eyes. "That's not what I said," she protested.
"It sure sounded like it," Dawn mumbled.
"Oh for the love of…." Faith rolled her eyes as she made her way over to where Dawn was sitting. Without saying another word, she leaned down and placed her hands on each side of the younger girl's face. Ignoring Dawn's startled yelp, she roughly kissed her.
Faith pulled away after a few seconds, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she watched Dawn gape.
"All I said was that I wouldn't make out with you after a couple of drinks," Faith said, her voice patient with just a hint of amusement. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe I wanted to make sure you weren't doing something you'd regret in the morning?"
Dawn kept starting at her for a moment before her mouth twisted into a grin. "I'm not really that good at pouncing," she said with a wink. "Mind if I skip that step and go straight on to--"
Faith cut her off with another kiss, and Dawn took that as a "yes."
In that instant, she made a decision. If Faith ever asked who her first crush had been, Dawn would definitely say it was her. So what if it was a little white lie? Little girls never knew what they wanted, but now that she was all grown up…the future had all sorts of possibilities.