She didn't know how long they sat like that for, but it must have been a good long time, because the next thing Buffy knew, was that Giles was gone, someone had just broken down the front door and was yelling for her, and that feeling in the pit of her stomach whenever Angel was there, was there.
Just as quickly, she was being pulled into a hug that would rival anyone else, and dark brown eyes were checking both her and dawn for any signs of injuries. All they found were tear tracks on the younger face, and an empty, haunted look in the older one.
"Buffy! Buffy, tell me what happened! Where's Giles? And your mother …"
He stopped when she looked at him, and he knew what had happened. Well, not exactly, but he got the gist of it. Joyce Summers was dead, and her girls needed him to be there for them.
Dawn was in what seemed like a trance, eyes glazed over, and seemingly unable to cry for any longer; Buffy looked just as she always did whenever she didn't like the score. The same expression that had greeted her face when Faith did anything, the one she wore when a loved one was in danger. That same look which he hoped (if that was the right term to use) she had worn after she had sent him to hell as Angel, and not Angelus.
He had no idea how he was meant to comfort her – the only time anything like this had happened was when Ford died two or three years ago; he wasn't even friends with her then, just the cryptic vampire! He didn't know if he was supposed to talk to them, or just be there; ask what happened, or pretend everything was normal. In 243 years, he was always either the cause of death, or uninvolved and looking in from the outside. Now, he was almost directly in the middle, and he had no idea how to put any of it right.
Joyce would have known what to do – they may not have gotten along, in fact, he was pretty sure that Buffy's mother had hated him, but she always knew how to make Buffy feel better. It didn't even matter if she knew what was wrong – it was that whole mum thing; she didn't have to know exactly what was wrong to make it right again.
And what about Dawnie? She was not even thirteen yet! It was far too young to lose anyone, especially your mother. What would happen to her now? He supposed that Buffy would take guardianship until their father could come and get her (he was away for who knew how long and to God only knows where!) and take the near teen with him. Buffy was only eighteen; she couldn't really be expected to look after a kid and go to school on top of paying for them both to live (and slay, but the law doesn't know about that)!
Perhaps he could help. But he didn't really exist. There was no way that he could give them money or anything else, for that matter, without someone finding out. Sooner or later, the police would find out that he didn't exist, and then he would be dust faster that you can say "vampire".
He had no clue what to do in the long run, but for now, he was pretty sure that sitting down on the sofa with one girl on his lap, and the other curled around his side was the right place to be. If it made Joyce's girls any happier, he would do anything.
sorry it's been so long - had quite a lot of school work and loads of problems with this chapter. the next one is nearly done though - it should be up tomorrow.