The Eye of the Beholder
Dawn's eyes flickered open, the suns' soft light breaking into the room. The bed was comfy and everything was peaceful, soft breathing the only sound within earshot. She closed her eyes and sighed in contentment. The sheets wrapped around her were cool and contrasted nicely with the warm skin of the man lying in bed next to her. He faced away from her, his body rising and falling with each breath. Her arms were wrapped against his sleeping form and…wait a second.
Her eyes bolted open. That couldn't be right. She looked at the man in bed next to her. His torso was… well, excellent. And he definitely didn't have a shirt on. She stole a glance down, the sheet covered his lower half, but leaving a few visible inches of his very nice heiney. Her eyes widened slightly. "Oh my god…" she mouthed softly, a smile forming on her face. How in the world had she gotten here? Dawn wasn't complaining, but she was definitely confused. She thought back to the night before, had she met someone, or gone somewhere…? She couldn't think of anything reasonable. One second, went to sleep by herself, the next, she woke up next to Muscley McNicebutt. Thank God Buffy isn't here, she'd kill me if she knew I was lying in bed with a guy… a really hot guy too.
He rolled onto his back and the sheet moved with him, tugging softly against her body and as it moved. It rubbed against her skin. All of her skin. Her brow furrowed. She reached down beneath the sheets, her smile fading as her arm got below the edge of the blanket. She paused for a second, closed her eyes tight, and then went through with it, checking to see if she had been right. With a yelp, she withdrew her hand from beneath the bedspread. Ok. She was naked. Horror crept over her. "Oh God…" Had she had sex with him? The guy groaned again, starting to stir from his slumber. His face turned toward her, and for the first time she could see who she was lying next to.
It was Riley.
A shriek escaped from her lips and she threw herself backwards. The bed disappeared from beneath her and she crumpled to the ground, the blanket collapsing on top of her. She straightened up as fast as possible, the blanket falling to the ground and leaving her standing there, naked. Riley, awake at this point, was looking up at her with concern and surprise. She stood frozen, completely unable to move. "Buffy…" she cut him off quickly, not wanting to hear about the consequences of these actions. "No, please don't. Don't say anything, please, let me just figure out what happened." She became very aware of still being naked and quickly snapped up the blanket, wrapping it around her body. Riley was nodding, his eyes not completely focused. He rose up, keeping the sheet around his waist with one hand, the other reaching for her. "Listen, everything's ok. Nothing's wrong." His hand eventually nudged her arm, and she couldn't take it anymore. She leaped back from his touch with a yell.
"No!" She stumbled, her arm flying out and catching on the curtains. She ripped them down with her, both girl and blind flying to the carpet. Sunlight poured into the room, catching Riley full in the face. With a strangled yell he threw himself off the other side of the bed and threw the sheet overtop of himself, a sort of self fashioned protection from the light.
Her eyes already tearing, Dawn tore out of the room with the blanket streaming behind like a cloak. "I'm sorry! I just need to figure this out. Riley, I…" It was then that the tears overwhelmed her and she forced herself out of the room and down the stairs, Riley's calls echoing after her.
Angel lay under the sheets on the side of the bed, his eyes wild and confused. What the hell had just happened? He was fine, his skin wasn't burning and there seemed to be no ill effects. And Buffy… he didn't really know what had just happened, but he was still caught by the fact that he had been in bed with Buffy again. He hadn't even seen her in months, and then he woke up next to her? Aside from a memory mishap…he wasn't sure what else could explain this. And… had she just called him Riley? Maybe he'd misheard her but he was fairly sure she'd run out screaming she was sorry. To Riley. If she meant… he didn't want to think about it. Riley Finn was someone he didn't want to think about, EVER, and if started putting thoughts in his head that Buffy thought about Riley while…
He shook his head. No more of that. He peeked out from under the sheet. Buffy was gone, she'd taken off, not stopping no matter how much he'd called. The whole room around him was bathed in light; he wasn't sure how he was going to get out of this one. Maybe one quick movement, like a band-aid. He'd handled fire fairly well before. Ok, here goes. Three… two… one…he leaped up, the sheet over his head but barely reaching his knees beneath him. He scurried to the doorframe but…curious. His legs were fine. No pain at all. He stopped. What was going on? He took a breath and slowly lowered the sheet, letting first his hair, then forehead slowly peak over the soft cotton. The sunlight touched his skin and… nothing.
He let the sheet fall away from his face and the sunlight to bathe him. It just felt…warm. He couldn't figure it out. How was this possible? He noticed a pair of pants on the ground and hurriedly grabbed them. If for whatever reason he could go into the sunlight, he could also go after Buffy and make sure she was ok. He threw the pants on and quickly exited the room after her. As he went down the hallway, doors were creaking open on both sides; Joyce's face peeking out from one room, Dawn's fluffed bed head appearing from the other. "Be right back" he threw out, and then was down the stairs in seconds.