Dawn flung open the door to her room and leapt across the piles of clothes littering the floor in time to grab the ringing phone from it's cradle.

"Hello?" she said breathlessly, supporting the phone between chin and shoulder as she tried to shrug out of her coat.

"Dawnie?" Buffy sounded worried, causing Dawn to roll her eyes recognising the tone of her sister's voice as one she heard far too often. "Are you okay?"

"Jeez, Buffy, I'm fine. I just ran in that's all." she replied irritably. "Is there something you wanted?"

"Just, you know calling to say hi."

"Uh-huh." Dawn answered knowingly. "And to check that I'm all right."

"Well, you know, it's nearly a year…"

"God Buffy! I'm well aware that's it nearly a year since my heart was broken and can I just say that I seem to handle it way better than you ever did!"

"Fine." Buffy's hurt voice floated back, causing a twinge of guilt in her younger sister. "I was just making sure my little sister was okay but obviously you don't need my help."

"Buffy," Dawn started and was greeted by the dial tone. "Damn." she muttered placing the phone back. She noticed her answer phone flashing and played the messages as she collapsed onto her bed.

"Dawn!" Chris' cheerful voice occupied the first message. "What you up to next week? Because there is this great concert on the beachfront that we just have to go to! Call me back." Dawn let a smile grace her features, she knew Chris was just trying to take her mind off the anniversary and she also knew she really wouldn't be in the mood for any beachfront fun. But she would go because Chris needed the distraction just as much as she did.

"Dawn?" Dawn froze as she heard Angel's hesitant voice over the phone. "It's Angel." a muffled noise in the background almost made Dawn smile. "Actually it's everyone. We, erm, just wanted to see how you were. Call me back if you want to." Dawn sat for a moment, lost in thought, until she leaned over determinedly and pressed the 'erase' button deleting Angel's voice from the machine. She'd barely spoke to them since that night and could never really get rid of all the blame she felt against them.

Dawn grunted in exasperation, throwing herself back on the bed. She knew everyone meant well but all they were doing was bringing up the memories she'd quite happily tried to forget. Wasn't repression a valid method of living anymore?

She fingered the throw that lay under her and was assailed with the memory of Jake holding her there. "Damn." she muttered again, rising up hurriedly and shaking her head, as though to dispel the memory.

She began to pace the room, irritably kicking the armchair every time she came into contact with it. After a few minutes of this Dawn stopped and stared out into the dark night framed by the window. She glanced at the armchair realising that there were things that were much more worthy of her aggression. Dawn span to stride out the room, grabbing her jacket and weapons bag as she went.

As Dawn meandered down the path she was reminded of another night very similar to the one around her. She shook her head again and tried to think of something different. Motorbikes. Damn, Jake would've looked good on a motorbike. No, she thought furiously. Bunny rabbits. Ah, there we go, thought Dawn, absolutely no connection to Jake. Except I'm still thinking about him.

Dawn irritably pushed her hair behind her ears and began to scan the area hopefully. A smile lit up her face as she saw the familiar figure of a vampire wearing horribly out of date, seventies style platform boots. Oh, and the disfiguring facial ridges was also a give-away. She happily strode across the grass and was rewarded with the vampire looking up at her, shocked.

Of course, then his expression turned to one of happiness and he made the obligatory references to little girls, dark alleyways and bad, bad men. Dawn just rolled her eyes whilst informing him that they weren't actually in a dark alleyway and moved forward to attack him, stake clasped expertly in hand. The only flaw in Dawn's attack plan was the fact that the vampire was probably actually a decent fighter, killer and all round bad guy. So as she felt his fist connect with her jaw the only thing Dawn could think was; crap. Least she wasn't thinking about Jake.

*

The sound of the fight was loud in the night, but then to Connor, the sound of the sleeping birds in the trees were loud in the night. He watched from a few feet away, perfectly in sync with the darkness, as Dawn battled the vampire.

One part of him, the part he knew as Jake, was yelling at him to go help her whilst Connor was perfectly comfortable just watching the display to see how Dawn did. He started to argue with himself before both parts of him dissolved into laughter. He supposed he'd quite easily get diagnosed as schizophrenic but Connor relished both parts of him.

They'd been a good influence on each other, until it came to the point that sometimes it was very hard to tell which part of him was which. The only reason he'd chosen the name of Connor was because he'd never really liked Jake anyway.

Dawn managed to aim a kick exactly where it would hurt any male the most and Connor took a moment to wince in sympathy and smile that it was a good job that vampires couldn't have children anyway. Well, most vampires. She looked like she was winning, her punches and kicks hitting the vampire exactly where Connor himself would have aimed them. But Dawn didn't have the supernatural reflexes that would have saved her from the spinning kick that the vampire delivered, throwing her to the ground. Connor rolled the smooth wood of his stake around in his hand as he started forward.

*

Dawn stared up at the vampire, groggily, she could practically see the cartoon stars she imagined were floating around her head. Her brain was screaming at her to get up and move but her body wouldn't respond, her limbs felt frozen in place as the vampire lowered his mouth to her exposed neck.

Should have worn a scarf, thought Dawn dazedly, even as the vampire exploded in a cloud of ash above her.

She gawked up through the haze of vampire remains seeing the figure of a man above her. He lowered his hand, which Dawn grasped gratefully and hauled her to her feet with absolutely no effort.

*

The gentlemanly part of him offered Dawn a hand and both parts of him, both parts that had grown to love her, lit up with a smile as he saw her.

Her face was a mask of shock but she didn't drop her hand which he took as a good sign. Though he was still waiting for the punch that the dozens of bad romance movies he'd watched promised he'd receive.

*

Dawn couldn't have dropped his hand if she'd tried. Her entire body was numb with shock, her mouth opening and closing ineffectually as she tried to speak to the boy that was staring at her with Jake's face.

*

They faced each other, one side smiling, one trying to overcome her shock even as a smile graced her own features.

"Hi, I'm Connor." He had to say something, the silence was making him fidgety. Dawn smiled then, it lighting up her face, her bright blue eyes glowing with happiness. She shifted her grip on his hand, till she was shaking it in a friendly gesture.

"Nice name, I'm Dawn." And then she threw her arms around him, just revelling in the feel of him.

And the boy who was both Connor and Jake, the boy that Dawn loved, felt as though he'd finally worked out who he was.

THE END

Final A/N: Cheesy, I know. But this is the end. I know I could have written more about Jake/Connor's discovery of himself but I start university in a couple of weeks and my best friend starts this weekend so between getting myself sorted and seeing her before she goes I really don't have the time to write that much. But I would just like to thank everyone who reviewed, reviews really do motivate a girl and I hope that everyone who read it enjoyed it, even when it veered into angst-y territory. Thank you all so much.