Chapter Two- You Know Roadtrips...

This chapter was written by Ozlover

A/N:For the time being, we have many chapters already written that haven't been submitted to this site. So all you have to do is ask, and you will receive! ;) Also, we've been having some problems at another site with someone copying our idea, so if the chapters start coming slowly it's because we're dealing with all of that messy junk.

"Okay," Buffy said as she hopped into the driver's seat of Cordelia's red convertible. "Are we ready?"

"Yeah." Willow said smiling.

"Do we have everything?"

"Yup." Cordelia replied.

Buffy glanced back at Dawn who was staring at the house. She reached back, bumped her on the arm and gave her a confused look.

"What's up?"

"Well, It's four AM, I'm tired, I'm not going to be able to see Janice at all, and if you're driving I already know that you're not going to stop if I have to pee." Dawn mumbled.

"C'mon, give me some credit. I'll stop if you have to go, I promise." Buffy held up her hand, like she was saying it on scout's honor. Dawn cracked a smile.

"Wow, what a beautiful sisterly moment. Now can we please drive? My car's gonna stall soon if we keep this up." Cordelia said while inspecting her nails.

Buffy rolled her eyes, but couldn't keep a smile off her face. Cordelia might not act like it, but Buffy could tell she was excited- especially about those guys Willow mentioned the other day. But she had to admit that she was too.

"So," Buffy started as she pushed the gas pedal and steered out of the driveway. "How many friends does your cousin have?" She asked Willow slyly.

"I'm not sure...at least two."

Everyone turned to Cordelia, expecting some sort of a comment.

"What?" She asked, looking up from her nails.

"Nothing, you just seem a little...out of it. today, that's all." Buffy told her honestly.

"It's the whole 'early morning' experience." She replied. "Sorry..." She said, slightly rolling her eyes.

"No, it's okay. I know just what'll wake you up." Buffy replied cheerfully. She was so happy that her summer had a purpose..And she had something to look forward to- the guys.

"What?" Cordelia asked, sounding only half-interested.

"Well, let's just say that this is a one Starbucks town, and I know exactly where that one is."

"I'll take a french-vanilla cappuccino with extra sugar and extra foam." Cordelia perked. the girls giggled at her sudden burst of energy. After a quick stop at Starbucks the girls were on their way out of Sunnydale.

"If you spill anything in my car, I'll go homicidal on you." Cordelia warned.

"I think in English she means, 'please don't spill anything.' " Willow pointed out. Cordelia mumbled a sorry.

An hour passed and they were nearing the border of Nevada. They were just cutting through to get to Utah. From there they would be driving across the United States to South Carolina.

Buffy could barely contain herself. She had to say something... "Okay, you guys might think I'm weird for saying this- "

"Too late." Dawn cut in.

"Ha ha..Anyway, you might think I am for saying this, but I really, really really wanna see those guys Will was talking about." She gushed.

"I know!" Cordelia piped up.

"Me too." Willow said.

"Wait, I thought you already saw them?" Buffy asked.

"I only saw two of them before, and who knows? They might not even be the ones my cousin's bringing." Willow replied.

"Wait, what guys?" Dawn asked.

"Willow's cousin's friends and one of their brothers. Did that make any sense?" Buffy asked.

"Kinda...But I get what you mean. Are they hot?"

Willow nodded her head enthusiasticaly.

"What do they look like?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, tell us!" Cordelia leaned over to look at Willow in the front seat.

"And ruin the surprise? Nah."

"We'll pull over on the side of the highway and tickle you to death if you don't." Buffy threatened with a goofy smile on her face.

"If you do it on the side of the highway there'll be witnesses." Willow warned.

"We'll do it in the woods!" Dawn replied, then paused. "Wait, that didn't come out right..."

When Willow still refused, Buffy swerved dangerously close to the grass on the side of the road.

"Okay, okay! I'll tell!" Willow giggled in defeat. She then began to describe to them the two guys she had seen.

"...And sometimes he gets this really serious look, almost like he's brooding or something." Willow concluded.

"Well, they sound hot anyway." Dawn replied. Buffy and Cordelia both agreed.

"Ooh, I can't wait to see them!" Buffy squealed.

In Utah, Cordelia switched places with Buffy and took the wheel. Willow also switched places with Dawn, who wanted to be in the front seat.

"Utah...," Cordelia trailed off like she was thinking. "Ohmygosh, is this where Amish people live? 'Cause I saw the movie "For Richer or Poorer" and believe me, we do NOT wanna stay here. They make you churn your own butter!" Cordelia replied frantically, waving her arms to emphasize her point.

"Um...no...I don't think so-"

"Good." Cordelia replied quickly, eyes glued to the road. Buffy glanced at Willow who just shrugged. When Buffy and Willow fell asleep from their extreme boredom Cordelia and Dawn began talking.

"...Yeah, that's when I knew I had to dump him." Cordelia finished telling Dawn about how her last relationship had fallen through. Apparently the guy she was dating had a secret obssessionw with Star Trek. Dawn couldn't help but laugh. She felt so strangely comfortable around her. Cordelia had even told Dawn her nickname (other than Cordy) - Cordelianna. 'Yeah, I think we had too much caffiene that night...' Dawn recalled what she'd said.

"So, how was your last break-up?" Cordelia asked suddenly.

It caught Dawn offguard. "Well...I was with this great guy, David, and things just happened between us so fast, that before I knew it, he was asking me to sleep with him." Dawn was staring at the trees whizzing by outside.

Cordelia gasped softly. "You didn't, right? I mean, you're barely sixteen."

Dawn was silent. "No." She said after a long while. "But I was so close to doing it...and then the next day I finally realized what was going around and I broke it off with him that day."

"Wow." Was all Cordelia said.

"You know, I never told anyone that before." Dawn replied.

"Well, um, thanks for...sharing it with me." Cordelia said it as sincerely as she could- she was knew at it after all. But Dawn could tell she was trying- It was a start.

It was getting dark and neither Dawn or Cordelia knew where they were. They even woke Buffy and Willow up to no avail. The map was useless. It only showed highways and main streets.

"I think it's this way..." Cordelia inched her car through a slim, dark alleyway.

"Here?" Buffy asked incredulously.

"Not here. At the other end of the alley." Cordelia replied. "I can't believe I'm being seen in a place like this..." She mumbled.

"Maybe we could ask for help, or directions." Dawn suggested, motioning to the people that were crowded in the alleyway.

Cordelia hadn't noticed before, but there was ALOT of people. And it looked like they were moving closer to the car.

"I don't think these people will be able to help us." Willow whispered, sounding very nervous. The other girls felt equally nervous. People were crowded in front of the car, keeping Cordelia from driving away- which was what she wanted to do. When they entered the glow of the car's headlights the girls could see their faces. Some were long and sorrowful looking, others wore mad, crazy expressions on their face.

"Uh, Cordy, I think we really need to be driving..." Buffy said watching one particularly crazy man walk closer and closer to her. His smile widened with each step he took towards the car.

Cordelia looked back and saw the looks of fear on her friend's faces. She smacked the car horn, letting it blare mercilessly until the surrounding people had backed off. Then she pushed the gas pedal with such force that the car went flyingout of the alley, onto the road past some turns and straight into the Days Inn parking lot.

"See?" Cordelia said, out of the breath. "I knew it was here." She hopped out of the car and closed the door. "I'll be right back."

The girls sat in silence, catching their breath. Cordelia returned to the car with two door keys.

"Just incase we split up at all." She explained. Buffy, Willow and Dawn got out of the car and went to the trunk to get their things.

"What are you doing?" Cordelia asked.

"Getting our things?" Willow asked, confused.

"Why? Just let the people who work here do that." Cordelia replied.

"Uhm, Cordy? I don't think they do that at the Days Inn." Buffy replied as gently as she could, not wanting to upset her. Cordelia was probably used to always being at fancy hotels that carry your bags for you.

"A little extra cash goes a long way." Was all she said before heading towards the building. Buffy just shrugged and the three girls fell into step behind her. Sure enough, five minutes after being in the room a tall brunette guy came in pushing a cart carrying all of their luggage. Cordelia tipped the man before he left. Basically the whole trip across the states was being funded by Cordelia's parents.

If you were staying at the Comfort Inn across from Days Inn and happened to be looking out your window around 10 P.M., you might see a pillow being thrown straight out the fourth floor window and onto the ground, then seconds later a giggling girl come to retrieve it. It was even funnier the second time it happened. They girls had only received two phone calls from the front desk concerning complaints about them, which, in their eyes, wasn't bad at all.

The next day they were back on the road again at 7A.M.

"I'll drive." Cordelia offered.

"Okay, as long as you promise not to drive into any dark alleys." Buffy half-joked.

"Duh, I definitely don't want to re-live that experience."

After half and hour or so the girls were extremely bored.

"You wanna play a car game?" Dawn asked sluggishly. The answers she received were mostly negative grunts. "Yeah, me neither..."

Cordelia got tired of driving quickly and turned the wheel over to Willow. A few minutes later soft popping noises were coming from the back seat. Confused, Willow and Buffy looked back to see where they were they were coming from. It was Cordelia, half-asleep blowing bubbles with her gum and popping them. Buffy and Willow giggled. At first, it was funny, but after a while it, it was annoying. No one wanted to wake her up in fear of getting their head bitten off.

It had been going on for almost an hour. Buffy groaned and laid her head on the dashboard. Willow just concentrated on driving. Dawn was sleeping uncomfortably with her fingers shoved in her ears.

Buffy let Willow relax and took her turn driving again. That was when Dawn woke up.

"Mmmm...I have to go to the bathroom." Dawn whined in a sleepy voice.

"Okay, I'll get off at the nearest exit." Buffy promised. What she didn't know was that the nearest exit was forty miles away.

"I really have to go." Dawn said, sitting up straight.

"We're almost to an exit, just hang on." Buffy said, pushing on the gas pedal just a little bit harder.

Ten minutes later they had arrived at a smelly, run-down gas station. There were heaps of garbage lying around and half the building has rusted over.

"Eww..." Willow scrunched up her nose.

"I can't go here. It's gross." Dawn protested.

"Yeah, she might get a disease or something!" Cordelia piped up.

"Check it out- Sleeping Beauty's alive." Buffy joked.

Cordelia cracked a small smile. "Yeah, the smell woke me up."

"Thank God something did..." Buffy mumbled.

"What?" Cordelia asked.

"Nothing." Buffy replied quickly. "Are you gonna go are what?" She asked Dawn.

"No way, I'd rather pee on a bush."

"Suit yourself." Buffy said as they pulled away from the gas station. She was heading back towards the highway when she swerved to the right and stopped by a thick grove of trees and bushes.

"Go ahead, Dawn." Buffy urged.

"Are you serious!" Dawn squeaked.

"Well, you said you'd rather pee on a bush and look- bushes!"

"Buffy, please don't make me..." Dawn pleaded.

"I can't make you do anything. But it might be awhile until I'm able to stop at another gas station." Buffy warned.

"Okay, okay...I'll go." Dawn reluctantly got out of the car and disappeared in the woods. She returned a few mintues later. "Well, that was an experience."

"Buffy chuckled. "Yeah, I'll bet."

They continued to drive when Buffy noticed the change of atmosphere.

"I think a storm's coming." Buffy observed. "Maybe we should pull the top up."

"No, we can't put it up unless it's an emergency." Cordelia replied.

"Why?"

"Because...It's kinda broken." Cordelia said.

Buffy just looked at her with a confused expression on her face.

"Well, remember my ex-boyfriend, Jordan? He and I were kinda making out, and...well...nevermind- it's just broken." Cordelia glanced up at the sky. Little rain drops were beginning to fall on them.

"Can we put the top up now? It looks worse up ahead." Willow tried to convince Cordelia. The rain was beginning to fall harder and Cordelia still hadn't answered.

"Cordy!" Buffy screeched. "How can I drive if I can't see!"

"Okay, okay, you can pull it up." Cordelia replied grumpily. She, Dawn and Willow all reached back to try and pull the top over the car.

"Jeez, Cordy, what did you do? This thing is so bent out of shape!" Willow shouted over the rain and thunder.

"Shut up!" Cordelia shot back defensively. After a couple of minutes they finally managed to pull the top over the car- despite it's condition. The four girls exchanged glances at eachother. All of them were soaking wet. Finally, Willow burst out in giggles followed by the other girls.

"Wow, just the road trip alone is giving us so many...experiences..." Buffy laughed.

After an hour or so the girls decided that it was someone else's turn to drive.

"Ooh! I haven't gone yet! Can I drive?" Dawn asked enthusiasticly.

Buffy was nervous, but agreed and Dawn was the next to take the wheel.

"Now, be careful over here, the road is really wet and slippery." Buffy cautioned.

"Okay, Mom." Dawn joked with a small smile. Actually Buffy was proud of Dawn's driving skills. They'd improved alot since the last time she'd seen her drive- which was when she crashed into a fence at the zoo and sent goats roaming free in the parking lot.

"Can we stop for food soon?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, I'm hungry too." Cordelia agreed. They'd stopped at a McDonald's, but that was over five hours ago.

"Uh...okay." Dawn said. She wasn't used to having the power while in the car, and Cordelia saw that.

"It's okay, you can just stop at the next exit and we'll crash someplace before it gets dark this time." Cordelia told Dawn. Dawn gave her an appreciative smile and turned into the next exit. They had made it into Kansas. The area looked nicer than where they stayed the night before. And there were no deranged, homeless people in sight, which was always a good sign.

They got Applebees To Go and headed straight for their hotel- The Holiday Inn. Cordelia did the same thing as the night before- Let someone who worked at the hotel bring the bags up, then she tipped him. The girls ate, watched tv for a little while, then decided to go swimming.

Willow went into the bathroom to change first and came out wearing an emerald green halter bikini.

"Whoa, do we know you?" Buffy asked, grinning widely.

"Shut up." Willow said, blushing.

"It looks great, Will. really." Cordelia smiled approvingly.

"Thanks."

"Ok, Buffy's turn." Dawn replied.

Buffy, Dawn and Cordelia changed into their bikinis as well.

Dawn's was purple and blue, Buffy's was a pastel pink and Cordelia's was an ocean blue color.

"Yours looks good, but I'm so fat..." Cordelia mumbled as she closed the room door behind her.

"You are not fat." Willow said sternly.

"Not as fat as me, anyway." Dawn cut in.

"Guys, guys, we've had this conversation before, remember? And we agreed that I'm the fat one." Buffy said as they stepped into the elevator.

"You're the skinniest of all of us!" Willow protested.

"No, I'm not, you are, Will." Buffy replied with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Am not."

Suddenly the elevator doors opened and a middle-aged man in a blue bussiness suit stepped into the elevator. There was an awkward silence. When they reached the first floor the man got off.

"Well, that was weird." Cordelia observed after the man was out of sight. The headed to the pool, which was surprisingly empty. they swam for about an hour mostly uninterrupted. An elderly man came and swam with them for a while and hit on Cordy, but other than that...nothing.

Later that night when everyone was in bed, Cordelia spoke up. "This is Kansas, right?"

"Yes." Buffy replied sleepily.

"What if the hotel gets picked up by a tornado, like in the Wizard of Oz?" Cordelia asked frantically.

"It wont- trust me. It won't be able to lift our fat bodies." Buffy mumbled groggily into the pillow. "G'night..."

"Goodnight."

Needless to say, a tornado didn't come and pick up the hotel, but still, Cordelia didn't get much sleep. Willow volunteered to drive first.For awhile Willow was the only one awake. Which made sense- It was only four A.M. They wanted to get an early start today and get close to North Carolina, that way they wouldn't have to drive much the last day, and could spend more time doing other things.

Willow was concentrating on the road when something ran across the road. Willow had to swerve off to the side to avoid hitting it. Unfortunately, the bumpy ride woke everyone up and nearly gave them all heart-attacks.

"What the HELL just happened!" Cordelia demanded once the car was stopped on the side of the highway.

"Something just ran in front of the car. I didn't wanna hit it." Willow said softly.

"We could've dealed with PETA later! You could've killed us!" Cordelia shouted.

"What would you have done, Cordy?" Buffy asked, coming to Willow's defense.

"Well...I..." Cordelia trailed off. "Sorry, Will."

"Don't worry about it." Willow replied.

The three girls looked over to see if Dawn was knocked unconsious when they saw her leaning out of the car making cooing sounds.

"What is it, Dawn?" Buffy asked.

"It's a puppy." Dawn replied, still leaning out of the car. The other girls looked over to see.

"Aww, it's so cute!" Willow exclaimed.

"He must be what ran across the road." Cordelia concluded.

"Oh, can we keep him?" Dawn asked hopefully.

"He's not that cute!" Cordelia answered.

Buffy, Willow and Dawn all turned to stare at her.

"Okay, okay, he is that cute...But I can't have a dog in my car! Besides, it could be someone elses."

"He has no tags...And it looks like he hasn't been groomed since...ever." Dawn replied.

"Can we keep him, Cordy? Pleeeease?" Buffy looked over at Cordelia with puppy eyes, soon followed by Willow and Dawn's puppy eyes.

"Okay! Fine! But he has to stay in the back seat, got it?" Cordelia gave in. She couldn't help it. The puppy was adorable.

"Yay!" Dawn opened the car door and scooped the puppy inside.

"I just wanna make it perfectly clear, that if this dog does his business in my car there's gonna be hell to pay." Cordelia warned.

"Gotcha."

Willow pulled back onto the highway.

"What kind of dog is it?" Cordelia asked Dawn.

"He looks like a beagle."

"He needs a name." Willow said, glancing back at the dog, who was so excited that he was trotting back and forth over Cordelia's and Dawn's lap.

"How about Snoopy?" Buffy suggested.

They all agreed on the name.

"Are you sure your aunt and uncle won't be mad that we brought a dog?" Buffy asked.

"Nah, they've got three dogs already. They won't care." Willow replied.

On their next quick bathroom stop they bought a small bag of dog food for Snoopy.

When they crossed the border into Missouri, everyone was asleep except for Buffy, who was driving, and Willow, who was also in the front seat.Willow glanced in the backseat to see how Dawn and Cordelia were doing. Dawn was curled up in a tight little ball and Cordelia was in the corner with Snoopy curled up sleeping in her lap.

"Now, that's a Kodak moment." Willow commented, motioning towards Cordelia and Snoopy.

Buffy shot a glance at them. "Aww!" Buffy squealed quietly, not wanting to wake them up.

"I'm gonna take a picture." Willow said, digging through a bag that was by her feet.

"If Cordy wakes up she's gonna kill you!" Buffy whispered.

"She's a heavy sleeper. Rememeber when we used to do all those pranks to her at our sleepovers?" Willow asked, still looking for her camera.

Buffy giggled. "Oh yeah...Remember when she'd scream at us the next morning?"

"Yeah, but it was so worth it." Willow smiled as she pulled her disposable camera from her bag and turned around to face the backseat. She snapped the picture, half-hoping that Cordelia would wake up, because it would be funny to watch her rant. But she slept on, like a rock.

After a couple of hours of Buffy and Willow switching off driving, Cordelia finally woke up.

"What smells like dog?" Cordelia asked.

"You." Willow replied simply, pointing to Snoopy.

"Oh. Right." She picked up the puppy and set in on Dawn's lap.

She switched places with Willow and got behind the wheel again.

"When Dawn wakes up she can move to the front seat and you can go in the back to sleep." Cordelia told Buffy as she got into the driver's seat.

"Huh? Wha-?" Dawn lifted her head up off the seat.

"Which is right now." Cordelia replied. Dawn and Buffy switched and it was Buffy and Willow's turn to sleep.

Willow was a light sleeper and she awoke when she heard a voice. She cracked her eyes open. It sounded like Buffy, but she was asleep... There it was again. Willow stared at Buffy intently. She could hear her talking. She sat up and tried to listen.

"What's she doing?" Willow asked Dawn.

"She's been sleep-talking. It's kinda funny to listen to her." Dawn replied with a smile.

So Willow listened.

"Mmm...all the mini-pickles...are grey...why are they grey? They were green yesterday..."

Willow stifled a giggle and she could hear Dawn and Cordelia doing the same.

Snoopy walked over to Buffy and started licking her hand.

"Mmm...violation! Code 334...Can't you see this man is violating me?" Buffy mumbled. Willow reached over and plucked the dog off Buffy.

"Did you drink the last of the Corona? Because I was saving it and now it's all gone...all gone..."

"Check the fridge." Willow said to her, waiting for a response.

"Oh! There it is! I knew it was here somewhere...Now all I have to do is find..find my pants..and we can go drinking..."

Willow giggled quietly, deciding to leave her best-friend alone, in a dream-world of bliss, pickles and Corona.

The headed South a little bit and drove through Tennessee. Around seven P.M. they found a hotel to stay at right near the border of North Carolina.they hd to sneak Snoopy into the hotel, which was fairly easy. The girls watched a movie and went to bed early, needing all the rest they could get.

They left the next morning around six feeling refreshed and ready to get to North Carolina.

"Hot guys, here we come!" Buffy said as she hopped into the back seat with Willow. Dawn was driving again.

"Let's sing a song or something." Dawn suggested.

Buffy and Willow looked at each other knowingly then burst into song. "Ninety- nine bottles of beer on the wall, Ninety-nine bottles of beeeer! Take one down, pass it around!"

"Shhhhh!" Cordelia held her finger to her lips, but she was smiling. "Remember what happened last time we did that?"

"Yeah, some dude gave us the finger." Buffy said with a small laugh.

"I remember when I was ten I waved at an old couple and they gave me the finger. It was kinda funny." Willow smiled.

"The Hellmouth has turned the elderly against us!" Buffy joked with mock-surprise.

All four girls cheered when they drove over the border into North Carolina.

"We're almost there!" Dawn squealed excitedly.

"Yeah, only three hours, which isn't much, considering how much we drove the past three days." Buffy replied.

Snoopy, in Willow's arms, leaned his head into the wind and stuck his tongue out playfully. Willow grinned and petted him affectionately.

Eventually Buffy and Willow fell asleep in the back seat. Cordelia and Dawn swictched places so that Dawn could rest while Cordelia drove.

Soon, Cordelia pulled into a tidy-looking little developement called Island Green. All of the houses were in neat little rows.

"Dawn?" Cordelia nudged the girl in the seat next to her.

"Huh?" Dawn asked groggily. She hadn't been asleep, but she was close to it.

"We're here. We just need to find the house." Cordelia said. They had made it there in good time. It was only four- thirty. This was it. The road trip was finally over.