Author: ImmatureLittleGirl Email: immaturelittlegirl@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: The characters in this story belong to the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Joss Whedon and maybe other people, I'm not sure, I just know that I don't own them...

Summary: Dawn goes to live with her father in LA and has to learn to live without her sister. Strange coincidences lead her to meet an interesting person. Dawn/Connor

Rating: PG-13 I guess.

AN: Sorry for the delay in the update.

PART 2

Over the course of the week, I grew closer with Emily and I was beginning to feel like one of the group. I sat with Emily, Tim, Josh, and Connor, during lunches and hung around with them in my free time after school. They treated me as if I had been their friend for ages, especially Emily. Initially, Tim had seemed to go out of his way to be my new best friend, but after a few days things between us became more casual, and he began to treat me like his other friends. Emily, however, made it her personal obligation to make sure I felt at home with them. I suspected that Emily just needed a female friend; she seemed to like having me to talk to about "girl stuff", and we took to each other rather quickly. The swift forming friendship between the two of us, was probably the reason I was admitted into the clique, or as Emily liked to call it, the "anti-clique", so quickly.

It wasn't long before I began to understand the mechanics of the group. Tim appeared to be the leader, although, it was clear to me, most group decisions were made by Emily, Tim just carried things out, and Josh was the comic relief of the group. Connor, or "Mr. Mysterious" as Josh referred to him as, was just that, a complete mystery. He would rarely partake in conversation in my presence, never revealed anything about himself, and watched everything I did and said, with special attention. It was enough to make a girl slightly self-conscious. Emily had assured me that Connor was just weird like that sometimes, and not to take offense to it.

From what I had gathered over the week, the four of them were well liked around school, but mostly kept to themselves. I also noticed that they were very critical of the popular people in school, particularly Emily. They warned me to stay away from them and even claimed the popular people were evil. Oh, if they only knew. I couldn't help but wonder what it was about me that drew their attention, but I was grateful that they had decided to adopt me as a friend, after seeing first hand, how shallow some of my fellow students could be. It seemed as if some of them spent more time studying the latest issue of Cosmo or Vogue than they did their actual homework.

After only a week, I had developed stronger friends than I had ever really had in Sunnydale. Tim, Josh, and Emily even went as far as to claim me as the baby of the group. Josh had stated at lunch one day that every substantial clique had a 'baby,' even the Spice Girls. This had, of course, received a slap across the arm from Emily, who expressed her supreme dislike for the Spice Girls and refused to be involved in any comparison to them. From then on, Josh had refused to call me by any name other than Rugrat. The irony in this was not lost on me. Although the constant reminder of our age difference was slightly annoying, I kind of liked having a pet name. It really made me feel like one of the group.

The only person that really didn't seem to be receiving me well was Connor.

*

The week sped by quickly and before I knew it, it was Friday. At lunch, Tim filled me in on exactly what they did on Friday nights, which was, from my understanding, nothing. Your typical night out for them consisted of loitering at the mall. There was a little more to the plan for that night. Tim explained that in an attempt to impress me, they had come up with a few things that might be fun and legal to do. The plan was to go to the mall for dinner and from there, to either go bowling, go to the arcade, get ice cream, or any combination of the previously mentioned. From my perspective, it didn't sound terribly well planned out, but I was flattered that they went as far as to make any preparation on my behalf.

The moment I got home from school, I flew through the house and to my bedroom. I had worried about what to wear all week but still had not yet decided on what to wear. I immediately ripped my closet door open and began tossing articles of clothing all over my room.

After close to twenty minutes of considering every piece of clothing I owned, I had narrowed it down to two of my favorite outfits. A knock sounded at my bedroom door, drawing my attention away from my attire momentarily.

"Come in," I called, distractedly.

"Dawn, are you going out somewhere tonight?" Dad asked, looking around my room in surprise.

"Yeah. Remember, I told you at the beginning of the week," I reminded him.

"Oh, I must have forgotten. I'll be going out tonight too. I'm not sure what time I'll be home… probably late. Make sure you bring a key with you, so you can get in the house. Oh, and try not to be out too late," he suggested.

"'Kay, Dad. See you later." I wasn't terribly surprised by his lack of parental concern with where I would be and who with. He had never really seemed very concerned with Buffy's life when she was a teenager, until she burned down the gym, that is. I sometimes wonder what it would take to get his attention. My cry for help would have to some how top Buffy's incendiary tendencies. Those were some mighty big shoes to fill.

"Have fun. See you tomorrow," Dad responded as he left the room shutting the door behind him.

Turning my attention back to the clothing, I grabbed the two outfits that had been lying on my bed, and threw them on the floor. Suddenly my mood had changed and the thought of wearing a pink sweater at that moment was revolting. I picked a slightly wrinkled pair of black flares and a red tee shirt up off the floor. I had decided against them earlier that afternoon, but they then seemed perfectly appropriate. I threw them on quickly and pulled my hair up into a ponytail. After putting on a little makeup and grabbing some cash, I headed for the door to wait for my ride.

*

Josh's small black Toyota Celica pulled up in front of my house just a little after seven o'clock. I hurried out the front door and got into the front seat of his car. Emily was sitting in the back with her feet kicked up on the console between the two front seats.

"Hey Rugrat, sorry we're a little late. Somebody couldn't decide on what to wear" Josh said, pointedly looking at Emily in his rear view mirror, and tugging gently on her baggy gray pants.

"You certainly didn't seem to mind watching me change a dozen times," Emily responded not looking up from the CD's she was flipping through. Josh smirked with amusement, but remained silent. It seemed I was missing some significant piece of the puzzle, but for the moment I chose to ignore it.

"So Dawn, will it be Tsunami Bomb or Alkaline Trio?" Emily asked, looking to me expectantly.

"Uh, no. Dropkick Murphy's. It's my car, we listen to my music," Josh stated firmly.

"Now that's rude! Josh, this is Dawn's first night out with us and you aren't even going to let her pick the music?" Emily questioned disapprovingly.

"Okay Rugrat, you pick," Josh replied after a moment of contemplation.

"Tsunami Bomb," whispered Emily from the back seat.

"I, uh, don't know any of those bands," I answered. Honestly, I really had never heard of any of the names they mentioned, but I was thankful for the excuse not to get stuck in the middle of an argument.

"In that case, you'll love Dropkick Murphy's," Josh assured me as he grabbed a CD and slid it into the car stereo. Loud music began to blast from the speakers, but I found that the sound wasn't all that unpleasant. I even kind of liked it.

"Grumble, Grumble." Emily gave an exaggerated pout and crossed her arms over her chest in protest.

"Aww, isn't she adorable when she's angry?" Josh asked me sarcastically. Emily responded by raising her middle finger and waving it in Josh's direction, he just smiled smugly and returned his attention to the road.

*

The ride to the mall had consisted of about fifteen minutes of bickering and flirting between Emily and Josh. When we finally arrived at the mall, Tim and Connor greeted us. They were seated on the stairs of the mall entrance, quietly talking while they waited for us. However, the moment I came within hearing distance, Connor stopped talking and it appeared that their conversation came to an abrupt halt. Tim stood to greet us as we approached, and Connor reluctantly followed suit.

"Hey, you guys finally showed. What took so long?" Tim asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Blame Emily," Josh replied jokingly.

"Oh, fine. Blame me. What else is new?"

"Whatever, I'm starving. Let's get food!" Tim shouted, turning and running off in the opposite direction. I followed Emily and Josh who walked at a more casual pace to the food court. Connor followed behind us all, almost as if he had to make sure that he watched me. I could tell that he still didn't trust me, the way that he eyed me suspiciously. I just hoped that this strange behavior would end soon.

When we finally got to the food court, everyone went in their own directions to find dinner. I followed Emily to a pizza place and bought a slice of cheese pizza, as did Emily. After purchasing our meals, Emily led me back to their table, for us to find not only the three boys seated in their normal spots, chowing down on dinner, but also three girls I recognized as freshmen at our school. They were leaning over the table, giggling immaturely at some joke Tim had just made.

"Great, just what I wanted to deal with tonight, the fan club," Emily remarked sarcastically with a role of her eyes. The redhead seated at the table beside Connor placed her hand on his upper arm and leaned in to whisper something seductively in his ear. A jealousy rose up from deep within me at the sight, which was completely insane considering he apparently couldn't stand me. It frustrated me to think about how strong my feelings for him had developed, and yet he didn't care; didn't even like me.

As her lips formed quiet words mere centimeters from his ear, his eyes rose up to meet mine, and, for a moment, it felt as if he was looking directly inside of me. Caught off guard by the stare, I couldn't draw my eyes away from his. It felt as though he was reading my thoughts. He must have been able to tell; I couldn't have been any more obvious. I felt my cheeks grow hot with embarrassment and looked away hastily, trying desperately to cover up the damage that had already been done. Glancing over to Emily, I could see she wasn't terribly pleased with the girls' display either.

"Hey," Emily greeted the guys as she approached the table giving the two girls speaking with Josh an intimidating glare. Seeing that the seat beside Josh, that I guessed was normally Emily's, was already taken, she placed her plate on the table and plopped down into Tim's lap across from Josh.

"Hey," Tim echoed, rubbing her arm gently as a sign of greeting, before turning his attention back to the girls. I noticed Josh's interest in Emily perk up the moment she climbed into Tim's lap, which, I gathered, was her intention.

I chanced a glance back at Connor, who was still staring at me. The girl beside him had also taken note of his concentration and glared at me with annoyance.

"Would you like to sit?" Connor asked me, standing as he offered me his chair. My heartbeat began to quicken as he looked at me expectantly for an answer. A small smirk appeared in the corner of his mouth, which only furthered my supposition that he could read my thoughts.

"Uh… Thanks," I replied dumbly. He pulled out his chair for me and stepped around the table to grab another chair from a nearby empty table and dragged it over to the corner of our table for himself. Now why didn't I think of that?

Picking at the cheese on my pizza, I found it hard to eat anything when I could feel Connor's eyes studying me. Looking around the table, I noticed Josh and Emily shooting daggers at each other with their eyes. I'd have to remember to ask Emily what was up between them later. Continuing my survey of the table I recognized that the other girls didn't seem to be terribly thrilled with Emily's presence either. In fact, it seemed the only person at the table who appeared to be comfortable with the situation was Tim, who was completely ignorant of the tense atmosphere.

After taking a few bites of my dinner, I decided to scrap it hoping that maybe someone else would soon follow my lead and we could get out of there. Emily looked up at me once I disposed of my food and gave me a sympathetic look.

"Ya know, I think we should get going. I don't want to waste all night in the food court," Emily remarked, standing and getting ready to leave.

"Okay, let's hit the arcade. You guys wanna come with?" Tim asked, directing the question at the blonde that had been flirting mercilessly with him since we sat down. Emily elbowed him gently, trying to gain his attention, but he ignored the gesture.

"That'd be great. Right guys?" the girl responded, looking to her friends for support.

"Actually, we should probably get going," answered the redhead that had given up on Connor some time ago. "You go ahead though. We'll catch ya tomorrow."

"Well, okay then. Bye."

Emily gave them a rather unfriendly wave good bye, and then began walking quickly in the direction of the arcade. I was forced to hasten my pace, in order to keep up with her.

"Good God, they are annoying. I don't know how the guys can be so impressed with their vapid prattle about nothing," Emily fumed.

"I agree they are annoying, but why are you so pissed off?" I inquired, falling into pace beside her.

"I'm not pissed off," Emily insisted snapping her neck around to look at me for a moment. "Okay, so maybe I'm the teensiest bit ticked. I don't know why."

"Could it maybe have something to do with the girl who had her arms draped around Josh?"

"No! Of course not! Josh and I are so very much over," Emily stated firmly.

"But you were something?"

"Yeah, but it didn't work out," she admitted.

"I'm sorry. It's still okay to feel a little jealous, though. I mean I probably would. I think he was a little jealous too."

"You noticed that too, huh? He does that cute little twitchy smile thing when he gets jealous. Wow, am I pathetic? I need to get over this! We broke up over a month ago."

"Well, if you still like each other, maybe you don't have to get over it. Maybe you could make up, or something," I suggested.

"If only it were that simple. We should slow down we're way ahead of them," Emily commented looking back. Walking over to the side, we waited for the other four to catch up.

"So, what's with you and Connor?" Emily asked abruptly.

"What? Nothing," I answered in confusion, as I sat down beside her on the long wooden bench.

"Come on, I've seen you guys staring at each other. What's the deal?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Fine, whether you know it or not, you like him. I can see it, I'm not blind, and neither is Tim," Emily persisted. I guessed I really had been obvious. I could really use some work in the art of subtlety.

"What do you mean by Tim?" I questioned, wondering what he could have had to do with it.

"Well, he obviously picked up on the vibe between you and Conner if he backed off of you."

"What do you mean 'backed off'?"

"Please, tell me you couldn't possibly be that naïve. Tim was trying desperately to pick you up at first. But hey, don't worry about it. He's over it, and honestly, for your sake, that's a good thing," Emily admitted. I looked at her in confusion, unable to respond. "I mean, he is a great friend. But when it comes to girls he's kinda'… uncommitted."

"Oh. You mean he's like the love'em and leave'em type?" I asked, finally getting her implications. She nodded in response.

"In the physical sense, if you know what I mean. I didn't tell you this so that you would think he's a bad guy though, I mean he's really a great bud. I just wanted to make sure you're careful. Anyways, I doubt he would do anything to hurt you, especially now. You're one of us. You fit in so well, it's eerie."

"Really? Thanks," I replied with appreciation. She smiled warmly, and then directed her attention in the way of Josh and Connor, who were now only steps behind us.

*

The arcade in the mall was bigger than any I had ever seen before. There must have been every kind of video game imaginable, available there. Tim gave each of us a little credit card with ten dollars worth of games on them, because his uncle was the manager and he was able to get them for free. It seemed like the moment everyone had there cards, they knew exactly what they wanted to do and took off in their own direction, leaving me to wander around the enormous arcade by myself.

Initially, I wasn't sure what I should do; the sights and sounds were a bit overwhelming. The flashing lights and different noises, on top of the dozens of people milling around, would have been enough to cause someone to have a seizure. But after a few minutes of exploration I found some interesting video games to play. I went through half my money in only twenty minutes, finding that certain games were down right addictive.

Deciding it best that I find one of the gang before I wasted all my money, I began searching through the masses of people. I spotted Emily and Josh in a corner in the back of the arcade, engaging in what appeared from afar to be some serious flirting. Thinking it best not to interrupt, I continued my search for a few more minutes. Eventually, I found Tim playing a racecar game with the girl from the food court, whom I still didn't know the name of. I watched for a minute or so before Tim noticed me watching over his shoulder.

"Hey Rugrat! Having fun?" Tim asked, turning his attention to me for a moment.

"Yeah, this place is really cool. I haven't seen anything like it before. They don't have arcades like this in Sunnydale," I remarked.

"I bet. Well, then we have succeeded in our main goal tonight; 'Impress Dawn'. We just didn't want you to find out what big losers we are just yet," Tim joked, smiling playfully. For some reason, now it wasn't really all that surprising to know that Tim was kind of a womanizer. He was so charming at times I could imagine it wouldn't be difficult to fall into his traps. Although, to think of Tim as the type to set traps, didn't really fit well either. I suppose that his innocent façade was probably why girls fell for him though.

"Well, I must say, I am impressed." Tim smiled again in return, and then swiped his card through the game to play again. I continued to watch for a few minutes, until I saw Connor out of the corner of my eye. I debated whether or not to approach him for a moment, but then decided that it couldn't hurt.

Connor was standing in front of the game 'Mortal Combat', battling his heart out, but failing miserably. I stood in back of him and watched as he had his ass kicked three times by his computerized opponent. He was even worse at video games than Giles, which I hadn't thought possible.

"Stupid game," he mumbled under his breath, still unaware of my presence. I chuckled quietly at his remark, which caused him to spin around quickly. He took an immediate step away as soon as he saw it was I and gave me a look mixed with annoyance and suspicion. "I didn't notice you there," he stated evenly, without emotion.

"Sorry. Mind if I give it a try?" I asked, stepping toward the game. He stood back and watched as I swiped my card and selected my player. I wasn't very familiar with the game, but I had played it with Xander a few times before, so I had an idea of how the game went. When the simulated battle began, it took me a moment to get the hang of the game, but I caught on quickly and was able to swiftly crush my challenger. I turned to see Connor's reaction after the screen read that I had won. His jaw was hanging open and he stared at the screen in shock.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" he demanded, swiveling in my direction.

"I don't know, I guess I've just played a lot of Playstation in my time."

"What's Playstation?" he questioned looking at me, confusion evident on his face.

"You're kidding, right?" I asked. When he didn't respond, I realized he was serious. What kind of poor deprived child doesn't know what a Playstation is? No wonder he didn't seem to be very well adjusted. "It's a video game system. One you hook up to your TV and play at home."

"Oh… Do it again," Connor ordered motioning to the game again.

"Uh, ok," I responded, slightly confused. No, definitely not well adjusted.

I swiped the card through the slot again and demonstrated how to defeat the opponent again, doing so even more rapidly than the first try. Connor watched in fascination, while I won in round after round. As the minutes passed, I could feel Connor stepping gradually closer to me. He didn't appear to be aware of his progression toward me. After a few more minutes, he placed his hand on my lower back as he leaned in over my shoulder. I jumped slightly at the sudden contact, and felt his hand tremble slightly, then pull away. A strange feeling of warmth flowed through me when we touched and the skin on the small of back still tingled where his hand had been. I had never felt anything like it before.

"You lost," Connor mumbled quietly, drawing my attention back to reality. I looked back up at the video screen to see my character lying on the ground. I hadn't noticed that he had been killed, once I lost my concentration.

"Yeah," I muttered in response. I turned around to see him standing closer to me than I had realized. His face was less than a foot away from mine, closer than I would usually stand near someone under normal circumstances. Strangely enough, the close proximity to him was actually comforting, rather than awkward.

"You're good," he remarked looking back to the game.

"Thanks." We stood together for another moment before I noticed Emily watching us out of the corner of my eye. I took a step away from him, beginning to feel slightly self-conscious about the entire situation. "Maybe we should go catch up with everybody," I suggested, nodding in Emily's direction. She mouthed the words 'I told you so' from across the room and gave me a smug grin. Connor looked back and forth between us, giving me one of his characteristic suspicious looks.

A few minutes later, we regrouped and decided that it was about time to call it a night. It was closing in on eleven already and the exhaustion of the long day was beginning to set in. We said our goodbyes to each other then split up to go home. By the time we reached Josh's car I was about ready to collapse.

The drive home from the mall was completely silent. I could tell from everyone's slow and groggy mood, I wasn't the only one who was beginning to feel tired.

"Didja' have any fun tonight?" Josh asked as he pulled the car in front of my house.

"Yeah, thanks for bringing me along," I replied as I swung the door open.

"Don't mention it."

"Talk to you later, Dawn," Emily called from the back seat.

"Yeah. Goodnight." I yawned before shutting the door and heading into the house.

I climbed into bed the moment I got in the door. It had been a long time since I had felt as drained as I did, for reasons unrelated to the supernatural. In fact, it had been a long time since I had taken part in anything unrelated to the supernatural. It was as if tonight, was the first night, of the rest of my life. And the rest of my life was beginning to look a little more normal than it had last month.

*

~TBC~