Well, here is part four finally right? I know you guys have been waiting for it, and I promise you part five is on its way too (as is another part of my newer D/X fic) This part is much longer, as to make up for the time in-between updates. Thank you so much for the feedback so far, its what makes me write! Keep it coming!

Part Four

The drive to the Sunnydale Mall was a difficult one to say the least. Dawn secretly wished Buffy had come along with them to make the conversations between them easier, but she was still out with Willow. As Xander weaved his car in and out of traffic she quickly glanced over at him and wondered what he was thinking about. She knew she wasn't the only one with a million conflicting thoughts racing through her head; one of them being how embarrassed she should still be from Xander seeing her completely naked, but she wasn't. In fact, she was oddly comfortable with it. She knew he wasn't though, and she knew it wasn't just the normal embarrassment factor of it; there was something else complicating the matter and she just couldn't put her finger on what it was exactly.

Xander's horn shook her out of her thoughts as she saw the car in the right lane cut him off. "Asshole!" He gave the car in front of him the finger and then looked sheepishly over at Dawn apologetically. "Sorry."

She smiled and shrugged. "I would've done the same thing." He gave her a smile back and turned on the radio. The new Justin Timberlake song came blasting out of the car speakers and Dawn mockingly began choking herself. Xander laughed and quickly switched to the local rock station and he and Dawn breathed a sigh of relief when an Incubus song filtered through the stereo. "That's much much better." She moved to the beat of the music and Xander could hear her murmur the words of the song softly under her breath.

"How do you do it?

Make me feel like I do.

How do you do it?

It's better than I ever knew.

Meet me in outer space.

I will hold you close, if you're afraid of heights.

I need you to see this place, it might be the only way

that I can show you how

it feels to be inside of you."

"I love this song." Dawn said as he made a left turn into the mall parking lot. "This is the song that I'd want someone to sing to me."

He looked over at her as he waited for an elderly lady to walk in front of his car. "Really? Out of all the songs, this is the song you'd want someone to serenade you with?"

She nodded. "Definitely. The lyrics just seem so sincere and caring."

He gave her a look. "Are you sure its not just because all the girls think the lead singer is hot?"

She playfully hit his arm. "No." She pointed to an open parking spot near the front entrance, and Xander quickly pulled into it before anyone else grabbed it. "I mean, Brandon Boyd is hot, but that's not why I love the song so much."

He killed the engine and the automatic door locks clicked open so they could get out of the car. Dawn hopped out of the car and slammed it shut again, walking to the other side to walk with Xander as they made their way to the entrance. He held the door open for her and gestured for her to go first. "Milady goes first." She flashed him a smile and walked into the mall, taking in all the sounds and smells around them.

"We should get Willow's present first and then we can look around for ourselves." He nodded and pointed towards Gap. Dawn nodded in agreement and they made their way there, moving swiftly through the large crowds of people in the midst. She poked Xander and pointed to the large signs in the windows that said 'clearance'. "Look they're having a big sale on everything!" They walked in and she immediately went to a long brown cotton skirt that she knew Willow would love. She held one of them up to show Xander. "What do you think about this?"

He halfheartedly nodded. "Its okay."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "You are so not getting her clothes." She flipped through the skirts for Willow's size and tossed it over her arm and kept looking, leaving Xander to follow after her. A sales associate walked in front of her and gave her a smile.

"Hi, can I help you with anything today? We're having our annual winter clearance sale this week."

Dawn smiled back at her and shook her head. "No thanks, I'm just looking for a present for a friend." She glanced back at Xander who was looking at the most hideous sweater she thought she'd ever seen. "Xander, she will never wear that."

He looked at Dawn and back at the sweater, and then wandered back to where Dawn and the guy who worked there were standing. "Why not?"

She pointed at the sweater. "It looks like something your grandma would knit you for Christmas."

He looked back at the sweater still hanging on the rack and shrugged. "I think it looks okay. Plus its only $10!"

The sales associate laughed, "If you and your girlfriend are looking for our sales, we have most of the clearance items in the back." He pointed past the checkout counter.

Dawn started to correct him. "Oh we're n-"

"-Thanks a lot, come on." Xander swept past the guy and gently guided Dawn to the back of the store.

She gave him a weird look as they started looking at the clothes on sale but shrugged it off. She knew something was definitely up right now with Xander, ever since she woke him up this morning he had been acting stranger then usual. She glanced over at him as his eyes ticked back and forth from a green t-shirt with floral patterns embroidered on it to an ugly mustard yellow colored shirt. "So what was that all about?"

He tried to make up an excuse as to why he hadn't corrected the guy. "Nothing, I just figured it wasn't worth it to explain to the guy he was wrong."

"Oh, okay." She averted her gaze from Xander to a rack of necklaces and earrings. "I'll be over there." She started to walk away and turned back around. "And a big fat no to that yellow shirt."

"But its only -"

"Uh uh. No way."

He gave her a sad face and she smiled at him before continuing over to her destination at the jewelry rack. She spotted a cute hemp necklace with a pink stone in the shape of a heart in the middle of it and decided to get Willow that. She loved stuff like that and Dawn knew that she didn't have anything like the necklace she was holding. She walked back over to where Xander was standing before and saw him grab the green shirt. She held up the necklace. "Look, isn't it pretty?"

Xander nodded. "She'll love it. Now is this shirt ugly? I don't think I'm good at this clothes thing."

She patted him on the back. "It's a winner."

He pumped his fist in the air. "Thank God! Let's get out of here before I go insane from this music, Nelly is just not working for me today."

Dawn giggled as they got on the line to check out. "Well, it is getting kinda hot in here. I might have to take off my -" She stopped talking suddenly when she realized what she was saying. "Um, never mind. I guess I did that earlier today."

Xander swallowed hard. "Yeah, I still remember."

They both fell silent as they paid for their gifts and as Xander bought a gift certificate to go along with the shirt. As they walked out of the Gap, he looked quickly over at Dawn who was apparently studying the intricate details of the marble floor of the mall. He opened his mouth to say something when the lights went out. They both looked at each other and then around at the other people in the mall who were looking just as confused as they were. Dawn squinted her eyes and saw a hulking figure in the distance coming towards them. She tensed up and hit Xander on the arm. "Look, I think it's a vamp." She opened her shoulder bag and quickly pulled out two stakes, putting one in his hand.

The vampire stopped by a young single mom and her toddler hiding behind her legs. "Open season guys, come on out!"

They both watched as two other vampires came out of the shadows across the wide gap in the center of the mall. "What are we going to do?" She whispered as she held the stake tightly in her hand. "We can't just leave these people to die."

He shook his head. "Stay here." He quietly started to walk towards the first vampire who was quickly closing in on the mother of the kid. As Xander tried to stake the vampire from behind him, he struck out sideways and punched Xander in the face, making him fly backwards onto the hard floor. Dawn's eyes widened and felt the anger start to course through her. She ran to Xander's side and bent down to his level. "Are you okay?" He shook his head yes, but she knew he wasn't. He had blood running down the side of his face from a gash in his forehead. "Wait here." He tried to grab her pants leg to stop her but she was already stalking towards the vampire. She tapped him on the shoulder, and as he turned around, she punched him square in the face, causing him to falter a bit. "That was for hurting Xander, and this - " she stomped on his left foot and brought her right elbow up and into his face, crushing his nose. " - is just for planning this lame attempt at an all-you-can-eat buffet." He fell backwards and she took the opportunity to shove the stake through his rib cage and into his un-beating heart. He exploded from underneath her and she got up quickly, wiping the vampire dust from her jeans. She saw Xander looking at her incredulously and she grabbed his hand to help him up.

"How did..." His words trailed off, and he didn't know what to say.

She paused a moment, taking in what she just did, and realized that even she didn't know how she did it. "I don't know, I just -" She looked at him and all at once it became clear to her how much she cared about him. "- I saw him hurt you, and I snapped I guess. I just - I just realized how much you mean to me." She opened her mouth to say more but a scream from across the mall got their attention. She ran as fast as she could to help the people in trouble with Xander at her heels. She launched herself at the female vampire as Xander struggled with the other one who was quickly gaining the upper hand. Dawn pulled the vampire's long hair with all her might, causing her to screech and kicked her in the stomach. She hit the ground hard and rolled, never losing her grip on her stake. As the vamp closed in on her, Dawn pushed herself up and ducked as a fist almost smashed her face in. She thrusted the stake up and into the vampire, but she missed the heart and pulled it back out as the vamp groaned and clutched her side. "Oops."

She pushed the vampire backwards with all of her strength and watched as she fell over the side of the railing and onto a wooden sign on the first floor next to Express detailing a promotion they had going. She exploded seconds later and Dawn turned to see Xander kick the other vampire in the shin, although she didn't think it even flinched. The vampire was even bigger then the other one she staked and it picked Xander up by the throat and tossed him aside like a rag doll. Her eyes narrowed and she ran and jumped on the thing's back, preventing him from hurting Xander any further. He reached back and clawed at her, scratching her cheek. She cursed and bit his hand, causing him to lean forward and fling her off of him. She hit the ground for a second time, landing on her back. She felt the wind get knocked out of her and tried to bring her stake up, but she needed a few seconds to re-cooperate, and this vampire was not about to give her that. As he hovered over her leaning into her neck, his eyes widened and he exploded. She looked up to see Xander there with a menacing look upon his face. He took her hand and helped her up.

She brushed the vamp dust off of her for the second time and finally noticed all of the shoppers looking at both of them in amazement. The woman who would've been first on the gang's list to eat walked over to them and thanked them before running out of the mall with her son. The rest of the people nodded their thanks and left, leaving Xander and Dawn standing there looking tired and disheveled.

"Well, I've heard people say shopping at the mall during the holiday season is hell, but I never knew that they meant it literally."

She looked over at him and flashed him a small smile. "The things we do for presents."

They started walking back to where they dropped their bags, but Xander stumbled, losing his balance. Dawn helped him sturdy himself and pointed to a bench to sit down at. "I think that blow to the head made me kinda dizzy."

She pulled a tissue out of her pocket and reached up to stop the cut in his head from bleeding. He caught her hand midway and looked at her. "About what you said before, you mean a lot to me too Dawn."

She tilted her head to the side. "You called me Dawn."

He nodded. "I think you're too old for me to still be calling you Dawnster." He paused a moment. "Or any of the other names I made up for you for that matter."

She smiled and applied pressure to his head, causing him to flinch. "Sorry, I just need to stop the bleeding before you get even woozier on me."

"Is that even a word?"

"Could be. Hey I got tossed around too, I can make up words if I want to." She playfully swatted his arm. "Can I ask you a question?"

He nodded. "Yeah?"

"Who were you dreaming about this morning? Ever since you got up today you seemed kinda weird, I mean before you saw me naked and stuff."

Xander's eyes almost bugged out of his head. He really didn't think she'd ask him that. Should he lie to her and make something up? He wasn't sure. "I uh... I don't think that's a good question to ask. Can I pass?"

"Just tell me...was it one of the annoying Slayerettes? Cause I'll hit you if it was. Especially if it was -"

He shook his head. "God no."

"Whew ok. Is it someone I know?"

He reluctantly shook his head.

"Ok. Willow?"

"She's gay remember? And we're only friends anyway."

"Ok ok, Buffy? Please don't say it was my sister."

"I love Buffy but I don't have a thing for her anymore."

"Good. Was it Anya? It has to be her."

He shook his head again. "Not her."

She rolled her eyes and tapped her sneaker in annoyance against the side of the bench. "Andrew?"

Xander just stared at her. "Are you serious?"

Dawn's cheeks reddened. "Well, you guys are friends now, and you play Dungeons and Dragons!"

"I'm just going to pretend you didn't suggest him."

"Fine, fine. I give up there's just no other person living in the house except - " She looked at him and it finally hit her. "- except me."

He averted his gaze to look at anything but her. Why didn't he just lie to her? He could've gotten away with telling her it was Anya. At least it was somewhat plausible. But no, he had to be good and virtuous... and a complete moron.

Her voice was a drop below a whisper. "What was it about?"

He leaned back on the bench. "I don't think you want to know."

She got up from the bench and started pacing back and forth in front of him. She glanced at him, but he couldn't register the look she was giving him. "So I guess we didn't play that marathon of Monopoly we've been talking about doing."

He could feel himself break out in a cold sweat as he shook his head. "No."

"How long...how long have you felt this way?"

He felt like jumping over the railing like the vampire did. "A while."

"And you didn't feel like telling me about this?"

He looked over at her. "How could I? You're Buffy's little sister. Do you know what she would do to me if she found out I loved you like that?" He realized what he just blurted out and immediately wished he had decided to jump.

She stopped pacing. "You...love me?" Dawn could feel her eyes start to mist, her vision becoming blurry.

Xander got shakily got up from the bench. "I do Dawn, and I know you had that crush on me a couple years back, but I know you don't anymore and that's fine. I'm not asking for anything, I just thought for once I'd be truthful when it really matters." He leaned against the bench again and looked at her standing there watching him. It was hard to see her features in the darkness, but the light streaming in from the skylights in certain areas was enough to make out her face, and he could see tears begin to fall. "Dawn, please don't cry, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. I'm such a –"

His ramble was interrupted by Dawn's lips on his. He stood there in shock for a moment before realizing that she was kissing him, and within moments took the opportunity to kiss her back. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and she could feel his fingers lace through her hair, bringing her mouth even closer. She felt as if she were in a movie; kisses like this didn't exist in real life. But here she was, kissing the guy she had dreamt of being with as long as she could remember. And it was perfect.

They broke the kiss for air, but Dawn never let go of him, instead she just put her finger to his lips when he opened his mouth to say something. "Don't say one word, let's just go home ok?" He nodded in understanding, but she still refused to let go. "But not before kissing me again." She smiled seductively and he willingly obliged. Before things got too out of hand, Dawn broke her grip on him reluctantly and slipped an arm around him before walking over to their bags on the ground. "I love you too you know." He turned to her and took her hand.

"I know. That kiss told me everything."

She smiled at him before it faded again. "What are we going to tell everyone?"

He looked perplexed. "I don't know...but we'll think of something ok?"

She shook her head. "Ok. If no one is home when we get there promise me one thing though?"

He raised his eyebrow at her. "Yeah?"

"Remember that thing I said this morning after my shower?"

Xander gulped.