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DISCLAIMER: No. Absolutely not. Much less thus paired.
SUMMARY: Futurefic. Dawn/Xander. Sticks and stones may break my bones but words...
RATING: Mild R. Very mild R.
WORDCOUNT: 1785
Written for Essene at the Dawnficathon.
SIMPLICITY
by Leni
Dawn has heard the rumours, of course. It would be impossible not hear them when they are
all around the campus. She hears the whispers in the library, how the guys point at her
and the other girls snicker behind their books. Cowards. Not one of them will tell her in
her face.
It is not as if Dawn cares.
When she came here, the only thing she was looking for was knowledge. Giles and Willow
have promised to teach her about being a Watcher, or whatever it will be called now.
Without a Watcher's Council, to name these guardians/teachers 'Watchers' had seemed silly
but then, both Giles and Willow were all about traditions. But Willow had taken Dawn apart
and explained to her how her time at college had helped her, and that she really deserved
a little of the real world before immersing herself in demonology and strong magic.
"Go, enjoy yourself, date someone who won't wonder if you'll live for another
week," Willow had insisted when Dawn had rejected the idea. Finally the redhead had
used her last card. "College is the best place to get to know other people, study
them, watch how they progress, mingle a little even. That is something neither Giles nor I
could ever teach you."
Dawn had been convinced and after making some arrangments (which had included people over
the ocean and back) she had been the proud owner of a scholarship. Her things had been
packed before she had time to think it better, and she had been shipped to Boston by a
teary-eyed Buffy and a grinning Willow. "You have fun!" Willow had called as the
bus departed. "But not too much!" had been Buffy's stern advice.
So Dawn came here, to Boston, and applied herself to her studies. Her roommates weren't
perfect, but they got along fairly well. Mandy would scream and fight with her boyfriend
all day by phone. Dawn still didn't understand why they were still together, but she
guessed that part of the answer laid in the way they cuddled on the front steps at night.
Meanwhile Belinda, the official matchmaker of the dorm, would set Dawn up in all kind of
blind dates. Dawn only accepted because she had learned it was the only way to placate her
bouncy friend and it usually took Belinda weeks before she found another 'prospect' for
her.
But that had ended months ago. Thank God. Dawn hadn't even needed to torture Belinda to
get her to stop.
Oh, people murmured behind her back. Every Monday, she could practically see the new
gossip being born as she stepped out of Xander's car. It didn't bother her, why should it?
Her boyfriend was the best in the world and that was all that mattered. It was on Mondays,
in front of the principal gate, when Xander always received the longest kisses, the
hardest ones that would continue for minutes unless he detached Dawn from his arms and
pointed her in her dorm's direction. "You're no fun," she would always pout and
invariably it'd get a smile from him. "You know I am," he'd say with a wink and
she would giggle all the way to her room because, oh yes, Xander certainly was fun.
First her friends had believed it was just a passing crush. Dawn had nearly rolled her
eyes at the idea. Just because she had confided in them that she had had a crush on
him nearly ten years ago didn't mean that she still felt like that. In fact, before his
apparition in Boston, she had nearly forgotten about him, only contacting each other for
birthdays and other holidays.
But one Friday he had been in front of the college, apparently waiting for her. He was
just passing by, Xander had explained, he'd found a new job further south and he'd thought
to visit her for a while. They had gone to see a film, and they'd laughed as they found
themselves mirroring their actions from eight years ago. They had spent a nice night, and
they'd promised to meet again. Soon. After all, they were the only Scoobies in the area.
Cinema had quickly escalated into coffee, coffee into dinner and before Dawn could know
how it happened, they were kissing goodbye in his car. It had been awkward, especially at
first. She still was his best friend's little sister, and not even the fact that she was
legally an adult could dissuade him that it was wrong. But Dawn had none of such foolish
ideas, she knew how she'd felt for him all those years ago and this wasn't it. She didn't
look at him as her hero and she didn't expect him to rescue her. He was just Xander, the
guy who told good jokes and always made her feel better after an especially trying exam.
Slowly but surely Dawn had swept through his defences, she was now a woman and she'd be
damned if he didn't realise it too. She had had help, of course. A call to Willow which
had left the witch speechless for minutes, before she could reconcile the idea of little
Dawn wanting to snatch her own highschool crush. Oh, they laughed at the irony now but
that first call, if not tense, had been very awkward.
It was when her peers realised that she was serious that the whispering began. Bad jokes
about the Beast and the Beauty, rumours about how Xander had lost his eye in a gang fight.
Belinda and Mandy had tried to shut everyone up, because they knew Xander and they
considered him a great guy, even if they were still a little afraid of the gruff
appearance he'd gained in the last years. Belinda had tactfully tried to tell her that
maybe she should go out with other guys of her own age before trying someone so old. Dawn
had smiled and breezily replied that maybe she should look for an older boyfriend.
Mandy hadn't been as subtle, but Dawn had quickly stopped her by pointing out that she was
the less recommendable to talk about 'healthy relationships'. Mandy had blushed, even more
when Dawn mentioned the broken vase from when she'd got into a screaming match with Percy.
The guys, even more than the girls, discussed about how it was possible that such a freak
could have one of the prettiest girls on campus for himself. Meanwhile the girls just
rolled their eyes and told them that they didn't have a romantic bone in their bodies.
Then they'd talk about themselves of how handsome Dawn's boyfriend was - when you forgot
about the eyepatch - and how difficult it could be to snatch him after Summers had tired
of her charity case.
Dawn only rolled her eyes when she heard those particular rumours. They didn't get it,
nobody did. Except maybe Willow. Even Buffy had called her, saying that maybe it wasn't a
good idea. Couldn't she be confusing things? After all, she was on her own in a strange
city and Xander had always been a close friend. The last drop had been when her sister
opined that they were too different, and didn't the age difference bother her? Dawn had
laughed, "Like you're one to talk!" she had accused and slammed the phone down.
Luckily Buffy had called ten minutes later to apologise and to tell her that if anything
happened, she would always be at her side. Dawn had rolled her eyes then too, she knew
that Buffy thought it wouldn't last and she was - not so subtly - implying that she would
never choose her own best friend over her little sister.
Dawn shakes her head, they just cannot understand how sweet Xander can be with her. He is
always so very careful where she was concerned. His kisses were soft on her lips, he
always seemed to look for something in her response, and she made sure that whatever he
searched, she would give him. She adored his lips, how slowly they fell from her own to
her chin, smoothly going over her neck. Dawn had never know she had a neck fetish until
Xander made that wonderful nibbling thing on their first night together.
He can make her feel special. And she rejoices in the knowledge than even though Xander
knew how *really* special she was - the only girl able to end the world with her blood in
the right portal - he made her believe that simple Dawn Summers was special too. He had
convinced her in the last months that nobody resented her presence, that the memories
where she never really was and yet she is are treasured by everybody. When Xander kisses
her Dawn knows he tells the truth, and when his fingertips slide over her belly while he
murmurs softly in her ear, she's sure she'd believe him anything, just as long as he keeps
her at his side.
Xander still works miles south of Boston, but he always manages to pick her up on Fridays
evening. They'll hole up in his customary hotel room for a day, practising every fantasy
they may had had in the week apart. Xander is good with fantasies, he once confessed that
his time with Anya made him daring. Dawn doesn't mind it a bit, she knows perfectly that
if Anya were alive they'd probably have something together by now. But Anya is dead under
the remains of what once was Sunnydale and in her happiest dreams, Dawn thinks she'd gift
with her name to her first baby girl. Then she looks at the man lying at her side and she
corrects her thought, it'll be their baby girl. Anya certainly deserves it for
transforming the fumbling boy Dawn first met into this wonderful, caring man sharing her
life now.
They wake up late on Saturday. Xander can be a grown man now but his 'instincts' still
tell him that it's bad luck to be up too early on weekends. Dawn couldn't agree with him
more, but as the months passed she's convinced him that being awake early in the morning
isn't too bad. "Just as long as we don't leave the bed," he always jokes before
reaching for her into a long kiss. She giggles into their kiss, and knows that it couldn't
be more perfect.
Nobody understands her feelings, that is true. But it doesn't matter much. Slowly they
will realise that this isn't a crush, there's no way it can be a simple whim. Much less is
it a charity case or a pity fuck.
She loves him. He loves her.
And it is enough.
The End
20/12/04
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