Chapter 6:

When Dawn arrived to school, she spent most of the time before lunch avoiding Cassie and the questions she knew her friend would ask. She still didn't know what to say and for some reason she didn't want to tell Cassie about Buffy and Sam being sisters when Sam obviously hadn't told her that herself. In some way it felt like a betrayal, both to Buffy and to Sam even though Sam wasn't even aware of the blood bond she shared with Dawn, and probably never would be either.

She still felt hurt over Buffy's lies, okay not lies, but she'd kept quiet about the truth, about a sister they both shared and that still made Dawn angry. And as much as she wanted someone to talk about it to she couldn't tell anyone, especially when Giles was the only other person that knew about Sam existing. She wasn't stupid, she'd made some stupid choices, but she wasn't brainless and she wouldn't hurt Buffy by telling others about Sam. That had to be Buffy's choice, not hers.

At the end of the school day Dawn hurried to her locker, throwing in her books and grabbing her jacket and bag and then rushing off. She hoped that she'd be able to avoid Cassie. Maybe she was being a chicken, but at least that way she wouldn't have to lie to her new friend, a friend that had become closer to her in weeks than she'd ever been to anyone in Sunnydale, outside the Scooby Gang, or anywhere else for that matter. She didn't like lies, because lies always caused so much hurt when they in the end were revealed. And they always were.

Relieved when nobody called her name as she hurried down the hallway she quickly excited the school building, stopping outside to look around for Buffy. For some reason she had a bad feeling in her stomach and it hadn't helped the least when she hadn't been able to reach Buffy at lunch, something they'd decided on so that they could agree on a meeting point after school had ended and go to the movies.

The only times that ever happened, when Dawn wasn't able to reach her sister, had been when there'd been an emergency or when their mom had been sick. But their mom was dead now, and Dawn couldn't help but wonder if Buffy not answering meant that someone else had died as well. Like Xander, or Willow. She hoped not. She didn't know what she'd do if they died too. She knew she was worrying because of nothing but she couldn't help it.

"Dawn!" A voice suddenly called out, forcing Dawn back to reality and forget her thoughts for the time being.

Without thinking, she turned her head to the sound and almost immediately caught a view of…Sam? But she wasn't alone; with her were the two men that had been with her that night when the car broke down…Jack…Jack and Daniel. Wasn't that their names? Dawn wondered for a brief second.

She stared at them, and she could tell by the look on Sam's face that she wasn't there for Cassie. She was there for her. And so were her friends. Though Dawn couldn't understand why. Unless they wanted to get a hold of Buffy through her meaning Buffy hadn't succeeded in pushing Sam away. At least not enough.

Before Dawn could come up with a plan or call Buffy and ask for advice on what to do, Sam started walking towards her. Alone. And something made Dawn stay where she was and wait. Maybe it was mere curiosity of wanting to talk to the woman that was her sister. She just wasn't sure. A brief minute later Sam reached her and the older woman smiled hesitantly at her, but it was a friendly smile. A warm one. Though Dawn didn't smile back. Instead she looked at the woman calmly, showing no feelings. It was an expression she'd learned to use when surrounded by people she didn't know, or trust. She'd been kidnapped enough times to know that it was better not to show any feelings than let the enemy know you were scared because they'd use it against you.

"Hey Dawn." Sam's voice was friendly.

"What do you want?" Dawn knew she was being unfriendly but she didn't care and she ignored the pang of guilt she felt when she saw the slightly wounded expression on Sam's face.

"I just wanted to say hi."

"Don't give me that crap. I'm not stupid." Dawn retorted quietly and without heat. "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to talk to you." Sam said finally.

"Why?"

"Because I'm worried about your sister."

"She's your sister too."

"That's why I'm worrying."

"And what do you want me to do about it?" Dawn retorted.

"Is Eli…Buffy in trouble?"

"Why do you keep calling her Elisabeth?" Dawn asked, a hint of curiosity in her voice, as she ignored Sam's question.

"Our…father always called her that; I guess he rubbed off on me." The older woman said softly.

"Her name's Buffy, even her birth certificate says so."

"Well, dad just sees her as Elisabeth I think."

"Oh."

For a moment they became quiet, neither of them knew quite what to say. Dawn looked around, attempting to be discrete but her action didn't go unseen by Sam.

"Who are you looking for?"

"I'm supposed to be picked up." Dawn said, avoiding mentioning details on purpose.

"By Buffy?"

But before Dawn could come up with an answer she spotted Willow. Willow. She blinked and looked again, shock evident in her eyes. It really was her, and she didn't look happy. Instead she looked worried, tired. And Dawn knew then that something was wrong, that Buffy had ended up in some sort of trouble.

"I…I gotta go." Dawn said, her mind drifting to what might have happened.

"Dawn? Is something wrong?" Worry creeped into Sam's voice but the teenager didn't notice it. "Dawn!"

"What?" Dawn faltered, turning her eyes to Sam who had grabbed the teenager's shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me." Sam said softly. "If you're in trouble, if Buffy's in trouble…I can help."

"No you can't."

"I can. Dawn please…trust me."

"I…" Dawn looked away for a moment before she looked at her older sister again, really looked at her and suddenly Sam saw something in the girl's eyes that she'd rarely seen in the eyes of others. "You don't know anything about us Sam, and that's a good thing."

"Dawn?"

"I don't know what Buffy's told you but I know she told you to stay away, and that's what you have to do." Dawn said, her voice soft and almost sad. "You want to help? Fine. You can help by staying away from us."

And with those words Dawn walked away, she didn't wait for Sam to reply. Instead she started walking towards Willow. First slowly, and then faster and faster till she was running. She didn't stop or slow down until she reached the Wicca. By then she was out of breath but she didn't care. She looked at the red headed woman with eyes older then they ever should be on a teenager.

"What's happened to Buffy?"

"Buffy's fine Dawn." Willow said, trying to reassure the worried teenager. "She just…she got some bad news, that's all."

"What do you mean bad news?"

"I'll tell you when we get home." Willow said softly. "It's not something we should discuss here."

With that she motioned to Dawn to get into the car and the girl did just that, though she still cast worried glances at the witch when the witch got in behind the wheel without saying a word. The witch was rarely quiet, the fact that she was now told Dawn that something was really wrong.

As they drove off, neither of them noticed the gazes from the worried trio that followed them all the way till the car drove around the corner and disappeared. Neither of them even thought gave the trio a second thought.

TBC…

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