Saturday morning was an interesting one for Oz. He had been woken up by Dawn jumping up and down on his bed, while telling him it was time to get up. Oz then proceeded to grab Dawn by the hips, and then he flips them so she was looking up at him. He started to growl at her and tell her that it was too early to get up. It was only seven AM. Dawn just smiled, crawled out from under him, and then ran upstairs saying that Oz was up now. Oz walked upstairs only to find himself blinded by a flash. He rubbed his eyes and found Dawn smiling at him with a camera. She told him that was going to be a good one, then ran upstairs. Oz walked out to the kitchen and found Andrew and Xander sitting at the table drinking coffee.
" Hey Oz-man. You look tired." Xander laughed at the image Oz was making. He was standing there in his gray sweat pants, with no shirt on, and his hair going every which direction.
" I just got a unique wake up call." Oz said as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
" Don't worry Oz I did too." Xander smiled at Oz.
" What about you Andrew?" Oz asked.
" I didn't get woken up like you two did. Dawn did that to me a couple times in Rome, but I learned how to get her back." Andrew just smiled evilly.
" What did you do Andrew?" Andrew just shrugged, got up, and walked away. " Come on man you got to tell us." Xander begged. He wanted to know how to get Dawn back for waking him up like that. He had been sound asleep dreaming of that girl from Star Trek Voyager, the one who played seven of nine. Then all of a sudden he hears this voice saying Xander very loudly in his ear. He had shot up out of bed, only to be greeted by a flash from Dawn's camera. She then had told him that it was time to get up. She asked about going to wake Oz up, and Xander had just smiled and nodded. Now he stood there watching a very sleeping werewolf sip at his coffee.
" I guess we are going to be doing a lot of stuff between today and tomorrow Oz." Xander said as he sat back down.
" Yea, I guess we are. Which one of us is going to work with who?" Oz questioned.
" Doesn't matter to me. You can choose whoever you want, and I'll go with the other person."
" All right, I'll work with Dawn and you can work with Andrew."
" Wow that was fast. I thought for sure that you'd want to work with Andrew. Can you handle all of Dawn's girlie things?"
" I am sure Xander. Andrew is kind of going for the preppy look, and I don't think I can deal with that. Maybe I can mold Dawn into a punk girl?" Oz laughed at Xander's horrified look.
" Oh hell no. You are not making my little Dawnie into a punk girl." Xander said as he waved his finger at Oz.
" Yes Mr. Harris. I will not make your sweet little girl into a punk girl. Can I still take her out to the Movies Mr. Harris? I promise we will have a swell time Sir."
" Only if you have her back by eight Mister, or I will have to shoot you."
" Oh golly no. I promise to have her back by eight. My Daddy Xander won't let me stay out that late."
" You know, I would really consider mentally institutionalizing yourselves." Dawn said from the doorway. Both boys jumped when they heard Dawn from behind them. " Golly g, wouldn't you think that would be a super swell idea?" Dawn smiled and left the kitchen. Xander and Oz just shook their heads, and went to get dressed for the day.
" Hey, the truck is here." They all heard Andrew say from outside on the hammock. They all went outside and helped to carry in the rest of the items they had bought. They directed the pieces to the upstairs, or Towards the Kitchen. Once they had gotten all the pieces inside, it was about noon.
" Hey, who wants some burgers on the grill?" Xander asked. The all shouted yes and Xander said, " Ok Oz, go do your magic." Oz just looked at Xander as he sat down on the sofa, and just shook his head.
" I'll help you Oz. I might not be able to cook them, but I can throw a mean piece of cheese on them." Dawn said from her perch on the second floor.
" Dawn get down off of there. You are going to break your neck." Xander said when he saw Dawn sitting on the ledge. Dawn got down and proceeded to go with Oz to cook some burgers.
Meanwhile, Andrew took his place outside on the hammock once again. Xander saw him through the window and noticed that all he had on was a sweater. Xander knew it was chilly outside. It was December and though there wasn't any snow on the ground, it still was cold. Xander went to the hall closet and pulled out a fleece blanket and headed outside.
" Hey Andrew." Andrew looked up from his book smiling, but when he saw it was Xander coming, his smile disappeared. " Whatcha reading there?" Andrew held up his book. Xander noticed that it was entitled "Taken" and it looked like a figure on the cover was having an orgasm. " Is that one of those sex books?" Xander asked.
" No, it's a book about aliens." Andrew said, while looking at his book.
" Oh, you know aliens aren't real right?" Andrew looked up at Xander then hung his head back down again.
" I don't know Xander. You find out that the things your parents told you were false when you were little are actually real, then maybe aliens are too. You just never know." Xander was shocked. This was not the geeky kid he had met in Sunnydale. This was a totally different person. A person who seems to be hollow and empty inside. Whenever Dawn is around they don't see this side of Andrew.
" You ok Andrew?"
" I am fine, who do you ask?" Andrew says without even looking up from his book.
" You don't seem fine to me. What's bothering you Andy?"
" You know Dawn isn't around. You can stop acting like you care because I know that you don't." Andrew said again without even looking at Xander. Xander felt a huge stabbing pain in his heart at Andrew's comment. He realized that Andrew was hurting and it was partly his fault. He was about to say something, but was cut off by Dawn saying that Lunch was done. Andrew got up without saying a word and went inside. Xander followed behind, still holding onto the blanket that he was going to give Andrew.
Lunch was eaten quickly, and the pairs set off to start the rooms. First stop was Andrew's bedroom. Xander was still feeling pretty bad about being so rude to Andrew.
" So Andrew, how about we paint the walls first to get it out of the way?" Xander glanced over at Andrew, who in turn just nodded his approval. Xander got out the paint and brushes for them. He handed a brush to Andrew, and they got to work. The whole time they were painting, neither one of them said a word. They just painted in silence. Once they were done with the first layer, Xander went out and got them each a drink.
" Thanks." Andrew said when Xander handed him his drink.
" No problem." They both stood there sipping at their drinks for a little while, till Xander finally broke the silence. " Do you hate me Andrew?"
Andrew just raised his eyebrow and said, " No, you hate me remember?"
" I don't hate you Andrew."
" Bullshit Xander." Xander was taken back by Andrew's sharp tongue. " You have hated me ever since Sunnydale. You blame me for Tara's death, Willow going crazy, and the first coming after everyone. Don't even try to deny it either. You always thought I never heard the rude comments that you all made about me, well guess again. Every rude comment or joke I heard. I know for a fact that you don't want me here. I am only here because of Dawn. If it would have been just me thrown out, you would have never let me stay." Andrew stared Xander dead in the eyes for a few moments before walking out of the room.
Xander just stood there not knowing what to do. Xander knew that he had been a real jerk to Andrew back in Sunnydale, but he never realized how much. Xander looked out of the room and saw Dawn in the kitchen grabbing some water. She was all covered in green paint, and when he saw he she said, " Don't even ask." Xander just shook his head and watched her run back upstairs.
Xander walked out onto the deck where he found Andrew sitting. " Andrew, I'm sorry. I know that this is hard to believe, but I am really sorry. I just want you to know that I hope we can eventually become friends. I want to get to know the real Andrew, not the one I thought I knew." Xander squeezed Andrew's shoulder, and went back inside. He never saw the tear that slowly made its way down Andrew's cheek.
Meanwhile as the two teams split off, Oz and Dawn made their way upstairs. " So, you wanna move stuff in first, or paint?" Oz asked.
" ummm." Dawn didn't know how to reply to that question. He seemed so serious when he asked her that. She didn't know if he was kidding, or being serious.
" I am kidding Dawn. Let's get the paint." Oz smiled and shook his head at the death glare Dawn was giving him. They got everything set up, and started painting.
" Hey Oz. I know this might sound weird, but is your name actually Oz?" Dawn said sheepishly.
" Nope."
" Ok…… umm Oz?"
" What?" Oz smiled. He knew what was coming next.
" Are you Gay?"
" What?" Oz whirled around so fast at that comment. That had not been the question he thought she was going to ask.
" Ha ha. Got ya." Dawn smiled evilly at Oz. " So what is your real name?"
" Daniel Osbourne." Oz said as he went back to painting.
" Do I have to call you Mr. Osbourne when I see you in school?"
" No."
" Cool." Dawn thought that this was going to be so cool. She didn't have to call him Mr. Osbourne.
" You have to call me your Royal Highness." Oz smiled when he heard her stop painting. What Oz didn't expect was the paint that was poured down his shirt. Oz turned around and saw a smiling Dawn.
" It matches your eyes your Highness." Dawn laughed, but was quickly sobered up when she saw the look in Oz's eyes. Dawn was quickly tackled to the floor, before she even had time to turn around. " Hey no fair! You got werewolf speed!"
"It does have its advantages." Oz smiled as he dipped his hand in the green paint, and smeared it on her face. That had begun an all out paint war, which in the end had both of them covered in paint.
" Ok, I call it a draw. I am going to get a drink, want anything?" Dawn smiled at the picture Oz made. Green paint all over himself, but only two spots on his face. Kind of like green blush.
" Water would be great." Oz ran his hand through his hair, and realized he got more paint in his hair now.
Dawn went downstairs to find Xander alone in Andrew's room. She told him not to say a word about the paint, and went back upstairs. Dawn went and took a seat next to Oz on the floor and handed him his water.
" Now for my original question that I was going to ask, can I call you Dan or Daniel instead of Oz? It's ok if you don't want me to, but I thought I could call you by your real name."
Oz sat and thought about it for a minute. No one had ever really called him by his first name before. When he was younger people started calling him Oz as a nickname, and it just stuck. " Sure Dawn. That would be ok. Just you might want to call me Oz around Xander. I don't think his mind will handle the transition." Dawn smiled at Oz and just sat back and relaxed for a while. The day flew by after that. The groups each got everything set up by midnight. The gang all ventured out to the living room, and collapsed on the two couches. They all smiled at each other, and then fell fast asleep.
The next morning Andrew woke up to find Xander using his chest as a pillow. Xander had both arms wrapped around Andrew. He gazed over to the other couch to find Oz using Dawn's lap as a pillow, while Dawn was running her fingers through his hair almost like she was petting him. Andrew just smiled and leaned his head back against the couch, trying to get comfy.
" Stop moving Andrew." Xander said out of no where. Andrew looked down and watched Xander remove his arms from around Andrew, and then rub his eyes. " Sorry about using you as a human pillow."
" It's no problem. I just used you as a human blanket." Xander smiled and then yawned at that. " How much longer do you think those two will be asleep?"
" Well I don't know about Danny boy here, but I am awake." Dawn turned her head around to look at them.
" Yea Oz loves the petting you're doing. I think he'd sleep for days with someone doing that." Xander said as he got up and stretched.
" I would most likely too if Dawn was doing that to me." Andrew said.
" Will you guys be quiet? I was in my happy place till you guys got Dawn to stop…. And that did not come out right at all." They all just laughed.
" Aww Oz. would you like me to come and rub your belly while Andrew rubs your back and Dawn pets you?" Xander said in a childish voice.
" Andrew does give a mean massage. I mean Damn he could turn a brick wall to mush with those hands."
" Dawn watch you language." Andrew glared at her.
" Yes sir captain sir." Dawn smiled at Andrew.
" Do you really give good massages Andrew?" Oz asked.
" I have been told that I do, but Dawn might give me a run for my money. I taught her everything and she is really good too."
" Well than," Xander said as he flopped back down on the couch. " How bout you and Dawn work your magic on us. Please!" Xander gave his best puppy dog eyes, and so did Oz.
" All right. Andrew, you work on Oz. I will work on Xander." The two began their work on the men, and soon you could here the sounds of pleasant moans through out the house. By the time they were done, the two men were like putty in their hands. Andrew and Dawn gave each other a high five, and walked away from the sleeping boys.
" They will be asleep for hours." Dawn laughed as she got a cold drink from the fridge. " Their breathing and moans got kind of hypnotic there for a little bit, don't ya think?" Dawn questioned.
" Yea, I think it comes from them both being of the doggy nature."
" What do you mean by both of them? Only Oz is a dog."
" Correction young grasshopper; I could tell that Xander has a little dog in him."
" How?"
" Well for one thing, at one point both of their breathing patterns matched. Now, you know as well as I that Oz was channeling the werewolf there, so how would you explain Xander?"
" Xander would like to explain himself." Both Dawn and Andrew whirled around at hearing Xander's voice. " You are correct in your hypothesis Andrew."
" Are you a werewolf like Oz? Did he bite you?" Dawn asked fervently.
" No, Oz didn't do this. Back in high school a group of people and I were possessed by hyena spirits. We became one with them at the time. When they did the undoing spell to get the hyena out of me, it didn't really work. I was now in control, but she was still there."
" Are you and Oz pack brothers?" Andrew asked.
" Yes, but how did you know that?" Xander was baffled by Andrew's knowledge.
" Well, you either had to be mates or bothers. Since I think that you are both straight, I concluded you to be pack brothers."
" Are you sure I am straight Andy?" Xander leered at him.
" Of course you-" Andrew was cut of by Xander's lips on his own. Andrew was surprised at having Xander kiss him, and so he stumbled backwards when Xander ended the kiss.
" I think you are right again Andy, I am straight." Xander just smiled at a blushing Andrew, and walked away.
tbc...
just so you all know, xander is not going to be gay and neither is andrew lol so plz don't think that
plz review and tell if i should continue