Willow and Xander who were sitting in the living room of the Summers household jumped when they heard Buffy start swearing. Running into the kitchen they watched as she paced back and forth.
"That god damned, no good, son of a bitch-"
She was cut off by Willow.
"What's wrong Buffy, is Dawn ok?" She asked worriedly
Buffy stopped and looked up at them standing there. "Well that depends on your definition of ok, physically, she's fine" She sighed "Within two seconds of her walking in the door, Dad tells her he's getting remarried" She sat down on one of the stools. "And I know that doesn't sound that bad but Dawn was always a daddy's little girl, you know, and every time mom and dad used to fight; he would always tell her that they'd sort it out, everything would be ok, and even after the divorce, I think she'd always thought that they'd get back together, we both did. But with everything that's happened since mum died I don't think she's even thought about it, so it's just kinda hitting her all at once" She looked up at Xander. "I told her I'd come and get her tomorrow, would you mind driving me up there?"
Xander shook her head "Nah that's no problem Buffy, I already told her I'd come get her if she wanted me to."
Willow looked from Buffy and Xander. "What if I drove up there, I was going to go visit Cordy sometime soon anyway"
Xander smiled. "That would work, You two can go pick up Dawnie and I'll do a patrol with Spike so you don't have to rush back. I can pick Buffy up after work, bring her back here, then you can drop me off at home before you leave town."
"You sure you trust me with your new car Xand" Buffy asked.
Xander's smile turned into a slightly evil grin "Well if it was you driving..." He trailed off and jumped out of reach of Buffy's slap "Nah just joking Buff, yeah I trust ya" Xander yawned. "I'm gonna head off, I got an early shift in the morning and I need my beauty sleep" Giving Willow a kiss on the forehead and walking over to Buffy to do the same he started to head for the front door. "I'll see you two beautiful ladies in the morning" Opening the door he stops and turns back to face Buffy. "If for some reason you end up punching Hank, make sure you get one in for me too; the wanker should've been a bit more sensitive towards Dawnie" At the two girls grins he thought over what he had just said. "Oh crap, I've spent way too much time around the bleached wonder, I need to get me some more alive male friends" He saw that both girls were now laughing "Oh shut up"
Getting control of herself Buffy just grinned "Okay Xand I will, Goodnight"
"Yeah goodnight Xander" Willow said now in control of her own laughter.
"Night Girls" With that he left shutting the door behind him.
Willow turned to face Buffy. "I'm gonna head to bed now, I've got my Magic's Anonymous tomorrow and a lot of studying to do before we go to L.A. You gonna be okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just gonna call Angel and let him know Dawn may be calling sometime in the next 24 hours, then I'm gonna go to bed too.
"Ok" Giving the Slayer a quick hug and saying goodnight, Willow went upstairs.
The laughter from earlier gone Buffy sighed softly, grabbed the phone book and dialed the number of Angel's hotel.
End Chapter 3
