When Dawn went left her house that morning, she was rather surprised to find Xander sitting in an armchair on her pathway, reading a Batman comic.

"Did I miss something?" Dawn asked. "Were we meant to meet today for some reason or other?"

"No. I just wanted to talk to you." Xander said, putting the comic down.

"You know that you have the key to my house, right? You don't need to lurk around outside like a really conspicuous stalker."

"I didn't think that it would really be appropriate for me to come into your house."

"Why? We lived in the same house for most of this year. Besides, I don't actually need a chaperone. This isn't Victorian England."

"Yeah, but while we were living in Sunnydale, I didn't know that you had a crush on me." Xander pointed out.

"Ah. You figured it out."

"Actually, no. I'm peculiarly dense on that front. Giles told me. I thought you were still hung up on Spike."

"You're kidding? The stuffy British guy worked it out before you?"

Xander rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, rub it in."

"Oh, I will." Dawn said. "Can we change the subject now? I feel awkward standing here talking about the crush I have on you."

"You think it's awkward? How do you think I feel?"

"Flattered?"

"No! Well, maybe a little bit. But that's not the point. We should talk about it."

"Why? What is there to say?"

Xander rubbed his chest absently. "I don't know. I've never had to have this conversation before."

"Couldn't we just... not have it?" Dawn suggested.

"Well, that's a possibility, but given that we live next door and we're going to be seeing each other every day, that might make things even more awkward."

"Is that even possible?"

"I don't know. At the moment I'm willing to try and find out."

"Cool. Let's just pretend you never found out."

"It's kind of hard to forget that you have a crush on me, Dawn. Besides, what do I tell Rory?"

"That you want a harem?"

Xander's eyes went glassy. "Uh, no. Bad idea."

"You seem to be enjoying thinking about it, though." Dawn said archly.

"God, Dawn, have you been taking lessons from Faith or something?"

"Nah. It's a gift."

"Well, can you not? This is already making me uncomfortable, you acting like mini-Faith isn't helping."

"I'll try and keep it to a minimum." Dawn promised. "But, really, there's nothing to say. You've got a girlfriend. Unless you actually start a harem, this isn't going to go anywhere. Unless you're secretly a Mormon."

"What?"

"Forget I said anything. Forget Giles told you anything. It's the easiest thing for both of us."

"Yeah, but there's you crushing on me, and then Jess hasn't moved on from Rory... it's like some soap opera, or something."

"So? There isn't anything that you can do about it."

"Well, I suppose it's better than an apocalypse."

"Yeah, but at least those don't have a love quadrangle. They're a lot simpler."

"True. Couldn't you at least get Pitt the Younger to stop using you to make Rory jealous?"

Dawn cocked her head. "Pitt the Younger?"

Xander smirked. "You're a bright girl. Work it out."

"I will, but you're making history references. iYou./i"

"What? I can't have layers?"

"I guess so, Onion."

"By the way, about that stuff I said yesterday."

"Hmm?" Dawn said, thinking about telling Jess about Buffy. "What did you say?"

"That stuff I said about you not being innocent or sweet. You are - or you can be, when you're trying not to be mini-Faith."

"Oh, Xander, please stop or I'll think that you're flirting with me."

"That's the kind of thing I mean."

Dawn shrugged. "Meh. That's who I am. If that doesn't appeal to you, perhaps it's for the best that you're dating Rory."

"Yeah, but you've still got a craving for Xander meat, don't you?"

Dawn went bright red. "You did not just say that."

Xander mentally reviewed what he said and went a similar bright shade of pink. "I should just stop talking now. I should take a vow of silence."

"That might be for the best." Dawn agreed.

When Luke called Rory Dracula, she suddenly went as white as - well, he was already using vampiric imagery, so he might as well run with it - she suddenly went as white as someone who had had all their blood drained. Then she rushed out.

"Wow, Luke." Jess called from across the room. "You sure know how to make a girl run."

Luke shot him a black look and turned to look at Lorelai, about to ask what the problem was, only to see a blank expression on her face that mirrored his own.

Rory breathed deeply, trying to calm down. Okay. She couldn't really be turning into a vampire. That made no sense. To be turned, you needed to have actually been around a vampire first. Rory hadn't even ever met one. Besides, Xander had told her that vampires were essentially walking corpses animated by a demon. She wasn't dead. Sure, she had been cold, like a vampire, and had supernaturally good hearing, like a vampire, and had found everything too bright, presumably because her eyes were becoming attuned to seeing in the dark like a vampire, and she was suddenly noticing everyone's necks...

Oh God, she was turning into a vampire.

Rory needed to find Xander.

Rory nearly ran over Giles in her haste to get to Xander's house. "Whoa, Rory, what's the rush?" Giles asked, steadying her before she fell over.

"I-I need to find Xander. There's something I need to tell him." Rory said as quickly as she could.

Then, everything slowed down. Rory became acutely aware of the fact that she could feel Giles' pulse beating in the wrist that she had instinctively grasped for balance. She imagined the blood rushing around his body, so thick and...

Oh, but she was thirsty. She really wanted some coffee.

Hang on. Coffee? Vampires weren't known for drinking coffee. They were known for drinking something else entirely.

Rory imagined sinking her teeth into Giles' throat, and nearly vomited from the sickening image that evoked.

Okay. So the transformation wasn't complete. Obviously, otherwise she would've burst into flames long ago. The sun was beating down on her.

"I don't know where Xander is." Giles said, breaking Rory's train of thought. "He's not at the house. You could try Dawn, she might know, or look around. There's not much town to search through here."

"Thanks, Giles." Rory said, letting go of his wrist. She ran her tongue over her teeth. They seemed normal. They didn't seem any longer than they should do.

Although, come to think about it, the sun was really hot. Really, really hot. Hot like a Grecian summer. If she didn't put some sun cream on soon, she'd burn.

Oh.

Rory rapidly knocked on Dawn's door. Xander opened it. Rory came tumbling through the door, sighing in relief at getting out of the scorching sun.

"Wow. I guess you must be really glad to see me." Xander said drily.

"So." Dawn said, slipping into a chair at the bar at Luke's. "Why would anyone call you Pitt the Younger?"

"Haven't a clue." Jess replied, taking the order of the person a couple of seats down from Dawn. "Who's Pitt the Younger?"

"Hah! I know something you don't know!" Dawn said exultantly, happy that the guy who'd understood every literary reference that she made didn't know everything.

"Did you know that it takes about 90 seconds to die from having a broken bottle shoved in your neck?" Jess said without looking at Dawn.

"Actually-" the guy that Jess was taking the order from began.

"Shut up, Kirk." Jess said shortly.

"Are you saying that from experience?"

"Do I look like I've been stabbed in the neck by a broken bottle?" Jess said drily, moving away to give Cesar Kirk's order.

"No, I mean have you seen someone die that way?"

"Yup." Jess said shortly. "You want to order something?"

Dawn blinked, thrown by the nonchalance and the sudden subject change. "You-you saw that?"

Jess rolled his eyes. "Yup. And someone whose sister should have a revolving door on her coffin shouldn't be so surprised that people die."

"Oh, I know people die. But generally the people who - well, the people who idon't/i die are lot less calm about it."

Jess shrugged. "It was a long time ago."

"Yeah, but you're nineteen. The fact that it was a long time ago is hardly a comfort."

Jess shrugged again. "I've spent most of the last year bumming around the country getting over things before I came back here."

"You mean that there's more?" Dawn said in surprise.

"Yup. Told you I had an interesting past."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Dawn said, extending the same offer that Jess had made to her.

"No. But not for the same reason that you don't want to talk about all the stuff that happened to you. I've moved on."

Dawn didn't believe that, but she decided not to press the subject. Especially not with Kirk gawping at them as though he was a gold fish.

Seeking to change the subject, Dawn said "Pitt the Younger was a British Prime Minister."

"I flunked history."

"I only know that because I saw a film once, The Madness of King George. History isn't exactly a strong suit in my family either."

"Well, I have no idea why someone might call me that."

"Oh well." Dawn sighed. "I'll have an omelette."

"I think I'm turning into a vampire." Rory said simply.

Xander looked at her intently for a long moment. "Have you been drinking?"

"No. Listen, I-"

"Rory, there aren't any vampires in Stars Hollow. Besides, while someone turns into a vampire, they're dead. Living people don't turn into vampires. And you just walked in from the sun. You're not turning into a vampire."

"Then why do I feel so cold?" Rory asked, peeling back her sleeves. "And what's this?"

Xander looked at her arms. "Sunburn?"

"Yeah, that I got on the way from Luke's to here. Either the Sun is suddenly a lot hotter than it normally is, or I'm a lot more sensitive."

"Rory, getting sunburned doesn't mean that you're a vampire. You've got pale skin, and pale skinned people do have a tendency to burn."

"Xander, how can you be a sceptic? iYou?/i After everything you've seen? Can't you just accept that it's possible that, somehow, I'm turning into a vampire?"

"Fine!" Xander said, throwing up his hands. He clearly didn't believe that Rory was turning, but there wasn't any harm in checking. "I've probably got some holy water around here somewhere."

Ethan heard someone knocking on his hotel room's door. Assuming that it was room service, Ethan put down his book and opened it.

"Hello, Ethan." Giles said.

Ethan, without saying a word, closed the door, went back to his bed and picked up his book.