STANDING: CHAPTER TWO

The end credits rolled and Dawn and Buffy simultaneously wiped tears from their eyes. Buffy grinned at her sister and pulled her into a hug.

"Bed?" Buffy asked.

Dawn nodded, not even bothering to protest. For nearly two weeks now Buffy had been back to how she had been before everything with Glory had gone down, and Dawn didn't want to push her luck.

"We still on for tomorrow?" Buffy asked.

"Are you kidding me? I wouldn't miss it for the world," Dawn said excitedly.

Buffy smiled at her sisters' enthusiasm and stood up with a groan.

"Bed time for both of us I think," Buffy said, helping Dawn to her feet.

"You aren't patrolling tonight?" Dawn asked.

Buffy wrinkled her nose and sighed quietly. "One hour nap, then patrol," she explained. "And can I just say thank god that the gang don't want to go to the beach any earlier than twelve! I so couldn't get up early even if I tried."

They walked up the stairs, both taking them two at a time. Buffy stopped at Dawn's door and smiled as her sister went into the bedroom.

"G'night," Dawn said tiredly. "Don't let the vampires bite."

Buffy laughed and gave her sister a light hit on the arm.

"Spike or Xander?"

Dawn grinned. "Both!"

"Typical," Buffy commented, rolling her eyes. "Get some sleep, okay? I'll get you up at about 10:30 so we can be ready."

"10:30," Dawn whined. "That's so early! It won't take an hour an a half to get ready."

"Eleven then," Buffy compromised.

Dawn bounced happily and quickly bade her sister goodnight, shutting the door behind her.

Buffy yawned and headed to her own bedroom, setting her alarm for 2am so she could do a quick sweep. Her body was exhausted after pulling an eight hour shift at her new job. She smiled at the thought of her job. She had searched through the paper looking for something perfect, but, all she had found that she might possibly enjoy was a job working at the Bronze.

She had applied and done two interviews and she had been hired. The pay was good, the hours were convenient, she got Saturdays and Sunday's off and it meant that she was able to get the rest of the gang a discount on their drinks and cover charge.

She flipped gracelessly onto her bed and closed her eyes, sleep claiming her almost immediately.

~*~

Dawn woke up to Buffy calling her name from downstairs. How Buffy could be so energetic on a Saturday was completely beyond Dawn, but she had just learnt to go with it. No matter how hard she tried, she would never be able to work her sister out.

She rolled over in her bed, opening her eyes and trying to adjust to the light. She groaned as she saw the grey overcast sky outside.

Not bothering to change out of her pyjama's, she stumbled downstairs to where Buffy had two plates of toast on the island counter with a cup of juice for herself and a mug of hot chocolate for Dawn.

"We aren't still going are we?" Dawn asked, taking a slice of her toast and leaning against the bench.

"The weather's not THAT horrible Dawn," Buffy said. "Besides, the waters always warmer on cloudy days."

"Well," Dawn said thoughtfully, "seeing as the sun isn't out.couldn't we invite Spike?"

Buffy hesitated, thinking carefully about her sisters request.

"Uh.I guess so," Buffy said hesitantly. "We can get Xander to stop by his place on the way there."

"Cool," Dawn said happily, pushing herself away from the counter towards the fridge to get more juice.

Buffy smiled and perched herself on top of the bench, taking a bite of her toast. She couldn't believe that her sister was still trying to match-make Buffy and Spike. Her attempts had not gone unnoticed by Spike or Buffy, but Buffy just wasn't ready to begin a relationship. Especially not one that would be one that would have to be constantly explained and defended.

Spike was content just being her friend, and after only just getting her back, he didn't want to push her into a relationship that she didn't want.

Dawn looked at her sister, noticing the faraway look in her eyes. She had seen that look so many times in the past few months since Buffy had been back, but this one was distinctly different.

Dawn smiled and waved her hand in front of Buffy's face. Buffy snapped out of her daze and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Thinking about Spike in his swimming costume?" Dawn asked.

Buffy threw the crust of her toast at her sister. "Ew, no."

"Oh come on," Dawn said, knowingly. "You must have thought about what's under those sexy tight shirts of his."

"Dawn!" Buffy exclaimed, shocked by her sisters words.

"Just admit it. I know you must have that about at."

"Maybe once," Buffy admitted. "But it was a completely idle thought."

"Once?" Dawn asked, a sly grin on her face. She loved teasing Buffy about Spike, even though she had almost given up on getting the two of them together.

Buffy jumped down from the bench and grabbed her sister, tickling her mercilessly. Dawn tried to break free, but Buffy was about twenty times stronger than she was. Not to mention, incredibly annoyed. Never a good combination.

Dawn struggled, her cheeks aching from laughter, her sides become sore from her sisters finger digging into her.

"Alright, stop!" Dawn cried through her laughter.

"You gonna stop teasing?" Buffy asked, still tickling her.

"Yes!" Dawn exclaimed, panting breathlessly.

Buffy stopped and stepped back. Dawn's laughing subsided and she rubbed her sides, sore but not hurt.

"Mean," Dawn said, holding back a smile.

"Hey you deserved everything you got," Buffy said, grinning at her young sister.

Dawn just smiled sweetly and walked towards the door. "Yeah, but I'm not the one perving on Spike." With that, she dashed out of the kitchen before Buffy even had a chance to stop her.

Buffy could only laugh at her sisters' antis, and ponder more on her thoughts.

She hadn't been thinking about Spike at all when Dawn had caught her mid- thought, though what Dawn had said about Spike being sexy hadn't been wrong. It wasn't what had been occupying her thoughts though.

She had been thinking about her Watcher, something she had been doing a lot lately. Since he had left, she'd been making a conscious effort not to rely too heavily on her friends, or on Spike, though it was a struggle to find a balanced between ignoring them and not relying on them too much.

Spike had been a great help with patrolling and had somehow managed to not piss her off too often. Plus, it turned out he wasn't too bad to hang around with, especially since he had stopped confessing his love for her.

Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya had all chipped in on the research when they were needed, but of late, that hadn't been very often, hence the Scooby outing to the beach.

Buffy smiled to herself, wondering what Giles would say if he knew how much things had picked up since he had left. She had thought about him daily, wondering what it was like where he was, trying to imagine what he was doing from day to day.

She had begun writing so many letters to him, though none of them ever got posted. She knew that she needed to talk to him.needed to apologise to him. At first, her letters had been about how much he had hurt her, but as the days went by, the letters had slowly changed.

The latest letters had been completely accusation free, the only ones that Buffy had even considered sending to him. She hadn't told anyone about the letters to Giles, not even Dawn, though why she hadn't told anyone was beyond her. It wasn't as though she was doing something that the others wouldn't approve of.

But, Buffy thought, it would be too hard to explain why she never sent them to him.

Dawn came back into the kitchen, startling Buffy out of her thoughts once more. Dawn grinned, but didn't comment though Buffy could tell what her sister was thinking.

"You ready?" Buffy asked.

"Yup," Dawn replied, finishing off the juice that she had left half finished due to the impromptu tickle fight from earlier.

"You have your towel?" Buffy asked, remembering their last ill-fated trip to the beach. It had begun pouring with rain and Dawn had been without a towel. That had been just before Dracula had showed up in town. 'Before Dawn was truly here,' Buffy thought.

Dawn rolled her eyes but opened her shoulder bag so Buffy could see the towel for herself. Outside, a car horn honked impatiently.

"We're good to go then?" Buffy asked.

Dawn nodded and went to head to the front door. "Oh!" she exclaimed suddenly before Buffy could lock the door behind them.

Buffy just sighed and held the door open for Dawn who ran up the stairs, calling out that she would only be a second. She came back down the stairs, her new sunglasses adorning her face. Buffy grinned and ushered her sister out the door.

"You haven't forgotten anything else?"

"Nope."

"Sure?"

"Positive."

"Good. Let's go," Buffy said, mock exasperation tinging her voice.

They hurried to Xander's car, both of them getting into the back.

"Hey Xand," Buffy greeted. "Where's Anya?"

"She's gone to pick up Willow and Tara," Xander explained.

"In what? I didn't know she had a car," Dawn commented.

"Oh, she doesn't." Xander answered vaguely.

Dawn and Buffy shared a suspicious look between themselves and Buffy finally asked when the curiosity got too much for her.

"Care to explain?"

"Nope," Xander said, grinning at Buffy in the rear vision mirror. "You'll see when we get there."

"Okay," Buffy replied hesitantly.

They drove, no one speaking, though Dawn was singing quietly to the song playing on the radio. Dawn suddenly shoved Buffy in the ribs and whispered "Spike" in her ear.

Buffy nodded, having forgotten about Dawn's earlier request.

"Hey Xand, you mind if we swing by Spike's place?" Buffy asked.

Xander nearly veered off the road at the question. He swung around to give her a quick look.

"Are you trying to make me crash?" he asked, half-serious. He turned back to look at the road before he ran into anything.

She glared at the back of his head. "Oh come on, it's not like you guys weren't working together when I wasn't around," she said, marvelling at how casually she had mentioned her death and the four months she had been gone.

Xander sighed, knowing that his friend was right. "Is there something going on there that I should know about?" he asked worriedly.

"No," she replied honestly. "He's a friend, and he knows that I think that. Dawn wanted him to come, and.I don't see why he shouldn't."

Xander hesitated but eventually pulled onto the road that would take them down to Restfield cemetery where Spike's crypt was.

Dawn bounced happily and leant forward to kiss Xander's cheek. "Thanks Xander!"

He scowled in response but couldn't help a small grin break onto his face. It had been a while since Dawn had smiled, and if Buffy wanted Spike there, then he was only too happy to give her anything she wanted after she had confessed to being in heaven, rather than in hell.

Xander pulled into the parking lot and watched as Buffy hopped out of the car. "I'll be back in a second, kay?"

Dawn nodded, happy that her sister had even agreed to ask Spike to their Scooby day out.

Buffy walked quickly to the crypt and knocked on the door before entering. She saw Spike standing, walking towards her.

He nodded his greeting and sat down, waiting for her to join him.

"What brings you here pet?" he asked.

She sat down next to him and smiled.

"What are you doing today?" she asked.

He looked at her warily, not certain where the conversation would be heading.

"Sitting in here, watching telly," he replied. "Nothing even remotely evil, sad to say. Why?"

"Well, me and the gang are heading out to the beach. You wanna come with?" she asked.

He looked at her as though she had gone completely mad. "Right, surf, sand, sun. Three things that I don't particularly like."

She glared at him and tilted her head the side, rolling her eyes. "First of all, who doesn't like the sand and the surf. And second of all, the sun's not even out today. Come on.Dawn won't let me hear the end of it if I can't convince you to come."

He raised his eyebrows. "So Dawn asked you to ask me? What, you didn't wanna invite me?"

She shot him a look and stood up. "Look, you wanna come or not?"

He hesitated for a moment and finally stood up. "I'll grab my bloody towel."

Buffy grinned, hardly able to believe she had convinced him to come with them to the beach.