DAWN COMES HOME
Pt 3 to First Time
Dawn's POV
"Have a pleasant trip home, Dawn." Came the familiar British voice that only could belong to one man, Giles. I turned to look up at him, as he took his glasses off and cleaned them, as always, then enveloped him in a huge bear hug.
"I'll miss you Giles!" I told him, wiping a stray tear from my eye, "Andrew, you too…and Xander!"
"But of course!" he smiled, blinking the one eye that wasn't under a patch. "It has been fun, too bad the Buffster didn't join ya for the visit."
"Yeah I think she needed some alone time though. I am sure it did her good." I told him.
"Well, about as alone as she can be with Faith there." Andrew stated. Oh yeah, I had forgotten she was there, and that she'd gotten hurt. My sister is pretty cool, for forgiving someone that tried to kill her so much and for taking her in like that. We know Faith is good now…still I find it a little hard to trust her and totally forgive her. I tried though.
I said my final goodbyes and boarded the plane, well, the first plane anyway, that took me to New York. Then I had a two hour layover to look forward to, and I was supposed to check in with Buffy there. Hope the on-flight movies are good this time.
The flight across the ocean felt like it took forever, and I even slept through half of it. I am glad it will be a while before I do that again.
Upon arrival at the airport, I immediately found the nearest bathroom. The ones on the plane creep me out too much. I didn't have to claim my baggage, since the flights were connecting; the airport switched them to the other plane for me. Pretty cool.
Next mission: call Buffy. I whip out my cell that I hadn't even turned on in the last two weeks, to a nearly dead battery.
Gonna have to be quick. I thought, dialing the number.
"Hello?" Buffy answered after the fifth ring, it usually only takes two, even when she's sleeping.
"Hey, sis, I made it to New York." I told her cheerfully.
"Great! How was your flight?" She asked, seeming a little distracted.
"Long and boring, stupid movies, old snoring men, the usual." I told her, as if I did this often.
"Well, that sucks. But at least you made it." She said, followed by some giggles and unusual sounds.
"Um, Buffy, are you okay?" I asked.
"Dawn," she started, more seriously, "There's something I need to tell you. It's about Faith and…" Silence. Damn! My phone died! What am I gonna do now? I flipped it shut and went searching for the nearest pay phone.
After about ten minutes I finally succeeded, then proceeded to put in my change and dial the number again.
"Hello?"
"Buffy, what were you saying? My battery died, what about Faith? Is she okay? Did she try to kill you again?" I asked hurriedly
"No, no, no! Nothing like that, she is here, fine, and didn't try to kill me." She laughed. I sighed in relief, and was silent, letting her continue. "Dawn, Faith is going to be living with us now. We decided it would be better that way, so she would have somewhere safe and stable to stay, plus it would be better for us to have another slayer around."
"Aww, Buffy? Is she getting my room? That will murder my social life, being as how I am finally starting to have one." I whined.
"You will still have your room to yourself." She assured me, as I heard Faith laughing VERY close by.
"I am confused."
"We will explain when you get home. Your arrival time is 11:09 pm, right?"
"Umm, yeah, something like that." I told her, confused about the whole Faith situation.
"I will be waiting for you then." She told me, "See ya tonight Dawn, be careful and I love you."
"Okay, love you too. Bye." I said, not waiting for her goodbye as I hung up the receiver.
I picked up my purse and my carry-on luggage, a large black and pink backpack, and decided to get something to eat to kill time.
"Ooooh! Starbucks!" I thought, nixing the food idea immediately as I saw the coffee shop, "Chai Tea Latte, here I come!"
The flight to Louisville was much shorter, thank goodness. But it did give me time to think about what Buffy had told me a little while before over the phone.
Many thoughts ran through my head, "Would Faith be staying on the couch? Buffy's room? Not good if either of them got a boyfriend. I am glad we have two bathrooms, because I am NOT sharing mine. Will I be sharing a room with one of them?"
As I walked through the gateway, I immediately saw my sister, who had a big goofy grin on her face. She waited as I walked up to her, and then scooped me up in a big bear hug.
"Ouch! Slayer strength…not cool!" I gasped.
"Oops, sorry Dawnie, you ready to go home?" she asked.
"Yeah. Let's get my bags."
So we walked to the baggage claim, Buffy gathered all three of my suitcases, and we headed out to the car. She asked me about Giles, England, Xander, Andrew, and the rest of the crew there, obviously avoiding the Faith subject.
"Are you hungry?" she asked.
"No, I ate in New York, thanks though." I politely responded.
"Okay, let me call and see if Faith wants anything." She told me, flipping open her cell phone and putting it to her ear. "Hey, it's me, you hungry? Stop that…what do you want? Okay, I'll be there shortly, bye baby." She blushed after realizing what I just heard.
It hit me as my jaw dropped, "She called her baby, I wouldn't have to share my room, but she was moving in, HOLY…"
"Oh my God!!!" I squealed, "You two are…when did…how did…what the f…?"
"Watch it!! And to answer your question, yes, Faith and I are…together." She hesitated as she pulled out of the parking lot.
"How long have you been gay?" I blurted. She laughed.
"Well physically, apparently only about a week and a half or so." As she said that I cringed. "But I have always loved Faith. I just was never brave enough to act on it, nor was she."
"Umm, wow. That's a LOT to take in. I mean, do you trust her? Not to just leave you like she did Xander and the others?" I prodded, my curiosity in the situation growing.
"I completely trust her Dawn. She has been so different; there is no doubt in my mind about her. You will see, the changes are VERY noticeable." She assured me.
"I don't like this Buffy. I mean she tried to KILL you."
"And I almost killed her Dawn, or did you forget? Not to mention she helped us save the world, and you teamed up with her to overthrow me and kick me out?"
"Oh yeah. So she forgave you for gutting her?" I asked, still a little uneasy.
"I am 100 forgiven, as is she. We wiped the slates clean of our pasts and started over, together. Oh, and, yes, she will be sleeping with ME." She laughed on the last part.
"Better not wake me up at night with your nasty…" I grumbled, causing a roar of laughter from my sister. We were pretty much quiet on the way home, Buffy stopping to get some food for her and Faith.
I felt a little uneasy walking through the door; I hesitated at the top of the stairwell to the apartment, catching my sister's attention.
"What's wrong Dawn?" she asked me, stopping and looking me in the eye.
"Nothing." I lied. Then I stepped around her and headed toward our apartment. As I opened the door I was greeted from the living room.
"Hey, Squirt, how was England?" Faith asked as if she had been here before I left.
"Okay I guess," I mumbled, not really knowing what to say. She hopped up, walked over, and grabbed one of my bags from Buffy.
"Let me help." She offered, heading toward my room. I cringed when I saw how their faces lit up upon seeing each other. It was weird thinking of my sister as a lesbian, even more so that Faith was her lover. Gross!!!!
I shuddered at the thought, as I followed Faith to my room.
"Where do you want this kiddo?" she asked me.
"I guess on the bed, thanks." I answered, a little dryer than I had meant for it to come out. I looked at her and she didn't seem to be bothered by it, so I let it go. She plopped my bag on my bed and then started asking me questions as Buffy watched from the doorway.
"So Dawn, how was Giles? Andrew? Xanman?"
"They are good, Xander is helping train the potentials, and Andrew is learning to become a watcher, like I am. Giles is just, well, Giles." I told her.
"Cool, so how's school?" She was trying; I had to give her credit.
"Straight A's, a lot of friends, better than Sunnydale."
"So, you got a boyfriend?"
I couldn't help it…"No, and I obviously don't need to ask you that question, what with you and Buffy." I shot back, with a little attitude.
She kinda looked a little shaken, then got a sly grin on her face.
"Well, I'd rather have her than a MAN any day." She said, then looked at my sister in the doorway, who was blushing a little, then shot me "the look." I knew it was for the attitude I had given Faith.
"I'm sorry, guess I am tired from the flight. Jet lag sucks." I told them.
Faith walked over to Buffy, took her hand, and squeezed as Buffy asked for a moment alone with me. Uh-oh. Faith grinned, nodded, walked out, and Buffy shut the door gently behind the younger slayer.
"What's with the attitude Dawn?" she asked, "She was trying to break the ice between the two of you. Do you just not want me to be happy?"
"I still don't trust her." I confessed.
"What?" she scoffed, "Faith has proven to us a hundredfold that she can be trusted. That she is good again."
"Not in that way." I told her, "I don't trust her not to hurt you. You have gone through it enough."
She smiled warmly…"Is that all?"
"Well yeah, I mean look at her history. I doubt she has ever been in a real relationship at all."
"She has. And believe it or not, she has not been with anymore people than I have."
"But what about…"
"Bullshit. A couple of the guys she had talked about she never slept with, and she has only been with four guys INCLUDING Xander and Robin."
"Oh, but she made it sound…"
"Yeah but think about it…how many of them did she actually SAY she'd slept with?"
I thought about it, and Buffy was right, I really don't remember too many stories that had her actually doing it with those guys, just like hanging with them or whatever.
"Still, the way she did Xander…" I started, wanting to prove I was right about SOMEthing.
"Look Dawn, we have had almost two weeks to talk about things, trust me. I would not be with her if I thought there was any reason to believe she would leave me like that. She loves me Dawn, I can feel it. And I love her too. That's just the way it is." She assured me.
"Whatever."
"I am going to eat now, feel free to join us whenever you like." She told me, kissing my forehead, "Oh, and I did miss you."
"I missed you too." I told her then pulled her into a hug, "I am just glad that the apartment walls are virtually soundproof, I don't think I could handle HEARING you two!"
She laughed, pulled away from me and headed to the other room, turning and smiling at me as she shut the door.
"Wow. A reformed serial killer living under the same roof as me and my sister, not to mention DATING my sister! Wait'll the guys at school hear this one." I thought to myself as I began to unpack my bags.