A/N: Here it is, Chapter 15! Wow, it's amazing that I've been writing this fic for over a year now. It has been awesome so far, and I know it will continue to be. Many thanks to everyone who continues to support this story, it means so much to me. Enjoy!
> > > > >
Chapter 15: Life Goes On...Or Does It?
When Dawn's alarm clock went off on Monday morning, she had already been awake for several minutes, staring at the ceiling. She listened to the penetrating buzzing noise for a few seconds before switching it off. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stuck her feet in her slippers. She slowly padded over to the bathroom, where she stared at herself in the mirror.
"You can do this," she said quietly to her reflection. Slowly, she stripped down and took a hot shower, jolting herself completely awake. When she was done she wrapped herself in a towel and slowly made her way to her closet. She knew that she had to put careful thought into her appearance today. Donning the sweat pants and sweatshirt she'd lived in all weekend would make her seem broken and depressed. She needed to put up a strong, poised front for Kerri, even if it wasn't totally genuine. She pulled out her dressiest dark jeans and hunted for a top. She pulled out a pink sweater, and set it down on the bed as a possibility. She rooted through her clothes purposefully, but froze when she found a royal blue silk and lace dress. The dress she'd worn for her birthday at the hotel with Connor. She slowly pulled it out and ran her hands over it, allowing her mind to drift back to that perfect night.
"Happy birthday Dawn."
"Do I get to make a wish?"
"Of course. You have to make it count though, you won't get another chance until you're eighteen."
She remembered what she had wished for and felt a lump develop in her throat as she struggled to hold back the tears.
"Well, it seems like you have a starring role in the top moments of my life. Do you feel special now?"
"I feel special whenever I'm with you."
"How did everything go so wrong?" Dawn said, thinking sadly of the time that had passed only three months ago, when everything had been so perfect. She forced herself to snap out of it, shoving the dress to the back of the closet. After a few more minutes she decided on a cream colored sweater and simple black heels to complement her jeans. As she examined her reflection in the mirror she realized that there was something missing. The necklace Connor had given her for Christmas and the bracelet he had surprised her with for her birthday, both of them now stuffed away in the back of a drawer. Forcing her mind off of that issue, she rummaged in her old jewelry until she found a simple strand of pearls. She fastened it around her neck and brushed her hair out loose. A little makeup and she was done. She regarded herself a final time before going out to the living room.
Buffy was sitting on the couch scanning the newspaper, Faith was sitting at the kitchen counter devouring a bowl of cereal. They both looked up when Dawn emerged. "You look nice today," Buffy said with an encouraging smile. Dawn forced a smile in response.
"You want something to eat?" Faith chipped in.
Dawn shook her head quickly. "I can't." She was much too nervous to eat.
Buffy shifted into protective big sister mode. "Dawnie, you don't have to do this today."
"Yes I do. I've already missed two days of school, I can't miss any more," she said firmly. "I may as well just get this over with."
Buffy nodded quietly. "Do you want me to walk you over?"
"No. I'm fine," Dawn said, forcing another little smile for her sister's benefit.
"If you want to come home, or if you need anything, please call me," Buffy begged, wrapping her in a tight hug. Her little sister nodded in response. When they pulled back Dawn gathered her bag and headed for the door.
"Bye Faith," she said, acknowledging the other slayer.
"Show her who's boss," Faith said seriously, a gleam in her eye. Somehow, this was just what Dawn needed to hear, and her first genuine smile in a while lit up her face. She slowly let herself out of the apartment and headed off to her potential doom and humiliation.
"Do you think she'll be okay?" Buffy said nervously once her sister was gone.
Faith nodded, unconcerned. "She'll be fine. She's tougher than you give her credit for, B. She can handle it."
> > > > >
When Dawn reached the main lobby of the school, Amelia was there waiting for her like they had agreed upon. The two fast friends wordlessly squeezed hands. "How are you?" Amelia said quietly.
Dawn shrugged her shoulders. "I honestly couldn't tell you."
Amelia smiled encouragingly. "Let's just go get this over with." They headed off down the hall to their homeroom. Dawn had taken her time walking to school, so most people were already in class by now, leaving the hallways fairly empty. She met Amelia's eyes one final time outside the classroom. She checked her posture, smoothed her hair, and put her chin up before she strode purposefully into the room, trying to ignore the somersaults her stomach was doing. As soon as she entered she heard the conversation stop. Everyone stared at her as if she were on display. Her eyes found Kerri, who was staring at her with a triumphant smirk that made her skin crawl. She gave her hair a toss and stared at her new rival coolly before swiftly taking her seat. Amelia did the same beside her. Dawn made a show of pulling out one of her textbooks and leaned over towards Amelia, about to casually ask a question about some of the homework her friend had brought her. The words were barely out of her mouth when Kerri Tyman positioned herself inches in front of Dawn's desk, her arms crossed, the same smirk still on her lips.
"So you finally decided to show your face, Summers," Kerri said airily. "I started to think maybe you left town."
"And why would I do that? Rome is just so charming, and the people are so welcoming," Dawn replied sarcastically, slightly unprepared for this direct attack.
"So he finally ditched you. I knew the boy would come to his senses sooner or later. Any day now he'll probably show up at my door," she said happily.
"I wouldn't bet on it. And just to set the record straight, I broke up with him. And it had absolutely nothing to do with you," Dawn said coolly, trying to make the blunt lie seem as truthful as possible.
At that Kerri tossed her head back and emitted a girly, high-pitched laugh. "Sure, sweetie. Fact is, he's much better off without you. A boy like that shouldn't be tied down at such a young age."
"Yeah, well a girl like you shouldn't be such a slut at such a young age," Dawn said sweetly, tilting her head to the side. She heard Amelia suck in a stunned breath next to her, and an equally surprised rumble went through the dead quiet classroom. She could tell that she'd hit Kerri where it hurts from the stung look on her face. "What's the problem, Kerri? Does the truth hurt?"
"You little brat," she hissed. "You don't know who you're messing with."
"Actually, I do. You can go anywhere in the world and there will be girls like you, Kerri. I've seen it before. Actually, I take that back," Dawn continued with growing confidence. "You're a step above most. Care to tell your friends how you really ended up in Italy, or should I?" A stunned look came over the other girl's face at Dawn's remark as she realized that she knew. Kerri seemed to be speechless with shock. Dawn continued to look her right in the eye, her expression challenging Kerri to insult her again. After a long, tense moment during which you could have heard a pin drop, Kerri finally spoke.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said firmly, her face flushed. She struggled to find her next words. "Just watch it." She turned on her heel and walked back to her seat, her confidence visibly down a notch although she tried her best to hide it.
Dawn wanted nothing more than to jump for joy at her successful victory, but she managed to contain herself. As she went back to asking Amelia about the homework, their eyes met, and Dawn grinned at her. Amelia just stared back in awe.
Miss Valenti came into the room shortly after to start class. The period passed without event, and when the bell rang Kerri was one of the first to leave the room. Dawn got up slowly without making a scene and strode out of the room, feeling better about herself than she had in days. Amelia followed her out, her mouth still slightly agape. Once they were a ways down the hall, Amelia make an odd, half-squeal, half-gasp noise. "You are so my hero," she said excitedly. "That was just...amazing!"
Dawn couldn't help but grin. "I don't even know where that came from. My stomach was doing backflips at the very thought of facing her, and then she comes up to me, and it was like something in me just snapped."
"Well I don't think she's going to be bothering you again," Amelia said confidently. "Now that she knows you know her deep dark secret."
Dawn sighed. "I may have won today, but I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of her. Girls like that don't give up so easily."
"Well you at least knocked her down a few pegs. After the way she's been talking the past couple days, you made her look like a real idiot," Amelia said proudly.
Dawn had to smile at that. "Well I'm glad that I'm not as much of an easy mark as she thought I was." As she walked through the hall she noticed that the queasiness of the morning had evaporated, and she felt strangely self-confident. You know what they say. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, she thought sadly. I guess its true.
> > > > >
That night Dawn sat on the couch in front of the tv, finishing up her homework. The rest of the day had been fairly uneventful. The only other time she'd seen Kerri had been at lunch, and the other girl had barely made eye contact. When she had come home and coolly told Faith and Buffy about the exchange she'd had with Kerri in homeroom, they had at first been a little shocked. Well, Buffy had been at least, especially about how Dawn had pretty much called Kerri a slut to her face. But Buffy had eventually told her that she was proud of how she'd handled it, and how she usually wouldn't condone calling someone a slut, but these were special circumstances. Faith had just grinned and said something about how she knew Kerri would be sorry she ever messed with a Summers.
Now Buffy was at work, and Faith had gone out somewhere, so Dawn was sitting at home. For once she was enjoying the peace and quiet, after all the stress of the day. Suddenly the phone rang, breaking her calm and causing her to groan a little. She trudged over to pick it up. "Hello?" she said, trying to sound as pleasant as possible. There was silence on the other end. "Hello, is anyone there?" Still nothing. A shiver went down her spine as she gripped the phone. It was him. She didn't know how she knew, she just did. She thought she heard him take a breath. She clutched the phone in silence, unsure of what to do. Her dilemma was solved for her when she heard a soft click, followed by the dial tone. He'd hung up. She held the phone to her ear for a few more seconds before quickly slamming it down. She gripped the counter to steady herself as her mind reeled.
Why had he called? Why hadn't he said anything? A thousand emotions seemed to go through her head as she contemplated those two questions. She was surprised to identify disappointment as one of them. For a brief second she even seriously thought about picking up the phone and calling him at James's place...Gina had told Buffy, who had told Faith, who had mentioned to Dawn that Connor was staying there. Then she quickly realized that the thought was silly. "You threw him out Dawn, remember? Why on earth would you want to talk to him?" she said meekly. Finally she groaned loudly and sank down to the floor. She hated feeling like this. Just when she would almost stop thinking about him, something like this would happen and bring it all crashing back.
> > > > >
"Dammit," Connor muttered to himself. His hand was still clutching the phone receiver as he flopped back on James's bed, mad at himself. After sitting here for days, nearly going crazy from loneliness and guilt, he had finally picked up the phone and called her. But when he'd heard her voice, he hadn't been able to bring himself to say anything. What is there to say? I'm sorry? I miss you? Sure, both were true, but he knew that no words could fix the damage he had done. He was lying there feeling mad at himself when James walked in the door. He set his schoolbooks down on the desk and removed his coat, studying Connor.
"No offense man, but you look horrible," he admitted.
Connor sighed, pulling himself to a sitting position and returning the phone to its proper place. "I called her. I'm not sure why, I guess I just couldn't take it anymore. Then when she picked up, I...I choked. I'm such an idiot."
"You called Dawn?" James asked. "Man, I don't mean to be harsh, but what has it been? Like, three days?"
"Four," he said miserably.
"Well that's not long enough. You've gotta give it at least a week. Girls are weird, they need time to sulk and be mad at you before they can think about reconciling," James said wisely.
"James, I'm going crazy. For four days I've been cooped up in this room, with nothing to do except go to work, which I hate more and more when I think of how I wouldn't be in this mess without that stupid job, or sit here and think about what an ass I am," Connor said angrily.
"You must really miss her," James said.
"More than I ever thought I could miss anything," he admitted. "What do I do? I don't have anything to live for anymore, anything to do with myself."
"Don't think like that. Like I said, you've just gotta give it time. Chances are, Dawn will come around eventually. For all you know, she's probably feeling the same way right now. But please, give it at least a week before you call her. She probably just wants her space right now."
"You're right," Connor said grudgingly. "I'll call her on Friday."
"Good. And you've got..." James looked at his watch. "Four whole days to figure out what to say to her. You're gonna be fine."
Connor sighed. "Whatever you say."
> > > > >
The rest of the week went by without much event. Dawn continued to go through the motions of life, ignoring the emptiness she still felt inside. She got up, went to school, came home, did her homework. She tried to keep herself busy, because every time she had a spare moment she would find herself staring at the phone, remembering what had happened. She helped Buffy with shopping and cleaning, and even attempted to cook dinner one night. She must have been doing a good job at pretending nothing was wrong, because Buffy stopped asking her if she was okay, and would just smile at her proudly instead.
Amelia hadn't spoken to Dawn since their confrontation. She had barely even looked her way. But every once in a while, Dawn would be chatting with Amelia in the cafeteria and feel an odd sensation in the back of her head, only to turn around and find Kerri quickly looking away and whispering to her friends. She tried to put it out of her mind, and instead put all her energy into her schoolwork and her budding friendship with Amelia. On Thursday they didn't have much homework, so they hit the main streets and did some window shopping. Dawn invited Gina along too, and the three of them had such a good time that Dawn almost went a whole afternoon without even thinking about Connor. She found that she wasn't looking forward to the weekend, because all it meant was having more time on her hands.
It was Friday night, and Dawn was sitting in the living room, trying hard to focus on the tv program she was watching. She had already completed all of her homework for the weekend, and was trying to keep her mind off the inevitable sad thoughts as long as possible. A knock on the door startled her, and she went to answer it quickly. To her surprise, it was Amelia and Gina, both of them dressed as if for a party. "Get dressed. We're taking you out," Gina demanded, entering the apartment with Amelia at her heels.
Dawn raised an eyebrow at them. "Oh, now you two are ganging up on me?"
"Come on Dawn, it will be fun. We can hit the clubs, get your mind off everything for a while. Please?" Amelia begged. She looked the most grown-up Dawn had ever seen her, wearing a pretty blue top that brought out her eyes, which weren't hidden behind her usual glasses. Her blonde hair was in waves around her shoulders, and Dawn felt bad that she had never before noticed what a beauty the girl truly was.
"I don't know," Dawn said reluctantly. She wasn't sure if she was ready to hit the social scene just yet.
"I am not taking no for answer! We are taking you out, girl," Gina said, in her thick Italian accent that Dawn had come to love. They both stared at Dawn pleadingly until she finally gave in.
"Okay, okay. I'll go out for a little while," Dawn said. "You guys have to help me get ready though." Within ten seconds Gina was at Dawn's closet, pulling out items of clothing one by one, examining them, and either placing them on the bed as a 'maybe' or shoving them back into the closet. Amelia sat Dawn down on the bed and ran a brush through her hair. "Wow, you guys are spoiling me," she said with a smile.
"You deserve it," Amelia said honestly. She quickly located Dawn's curling iron and began wrapping large pieces of hair around it.
"Wear this," Gina said handing Dawn a pale yellow top with a plunging neckline that Buffy had always hated. She thrust a pair of black pants at her as well.
Dawn stared at the top questioningly. "I don't know, this is a little..."
"Sexy?" Amelia suggested. "What's wrong with that?" Dawn couldn't find a good answer, so as soon as Amelia was finished with her hair she slipped into the clothes, adding a pair of yellow heels to complete the outfit. She was just writing a note for Buffy when Faith entered the apartment. She looked Dawn up and down in admiration.
"Lookin' good, D," she said approvingly. "Where you headed?"
"Out," Dawn said. "Faith, this is Amelia, my friend from school. Amelia, Faith. And you already met Gina." Faith had joined Buffy and Gina on patrol a few times already. Amelia politely stuck out her hand for Faith to shake, and she took it.
"Well, take good care of her. This girl needs to loosen up a bit," Faith said, winking at Dawn. She felt herself blush as the three of them quickly hurried out of the apartment. On their way down the stairs to the street, Amelia spoke up.
"So how exactly does your sister know Faith again?" she asked curiously.
Dawn and Gina exchanged a quick glance. "Just an old friend from Sunnydale," Dawn said quickly. "So, what club are we going to?"
> > > > >
An hour later Dawn was sipping a soda in the dimly lit club with her two friends, feeling more than a little out of place. This was a different club than she had come to last week, Gina had known better than to take her back there. This one seemed a little smaller, but the deejay was good, and a lot of the people there looked older. The three of them had danced for a little while before retreating to the bar area, where they were sitting calmly as they watched the scene. Gina came over to where Dawn and Amelia were standing, balancing three foamy glasses. She passed them out. "I think you have enough soda. Remember, this is Italy, you drink here!" She took an enthusiastic sip of her own beer as Dawn and Amelia exchanged tentative glances. Finally, Dawn shrugged.
"Why not live vicariously for a night?" Dawn said with a sigh before taking a long swig of her drink. Amelia followed suit with a much more delicate sip. Their beers were almost gone when Dawn noticed a few older-looking Italian guys coming their way. There were three of them, a lanky one with black hair, a muscular one with brown curls, and a shorter, quiet looking one with a piercing gaze. Dawn was just about to say something when all of a sudden they were standing right in front of them, staring at the three girls appraisingly.
"Ciao le belle signore. Lei amerebbe per ballare con noi?" Mr. Black Hair said in a deep voice. Dawn noticed that the quiet looking one was staring right at her, and she blushed slightly as she directed her gaze to the floor.
"Bene sono portato. Ma non credo che queste signore siano," Gina replied, giving Dawn and Amelia a pointed glance. Dawn's eyes widened as she gave her friend a death glare over implying that she would actually dance with one of these guys. Gina tilted her head sadly, giving Dawn a come on kind of look. Dawn just shook her head as subtly as possible. Gina said a few more words in Italian, and soon Mr. Brown Curls was heading out to the dance floor with a flustered looking Amelia. Gina exchanged a few more words with Mr. Black Hair, seemingly agreeing to dance with them in a group, but not in a romantic way. He nodded in agreement, and Gina started to follow him out to the dance floor, looking at Dawn pleadingly. Dawn noticed that the quiet one was still looking at her. Suddenly she felt a little overwhelmed, dizzy and claustraphobic, and she felt the strong need to just get away. She felt the tears starting to well up in her eyes as she quickly started towards the restroom, which she had made note of the location of on the way in.
As she walked by she muttered "excuse me", vaguely hearing Gina calling after her. She kept going, her head down. She worked through the crowd until she finally burst into the restroom, which was thankfully fairly empty. She gripped the counter of the sink, closing her eyes and dropping her head. She stayed like that for a second, trying to regain her composure. After a long minute she tossed her hair back, giving her temples a quick massage. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, her mind struggling to process what had just happened. Dammit. I thought I was doing better, I thought I had it together...then the first guy looks at me sideways and I lose it. She silently cursed Gina for getting her into that situation. How could she possibly have thought that she was ready to dance with some other guy only a week after breaking up with the love of her life? She didn't mean it. She thinks its good for me, she doesn't realize how much it still hurts. She thought wryly that maybe she hadn't even realized herself.
She took a few deep breaths. She noticed a few girls come into the bathroom, chatting to one another happily. She saw them glance in her direction with looks of sympathy and then keep going. She just inhaled forcefully. Look what you've done to me.
When she felt like she had pulled herself together, she splashed a little water on her face, and tossed her hair. Time to face the world again. She slowly made her way out of the bathroom. She walked back to where her friends had been standing, and scanned the dance floor until she spotted Gina and Amelia having fun with the three boys. She quickly ducked away, not wanting them to see her. She sat down at the closest empty seat at the bar.
"Possono prenderla qualcosa?" the bartender asked, startling her a little.
Dawn blinked. "Sicuro, porterb una birra," she said, feeling a little rebellious. She wasn't even sure how much she had liked the taste of the first one, but she did like the slight buzz she had gotten from it. A minute later the bartender sat one down in front of her, and she slowly took a long sip. She sat there lost in her own thoughts for a while until a voice next to her startled her.
"Are you okay?"
She spun in surprised and was shocked to see the quiet boy from before sitting next to her. "You speak English," she said quietly, staring down into her drink.
"I'm from London," he said in a British accent. He paused. "Look, I'm sorry if I upset you before, I was only looking at you because I think you're beautiful."
She blushed and smiled a little as she looked up at him tentatively. "It's okay. I'm flattered, really, its just...I'm kind of going through a bad breakup."
He nodded sympathetically. "Well whoever he is, he doesn't know how lucky he was."
There was a semi-awkward pause. Finally he stuck out his hand. "I'm Aidan."
"Dawn," she said with a small smile, taking his hand. They shook briefly before he retracted his hand, and she returned hers to her beer glass.
"So let me guess, your friends want you to get out more, have fun, but you're not ready to move on," he said conversationally.
"Exactly," she said with a sigh. "They mean well, I just don't think they understand." She gestured to where Gina and Amelia were still dancing with the two guys. "You should go, have fun with them. No need for there to be two of us sulking."
"Maybe I'd rather sit with you," he said. "This whole club thing was never really my scene." He paused. "Did you want to go for a walk, get some air?"
She took a deep breath before looking him in the eye. "I'm sorry but I...I can't. It's not you, you seem like a really great guy, I just...can't."
He nodded, standing up. "It's okay. I'm sorry if I bothered you."
"No, you really didn't. Its not your fault. I shouldn't have even come," Dawn realized. She stood up too, abandoning her beer.
"Lei P fatto?" the bartender said pointedly, staring at her. Dawn started to reach for her money but Aidan quickly stepped in, handing the bartender a folded bill.
"You didn't have to do that," Dawn said when they were alone again.
"It was the least I could do." He paused. "I hope you don't let this guy get you down too much. You're too young and too beautiful to be this unhappy." He grabbed a napkin from the bar and scribbled something down on it with a pen. He folded it over and handed it to her. "My number. In case you ever change your mind."
She accepted it. "Thanks. Good night Aidan."
"Good night Dawn." After a moment he left. Dawn stood there for a second holding the napkin and thinking about what he had said when suddenly her friends reappeared beside her.
"Hey, are you okay?" Amelia asked, touching her arm with concern.
She nodded a little too quickly. "Yeah. I'm fine."
"I see you talk to Aidan," Gina said with a raised eyebrow.
Dawn forced a smile. "Yeah. He seems like a really nice guy. I'm just not..." her voice trailed off. "Do you guys think we can get out of here? I'm a little tired, its been a long week."
"Sure," Amelia quickly agreed. She could tell that something was wrong. Gina nodded in agreement, her happy expression quickly turning to a concerned frown when she noticed the look on Dawn's face. The three girls quickly grabbed their coats and headed for the door.
> > > > >
"For the last time, I'm going to be fine. I just think maybe the whole club, social scene thing was a little too much too soon," Dawn said simply.
Amelia scrutinized her one last time. "I hate leaving you alone."
"It's okay, it's late, go home. Buffy and Faith will be back soon," Dawn insisted. When they had come back to the apartment and Dawn spotted the note in plain sight saying that her sister and their guest were out on patrol, she had barely snatched it up in time to prevent Amelia from seeing it. She had to remember to remind her sister that not all of her friends knew every detail about their lives. She gave each of her friends a quick hug. "Good night."
"Buono di notte bella," Gina muttered. "I'm sorry if I upset you with Aidan. I just try to help."
Dawn smiled warmly at her. "I know. Good night." She watched as her two friends retreated down the hall. When they were gone she closed herself into the apartment and glanced at the clock. It was approaching midnight. She sat down on a stool in the kitchen and pulled off her high heels. What a disaster, she thought to herself. Is this how my life is going to be? I won't even be able to go out with my friends without have a meltdown if a guy as much as looks at me? She slunk back in her stool, a miserable expression on her face. She could vaguely feel the effects of the two beers she had consumed, but it wasn't nearly enough to make her feel tipsy, and unfortunately it wasn't enough to make her forget about her problems either. She wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting there when the phone rang. "Who'd be calling at this hour," she wondered, figuring it had to be Amelia or Gina wanting to make sure she was okay for the thousandth time, or Buffy checking to see if she was home yet. "Hello?" she said tiredly into the receiver. Silence. "Hello?" she repeated, more impatiently.
"Um, hi Dawn. It's me."
She had to grip onto the counter to prevent herself from sliding right off her stool. "C-Connor?"
"Yeah. I'm sorry to bother you so late, I heard you were going out tonight and I figured you'd be up." His voice sounded different than usual, strained, and quiet.
"Yeah, I just got back," Dawn said, her heart beating loudly. She wasn't sure exactly what she was feeling, but she knew that some part of her was happy to hear his voice. But she also felt the anger, pain and betrayal rising to the surface again.
"Okay. I don't really know how to say this. And you're probably just going to hang up on me. But I miss you, Dawn. I miss you more than I ever thought I could miss anything. And I know I screwed up, and you were right in what you did. But I can't just give up on us forever. I can't."
She took a jagged breath. "Connor..."
"So I was just wondering if you would think about meeting me. Just to talk. It can be completely on your terms, and I understand if you don't want to ever see me again. It would kill me, but I'd understand."
She felt tears coming to her eyes. For a moment she had no idea what to say. "I'll meet you," she heard herself say hoarsely, without remembering deciding to say it. She tried to compose herself. "Um, how about tomorrow. You know the pizza place by the apartment, the one we...the one by the apartment?"
"Yes," he said. She could hear the relief and happiness in his voice. "What time?"
"Whenever," she said quickly, feeling a little light-headed.
"How about six thirty?" he suggested.
"Sounds...fine," she choked out. There was a long pause. "I guess I'll see you then."
"Yes. And Dawn- thank you. For agreeing to meet me."
"Sure. Good night Connor."
"Good night Dawn." They both stayed on the line after they had said their final goodbyes, until Dawn finally worked up the courage to hang up the phone. As if in a trance, she walked the short distance to her bedroom, pulled off her clothes, and slipped into her pajamas. She crawled into bed and nestled under the covers before she allowed herself to think about what had just happened. She had a lot of feelings about seeing Connor again. Of course there was a part of her that had missed him. But there was another part that feared the emotions seeing him again would bring up. She was glad she had been coherent enough to arrange a meeting somewhere besides the apartment. Far too many memories here. She stayed awake for a long time before she finally drifted off to sleep.
> > > > >
TBC...