Chapter 11: Reality

After dinner, Buffy helped her mom with the dishes. Faith went upstairs and closed her door. Buffy heard her loud music and rolled her eyes. Hank sat at the dinner table with his laptop. He put on a headset and started to work. Buffy stayed in the kitchen next to her mom. This was still all so strange to her. Her mom was alive and her dad…Her dad was in the picture. Joyce looked at Buffy and asked,

"What are you thinking?"

"That it's weird that everyone is here." Buffy answered honestly.

"Buffy what did you dream about?" Joyce asked her.

Buffy sighed heavily. "Mom, that's a long story."

"No Buffy, we need to get past this." Joyce told her. "Tell me."

Buffy sighed again and nodded. "Well…You were gone."

"Gone?" Joyce repeated.

"You…You died." Buffy told her honestly. "You died and we mourned you."

"We?" Joyce asked.

"Me and Dawn." Buffy said.

"Dawn Harris?" Joyce asked.

Buffy nodded. "Dawn was my sister."

Joyce sighed. "Faith is your sister."

"I know," Buffy said. "She's my real sister, but in my dreams she was someone else."

"What do you mean?" Joyce asked.

"I mean, Faith was in my dreams." Buffy tried to explain. "But she wasn't my sister in my dreams. Faith was…" Buffy paused. "Faith was a killer."

"Buffy." Joyce said. "Faith has never done anything like that." She paused. "She's your sister."

"Out here she's my sister." Buffy said. "I don't even know how to talk to her."

"Well, you're going to have to learn how to talk to her, Buffy." Joyce said. "Dawn Harris is not your sister. She's your friend." She paused. "I know that's hard to hear, but you need to hear it."

"I need to see Dawn." Buffy told her. "I need to make sure she's okay."

"She's fine Buffy." Joyce tried to assure her. "Willow and Xander are great parents. It is their responsibility to watch Dawn, not yours."

"Mom…" Buffy said and her eyes watered.

Joyce sighed heavily. "I'll see if I can reach them tomorrow." She paused and Buffy's face lit up. "Does that sound good?"

Buffy smiled and nodded. "Yes please."

"I want to ask you something." Joyce said. "Can you please try to reconnect with your sister?" Buffy sighed. Joyce put her hands on her hips. "She was crushed when she saw you…Faith cares about you."

Buffy sighed again and looked at her mother. Joyce looked at Buffy. She could tell that she was serious. "You've barely spoken to her since you woke up." Joyce said. "Please."

"Fine," Buffy said. "I'll try and go make nice."

"Thank you." Joyce said and walked into the dining room to join Hank.

Buffy stood at the bottom of the stairs. She looked up and stared at the wall. Her mother was right. She had to go make nice. Faith was nothing but nice since she had woken up. Buffy gave Faith the cold shoulder. She breathed in and out. Buffy put her hand on the railing and slowly walked up the stairs. Buffy walked to Dawn's old room. Faith played loud music to the point where Buffy could hear it through the door. She raised her hand to knock on it. She hesitated, but then she knocked.

"Faith?" Buffy called. No answer. Buffy knocked again, but this time harder.

The door opened and Faith stood in the threshold. There were tears down her cheeks. She had been crying. Buffy sighed and asked, "Can we talk?"

Faith wiped her tears and turned around. She walked back into her bedroom and to her nightstand. There was a stereo on it and Faith turned it off. Next to her nightstand was her bed. Everything in Dawn's old room looked the same, except it was all gothic. There were black walls with red curtains. Faith sat on her bed and looked at Buffy. For a moment, the two just stared at each other. Buffy wasn't sure if she was welcome. Faith rolled her eyes and asked,

"Are you going to just stand there and stare at me or did you actually want to talk?"

She was mad and Buffy understood. She sighed and stepped into the room. There was so much to take in. Buffy sat on the desk chair and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. Faith sighed and asked,

"Mom made you come in, didn't she?"

Buffy nodded. "I'm not going to lie to you."

"How come you're stayin?" Faith asked. "I thought you hated me."

"I did." Buffy replied quickly. Faith turned away and looked down at the floor. Buffy sighed. "What I meant to say was…I hated you. In my dreams. You weren't a nice person to me."

Faith turned to her and said, "Okay, I'll play." She was angry. "Who was I in your dreams?"

Buffy stood up and said, "You were a killer. You killed people, Faith." She paused. "On top of that, whenever you entered my life you tried to take away everything that I had."

Faith stood up. "B, that was a dream. I've never killed anyone." She paused. "I've never taken things away from you."

"Really?" Buffy asked. "Never, ever?"

"Okay, when we were kids I may have taken a few of your toys, but that's it." Faith said with an angry tone. "You have to get over this B."

"I will, I just need time, Faith." Buffy said. "Just give me time and it's not just you. It's Dad too. He was never there. He cheated on Mom in my dreams."

"B, you've had messed up dreams." Faith said. "You need to get over it." She paused. "Now go, get out of my room."

Buffy sighed and walked out of her room.

Faith stood in the threshold of the doorway. "I just have to ask." She said, "Did you have a sister in your dreams?"

Buffy turned around and looked at her. She nodded. "Yeah I did, it was Dawn."

"The kid you used to babysit?" Faith asked.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Dawn was more of a sister than you."

Faith slammed the door in her face. Buffy sighed and walked to her bedroom. She tried. It was hard to get used to this world. Everything was different.