Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, the places, but I hope I own the plot. Let me know if I don't.

My first story didn't go as well as I had hoped. I am going to give it another try. If this one doesn't go right, I'll stop writing and just continue reading and keeping my mouth shut.

Here goes......

She sat on the couch...lost. Lost in thought, and, in her opinion, lost in the world. The house was full of people. Most she knew and some she didn't. She knew by now that after the funeral came the wake, but what she didn't know was that at the wake, you got overwhelmed by other people's emotions on top of yours. This absolutely sucks. You're crying, they're crying, and it's so difficult to just stop. Well she found a way. She found a hiding place; in the basement. With Spike, who had long stopped crying. They didn't talk; they just sat listening to all the people up above them.

She couldn't believe that this was happening to her. First of all, she had only recently buried her mother, who just dropped. Someone said that it had been a brain aneurysm. She and Buffy went to the surgeons that worked on their mom, and asked them. They told her. She lost control of herself, and screamed at them. Why the hell hadn't they taken care of that in the first damn place? They'd had the chance when they took the tumors out. Why not take care of it then. They hadn't seen it. Oh, for Heaven's sake, give me a damn brake. Doctors can be such dip shits. And she'd told them that, too. In her heart she knew they did all they could, but it still wasn't enough. It never was enough.

And now Buffy... She has to bury her sister. She was all that she had left now. Well, there's Spike. He won't leave, he'll stay with her. He promised that he would, and here he is. She smiled, and moved to lie down on Spike's cot. He moved to accommodate her, and she put her head on his thigh. She sighed as he started to stroke her long hair. She remembered her long lost crush that she had on him. Now he was the big brother she never had, and she wanted to stay like this forever. She wanted to forget about her mother and her sister. She wanted to stop wanting to cry every time she thought of them.

She heard someone calling her name, and she and Spike stiffened. "Shoot, and here I was thinking I wouldn't have to talk to him until later." She frowned. What did he want? Well, she was about to find out, because he was at the door of the basement. He had found her. She wondered who had ratted her out.

"Bloody buggering hell."

Dawn sat up. "You got that right."

"Dawn can I talk to you for a moment?" What choice did she have, really?

"I'll be right up, dad." Dawn sighed as she stood up and made for the stairs. "I swear if he so much as says he's sorry I'm going to scream." When she got to the door to the basement, she saw him. He was standing next to a woman that could only be Sofia. She rolled her eyes. This is what he left us for? There is no way in hell that those things were real.

Her father looked up and motioned for her to come over. She complied, but only because she wanted to get this mess over with. To let him say his piece and then leave. She hoped he wouldn't ever come back. Not because she hated him, but because it hurt to look at him. To know that while she was dealing with all this pain, he was off in some foreign country, having a good time. He was such a bastard. She put on a blank face.

"You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes, Dawn. I wanted to introduce you to..."

"Sofia, I kinda figured that. But I don't think that was all."

"Uh, yeah, there was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Well, get to the point. If you don't mind that is." It was rude, she knew, but she really didn't care at this point.

Her father cleared his throat, clearly embarrassed. "Well, Dawn, I've been thinking about what to do about you, and I figured...."

She held up a hand. "Whoa. Stop right there. You were trying to 'figure out what to do with me'? Like I'm some piece of furniture that needs to be moved, but you can't decide where?"

"No! Dawn that's not what I meant at all."

"You made it sound like that." The nerve of this man.

He sighed, like this was causing trouble he didn't want. Well, he started it. "Sweet heart, I just want what's best for you. And I think it would be best if you went to live with your aunt Diane in New Mexico until you're old enough to be by yourself."

She stood there stunned. "Excuse me?"

"My sister lives with her family in Roswell, New Mexico. And I think..."

Dawn shook her head. "I think you think too much. And I wasn't asking for you to repeat yourself. I wanted to you to explain yourself." He has no clue.

"I'm sorry?"

"I know you are but that's not really the point." This man also has no brain. "I want to know where you get off doing what you did and then coming here and expecting me to just jump to your slightest command."

"Young lady, I want to know where you get off talking to me like that. I am your father, and demand that you give me respect."

"You left us. You gave up your right to give me demands, and I refuse to give you the respect that you never gave to my mother."

"I respected your mother."

"If you respect my mother so damn much then why the hell did you bring that WHORE into her house?" She was yelling by now, and boy did it ever feel so good.

And now it Sofia's turn to yell. "Little girl, you have no right to call me such a thing."

Dawn glared at her. "Lady, if you know what's good for you, you'll shut up and sit down."

Sofia glared back. "Or you'll what?"

Dawn smirked. "I'll make you."

Sofia laughed. "Right. You, a sixteen-year-old, now nothing girl, won't make me do a damn thing."

"Wanna bet?" Dawn started forward to teach Sofia a lesson when she was grabbed from behind. She turned around to see Spike. She pouted.

"Now, bit, you know it's not nice to beat up the guests,"

"Aw come one Spike." She turned back to Sofia with an evil glint in her eye. "Just let me rip her hair out."

Spike laughed. "Not today, Bit. Wait until there's no witnesses about."

"You ruin all my fun."

Her dad must have finally found his voice. "Now that is enough."

Spike snorted. "You're just a little late. It's been taken care of, Mate."

Her dad ignored Spike. "Now, Dawn, I want to talk with out you interrupting." He cleared his throat. "I've already called Diane and let her know you'll be coming. Your plane leaves tomorrow afternoon."

"What!?!"

Sofia sneered. "It's either New Mexico, or Switzerland, my dear."

Dawn looked at Sofia. "Who asked you?"

"Your father did. When we found out that Puffy was dead, we knew that you were going to have to live with us, and I won't stand for it. So we, well I, came up with some options. If you don't go live with Hank's sister, then I send you off to a boarding school in Switzerland."

Dawn looked over at Spike. "Can I rip her hair out now?" And then she stopped. "Wait a minute. Who died and made you my mother?"

Sofia smirked. "Well, I don't want to be crude, but your mother did. Hank and I have been married for six months now."

Dawn's jaw dropped, and she turned to her father. "And you didn't think to tell anyone?"

Hank shrugged. "It never came up."

"Never came up? You didn't think that maybe your daughters had a right to know that they were getting a wicked stepmother? Or tell your wife that she was getting replaced?"

"I didn't think it would matter."

"Oh...it matters big time, Bub." She poked a finger in his chest. "And don't I get a say in where I'm supposed to spend the rest of my adolescence?"

Sofia, who hadn't lost her smirk, piped up. "Actually you don't."

Dawn turned back to her, quite fed up. "Actually, I don't remember directing my question to you, hag." She ignored the indignant gasp and turned back to her father.

"Well?" She hated this back and forth game.

"Sofia's right, Dawn. Those were the best options."

Spike laughed at him and shook his head. "Man, you are so whipped."

Dawn was tired. She just wanted to go to bed. "So that's it? The desert or the snow?"

Hank nodded.

Dawn sighed. "You could have given me a little more time. I hardly have time to pack."

"The rest of your things can be sent for."

Dawn snorted. "Right. Get rid of the infestation as soon as possible so you can sell the house and get the most profit."

"Actually, I'm not going to sell the house."

Dawn looked up and frowned at him. "What?"

"I'm not going to sell the house. I'm going to give it to you when you turn twenty-one."

Dawn's eyes widened. Now there was a shocker. "I think that's the first nice thing you've done yet."

Sofia rolled her eyes. "If I had my way, I'd reduce this shack to rubble."

Dawn smiled sweetly. "If I had my way, I'd give you a reason to get another nose job."

Sofia glared at her. And Dawn smiled back at her, but faded as she turned back to her father. "Well, I guess I'd better start packing." She turned away and started for the stairs, but her father stopped her.

"Dawn, you know I love you, right?"

She studied him. "I think that you think you love me. Any love you might feel for me is fabricated just because I happen to be a part of you." She continued up the stairs, and up to her room. When she got to her bed she sat on it and cried. It wasn't fair. Why did she have to leave? Why couldn't she just stay here? She sighed as she wiped her face. "I guess I'd better get started."

Ok. There it is. Let me know if I should continue.