Chapter 2
Disclaimer: I am playing with Joss' characters.
Thanks so much for the feedback on Chapter 1 - I was thinking that this would be more of a short piece but with such a good response, I'll try for more! I'm starting to write because I couldn't find what I wanted to see and read anywhere. Do let me know if it's worthwhile to keep going although it will be after Easter before I can update again!
He utters only one word, "Stay" and slides over, pulling back the covers to make room for her.
She complies and lies down beside of him. There is enough light from the streetlights for her to clearly see his face. All signs of youth have fled. Even with the patch, he has never seemed more handsome to her. It's like she's looking at him for the first time. The crinkles around his one good eye have been well earned. Just like the laugh lines around his mouth. He looks far older than his twenty-three years. But he also has the look of a warrior. One who has fought in many battles and has survived by his wits. She finds comfort in the thought.
Xander shifts to his side, lying so that he is now facing her. He looks at her and waits for her to speak.
Moments pass and emotions play across her face but she still hasn't said a word. The silence between them is comfortable and he waits patiently for her to speak. He is content to look at her beloved face and be thankful that he can still see it. He wonders at when exactly her face began to hold so much sentiment for him. She was come to embody home to him. He reaches out and pushes a strand of chestnut hair back behind her ear.
His touch rouses her from her thoughts and she smiles. The light of this smile in the face of so much sadness touches him like nothing else. For the first time since that awful night, he feels some sense of hope, some sense of normalcy.
"Thanks for coming", he says without thinking.
She smiles again. It sounds like he is greeting her at the door to a birthday party and not into his bed. At that thought she realizes that he - in all likelihood - is not seeing her arrival as anything more than a little girl crawling into a parent's bed after a nightmare.
She knows different. There is no nightmare. There is no waking up from what is happening all around them. And she doesn't feel like a little girl anymore. She has seen too much, grieved too much. This last injury to Xander just finished the process. There will be no first dates with young boys and worrying about what shoes to wear. She will never look into the face of a stranger without a doubt as to her own safety.
She has not come seeking anything from him; rather, she has come with the immediate intention of giving comfort and reassurance. "Don't thank me, I think this is where I belong."
"Well, this is your bed after all", he quips.
Hearing him make a quick come back warms her heart and she rejoices at his resiliency. She is now more certain that he is - or will be - OK.
He makes a move to rise, "You probably want me to move."
She stops his effort with her body. He is suddenly on his back with the top half of her body on his own. "No, that's the last thing.I want." She says to last two words shyly and suddenly he is clear on her meaning. His hands come up bracing each of her shoulders with the intention of moving her away but he finds himself drawing her closer instead. He pulls her into a hug. Her head moving to his shoulder.
She responds to this moment by curling her body into his even more. If he had any doubt before, it has fled. She doesn't feel like a little girl in his arms. She feels like a willowy young woman. Her breasts are surprisingly full and they feel wonderful against his chest. One of his hands begins to stroke her back and she nuzzles into him like a cat.
He is still seeking to comfort her more than anything else but he can't ignore his growing arousal. Honestly, there had been times during this year when he had "noticed" her but he would always put himself firmly back into the big brother category. He isn't feeling that way now.
He pulls back to look at her. "Dawn, what are we doing?"
"What does it look like?"
"Actually, I'm not sure. I mean this probably isn't a good idea" he states as his hand, oblivious to his words, continues to caress her back.
"Xander, it's a great idea. I love you, Xander. And I mean really love you. You are the best and most normal thing in my life. I was just so scared when." tears begin to well up in her eyes.
He feels oddly content at the girl's admission. He acknowledges that he has feelings for her too. That out of all of his odd put-together family, she is the most dear, the most vulnerable. The one closest to his heart. He would sooner lose his other eye before hurting her.
Drawing a deep breath, his hands slide back to grasp her arms, ready to follow through on his original intent to move her away.
She senses his retreat and curls more ardently into him, sliding the lower half of her body over him as well. She feels his erection. This contact stuns them both.
She seizes the opportunity to make another appeal. "Xander, please. I need this and I need it from you. I have to feel you with me, in me. God knows what is going to happen next. You CAN NOT TURN ME AWAY."
Tears flow at an increased rate down her face, landing on his own. He can't stand her tears. They are breaking his heart. He knows that she has already lost her childhood and now, he is poised to take any piece of it that's left but looking at her face he knows that he can't deny either of them at this moment.
He knows that this will change everything just as certainly as the loss of his eye but there is no turning back. He will not leave her. Only death can separate them. This lack of doubt shakes him for a brief moment. He has so struggled over this is the past but now his heart is singing and he knows that this is right and this is good.
Dawn feels the tension flow out of his body and he finally relaxes. He answers her smile with one of his own and kisses her softly.
TBA?
Disclaimer: I am playing with Joss' characters.
Thanks so much for the feedback on Chapter 1 - I was thinking that this would be more of a short piece but with such a good response, I'll try for more! I'm starting to write because I couldn't find what I wanted to see and read anywhere. Do let me know if it's worthwhile to keep going although it will be after Easter before I can update again!
He utters only one word, "Stay" and slides over, pulling back the covers to make room for her.
She complies and lies down beside of him. There is enough light from the streetlights for her to clearly see his face. All signs of youth have fled. Even with the patch, he has never seemed more handsome to her. It's like she's looking at him for the first time. The crinkles around his one good eye have been well earned. Just like the laugh lines around his mouth. He looks far older than his twenty-three years. But he also has the look of a warrior. One who has fought in many battles and has survived by his wits. She finds comfort in the thought.
Xander shifts to his side, lying so that he is now facing her. He looks at her and waits for her to speak.
Moments pass and emotions play across her face but she still hasn't said a word. The silence between them is comfortable and he waits patiently for her to speak. He is content to look at her beloved face and be thankful that he can still see it. He wonders at when exactly her face began to hold so much sentiment for him. She was come to embody home to him. He reaches out and pushes a strand of chestnut hair back behind her ear.
His touch rouses her from her thoughts and she smiles. The light of this smile in the face of so much sadness touches him like nothing else. For the first time since that awful night, he feels some sense of hope, some sense of normalcy.
"Thanks for coming", he says without thinking.
She smiles again. It sounds like he is greeting her at the door to a birthday party and not into his bed. At that thought she realizes that he - in all likelihood - is not seeing her arrival as anything more than a little girl crawling into a parent's bed after a nightmare.
She knows different. There is no nightmare. There is no waking up from what is happening all around them. And she doesn't feel like a little girl anymore. She has seen too much, grieved too much. This last injury to Xander just finished the process. There will be no first dates with young boys and worrying about what shoes to wear. She will never look into the face of a stranger without a doubt as to her own safety.
She has not come seeking anything from him; rather, she has come with the immediate intention of giving comfort and reassurance. "Don't thank me, I think this is where I belong."
"Well, this is your bed after all", he quips.
Hearing him make a quick come back warms her heart and she rejoices at his resiliency. She is now more certain that he is - or will be - OK.
He makes a move to rise, "You probably want me to move."
She stops his effort with her body. He is suddenly on his back with the top half of her body on his own. "No, that's the last thing.I want." She says to last two words shyly and suddenly he is clear on her meaning. His hands come up bracing each of her shoulders with the intention of moving her away but he finds himself drawing her closer instead. He pulls her into a hug. Her head moving to his shoulder.
She responds to this moment by curling her body into his even more. If he had any doubt before, it has fled. She doesn't feel like a little girl in his arms. She feels like a willowy young woman. Her breasts are surprisingly full and they feel wonderful against his chest. One of his hands begins to stroke her back and she nuzzles into him like a cat.
He is still seeking to comfort her more than anything else but he can't ignore his growing arousal. Honestly, there had been times during this year when he had "noticed" her but he would always put himself firmly back into the big brother category. He isn't feeling that way now.
He pulls back to look at her. "Dawn, what are we doing?"
"What does it look like?"
"Actually, I'm not sure. I mean this probably isn't a good idea" he states as his hand, oblivious to his words, continues to caress her back.
"Xander, it's a great idea. I love you, Xander. And I mean really love you. You are the best and most normal thing in my life. I was just so scared when." tears begin to well up in her eyes.
He feels oddly content at the girl's admission. He acknowledges that he has feelings for her too. That out of all of his odd put-together family, she is the most dear, the most vulnerable. The one closest to his heart. He would sooner lose his other eye before hurting her.
Drawing a deep breath, his hands slide back to grasp her arms, ready to follow through on his original intent to move her away.
She senses his retreat and curls more ardently into him, sliding the lower half of her body over him as well. She feels his erection. This contact stuns them both.
She seizes the opportunity to make another appeal. "Xander, please. I need this and I need it from you. I have to feel you with me, in me. God knows what is going to happen next. You CAN NOT TURN ME AWAY."
Tears flow at an increased rate down her face, landing on his own. He can't stand her tears. They are breaking his heart. He knows that she has already lost her childhood and now, he is poised to take any piece of it that's left but looking at her face he knows that he can't deny either of them at this moment.
He knows that this will change everything just as certainly as the loss of his eye but there is no turning back. He will not leave her. Only death can separate them. This lack of doubt shakes him for a brief moment. He has so struggled over this is the past but now his heart is singing and he knows that this is right and this is good.
Dawn feels the tension flow out of his body and he finally relaxes. He answers her smile with one of his own and kisses her softly.
TBA?