Dawn sat at the vanity in her bedroom, staring in the mirror. Andrew had tried to kiss her. Part of her wanted to fret about it, to wonder if maybe she'd been reading him wrong, but the way he'd been moving towards her could only mean one thing.

Andrew Wells, former Sunnydale Supervillain, wanted to kiss her, Dawn Summers, sister of the Slayer.

Dawn mulled that over in her head as she looked at her reflection, wondering what exactly it was that had drawn Andrew to her. She traced a finger over her lips as a smile crept its way to them unbidden. She thought that maybe she should be repulsed by the thought of kissing Andrew—or at least a little creeped out—but she wasn't. Instead, she felt a little thrill go through her.

She'd never given much thought to Andrew like that, but now that she was, she was finding that it wasn't as unappealing as she would've imagined. In fact, she was wondering what it would've been like if he actually had kissed her. Would she like it? She smiled again, unable to stop the grin or the small giggle that accompanied it. Suddenly, the thought of kissing Andrew made her giddy with a sort of nervous excitement.

But then she frowned. What if this really wasn't anything? What if she was just responding to his actions without any real emotions of her own behind it? Was starting to see Andrew in a new light nothing more than feeling flattered that he noticed her?

Or what if it really hadn't meant anything? What if he had just been caught up in the moment, and he didn't really want her at all? After all, he had two gorgeous, sophisticated Italian girlfriends. What would he want with her?

Dawn's shoulders slumped. Who was she kidding? No one would want her over women like that. Hell, no one would probably ever want her period. Not even Andrew. She turned away from the mirror, and then got up, switching off the light before climbing into bed.

Andrew sat up stiffly when Dawn came into the kitchen the next morning. She hadn't spoken to him since the almost-kiss on the balcony, and he couldn't help but wonder if she was upset about it. Granted, he'd shut himself up in his bedroom almost as soon as Buffy had gotten home so Dawn hadn't really had a chance to say anything to him, but that didn't mean she wasn't upset with him. "Did you sleep well?" he asked, trying unsuccessfully to appear calm.

"I've slept worse," Dawn replied, going to the cabinet to get a cereal bowl. "Is Buffy awake yet?"

"No."

Dawn fixed her cereal then sat down at the kitchen island across from Andrew. He read the newspaper and nibbled at a piece of toast, keeping his head down. Both of them tried to act as if everything was normal, but the tension in the room clearly indicated otherwise.

Andrew glanced up, noticing that she was staring into her cereal bowl. She didn't say anything about it, so maybe she didn't hate him. Maybe she didn't even know that he wanted to kiss her.

But what if she did know? What if she'd told Buffy? Andrew paled. Buffy would kill him if she knew he'd even considered making a move on her little sister.

It was just as that thought had entered his mind that Buffy made her appearance in the kitchen, mumbling a good morning as she went to the fridge. Andrew sat still for a moment before jumping up. "Nothing happened, I swear!" he yelled before rushing out of the kitchen.

Buffy blinked. "What's his problem?" she asked, jerking a thumb in the direction that Andrew had just run off in.

"Beats me," Dawn replied, poking at her soggy cereal with a spoon.

Buffy shrugged, dismissing it as more of Andrew's eccentric behavior as she poured herself a glass of juice.

Dawn lay on her bed and groaned. She could hear Buffy and "Morty" in the living room, acting like a couple of lovesick kids. It made her ill. She tried to ignore it, but it was impossible. The sound of Buffy's flirtatious laughter alone was enough to drive her towards insanity.

Finally unable to take it any longer, she got up, putting on her shoes and grabbing her purse. Buffy looked up when Dawn stalked into the living room and towards the door. "Where are you going?"

"Out."

"Take your…"

"Cell phone. I know, Buffy." Dawn walked out into the hallway, slamming the door as hard as she could.

Dawn got as far as the curb before she stopped. She sat down, tears stinging her eyes. She hated this, hated always being so miserable. She'd thought things had been bad in Sunnydale, but now they seemed almost worse in a way. At least there she felt like she had a purpose, even if it was just research assistant for the Slayer. Nothing felt like it had any meaning anymore. She was just floating, without anything to tether her down.

Displaced and alone, nothing felt right.

"Hey. You okay?"

Dawn wiped at her eyes as she heard Andrew come up behind her. Yet another thing to make things more complicated for her—possible romantic feelings for someone who she'd once found to be one of the most annoying creatures ever placed upon this earth. "I'm fine. Go away."

Andrew sat beside her on the curb. "No, you're not—and no, I won't. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Everything." Dawn sighed. "God, I don't even know."

"Wanna go somewhere? A movie or something?"

Dawn looked up at him, her eyes red. "Huh?"

"You seem lonely."

"I am, but I don't need you to fix it."

"I'm not, I just…I'm lonely, too."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "You have two girlfriends."

"You don't have to be alone to be lonely." Andrew stood up, holding his hand out to her. "Come on. We can find a theater showing American movies 'versione originale.' No dubbing, I promise."

Dawn took his hand, a jolt going through her as she did. Andrew's eyes widened for a second, and she wondered if he'd felt it as well. She let him pull her to her feet. "I could go for something in a language I speak."

Andrew smiled as they walked off together.

Dawn had gone to movies with Andrew alone before. Sitting next to him in a darkened room had never seemed awkward before, but now she couldn't concentrate on the movie at all. She was too aware of his presence, her nerves set on end just by having him in the seat next to her.

She shifted, her arm rubbing up against his. They looked at each other, sharing a nervous smile. As his eyes went back to the screen, Dawn felt her courage rise. She scooted over a bit in the seat, moving closer to Andrew. When he didn't move away, she leaned just a bit, letting their shoulders touch.

Dawn stayed like that for a while, the feel of him so close giving her a thrill. Her dating life had never exactly been stellar, and she'd never done this before, never felt the tumble of emotions from this particular game. Feeling emboldened, she reached down where Andrew's hand was resting on the arm of the seat, entwining her fingers with his.

Andrew froze at the first brush of Dawn's hand against his. He took a deep breath, building up the courage to look over at her. Her eyes were glued to the screen, but as she felt his gaze on her, she turned. They both looked down at their hands for a moment before looking back up, their eyes locking. Andrew reached out, cupping her cheek in his free hand. When Dawn didn't move away, but nuzzled against it instead, he moved in, pressing his lips against hers.

The kiss was tentative at first, closed mouth with only a light amount of pressure. But as they both decided that this was what they wanted to be doing at the moment, it grew, until a series of simple kisses had become a full-blown make out session.

While a part of her mind was screaming that this was Andrew and that should be somehow shocking, Dawn didn't care. Kissing him like this in the darkened theater was a rush, and she didn't want to stop. He was a better kisser than she ever would've imagined, and his touch was making her melt against him.

When the lights came on, Andrew and Dawn pulled away, both looking at each other in surprise. "Guess the movie's over," Andrew said lamely, a sudden awkwardness coming over both of them.

"Yeah, I guess it is," Dawn replied. She looked down at the floor, now sure what to do now.

"So, um, want to go get something to eat? I mean, unless you want to go home, then we could, um, do that."

"Eating sounds good," Dawn replied.

Andrew nodded, and left the theater, Dawn beside him.

As they walked down the street in search of a place to have dinner, Dawn felt the awkwardness grow. She wasn't sure what to do now. What had that meant? Should they be talking? Should she be holding his hand? She bit her lip, glancing up at Andrew to see him looking nervously around at everything but her.

"There's a good restaurant up here, on this street," he said after a bit, pointing.

"All right."

They didn't say anything else to each other, even after they'd reached the restaurant and were seated. They had already ordered their meals before Andrew finally spoke.

"So, um, what did you think of the movie?"

Dawn was tracing the design on the tablecloth with her finger. "I didn't really see much of it," she replied.

"Guess it wouldn't have mattered if we'd seen it dubbed, huh?" Andrew asked with a chuckle.

Dawn laughed back. "No, I guess not." She looked up then. "What was that exactly?"

"Um, kissing?"

"Kissing and then some," Dawn replied. "You copped a feel a couple of times there, buddy."

Andrew blushed. "Dawn, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cross a line with you, and now I've probably ruined out friendship, and…"

Dawn held up her hands. "Whoa. Slow down there. It wasn't all you. I had busy lips and hands, too." She smiled slowly. "Besides, I, um, well—I liked it."

"You…you did?"

"Yeah."

Andrew smiled back. "Me, too."

Dawn blinked. "Really?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because I'm…well, just me. And…and you have Caprice and Isabella."

"Dawn, you're ten times the woman either one of them is. Don't try to sell yourself short. You're…you're wonderful."

Dawn turned a deep crimson, and her focus went back to the tablecloth. "You're just saying that."

"No, I'm not. You think people don't notice you, but I do. I always have. When you walk in a room, you're all I can notice."

Dawn looked back up sharply. "You're serious."

"I am."

She reached across the table, her palm turned upwards. Andrew took her hand.

When they got back to the apartment, Buffy was already asleep. They kept the light off in the living room, the moonlight trickling in through the windows all they had to see by. "Tonight was good," Dawn whispered.

"It really was," Andrew replied, whispering back.

"So…what happens from here?"

Andrew brushed her hair away from her face. She looked so beautiful in this light, and he felt his heart clench. "We'll have to see, won't we?"

Dawn smiled. "I guess we will. Good night, Andrew."

"Good night, Dawnie." He gave her a soft, almost chaste kiss. "Sweet dreams."

"You, too," Dawn replied. She started towards her room, but stopped, going back to Andrew. She took his face in both hands and kissed him hard before leaving him alone.

Andrew grinned. "Good" didn't even begin to cover it…

I'd sort of forgotten about this story, but then someone nominated me for an award, and it reminded me. (Thanks to whoever that was.) So, moral of this story—nominate me for lots of awards, and I'll write more. lol Just kidding—although reviews never hurt. wink