Chapter Twenty-Seven
The next day, everyone was at the Summers house for breakfast. The rat story had quickly spread among the Scooby Gang, by Anya of course, so it was the talk of the morning. It was also known that Buffy forbid anyone to see Amy again, due to the fact that she caused too much unwanted trouble.
As well as talk about Darry and Kellie's rat adventure, was talk about Christmas, due to the fact that it was the first of December. Dawn was the most excited out of everyone.
"And for last Christmas, I got this really cool thing, I don't remember what it was called but it was really cool. Then I lost it." Dawn was telling everyone.
"I always got lots of cool stuff for Christmas." Kellie boasted.
"Except for the tooth brush thing but hey, you didn't keep that very long did you?" Darry said, joking.
Kellie smiled. "Still sorry about that." Kellie smiled.
"No problem, over and done with." Darry said.
"So, when are we getting ourtree?" Dawn asked her sister.
"In about two weeks." Buffy answered, rolling her eyes.
"Sorry, I just really love Christmas." Dawn gushed. She stood up. "I better get out the Christmas plates and the cool Christmas cups." Dawn decided and walked over to the counter.
"You have special Christmas plates?" Darry asked.
Dawn pulled a cup out of a cabinet. "Yep, these are the cool cups." Dawn said and showed the cup to Darry. It was a white cup with the words 'Merry Christmas' written on the side in red lettering.
Willow frowned. "I don't understand what the deal is with Christmas? I mean, sure you get presents and all but for Hanukah you get eight days of presents not just one." Willow said.
"Yeah, I don't understand the whole Christmas thing either. It's just another day of the year." Darry muttered.
"What, Christmas is great!" Anya exclaimed and stood up.
"Okay." Darry muttered and slightly cowered in her chair.
"What's the matter Darry? Not real big on Christmas?" Xander asked.
"No, I mean I've never really had a Christmas before. Except the Christmas at Kellie's house but that wasn't really big, I mean Kellie's mom made me stay in the guest room the whole time because I tasted a piece of apple pie. It wasn't a very fun experience." Darry said. "But other then that, nothing; my dad wasn't very big on cheer and present giving. I've never had a birthday party." Darry answered.
Darry frowned when she saw the sadden looks of her friends. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to make everyone sad. Don't feel sorry for me, it's no big deal." Darry said.
Dawn finished taking the Christmas plates out of the cabinet. "So, when is your birthday?" Dawn asked.
"January 5th" Darry answered, looking over at the girl.
"Mine's the 4th of July, and don't think that I wasn't made fun of." Kellie muttered. "'Cause I was." She added.
"Why does that sound so familiar?" Xander muttered.
"So, we haven't had a big Christmas bonanza since…never." Xander said, changing the subject. "Should we have one this year?" He asked.
"Yeah!" Dawn cried and carried the plates over to the table. "We should have one, a big one! With lots of cheer and present giving." Dawn said and looked over at Darry and smiled.
"I'm for that." Willow seconded, looking over at Buffy. "What about you Buffster?" Willow asked.
"Why not, I have lots of cheer." Buffy said and forced a large smile.
Dawn took her seat beside Darry. "We also have a class Christmas party, its not very much fun but it beats class." Dawn said.
"That sounds like lots of fun." Darry said.
"It should be better this year, 'cause we're holding it at the Bronze. We gonna have a band and everything." Dawn said.
"Yes, band equals fun." Anya said with very fake excitement.
"When is the party Dawn?" Buffy asked.
"Some time next week or so, right before we get out of school; it's a nighttime party so you guys should all come." Dawn answered.
Kellie nodded. "Yes, I love the party scene. I am so there." Kellie said.
Darry rolled her eyes. "Me and parties don't really mix. I'm not a party person." Darry informed them.
"Will there be boys there?" Anya asked randomly.
Dawn blushed slightly. "Of course, there's this one boy that I kinda like." Dawn muttered, blushing even more.
Buffy looked over at her sister. "Whoa, slow down there sis: no dating 'til you're 16." Buffy commanded.
"I am sixteen." Dawn said.
"Then no dating 'til you're seventeen." Buffy commanded robotically. "You're getting off easy since the last guy you dated was a vampire." Buffy added.
"You dated a vampire?" Darry and Kellie asked at the same time.
Dawn nodded, clearly not proud of the fact. "I'm sure you two have had your sure of weird boyfriends." Dawn muttered.
"Sure, I guess; there was once this guy who thought he could talk to cats." Kellie muttered.
"I can honestly say that I have never dated a weird guy." Darry muttered. "I've never had a boyfriend." She added.
"Lucky you, I had a boyfriend once -you guys have all met him, the troll guy- and he cheated on me so I wished…okay long story but the point is, guys are not worth the trouble." Anya said.
Xander looked over at her, slightly hurt. "Except Xander." Anya added.
"Yeah, I once dated a guy, a vampire, who…well, exactly you don't need to hear that story." Buffy winced.
Darry looked over at her friends and smiled. However, there was something mournful about the smile.
Darry looked at herself in the mirror in Dawn's room; the teenager had long since left for school so the house was silent. The long scratches across her face were finally starting to heal, as were the scratches on the rest of her body. It was no wonder she had never had a boyfriend, she wasn't exactly the prettiest girl in the world. And, she was sure being a werewolf wasn't exactly a big turn-on for a guy. She had too many secrets, secrets that kept her from every form of human contact, even friends. Luckily, she had met friends that had secrets of their own, so mostly it was okay. But, a boyfriend would be too much of a risk; the wolf inside might hurt him, on accident, or worse. It was better just to shut yourself off, never your self let go, too much could go wrong. Un-needed emotional ties were never good. However, Darry often wondered if that was the best idea.
Buffy was helping Willow wash dishes; Darry was upstairs, Dawn was at school, Kellie was somewhere, Anya and Xander were at the Magic Box, the house was silent.
Buffy turned to Willow. "I have an idea…no, never mind its stupid." Buffy said and quickly turned away.
Willow turned to face her blonde friend. "What's your idea?" Willow asked.
"Well…." Buffy started, not sure of how to continue. "Do you keep in good contact with Oz?" Buffy asked.
At the mention of her ex-boyfriend's name, Willow's face paled. However, she appeared to have gotten (mostly) over Oz, but now she was going through the same emotional problems with Tara. "No, not really. I have his number but I never use it." Willow answered.
Buffy studied her friend. "Do you think the reason Darry hasn't ever had a boyfriend is because she's afraid that no one will like her because she's a werewolf?" Buffy asked.
"I don't know; Oz thought I wouldn't like him once we found out he was a werewolf. Why are you asking Buffy?" Willow asked.
"I'll tell you later, but I want to tell you and Anya and Xander." Buffy answered.
"Okay." Willow said, though she was unsure of what her friend was thinking.
Kellie didn't know why she was walking through the cemetery but she was. She also didn't know why she was going to the crypt that the vampire Spike lived in but she was. Though, she knew that she did know why she was going to cemetery to a certain crypt. She knew that she was slightly attracted to Spike; even though she was never admit it. She also couldn't tell Buffy or anyone else because she knew that Buffy, of all people, hated Spike more then (pretty much) anything. However, there was just something about the undead bloodsucker that she couldn't help but love. Maybe it was the fact that he had saved her from that raptor demon; there was something about him that had her walking through a cemetery at noon to pay him a visit.
When Kellie reached his crypt, she wasn't sure if she should knock or just open the door. Well, if vampires really burned in the sun, he wouldn't come answer the door. Should she just walk in? That seemed like the only thing to do.
Kellie pushed the door of the crypt open and entered. She was surprised to see Spike, sitting in an almost rotted chair watching TV. When she entered the crypt, he jumped up.
"Oh, it's just you." He said. "You're interrupting my telly-time." Spike added.
Kellie frowned. "Oh, sorry. What are you watching?" She asked.
"'Passions'. Is there a reason you came here?" Spike asked.
"No. I was in the neighborhood." Kellie lied.
"Oh." Spike said and looked over at her.
Kellie inched closer to the vampire. "'Passions', I like that show. My mom and I used to watch it." Kellie said.
"Oh yeah? And where's she, your mum I mean?" Spike asked.
"She died." Kellie whispered.
"Oh. Is that the reason you came to good ol' Sunny D.?" Spike asked.
"Yeah, Darry's my cousin; my only family." Kellie answered.
"Sorry to hear that." Spike muttered. He pulled up another half rotted chair. "Have a seat, we'll watch the telly together." Spike commanded.
Kellie sat down and smiled, Spike wasn't so bad; she had no idea why Buffy didn't like him.
Later that day….Buffy and Willow had gone to join Xander and Anya at the Magic Box. Darry had stayed home to wait until Dawn came home and Kellie was still somewhere. Buffy wasn't really worried since it was daytime and Kellie could take of herself.
Willow was anxious to hear her friend's plan, as was Xander. Anya, however, could care less; she was still trying to sell things.
"So, what's got your gears turning Buff?" Xander asked.
"Okay, this might be a totally stupid idea but I was thinking about what Darry said today about never having a boyfriend. I started to think that maybe she never had a boyfriend because she was afraid that no one would like because she was a werewolf. So, I started thinking what if she had a boyfriend that was a werewolf?" Buffy asked.
"Who do we know that's a were…oh." Xander muttered. He looked over at Willow, who was obviously thinking about what Buffy said.
Willow looked up and noticed that everyone was looking at her. "What? You look at me like I'm still dating the guy; I haven't been with him in almost three years. I love Tara, even if we aren't together anymore. I'm not exactly jumping up and down for joy but I think it's a good idea. I think Darry deserves to be happy; I'm sure Tara and I will patch things up so I think it's a good idea." Willow said.
Buffy smiled. "Thanks Will." Buffy smiled.
Anya looked over at the vampire slayer. "Well, I think that's a good idea too. I mean, they already have a lot in common and they haven't even met." Anya said. "But there is a problem: he's not here." Anya pointed out. "You have no idea where he is; last time he came back, he came back from the mountains in Siberia or somewhere like that. I don't really think long distance romances work very well." Anya added.
Buffy frowned. "Thanks for the pep talk Anya, sure it's not like he lives next door but Willow has his number to wherever so we can call him." Buffy said.
"What makes you think he'll come back?" Xander asked. Everyone turned to look at him. "I'm not trying to put a damper on things; Darry's really nice and I think she needs to be happy to but what makes you think he'll come back? Just like that?" Xander asked. "And, what makes you so sure that Darry will just go along with the idea? I mean, maybe she never had a boyfriend because she never wanted one." Xander pointed out.
Buffy frowned. "Well, so there are a lot more then just a few things to work out. It seemed like a pretty good plan." Buffy muttered.
"I'm sure that Darry and Oz won't object to meeting each other." Willow said. "If I know Oz." Willow muttered bitterly.
Buffy turned to her redhead friend. "Are you sure you don't have a problem with this?" Buffy asked.
Willow shook her head. "I don't Buffy, honestly I think it's a good idea. Darry's really nice and Oz was crushed when I told him I was in love with Tara; Darry seems like the kinda girl who is loyal. I think it's a good idea." Willow said.
"Here, here." Xander seconded. Anya nodded.
Buffy smiled. "Okay then, until we get Oz to come to Sunnydale we don't tell Darry about this. I don't wanna act too fast, so not a word to Darry. Agreed?" Buffy asked.
The other three nodded.
Kellie hadn't realized how late it was until the sun started going down. She had spent the whole day with Spike; they watched soap operas and just talking.
"Spike, that's not your real name is it?" Kellie asked.
Spike shook his head. "No, but I really don't like my real name." Spike muttered.
"What is it?" Kellie asked, studying him.
"William." Spike muttered, hopefully low enough so that Kellie couldn't hear him.
"I think William's a cute name." Kellie said and smiled. "But I like Spike better." She added.
Spike smiled in spite of himself; Kellie was not like any other girl he met and he was almost sure that was a good thing. After all: Harmony was too hyper and clingy, Drusilla was crazy and didn't respect him for the man…err vampire he was and neither did Buffy. Kellie, however, didn't seem to mind the he couldn't bite or fight; she liked every part of him. Or, at least, it appeared at this moment that she did. That was okay, Spike decided, because he liked her as well. She was missing some of the aspects that he found attractive in Buffy and the other two: Buffy, Drusilla and Harmony are seemed to have a strong sense of adventure. Sort of, blindsided courage, like throwing yourself to the lions without thinking for someone else. Spike had picked up that 'aspect' in Kellie's cousin, Darry. However, perhaps it was better that Kellie not be so rash; after all, god knew where Harmony and Drusilla were at the moment: perhaps even dead. And Buffy, being rash, had died twice. So, maybe it was safer to have Kellie 'different' then Buffy, Drusilla, Harmony and even Darry; she'd probably stick around longer.
Spike looked out the crypt window. "The sun's setting, you'd better get back. Darry and the others will start to worry." Spike suggested.
Kellie frowned. "I guess you're right." Kellie muttered.
Spike walked forward to open the door for Kellie. "I could walk you home, if you'd like; Sunnydale's full of big-n-nastys." Spike offered.
Kellie smiled. "Okay." She agreed.
The two left the crypt and headed toward the Summers house.
Darry frowned as she looked at the ingredients for the dinner Dawn had suggested they prepare. "Everything is so hard and completed." Darry groaned. "Can't we just stick to frozen dinners?" Darry asked the teenager.
Dawn shook her head. "No, I have to show Buffy that I'm old enough to cook dinner which means I'm old enough to date." Dawn told Darry again.
That day at school, the boy that Dawn liked -Steven- had asked her to the Christmas party at the Bronze. Dawn accepted, only afterward thinking that Buffy would have a problem with that. So, Dawn's brilliant plan was to cook a large dinner to show Buffy that she was 'grown up' enough to date. She had managed to sucker Darry into helping her cook.
However, they hadn't really gotten as far as the cooking. "So, are you sure we have all this stuff?" Darry asked Dawn.
"Um, I think so. If we don't we'll just have to improvise." Dawn suggested.
Darry shrugged. Once she saw what went into this dinner, she wouldn't want to eat it anyway.
Buffy frowned as the phone rang for what had to be the tenth time. Willow had given her Oz's number and she was calling him from the phone at the Magic Box. However, Oz either wasn't home or he wasn't picking up. After the twelfth ring, Buffy hung the phone up.
"He's not there?" Xander asked as he finished bagging the items for the Magic Box's last customer of the day.
"Either that or he's screening." Buffy muttered.
"Don't get your hopes down Buff, maybe he's just out." Anya suggested and bid goodbye to the customer.
"I hope so; when I thought of this plan, it seemed fool proof." Buffy said.
Xander turned to Willow. "Are you sure that's his number?" Xander asked.
"Yeah." Willow answered.
"I'll try again later, right now we'd all better get home. Hopefully, Darry's still home with Dawn so they're probably worried about us." Buffy said to Willow.
"Yeah, see you guys tomorrow." Willow said. Xander and Anya waved goodbye as Willow and Buffy left the Magic Box.
When Kellie and Spike arrived at the Summers house, she bade him a quick goodbye and hurried inside, hoping that she wasn't on Sunnydale's missing list.
She was surprised to find that Buffy wasn't even home. She was even more surprised to see Dawn and Darry in the kitchen that looked like a bomb filled with cooking ingredients had exploded in it.
"What happened here?" Kellie asked.
Darry looked over at her, the girl was covered with flower and other stuff. "Dawn decided to make dinner." Darry answered.
Dawn frowned. "It wasn't supposed to turn out this way." She muttered.
Kellie frowned as well. "Let's get this cleaned up and order out something." She suggested.
Darry studied her cousin strangely. "What's got you in such a good mood, not that I have any problem with it or anything." Darry asked.
Kellie shrugged. "No reason. We'd better clean this up before Buffy gets home or we're all in trouble." She said and grabbed a washcloth and started to scrub the counters.
Darry and Dawn followed her lead and managed to clean the kitchen up and order Italian food before Buffy came home. The trio managed to make it look as though Dawn had made the dinner.
Once everyone had eaten, Dawn asked Buffy if she could go to the dance with Stephen. Surprisingly, Buffy agreed. It seemed like, to Darry, that good moods were contagious that night.
The next day, everyone was at the Summers house for breakfast. The rat story had quickly spread among the Scooby Gang, by Anya of course, so it was the talk of the morning. It was also known that Buffy forbid anyone to see Amy again, due to the fact that she caused too much unwanted trouble.
As well as talk about Darry and Kellie's rat adventure, was talk about Christmas, due to the fact that it was the first of December. Dawn was the most excited out of everyone.
"And for last Christmas, I got this really cool thing, I don't remember what it was called but it was really cool. Then I lost it." Dawn was telling everyone.
"I always got lots of cool stuff for Christmas." Kellie boasted.
"Except for the tooth brush thing but hey, you didn't keep that very long did you?" Darry said, joking.
Kellie smiled. "Still sorry about that." Kellie smiled.
"No problem, over and done with." Darry said.
"So, when are we getting ourtree?" Dawn asked her sister.
"In about two weeks." Buffy answered, rolling her eyes.
"Sorry, I just really love Christmas." Dawn gushed. She stood up. "I better get out the Christmas plates and the cool Christmas cups." Dawn decided and walked over to the counter.
"You have special Christmas plates?" Darry asked.
Dawn pulled a cup out of a cabinet. "Yep, these are the cool cups." Dawn said and showed the cup to Darry. It was a white cup with the words 'Merry Christmas' written on the side in red lettering.
Willow frowned. "I don't understand what the deal is with Christmas? I mean, sure you get presents and all but for Hanukah you get eight days of presents not just one." Willow said.
"Yeah, I don't understand the whole Christmas thing either. It's just another day of the year." Darry muttered.
"What, Christmas is great!" Anya exclaimed and stood up.
"Okay." Darry muttered and slightly cowered in her chair.
"What's the matter Darry? Not real big on Christmas?" Xander asked.
"No, I mean I've never really had a Christmas before. Except the Christmas at Kellie's house but that wasn't really big, I mean Kellie's mom made me stay in the guest room the whole time because I tasted a piece of apple pie. It wasn't a very fun experience." Darry said. "But other then that, nothing; my dad wasn't very big on cheer and present giving. I've never had a birthday party." Darry answered.
Darry frowned when she saw the sadden looks of her friends. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to make everyone sad. Don't feel sorry for me, it's no big deal." Darry said.
Dawn finished taking the Christmas plates out of the cabinet. "So, when is your birthday?" Dawn asked.
"January 5th" Darry answered, looking over at the girl.
"Mine's the 4th of July, and don't think that I wasn't made fun of." Kellie muttered. "'Cause I was." She added.
"Why does that sound so familiar?" Xander muttered.
"So, we haven't had a big Christmas bonanza since…never." Xander said, changing the subject. "Should we have one this year?" He asked.
"Yeah!" Dawn cried and carried the plates over to the table. "We should have one, a big one! With lots of cheer and present giving." Dawn said and looked over at Darry and smiled.
"I'm for that." Willow seconded, looking over at Buffy. "What about you Buffster?" Willow asked.
"Why not, I have lots of cheer." Buffy said and forced a large smile.
Dawn took her seat beside Darry. "We also have a class Christmas party, its not very much fun but it beats class." Dawn said.
"That sounds like lots of fun." Darry said.
"It should be better this year, 'cause we're holding it at the Bronze. We gonna have a band and everything." Dawn said.
"Yes, band equals fun." Anya said with very fake excitement.
"When is the party Dawn?" Buffy asked.
"Some time next week or so, right before we get out of school; it's a nighttime party so you guys should all come." Dawn answered.
Kellie nodded. "Yes, I love the party scene. I am so there." Kellie said.
Darry rolled her eyes. "Me and parties don't really mix. I'm not a party person." Darry informed them.
"Will there be boys there?" Anya asked randomly.
Dawn blushed slightly. "Of course, there's this one boy that I kinda like." Dawn muttered, blushing even more.
Buffy looked over at her sister. "Whoa, slow down there sis: no dating 'til you're 16." Buffy commanded.
"I am sixteen." Dawn said.
"Then no dating 'til you're seventeen." Buffy commanded robotically. "You're getting off easy since the last guy you dated was a vampire." Buffy added.
"You dated a vampire?" Darry and Kellie asked at the same time.
Dawn nodded, clearly not proud of the fact. "I'm sure you two have had your sure of weird boyfriends." Dawn muttered.
"Sure, I guess; there was once this guy who thought he could talk to cats." Kellie muttered.
"I can honestly say that I have never dated a weird guy." Darry muttered. "I've never had a boyfriend." She added.
"Lucky you, I had a boyfriend once -you guys have all met him, the troll guy- and he cheated on me so I wished…okay long story but the point is, guys are not worth the trouble." Anya said.
Xander looked over at her, slightly hurt. "Except Xander." Anya added.
"Yeah, I once dated a guy, a vampire, who…well, exactly you don't need to hear that story." Buffy winced.
Darry looked over at her friends and smiled. However, there was something mournful about the smile.
Darry looked at herself in the mirror in Dawn's room; the teenager had long since left for school so the house was silent. The long scratches across her face were finally starting to heal, as were the scratches on the rest of her body. It was no wonder she had never had a boyfriend, she wasn't exactly the prettiest girl in the world. And, she was sure being a werewolf wasn't exactly a big turn-on for a guy. She had too many secrets, secrets that kept her from every form of human contact, even friends. Luckily, she had met friends that had secrets of their own, so mostly it was okay. But, a boyfriend would be too much of a risk; the wolf inside might hurt him, on accident, or worse. It was better just to shut yourself off, never your self let go, too much could go wrong. Un-needed emotional ties were never good. However, Darry often wondered if that was the best idea.
Buffy was helping Willow wash dishes; Darry was upstairs, Dawn was at school, Kellie was somewhere, Anya and Xander were at the Magic Box, the house was silent.
Buffy turned to Willow. "I have an idea…no, never mind its stupid." Buffy said and quickly turned away.
Willow turned to face her blonde friend. "What's your idea?" Willow asked.
"Well…." Buffy started, not sure of how to continue. "Do you keep in good contact with Oz?" Buffy asked.
At the mention of her ex-boyfriend's name, Willow's face paled. However, she appeared to have gotten (mostly) over Oz, but now she was going through the same emotional problems with Tara. "No, not really. I have his number but I never use it." Willow answered.
Buffy studied her friend. "Do you think the reason Darry hasn't ever had a boyfriend is because she's afraid that no one will like her because she's a werewolf?" Buffy asked.
"I don't know; Oz thought I wouldn't like him once we found out he was a werewolf. Why are you asking Buffy?" Willow asked.
"I'll tell you later, but I want to tell you and Anya and Xander." Buffy answered.
"Okay." Willow said, though she was unsure of what her friend was thinking.
Kellie didn't know why she was walking through the cemetery but she was. She also didn't know why she was going to the crypt that the vampire Spike lived in but she was. Though, she knew that she did know why she was going to cemetery to a certain crypt. She knew that she was slightly attracted to Spike; even though she was never admit it. She also couldn't tell Buffy or anyone else because she knew that Buffy, of all people, hated Spike more then (pretty much) anything. However, there was just something about the undead bloodsucker that she couldn't help but love. Maybe it was the fact that he had saved her from that raptor demon; there was something about him that had her walking through a cemetery at noon to pay him a visit.
When Kellie reached his crypt, she wasn't sure if she should knock or just open the door. Well, if vampires really burned in the sun, he wouldn't come answer the door. Should she just walk in? That seemed like the only thing to do.
Kellie pushed the door of the crypt open and entered. She was surprised to see Spike, sitting in an almost rotted chair watching TV. When she entered the crypt, he jumped up.
"Oh, it's just you." He said. "You're interrupting my telly-time." Spike added.
Kellie frowned. "Oh, sorry. What are you watching?" She asked.
"'Passions'. Is there a reason you came here?" Spike asked.
"No. I was in the neighborhood." Kellie lied.
"Oh." Spike said and looked over at her.
Kellie inched closer to the vampire. "'Passions', I like that show. My mom and I used to watch it." Kellie said.
"Oh yeah? And where's she, your mum I mean?" Spike asked.
"She died." Kellie whispered.
"Oh. Is that the reason you came to good ol' Sunny D.?" Spike asked.
"Yeah, Darry's my cousin; my only family." Kellie answered.
"Sorry to hear that." Spike muttered. He pulled up another half rotted chair. "Have a seat, we'll watch the telly together." Spike commanded.
Kellie sat down and smiled, Spike wasn't so bad; she had no idea why Buffy didn't like him.
Later that day….Buffy and Willow had gone to join Xander and Anya at the Magic Box. Darry had stayed home to wait until Dawn came home and Kellie was still somewhere. Buffy wasn't really worried since it was daytime and Kellie could take of herself.
Willow was anxious to hear her friend's plan, as was Xander. Anya, however, could care less; she was still trying to sell things.
"So, what's got your gears turning Buff?" Xander asked.
"Okay, this might be a totally stupid idea but I was thinking about what Darry said today about never having a boyfriend. I started to think that maybe she never had a boyfriend because she was afraid that no one would like because she was a werewolf. So, I started thinking what if she had a boyfriend that was a werewolf?" Buffy asked.
"Who do we know that's a were…oh." Xander muttered. He looked over at Willow, who was obviously thinking about what Buffy said.
Willow looked up and noticed that everyone was looking at her. "What? You look at me like I'm still dating the guy; I haven't been with him in almost three years. I love Tara, even if we aren't together anymore. I'm not exactly jumping up and down for joy but I think it's a good idea. I think Darry deserves to be happy; I'm sure Tara and I will patch things up so I think it's a good idea." Willow said.
Buffy smiled. "Thanks Will." Buffy smiled.
Anya looked over at the vampire slayer. "Well, I think that's a good idea too. I mean, they already have a lot in common and they haven't even met." Anya said. "But there is a problem: he's not here." Anya pointed out. "You have no idea where he is; last time he came back, he came back from the mountains in Siberia or somewhere like that. I don't really think long distance romances work very well." Anya added.
Buffy frowned. "Thanks for the pep talk Anya, sure it's not like he lives next door but Willow has his number to wherever so we can call him." Buffy said.
"What makes you think he'll come back?" Xander asked. Everyone turned to look at him. "I'm not trying to put a damper on things; Darry's really nice and I think she needs to be happy to but what makes you think he'll come back? Just like that?" Xander asked. "And, what makes you so sure that Darry will just go along with the idea? I mean, maybe she never had a boyfriend because she never wanted one." Xander pointed out.
Buffy frowned. "Well, so there are a lot more then just a few things to work out. It seemed like a pretty good plan." Buffy muttered.
"I'm sure that Darry and Oz won't object to meeting each other." Willow said. "If I know Oz." Willow muttered bitterly.
Buffy turned to her redhead friend. "Are you sure you don't have a problem with this?" Buffy asked.
Willow shook her head. "I don't Buffy, honestly I think it's a good idea. Darry's really nice and Oz was crushed when I told him I was in love with Tara; Darry seems like the kinda girl who is loyal. I think it's a good idea." Willow said.
"Here, here." Xander seconded. Anya nodded.
Buffy smiled. "Okay then, until we get Oz to come to Sunnydale we don't tell Darry about this. I don't wanna act too fast, so not a word to Darry. Agreed?" Buffy asked.
The other three nodded.
Kellie hadn't realized how late it was until the sun started going down. She had spent the whole day with Spike; they watched soap operas and just talking.
"Spike, that's not your real name is it?" Kellie asked.
Spike shook his head. "No, but I really don't like my real name." Spike muttered.
"What is it?" Kellie asked, studying him.
"William." Spike muttered, hopefully low enough so that Kellie couldn't hear him.
"I think William's a cute name." Kellie said and smiled. "But I like Spike better." She added.
Spike smiled in spite of himself; Kellie was not like any other girl he met and he was almost sure that was a good thing. After all: Harmony was too hyper and clingy, Drusilla was crazy and didn't respect him for the man…err vampire he was and neither did Buffy. Kellie, however, didn't seem to mind the he couldn't bite or fight; she liked every part of him. Or, at least, it appeared at this moment that she did. That was okay, Spike decided, because he liked her as well. She was missing some of the aspects that he found attractive in Buffy and the other two: Buffy, Drusilla and Harmony are seemed to have a strong sense of adventure. Sort of, blindsided courage, like throwing yourself to the lions without thinking for someone else. Spike had picked up that 'aspect' in Kellie's cousin, Darry. However, perhaps it was better that Kellie not be so rash; after all, god knew where Harmony and Drusilla were at the moment: perhaps even dead. And Buffy, being rash, had died twice. So, maybe it was safer to have Kellie 'different' then Buffy, Drusilla, Harmony and even Darry; she'd probably stick around longer.
Spike looked out the crypt window. "The sun's setting, you'd better get back. Darry and the others will start to worry." Spike suggested.
Kellie frowned. "I guess you're right." Kellie muttered.
Spike walked forward to open the door for Kellie. "I could walk you home, if you'd like; Sunnydale's full of big-n-nastys." Spike offered.
Kellie smiled. "Okay." She agreed.
The two left the crypt and headed toward the Summers house.
Darry frowned as she looked at the ingredients for the dinner Dawn had suggested they prepare. "Everything is so hard and completed." Darry groaned. "Can't we just stick to frozen dinners?" Darry asked the teenager.
Dawn shook her head. "No, I have to show Buffy that I'm old enough to cook dinner which means I'm old enough to date." Dawn told Darry again.
That day at school, the boy that Dawn liked -Steven- had asked her to the Christmas party at the Bronze. Dawn accepted, only afterward thinking that Buffy would have a problem with that. So, Dawn's brilliant plan was to cook a large dinner to show Buffy that she was 'grown up' enough to date. She had managed to sucker Darry into helping her cook.
However, they hadn't really gotten as far as the cooking. "So, are you sure we have all this stuff?" Darry asked Dawn.
"Um, I think so. If we don't we'll just have to improvise." Dawn suggested.
Darry shrugged. Once she saw what went into this dinner, she wouldn't want to eat it anyway.
Buffy frowned as the phone rang for what had to be the tenth time. Willow had given her Oz's number and she was calling him from the phone at the Magic Box. However, Oz either wasn't home or he wasn't picking up. After the twelfth ring, Buffy hung the phone up.
"He's not there?" Xander asked as he finished bagging the items for the Magic Box's last customer of the day.
"Either that or he's screening." Buffy muttered.
"Don't get your hopes down Buff, maybe he's just out." Anya suggested and bid goodbye to the customer.
"I hope so; when I thought of this plan, it seemed fool proof." Buffy said.
Xander turned to Willow. "Are you sure that's his number?" Xander asked.
"Yeah." Willow answered.
"I'll try again later, right now we'd all better get home. Hopefully, Darry's still home with Dawn so they're probably worried about us." Buffy said to Willow.
"Yeah, see you guys tomorrow." Willow said. Xander and Anya waved goodbye as Willow and Buffy left the Magic Box.
When Kellie and Spike arrived at the Summers house, she bade him a quick goodbye and hurried inside, hoping that she wasn't on Sunnydale's missing list.
She was surprised to find that Buffy wasn't even home. She was even more surprised to see Dawn and Darry in the kitchen that looked like a bomb filled with cooking ingredients had exploded in it.
"What happened here?" Kellie asked.
Darry looked over at her, the girl was covered with flower and other stuff. "Dawn decided to make dinner." Darry answered.
Dawn frowned. "It wasn't supposed to turn out this way." She muttered.
Kellie frowned as well. "Let's get this cleaned up and order out something." She suggested.
Darry studied her cousin strangely. "What's got you in such a good mood, not that I have any problem with it or anything." Darry asked.
Kellie shrugged. "No reason. We'd better clean this up before Buffy gets home or we're all in trouble." She said and grabbed a washcloth and started to scrub the counters.
Darry and Dawn followed her lead and managed to clean the kitchen up and order Italian food before Buffy came home. The trio managed to make it look as though Dawn had made the dinner.
Once everyone had eaten, Dawn asked Buffy if she could go to the dance with Stephen. Surprisingly, Buffy agreed. It seemed like, to Darry, that good moods were contagious that night.
