School Days
"Wow, look at you, all College Girl. Mom'd be so proud." Buffy stood in the kitchen doorway watching Dawn put on her backpack and readjust the straps.
She grinned back at Buffy, "I'm so excited. My first day! You're the best, Buffy. Thank you so much for letting me do this."
"You've worked hard. You deserve it. You'll do great, I know it." She walked over and untwisted one of the straps, then gave Dawn a hug.
"Do you ever regret not finishing college, Buffy? You could come back with me. That'd be so cool. We could take classes together and study for exams together and help each other with papers and..."
"Whoa! Whoa! Stop! I'm good. I admit that for awhile it was a sore subject, but not anymore. I wouldn't know what to take. It's not like you can major in Slayer, you know. I have enough to keep me busy without homework too. No, you go, you learn. Have fun."
Willow called from her room, "Dawn, you ready? We need to go so we're not late." She hurried into the room to see the two sisters smiling at each other. "Oh, Buffy, hi! Um... we gotta go. Is everything ok?"
"Yeah, sure, good. Just seeing Dawn off on her first day."
"Cool." She turned to Dawn, "Ready?"
Dawn grinned and bounced a little, "Yup! Let's go. Bye, Buffy. See you tonight for dinner."
"Bye, have a good day, you guys." Buffy followed them to the door and watched as they got in the car and backed out of the driveway. As Willow put the car in drive, they waved and Buffy waved back. She dropped her hand to her side and watched until long after they were out of sight.
"Kids off to their first day of school?" Xander asked as he put his arm across Buffy's shoulders and looked down the street.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. It's great that they can carpool. It's too far for Dawn alone, you know?"
"Yeah. You ok, Buffy?" He searched her eyes not knowing exactly what he was looking for.
"Yeah. Actually, I'm good. Life is pretty ok right now. No Big Bads on the horizon. Bills are paid. Dawn is doing well. Hey, Willow even has a date this weekend. So, yeah, I'm good."
"You know, that's something I wanted to talk to you about. I, um, have a date this weekend too. With Mrs. Travis... Tina."
"Really? That's great, Xan. I like her. It's too bad she lost her husband so young. That must have been hard. But she's a nice lady and I think you two would be terrific together. You have big plans?"
"Not exactly. She's making dinner for me. But that wasn't the point. My point was that Willow has a date, I have a date, Dawn has a boyfriend. Heck, even Giles is dating that new professor they hired. When are you going to, ya know, get out there with the rest of us?"
"ME? Oh no, not me. I'm the one who stays home and cleans up the mess remember? Relationships and Buffy are like driving and Buffy. Not mix-y things."
"You don't know what you're missing, Buff. The anxiety, the whole foot in the mouth thing. Ah, dating, the endless opportunities for embarrassment."
Buffy turned and pushed Xander toward the workshop. "No, thanks. Now get to work. I have things to do."
The days blended together in a pleasant blur. Dawn had adjusted very well to college life after the first month of classes. She was making new friends and enjoying her studies. Willow was seeing more of Heather, and Xander and Tina were inseparable.
Buffy hummed as she made her bed. The girls were already gone and Xander had left early to take some measurements for a new project. *Things are good. Good, right. Boring and lonely, but good. Damn. Spike, I miss you. Everyone is all paired off except for me. They all keep asking me when I'm going to start dating again.* She turned and picked up the picture from the night stand and sank down on the bed. *They don't understand, Spike. No one can ever come close to you. To what we had. I'm still the Slayer, well, ok, A Slayer. I can't get into a relationship with someone and then say 'oh, by the way, you know all those spooky things you see on late night movies? They're real and I kill them.' And if I tell them first, they'll think I'm too nuts to date.* She sighed. *Nope. Looks like you were my last chance. I didn't have to hold back for fear of breaking one of your bones or something, and you already knew what I was. Dammit, Spike, why'd you have to go and die?* She looked at the picture a moment longer, then ran one finger over the familiar cheekbone and up to the raised eyebrow. She smiled through the tears and then blinked them away. *I know -- so one of us is living.* She put the picture down and went on with her chores.
The journal lay forgotten in a drawer these days. Her daily conversations with Spike's picture had taken its place. And the dreams had stopped since the trip to Sunnydale. Buffy finally seemed to be healing. The loneliness was still there, but she wrote that off as being part of the whole Slayer package.
Willow struggled to balance the pile of books and folders she was carrying in her right arm, while trying to look at the watch on her left wrist without spilling the coffee she held in her left hand, and she ran headlong into the man coming toward her across the common. Books tumbled everywhere, papers flew from the folders, and the coffee cup continued its forward momentum to splatter all over the starched and pristine white shirt of Willow's victim. She bent to recapture the papers before they blew away and began to stammer an apology. "Oh, gods, I'm so s-sorry. I t-totally wasn't watching where I was going. I'll be glad to have the shirt cleaned for you. No -- I'll buy you a new one, really!" Their hands met as he gathered the last of the papers and passed them to her, and she looked up as he replied.
"Not at all. It'll be quite all right." Their eyes met. "Oh, hello, Willow. How are you?"
"William? What are you doing here? I mean, I'm fine, thank you. Obviously late, as usual, but fine. How are you? It's great to see you again. I'd love to catch up, but I have a class." She looked at her watch and her eyes grew wide, "And I am SO late. Can you come over for dinner? Everyone would love to see you and hear about the rest of your trip. And what you're doing here, you know, other than wearing my coffee. Do you still have the address?"
"That would be lovely. Yes, I still have it."
"Great! Tonight, ok? Say sevenish. It's Xander's night to cook, so at least it'll be something edible. I gotta go -- I'll see you tonight."
"Right. Tonight then." She had already disappeared into a building in a flurry. He glanced down at his shirt and shook his head. He looked back at the building pensively. *She said everyone would love to see me. I wonder.*
"Buffy, you're not being reasonable. I'm over 18. I'm in college. Why can't I go away for the weekend with Rob? You said you liked him."
"Yes, Dawn, I like him. He's a very nice boy. But you are still too young to go away for the weekend."
"Just because you're rotting away at home not dating anyone doesn't mean I'm going to waste my life too!"
"Dawn-- " Buffy was stunned. And hurt. Then she got angry. "Fine. Go away and have fun. But if he turns out to be a vampire or a demon or something, don't call me. You all seem to forget what happens when I date, but just to get you all off my back, I swear I'll go out with the next guy who asks me."
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
Just then the doorbell rang. Dawn smiled a little too sweetly, "I'll get it."
Buffy groaned quietly as Dawn opened the door to a smiling William who was holding flowers in one hand and a large Disney bag in the other. *I've been had.*
"Wow, look at you, all College Girl. Mom'd be so proud." Buffy stood in the kitchen doorway watching Dawn put on her backpack and readjust the straps.
She grinned back at Buffy, "I'm so excited. My first day! You're the best, Buffy. Thank you so much for letting me do this."
"You've worked hard. You deserve it. You'll do great, I know it." She walked over and untwisted one of the straps, then gave Dawn a hug.
"Do you ever regret not finishing college, Buffy? You could come back with me. That'd be so cool. We could take classes together and study for exams together and help each other with papers and..."
"Whoa! Whoa! Stop! I'm good. I admit that for awhile it was a sore subject, but not anymore. I wouldn't know what to take. It's not like you can major in Slayer, you know. I have enough to keep me busy without homework too. No, you go, you learn. Have fun."
Willow called from her room, "Dawn, you ready? We need to go so we're not late." She hurried into the room to see the two sisters smiling at each other. "Oh, Buffy, hi! Um... we gotta go. Is everything ok?"
"Yeah, sure, good. Just seeing Dawn off on her first day."
"Cool." She turned to Dawn, "Ready?"
Dawn grinned and bounced a little, "Yup! Let's go. Bye, Buffy. See you tonight for dinner."
"Bye, have a good day, you guys." Buffy followed them to the door and watched as they got in the car and backed out of the driveway. As Willow put the car in drive, they waved and Buffy waved back. She dropped her hand to her side and watched until long after they were out of sight.
"Kids off to their first day of school?" Xander asked as he put his arm across Buffy's shoulders and looked down the street.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. It's great that they can carpool. It's too far for Dawn alone, you know?"
"Yeah. You ok, Buffy?" He searched her eyes not knowing exactly what he was looking for.
"Yeah. Actually, I'm good. Life is pretty ok right now. No Big Bads on the horizon. Bills are paid. Dawn is doing well. Hey, Willow even has a date this weekend. So, yeah, I'm good."
"You know, that's something I wanted to talk to you about. I, um, have a date this weekend too. With Mrs. Travis... Tina."
"Really? That's great, Xan. I like her. It's too bad she lost her husband so young. That must have been hard. But she's a nice lady and I think you two would be terrific together. You have big plans?"
"Not exactly. She's making dinner for me. But that wasn't the point. My point was that Willow has a date, I have a date, Dawn has a boyfriend. Heck, even Giles is dating that new professor they hired. When are you going to, ya know, get out there with the rest of us?"
"ME? Oh no, not me. I'm the one who stays home and cleans up the mess remember? Relationships and Buffy are like driving and Buffy. Not mix-y things."
"You don't know what you're missing, Buff. The anxiety, the whole foot in the mouth thing. Ah, dating, the endless opportunities for embarrassment."
Buffy turned and pushed Xander toward the workshop. "No, thanks. Now get to work. I have things to do."
The days blended together in a pleasant blur. Dawn had adjusted very well to college life after the first month of classes. She was making new friends and enjoying her studies. Willow was seeing more of Heather, and Xander and Tina were inseparable.
Buffy hummed as she made her bed. The girls were already gone and Xander had left early to take some measurements for a new project. *Things are good. Good, right. Boring and lonely, but good. Damn. Spike, I miss you. Everyone is all paired off except for me. They all keep asking me when I'm going to start dating again.* She turned and picked up the picture from the night stand and sank down on the bed. *They don't understand, Spike. No one can ever come close to you. To what we had. I'm still the Slayer, well, ok, A Slayer. I can't get into a relationship with someone and then say 'oh, by the way, you know all those spooky things you see on late night movies? They're real and I kill them.' And if I tell them first, they'll think I'm too nuts to date.* She sighed. *Nope. Looks like you were my last chance. I didn't have to hold back for fear of breaking one of your bones or something, and you already knew what I was. Dammit, Spike, why'd you have to go and die?* She looked at the picture a moment longer, then ran one finger over the familiar cheekbone and up to the raised eyebrow. She smiled through the tears and then blinked them away. *I know -- so one of us is living.* She put the picture down and went on with her chores.
The journal lay forgotten in a drawer these days. Her daily conversations with Spike's picture had taken its place. And the dreams had stopped since the trip to Sunnydale. Buffy finally seemed to be healing. The loneliness was still there, but she wrote that off as being part of the whole Slayer package.
Willow struggled to balance the pile of books and folders she was carrying in her right arm, while trying to look at the watch on her left wrist without spilling the coffee she held in her left hand, and she ran headlong into the man coming toward her across the common. Books tumbled everywhere, papers flew from the folders, and the coffee cup continued its forward momentum to splatter all over the starched and pristine white shirt of Willow's victim. She bent to recapture the papers before they blew away and began to stammer an apology. "Oh, gods, I'm so s-sorry. I t-totally wasn't watching where I was going. I'll be glad to have the shirt cleaned for you. No -- I'll buy you a new one, really!" Their hands met as he gathered the last of the papers and passed them to her, and she looked up as he replied.
"Not at all. It'll be quite all right." Their eyes met. "Oh, hello, Willow. How are you?"
"William? What are you doing here? I mean, I'm fine, thank you. Obviously late, as usual, but fine. How are you? It's great to see you again. I'd love to catch up, but I have a class." She looked at her watch and her eyes grew wide, "And I am SO late. Can you come over for dinner? Everyone would love to see you and hear about the rest of your trip. And what you're doing here, you know, other than wearing my coffee. Do you still have the address?"
"That would be lovely. Yes, I still have it."
"Great! Tonight, ok? Say sevenish. It's Xander's night to cook, so at least it'll be something edible. I gotta go -- I'll see you tonight."
"Right. Tonight then." She had already disappeared into a building in a flurry. He glanced down at his shirt and shook his head. He looked back at the building pensively. *She said everyone would love to see me. I wonder.*
"Buffy, you're not being reasonable. I'm over 18. I'm in college. Why can't I go away for the weekend with Rob? You said you liked him."
"Yes, Dawn, I like him. He's a very nice boy. But you are still too young to go away for the weekend."
"Just because you're rotting away at home not dating anyone doesn't mean I'm going to waste my life too!"
"Dawn-- " Buffy was stunned. And hurt. Then she got angry. "Fine. Go away and have fun. But if he turns out to be a vampire or a demon or something, don't call me. You all seem to forget what happens when I date, but just to get you all off my back, I swear I'll go out with the next guy who asks me."
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
Just then the doorbell rang. Dawn smiled a little too sweetly, "I'll get it."
Buffy groaned quietly as Dawn opened the door to a smiling William who was holding flowers in one hand and a large Disney bag in the other. *I've been had.*