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: Thank you to everyone who sent feedback. J Sorry if I confused anyone, I fudged the timelines a little bit to make it work. It's somewhere in Season 6 of Buffy and Season 4 of Angel, I think.
PART 7
The next day at school, I marched slowly down the busy hallway, in the direction of Connor's locker. After having spent the entire night tossing and turning as I worried about my relationship with Connor, I decided that it would be best for me to just talk to him about the kiss. I needed to know what his thoughts were on the subject, but unfortunately, he wasn't really 'Joe Here's-what-I'm-thinking'. I wasn't feeling terribly confident about the upcoming confrontation, but I hoped in the end, it would ease the awkwardness between us. If it didn't add to it, that is.
I stopped dead in my tracks as soon as I saw him, standing in front of his locker as he spun the combination on the lock. His shaggy brown hair fell in front of his face and he pushed it out of his eyes in irritation, only to have it fall back in place a second later. He looked so hot sometimes; it was hard to think straight just being near him. I couldn't help but think about that one amazingly good kiss I shared with him, which only reminded me that now he most likely thought I was a pathetic loser. For an instant, I contemplated turning and running in the other direction. Maybe if we both pretended it didn't happen, then eventually we would both forget. Yeah, forget kissing Connor, right…
As the door to his locker swung open, he tossed some books inside and then glanced down the hallway. His eyes connected with mine and I realized that there was no turning back now. A small whimper escaped my lips as I realized that this was the moment of truth. I tried to remain calm as I prepared myself for rejection. He watched me intently as I made my way over to him slowly. For a moment, I stood in front of him, unsure where to begin. I had been practicing what to say all morning, but suddenly everything I had planned on saying sounded lame and pathetic.
"Hi." I started off with the classic casual greeting. Where to go from there, was the problem.
"Hey," was his simple response. He looked back to his locker and removed two books, tucking them under his arm before returning his attention to me.
"About yesterday…" I began, but drifted off unsure what else could be said. He said nothing, only watched me carefully, his face revealing no emotion. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm really not sure why I did that, but I'm sorry if I, like, offended you, or something." There it was, out in the open. He was silent for a moment and I imagined he was carefully planning how to reject me, using the least amount of words possible.
"You did not, 'like, offend me, or something', yesterday. You have yet to offend me, don't apologize," he responded easily. A small, slightly mocking, smile crossed his lips momentarily, but it faded quickly.
"Ok. So, we're cool then?" I asked hopefully. The corner of his mouth twitched as if he was going to smile again, but instead he looked down the hallway, before looking back to me.
"We are," he stated calmly.
"Ok, good." I stood in front of him a moment longer, wondering if I should leave now.
"I have class," he remarked, still watching me carefully.
"Yeah, me too." Neither of us made a move to leave our spots. I found myself staring into his eyes, lost in his intense gaze. I wasn't sure how long I stood there just staring into his eyes. The bell suddenly sounded to signal we should head to our class, and I was shaken from my daze. "I-I better go," I said before turning in the direction of my classroom. I made it only about four steps before I was abruptly yanked over to the side.
"What the hell was that all about?" Emily asked, staring at me expectantly.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about whatever it was that you and Connor were doing just a minute ago! You didn't kiss again, did you?" Emily questioned, a small, excited smile began to spread across her face.
"No! We were just talking. That's all," I explained, simply. Emily gave me a disbelieving look.
"He was giving you that look. He wants you, just as much as you want him. What are you waiting for to tell him?" Emily asked exasperatedly.
"He wasn't giving me any 'looks', and who says that I 'want' him anyway? Maybe I'm over the whole Connor thing!" I looked down as I fixed my skirt, unable to look her in the eye as I lied through my teeth about being over Connor.
"Yeah maybe," Emily agreed sarcastically. She shook her head in disbelief, causing her pigtails to wag back and forth. "And he wasn't giving you looks? Please! You guys were doing that whole, corny, staring into each other's eyes thing for, like, a whole minute, without saying anything. He was most definitely giving you looks!"
"Honestly, I really wish he were interested, but he's not. I know you want to fix us up, or something, but it's just not going to work. Let's just try and forget about the whole thing, okay?" I insisted, aware of the audible disappointment in my voice.
"I guess, if that's what you want," Emily responded, giving in reluctantly.
"It is."
"I'll talk to you later then," Emily remarked, giving me a sympathetic look.
"Yeah, later." After giving Emily a small wave, I turned down the hall toward my class. I couldn't help but wonder, as I made my way through the maze of corridors, if just maybe, there was a little bit of truth to what Emily was saying, but I supposed it wasn't really worth it to get my hopes up.
***
I spent the rest of the morning watching the clock tick by, second by second, anticipating the end of classes. Fridays always seemed to last the longest. I couldn't wait to get out of school; I was beginning to feel suffocated in the stuffy classrooms. I desperately needed some fresh air, but there was still at least a few hours left to the school day. It wasn't as though I was actually learning anything anyway. A certain tall, dark, and handsome man occupied most of my thoughts, leaving minimal attention actually dedicated to my studies for the rest of the morning. I was extremely thankful when the bell for lunch break rang; a few minutes more of Mr. Swanson's lecture, and I might have passed out from the boredom.
I made a quick stop at my locker, before hurrying down to the lunchroom, but was surprised when an arm wrapping around my shoulders began leading me away from the cafeteria. I looked up to see Josh directing me towards the rest of our group near the back entrance to the school.
"Where are we going?" I asked looking up at Josh who was grinning excitedly.
"We were all in history last period, and couldn't help but notice how boring the rest of our school day sounded, so we decided to skip it. We're going to lunch at a lovely diner down the street, where the food is actually, get this, edible!" Josh explained with exaggerated enthusiasm.
"You're coming with, right?" Emily asked, also smiling excitedly.
"I don't know," I answered, a little unsure. I'd already skipped a class earlier that week; I hadn't intended to make it a habit. I glanced around the group uneasily. Josh and Emily were looking at me expectantly, while Tim and Connor both appeared bored and indifferent. They all seemed anxious to get out of school, before we were caught, judging from the way each of them continually glanced from the cafeteria doors down the hall and back to the doors to freedom only a few feet away.
"Oh come on, Rugrat, its just a few stupid classes. Do you really want to spend the rest of your day, cooped up in a boring classroom, listening to lectures about things you don't even need to know about, anyway? Besides, all the kids are doing it! Give in to the peer pressure!" Josh coaxed, sarcastically. Emily rolled her eyes, and slapped him on the arm.
"You don't have to come along if you don't want to miss classes, but if you do, you know you're welcome to come with us," Emily offered, giving me a supportive smile. I remained quiet for a short moment while I weighed my choices.
"Okay, I'm in! Let's go!" I decided. I glanced at Connor who smirked at me, and I suddenly felt a bit self-conscious.
"That's our girl! Now, let's get the hell out of here," Tim suggested seriously. He made a beeline for the back door, and we all followed after him.
Sneaking off campus was not terribly difficult; we just simply walked off the property, away from the school. I could see a few other kids hanging around outside on the grounds and in the parking lot, as well. I guessed Friday was a popular day for skipping classes.
As we walked down the sidewalk to the diner, Tim and Josh entertained us with a humorous story about one of their teacher's flatulence problem, earlier that day. I soon tuned them out though, after I noticed Connor was walking along side me. His arm brushed up against mine slightly, and I was forced to bite my lip to keep from grinning like an idiot. He continued to walk close beside me until we arrived at the diner.
The diner was mostly empty, aside from a couple of businessmen in one corner and a few more casually dressed men seated at the counter. We walked further into the diner and chose a booth beside a window. I slid in beside Connor, across from Josh and Emily, while Tim pulled a chair up to the end of the table.
"Welcome to Red's Diner. We typically skip out on classes, about once a month, to eat lunch here. It's kind of a tradition," Tim explained, leaning back in his chair.
"Cool." I looked around the diner taking in my surroundings. Living in Sunnydale, I learned to take note of all possible exits. I glanced back and forth between the two visible exits in the front and back of the diner. Sitting back in my seat correctly, I noticed Connor staring at me strangely. Wasn't it normal to take note of all routes of escape? I gave him my best innocent look and smiled sweetly, hoping he would let down his suspicions.
"Afternoon, kids. What can I get for you guys today?" a heavyset woman, in a green waitress outfit, asked, as she approached the table.
"Hmm, Rose, I'm not sure I know what I want today. Could you read me the menu, again?" Josh asked sweetly.
"Ok, that'll be a cheeseburger for Josh," the woman responded, rolling her eyes. "And the rest of you?"
"We'll all take our norms, thank you, Rose," Emily answered for the group.
"Ok, got it. And what about you, Hun?" Rose questioned, looking at me expectantly. I bit my lip as I tried to remember how much money I had with me.
"I guess I'll have a grilled cheese sandwich and a water, please," I responded quietly, silently hoping that it wouldn't be too expensive.
"Aren't you just the sweetest little thing? What are you doing hanging around with these hooligans?" Rose joked. The rest of the group laughed at her remark, while I simply shrugged, unsure what to say. "What's your name?"
"Dawn," I stated, politely.
"Dawn? Well, Dawn, don't you let them get you into any trouble," Rose replied, patting me on the shoulder before turning back towards the kitchen.
"She seemed… nice," I remarked, once Rose was out of earshot.
"Yeah. She puts up with our, in general, weirdness, so she's cool," Emily replied absently.
"Oh. How come she wouldn't tell you what was on the menu?" I asked remembering the exchange she had had with Josh.
"Josh was just being stupid. Every time we come in here, he has her read him the menu but he always orders a cheeseburger. She won't do it anymore though 'cause she figured out that he was just being an immature jerk," Emily answered.
"But a lovable immature jerk," Josh declared, wrapping his arm around Emily's shoulders and pulling her closer.
"What is up with you two and the grabby-ness? Are ya back together again, or what?" Tim asked, sounding a bit exasperated.
"Something like that," Josh stated, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.
"So we're talking a 'friends with benefits' type of deal?" Tim inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"We are not talking about this because we are not having this conversation!" Emily exclaimed, glaring at Tim, who immediately backed down.
"So Connor, what was with that meeting with guidance you had this morning?" Josh asked after a moment of uncomfortable silence passed over the table.
"I have an attitude problem, due to my unstable environment and lack of parental figures, according to Mrs. Barchelli," Connor mimicked, as a scowl crossed his face.
"So what's she gonna do about that?" Emily asked, seeming to be concerned.
"Nothing," Connor answered simply.
"He's eighteen. There's nothing she can do." Tim filled in the rest. Connor nodded his agreement, absently playing with the napkin dispenser. I looked over at him with surprise. I had assumed he was younger because he was only a junior, although, upon inspection, I did notice that he appeared older, more mature, and a great deal sexier, than most of the boys his age; especially in the tight black t-shirt he was wearing and those ripped jeans that hung loosely on his hips. Then again, he would be gorgeous in anything… or nothing. I forced myself to suppress a grin at that thought. Not that I had a crush on him or anything!
"It won't stop them from calling your dad," Josh commented, slouching down in his seat. Connor shrugged, exhibiting his indifference.
A moment later Rose returned with our drinks, and the table fell into silence.
"Why so silent? Are we discussing something illegal?" Rose questioned half jokingly, as she placed the drinks on the table in front of us.
"Yep, you got our number, Rose!" Josh confirmed, grinning.
"Always up to trouble, you kids are. Tim stop tilting back in your chair, you're going to fall and crack your head open," Rose chastised.
"Sorry, Mom," Tim answered sarcastically, and dropped his chair flat on the floor with a loud smack.
"Your order will be up in a minute or so, kids." Rose smiled kindly once more, before leaving our table, to hand the businessmen in the corner their bill. As soon as Rose was merely a few feet away, Tim leaned back in his chair once more.
"I thought you said you didn't have parents?" I asked carefully, watching Connor's reaction and hoping he didn't feel I was prying into his business.
"I don't," Connor stated firmly, not looking me in the eye. I exchanged a look with Emily, who looked uneasy. I was confused by his response, but decided judging from his current mood, it was not an issue worth forcing.
"So…" Josh began but his voice faded off awkwardly. Our group merged into a complete silence for a moment, before a loud bang and a yelp drew everyone's attention to Tim, who was now sprawled on the floor. Josh broke out into hysterical laughter immediately, while the rest of us stood up to make sure Tim was all right, before breaking into our own fits of laughter.
"Didn't I warn you?" Rose asked, as she watched Tim fix his seat and sit back down, before she placed our plates of food down in front of each of us. Tim's cheeks reddened in embarrassment, but he chose not respond. "Enjoy!" With that, Rose left us to ourselves, once again.
We sat quietly for a moment as we began picking at our lunches. Josh immediately picking his favorite things off of other people's plates and licking them before they had the chance to eat them.
"Hey!" Emily exclaimed, as she watched Josh run his tongue along the pickle he had just taken off of her plate.
"What? Oh, you didn't want this, did you?" Josh asked innocently, ending his statement by licking the pickle again.
"Do you really think that a little of your spit is going to disgust me? Please! It wouldn't be the first time I'd ingested your saliva," Emily commented, giving Josh an annoyed glare.
Josh smiled proudly, wrapping an arm around Emily and pulling her closer to him. "So you like my saliva?" He leaned down to whisper in her ear, loud enough so that the rest of us could hear him as well. Leaning in even closer, he licked her neck. I began to feel a little uncomfortable. Glancing between Connor and Tim, I noticed they appeared to be a bit uncomfortable with the situation as well, but neither seemed terribly surprised by the behavior.
"Eww! Stop that. Keep your spit to yourself!" Emily shouted, pushing Josh off of her.
"Yeah, please do!" Tim quickly supported Emily's request, eyeing the french-fries Josh had stolen from his plate just a few minutes ago.
Josh shrugged off the comments easily and began to wolf down the rest of his meal. Tim and Connor both picked at their lunches while listening to Emily go on about a concert that was coming up, her own lunch completely forgotten. Although my own lunch appeared to be more appetizing than that which would have been served by the school, my stomach was doing flip flops, most likely due to the combined stress from my argument with Buffy, missing classes, my self-imposed mini-slayer duties, and the fact that at the time I was sitting next to possibly the most attractive man I had ever met. I decided maybe food would not be such a good idea, for the moment.
I tuned back into the conversation that was now being lead by Tim, hoping to momentarily forget the stress I was under and relax. Looking around I noticed everyone else had mostly finished their lunches.
"You need a sport, that would get them off your case. If you're involved in a sport, you look well rounded. Besides you're strong and athletic, you'd be good at sports," Tim directed his suggestion at Connor.
"No time," Connor answered flatly, seeming uninterested in the conversation, instead he seemed to be concentrating on the bench we were sitting on where his hand was resting between us. I hadn't noticed how close we had been before, and silently wondered if I had subconsciously moved closer to him.
"Come on, you could cut back your hours or something couldn't you?" Josh advised, bringing Connor's attention back to the conversation.
"I wouldn't make rent," Connor stated, not buying into their ideas.
"Well, if you really needed money, couldn't you ask…" Emily began, but was abruptly cut off.
"No!" Connor said firmly, fixing Emily with a glare. The hand that had been resting calmly beside me, suddenly balled into a fist. Without thinking I reached for his hand, rubbing my thumb against the back of it in an attempt to comfort him. He immediately glanced back down at his hand, which relaxed after a moment. "Sorry," Connor apologized for snapping after a few silent seconds crept by.
"I was just suggesting," Emily attempted to explain.
"I know. Forget it, I'll be fine," Connor insisted.
"I bet Courtney would be impressed if you were on the basketball team," Josh remarked, grinning widely and nodding his head in encouragement. My hand immediately stilled, as I listened for what they were talking about.
"Who?" Emily asked, also perking up to the conversation.
"Ya know, Courtney, the blonde cheerleader. She's a senior. Wouldn't have really thought Connor here, for the type into older woman, but I saw you guys talking earlier today. Actually, it wasn't really talking, more like her taking her shirt off for you," Josh informed the group, still wearing his stupid grin. I yanked my hand away from Connor's abruptly, earning a curious look from Connor.
"She was showing me her new tattoo," Connor defended innocently. I could feel his eyes on me, but I refused to look in his direction, for fear of further giving away anymore of my feelings. I instead picked at the food on my plate, although, I really had little interest in eating at that moment.
"Uh-huh," Tim replied, unimpressed. "Look she might have been saying, 'Wanna see my new tattoo?' aloud, but what she was really trying to say was 'Look at my hot body. I want to get into your pants," Tim informed Connor matter-of-factly.
"Hardly. She's an… airhead?" Connor asked looking to Emily to see if he had used the correct word, which, under different circumstances, would have been completely adorable. Emily nodded, smiling slightly.
"She's gorgeous, and taking into consideration her reputation, she probably wants to screw your brains out! Who cares if she's intelligent?" Josh questioned emphatically, receiving him an elbow to his ribcage from Emily. "Ouch!"
"I do," Connor responded quietly.
"Hey, man, whatever you're into. Everyone has their standards," Tim replied giving Connor a supportive smile. "Well, almost everyone," Tim corrected, giving Josh a pointed look.
"You're one to talk!" Josh scoffed. I noticed Connor relax a bit once the attention was away from him, he didn't seem to ever like being the center of attention. Josh and Tim continued to argue half heartedly, until Josh ended the discussion by standing up dramatically, and sarcastically shouting, "You wanna take this outside?" We all laughed at that, which helped to ease the tension that had been building.
"Oh, no you don't. There will be no fighting in my diner!" Rose said, glaring at Josh with authority.
"Sorry," he mumbled in response before dropping back down in his seat. Rose smiled sweetly at the rest of us and slipped the bill onto the table.
"Since it was your first time at Red's, you were on the house, Sweetie," Rose informed me. "Hope to see you back here soon; maybe next time, after school hours." I smiled meekly in response. She chuckled before saying good-bye and heading off to attend to the rest of the customers.
"So where to next?" Tim asked, standing after placing his money on the table.
"Movies?" Emily suggested, glancing at her watch and waiting as Josh climbed out of the booth so that she could, as well.
I followed the group out of the small diner and back out onto the sidewalk, before glancing at my own watch as well. "I have to get back to the school," I stated, realizing how late it was getting; I still needed to grab my books and catch my bus.
"Back to the school? But we just escaped!" Josh shouted, looking disappointed.
"I can find my way back myself," I sounded a bit more confidant than I actually was, but in broad daylight, how lost could I get? "You guys go to the movies and have fun."
"I'll go with you," Connor offered, stepping a little closer to me.
"Ok, we'll see you guys later than," Emily replied quickly, a beaming smile on her face. She grabbed the boys' sleeves and began dragging them in the opposite direction.
"Uh, thanks," I mumbled, feeling a bit uncertain.
"I need to get my sweatshirt," Connor explained, falling into step beside me, as we began our walk back toward the school. I couldn't help from feeling a little disappointed that he just wanted to get his sweatshirt from school, rather than walk with me for the sake of spending time with me. Then again, why would he want to just spend time with me, when older, prettier girls, like Courtney, were vying for his attention?
We walked along the sidewalk in silence for a while, and he seemed to be deep in thought. I tried to keep myself from looking at him, but I couldn't help myself from stealing a few glances in his direction. He strode along the path beside me, staring down at the ground. An eerily familiar frown spread over his face, as he brooded over some unknown subject. Even unhappy, the boy looked so attractive I had to continually force myself not to stare at him, for fear I might actually begin to drool.
When we had begun our trek back to the school, we had started out with a modest distance between us but after some time I noticed that the space between us was gradually diminishing. Soon enough we were walking with mere inches between us and I wondered why it was I seemed to have this natural inclination to be close to him. True, I did find him more than attractive, but it seemed that he had some sort of pull to me, and I often found myself moving closer to him without even realizing what I was doing.
"Dawn?" Connor asked suddenly, interrupting my thoughts and catching me slightly off guard.
"Hmm?" I looked over to Connor, waiting for what he had to say.
"I'm not interested in Courtney," Connor stated firmly.
"Ok," I responded. I gulped and turned my attention directly in front of me, feeling extremely paranoid that he was somehow able to read my thoughts. "That was somewhat random, wouldn't you say?"
Connor shrugged his response. He continued eyeing me, apparently still gauging my reaction.
"You're so different," Connor remarked quietly, after a few more minutes of silence passed.
"Different?" I asked, unsure what he meant.
"Yes," he nodded.
"Is that good or bad?" I asked nervously. Connor remained quiet and thoughtful for a moment, causing my stomach to twist with anxiety.
"Good… I think," Connor finally replied, his voice laced with uncertainty. I wasn't sure how to respond to his admission, so I chose not to. We walked the rest of the way back to school in silence.
We arrived back at the school in time to hear the final bell ring, and slowly made our way through the halls. As we were about to split our separate ways, a stern-looking, elderly man, I recognized as Principal Huntley, approached us.
"How nice of you to finally show up, Connor," Huntley remarked, with mock courtesy.
"Figured I'd make an appearance," Connor answered sarcastically.
"Don't give me your attitude, or you will be sorry," Huntley warned. "And I see you've made a new friend. Why am I not terribly surprised? I've been keeping my eye on you Miss Summers, I figured I'd be seeing you in my office soon enough. In fact, I'm surprised it's been this long. I'll be calling your father later this afternoon, just like old times. Be sure to give your sister my regards.
"And you, Connor, I'll be placing a call to your father later, as well. I'm sure he'll be just astonished that his only son is up to trouble, once again," Huntley stated, a sharp edge of sarcasm in his voice.
"I'm sure," Connor snapped.
"It's unfortunate that I must allow delinquents like the two of you to roam the halls of my school. Of course, if you decide to follow in your sister's shoes, and burn down the gym, or something of the like, I'll be forced to expel you from Hemery. And what a sad day that will be," Huntley glared at me as he spoke, and then returned his angry gaze to Connor.
"I'd hate to disappoint you, sir." Connor shoved his shoulder against Principal Huntley's as he pushed his way through the crowds of people to get away from our unpleasant principal. Huntley turned back towards me, fixing me with another angry glare causing me to jump slightly.
"Uh, bye," I said quickly, before darting down the hall toward my locker. I was surprised when I rounded the corner and found Conner leaning against my locker.
"Hey," I greeted, uneasily.
"Sorry about Huntley," Connor spoke quietly, watching as I opened my locker and began looking for my books.
"No problem. Buffy's already told me what a jerk he is. Just be happy we don't have Snyder."
"Buffy, your sister? She burned down the gym?" Connor asked, gazing at me suspiciously.
"She had good reason! The gym was full of asbestos!" I defended. Connor gave me a disbelieving look, but nodded as though he bought my excuse.
"Goodbye," he said before turning and heading towards his locker.
I watched him as he made his way down the corridor. If I was 'different' than he was just plain strange.
***
TBC…
AN: Let me know if you liked it or not, or if you have any suggestions or comments; all feedback is appreciated.