The door clicks shut behind me and I throw my school bag on the floor out of the way of the door.

"Dawn? Is that you?"

I hear her voice and I kinda dread what's about to happen.

"Yeah, it's me."

Buffy comes in from the kitchen with a smile on her face.

"I'm glad you're home."

She walks right up to me and gives me a hug. There's a long moment of silence where we just enjoy each other's company like we always do and then we pull away.

"How was school?"

"Oh you know... it was school."

That gets a laugh out of her.

I should probably try my best to get as many of those as possible. She's not gonna be laughing soon.

"Yeah, I do know."

She starts walking back towards the kitchen.

"Did you go see Faith after school?"

"Mhmm... I wanted to talk to her about something."

"Oh yeah? Well I'm sure you both got a LOT of talking done."

Ugh...

"Okay, I REALLY didn't need to hear that."

She laughs. I follow her into the kitchen and feel nervous that I'm about to disappoint her.

"So... what did you want to talk to Faith about?"

"Just about our plans tonight..."

Our eyes meet as Buffy raises an eyebrow at me.

"Do I even want to know about this?"

An uncomfortable silence falls on us for a second.

"I wanted to tell her that Candy and the girls asked me to go clubbing tonight. And I said yes..."

"Oh... when are you going?"

"Seven..."

"Dinner won't be ready until seven Dawn."

"I know."

My sister stops what she's doing and faces me, crossing her arms over her chest, a not so happy look obvious on her face.

"Wait... so you're blowing off dinner?"

This is going really well.

"I'm not blowing it off. I just want to go out with my friends instead."

She stares at me for a few moments.

"Otherwise known as blowing off dinner..."

I scoff at her.

"Come on Buffy, it's not like I've never done it before. There was that whole couple month period last year where I barely came to dinner at all because I was out clubbing. It's just, now I'm actually asking if I can go out instead of blowing it off. What's your damage?"

Buffy sighs heavily.

"My 'damage' is that you're going out clubbing instead of staying home and having dinner. Plus, we haven't been spending a lot of time together lately and that bothers me."

When she says that, I can't help but feel bad for going off on her.

"We've grown apart since you started dating Faith and everything. It bothers me that we don't spend enough time together."

There's a short pause in her before she continues.

"Dawn you're, you're going away to school next year and I'm worried that we're going to drift further apart when you do."

Moving closer to her, I run a hand through my hair as I take a deep breath.

"Buffy, you don't have to worry about that. Things between us are fine, and I love you. We aren't going to drift apart. Besides, I'm not even sure I'm going anywhere."

She looks at me with a concerned expression.

"What do you mean Dawn?"

What does she think I mean?

"Well, I... I don't really know if I wanna go anywhere. Maybe I'll just stay here. I mean, there are a lot of good schools in the area."

My sister's concerned expression gets a little anger behind it.

"Yes but... but Dawn. Y-you have the grades to go anywhere you want. There are so many schools, all around the country where you could go. Why stay here?"

If I tell her the real reason, she's gonna get mad and yell at me again, like last time.

"Because I don't want to go somewhere else, I've been somewhere else and it's not all that great. I wanna stay here, with you."

The look on her face slowly turns to the one she uses to yell at me.

I gotta do something before she starts.

"Look, you don't want us to grow apart, and I don't want that either. If I stay here, it won't happen. We can stay here together and do all the embarrassing sister things you like us to do together. Plus, what if I go to school somewhere else and find out there's a hellmouth in that town? I don't wanna live on a hellmouth again. It's not fun."

There's a long moment where neither of us says anything and she just stares at me.

"It's Faith isn't it?"

Yes...

"What? No, it's not."

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't."

"Yes, it is. You don't want to go to an out of state school because you'll be away from Faith. That's why you're staying."

Yes, it is.

"No, it's not."

"Yes it is."

"No, Buffy, it's not... but even if it was. What does it matter anyway? I thought you were okay with me and Faith."

Buffy takes a deep, frustrated breath.

"I am Dawn. You know that I am. Faith makes you happy and I'm happy for both of you. All I'm worried about is that you're going to give up a brilliant future for her. That's what bothers me."

Giving up my future?

"I'm not giving up anything Buffy. Like I said, the schools around here are good schools. I'll get the same education around here that I would anywhere else."

"Oh, really...?"

"Yes, really..."

"And what about Stanford?"

Stanford?

"What about it?"

My sister starts trying and failing to pace.

"Dawn, you know they're interested in you. They're one of the best schools in the country. You were even interested back when we first got the letter from them, but then you found out it was an out of state university and you got kind of iffy about it."

God, why does she have to be so stubborn about this? It's not like this is the end of the world or something.

"I told you, I don't really wanna go out of state."

She shifts her weight as she continues to glare.

"Because of Faith..."

"NO! That's not it. Why won't you believe me when I say that?"

"Because I've been where you are Dawn. I know what you're going through. Angel and I went through the same thing. When I look at you, I worry that you're going to make the mistake that I almost made."

"Yeah well don't worry. I'm not you. I'm not that stupid."

Then I turn around and head straight for the front door.

"Dawn, wait..."

All I do is keep walking, right out the door.

* * *

My whole body moves to the music as it pounds through the club, the sweat on my face dripping off me like a waterfall, making me feel good. Every beat coursing through my veins as I raise my arms above my head and let the music take me away.

I really needed this. After the fight I had with Buffy, I could use some fun. She's just so stubborn and mean some times. I thought that we moved past this. I thought we could have a normal conversation without yelling at each other. It's been months since we had anything but a civil discussion about something that was bothering us. Now, suddenly I don't want to go to the college she wants and we're arguing. Why is it so important to her for me to go to Stanford?

What's at Stanford that I can't learn just as well somewhere close by? Somewhere that I can go to school and get an education and still be with Faith, that's what I want. I want to get an education and be with Faith. Why is that so hard for my sister to understand? Can't she just let me make my own decision about where I'm going to go? She tried to tell me how to make decisions last year, and it didn't work then. So why should she try now? What makes now different? I don't understand why she always has to be this way. It doesn't make any sense.

Candy, Carmen and Tess dance around me, enjoying the music as much as I am. We dance together almost like clockwork.

I'm glad that my friends are with me tonight. This just wouldn't be the same without them. I need someone fun to spend time with. I thought about asking Faith to come with us, but the last time I did that it was kind of awkward. Candy and Carmen kinda had a problem getting comfortable around their teacher, which I guess I can understand. It probably feels about as natural as I'd feel if Buffy were out here partying with me. I'm never able to have any real fun with her around, even when we're getting along, which at this moment doesn't include now.

The song comes to an end and the four of us stop dancing. Our eyes meet briefly, trying to decide what to do. Before long, I throw my head back towards our table and head towards it. They follow me while we leave the dance floor. Candy decides to make conversation on the way.

"Geez Dawn, you were really tearing it up out there."

All I do is keep walking to our table, instead of responding. Tess does her concerned thing.

"Yeah, are you all right? You look like you're gonna fall over."

Again I don't really answer and drop into the booth to slide in as far as I could go.

Well I do feel pretty tired all of the sudden. So they aren't exactly wrong about the falling over thing.

"Good thing I'm sitting down then isn't it?"

Candy sits beside me, so Carmen and Tess sit next to both of us respectively. She comes at me, pushing Tess' concern.

"Probably, you wanna get a drink or something?"

A stiff drink would probably be good, but I'll hold off on that for now.

"Nah, I just wanna sit and relax for a minute."

We stay silent for a while, listening to the pounding music and watching the people on the dance floor. It doesn't last long though, as Carmen decides to take some initiative with her own concern.

"So what's going on then Dawn? Did you and Faith have a fight or something? Is that why you were pushing it on the dance floor like that?"

Hearing her ask that question makes me scoff, looking at her with a weird look.

"What? No... Faith and I never fight. Have you ever heard me talk about a fight Faith and I have had?"

The three of them look at each other, wondering about the answer. Tess is the first to give one.

"Not really..."

"That's because we don't. Faith and I don't fight."

They all kind of look at me for a second before Candy says something.

"Well something's got you nuts tonight, what is it?"

I take a long deep breath and sigh heavily.

They aren't going to let this go.

"It's my sister."

"What did she do now?"

"She got on my case about how I don't want to go away to school. I'd rather just stay here and not spend money to live on campus."

"Oh..."

There's quiet around the table when no one knows what to say.

It's about as easy for them to talk about Buffy as it is for them to talk about Faith. Of course, it's hard for me not to talk about them since they're such a big part of my life. They just have a problem with it because they don't really want to say anything bad about their slayer mentors.

"Yeah well, whatever the argument was about, you gotta slow down."

"Carmen's right, if you keep this up we're going to have to carry you home. And even though two of us have super-human strength, I don't want to have to use it like that."

I smile at all of them for a second.

"All right, I'll slow down... if one of you gets me a drink."

The three of them laugh at my request. Tess decides to move out of the booth.

"I'll get it. I was thinking of getting one anyway. Does anyone else want one?"

Carmen and Candy both speak up.

"Yeah, I could use a rum and coke."

"You can get me a vodka tonic if you want."

"All right, Dawn?"

I could use something pretty strong I think. It'll probably slow me down some.

"Whiskey sour please, thanks..."

"Okay, I'll be back in a second."

Tess walks off towards the bar to get our drinks for us. Just as she does, I get a buzzing feeling on my hip.

Damn, my phone. It's probably my sister, calling to apologize for being such a bitch.

Sitting back in the booth, I take my phone out of its holster and check the caller ID.

Hmm, weird... why is Faith calling me? She should still be out patrolling around now.

I open up my phone and put the speaker to my ear, despite the noise around us.

"Hello?"

"Dawn..."

She says more than just my name but the music and noise drown it out.

"Faith? I can't... I can't hear you."

"Dawn it-it's, your... B..."

What's she trying to say? I can't make it out. I've got to get somewhere quiet to hear her.

"Hold on Faith, I can't hear you. Hold on a sec."

Turning to Candy and Carmen as I slide out of the booth, I let them know what's going on.

"I'll be right back, it's Faith."

Once I'm out of the booth, I head straight for the bathroom, the closest place in the club that isn't noisy. As I go through the door, I put the speaker of my phone to my ear.

"Faith?"

"Dawn? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, what's up? Why are you calling? Did you get lonely on your patrol? Want me to come over? I'm sure I could help you with that."

"Dawn, it's Buffy."

Buffy?

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"She's in the hospital. We were out on patrol with a few of the other girls and were attacked by one hell of a demon."

Oh my god...

"Is... is she all right? How bad is it?"

"Don't go nuts Dawn. She's okay for the most part. The doctors say she has a couple bumps and bruises. They're checking her arm because they think it might be broken. But you should definitely come down to the emergency room as soon as you can."

"O-of course. I'll leave right now."

"Okay, I'll be here when you get here."

"All right, I'm coming. Bye."

I don't wait for her to answer as I hang up my phone, heading straight back into the club. Tess has to stop, drinks in hand, when I almost run her over on my way to our table. She catches up to me as I grab my coat.

"Dawn, what's going on?"

"It's Buffy, she's hurt. She's in the hospital."

All three of them are shocked by the news.

"Oh my god!"

"Is she okay?"

"What happened?"

Candy and Carmen get out of their seats, getting their own coats.

"I'm, I'm not sure exactly. All I know is she's in the hospital because of a fight with some demon. I, I have to go."

Tess puts the drinks down on the table and gets her own coat, standing next to me.

"Of course, we'll come with you."

My two slayer friends agree with her.

"Yeah..."

"Totally... let's go."

We all turn and head for the door.

I hope Buffy's all right.