Double Exposure
Buffy could see her mother lying there. But there were too many of them to sit comfortably anywhere else. Anya was cuddled against Xander on the end, where the head was. Tara and Willow were on the other end, their hands clasped tightly.
She had herded them into the dining room at first. But they were tired and Xander's back was bothering him. Buffy had kind of spaced out and then they were in the living room.
Thankfully, she was sitting in the armchair. Dawn was curled up on the floor at her feet, against her legs.
Giles was somewhere near. Buffy could hear his voice on the phone. She concentrated on not listening to what he was saying. Somewhere in there he would announce that her mother was dead. That's how all the phone calls went now.
It had to be done. She didn't want one day someone to call for her, even years from now, and she would have to tell them that, no, they couldn't speak to her mother because she was dead.
She told Dawn that she should go to bed. Dawn just looked at her. She couldn't remember if Dawn had eaten.
It was obvious Willow was trying really hard not to cry. She was staring at a spot straight ahead. You can't look at anyone when you feel like crying.
Tara reached out her hand as if to touch Willow's back, but didn't.
Xander looked kind of mad again. But then he saw her watching him and the look went away. Buffy had asked him about his hand but she couldn't remember what he had told her.
Anya's eyes were wide as she leaned against his shoulder. She looked like a kid. Buffy couldn't remember her ever looking like that.
But she wasn't really looking at them. They were just in the picture.
Couldn't they see her? She went trough them, sort of reclined. Like she was at first, when she found her and for a second hadn't realized she was dead. Like a double exposure. And not faded. Solid, like they should be able to feel her.
"Would it be better if we moved to the dining room?" Giles startled her by asking.
The end
