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DISCLAIMER: Nope.
SUMMARY: Dawn is enjoying the summer at the beach. Or trying to.
WORDCOUNT: 1111
NOTES: for Darkstar, at the Summer Challenge.
LAZY HAZY CRAZY SUMMER DAYS
by Leni
Dawn woke up slowly, relishing the sunlight that fell on her bed. It was wonderful,
finally being able to say it was summer. While the trip through Europe had been
fascinating, at heart Dawn was a Californian girl and anything under a certain temperature
was icy as far as she was concerned.
Of course, her sister didn’t seem to have the same problem. Buffy was quite happy
with the constant source of cold she had brought into her life. Again. With a slight smile
and a shake of her head, Dawn finally decided to disentangle herself from the thin sheet
and greet the new day.
A new day which was positively spectacular. From her window Dawn could see the sun already
shining outside, and the sound of the waves less than a mile away seemed to call her. Dawn
nearly jumped in excitement, barely remembering that she was not a little girl anymore.
Instead, she indulged in a wide grin and a mute clap of hands nobody would witness. Giles
had been right, this little house near Dover was the best idea for their summer. Buffy had
bit her lips about the rent, but Giles had smiled and said that everything was taken care
for. A graduation present for Dawn, he had said, and then he had laughed when the younger
Summers had engulfed him in a hug. Giles was the best. Her own father had sent her a check
with his sincerest apologies and Dawn hadn’t felt a twinge of guilt when she spent
all of it in an antique book Giles had been talking about weeks before.
Shrugging the memories away, Dawn tugged out of her PJs and raced to the closet. Five
minutes later she was already in her bathing suit, a sarong and her favourite sandals. She
smiled at her reflection in the mirror, oh yes, this would be the summer of her life.
She run into the kitchen to grab a quick bite of something before hitting the beach.
Instead she was brought to a sudden halt.
“Geez,” she grimaced. “Don’t you have a room for that?” A giggle
almost escaped her when Angel embarrasedly tried to tug her sister out of his lap and
instead she clung tighter to him. Buffy turned around slowly, making a show of resting her
body against Angel’s. “Why, jealous?” she said, furrowing deeper into her
on-again boyfriend.
Dawn’s eyes rolled. “Right.” She peeked into the refrigerator and tapped
her fingers against the door as she tried to decide between cheese or ham. The relative
darkness of the room didn’t help her appetite so she finally shrugged, picking the
solitary apple and biting viciously into it.
“You’re not eating that for breakfast, are you?”
“No, mom,” Dawn answered dutifully, belying words with her actions as she picked
her towel and walked to the door. A hand on her arm stopped her and she was already
thinking up a new nickname for her over-protective sister when she recognised that who was
before her was Angel instead.
“Here,” he said, handing her a small plastic bag.
She took it and glanced inside. Her eyes widened and she resisted the urge to tackle him.
It wouldn’t do, as far as she was concerned Angel had meddled into a only-Summers
vacation and disrupted the tentative sisterly plans Dawn and Buffy had had. Dawn was
supposed to be sulky about that, not quite forgiving him for installing himself in her
sister’s room. Of course, his presence also meant that Dawn had more time on her own.
She never would have agreed to so many ‘sisterly plans’ in the first place if
she had known how many cute boys visited Dover and its beaches. She settled for a
grateful smile, took the delicious-looking sandwich and munched on it as she opened the
door.
Then she paused, noticing that there had been two sandwiches in the bag. She turned
around and settled a questioning look on Angel, he just smiled and nodded briefly.
She nodded back. “Hey Buffy, wanna go get back our tans?”
Buffy looked startled, obviously not expecting the invitation. “You want me to
go with you? As in, to be seen with me?”
Dawn shrugged. “Worst scenario, all the guys will be hanging on your every word, you
leave them to come back to your boyfriend." She nodded to Angel. "Then they
attack me with questions about ‘that gorgeous blonde’. I think I can snag a
couple of them to myself, so it’s not that bad.”
Buffy looked insecure.
“Come on, Buffy, yes or no? The sun doesn’t wait for you, you know?” Dawn
looked at her sister impatiently. “’Sides, you’ve been cooped up inside
since Angel arrived.” That was true. “Believe me, you really need some
sun.”
Buffy’s brow furrowed, glancing between her sister and her lover. Then she smiled and
Dawn could swear her eyes rolled a bit. “Go alone, Dawnie, I’m... not feeling
well.”
“What’s wrong?” Angel asked, his voice suddenly worried.
“Nothing, nothing... Something has upset my stomach, that’s all.”
“Must be that stew you tried to cook yesterday.” Buffy’s eyes narrowed but
Dawn ignored it, inching closer to the door. Just in case. “I knew you were
trying to poison me. What, Spike told you about the photos I took while you were
sunbathing last week?” Dawn giggled and jumped out of danger when Buffy made to grab
her, then gulped when she saw the look in Angel’s eyes. “Just kidding!” she
shouted before scurrying out of the door, quickly dropping her enemies to one as she
stepped into the sunlight, and escaped from the beach house – and bodily harm.
When she was sure Buffy wasn’t coming after her, Dawn looked back. She laughed and
shook her head in amusement at the scene the open back door let her observe.
Buffy was on her tiptoes, leaning against Angel. The arm he had around her midriff was
surely the one which had stopped her from running after Dawn. He was nuzzling her neck and
her head was slowly lolling to the side, obviously too distracted to think about her
wayward little sister. Suddenly Angel looked up, directly at her, and Dawn waved
playfully. The next thing she knew the door was closed and the couple inside were hidden
from view.
She sighed dreamily. Lucky Buffy, even if her boyfriend interrupted Summers’
vacations. At least her sister wouldn’t be able to veto the presence of Dawn’s
boyfriend in the – hopefully near – future.
With that thought in mind, Dawn smiled, continuing her way to the beach. She gave a last
thought to her sister, happily held in Angel’s arms.
Upset stomach. Right.
The End
30/06/04
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