Chapter Two

Rory was finishing up her homework when her mom burst through the front door clearly excited about something. Undoubtedly her mom was going to tell her some spectacular news that just couldn't wait until Rory finished her assignment for school, no she'd have to hear the news right then. Rory just wanted to curl up into a ball; she was genuinely scared about what was happening to her. She had no idea what she was going to do, she just hoped that it would pass and not last forever. She hadn't even confided in Dean what was going on, which was something rare. She shared absolutely everything with her mother and just about as much with Dean. Lane was the same way with her; she was just blessed to have such loyal friends that didn't blab her business everywhere. When her mom stopped in front of her, she looked up and smiled, which caused Lorelai to grin.

"So, we have tourists at the inn." Rory gave her a confused look…this was the awesome news of the day? Lorelai ignored her expression and kept talking.

"This is exciting though! These visitors are from one of your favorite places, Rome! They're staying at my Inn!" Rory nodded, trying to muster some enthusiasm.

"It's a bit early for a tourist, that's weird." Lorelai sat down, slightly disappointed by her lack of enthusiasm.

"Do you wanna go to Luke's for dinner tonight?" Rory nodded her agreement; it was that or suffer her mother's lack of cooking skills.

"Yeah, but let me finish my homework first!"

Dawn and Andrew wandered away from the group and were walking down Main Street. Dawn hadn't told anyone, but the two of them had started dating each other. She knew that her sister and especially Xander would ridicule her beyond belief. They were holding hands as they walked in silence around the town. They were looking for somewhere to eat and they weren't sure where to go. They had some of the oddest business names in this town; she wasn't sure what she wanted to do. They stopped in the park to see if they could agree on something and a boy about her age came up to them. He was extremely tall and the kind of guy that Dawn normally found attractive. He had shaggy brown hair that fell attractively in his face in just the right position, and a strong jaw line that had Dawn staring slightly. It wasn't that Andrew wasn't attractive; it was just that she was taller than he was and he was very nerdy. She shook her head just a fraction to pull herself out of her current thoughts. The boy tilted his head as he looked at them and smiled in a friendly way that Dawn wasn't used.

"Are you guys lost? I'd be happy to help you find wherever it is you're looking to go." Dawn wasn't used to people being nice…it was weird.

"We're looking for a good place to eat, do you have any suggestions?" His smile got wider as he looked at them, his head nodding in the affirmative.

"Luke's Diner is the best choice in this area. I'm headed over there right now actually; I'll take you there if you want. My name is Dean by the way." Andrew gave him a look that was supposed to be intimidating and Dawn playfully smacked him on the arm.

"Forgive him, please, he's harmless. I'm Dawn and this is Andrew." Dean nodded again and led the way to Luke's Diner. Dawn thought the diner was really cute and very different from anywhere she'd ever seen. The boy left them to sit with a young girl and the lady who worked at the Inn. When she saw them, she stood up and waved them over. Dawn and Andrew walked over to their table with shy smiles. Lorelai motioned for them to sit down, which they did, hesitantly.

"Hey, so you guys decided to explore our little town?" Andrew nodded, glanced over at Dawn and grinned, finally relaxing.

"We had to get away from Buffy…she's a little cranky." This got the younger girl to giggle and Dean to smile. He leaned forward so that Dawn and Andrew could hear him better in the crowded diner.

"I guess you know Lorelai then, this is her daughter, my girlfriend, Rory." Lorelai laughed at his introductions causing Rory to glare at her.

"I like the introductions, Dean; I'll have to let Rory keep you around for a while." She turned her attention back to Dawn and Andrew.

"You're welcome to eat with us, Luke's is the best. Don't tell Sookie I told you that though. Anyway, I'm fascinated to learn how you came to live in Rome, it sounds so exciting." Andrew threw dawn a cautious look who just shrugged and answered Lorelai's harmless question.

"Honestly, we just sort of ended up there. We're originally from Sunnydale California and with its demise; we had to find another place to live." Lorelai's happy face fell at her declaration.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! I really didn't mean to pry." Dawn smiled politely at the lady.

"It's okay, really. We'd been evacuated, so we weren't there when it happened, but we did lose our house. There were seven of us that lived together, so when our house got swallowed, we just decided to start over." Rory spoke up then, the shy girl looked extremely sad at her story.

"Wow that must have been so hard, I'm sorry." Dawn liked the girl instantly, she seemed genuinely nice. Their food came then and Lorelai smiled.

"Luke, look we made new friends! Please take their orders, you sexy man." Luke glared at the grinning Lorelai and chuckled when he saw Rory and Dean grimace. He turned his attention to Dawn and Andrew then.

"What can I get you?" Dawn looked over at Lorelai and back at Luke.

"What she's having looks really good, though I'd prefer soda instead of coffee." Luke wrote their order down and sort of half smiled at her.

"Wow, someone who doesn't' drink coffee, I'm amazed. Maybe you could rub off on those guys, they drink way too much." They were about halfway through their meal, when Dawn's cell phone started to go off. She saw the sign behind the counter and started to get up, only to have Lorelai shake her head and wave her back down. She sat back down and answered the phone to a very irate Buffy.

"Dawn, where the hell are you? We're in a brand new town and you just up and decided to wander off by yourself!" Dawn threw an uncomfortable glance at her audience.

"Buffy, Andrew and I are just at a diner down the way a bit. We wanted to look around." She heard Buffy sigh in frustration. Dawn didn't know why Buffy still insisted on treating her like a kid. Yes, she wasn't eighteen yet, but she hadn't been a kid since the whole Glory incident. Buffy sounded contrite when she addressed her again.

"Sorry, Dawnie, it's a reflex. By the way, since when do you spend so much time with…oh no…are you dating Andrew?" Dawn cringed, but Buffy sounded shocked and continued talking.

"Dawn, what's going on with you? Andrew…are you serious?" Dawn looked up at Andrew, her face turning bright red.

"It just sort of happened, Buffy, there's nothing wrong with it." She was afraid that Buffy had hung up on her when she heard Buffy laughing hysterically. Dawn frowned into her phone; this really wasn't the reaction she'd anticipated.

"Buffy, why are you laughing at me?" Buffy tried to stop laughing, but she was unable to.

"I'm sorry, Dawnie, I'll talk to you later. Don't stay out too late with—" She cut off with another fit of giggles. Dawn scowled and closed her phone and looked up to find Lorelai looking worried.

"Is everything okay?" Dawn smiled, still not used to people that were nice from the get go.

"Yes, it was just my sister…its fine." Andrew leaned over to her, clearly anxious to know what she'd said.

"Are you lying?" Dawn glared at him, not angry with him, but aggravated anyway.

"Buffy figured out that we're dating." Rory interrupted them, a shy smile playing at the corner of her mouth.

"Is that a bad thing? I think you two make a cute couple." Dawn smiled brightly at her.

"He's a little bit older than me, and she's very over protective of late." They didn't ask any more questions after that which Dawn was grateful for. When they finished their meal, Dean stopped them before they left.

"Listen, since you're new in the area, you should hang out with us tomorrow night. Rory and I are going to see our friend, Lane, play in her band." Dawn looked over at Andrew, who looked cautious. Dawn thought the invitation was nice and she wanted to go, so she looked back at Dean and shrugged.

"I'm not sure that we'll be able to make it, but thanks for inviting us." Rory tore off a piece of paper she'd been writing on and handed it to her.

"Well, here is my number if you decide that you do want to go. It starts at seven so we can just meet somewhere and go together." Dawn took the number and smiled softly to herself. It had been a long time since she'd been able to make friends her own age.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Thank you for letting us join you, it was really fun." Lorelai smiled and waved her off.

"Don't worry about it; we don't see new faces too often around here. Do you need a ride back to the Inn?" Dawn shook her head.

"That's okay; I think we're going to walk." Lorelai waved bye as they walked out of the diner and down the street. On the way back to the Inn, Andrew watched Dawn and commented when she was quiet.

"What's the matter?" Dawn looked back at Andrew with her sadness etched on her face.

"We got to act normal for a few hours, and it was nice." Andrew put his arm around Dawn's shoulders, comforting her.

"Believe me, I know what you mean."

Lorelai and Rory drove home in silence after dinner. It was nice to meet new people; it was one of the reasons that Lorelai had wanted her own inn. Lorelai liked how Rory was attempting to make new friends as well; she used to be so extremely shy. It was wonderful to see her branch out and go outside of her comfort zone every now and then. She kind of felt sorry for Dawn though, she had an air of sadness that she couldn't hide from a mother. She didn't want to ask her about her mother, but she was obviously out of the picture. It was nice that her sister was willing to take care of her, but clearly Dawn wasn't adjusting well to their new lifestyle. When they walked back into the house, Lorelai grinned at Rory.

"Look at you, making new friends…it's cute." Rory shrugged, she didn't want her mom to notice that something was different with her.

"She seemed kind of sad though, didn't she?" Lorelai nodded glad that Rory had picked up on it. Maybe the two of them could become friends and maybe even pen pals.

"She did at that, honey. I can't believe you're leaving me alone with the grandparents tomorrow! It's so not fair, Rory, what did I do to you to make you punish me so?" Rory grinned evilly at her mother.

"Lane would absolutely kill me if I missed her concert and you know it. She's a little disappointed that you're not going." Lorelai groaned because she wanted to go with them! Instead she was going to be forced to listen to Emily Gilmore all night long, it definitely wasn't fair.

"Maybe I could feign sickness and go with you." Rory giggled at the prospect of that.

"Grandma would just prop you up at the table." Lorelai cackled, Rory was so very much her daughter.

"Oh, she would, wouldn't she?" Rory walked into her room with a sigh. She hoped that Dawn took her up on her offer because it would be a nice distraction to make a new friend.