Part Two
She held the productive image of Alyson sitting in the tree last night still made her smile. Dawn stood behind Melinda as the girl got into her locker. It was first period and Alyson should have been coming out of the door on the right of Dawn. She looked, waiting to see the girl who had stolen her heart.
As she was watching the door, she didn't see the guy running past her. Her accidentally knocked her books out of her hand. But he must have not known he did because he kept on running. She was bent over picking up her books when she saw somebody's hand reach down and grab one of her books. When she looked up, she saw Alyson standing up with a smile on her face. She didn't have her glasses on but she still looked as good to Dawn. Alyson was wearing a white shirt that was pretty tight. Her jeans were her trade mark baggy blue jeans. A pentacle hung from a large chain on her neck.
She turned the book over to look at the spine of it. "Harry Potter." Alyson nodded and handed it back to Dawn who was blushing now from embarrassment. Before she didn't think that it was a childish book until now.
"Wait till you see the movie, its awesome." Alyson smiled. "I read all four of the books and then went to see the movie, its pretty cool." She leaned to whisper in Dawn's ear, placing a hand on Dawn's upper arm. "Can't wait to see you later today. I was hoping we could finish what I started last night outside of your window."
She left almost as quickly as she came.
The library was empty, as always. People had better things to do with their life than sit and study. Dawn took the same seat that she had taken the day before. Obviously she made it in here before Alyson which was a good thing. She pulled out her books and began to set up her study session. Though her heart was pounding with fear of how this evening would turn out.
Alyson was having the same dilemma. Though she would never admit it, she was scared. Every time she got near a girl that she liked she acted like it never bothered her but on the inside she was shaking. She climbed out of her car and looked around. This was going to be a nerve racking day for her.
Inside Dawn was emerged in her book when she heard something. Behind her she heard somebody lightly singing. She turned to see Alyson approaching her singing a song that she had never heard before.
I'm tugging at my hair
I'm pulling at my clothes
I'm trying to keep my cool
I know it shows
I'm staring at my feet
My cheeks are turned red
I'm searching for the words
Inside my head
Alyson sat down with a big smile on her face. "So teach, what's the game plan?"
"Why are you so happy? You can't possibly be excited about studying math."
"Nope, I got my paycheck today. Finally, for a few days at least, I'll have some money. It'll probably be gone by tomorrow though. I have to go get gas for my car."
"What are singing?" Dawn asked as she heard Alyson start up again.
"Avril Lavigne. She's an awesome singer. Plus, she's a total babe."
Dawn felt her face get a little bit red. She had never been around someone who was so open as Alyson was. But Alyson seemed to be off in her own world. She kept on humming the song but pulled out her items for study. Something stopped her from going any further.
"What all did I say to you last night?" Suddenly she couldn't remember the night as well as she had earlier.
Dawn couldn't look up because if she did she would have been completely red. "You just said that you thought I was hot but that it could have been the liquor in you talking."
"Well it definitely wasn't. I'm sober now and I still think that you're hot." Dawn looked up to see Alyson cleaning her glasses with some kind of cloth. She glanced up to smile at the other girl and slid her glasses on.
They began their studying much to Dawn's disappointment. She was making progress with the girl. But a comfortable silence fell between them. Alyson decided to finish the remainder of her song that she started.
I'm feeling nervous
Trying to be so perfect
Cause I know you're worth it
If I could say what I want to say
I'd say I want blow you...away
Be with you every night
Am I squeezing you too tight?
If I could see what I want to see
I wanna see you go down...on one knee
marry me today
Guess I'm wishing my life
With these things I'll never say
It don't do me any good
Its just a waste of time
What use is it to you
What's on my mind
If it ain't coming out
We're not going anywhere
So why can't I just tell you that I care?
Dawn's mind was running so fast that she couldn't keep up. She was jumping from one thought to another of what to do. She felt this great need to tell Alyson that she liked her but she couldn't. What if it ruined their friendship? But couldn't possibly because Alyson seemed perfectly okay with telling Dawn how she felt. That was just the type of person that Alyson was, a flirt. Many guys thought that they had a chance with her because of the way she acted. Danny Kessler, a friend of Dawn's, had thought so at one point. He swore that Alyson was after him just because she touched him every once and awhile.
Alyson's fingers snapped in front of Dawn's face. "YO! Are you still in there?" Dawn mumbled her apologies. "Well now that you're back, I have to go." She was looking at Dawn with a weird look in her eyes. It was almost like admiration. She shook her head lightly and stood her. Dawn watched her as she picked up her books and stuff them into her book bag. When she was done she just stood there.
"I don't want to leave but I have a job to get to so that I can make some money." Alyson leaned down and quickly planted a kiss on Dawn's cheek. "See ya later."
The teenager was now left to deal with herself.
By now Dawn was at home again. Willow seemed to act different towards her now. Like she was mad at her or something. There was a lot of whispering and angry looks as Dawn passed by. But she tried to convince herself that she was just being paranoid.
Dinner time was approaching quickly. Willow and Tara were in the kitchen cooking while Dawn finished a few little things with her homework that she didn't do at the library. The doorbell rang much to everyone's surprise. Tara went to the door and opened it to find Alyson. Though at the time she didn't know who this girl was.
"Um, sorry to, uh, bother you but, um...is Dawn home?" Alyson was visibly nervous. She held a small notebook in her right hand. She was wearing the same thing that she had on earlier, minus the glasses. Tara nodded and stood back so that Alyson could come in.
"Dawn, come here." Tara called out. Dawn came to the front door to see Alyson. Tara looked between the two girls for a moment before disappearing into the kitchen.
"Who was it?" Willow asked.
"Some girl, I think that it was Alyson." Tara said so that only Willow would hear. They really didn't need to let Buffy know just yet. Willow started heading out to the front door. She saw the girl and Dawn just standing there, they had been speaking but stopped when Willow appeared.
"Hi, I'm Willow and this is my girlfriend Tara." She said in a voice that said 'if you've got a problem with the fact that I'm a lesbian I'll have to hurt you.'
"I'm Alyson." She shook both of their hands. Satisfied, the two witches left them again.
Alyson let out a breath that she must have been holding. "Jesus, I hate meeting family members." She rubbed her head for a moment. Then she realized that she hadn't gave her reason for being there. "I kind of, accidentally of course, took off with one of your notebooks. But I didn't go through it." She handed the notebook to Dawn.
She was smiling at Alyson. "Thanks."
"I should be going, don't want to interrupt family time." Alyson turned to the door but stopped when she felt a hand on her arm. She turned her head.
"I'll walk out there with you." Dawn nearly whispered. They slowly walked out of the house. Neither girl wanted this to end. Finally they reached Alyson's car. "I want to see the inside of it." Dawn's voice didn't hide what she wanted to really see the inside for.
Alyson climbing inside the driver's side and Dawn got in the passenger's side. The window's were tinted so it would make it difficult for anyone on the outside to see what they were doing.
"Did you really accidentally take the notebook?" Dawn questioned.
"Sort of. I thought about it before I went into the library today but then I decided I wouldn't, so it was an accident when I took off with it." Alyson had one hand laying on top of the steering wheel while the other was on her thigh.
Dawn picked up Alyson's free hand and held on to it. "Kiss me." She half pleaded.
With a grin on her face, Alyson leaned over and gently let her lips touch. Dawn responded to the kiss by letting her tongue lightly touch Alyson's lip. She opened her mouth and the girls slowly fell into a heated kiss. When she finally pulled back, Dawn was out of breath. That was an intense kiss for her.
"You should get back inside before they come out here looking for you." Alyson placed one more kiss on Dawn's lips before sliding back in her seat. The girl nodded and climbed out of the car. She shut the door but still stood there. A part of her wanted to jump back inside that car just to be with Alyson.
The car started up and music began playing from the stereo. Dawn recognized the music as Nirvana, one of Alyson's favorite bands. She slowly pulled away leaving Dawn standing there by herself. When the car was finally out of sight, Dawn treaded back inside the house.
"So that was Alyson huh?" Willow never looked up from her task but she had a smile on her face.
"Nice girl." Tara added.
"Are you making fun of me?" Dawn questioned.
"No, just having some fun with you. You know that no matter who you brought here we would have to pick on you for it." Willow grinned evilly.
"Whatever." Dawn chuckled.
Dawn was pacing in her room. Dinner was over by now. She had decided that it was time to talk to Buffy before anything else happened with Alyson. Buffy would really be furious with her if she was last to know. But she was really nervous about how to start this. The sound of feet padding down the hallway caught her attention, now or never.
She opened the door to see her sister walking from the bathroom. "Buffy? Can we talk?" Dawn left the door open so that her sister would come in. Buffy heard this distress in her sister's voice. Dawn was pacing around the room. The sight of her sister caused her heart to drop forty miles into her stomach. Sweat was starting to form at her forehead making it itch slightly. She brushed away the moisture before taking a deep breath.
"Is something wrong?" Buffy took a seat on her sister's bed.
"Yes and no. I need to tell you something very important." She couldn't face her sister so she stood. She looked at the door sort of hoping that someone or something would burst through the door to stop this.
"Well?" The longer this went on the more worried that the slayer felt.
"I've sort of...well there's this...what I'm trying to say is..." No matter how many times she started this, she couldn't find the words to finish it. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths before blurting out. "I've got this crush on this girl and I really like her. We kissed for the first time today." She waited for the screaming and yelling to happen. Still she kept her eyes closed. But nothing could be heard except the pounding of her own heart in her ears so loudly that if anything else were to be said she wasn't sure she would have heard it.
Dawn looked at her sister who was still trying to comprehend what was said. She was staring off into the carpet like it had opened up into a new world. Dawn felt a need to ask if her sister had heard what was said but she knew better. The slayer had heard all too well. She didn't want to believe it though.
"Oh, really. When did all of this happen?" Her words were chosen carefully.
"I've had a crush on her for a long time now. And now that I've gotten to know her a little bit better, the more I find that I like her. Then today we just sort of kissed."
"Are you two..." She felt half way disgusted saying this to her little sister, "girlfriends?"
What a complicated question. Were they girlfriends now? They possibly couldn't be just because they shared one kiss didn't mean that they were automatically dating. "No, and I'm not sure that I want us to be. I'm not really sure if I'm okay with feeling this way." She answered honestly.
"This is going to take some time getting use to." Buffy stood up and headed for the door. Still confused. Something stopped her. She turned around and gathered Dawn up in a hug. "But I still love you." She had to make sure that her sister always knew that she loved her.
Suddenly Dawn was left alone to herself. With a heavy sigh, she sat down on her bed and grabbed the notebook that Alyson had "stolen" from her. She was glad that Alyson hadn't went through it. Dawn opened the book to see a piece of folded up paper. She picked it up and opened it. It was Alyson's handwriting that said:
So I'm possibly the biggest dork in the world by doing this but I couldn't think of any other way to do this. A friend told me that you might this romantic so here goes; I really like you Dawn, a lot. And I'm going against better judgment by doing this but please check yes or no.
Will you be my girlfriend?
Underneath the question was two boxes, one under the word "yes" and one under "no." She picked up a pen and checked the box she wanted.
Downstairs Buffy was in deep conversation with Willow and Tara. They confessed to know about Dawn's attraction which really didn't surprise Buffy. She knew that no matter what she said or did, Dawn would always go to Tara before she did her own sister.
"So what am I suppose to do about this?" Buffy looked down into her coffee.
"Just love her and support her no matter what she chooses. All she wants right now is to know that you're not going to throw her out of the house or send her to some psychiatrist." Tara laid a gently hand on Buffy's arm. "Believe me when I say that there's nothing more scary to a teenage girl than thinking that her family will disown her because she likes other girls."
Willow felt kind of left out. She didn't go through what Tara did as far as being a lesbian in high school.
Dawn was in deep thought when she should have been asleep. Assuming, just assuming, that she and Alyson get together, Alyson had some habits that Dawn didn't agree with. Alyson was a drinker, not a heavy one, but the alcohol issue altogether bothered Dawn. Alyson was also a partier. She was always out during all hours of the night and at raves with friends.
But it was too much to worry about for now. Dawn closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Outside the window, Alyson climbed back down the tree. She just had to see Dawn one last time before she slept that night. Call it obsession, call it love, whatever it was, it had a hold over Alyson big time.