Title: Key To The First

Chapter: Epilogue (12/12)

Author: Anna

Rating: PG-13

Feedback: Would you, please? Pretty please? With sugar on top?

Disclaimer: I had a dream that I was walking around Disney Land and I met Joss Whedon. He gave me all the right to Mutant Enemy and BtVS… but then I woke up.

Author's Note: Here's the epilogue. So sorry it took so long, but I've had a virus! A bad, evil virus that caused me to lay in bed all week and watch my new Season 4 DVDs… okay, so maybe it wasn't all that evil :) Anyway, this chapter takes place far in the future. You ever notice how it's always '5 years' in the future? Or '6 months'? Or some other nicely rounded number? I'm going to break that pattern…

4 years, 7 months, 26 days and 15 hours after chapter eleven…

          Dawn fumbled with the keys to her dorm room while she held a stack of books in her other arm. She cursed under her breath a few times before the key finally went into the lock and she heard that wonderful clicking sound. Opening the door, she shrugged her bag off her shoulder and it fell to the floor next to her desk. Unceremoniously she dropped the pile of books she was carrying and then removed her denim jacket. She turned around, stretching her arms in back of her, and that's when she noticed the man lying on her bed.

          "Wow. You're majorly distracted. I was wondering when you were gonna notice I was here." He said.

          "Andrew… how'd you get in here?" she asked while smiling. "Spike taught you to pick locks, didn't he? I knew he would be a bad influence on you…" She sat down on the edge of her bed as she removed her boots.

          "I'll have you know that Spike and I have a lot in common…" Andrew stated, "We both like the flowering onions at the Bronze…"

          "And you both have that black leather going on." Dawn added as she motioned towards his black duster.

          "Oh, yea." He played with the edge of the coat, "You know, it took a lot of dry cleaning to get Anya's footprint off this coat."

          "I don't know why you still have that thing." She said as she laid down on the bed next to him, "Although I'm not complaining."

          "Really?"

          "Yea. Amanda told me the other day that I've got a reputation around campus 'cause I'm dating a bad-ass. How weird is that?" She snuggled deeper into him, fitting her head into the space between his chin and his chest.

          "You're dating a bad-ass?" Andrew asked, confused.

          "Don't worry, honey. I meant you." She patted his chest reassuringly.

          "Oh." He amended quickly, "I knew that."

          They laid together until the sun went down as the television played some show in syndication. Although they were both perfectly content to not move, they knew there was work to be done. Reluctantly they left the comfort of Dawn's bed and got ready for patrol.

          A few minutes later they had reached the edge of the cemetery and confidently strolled through the gates. Hand in hand, they walked until they were roughly in the center of the cemetery and then Dawn pulled out her cell phone. Andrew leaned against a tombstone while she pressed speed dial and waited for an answer.

          "Hey, Buffy. It's me, Dawn… Yea, me and Andrew are patrolling… Nope, everything's fine… Spike's home, right? …Okay, I just wanted to check… No, I really don't want to know what you guys were doing… ahh! Stop talking! I'm going to need therapy… ugh… good-bye!"

          Dawn snapped her cell phone shut and tucked it in her pocket while Andrew giggled. Very manly giggling, though.

          "Ok, you ready?" she asked and he nodded in reply.

          She moved closer to him and put her hands up, palms facing him at eye level. He flattened his hands against hers and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tapped into her energies. Slowly a green light erupted from them and in a flash of light it covered the cemetery, effectively dusting all vamps in the vicinity. Inside her mind, she could feel all the vampires she had just killed. She opened her eyes and lowered her hands and Andrew did the same.

          "Sixteen." Dawn said proudly. "That's a record!" She hugged Andrew and he spun her around. When her feet touched the ground again, she looked up into his eyes. Internally, she sighed. She never got tired of looking in his eyes. Slowly, she leaned in and kissed him.

          Soon the kissing was rapidly turning into something they didn't want to do in a cemetery. Andrew pulled away first, mentioning out loud that they were in fact still outside.

          "Dorm room?" she asked.

          "Dorm room." He answered.

          Hurriedly, they walked back to the campus. When they reached the more populated areas, they walked a little slower. Across the way, Dawn saw Amanda talking to some people.

          "Hey Dawn!" Amanda called out. Dawn waved back, but soon she and Andrew had disappeared, his leather duster billowing out behind him and making him look much cooler than he actually was.

          "Who was that guy with Dawn?" Amanda's friends had all looked up when Amanda called to Dawn and they noticed Andrew.

          "Dawn's boyfriend." Amanda answered, smiling. They all shared a knowing look.

          "Wow. He was so cool." One girl said, "I didn't think Dawn was into the whole bad boy thing."

          "Oh, Andrew? He's really nice." Amanda said. If only these girls saw him like I did… tied to a chair or drawing pictures of the hellmouth on a white board…

          "Yea, I'll bet he's nice." The girls erupted into a fit of giggles.

          Back in Dawn's dorm room, Andrew and Dawn were being real nice. And if anyone had actually been paying attention, they would have noticed the faint green glow that was visible in the corners of the door to her room. But, hey, this is Sunnydale we're talking about. Green glowy lights and vampires are just part of the scenery.

THE END Author's Note: Whoa. It took me three month to write this. Sorry it took so long. So what did you think? Good? C'mon, people… review! Let's see if I can get 75 reviews…