Feedback: it's like oxygen.........
Part Two
"Oh my god! I can't believe you bought that!"
"Yes, you've said - no, squealed - that three times already, Dawn."
"I know, but..." She clamped a hand to keep a giggle from escaping. "It's just..." Her muffled words sounded like they were balancing on the tip of hysteria. "It's so not you." Her hand slipped as a loud guffaw broke loose of its own accord. "I'm sorry Giles, but it's just... it's so... you know, Buffy would have a field day with that." She burst into a fresh round of giggles.
Unimpressed, Giles could only frown at her. "Firstly, Buffy will not find out about this - and secondly, would you mind telling me what's so funny?"
"N-nothing." She hiccoughed, mid-giggle.
"Dawn."
"O-okay. It's just that... well... you're not really the lovey-dovey type, are you? I can't really picture you singing love songs... especially not from the movies... well, twenty-first century movies, anyway." The half-grin that was forming on her lips diedas she saw annoyance flicker in his eyes.
"And why would that be? Hmm? I'll have you know, Dawn Summers, that not only do I see the occasional film on television - and in the cinema - I also read music, which helps tremendously."
"But I don't get it." Amusement gave way to bewilderment in Dawn's gentle voice. "Why would you want to sing this stuff, anyway? Why not just sing your normal... you know... Stones and Beatles stuff... or whatever it is you sing."
An affectionate smile broke through Giles' frown. "Because, Dawn, this is what the audience wants to hear. Songs they can relate to - songs they can share with their loved ones."
"What? Depressing stuff? I mean-" she snatched the book from his hands and flicked through it opening on a page near the back. "Look at these lyrics..." She pointed at the words to the second verse in particular of the song she held open. "Try singing this, go on. You'll see what I mean."
Unsure, Giles scanned the melody before strumming; picking up halfway through the song.
"Many roads to take:
Some to joy, some to heart-ache;
Anyone can lose their way.
And if I said that we could turn it back -
Right back to the start,
Would you take the chance and make the change?
Do you think how it would have been sometimes?
Do you pray that I'd never left your side?
What if I had never let you go?
Would you be the..."
He stopped abruptly, clearing his throat quietly but awkwardly as he lowered his guitar. "I - ah - I see what you mean. Although... I'm sure they're not all like that."
"Most of them are." She looked up at him from her position on the floor with a sadness in her eyes that no woman of her age should know. "That's what love's like, after all... you know... depressing."
Eager to turn his attentions away from the haunting lyrics of the song still echoing in his mind, Giles handed the book back to her. "Let's see if we can find a lighter one, shall we? Then we can work on your pitch. Before you ask - it would be helpful to know if you can sing in tune before we look at any Elvis songs... if not, you could end up accompanying someone else."
"I can sing!" Dawn insisted in an offended tone as she grabbed Giles' new book back. "I'll prove it..." She scanned the contents before opening the book and thrusting it back at him. "What's more, I'll do it really well, 'cause I love this song."
Not wanting to incur the wrath of one of the Summers sisters, Giles hastily played the opening chord sequence, watching as she instructed the correct speed. He smiled an apology as she came in, her sweet, soft, first note not only in tune, but on time.
"If I should stay, I would only be in your way.
So I'll go, but I know I'll think of you every step of the way.
And I will always love you, ooohh, will always love you.
Bittersweet memories that is all I'm taking with me.
So goodbye, please don't cry, we both know I'm not what you, you need;
And I...
"Why'd you stop? Oh." Her last words dropped like a lead weight as she realised Buffy was standing in the doorway, her face pale and eyes bright with unshed tears.
"Buffy, I -" She scrambled to her feet, but before she could speak further, her sister had gone. Dawn turned uncertain eyes to the man sitting rigidly beside her. "Should I go after her?"
When he failed to answer, her gaze searched his and she realised that he was barely keeping his own emotions in check. Startled for a moment, she wondered what could be behind the pained expression on his face. It's obvious why Buffy's probably hating me right now, but why is Giles so upset? Unless... maybe he has regrets? Shaking her head free of her wonderings, she smiled with sympathetic sadness and covered his hand with hers. Startled out of his trance at the touch, he looked up at her, hurt shining in his eyes, despite his attempts to hide it.
"I'm not even going to ask if I was okay," Dawn's voice wavered on a couple of her words, but she continued on, injecting confidence into her tone - more for his sake, than hers. "Because I know I was better than okay. So, now it's your turn. Didn't you say the next step was to learn how to hold the thing?"
"I -" Giles spared a brief glance to the now-empty doorway before answering. "Yes, I believe I did." It was a full minute before he felt fully recovered from the shock of Buffy's reaction to Dawn's song, to resume the lesson. "Now, pick up your guitar and show me how think you should hold it."
Obediently, Dawn lifted it from where it lay beside her and rested it in her lap, thinking for a long moment before gripping the top of the neck with her left hand and draping her right over the front.
"Ah. Just as I thought." Grateful for the distraction, he lowered his own guitar and leaned forward, outstretching his hand to the teen. "Here, shake my hand."
"Huh?"
"Shake my hand."
"O-okay." Narrowing her eyes in suspicion, Dawn lifted her hand to meet his, her fingers curling around his as she shook his hand lightly.
"You take after your sister."
Grinning at his words, Dawn loosened her grip automatically.
"Better..." Giles tried not to wince, "... but still a little too tight. Don't try and kill my hand, just shake it like you did with Mister Andrews yesterday." The wince transformed into a half-smile as her muscles relaxed. "Much better. Now..." He withdrew his own hand and leaned further forward, directing her still-curved palm to the guitar neck. "That's it. Just let it rest, there."
"But I might drop it."
"No, you won't. You'll be too busy playing to drop anything."
"Hmm." Dawn's eyes were still narrowed suspiciously. "Why does it have to be so... loose... anyway?"
"So you can do this." Giles replied, returning to his own instrument and playing a rapid succession of chords, stretching his fingers and thumb across the strings as they slid toward the body of the guitar and back again.
"Oh."
Giles chuckled as her eyes widened at his impressive display.
She tried running her own hand back and forth, struggling not to let her hand form a grip around the wood, and heaved a sigh of something nearing frustration.
"You know, I think I'm finally getting why there are more men than women guitarists out there."
It took a couple of seconds for Giles to realise what she was saying and when he at last did, a long groan escaped him.
"I really hope you didn't inherit that sense of humour from your mother."