Dawn sat in her room looking out the window. It had been a couple hours since Andrew and her arrived at their new home. It was a lot to take in at one time. Dawn had excused herself to the room she had chosen, while Xander was giving his grand tour. She looked around the plain room and felt like crying. This wasn't home. Home was with Buffy, but she didn't want her. There were no sheets or anything on the full size bed that sat in her room. Besides the bed, the only other thing in the room was a floor lamp. The room was big in size and it needed carpet, and painting done to it. Plus it needed other furniture.
Even though Giles didn't want her, he still sent money for her. Xander said that, that would go towards fixing up her room. Later on when Oz got home, they were going to take his truck and head to Walmart to do some shopping. Xander said that since tomorrow was Saturday, both he and Oz had off. He said that tomorrow morning they would start doing her room, but what about Andrew? Not one time did Xander mention about fixing up the room Andrew was staying in. Andrew was staying in the room that was right by the kitchen. He said he wanted that room incase he got late night munchies, and to make sure she wasn't stealing any food. That had made Dawn smile.
What would she do with out Andrew being here? Sure Xander and her had gotten better friends when she learned that she wasn't a potential slayer, but he still left her. As soon as there was an assignment, Xander went on it. He had left for Africa, and not many had seen him since. Now he was living comfortably in New York. He never even bothered to call her once, since he moved back to the states. It hurt Dawn to the core that he would do that.
Now Oz on the other hand, she had nothing to go on. From what she could remember Oz had left after he had found out that Willow was with a girl. Plus he was held captive by the initiative. That was the second time he left though. The first time he left, she didn't really understand. He had hurt Willow badly, but that's all she knew. Appearance wise, all she could remember was that he had reddish brown hair and green eyes.
There was a soft knock at Dawn's door and it slowly opened to reveal Andrew.
" Hey there small one, whatcha doin?" Andrew said as he sat down on the floor beside Dawn.
" Oh just sitting here thinking."
" Bout what?"
" Anything and everything. In the past week our lives have changed so much. It's just a lot to take in at one time."
" Yeah I know, but at least we have a place to stay. I have a feeling that if Buffy would have taken you; I would have been thrown out on the street. I am only here because of you Dawn. With out you, no one would have taken me in."
" Yes they would have." Dawn said reassuringly.
" Dawn, you saw the sign that Xander had for us. Do you really think that he wanted me here? To them, I will always be the geek who screwed up their lives. I don't think they will ever truly forgive me like you have." Dawn wrapped her arms around Andrew, and leaned her head on his shoulder. She hated when Andrew was like this, but she knew that she felt the same way as he did. Were they just a charity case to Xander? Did he really even want them there?
Meanwhile, Xander sat downstairs in the living room watching TV when Oz came in. " Hey man how was school?"
" Same as always. Tests here, disruptive kids there. You know, the usual." Oz said as he sat down on the couch beside Xander. " Did Dawn and Andrew get here all right?"
" Yeah, I showed them the house, and then Dawn went upstairs for a while. Andrew sat out on the deck for a while, before he went up and joined Dawn in her room."
" Where is Andrew staying, If Dawn's up there?"
" He is staying in the room by the washer and dryer. Maybe he can do some laundry for me?" Xander laughed.
" He probably would ya know?" Oz said with a solemn look on his face.
" Yeah maybe I could get him to do all the house work." Xander smiled at that thought.
" He probably would." Oz said as he gazed at the TV.
" What is your problem man? You are usually never this quiet. I thought we got you broken of that habit?"
" You did Xan, but I just think you're not being fair to Andrew."
" What do you mean? I am putting a roof over the dork's head, and he hasn't even said thank you once."
" What has he been doing since he got here?"
" Besides sitting out there, he has been with Dawn, why?"
" His first priority is Dawn can't you see that? From what you have told me, and from what else I have heard, he cares a lot about Dawn. Dawn is probably really upset right now about having to move here. Everyone basically left her, besides Andrew. You have said Andrew is this nerd, who tried to kill everyone a while back right?"
" Yeah, his friends and him tried to take over the world. He also killed one of his so called friends too."
" And you're still making him pay for that aren't you?"
" Yes, he needs to learn a lesson." Oz just shook his head at Xander. " What?"
" You would have never had done this to Willow. She tried to kill everyone, even you, and you forgave her."
" That's different."
" How Xander? How is that different?"
" For one thing, his friends and him are the ones who caused it. He should be held responsible. Plus it was an evil inside of Willow that made her do it."
" Xan, did an evil force make me kill Veruca?"
" No, but you weren't yourself. It was the wolf controlling you."
" Xan what have we learned, since I met you down in Africa? The wolf and I are one. Someone endangered someone I cared about and I wanted her gone, both sides of me wanted her gone. Willow chose to take revenge after Tara was killed. Andrew chose to listen to one of the only friends he had. He trusted him, like I trust you. Now out of all three of us, who has had it worst?" Oz patted Xander's knee and walked away.
Xander sat there and thought about it all. Out of all of them, who have made mistakes in their lives, Andrew was the one who had no friends to fall back on. Oz had the scoobies, and so did Willow, but Andrew had no one. Willow killed Warren, and Andrew himself killed Jonathon. For the rest of his life, Andrew will have that burden to live with. He was in enough pain as it is, and Xander was just making him feel worse. What Xander saw earlier wasn't an act of romantic love between the two, it was a friend being there for a friend. Xander started to feel really bad about what he had done to Andrew. He guessed it was time to really get to know Andrew.
Later on that night, Oz had called for pizza to be delivered. He still hadn't see Andrew or Dawn yet. " Hey Xan, go get Dawn and Andrew. The pizza is here."
Xander went upstairs and gently knocked on the door. He heard someone tell him to come in, so he did. He saw Andrew and Dawn sitting by the window wiping away tears from their eyes. " Hey guys, Oz ordered pizza. It is downstairs if you want any."
" Thanks, we will be down in a minute." Dawn said. Xander went down, and told Oz that they would be down shortly.
A few minutes later, Dawn and Andrew came down the stairs smiling at each other. " So, what kind of pizzas did you order?" Andrew asked Xander.
" Well I ordered four large. Two pepperoni, one extra cheese, and one with just about every meat on it." Oz said as he came into the kitchen.
" Does that come for being a werewolf, craving meat? I don't mean to pry or anything." Andrew asked nervously.
" It's no problem. Being a werewolf definitely makes me crave meat. You can have a piece of mine if you like, but not too many." Oz smiled when Andrew backed away a little from the all meat pizza.
" Don't let him scare you Andrew. He is just a big fluffy puppy. If you scratch him behind his ear, even in human form, his leg starts to go." Xander laughed at the look Oz was giving him.
" Oh let me try, can I try Oz?" Dawn said as she advanced on Oz, with a mischief look in her eyes. Oz Backed away from her advances, then it started into a full on chase through the house.
" Don't forget to rub his tummy Dawn, he really enjoys that." Xander said as they came racing through the kitchen again. Xander had noticed that Andrew had sat down and was quietly eating his pizza. " How's the pizza Andy?" Xander asked.
" It's good, thanks. I can't believe Dawn is chasing Oz through the house trying to rub his tummy." Andrew said with a slight smile.
" yeah, it has gotten quiet. Either Dawn actually got him, or Oz got her." Xander sat down and they ate in silence. About ten minutes later, two very out of breath people came up from downstairs.
" You ok Dawn?" Andrew asked with a smile.
" Oh yea. I almost had him up here, but going down there was a mistake."
" Why?"
" That is Oz's domain. Once you are down there, you are at his mercy. Oz got you trapped didn't he?"
" Oh yeah, but I got him back." Dawn smiled
" What happened Oz? Did Dawnie get the best of you?" Xander laughed. Oz looked like a total mess. Hair was everywhere. His face was bright red. Clothes were all a mess. Kind of looked like they were going at each other and got caught. " You and Dawn weren't doing anything bad were you?" Oz's face got bright red and Xander's eyes started to bug out, but it was Andrew who spoke up.
" You gave him a nurple didn't you?" Dawn's face just got all red. " Dawn Summers, I can't believe you gave him a nurple." Andrew just laughed.
" He was too strong. I couldn't get him off of me and I didn't want to knee him, so I did that. It was really affective. Then I started to do that scratching the ear thing, and he was putty in my hands." Dawn laughed, and Oz smacked her gently upside the head.
" You ok Oz? You need any ice or anything?" Xander said between laughs.
" Ok, enough about my poor damaged nipples."
" She got both of them?" Xander fell off his chair onto the floor laughing. Andrew soon fell down beside him and they were both laughing.
" You two just wait, I know where both you sleep. As for you Miss Dawn, I shall get you back." Oz smiled at the kind of scared look in their eyes and left the room with his pizza.
After supper was over, they decided to head over to Walmart. They took both the jeep, and Oz's truck. They knew that they needed bedding for the two, a dresser, mirror, etc. As bedding went, Andrew picked out a blue plaid print, while Dawn chose a solid dark green color. They knew that they should pick up some paint and choose carpet too. Andrew picked out light blue paint and chose to keep his hard wood floors. Dawn on the other hand chose a dark blue carpet, that almost looked black, and again a dark green paint. Xander had commented that it was a big change from the stuff that was in her old room in Sunnydale. As furniture went, Dawn chose more of the wood type décor. Andrew on the other hand, went for more modern steel type furniture. Even though Walmart was open 24 hours, they knew they couldn't stay that long. It was about twelve thirty when they got out of there.
They had a bunch of the stuff and the others would be delivered in the morning. Andrew and Xander went in the jeep, While Oz had a sleeping Dawn leaning on his shoulder in the truck. Oz carried Dawn upstairs, while the other two fished out her bedding and made up her bed. Oz tucked Dawn in and just watched her for a minute or so. He then smiled, and kissed the top of her head, and headed out to help unload the truck.
review plz!