Dawn opened her eyes and squinted at the sun's rays shining in her eyes. Stupid bright sun, she thought, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Looking around, she saw no sign of Connor and started to get a little panicked. What if he left me? No... His horse is still here. What if he walked? No, Dawn that's crazy thinking.
She heard the rustling of bushes and turned, expecting to see Connor, but was surprised when she saw her older sister leading a horse, Spike behind her doing the same.
Dawn quickly stood up, shaking the dirt off of her clothes. She watched as Buffy handed her horse's reigns to Spike and quickly walked over to her.
Expecting the worse, Dawn was shocked when Buffy took her in her arms, hugging her tightly. She pulled away, holding Dawn by the shoulders, tears streaming down her face.
"Why did you run off like that Dawnie?" she asked. "You scared me."
Dawn was about to speak, but was cut off when Buffy took her into another tight hug. "Um, need air Buff," she said, struggling to get away.
"Right," Buffy said, letting her go and backing away, wiping the tears from her face. "Do you know what your little stunt has caused? Connor's parents are frantic, everyone at the ranch is out searching for you, guests are praying! My god Dawn, what were you thinking?"
"I wasn't..." Dawn said, looking away. "But, alive, see."
Buffy didn't smile at Dawn's attempt to make her less angry then she appeared. "Not gonna work. I am mad. Glad that you are alive, but mad." She looked over Dawn's shoulder, behind her, everywhere. "Where's Connor?"
"Um... I was hoping you would know," Dawn said. "I didn't do anything, I swear. I just woke up, and there was no Connor."
"Okay, well, he couldn't have gone far..." Buffy said.
"I'll go look 'round," Spike said, disappearing into the woods.
Buffy nodded and turned back to her sister. "Do you know how scared you got me? And angry too! I was having a happy moment with my boyfriend."
"Ew..." Dawn said, taking it the wrong way.
"Not like that you sicko!" Buffy yelled, hitting her. "We were... Cuddling. Nothing like you and wild boy in our bedroom."
"Hey!" Dawn yelled. "That was... Well you and Spike do it all the time."
"We're older!"
"I hate to interrupt this lovely sister fight you're having. But, I found 'im."
Buffy and Dawn looked over at the British blonde to see him holding Connor by the collar of his shirt. Dawn ran over to him, and hit at Spike to drop his grip. Spike smirked and let him go, walking over to Buffy.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her forehead. "Well, we found lil Bit and her boy."
"Yeah. Although part of me wishes we hadn't," Buffy said. "I always wanted to be an only child."
"You don't mean that luv," he said. "And you can't honestly expect me to believe it after the worry I saw in you last night?"
"Okay, so maybe I don't really mean it... But sometimes I wish mom had sent her to boarding school," Buffy said, smiling.
"Are we going yet?" Dawn asked.
Buffy looked behind Spike and rolled her eyes, before walking backwards out of his hold. "Yeah, we're going."
Buffy sat in the living room of the main house with Dawn, her uncle, Connor, and his parents. She was told to leave, but there was no way she was leaving. Dawn was her responsiblity, not her uncle's.
"So you just decided to leave, in the dark, without telling anyone?" Larry asked Dawn.
"Um... Yes? I didn't mean to... I wasn't thinking," Dawn said.
"Darn right you weren't," Connor's step-mom, Cordelia said.
Dawn lowered her head, and Buffy came to her sister's defense. Why, she had no idea. "It was my fault."
This got the attention of everyone in the room, and all eyes turned to her.
"And you are?" Angel, Connor's father asked.
"I'm Dawn's sister, Buffy. See, me and Spike walked in on... Well, her and Connor... They were um... Reading. And, we scared her. And, she got mad, and ran out. And so, see, really the blame should go to me."
"Did you hold a gun to her head and tell her to get on a horse and ride away with our boy?" Cordelia asked.
"Well... No. But..."
"Then really, the blame should be both Dawn and Connor's. They should've known better," Cordelia said.
"Yeah, well... I guess..." Buffy said, looking away. "But I played a big role in it."
"Are you trying to get grounded?" Larry asked, looking up at her, and Buffy stood.
"No, but you aren't capable of doing so. You aren't my father."
"No, but you are living under my roof," he said.
Buffy sighed. "Can I go?"
Her uncle nodded, and she gave Dawn a sympathetic look before leaving the room. She could hear the arguing over what punishment was right for the teens as she walked out of the house.
The sun was hot on her bare skin, the halter top she wore was the only thing she could find in her closet that wouldn't kill her from heat stroke, and there was little shade around her, aside from the woods. Which she had promised herself to stay away from for a very long time. They were bad luck.
Sitting down on the grass, she laid back, shading her eyes with her arm. The grass was cool on her back, and her mind was starting to clear. Everything that had been happening lately had filled her mind with constant thoughts, but now she felt completely at ease.
Dawn sat in her room, flipping through a magazine she had stole from Buffy's dresser. The punishments her and Connor had been given wasn't the worse, but it wasn't all that great either. They had to clean out the horses stalls for a week. But as long as she got to do it with Connor, she didn't mind.
The door opened and Dawn tossed the magazine over on Buffy's bed, scared that it was her. She relaxed when she saw that it was only Spike, and got up to go and retrieve the magazine.
"I don't even get a 'ello?" he said, sitting down on Buffy's bed. "I'm 'urt Bit."
Dawn smiled. "Don't call me that. I'm not little."
"Don't call you what Bit?" he asked, smirking.
"I don't know where Buffy is," she said, opening the magazine. "But you can try the barn."
"'S okay," he said, lying back on the bed. "I'm good 'ere. That is, if you don't mind?"
"Not at all," Dawn said, looking over at him. Wow. I didn't notice he had such a nice body... Dawn thought, but shook her head. Buffy's boyfriend... Your boyfriend! Your boyfriend...
"What are you readin'? One of big sis's magazines?"
"No..." Dawn said, but failed at her attempt to sound like an adult. "Yeah. But if she found out she'd kill me. Her stuff is like... Off limits.
"Quite the rebel you are pet," he said. "'Ow old are you anyway?"
"I'm fourteen," she said.
He laughed. "I think you're very mature for a fourteen year old."
"Even with what happened last night?"
Spike shrugged and sat up. "We all make mistakes. 'S 'ow we learn."
Dawn nodded. "Tell that to my uncle."
Spike smiled.
"So how old are you?" she asked, forgetting about 'her' magazine.
"Well I'm seventeen," he said.
"Connor's sixteen," Dawn said.
Spike smiled at her random comment. They weren't even close to discussing Connor, but yet she still managed to bring him into their conversation.
"Two years older?" he said. "Better watch out."
"Age is only a number," Dawn said. "And it's not like it's illegal or anything."
"If he ever 'urts you Bit, you know I'll 'urt him, right?"
"You sound just like Buffy," Dawn said, smiling. "But you're nicer."
Spike smiled and stood up. "Speaking of the blonde beauty. Think I'm gonna go find 'er. It was nice talking to you Bit. We should do it more often."
"Really?"
"Yeah, why not? You're a good listener," he said. "And we both like to talk."
A big smile formed on Dawn's lips and she waved to him slightly as he left the room.
Buffy was so content lying in the grass, she hadn't noticed she'd fallen asleep until someone gently shook her. Opening her eyes, she smiled when she saw Spike staring down at her.
She went to get up, but realized that he was sitting ontop of her. Smiling, she laid back down.
"Do you plan on getting off of me anytime soon?" she asked.
"Not in the near future, no."
"Then kiss me," she said.
"Spike, get off of my neice."
The two blondes looked up when they heard her uncle's loud voice. He didn't sound too angry, but he didn't sound pleased. And Buffy knew that her sister had made him upset earlier. The last thing he wanted was for her to mess his life up some more.
Spike rolled off of Buffy, and she stood up, wiping the grass off of her. Her uncle looked over to Spike and back at her.
"Are you two an item? Or just 'fooling around'?" Larry asked.
"We're an item, I guess you could say..." Buffy said.
"Well try not to be an item on the lawn," he said before walking away.
Buffy salouted his backside and turned to Spike, smiling. "I believe I told you to kiss me," she said.