Chapter 10

Dawn liked her new apartment. She had only been in it for two hours, but she felt attached to it already. It was rent controlled and her roommate was starting to get used to her, she thought. Angel had warned her about the roommate situation, but she hadn't been bothered by it. It wasn't everybody who got to live with a ghost.

She was vaguely aware this apartment had belonged to Cordelia years ago, but Dawn's memories of her were faint, and the ones she did have were not favorable. Angel had explained to her that the apartment had been empty for a long time; a few people had tried to live there but had been quickly scared off by Dennis.

So far, she and Dennis had been getting along. It had taken Dawn five minutes to introduce herself to an empty room and start talking. She thought he was listening, and even if he wasn't, she didn't care. He wasn't going to scare her off, and they were going to friends whether he liked it or not.

The movers were arriving, and she directed them where to put the few things she had brought from England and the copious pieces of new furniture she had just bought. Angel had sent her a very generous sign on bonus and she had used it to pay for the first six months of her rent and to outfit the apartment.

The owner of the building had stared at her as if she had purple skin when she had paid for six months in advance. He had actually been reluctant to accept it, she thought. After a little cajoling, though, he did; although he had warned her it would be nonrefundable. She had laughed and assured him she wasn't going anywhere.

Even as she directed the movers and started to unpack things, she was thinking of Will. He was hot, too hot for her to ignore. With such an amazing prospect of a man right in front of her, she wouldn't accept anything less than him naked in her bed. Smiling, she thought about the possible ways to do that. There was always the Varsity Blues whipped cream thing. That could work.

No, she thought, better to be subtle. Make him think I just want his friendship, and then dive into his pants. Make him feel safe enough to let his guard down and then fall madly in love with her.

She had no intention of ever telling her sister what she was up to, nor did she want Buffy to know Will was one of the major reasons she had moved to LA. Buffy and the baby were her first and most important motivators, but Will made a close second. She couldn't believe he hadn't been snatched up by another woman yet.

When the movers weren't in the apartment, she talked to Dennis. None of her things had been thrown across the apartment or smashed against any walls, so she figured they were off to a good start. She told Dennis about England, about her sister, about her upcoming aunt-hood.

Breathing a sigh of relief once the movers were done, she looked around at the stacks of boxes and plastic wrap covered furniture. For a moment, she felt overwhelmed. Just then, a box of plates opened and the plates started flying towards the kitchen. They landed in a cupboard in an orderly way. When that box was empty, no others were opened. Dawn took this as a form of saying hello.

"Decided to talk to me, huh? Good. We're going to friends, you know. I'm not too bad to live with."

She smiled when another box started to empty itself. By the end of the day, the two of them had unpacked the apartment and rearranged the furniture several times. Dawn would often stop to ask Dennis what he thought of the arrangement and then watch as he moved things around. They finally came to a compromise around the time the sun was setting.

She ordered pizza and called Will's cell phone. It was off, which was odd. It had rarely ever been off when she called him. Shrugging her shoulders, she curled up on her new couch and dialed her sister. Buffy answered on the fourth ring.

"What are you doing?"

"Sitting here being pregnant. What are you doing?"

Twirling her hair as she spoke, she continued, "Where's Angel? Isn't he home? He should be rubbing your feet or something."

"He's off with Will on 'business.' Which I'm sure means they're up to no good. I'll find out in the morning, when he gets home."

She was surprised. "He left you alone? It must be important. Will's cell is off, too. I wonder what they're up to."

Dawn heard the pause on the other end of the line. "You called Will? You just got in this morning, you don't even call me, but you called Will? Huh…should I be concerned?"

Kicking herself, she heard with perfect clarity the thinly veiled threat Buffy was conveying. Dawn didn't need her sister beating the crap out of Will, that would be a bad start to a relationship. "I just wanted to go out, see the city. I'm all hyped up and I thought he would know where to go. You can't really go to the club with me right now."

Hoping that would be enough to put her sister at ease, she was disappointed when Buffy dropped the subject. That meant Will was going to get an ear full tomorrow. "When do you start work? Angel told me Wesley's very excited to have you. Apparently, there are some very smart people with very little personality in that office. Real book worms. You're a book worm that can interact with people…sometimes. It will be a nice change in that department."

"Thanks…I think. I'm excited too. Wes has great books I want to look at, and I can't wait to start translating. I mean, I'm not best with Sanskrit, but I can definitely lend a hand, you know? I hope Wes gives me some good stuff to work on." Rising, she stretched as she listened to Buffy explain the last few months at the office.

Dawn listened with rapt attention to Xander's activities, and responded with stories about Willow and Giles. She had seen Willow once in the spring, and the witch had explained with exuberance that the Council was going to open another school for slayers in America. Faith was in the running to act as headmaster.

When Dawn heard the doorbell she cut the conversation short and assured her sister that she would stop by the next day. Opening the door, her stomach jumped for joy at the smell of pizza.

She was glad she didn't have to eat in silence. Talking to Dennis saved her from that.