Title: Wheels Of Engagement
Author: Jane McCartney
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be either, damn!
Classification: BTVS Season 7 Halloween future fic.
Rating: PG13
Feedback: Gimme, gimme, gimme. Ah, 'nuff said.
E-mail: janemccartney@bol.com.br
Distribution: Anywhere, I don't mind, just credit me and inform me where it's at.
Acknowledgements: Thanks to everyone involved and, of course, a big special thanks to Theo.
Summary: In one possible reality, the Sunnydale gang comes together on October 31st, 2002. For some, things are looking up; for others, definitely down. Friendship issues, some humor, a little bit of romance and Rudolph the Red-Nose reindeer.
***
The doorbell sang out its siren song once more, causing everyone some genuine fleeting startlement with its clattery noise.
Dawn, the true epitome of defeat, sat gloomily on the couch; head on her lap, and arms spread loosely. A tiny tilt of the head was the only hopeless reaction showed by the teen girl.
Then a lanky medium-sized teenager came in, with a bouquet of pink roses in his trembling hands when Buffy answered the call. And the brunette girl's heart might as well have skipped a beat.
"Hey Dawn," Dan greeted her nervously, with a small grin on his lips.
He glanced quickly at the collection of costumed people in the living room, and waved uncertainly. One foot behind the other, in a very insecure teenage way.
"Dan!" the teenage brunette replied a little too forwardly, and immediately cursed herself mentally for it.
"Sorry for bein' late," he apologized.
"Oh, come on, don't worry about that! Pfft," Dawn snorted, trying to sound as cool as possible. "I wouldn't even have noticed, if you hadn't mentioned it."
Xander, coming back from his search in the kitchen for the second innocent can of beer, spotted the newly-arrived teenager.
"So, Dan right?" the young man said casually, with a sympathetic smile. "Glad ya made it, man; one more minute, and Dawn would have had no more fingernails to chew..."
Willow quickly elbowed her friend. And Dawn's wide-eyed gaze nearly fried Xander on the spot.
"If someone wants to murder me, I'll be in living room," was the guy's next guilty remark, followed by an awkward and brief chuckle meaningfully directed at the Dawnster.
Willow rolled her eyes and Buffy tried to hide her grin, with both women almost laughing in amusement.
Entertainment, on the other hand, didn't fit on Dawn's expression; the teen's one was definitely more like panic or embarrassment.
With feigned exasperation, Dawn said apologetically, "Sorry... you see, Xander hasn't been the same ever since he hit his head last year..."
***
Dan, a small grin on his face, looked at the reindeer-costumed guy exiting stage left and then at Dawn.
Heart beating fast, legs shaky enough to make the word 'stumble' an almost certainty in the near future ahead, and blue eyes that just couldn't move away from the brunette girl in front of him.
This realization made his heart beat a thousand times faster, his legs practically collapse on him and a goosey, gauche smile of nervousness appear.
"Ah, Dan?" a worried voice called out his name, and the boy snapped out of his thoughts to find a wide-eyed 'Sandy'-costumed teenager staring intently at him.
"You were like totally out of it for ten seconds," Dawn explained apprehensively, being somewhat anxiety-ridden. "I was starting to get really freaked out here..."
A little jumpy yet, the 16-year-old boy showed a slight bit of confusion, "Was I?"
"I was," Dan then simply repeated dumbly, this time in acknowledgment - as the awareness of said fact lent him a fretful look of mortification.
"And you freaked out for me?" the boy kept on babbling, with a boyish grin this time.
Dawn bit her lower lip nervously, eyeing expectantly the flowers in Dan's hands.
The boy noticed and, feeling more than a little stupid, handed the flowers to his gorgeous date. "Here, these are for you. Thought you might like them..."
The brunette boy then jabbered on with the typical unease in every American teenager, "But if, you know, ya don't - it'll be OK. Really. I mean, I'll only have to start goin' on the psychotherapy thing again, but I'll pull through. I, uh, hope..."
"They're beautiful," Dawn replied sheepishly.
"And anyway, who isn't a little cuckoo nowadays? I... wait, really? Ya like them?" Dan let out a much-needed gasp for air, finally feeling more relaxed. And plus, there was this stupidly wild grin plastered onto his face, which he just couldn't avoid having.
Dawn sniffed the rosy petals meekly, and smiled. "I love pink roses."
"I know," Dan admitted. "But not in a stalker-y kind of way," he frowned defensively.
Buffy, Willow and Anya, in unison, uttered an 'awww'. The two youths noticed their presence, and eyed them sideways in a strange fashion.
But all three females, human or demon, kept staring immovably at Dan and Dawn - with those extended lame grins.
Anya even gave the former Key a quick thumbs-up, mouthing 'cute' with regard to her date. And unluckily for Dawn, blindness wasn't one of the boy's current qualities.
Buffy, only very slightly more discreet then the demoness, pointed meaningfully and a little too briskly towards the mirror, indicating that Dan actually had a reflection.
Dawn, recoiling into the corner, simply tried to hide her face behind her hands - in the face of this first date from Hell.
And when Dan, the sophomore brunette class-sharer, looked at Dawn... the girl just smiled awkwardly, wondering what to do next.
Dan just grinned. She is just so beautiful when she's panicking...
***
Willow glanced at her blonde friend, smiling pensively as she and the Slayer stared to move away towards the interior of the house. "Remember when we were like that?" she whispered.
"Not really. I haven't had that much beer yet, to go there right now," Buffy replied pointedly, mocking exasperation.
The two girls exchanged a look, and started giggling.
***
A bit later, Willow was stagnating in the kitchen; sea-green eyes glued to the flirtatious can of beer, standing on the top of the sideboard.
Anya came in and stood next to her, eyeing the redhead oddly.
"What?" the former witch frowned inquisitively, noticing the hazel-eyed glance upon her.
"Well... during the 60's, when I exacted vengeance for this girl whose boyfriend had smoked too much pot and cheated on her with some lame hippie chick? Half of your hair's exactly like that girl's, and the other half's curled up just like the hippie's. It's fascinating," Anya explained illustratively.
"Buffy!" Willow shouted with a whiny and prolonged wail, leaving to find her blonde friend.
Anya, left alone in the kitchen, frowned to herself. "What? Did I say something wrong?"
***
Willow scowled, already outside the kitchen. Her blonde friend hadn't been found yet and so, a possible murder had been put on hold.
Her reflection in the mirror caught the redhead's attention.
"And a big yay to the old self-esteem 'cause of my hair," she whispered, half-crabby and half-gloomy. Willow delicately pushed up some festive locks of both curly and straight hair, but quickly gave up on that approach.
Without the hairdryer's help when the power had run out, that part of the redhead's hair had developed into a real fuzzy combination of both curly and straight locks, completely mixed up with each other. And now that her hair had completely dried out, there was nothing she could do to change it.
Eyeing the red strands all standing up and trapped loosely between her fingers, the former hacker winced at her disastrous appearance. So Willow did the only thing she could; she shrugged, and took one more gulp of the liquor on the wooden table beside her.
***
Hey guys... OK, it was a weak chapter, I know - but I'll try and make better, at least something decent... So, please review me!
Author: Jane McCartney
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be either, damn!
Classification: BTVS Season 7 Halloween future fic.
Rating: PG13
Feedback: Gimme, gimme, gimme. Ah, 'nuff said.
E-mail: janemccartney@bol.com.br
Distribution: Anywhere, I don't mind, just credit me and inform me where it's at.
Acknowledgements: Thanks to everyone involved and, of course, a big special thanks to Theo.
Summary: In one possible reality, the Sunnydale gang comes together on October 31st, 2002. For some, things are looking up; for others, definitely down. Friendship issues, some humor, a little bit of romance and Rudolph the Red-Nose reindeer.
***
The doorbell sang out its siren song once more, causing everyone some genuine fleeting startlement with its clattery noise.
Dawn, the true epitome of defeat, sat gloomily on the couch; head on her lap, and arms spread loosely. A tiny tilt of the head was the only hopeless reaction showed by the teen girl.
Then a lanky medium-sized teenager came in, with a bouquet of pink roses in his trembling hands when Buffy answered the call. And the brunette girl's heart might as well have skipped a beat.
"Hey Dawn," Dan greeted her nervously, with a small grin on his lips.
He glanced quickly at the collection of costumed people in the living room, and waved uncertainly. One foot behind the other, in a very insecure teenage way.
"Dan!" the teenage brunette replied a little too forwardly, and immediately cursed herself mentally for it.
"Sorry for bein' late," he apologized.
"Oh, come on, don't worry about that! Pfft," Dawn snorted, trying to sound as cool as possible. "I wouldn't even have noticed, if you hadn't mentioned it."
Xander, coming back from his search in the kitchen for the second innocent can of beer, spotted the newly-arrived teenager.
"So, Dan right?" the young man said casually, with a sympathetic smile. "Glad ya made it, man; one more minute, and Dawn would have had no more fingernails to chew..."
Willow quickly elbowed her friend. And Dawn's wide-eyed gaze nearly fried Xander on the spot.
"If someone wants to murder me, I'll be in living room," was the guy's next guilty remark, followed by an awkward and brief chuckle meaningfully directed at the Dawnster.
Willow rolled her eyes and Buffy tried to hide her grin, with both women almost laughing in amusement.
Entertainment, on the other hand, didn't fit on Dawn's expression; the teen's one was definitely more like panic or embarrassment.
With feigned exasperation, Dawn said apologetically, "Sorry... you see, Xander hasn't been the same ever since he hit his head last year..."
***
Dan, a small grin on his face, looked at the reindeer-costumed guy exiting stage left and then at Dawn.
Heart beating fast, legs shaky enough to make the word 'stumble' an almost certainty in the near future ahead, and blue eyes that just couldn't move away from the brunette girl in front of him.
This realization made his heart beat a thousand times faster, his legs practically collapse on him and a goosey, gauche smile of nervousness appear.
"Ah, Dan?" a worried voice called out his name, and the boy snapped out of his thoughts to find a wide-eyed 'Sandy'-costumed teenager staring intently at him.
"You were like totally out of it for ten seconds," Dawn explained apprehensively, being somewhat anxiety-ridden. "I was starting to get really freaked out here..."
A little jumpy yet, the 16-year-old boy showed a slight bit of confusion, "Was I?"
"I was," Dan then simply repeated dumbly, this time in acknowledgment - as the awareness of said fact lent him a fretful look of mortification.
"And you freaked out for me?" the boy kept on babbling, with a boyish grin this time.
Dawn bit her lower lip nervously, eyeing expectantly the flowers in Dan's hands.
The boy noticed and, feeling more than a little stupid, handed the flowers to his gorgeous date. "Here, these are for you. Thought you might like them..."
The brunette boy then jabbered on with the typical unease in every American teenager, "But if, you know, ya don't - it'll be OK. Really. I mean, I'll only have to start goin' on the psychotherapy thing again, but I'll pull through. I, uh, hope..."
"They're beautiful," Dawn replied sheepishly.
"And anyway, who isn't a little cuckoo nowadays? I... wait, really? Ya like them?" Dan let out a much-needed gasp for air, finally feeling more relaxed. And plus, there was this stupidly wild grin plastered onto his face, which he just couldn't avoid having.
Dawn sniffed the rosy petals meekly, and smiled. "I love pink roses."
"I know," Dan admitted. "But not in a stalker-y kind of way," he frowned defensively.
Buffy, Willow and Anya, in unison, uttered an 'awww'. The two youths noticed their presence, and eyed them sideways in a strange fashion.
But all three females, human or demon, kept staring immovably at Dan and Dawn - with those extended lame grins.
Anya even gave the former Key a quick thumbs-up, mouthing 'cute' with regard to her date. And unluckily for Dawn, blindness wasn't one of the boy's current qualities.
Buffy, only very slightly more discreet then the demoness, pointed meaningfully and a little too briskly towards the mirror, indicating that Dan actually had a reflection.
Dawn, recoiling into the corner, simply tried to hide her face behind her hands - in the face of this first date from Hell.
And when Dan, the sophomore brunette class-sharer, looked at Dawn... the girl just smiled awkwardly, wondering what to do next.
Dan just grinned. She is just so beautiful when she's panicking...
***
Willow glanced at her blonde friend, smiling pensively as she and the Slayer stared to move away towards the interior of the house. "Remember when we were like that?" she whispered.
"Not really. I haven't had that much beer yet, to go there right now," Buffy replied pointedly, mocking exasperation.
The two girls exchanged a look, and started giggling.
***
A bit later, Willow was stagnating in the kitchen; sea-green eyes glued to the flirtatious can of beer, standing on the top of the sideboard.
Anya came in and stood next to her, eyeing the redhead oddly.
"What?" the former witch frowned inquisitively, noticing the hazel-eyed glance upon her.
"Well... during the 60's, when I exacted vengeance for this girl whose boyfriend had smoked too much pot and cheated on her with some lame hippie chick? Half of your hair's exactly like that girl's, and the other half's curled up just like the hippie's. It's fascinating," Anya explained illustratively.
"Buffy!" Willow shouted with a whiny and prolonged wail, leaving to find her blonde friend.
Anya, left alone in the kitchen, frowned to herself. "What? Did I say something wrong?"
***
Willow scowled, already outside the kitchen. Her blonde friend hadn't been found yet and so, a possible murder had been put on hold.
Her reflection in the mirror caught the redhead's attention.
"And a big yay to the old self-esteem 'cause of my hair," she whispered, half-crabby and half-gloomy. Willow delicately pushed up some festive locks of both curly and straight hair, but quickly gave up on that approach.
Without the hairdryer's help when the power had run out, that part of the redhead's hair had developed into a real fuzzy combination of both curly and straight locks, completely mixed up with each other. And now that her hair had completely dried out, there was nothing she could do to change it.
Eyeing the red strands all standing up and trapped loosely between her fingers, the former hacker winced at her disastrous appearance. So Willow did the only thing she could; she shrugged, and took one more gulp of the liquor on the wooden table beside her.
***
Hey guys... OK, it was a weak chapter, I know - but I'll try and make better, at least something decent... So, please review me!