Disclaimer: I do not own BtVS.

Chapter 1

"Dawn, are you in there? Come out please, I don't have much time." Xander knocked on Dawn's door a second time. Finally, it opened, and there stood Dawn in her pajamas.

"Sorry," she said. "I had my music turned up loud, so I must not have heard you the first time. Good thing you knocked a little louder the second time. What's up? You look like you have somewhere important to be."

"I do," Xander began. "I have a date tonight, and I just called the girl and told her I'll be picking her up at 8."

"A date? Really?" Dawn's look of surprise quickly changed to one of disappointment as she registered Xander's words.

"Yeah, we're just having the traditional kind of first date. You know, dinner and a movie. No big deal. It was her idea. She's an old fashioned kind of girl she says."

"F-first date? A-as in there'll, uh, probably be MORE dates?" stammered Dawn.

"Well, yeah, depending on how this first one goes. What's wrong, Dawnie?" Xander couldn't help raising an eyebrow at Dawn's curiousness.

"N-nothing, I just... I-I thought tonight you and I were going to watch a movie. After all, we've been watching one together every night since Buffy and the others left for Cleveland, now haven't we?" Dawn was no longer looking at Xander; she was looking at the floor and cursing at herself in her head for making it so bluntly obvious that she found something wrong with him going on a date. Why wasn't she better at hiding her emotions? Losing an eye hadn't changed Xander's ability to notice things that the others never had time to notice with their busy schedule, especially not Buffy after the arrival of the Potentials.

"Hey, we can still watch a movie. I'll probably be back around 11 or 11:30 or so. You'll probably still be up then, right?" There has to be more to it, thought Xander in his head as he tried to comfort Dawn and reassure her of their new-found closeness.

"Probably, but Xander, what's your hurry to get back in the dating scene? Why so soon after Anya's death?" A desperate Dawn was now using anything she could to try and get him to cancel his date, the most pitiful of excuses.

Aha, thought Xander to himself as he moved toward Dawn and put his hand on her shoulder, looking into her eyes with the upmost seriousness. "Anya died almost a year ago. I can't just stay single for the rest of my life. I can't afford to. I'm only 23. I have to move on, as do you, Dawnie."

"H-how'd you meet this girl anyway? What's her name?" Dawn questioned, feeling the warmth of his hand on her shoulder, wanting to feel it everywhere.

If he honestly thought she was finally over the crush she'd had on him since she was 14, he was nuts. Sure, at one point she'd had a crush on Spike too, but that crush she quickly got over after she found out about his attempted rape on Buffy, and even after he got himself re-ensouled, her crush didn't return, but they were at least back on friendly terms. She'd lost a ton of respect for Spike, and to gain back that respect it ultimately took him sacrificing himself to save the world in the battle against the First Evil's Turok-han army. Xander, on the other hand, had never betrayed her trust, and she was sure he never would, as was Buffy obviously if she chose to have him watch over her during her stay in Cleveland with Willow, Kennedy, Andrew, and Giles.

"Her name's Serena. Work was pretty stressful yesterday, and so I met her at the bar I went to afterwards. That's why I was a little late getting home," Xander explained, suddenly smiling as he added, "Let's pray she's not another demon, huh? You know how I'm practically a magnet for attracting demon girls with evil intentions."

Dawn tried to smile back at Xander, but only managed to form half a smile before nodding and joking, "Yeah, don't worry, I'll say a prayer for ya that she's just a normal, human girl with evil intentions."

Laughing, Xander said, "Thanks so much, Dawn. I appreciate it. It's nice to know that even with Buffy gone, I still have someone to text if I'm tied to a torture wheel and about to be sacrificed, huh?" With that, he pulled her in for a hug that would ultimately last a few seconds longer than it should have. He happened to look down at his watch and saw that it was going on 7:50. It was then that he let go of Dawn and, in panic, said, "Shit, I have 10 minutes to get to her house! If she is a demon, what better way to piss her off than by being late? Please tell me we're done with this questionnaire. I can answer later any other questions you may have."

"A-alright, I understand, Xander. Sorry if I make you late. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to text me," Dawn said, her heart dropping, or at least feeling like it was.

"Alright, you too," Xander said, turning to leave her room, stopping at the opened door to look at Dawn one more time and adding, "Oh, by the way, Buffy called to check up on you while I was getting ready half an hour ago. If you want to call her back and talk to her yourself, you can."

"Alright, I will. Thanks. Bye." Dawn sat on her bed and proceeded to put her ear buds back in her ears.

"Bye." With that, he closed the door to her room behind him, and Dawn waited to turn her MP3 player back on until she no longer could hear his footsteps. It was then that she also no longer held back the tears.

*12:30 a.m. – 4 ½ hours later*

"Dawn, I'm home!" Xander yelled as he took off his jacket in the living room and tossed it on the couch along with his keys, which he had taken out of one of the pockets.

"I'm in the kitchen!" Dawn yelled back as she left her unfinished sandwich on the counter to get a jar of mayo out of the fridge.

Xander entered the kitchen and pulled out one of the table chairs. "Ah, here you are! How was your night?" He sat down and proceeded to take off his shoes.

"Boring," Dawn murmured, not bothering to look back at him as she was busy spreading on the mayo. "How was yours?"

She heard him sigh before he began. "Would you believe The Notebook was the movie she wanted to see?"

"Aww, poor Xander was subjected to a chick flick, was he?" Dawn joked, putting the two slices of bread together and the ham, cheese, and mayo back in the fridge.

"Yeah, I so would've rather been stabbed in the gut with a knife or been beheaded or even have lost my other eye," Xander joked back as Dawn pulled out the chair closest to his.

"Wow, Xander," she commented, shaking her head and smiling at his absurdness. "So I take it she's not a demon if that was the worst that happened was that you agreed to see a movie you didn't really want to see? I mean, you didn't text me, and I remember telling you to text me if it turned out she was."

"No, she's not a demon, but Dawn, you have to let me finish here," Xander said as Dawn took her first bite.

"Sorry," she said, her mouth full. "Go on please."

"Would you believe at the restaurant we went to she wanted to order the most expensive meal on the menu? I mean, talk about high maintenance! I don't mind sitting through a chick flick nearly as much as I do paying 20 bucks for a crab meal that's probably gross. Gross to look at even. Anyway, I said if she wanted that she'd have to pay for it because I'm not burning up my wallet like that on a first date, and she got all bent out of shape and ran in the bathroom with her purse and stayed in there for a good 15 to 20 minutes. I tried calling her on her cell, but she wouldn't answer, so finally I had to send the waitress in there after her, and when she came back to the table she said if I don't think she's worth spending 20 bucks on when I just met her last night that our date was over and I could take her home, so needless to say, after I paid for our drinks, that's exactly what I did and there was no end-of-date kiss." Xander then stopped and watched her bite into her sandwich again, as if contemplating on making himself one, and it was in that exact moment that they both heard his stomach growl, and as she chewed, Dawn ushered him with her hand to state the obvious. "I guess it's also needless to say that since we didn't eat, I'm starving, but I think maybe it's best to just go on to bed after a date that disastrous."

"Hey, wait a minute, if you didn't eat, then why are you so late getting home? You should've gotten home way before 12:30 if all you did was see a movie," Dawn inquired, panicking inside that this meant that he was no longer up for them seeing a movie, considering it'd be the first time they hadn't since the others left them in Cincinnati, Ohio for Cleveland almost a year ago.

"I'm sorry, Dawn. I stopped at the bar again after I dropped her back off at her house because that's how frustrated I was. I was more frustrated than hungry, but now, as I watch you eat that sandwich there, I'm thinking maybe I should have stopped and picked up some Wendy's or something on the way home, but hey, at least she wasn't a demon and I'm still alive. Guess I was and am fortunate there. Anyway, have you already picked out a movie?"

"No. I decided to wait because I wasn't sure if how your date turned out would determine what genre you'd be in the mood for, or if you'd even still be in the mood for watching one with me, but are you sure you don't want me to make you a sandwich like mine first before we go and pick out one?"

"Well, I do have to work tomorrow, so as long as it's not too long of one we can still watch one. And no, I don't expect you to do that for me, I'll make myself one and eat it during the movie."

"Xander, I really don't mind making you one… I was thinking I'd do that while you picked out a movie… After all, you're the one who just got home from a bad date… You had to watch one you really didn't want to…"

"Hey now, who's supposed to be taking care of who around here? Aren't I supposed to be taking care of you and not you of me? That was the plan. Buffy's plan. I'm a grown man, Dawn. You're the teenager. You and I both know good and well that Buffy didn't leave us here together for you to make me sandwiches, for you to tend to my needs. What's most important here, to me and to Buffy, is that your needs are tended to." Xander stopped and sighed upon noticing that Dawn had put her sandwich down since his rant began and had not picked it up again since, indicating that she was taking his words in a way he hadn't meant for her to. He took both of her hands in his, gently rubbing her knuckles with his thumbs.

"I'm sorry, Dawn. I don't mean to be a jerk here or anything, and I want you to know I do appreciate you worrying about me and wanting to tend to my needs. It's just I know Buffy wouldn't be too happy if she somehow got the impression that I was making you my slave over here when I had promised her that I would take on the guardian role while she's gone and that I would do everything in my power to make sure your last two remaining teenage years are worry-free because she and I both know that's what you deserve. You deserve to have a normal teenage life here that you didn't have-that neither I nor Buffy had-in Sunnydale. Dawn, you're going to be 18 in 4 months. Instead of hanging out with an old geezer like me, you really should be hanging out with some friends your own age." Xander sighed again. He tightened his hold on her hands.

Could this night get any worse? Dawn thought in her head, finding herself once again trying to hold back tears. On second thought, I should know better than to ask that after living 3 years in a place like Sunnydale. If it wasn't for the way his hands feel on mine, I'd get up and leave the room this very minute.

"Look, Xander, it's been almost a year and you still have yet to go back on your promise," Dawn began. "You've really done a great job with the whole taking care of me, watching over me, yadi yada. You really have. It's obvious to me that you really care about me, and it's obvious to Buffy too. She wouldn't have picked you if she thought you wouldn't give me the attention she thinks I deserve. You're blowing this whole making you a sandwich thing way out of proportion here, and I'm guessing it's because you're still upset over your date, so what you need to do is relax, go upstairs, and pick out a damn movie." It was then that she finally withdrew her hands from inside his and folded her arms.

"I'm sorry, Dawn… Maybe you're right, maybe I am… Upset, that is... Maybe I do need to relax… It's just… God, it's hard to explain..." Xander, getting frustrated with himself, buried his face in his hands.

"Well, we can talk about it over dinner, can't we? Your dinner, that is. Will you please get over your pride and let me make you one?" Dawn asked, half-joking and half-serious.

"What about our movie?" Xander asked, looking up from his hands.

Dawn smiled and lightly touched the back of the hand closest to her with hers, forgetting about the jerk he was being just a minute ago. "Right now it's more important that we unleash your inner demons."

"Who knew my mouth could serve as a Hellmouth, huh?" Xander couldn't help laughing at his own corny joke. Getting up from the table, he then added, "Alright, I see you put mayo on yours, but I want mustard on mine. Meet me in the living room when you're done?"

"You've got it, Xan man."