Rory made her way home shortly after the dance. She was feeling cold. While she knew that, for Connecticut, it wasn't exactly unusual to be cold, it was unusual in late July. She suspected that she was coming down with something.

She didn't tell Xander that. Although Rory doubted that he had been serious about constraining her to her bedroom (for bed rest! Nothing else...) she couldn't help but think that, as a result of fighting demons for years, it was perfectly natural that he be rather protective. She didn't need that - she was only feeling cold.

Xander offered to walk her back, but Rory turned him down. She didn't think that she would be able to hide the fact that she was feeling unusually cold if there wasn't a party around to distract him. Besides, if Lorelai saw him walking her back, she might take it into her head to warn Rory to be careful again. She didn't want to hear that. She was tired of being careful.

However, while she was walking back, Rory became aware of someone walking along behind her.

"Shut up, Jess." Rory said, without turning around.

"How did you know it was me?" Jess said, speeding up a little to catch up with her.

"You smell like cigarette smoke."

"Huh. I haven't even had one for three or four days."

"Guess the smell sticks around."

"Or maybe there's something going around that helps people identify other people that they can't see. You're the second person to do that today."

"Perhaps you should stop creeping up behind people." Rory suggested.

"Where's the fun in that?" Jess said with a shrug. "By the way, I hadn't actually said anything when you told me to shut up."

"Really? Well, feel free to go ahead and dazzle me with whatever sage wisdom you were going to impart."

"No need to be snippy. I was just going to ask what you're doing with that guy."

"See? Now I feel perfectly vindicated in telling you to shut up."

"I mean, it's like Dean all over again. I'm sure he's a nice guy and all, but Rory, does he actually get you? What do you talk about? What do you have in common?"

"Well, just this morning we discussed the meaning of shut up. We decided that it meant that whoever you said it to should stop talking."

"How controversial. I also see that you're avoiding the question."

"What does it matter that he doesn't know about literature? There's more to life than-"

"Does he know that you're scared of horses ever since you rode on one and it died? That you always bite your lip after you kiss someone? Rory, does he actually know you at all?"

Rory stopped walking. "Jess, he's not you. But I'm not breaking up with him over you. Not like I did with Dean. He knows me. I like him. Be satisfied with that."

"Rory-"

"By the way, don't think I didn't notice you dancing with Dawn. Looks a lot like me, don't you think?"

"She's a nice kid, Rory, but she's not you."

Rory looked upwards, searching for the right words. "Jess, I like having you around. I liked having you around even before we were dating. But I'm not going to go out with you again. I'm sorry. I don't want you to go, but don't stay if I'm the only reason. You're my friend, Jess. It could've been more than that once, but... let it go."

Jess looked at her for a second, before turning and walking away without a word. Rory didn't watch him go.

Without Rory, hanging around at the wedding party of someone he'd never met held no attraction to Xander. So he found Dawn - who was looking round for Jess, who seemed to have vanished - and went home.

"You shouldn't be around that guy, Dawn." Xander said, as they walked back.

"What, Jess?"

"No, Adolf Hitler. Of course Jess! The guy's a jerk."

"Actually, he's just a jerk to you. He's perfectly nice to me."

"You know he just asked you to the wedding to make Rory jealous, right? That's the only reason he danced with you."

Dawn thought about being indignant that Xander wouldn't think that Jess asked her to the wedding because he wanted her there, but instead just said "It takes two to tango."

Xander frowned. "What does that even mean?"

"Exactly what I said."

"Bah. I hate cryptic-ness."

"Then you really chose the wrong job."

They walked on in silence, until Dawn suddenly blurted out "What do you see in Rory?"

Xander blinked. "What? Where did that come from?"

Dawn went slightly pink, but continued anyway. "Well, I figure that I'm bound to want a boyfriend at some point, so, um, I was wondering why you like Rory. Because, you know, the only other person I could ask is Willow, and, well... iKennedy/i."

"And you figure that asking what I like in a girl is a good idea? Dawnie, I've had more failed relationships than your sister."

"Huh? You've only had three, she's had four."

"Well, there was Ampata, and Ms. French, and that time when every female I met crushed on me, and that time Buffy used me to make Angel jealous, and-"

"If you're counting that, I should throw in Owen and Scott Hope. I get your point, but Rory's normal. Or as normal as you're going to get. Given that I'm not gay and most of the people I spend time with are Slayers, I'll probably fall for some normal guy, so..."

"I feel I should comment on how unbelievably uncomfortable this conversation makes me."

"You dated Anya for years, and ithis/i makes you uncomfortable?"

"Yup."

"Wow. Anyway, your discomfort is noted, but answer the question anyway."

"Nope."

"I'll tell Rory you have syphilis."

"She already knows I don't. Blackmailing won't work."

"Okay, then I'll keep pestering you until you tell me how exactly she knows that you don't have a sexually transmitted disease."

"She found out when she was researching Sunnydale. She found the article about the curse. I told her it was a mistake."

"Oh. That's no fun. Tell me what you see in Rory."

"That's not even blackmail, Dawn. Big puppy dog eyes won't work either."

"I prefer kittens. Mroaw." Dawn said, swiping at him.

"Stop being cute."

"Not until you tell me."

Xander sighed. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"No."

"For the record, it's really weird that you want to know."

Weird that Dawn wanted to know what her crush wanted in a girlfriend? Yeah, not so much. "Tell me anyway."

"She's... she's sweet." Xander said eventually.

"I can be sweet."

Xander snorted. "Yeah, Dawn, leering at someone isn't sweet. If it was, Faith would give every male she met diabetes."

"I don't leer!" Dawn said. Then she added "It was just a one off thing."

"But it's not just that. She's - Rory is unspoiled. There's just this, this innocence about her. It's difficult to explain. God, this is awkward."

"I can be innocent."

Xander burst out laughing. "Dawnie, you were trying to blackmail me about two minutes ago. Besides, I've known you since you were about ten. Even if half of those memories never even happened. While you can, on occasion, be as cute as small fluffy kitten, innocence isn't your thing. Even before you started stealing everything that wasn't nailed down."

Dawn scowled. "I bet Rory isn't perfect, either."

"Probably not. But she hasn't blackmailed me yet." Xander said. "Ah, we're home. You want to come in?"

Dawn shook her head quickly. "No I-I want to, um, go to bed. I'm tired."

"But it's-"

Dawn opened her door, went through it, and shut it again so quickly that Xander didn't even have time to finish his sentence.

"-still early."

Xander went inside to see Giles sitting at the kitchen table, head resting on the book in front of him as he slept. Xander was not unused to this sight - many times, when Giles had still been a librarian, Xander had gone in in the morning to see Giles asleep there, having not gone home. Xander suspected that Giles had much the same sleeping problems as he did himself.

Sadly, the most common reason for Giles to do that had always been some upcoming apocalypse or other. Xander really hoped that that hadn't been the case this time. It hadn't been all that long since the last one.

Xander gently shook Giles awake.

"What?" Giles said sleepily, sitting up. "What's going on?"

"You tell me. What's with the research?"

Giles frowned, not yet fully awake. "Nothing is with the research. It's research. A standalone occupation."

Xander rolled his eyes. "I meant, why are you researching so hard? Is there an apocalypse in the works?"

"What? No. Is there?"

"I don't know. Isn't that why you're researching?"

"No. I was just looking for - looking iat/i something interesting. I suppose I must have lost track of time."

"If only I didn't find that so easy to believe." Xander said, sitting down. "So, what's so interesting that it made you fall asleep?"

"Where's Dawn?" Giles said, not wanting to answer the question.

"Next door. She said she wanted to go to sleep, which is weird, because it still early."

"God save us from going to sleep at unusual times." Giles said ironically.

"Yeah, but she was awake enough to pester me about why I like Rory just before that."

Giles paused in the act of getting up. "What? You didn't tell her, did you?"

"Well, yeah, I did. She wouldn't stop pestering me."

"Oh, God. You really are dense, aren't you?"

"What? Why? What did I do?"

"She fancies you."

Xander looked at him blankly. "What?"

"Dawn fancies you. She has a crush on you. She would like to start a relationship with you. She likes you in a more than friendly way. How much more obvious can I make it?"

"I - you - what? But - her - Spike?"

"I think you underestimate the effect of him nearly raping Buffy. It's remarkably difficult to maintain attraction in the face of something like that. Hence her fancying you."

Xander put his head in his hands. "Hell. I'm really dense."

"iNow/i he gets it." Giles said drily.

"Sh-she asked me why I like Rory so that she could do the same thing. I as good as told her that she wouldn't be able to... oh, crap."

"Precisely."

"I need to talk to her."

Giles sighed. "Much as you might treat any advice on relationships from a crusty old librarian with a bucket of salt, I'd recommend against doing that. If she's anything like Buffy, she's probably pretty upset now. Try in the morning, when she's less likely to throw something at you or start crying."

"Since when do you know anything about teenage girls?"

Giles shrugged. "Most of the time when Buffy and Willow talked about such things, I was around. One picks up a few things in those circumstances."

Xander wasn't sure that Giles was right. In fact, he was fairly sure that he wasn't. Leaving things to fester generally didn't work out.

On the other hand, going to speak to Dawn now would be iincredibly/i awkward. Xander would much rather face her in the morning. Amongst lots of other people. In a space where he could run away, should it prove necessary.

Yeah, he was going to wait.

Dawn was watching an adaptation of Pride & Prejudice (not solely because it had a scene with Colin Firth walking around in a wet shirt) when she heard someone knock on the door.

At first, Dawn had no intention of opening the door, because opening your front door in Sunnydale after dark was basically tantamount to suicide. Then she realised that she wasn't actually in Sunnydale, so she refused to answer it because she assumed that it was Xander, and she really didn't feel like facing him just then. Then she remembered that Xander had a key, and that combined with a distaste for watching Wickham and Elizabeth flirting led her to open the door.

She was pretty surprised to find Jess standing there.

"Cigarettes?" Jess said bluntly, holding out his hand.

Dawn rummaged around in a pocket. "Here. How did you know where I live, anyway?"

Jess took the packet and the lighter, put one in his mouth and lit it with the practiced ease of a smoker. "Thanks." He turned and walked back down the path.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

"I have no destination in mind." Jess said, without stopping or even turning around.

Dawn went to go back inside, but realised that she really couldn't face watching Elizabeth and Wickham flirting. So instead she slipped on a pair of clothes, grabbed her keys and dashed outside.

"So, what's the problem?" Dawn said as she caught up. Jess might think he was walking fast, but after years patrolling with an adrenaline-filled Slayer she could keep pace with Jess even if he was sprinting.

"None of your business."

"What's the problem?"

"Still none of your business."

"What's the problem?"

"Liz just had a heart attack."

"Seriously?"

"No. Go away."

"Not until you tell me what the problem is."

Jess exhaled smoke. "Why the hell do you care?"

"Because you're the nicest person I've met in this town, and I want to know why you've suddenly become some terse, sullen guy." Dawn replied. She didn't add that, if she focused on whatever his problem was, she wouldn't have to think about Xander.

"Huh. You've got poor taste if you think I'm nice."

"I've met worse. Although anyone who prefers Heathcliff to Darcy can't be a ball of sunshine."

"I'm not going to talk literature with you, Dawn. Not now."

Dawn put her hand on his arm. "Look, Jess. I care, okay? So tell me what the bloody problem is, okay? Or else I'll keep pestering you until you tell me. Trust me, you'll tell me eventually. I'm good at pestering."

"You said bloody."

"That's what you got from what I just said?"

"Well, yeah. It was cute. And very British."

"Yeah, I'm as cute as a little fluffy kitten. And I've spent quite a bit of time with British people. Anyway, you're changing the subject."

"You noticed."

"It wasn't exactly subtle. What's the problem?"

Jess sighed. "Rory told me she sees me as a friend. That I should move on."

"Well, she is dating someone else. You might have a shot persuading her to become bigamous, but I doubt Xander will go for that one."

"She was dating someone else when I first met her. She even kissed me while she was still dating someone else."

"Okay, so you have experience stealing Rory away from others, and you're despondent because you have to do it again? I don't get it."

"She seemed a lot more... serious, I guess. Last time, with Dean, I knew that wouldn't last. But this - I don't know about this."

Dawn contemplated saying something cheery, but instead said "I asked Xander what he sees in Rory. He told me, and he as good as said that I would never be like that. That I'd never hit his criteria."

"You asked him that?" Jess said incredulously. "Are you a masochist or something?"

Dawn rubbed her wrist. "Not so much. It made sense when I asked."

"Dawn, asking that is really, really weird."

"That's what he said."

"Suddenly I feel obligated to say that it was perfectly normal."

Dawn smiled. "Nah, you don't need to. You were both right. It was stupid."

"Just because you're well-read doesn't mean that you're immune from stupidity."

"You're just as stupid. Rory's right. You should move on. Not least because if you steal her from Xander, he will quite happily kill you. Your body will never be found."

"Huh."

"So." Dawn said, changing the subject. "How do you know where I live?"

"I was stalking you. I've read that that's romantic."

"Yeah, it's really not. Usually it's just annoying."

Jess looked at her thoughtfully. "You say that as though you know for sure."

Dawn looked down. "Drop it, Jess."

"So you're allowed to pry into my life but I can't even make a simple statement? Talk about hypocrisy."

"My past is off limits."

"You tell me yours, I'll tell you mine."

"Yeah, mine's way more interesting than yours."

Jess smirked. "Prove it."

"Oh no, you're not getting me that easily."

"Well, we're back at your house." Jess said, pointing. "If you want to escape from any more questions, here's your chance."

Dawn looked at her door. Then at Jess. Then back at the door. "I might tell you eventually. But it's hard. Especially while it's all still so fresh."

Jess nodded. "I get that. Really. You can tell me when you're ready, Enigma Girl."

Dawn walked up the pathway, then hesitated before opening the door. "Do you want to come in? It's still early. We can watch Pride and Prejudice. I haven't given up on converting you."

Jess paused, then crushed his cigarette butt underfoot and walked up the pathway.