AN: I do not own Buffy: the Vampire Slayer, nor the characters within. I really have no explanation for this story, but I'm enjoying writing it. *grins* Anyways, expect femslash and rampant AU-ness within. Rampant AU-ness.

Humming happily at the explosion of chocolate and coffee goodness on her tongue, Willow took another sip for added confidence. Though she knew she didn't really have too much to worry about – it wasn't like her relationship would end if Dawn's sister didn't like her - - right? – she figured excess worry wouldn't hurt. A small amount of worry was healthy, after all. And worrying so much meant that the outcome was important to her. And that was definitely good – and important.

Willow wanted Buffy to like her. Willow wanted Buffy to like her for her sake, for Buffy's sake, and, perhaps most importantly, Dawn's sake. Because if Dawn's sister liked her (or at least didn't hate her!), then Willow and Dawn were good – better than good.

Oh, it wasn't like Willow needed permission to date Dawn. But it wouldn't hurt to not have to fight for acceptance. And if she needed to, Willow would fight to keep Dawn. Because she loved her. Because Dawn loved her back. Because they were in love. And love was worth fighting for.

Warm hands slipped over her eyes, strands of soft hair falling forward to tickle her cheeks and the back of her neck. Willow smiled broadly, twisting in her chair as she felt blindly for the waist of her girlfriend, sliding her hands securely around her.

Dawn giggled as she dropped her hands, blue eyes shining down at her as Willow blinked hers open at the sudden freedom. Tugging her closer, she 'mmmed' happily as they kissed lightly, Dawn then dropping herself onto Willow's lap and stealing her iced mocha for herself.

"Hey!" Willow yelped, prevented from grabbing her drink back by the sudden body in her arms, "That's mine, missy."

"Not anymore," Dawn corrected, taking another sip, "But if it means so much to you, I can always buy you another." She set the coffee down and grabbed Willow's arms to hug them around herself. She snuggled in, sighing happily, "Hi, Willow."

Smiling against Dawn's cheek, Willow nuzzled her, "Hey baby." Pausing, then squeezing the hand Dawn had laced with her own, she relented, "You can have my iced mocha."

Dawn smiled triumphantly, "Thank you. Buuuut…" She shifted, pressing against Willow's grip so she could sit more sideways, "Nothing says we can't share." Grabbing the coffee and taking another sip, she immediately pressed her lips against Willow. With a swipe of her tongue, she quickly had Willow opening her mouth.

The dichotomy of warm tongue and cold coffee had Willow's breath catching, a bolt of electricity surging through her body. "Ohh, baby," she groaned after pulling back and swallowing, "That's not fair! 'Specially when I'm about to meet your sister." She froze, eyes widening, "Oh crap. I'm meeting your sister. Off! Off!"

Shunting Dawn off her lap and hurriedly trying to pull herself together, she started babbling, "We can't meet like this! I can't – I can't be all over you like some icky cougar-lady-person. No, that's not the way to meet your girlfriend's sister." Putting a determined expression on her face, she ignored Dawn's affronted glare, "So keep your hands to yourself, Miss - Miss Tease."

Pouting, Dawn pushed hair that had tumbled free after Willow all but shoved her off of her lap behind her ear, reluctantly taking the chair next to her, sliding it over so their thighs touched, "Willow, it's okay. She's not going to think you're some 'icky cougar-lady-person'. I promise." Knowing her girlfriend had a slight issue with the difference in their ages (that, in fact, had been the biggest hurdle in getting Willow to agree to go out with her in the first place), Dawn took Willow's hands into her own, squeezing them reassuringly.

"How do you know?" Willow looked at her with an almost desperate look on her face, her fingers returning Dawn's grasp.

Dawn sighed internally; time to pull out the big guns. "Well, for starters, it'd be highly hypocritical of her to do so." Seeing her girlfriend's curious expression, she continued, "I never told you about Buffy's first boyfriend, did I? Well, see, when my sister was 16, she fell in love with this guy, Angel. Weird name, I know. Anyway, they went out for a while before mom found out about it, and that's when we learned he was 23." She smirked, rolling her eyes, "The shit hit the fan, I can tell you.

"So you see," she smiled at Willow, "We're not nearly as bad as that. And, if you ask me…" She leaned forward, tugging her girlfriend closer, kissing her soundly, "We're not bad at all."

Fluttering her eyes open, Willow smiled and shook her head. "You sure you're not the older person in this relationship?" she asked, kissing Dawn back, "Thank you. I just worry, you know?"

"You wouldn't be my Willow if you didn't." Giggling, happy to see her smile again, Dawn checked her watch. "Well, she's supposed to be here in about twenty minutes, but with my sister, it's better to just accept she'll come when she comes."

"So…" A light reigniting in Willow's eyes, the redhead leaned in, "We have time for snuggles?"

Dawn grinned widely.

Fifteen minutes later, Willow stood at the counter, patiently waiting for the two iced mochas she had ordered. With still red-stained cheeks, she knew she was lucky the employees of the Espresso Pump were used to seeing her and Dawn cuddled up with each other; if they weren't, the teasing comment by the blonde cashier about Willow and Dawn being limpets probably would have done more than make Willow blush. But aside from being their usual barista, Tara was also their good friend, having on occasion joined Willow and Dawn for a double date with her girlfriend Faith. So really, perhaps it wasn't any employee that could have gotten away with it.

"Alright, two iced mochas," Tara said cheerfully as she slid the two beverages over to Willow, "Here ya go, Wills."

Blinking, Willow grabbed the two cups, smiling back, "Thanks, Tare. But, uh, could you quickly think of some reason to keep me over here a bit longer?"

"Uh, sure." Looking around before grabbing a nearby rag, Tara started wiping down the counter, "How are you doing today?"

Setting the two coffees down again, avoiding where Tara had wiped already, Willow started playing with her hands, eyes darting back and forth from Dawn sitting at the table and the double doors of the coffee shop. When she didn't respond after a couple of seconds, Tara tried again, "Willow?"

"Oh! Sorry." Shaking her head, Willow turned back and gave Tara her full attention. Eyes wide, she hoped the sweat she could feel beading on her forehead didn't show. "I'm, uhm, meeting Buffy today."

"Buffy? Dawn's sister, Buffy?"

Willow nodded, "The one and only."

Tara's eyes widened, and she paused, whistling lowly. "Oh, Wills, wow. How are you feeling?"

"Buffy practically raised Dawn after their mother died," Willow burst out, voice starting to sound strangled, "How do you think I feel?"

"Whoah, whoah, breathe, sweetie." Holding up her hand, Tara shook her head, pushing one of the iced mochas over to her friend, "Or take a sip if you need to. Regardless, calm down. You won't do Buffy – or Dawn, for that matter – any good if you pass out from fear."

Letting the mocha do its job, Willow took a deep breath. "Okay, okay," she breathed out slowly, "Better now. You're right. A worrywart Willow is not what the Summers girls need."

"Hah!" a slightly husky voice broke in from behind Willow, the owner of the voice making Tara smile widely, "You're not planning on letting Dawn stay a Summers for very much longer, now are you, Red?"

"Faith!" Willow spluttered, recognizing the other woman almost instantly, not even waiting for the thorough kiss hello she and Tara shared over the counter to finish before continuing, "Dawn's way too young to ask her to marry me or – or anything like that."

Pulling away, Faith chuckled, punching Willow lightly on the arm, making her yelp and rub the offended area, "Doesn't mean you ain't thinkin' about it. Ain't that right, babe?"

Tara shook her head, pulling away, "Oh, no, keep me out of this. Besides, customer." Smiling once more at Willow and kissing Faith lightly again, the tall blonde hurried back to the cashier position; Willow watched her retreat with irritation at the loss of her buffer while Faith's gaze was far from innocent.

"God, I love that woman…" Faith breathed, "She sure can fill out that apron…"

"She sure can," Willow responded without thinking, eeping when the full effect of a Faith stare burned into her. "Uh, not that I was looking!" she protested, cursing her need of stuffing her foot into her mouth on a daily basis, "I just – you said something, and I was agreeing, and – and Tara's a nice – beautiful woman, sure, but D-Dawnie – I have Dawnie and I love her and – and – !"

Faith burst out in loud, rough chuckles, a strong hand coming up to clap onto Willow's shoulder. "Don't sweat it, Red, I'm just playin' with ya. Come on, your girl's startin' to look lonely over there." Waiting for Willow to grab up the almost forgotten drinks while letting out a sigh of relief, Faith let the older woman take the lead.

"Hey Faith," Dawn smiled at the new addition as she accepted the drink, quickly cut off as Willow kissed her deeply, desperate to reinforce her love of the younger girl, no matter how silly it may have been to feel as if she needed to; Tara was just a friend, and Dawn was everything. Pulling back with a moan she quickly swallowed, Dawn's hands came up to clutch at Willow's jacket, "Wi-Wills, wow. Not that I'm complaining, but you weren't gone that long."

A deep blush infusing Willow's face, she retook her seat as Dawn's hands fell away. "I just missed you, is all," she muttered, hiding behind the straw of her iced mocha.

"Aww, I missed you too."

Faith's playful retching noise stopped the ensuing fluff storm. "Enough already," she smirked, shooting the both of them humorous looks, "I get it. You love each other."

Dawn stuck her tongue out at the other brunette, grabbing Willow's hand and lacing their fingers together, "You're just jealous, Faithie, because you're too 'bad ass' to let yourself be so sappy."

"Suuuure," Faith rolled her eyes, "Then I guess it's a good thing I have 'other ways' of showing Tara just how much I love her." Her voice dripped suggestiveness, and Willow used her unoccupied hand to whap the arm she could reach.

Before Faith could hit Willow back, Tara suddenly sat down into the open chair next to her girlfriend, setting two cups of coffee onto the table and sliding her arm around Faith's waist. "I love you too, Faith," she giggled lightly, a faint blush on her face, kissing Faith's cheek, "But you really don't have to tell our friends everything."

"Babe!" Faith grinned broadly, hugging Tara's waist back, "Is it your break time yet?"

"Yup! Amy let me come out on break a bit early, seeing as Xander just came on duty. Seems like he's set his sights on Anya now. I almost feel sorry leaving both of them alone with him right now."

The three other girls laughed, remembering how their friend Xander (before he had become a friend), had hit on all four of them, not quite getting that when they said 'girlfriend', it meant 'lesbian-type-girlfriend'. Finally, to Tara and Willow and Dawn's chagrin and Faith's amusement, the twosomes had had to make out in front of him before he'd gotten it. 'Course, once that'd happened, it was only from threat of physical retaliation from Faith and Dawn that had him not offer to become the filling in a Xander sandwich. And once that automatic response had been defeated, the handsome man had quickly become one of their biggest supporters.

"Well," Willow started, turning a little to watch the interaction between Xander and the petite blonde behind the counter – she figured that was Anya, as it didn't look like the taller Amy, "It actually seems to be going well. I'm surprised."

Dawn was about to look to see where her girlfriend was watching when she suddenly froze, dropping Willow's hand and babbling out, "Uh – uh, guys, I'm sorry, but you're, uh, gonna have to go now, if you please."

"Huh?" Faith looked over at the younger girl, "What's the rush?"

"…Dawnie?" Tara started, craning her head over to see where Dawn was staring, understanding suddenly dawning on her face. "Oh. Sweetie," she started tugging on Faith's hand, "Maybe we should…"

Not really paying attention to her friends anymore, Willow turned to what had caught her girlfriend's attention, the bottom of her stomach quickly falling out. Right inside the door to the Espresso Pump, staring at them with an odd expression on her face, a small blonde Willow knew by looks but not by name from an old Psychology class stood. In that second, Willow wondered how she had never put the resemblance between Dawn and the blonde together; Buffy and Dawn Summers definitely looked like the sisters they were.

"Oh, never mind," Dawn offered, "I'll, uhm, be right back." Shooting Willow a slightly nervous smile, she stood up and walked hastily over her sister.

A little off-put by the sudden show of nerves, Willow frowned but quickly set to making sure she looked presentable. Through the thundering of her heart, she was thankful for the reassuring murmurs from Tara and Faith, who Tara must have filled in on what was happening.

Once secure in the fact that her hair wasn't messy and looked nice, her outfit did not scream predatory lesbian (honestly, what would that look like? Leather and vamp nails?), and that color was again returning to her face, Willow tried to not stare at her girlfriend and her sister. Her iced mocha taking up permanent residence in her hand, she sucked on the straw until she started to feel lightheaded.

All too soon, Buffy had paid and received what looked to be an iced mocha of her own, and D-Day it was. Preceding Dawn to their table, Buffy walked up with a friendly smile on her face. "Hey!" she offered, hazel eyes sweeping from person to person, "Nice to meet you all. I'm Dawn's sister, Buffy." Concentrating on Willow, she tilted her head, "Oh, hey, I know you, don't I?"

Eyes widening, Willow swallowed and nodded stiffly; behind Buffy's shoulder, Dawn sent her a supportive smile, "Y-yeah. I'm Willow Rosenberg. We had Psychology together, what? Five years ago? With Ms. Walsh."

"Ohh, yeah!" Making a face, Buffy slid into the open chair in between Dawn and Tara, "What a class. Good thing she had that nervous breakdown after finals. Can you imagine what would have happened if we'd had to retake it?"

"Oh goodness, no!" Willow burst out, then turned bright red. "I mean," she cleared her throat, throwing a quick pout in Dawn's direction when she had the audacity to giggle, "Once was quite enough."

"Truly." Nodding, Buffy turned her attention to Tara and Faith, of which Faith was smirking at Willow from behind her usual hot latte, Tara staring off into the corner of the café. Well, at least Tara was respecting her, but ugh, Faith! Why'd she always have to find great fun in Willow's torment?

However, once realizing Buffy had turned her attention onto them, Faith nudged Tara and nodded, "Yo, I'm Faith."

Rolling her eyes at her girlfriend's blunt hello, Tara smiled sweetly, putting her hand out; oh no, should she have offered Buffy her hand? "Hi, it's nice to meet you. Dawn talks about you a lot. I'm Tara Maclay."

And that was a much better greeting, too. She really wasn't starting out on the right foot, now was she? Willow chewed on her bottom lip; at this rate, Tara would make Dawn a much better girlfriend.

Warm, slightly sweaty fingers wrapped around her hand under the table, and Willow looked up to see Dawn smiling at her. Smiling back at her, Willow tried to ignore the slight shadows she could see in normally bright blue eyes. Was Dawn not really as ready to do this yet as she had been saying?

"She makes up 95% percent of what she tells you, I swear," Buffy quipped out, throwing her sister a teasing grin.

Rolling her eyes, Dawn huffed, taking her hand back and crossing her arms, "20%, maybe. But she really did go the mortuary that one time for a date – "

"Uhp!" Buffy violently spat out the straw of her iced mocha, glaring over at Dawn, "You pest. You told them about that?"

Shrugging, Dawn made a 'so what?' face, "Well, yeah."

"Ugh. I swear that was only because it was a stupid dare."

"Sounds like my kind of dare," Faith stepped in, leaning forward, brown eyes sparkling, "So, c'mon. From the source – you see any dead bodies?"

"And that, boys and girls, is my cue to take my girlfriend and leave," Tara announced, ignoring Faith's protests as she stood up and grabbed Faith's hand, "Call me later, kay, Will, Dawnie? It was nice meeting you, Buffy. Hopefully next time Faith won't ask any highly inappropriate questions."

Allowing Tara to tug her away, Faith nodded at the three girls, saying, "Hey, I didn't think it was inappropriate! Still, whatever. See ya, Red, Dawnie, and you too, Buffy," before turning to her girlfriend and smirking suggestively, "You want to go make out in the bathroom?"

Tara's response was lost as the two walked away, leaving Willow shaking her head and Dawn, strangely, watching her sister intently. For her part, Buffy stared at the retreating duo for a couple of seconds before shrugging. "Anyway," she turned to Dawn and Willow, smiling almost nervously, "They seem… Nice."

"Oh, they are!" Dawn nodded, "But please, don't mind Faith. She's, erm…"

Taking pity on her girlfriend, Willow jumped in, "Hormonal."

"Yes," Dawn turned and stared at her, shooting her a glare that seemed to say 'what the hell did you say that for?' before turning back to Buffy, "She's… Hormonal."

Suitably cowed, Willow wilted a little. Yeah, it had been a stupid thing to say, but it wasn't like Willow'd meant anything by it!

Buffy smiled, "Is that what they're calling it these days?" Snorting and shaking her head, she took a deep sip of her mocha and then turned her chair to better face Dawn and Willow, "I guess it's my turn to say 'I've heard a lot about you'. Willow, I've heard a lot about you. Ever since you started tutoring Dawn, she's been doing much, much better in school, and I wanted to thank you."

"Oh, it's no trouble," Willow smiled, meeting Dawn's gaze before turning back to Buffy, "Your sister's a bright woman. College's just a little different than high school, as I'm sure you know, and she just needed someone to… Point her in the right direction." Ohh, goodness, that didn't sound like a brochure slogan for homosexual love, now did it?

"Still, I'm very glad you two have become friends, too." Reaching out a hand to squeeze Dawn's arm lovingly, Buffy smiled almost wistfully, "Since our mother died, I really haven't had much time for her – in general, and as a friend, I guess. So I'm glad she's made friends, even if they're not exactly in your age bracket, young lady." Dropping her faux lecturing tone, Buffy then moved her hand up to ruffle Dawn's hair, eliciting a yelp and "Buffy!"

Willow found it insanely cute, barely catching the kiss she leant in to give an embarrassingly flushing Dawn. Instead, she changed the move to picking up her coffee cup again, stumbling a little in her quest to make it look smooth. "I, uhm," she paused, cursing the slight catch in her voice, "I'm happy to have Dawn as a friend, too. She's… She's a great kid – uhm, great! She's great." Yes, Willow, calling your girlfriend a kid was not the smartest move. Ducking her head, she could feel the pout Dawn was throwing at her.

Seemingly overjoyed to hear that, (regardless if Dawn was not) Buffy laughed. "I hope you don't mind hearing this, but you're exactly like she described you," she started, shooting her sister a mischievous look, "Heck, with how much Dawn talked about you, I'd have sworn you two were dating."

Willow froze, and Dawn took a deep breath next to her, her hand flying out to grab Willow's, fingers digging into her skin, "Well, Buff', actually – "

But Buffy didn't seem to hear her, laughing again, "Good thing I know she has a boyfriend, huh? In fact…" The blonde scrunched her eyebrows, looking around the café, "…I'm supposed to be meeting him today." Looking back at Dawn, who suddenly seemed to be sweating bullets, she cocked her head, asking innocently, "Where is he?"

Wha… What? Agape, Willow whipped her head around to stare at her girlfriend. Dawn avoided her gaze. She… "You… You never told her?" Words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them, a sudden cold feeling imploding in her chest. "Or… Wait." Her voice cracked, "You… Have a boyfriend?"

"I… I meant to tell you, Wills, but you'd have thought so little of me," Dawn finally looked up at her, blue eyes skittering towards her sister then back, her expression one of abject shame.

"What? That I wasn't enough? That… You… Needed…" Her breath caught, tears burning at the corner of her eyes, and she finally forced out a defeated whisper, "Needed someone else?"

"What?" Sounding scandalized, something clicked in Dawn's expression, and she surged up, hands cupping Willow's cheeks, tugging her look at her, "Oh, no, no no no, god no, baby. No. Wills – Wills, no, no, you're the only one for me. I love you."

Willow heard what she was saying, felt her fingers against her skin, but she didn't know what to think. Realizing that Dawn needed some kind of response, she nodded haltingly.

Biting her lower lip, Dawn flicked her eyes towards Buffy again, and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, baby," she whispered, leaned forward to kiss Willow's forehead gently, and sat back down into her seat, scooting over so she could grab Willow's still trembling hand into her own. "Uhm, Buffy," she looked up to meet the confused quickly turning into angry gaze of her sister, her voice quiet as she seemed to be trying to find some platform of bravery she could stand on, "Please don't hate me, but I… I don't have a boyfriend. I…" She looked over at Willow, eyes beseeching forgiveness, "If she'll forgive me, I only have Willow."

Silence.

"Wait. Wait. Hold up." Slashing her hand in the air and shaking her head, Buffy gave her sister a rather chilly glare. "You're telling me," she pointed at Dawn and Willow in turn, "That while you've been… Making of the romance with her, you've been telling me about your 'wonderful boyfriend', but not telling Willow this? Dawn… I'm very, very disappointed with you. Regardless of the fact Willow's your girlfriend, of which we'll talk about later, she deserved more." Taking a deep breath and running a hand through her hair, Buffy came to some decision. "Alright, Dawn, up."

"What…?" Color having fled from her face due her sister's words, Dawn protested, "Buffy, no! I know I did wrong, but – !"

"No," Buffy said firmly, "I'm not the one you should be saying this to, and you know it. Willow." Switching piercing hazel eyes over to the woman who had been quiet for a while, trying to take everything in, Buffy's eyes softened minutely, "Now, you still love my idiot of a sister, right?"

"What?" Startled, Willow tried not to jump, then nodded furiously. No matter how hurt she felt, she still loved Dawn with all of her heart.

"Good. Okay, Dawn, scoot. Leave me with Willow for a while. I think we deserve as much, yes?" Raising her eyebrow, she gave Dawn a pointed look.

Dawn stared at Buffy, her head and shoulders slowly falling. Swallowing noisily, she nodded. "I'm sorry," she murmured thickly, not specifying who she was talking to. Hesitating, she stood up, staring down at Willow, who gave her a small smile, lips tugging up and down in quick succession. Still looking devastated, the younger girl jerked her head stiffly in the direction of the counter, "I'll, uhm, be over there," shoved her hands into her pockets, and all but ran away.

As soon as Dawn was out of ear shot, Buffy let out a giant groan, planting her face onto the table.

Unsure as to how she should feel, Willow sat, and waited.