Disclaimer:I do not own anything in the Buffyverse, no infringement is intended

Icha Icha Sunnydale: Chapter Two

As had become the routine for the last week or so Saturday morning rolled around to find Xander asleep on the couch in the living room. What was unusual was to find Dawn asleep on top of him, so Joyce Summers was mildly shocked when she came down the stairs and headed toward the kitchen.

A quick examination revealed all clothes and hands in their proper places, and in fact it looked like Dawn had curled up on the older boy without his knowledge. Joyce gently shook her youngest daughters shoulder. "Dawnie..."

"Mmmmm Xander..."

"Dawn."

"Don' wanna."

"Dawn Michelle Summers!"

Dawn jumped off of Xander and landed on the floor with a thump, luckily Xander, who had slept through worse, simply rolled over. "Ow..." She said quietly with a cute little pout.

"Do you mind explaining to me just what my sixteen year old daughter is doing sleeping with a nearly twenty year old man?" She asked quietly but sternly.

Dawn looked guiltily around, "Um...I can explain..."

Joyce crossed her arms and simply looked down at her daughter with the patented, 'I'm waiting' look all mothers seem to know. "I came down for a drink of water, and on the way back up I thought it would be funny to make him wake up thinking we'd slept on the couch together."

"That doesn't explain why you were actually sleeping on the couch together."

"Well see, I really did try to wake him up but he sleeps like the dead, and he was really comfy. So then I just kinda laid there to enjoy it for a minute...and then you woke me up."

Joyce sighed, "Come on, I'm about to make breakfast. You can continue explaining."

Dawn followed her mother into the kitchen and set the table for four people before sitting down and looking guilty while her mother got out the various ingredients for a balanced breakfast. Joyce turned to look over her shoulder, "Go ahead. I can hear you, and the minute the bacon hits the pan we won't be alone any longer."

Dawn took a deep breath and related some of what had happened after Monopoly much earlier that morning. "...and then he got all nervous and ran away, and I didn't see him again. So I thought it would be funny if he thought for a second that he took advantage of me."

Joyce sighed again. She honestly loved Xander and would have loved to see him with Buffy, but things never worked in that direction. She knew of her daughters crush on the older boy and were he younger she would wholly approve of a relationship. Up til this point it had been cute, but it seemed that things now needed to be addressed head on.

"He is three years older than you are dear."

"And Angel is like a bazillion years older than Buffy."

"We aren't talking about Buffy, and you know how I felt about that relationship. At best the man died when he was in his twenties so sleeping with my seventeen year old daughter was still illegal."

Dawn perked up a bit at the slight change in subject, "Yeah but a hundred years ago I'd be considered an old maid if I wasn't married by now. Buffy was positively ancient by his standards!"

Her mom didn't fall for it though, "Again, we are not talking about Buffy; and it is not the eighteenth century any longer. Women are able to live independent of a man now, and are better educated as well as having more opportunity. We don't sell our daughters at the age of twelve any longer, unless you would like me to approach his parents about selling you for a couple of cows?"

Dawn looked petulant, but shrugged her shoulders in response even though Joyce couldn't see, she seemed to recognize the silence as an answer. "Alright then, what are your intentions toward that boy in there?"

Dawn smiled momentarily, remembering her fantasy the night before, then thought better of it, "I just want him to love me like I love him. What's wrong with that?"

"Again, he is several years older than you AND might I add, legally an adult. If things got out of hand he could be arrested for rape and sent to jail. At best he would likely have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Have you thought about any of this?"

The youngest Summers was nothing if not a good student, and had in fact researched the subject very thoroughly in hopes of eventually convincing Xander himself. "No matter what the age, cuddling, hugging, holding hands and even kissing are not against the law."

"And I'm sure that is all you want to do." Her mother said with a roll of her eyes, "I was your age once..."

Dawn cut her off, "Yeah and it wasn't against the law back then, now even teenagers can't do it without it being illegal."

"Don't try to change the subject, yes when I was younger the laws were not as strict. But we also have an epidemic of teen pregnancy now. Girls your age getting pregnant and half the time the father is ten years or more older than she is!"

"Sometimes I wish we could just get smashed and go at it like you got to..."

Joyce whirled on her daughter with a sharp rebuke...then caught herself and turned back to beating the eggs. "We are not talking about me, we are talking about you. And we are not talking about the 60's and 70's we are talking about now. I know I've said it before, but I also know talking to your mom can be embarrassing. I assume you are still a virgin?"

"MOM!"

"Well?"

"OF COURSE I AM!" Dawn half shouted before mumbling, "I'm saving myself for him."

She tried to control her sighing as it was annoying even her, "Listen dear, it is simply too big a temptation for you to date him when I know very well what you want to do. Xander is a sweet boy who is older and more experienced than you are..."

Thinking of Anya, Dawn muttered, "You have no idea."

"...and I can't approve right now. I'm sorry. You need to leave the poor boy alone before you give him a heart attack or do something you can't take back." As she said this she dropped the first slices of bacon into the hot pan, the sound of sizzling acted as a counterpoint to her rebuke.

"I'm not giving up." Dawn said rebelliously.

"I'm not telling you to, I just want you to think about it,. We'll see,how it goes and maybe I will reconsider and that is even IF you still feel this way, and IF he hasn't moved on. He only just lost his girlfriend, I'm sure he isn't ready for a relationship as complicated as one with you would be."

Dawn wanted to continue the conversation but Xander appeared in the doorway. "Morning Mrs. S! Is that bacon I smell? The delicious fatty meat of the gods?"

Joyce smiled, "It is, have a seat and I'll have it ready in a minute. And what did I tell you and Willow after graduation?"

Dawn chimed in with a smile at Xander, "You mean a couple days later, nobody was in any shape to talk after blowing up the mayor."

"Yes that's what I meant, and I really wish you would stop idolizing these three for blowing up a school. That was an extreme situation!"

"Details, details." Dawn said before taking a sip of orange juice.

Like the white knight he was Xander stepped into the line of fire, "To call you Joyce, Mrs. S."

"How many times do I have to tell you?"

"At least one more time than you already did I guess. So," he said turning to Dawn, "Next Friday I think we need to play Life or Scrabble, or maybe Yahtzee..."

The two devolved into talking about board games and Joyce mentally tuned them out as she went over the pro's and con's of a relationship between the two. Her thoughts were interrupted by Buffy coming in and grumpily sitting down opposite Dawn at the table.

"Morning Sunshine!" Xander said happily. Buffy's response was half grunt, half moan. "Oh come on its not like you went on patrol last night or anything."

Buffy looked up, but then looked away quickly, hiding her face behind her hair. "We were still up late, and I...didn't sleep very well..."

"Funny, I slept great!" Xander said pouring his own glass of orange juice.

Dawn snorted into her own juice and quickly began spluttering as citrus was introduced to her sinus cavity. Xander began patting her on the back while trying not to laugh and Buffy poured her own glass. "Serves you right, what was so funny about that anyway?"

Still coughing Dawn waved off her sister's question, "Nothing...just hit me the wrong way at the wrong time!"

Buffy raised an eyebrow and looked at a grinning Xander who was now rubbing circles in the girls back, before quickly looking away. "I'm gonna go take a quick shower and try to wake up more. I bet Willow will be here any minute."

"Honestly, I don't understand teenagers nowadays, you want to sleep in every morning during the school year, but on a Saturday only weeks after you graduate you can't stay in bed past nine in the morning?"

Buffy shrugged as she exited the room so Xander answered, "Well...school is boring so there is nothing to look forward to. Whereas sweet summer vacation calls to us like siren song."

"Bad example Xander, siren song kills people." Dawn said with a smile.

Xander shrugged it off, "Meh, this is Sunnydale. A little siren song would be a nice change of pace. Anyway I have to head to Uncle Rory's today to look for the hunk of junk that will take me cross country this summer."

Dawn frowned at the reminder her Xander was leaving town for an undetermined amount of time. Joyce filled the silence before it could get awkward, "So you are still planning on going then?"

"Yeah, Wills and I have been planning it for years and I need to do this. Besides, at worst I'll end up staying in my car for a few months..."

Dawn frowned, she had figured out quickly that Xander did not have a good life at home, he told stories about sleeping outside on thanksgiving to get away from his family. If that wasn't bad enough, she had heard that story before she knew that Sunnydale sat on top of the mouth of hell and attracted all manner of things that go bump in the night. Leave it to Xander to prefer sleeping in the car.

Her musings were interrupted, thankfully, by Willow knocking on the back door before walking right in. "Good Morning everyone!"

Dawn and Xander groaned and squinted their eyes at her, "You are entirely too cheery in the morning." Dawn said.

"That's Willow for ya though, just a hint: never give this woman caffeine before ten am or you won't understand a word she says for the next hour."

Willow frowned at the pair, "I thought you liked my Willow-babble, I mean...you're one of the only ones who can understand me when I go on and on like that, well I mean Buffy has gotten better but she doesn't really know yet you know."

Xander held up a hand to cut her off, "You had coffee this morning didn't you?"

Willow tried to hide her smile, "Maybe..."

"Oz isn't a morning person?" Dawn asked causing Willow to blush lightly.

"I don't know what you are insinuating, just because I choose to partake of hot java goodness in the morning doesn't mean it has to be because I spent a night with my boyfriend. And besides," She shrugged, "Oz is more of an...Oz person than anything."

Joyce smiled as she brought bacon and eggs to the table, "Sit down dear, Buffy should be back in about..."

Xander started counting, "3-2-1"

Dawn finished, "Aaaaand, now..."

As she said this Buffy, looking much more alive sat down at the table still wrapping her wet hair up in a messy ponytail. She didn't miss the funny look everyone was throwing her and grabbed a butter knife to check her face in its shiny mirror-like surface. "What? Did I smear my makeup?"

The table busted up laughing as they began serving themselves, for some reason Buffy was still avoiding looking at Xander, which Willow and Dawn both noticed, the Slayer was practically inhaling her food to keep from meeting anyone eyes. Finally Willow put a hand on her shoulder. "Buffy?"

"Other room?" Buffy asked.

"Sure." Willow said getting up. "We'll be right back."

As the girls left the room Xander raised an eyebrow in Dawns direction, "Any clue?"

Dawn figured Buffy might still be mad about the night before, but couldn't figure out why she would be mad at Xander rather than herself. So in the end she just shrugged.

"Well, if you have nothing better to do today Dawnie, you wanna help me pick out a jalopy?"

The girls eyes lit up, "Oooh can I?"

"Sure, any car of mine has to have a Summer's-Seal-Of-Approval, and your mom is headed to work, and something tells me Buffy and Wills need the day to themselves or something."

Dawn turned to her mom, "Can I?"

Her mother smiled, "I suppose..." Dawn grinned and went to take another drink of her orange juice. Joyce waited for just the right moment... "Make sure you get him one with a nice big back seat."

Dawn began spluttering again and banging her palm against her forehead to get the orange juice out of her head, "Ow owowowowowowow."

Joyce smiled secretly behind her coffee mug, "I mean, if he is going to be sleeping in it, it should be comfortable."

~~~~~~~~~~~~IchaIcha~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile in the living room, two heads were bent toward each other on the couch, one blond, one red.

"Alright, so why can't you look Xander in the eye this morning? I mean I hope you aren't mad at him because Dawn flirted with him and he might have liked it. Lets admit it, Dawn is getting hotter and Xander is male." Willow said quietly.

"First of all, Ew, stop perving on my little sister." Willow choked a bit on her milk but before she could defend herself Buffy had moved on, "Second no I'm not mad at Xander...I um...I sort of had a dream about him...last night."

Willow perked up, "Ooh was it a slayer dream? Like was it a prophecy or something? Oh gosh!" her eyes went wide, "Tell me he isn't going to die! I mean if he was gonna die then I could see how it would be hard for you to look him in the eye, knowing what was gonna happen to him and all, really its understandable but Buffy you have to tell him. We have to be able to stop this, I mean we-"

Buffy put a hand on the other girls shoulder and looked around quickly to make sure nobody had noticed Willows raised voice, "Stop! No Xander isn't going to die!" She paused for a second, "As long as he doesn't touch my baby sister he isn't going to die. No it wasn't that kind of dream."

Now the redhead just looked confused, "Huh? Well what other kind of dream could you have that would make you..."

"It was a sex dream..." Buffy rushed out and closed her eyes so she couldn't see Willows reaction. After a few seconds she opened her eyes slowly to find Willow still looking confused.

"Is that all?"

"All? What do you mean 'All?'" Buffy half shouted.

"Well I mean...I have them all the time so I just assumed..."

The blond shook her head, "No that isn't normal, at least it's not normal for me. Xander is like a brother to me, I shouldn't be dreaming about him like that... Especially when I don't even have enough experience to know what half of the stuff we did was..."

"Oh juicy! Tell me all about it!"

"No! No, I just want to forget it ever happened! It was way intense and I don't really want to dwell on it."

"But...if it was good, why wouldn't you want more of it?" Willow asked, still clearly confused.

"Listen! Just because you and Dawnie are on the Xander-wagon doesn't mean the rest of us are. I don't think of him like that and if he had any clue I had a dream about him it would get his hopes up again. I don't want to mess up our friendship like that again."

Willow sighed in defeat, "Fine, but by avoiding him you will just make him think about what could be wrong, and he's a lot smarter than he pretends to be."

Buffy pouted, "You really think he could figure out I had a dream about him just by me not talking to him?"

"I think that might be his first thought actually, quickly smushed down into his 'stop-thinking-about-that' chest and then he will look for other reasons. But we used to play Sherlock Holmes and he knows that when you eliminate all other possibilities, whatever remains, no matter how unlikely, is the most probable answer."

"You were Watson weren't you?"

Willow smiled, "I always though he was the brains behind the operation anyway."

~~~~~~~~~~~~IchaIcha~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So what are you looking for anyway?" Dawn asked.

They had driven Rory's borrowed '57 Chevy Bel Air back to his junkyard/scrapheap and for the last thirty minutes they had been walking around looking for serviceable vehicles. Rory was good about fixing up what he got in for resale on the side, but everything he had was priced out of Xander's price range even with a deep family discount. Part of the problem was that, like the Bel Air, if it was worth fixing it was worth doing right, and Rory was heavy into restoration.

That meant most of what was left in the bone-yard was barely passable, let alone serviceable but Xander was determined, and so Dawn was determined to help him find his jalopy. "So, you have any interesting dreams lately?"

Xander shook his head for a moment at the strange change in subject and looked at her, "To be honest, I'm barely eighteen and male, I have lots of interesting dreams." He suddenly thought better of this conversation, "None of which I'm discussing with you."

Dawn smiled up at him, "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

Xander tripped and fell flat on his face, "XANDER!" Dawn squeaked as she went to her knee's beside him.

"Ow...wow!" Xander forgot his pain as his eyes fell upon a faded yellow license plate still proudly displaying 'CQB 241' and the number 58 in the corner on a rusted and half crushed grill. "No way!"

"Huh?" Dawn was completely lost now and stood up with him looking confused.

"No freaking way did Rory miss this." Xander was a man on a mission, he began moving discarded bumpers and car doors out of the way. His smile got wider as more of the...car was revealed. As far as Dawn was concerned it was just another hunk of junk, like the thirty or so they had already passed up.

"58 Plymouth Fury...beat to hell but..."

"Xander what are you talking about?" Dawn asked him.

He made his way back to the drivers side door and wiped dirt off the window so he could see inside. "It's not bad, cracked and faded but not bad..."

"I am not moving until you tell me what has you so excited!" Dawn shouted at him.

"What?" He looked up at her and grinned, "Dawnie I think this could be the find of the century! Its a Fury!"

Dawn looked at him incredulously, "And this is a good thing?"

"Oh man this could be the best thing to happen to me in a long time, hell this might be the best thing Sunnydale has ever done for me!"

"Right...so I should go get your uncle then?"

"Yeah and...Holy crap the keys are in it! Tell him to bring gas!" He then went back to clearing the car off with that grin permanently on his face. After a few more minutes work he stepped back and looked upon the dented and faded red muscle car. On headlight was busted out, but it was doubles so there were still 3 which might work. No radio antenna, a broken rear window, a crack in the windshield, flat tires but it was STILL one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

Dawn came around the corner with Rory grumpily lugging a gas can, which he promptly dropped upon seeing Xander's find. The younger mans eyes lit with amusement.

"I don't...I never...there is no way you found that in here!" Rory said with a stutter.

"Ah but I did, now are you gonna welch on me or what?"

Rory looked like he might cry but he shook his head in defeat, "No, I told you a hundred bucks for anything you could find back here and I'll stick to it. I just... There is no way I bought a Fury and dumped it back here!"

Xander shrugged as he handed over the money with a grin, "I guess it appeared magically then..." He narrowed his eyes at that and glanced at Dawn who shrugged. "In any case, lets see how much work I gotta do here.

Xander opened the drivers side door softly, smiling when it barely even squeaked, and reached under the dash to pop the hood. He then walked around to the front of the car and opened it up to see what had to work with.

"Rory...you think you might have been drinking or something when you bought this?"

"Why? Is it that bad?" Rory asked as she shambled over.

Xander's smile made his eyes sparkle, "Um no...not exactly."

The engine didn't look new by any means, but aside from some cosmetic issues and dirt the car might as well have just pulled in. Xander had a very good feeling until he noticed how old the battery was. It was cracked and had leaked all its fluid out. Rory seemed to notice the same thing as he turned away from his great shame. "I'll grab the toolbox and a spare battery, I can't believe I'm saying this but you might be able to drive her home..."

Dawn was happy for him, she couldn't remember seeing Xander so happy...ever really. He looked like a little boy in a candy store who was just told it was buy one, get three free. "So its all good?"

"Oh man, it looks like someone literally just drove her in here and left her. And by 'just' I mean like a few months ago, not 40ish years. I think Rory might be right, I'm taking her home today!"

Rory came back around the corner pulling a dolly with his toolbox and a battery on top. Xander immediately got to work on removing the bolts holding in the old battery which, despite appearances, were a bit rusty. But soon he had the batteries swapped and had poured the two gallons of gas into the tank. He then headed for the drivers side again and climbed in.

"Careful there Xander, despite how she looks its been a long time since she started up. Give her a few seconds to prime the fuel injection."

Xander nodded and turned the key to the on position but not the start position, then back off again a few seconds later. "Sounds good Xander, crank her up and lets see what we've got to work with!" Rory called to him.

Xander turned the key and the engine turned right over, and kept running without even needing to pump the accelerator. He just sat there in shock, listening to the purr of the motor and trying to discern anything that might be amiss. After a minute he leaned out of the door and looked at the equally shocked face of his uncle. He climbed out of the car and practically tackled the older man. "You are the best family member EVER!"

Rory was looking around now, noticeably uncomfortable, "Now now...why don't you limp her over to the garage and we'll get her up on jacks. Even if there's nothin' else wrong she needs new tires..." He was gently patting Xander's back the whole time.

Xander let go and smiled as he headed back to HIS car. He climbed in and waited til Rory had gathered up the toolbox and was trundling back before he gently put the car into gear and let it roll forward. It was a rather bumpy ride, but all things considered it was still an amazing experience. Once the passenger door was clear Xander leaned over and popped it open, still amazed he hadn't found anything wrong with the car besides the cosmetics. "You coming?"

Dawn grinned as she hopped in, before she started coughing at the dirt an dust cloud that her motion sent up. She gave Xander a thumbs up since she couldn't talk, before quickly rolling down the window. Xander then slowly idled the car through the junkyard and into Rory's garage where his uncle waited, still clearly disbelieving this could be happening to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~IchaIcha~~~~~~~~~~~~

Across town Buffy and Willow were walking toward the coffee shop, discussing the important stuff that happens in Sunnydale. Nothing so vapid as drooling over some old cars.

"Alright so spill, you and Oz are all better now right?"

Willow blushed but nodded, "We're fine...since that night before we blew up the mayor."

"And now you get to have steamy sexiness whenever you want right?" Buffy asked with a grin.

"I guess..."

"What do you mean you guess. You guys love each other, and you already took that step so it's not like anything is holding you back. Oh! Unless there is something to do with his wolfiness stuff?"

"No, no wolfiness. Well except he might be a little bit more protective of me, and of course we can't do anything for three nights a month during the full moon, I've been trying to adjust my body to match but its harder than you'd think."

Buffy shrugged, "I guess I wouldn't know. Ever since I started slaying I haven't seen Aunt Flo at all. Coach told me it was just my athletics, but that was when I was cheer leading at my old High School. I guess slaying every night is a workout."

"But that shouldn't be enough of a workout to stop that from happening...maybe it's the stress?"

"Maybe."

"So you're honestly telling me you haven't had a period in four years?" Willow said in disbelief. "That is so not fair!"

Buffy smiled as she turned into the Espresso Pump and got in line at the counter, "Perks of being the Slayer I guess."

They both ordered and then took their caffeinated goodness to the corner booth where they could people watch the main street of downtown Sunnydale. It wasn't much but it beat staring at fresh graves during patrol.

"So you doing okay?" Willow asked after a bit.

"Fine, why?"

Willow waved a hand around for a second, searching for the right words, "You know, since Angel left."

The Slayer shrugged, "I miss him a lot, but I kinda understand why he had to leave..."

"Yeah, the whole turning-evil-after-sex thing sucked."

"Yeah..."

"So does that mean you and he only...the one time?" Willow said quietly.

"You know it was only the once! 'One perfect moment of happiness' and Angel the sexy vampire with a soul becomes Angelus the soulless mass murderer. Not exactly looking for a repeat performance."

"But you miss him.."

"Yeah... Which is why you have to fill me in on the details! I'm living vicariously through you here so spill!"

The redheads eyes went wide, "I, I, I, I mean...there's not much to tell...we just...do it!"

"You just do it? What does that even mean? This isn't a Nike commercial!"

She shrugged, "Well I mean...its just, tab A into slot B and make with the happy time right?"

The blond looked confused and sad for a moment, "I think there is more to it than that..I mean I was too caught up at the time with Angel to take notes but it was really nice...and then that dream..."

"Ah Ha! Now you get to spill! So what was so special about this Xander-dream?"

Buffy quickly hushed the redhead and looked around, "Would you keep it down, who knows what ears are around here..." She took a breath, "Alright, so we came back after a patrol and he needed a shower because he didn't want to get yelled at by his parents for waking them up, but then there weren't any towels in the bathroom...so I took him a towel..."

Willow was leaning forward on the edge of her seat, "And then we somehow ended up in the shower together...and...wow...I didn't know you could do it standing up like that!"

"You can do it standing up?"

"Apparently, maybe...I don't know. But then he carried me to my room and we did it like 5 more times before I passed out, or woke up, or whatever... If it wasn't Xander I'd say it was the hottest thing I have ever done."

"Done?" Willow asked in confusion.

"Seen, I mean seen, of course we didn't actually DO anything...I don't think about Xander like that..."

Willow smiled and wiggled in her seat a little bit, "Apparently part of you thinks about him like that."

"Will!"

"What? I'm just saying..."

Buffy hung her head and sipped her iced mocha, "I need a new boyfriend."

~~~~~~~~~~~~IchaIcha~~~~~~~~~~~~

As dusk was setting in a beat up but almost entirely functional Plymouth Fury pulled up in front of the Summers household, with the driver still grinning like mad. Dawn promptly got out of the car and waited for Xander to join her but he simply sat behind the wheel...caressing the dash. "Alright baby, I gotta go inside for a little while but I promise I'll be back okay?"

Dawn huffed and resisted the urge to stomp her foot, "Xander!"

"What?" He asked, looking up from the still glowing instruments.

"Don't you think we should head inside? We didn't eat anything but bologna sandwiches at Rory's and I'm tired and sticky and dirty! You are too, I think we should get inside and take a shower."

Xander raised an eyebrow in response to that, waiting for her to catch on.

Right on cue she turned red and began babbling, "Uh..I mean we should take showers, SEPARATE showers!"

Xander turned off the lights and pulled the key out of the ignition, and got out of the car with a smile. "Are you sure that's what you really want Dawnie?" He asked quietly.

She squeaked as her eyes went wide, then turned and bolted for the house. Xander chuckled to himself as he addressed the car. "Now you be a good girl, don't worry about that. I wasn't really flirting with her, I was just getting her back for the other night."

His hand trailed along the roof, and down the pillar to the trunk where it followed the line up the fin and he reluctantly lost contact with his car as he walked toward the house. He was met at the porch by Buffy and Willow who looked angry and worried in that order. "Just what did you do to my baby sister Mr. Harris?" Buffy asked.

"Payback. I promise I didn't do or say anything inappropriate!"

Willow looked past his shoulder since it appeared there wouldn't be any immediate violence. "So you got a car?" She asked excitedly.

"Yep!" His eyes lit up, "Wanna see before the street lights come on?"

"Sure!" Willow walked right past Buffy and toward the car, Buffy still stood there with a cross look on her face.

"What?" Xander asked.

She shook her head, "You shouldn't be teasing my baby sister."

Xander wasn't in any mood to fight with Buffy at the moment so he let it drop, "You're right, but it's fun to turn it around on her every now and then. Like I said, I didn't do anything inappropriate and I won't be any time soon."

"What does that mean?" She asked accusingly.

Xander took a step back and held his hands up, "Nothing! I mean Dawnie is sixteen now, but someday she's gonna be older and you never know what might happen. I don't have any plans to ever date her, I mean she's like a sister to me! Just saying, things might change and I'm not gonna make you some promise now that you can kill me for later."

The 'like a sister' comment caught the blonde up short, she loved Xander like a brother and that didn't stop her...at least some part of her from thinking of him like that... "Fine, I understand."

Xander had a retort ready to let fly and was brought up short, "Huh?"

"I said I understand, just be careful. Dawn really likes you and if you tease her like that you might really hurt her feelings."

"I know..sorry okay?"

Buffy nodded and stepped into a Xander-hug, then sighed as Xander turned toward the car and they walked with his arm around her shoulders and hers around his waste. Willow was standing with the passenger door open looking into the car with a questioning look on her face.

"So what you think Wills?" Xander asked, happy to be back near his precious.

"Kinda...dirty isn't it?" Willow asked trying not to be mean.

Xander waved off her concern, "Oh I just haven't given her a bath yet, who knows how long she was sitting in that scrap yard accumulating dust and dirt and rust. I just know she'll clean up nice!"

"She?" Buffy asked, "Why do men always feel the need to refer to their toys as female?"

Xander unhooked his arm from Buffy and smiled as he walked around the car to the driver side, once again caressing her from fin to windshield. "Because we like beautiful things and its fun to pretend its female, when it can't talk back and does everything you tell it to do?"

Willow slammed the passenger door, "Just for that mister I'm not talking to you!"

"Oh no! Not the Willow silent treatment!"

Buffy asked, "Willow silent treatment? Is that different than regular silent treatment?"

The redhead nodded, "You bet it is!"

"Willow I'm sorry, please please forgive me?"

Willow simply shook her head and walked off making a locking motion to her lips and putting the 'key' down her shirt. Buffy looked to Xander for an explanation.

"She used to do that to me and Jessie all the time, once you get used to Willow-babble you'd be amazed what an absence of it will do to mess with your head."

Buffy nodded, "I can see that...so how long does it usually last?"

"Well, normally she can't make it more than 10 minutes but I'm about to home and clean out my parents garage so I can work on my baby."

"Which means?"

Xander started the engine and Buffy was pleasantly surprised by the steady purr. "Which means you will probably have a panicked Will on your hands when she realizes I didn't come in behind you. Tell her I'll call when I get home so she can apologize."

"So she can apologize?"

"Yep."

"For giving you the silent treatment?"

Xander nodded, "Uh huh."

"Because you made a butt head sexist male jerk remark in regard to your female car?"

"Exactly!"

Buffy sighed, "I'll never really understand you two will I."

"Sure you will Buff. You just need another 10 years or so to catch up. It'll be like you were in Sunnydale since birth too!"

"Joy." She said sarcastically.

"See ya later...and if Dawn looks upset tell her I'm sorry and I'll see her later okay?"

"Alright. Bye."

With that Xander put the car in gear and drove off.