A/N: Ah the Cordy thing. It did occur to me, after posting, that Cordy was still in the coma so it is explained though I nearly just let it slide with a footnote about how it is three years later after all. Originally this chapter was longer but it just ended up making sense cutting in half. So the next chapter should be up pretty soon as it is written just needs to be proof-read. Thanks for all the reviews and I just hope you keep on reading.

Dawn dropped herself into the seat opposite Cordelia trying to ignore the rush of workers around her as the LA branch of Wolfram and Hart closed for the day. Cordelia was watching her with a glint in her eye that made Dawn fidget uneasily on the uncomfortable wooden chair perched in front of the receptionist desk. Quickly saying hello she pretended to be fascinated by the flow of people around her. Studiously observing a petite woman's briefcase seemed the best way of avoiding whatever subject Cordy was about to pester her over.

Dawn waved jubilantly as Angel came over, praying that the vampire could derail Cordelia's train of thought concerning her. Waving a hand in greeting Dawn saw he was carrying a giant yellow mug with a smiley face embossed on it which if Dawn wasn't mistaken had steam flowing from the top. He smiled happily as he drew level with Dawn, giving her a one-armed hug as he asked her how she was. Cordy raised herself up ready to inject the question she was apparently dying to ask but Angel turned on her pushing the steaming mug towards her. Cordy's face instantly wrinkled up in distaste, a sight which made Dawn giggle.

"Cordy, drink it." Angel said wearily, hastening to push the mug at Cordelia's raised hands. Her face, if possible, wrinkled further and she placed a hand over her nose to illustrate her point.

"Do I have to?" she whined sounding unerringly like a small child. "It tastes so gross!"

"Cordy!" implored Angel pathetically. Cordy merely rolled her eyes at him whilst grabbing the mug out of his flailing hand. Dawn looked at her curiously.

"Medicine." explained Cordelia with an exaggerated sigh. "Angel here seems to think that if I don't drink it at least three times a week I'll fall back into that miserable coma." Angel glanced up from where he'd occupied himself shuffling files to give her a look. "Which, okay, is probably true." Cordy conceded. "But I don't see why those Tibetan monks couldn't have thought up something yummier than crushed grass and beetles." Angel rolled his eyes at this, obviously used to her tirade. "I mean, really, would making my medicine taste like a frappacino have killed them?"

Angel strode to her side. "You know Cordy if it wasn't for them…" Cordy cut him off mid-sentence by purposely leaning over the counter, fixing Dawn with a penetrating stare.

"So, who is he?" Cordy interrogated. Dawn stared at her, open-mouthed.

"What? How did you? What?" Dawn blustered. Cordy smiled a satisfied grin at this and Angel walked away with a quick goodbye to Dawn muttering something about women and gossip which made Fred look at him oddly and hurry on over to the pair in deep conversation by the reception counter.

"So basically he's this total Adonis who smarter and cuter and funnier and just an all-round more amazing guy than any other guy in the entire world and he's the reason that this is the first time you've visited us in the last two weeks?" Cordy asked a blushing Dawn ten minutes after the conversation, or interrogation as Dawn would recall it, had started. Dawn fidgeted out of embarrassment.

"Well, we've been seeing each other pretty much everyday." Cordy's smirk told Dawn exactly what she was about to say. "Not like that!" she pre-empted hastily. Cordy's eyebrow rose and even Fred looked at her askance. "Well, okay, maybe a little like that." The other girls laughed.

Dawn glanced at her surrogate big sisters, smiling. It made it easier being away from Buffy with the two of them always on hand to offer face to face advice. Hell, even Lilah was good for advice if she ever needed to get out of a parking ticket. Or, you know, learn how to cover up a gaping neck wound. "Well do we get to meet the lucky guy then?" asked Fred smiling, breaking Dawn's reverie.

"Well, maybe. He's coming to pick me up for a movie. But," she added seeing the devious expressions on the other girls' faces. "you are not in any way allowed to tease, interrogate or in any other way scare the hell out of my new boyfriend. Got it?" Cordy held her hands up in mock surrender, shooting Fred an amused glance.

"Okay, okay. We got it. Dawn's new boyfriend Jake is officially off-limits to us." Cordy's mouth quirked up at the glare her young friend sent her. "In terms of annoying and interrogating and scaring the hell out of." she added with a laugh.

"Good." Dawn said threatening them with an outstretched finger and a mock glare. "Because I am sure that once he meets Spike and Angel he'll probably never speak to me again for fear of castration." Both girls winced sympathetically, having suffered the over-protectiveness of Angel on many a new boyfriend. "So, I'd like to think that he could at least wave from the other side of the foyer at you guys without me having to worry about whether I'll have a boyfriend the next day."

"Wave from the other side of the foyer?" Fred repeated, "We don't even get to meet him?" Dawn smiled wickedly whilst glancing first at her watch then at the door to the monstrous office building.

"Nope." She looked at her watch again. "And he should be here any minute… Now." She finished with a satisfied smile at the figure opening the door. "How cute is that? He's always on time!"

"Adorable." answered Cordelia with a wry smile. Dawn jumped off her chair and sauntered across the foyer giving her boyfriend a quick hug and kiss before trying to drag him out the building.

"Just wave at them." she said under her breath as she tried to hurry their escape.

"Gee, should I smile too?" Jake asked comically waving over his shoulder.

"If you want." Dawn replied in the same undertone before raising her voice to yell, "Bye guys!" Giggling whilst stopping what was quickly becoming Jake's demented waving, Dawn didn't actually glance back at her friends sat around the marble counter.

As the giggling couple vanished through the large doors Fred turned to look at Cordelia finding her pale faced, wide-eyed expression perfectly mirrored in the other woman's. "Was that?" she managed to utter, her voice sounding as scared and small as it ever did in Pylea.

"Yup." whispered Cordelia, her knuckles turning white where they gripped the cold marble tightly. Fred leaned over and gently moved her hands, remembering everything that the boy they'd just seen actually meant to Cordy. "That was Connor."