"What about him?"

Buffy looks at the guy I'm pointing at, watching him for only a second before shaking her head. The guy is cute with slicked back brown hair and looks pretty built.

"Nah..."

What?

"Why not?"

She shrugs and takes a sip of her drink.

"He's not really my type."

My first instinct is to scoff at her.

"Come on Buffy, what's wrong with him? He's good looking, and the way he acts it seems like he actually reads. Go talk to him."

She shakes her head again.

"I don't want to."

"Why not? What is it that makes him not your type? He's not a vampire is he?"

My girlfriend speaks up.

"Actually Dawn, I think that would make him exactly her type."

Her comment has us both smiling, while Buffy glares back.

"I'm not dating any more vampires. Besides, how do you know he's not one?"

Immediately, I look to Faith and she shakes her head, giving me the answer. Buffy looks at Faith and glares.

"You're not helping."

She smiles.

"No I don't think I'm helping you, at least not in the direct sense right now, but then that's not the point. The point is to win points with your sister by being here helping you."

Well, Faith is right about that. Being here to help me convince Buffy to get out and date again is definitely winning her points.

Buffy sighs audibly.

"Look, he's not my type. I'm not going over there."

Does she have to make this so hard? She agreed to come out here. It took me about a week to finally wear her down enough to agree, but she did. So why now all of the sudden is she being so picky about the guys I point out?

A nice looking guy walks right past our table and I know I have to try.

"What about him? He's cute..."

My sister actually takes a good look at this one.

"I don't know... doesn't he kind of remind you of Riley? I'm not dating anyone who might remind me of someone I used to date. It could get messy."

What kind of excuse is that?

"Buffy, he doesn't look anything like Riley. Besides, you're not out here to start dating anyone. You're here to maybe meet someone you might think about dating. So just TALK to the guy."

She finishes off her drink and lets out an obvious fake gasp when she sets the glass down on the table.

"Or I could just go get another drink instead. You know, I think I'll do that."

Buffy slides out of the booth before me or Faith can stop her and she heads over toward the bar. My eyes immediately meet Faith's and I can't help but sigh.

"Well this is going great don't you think?"

Her comment has me chuckling a little.

"She's just gun shy I think. Like she said, she hasn't dated anyone since The Immortal, and that kinda happened suddenly, a lot like the rest of her relationships. Probably why it didn't work out."

"Yeah, well, gun shy or not, I think your sister could use a good roll in the sack."

I look at my girlfriend and there's a grin on her face.

"And if she happens to find a nice guy, then that's all the better."

"I hope she finds both... as long as she doesn't let me in on the details."

Faith laughs.

"You and me both babe. You and me both."

As the music pounds through the club, I look around at the people, mainly the guys.

"We'll probably have to find the guy for her though, since she doesn't want to find one herself."

The woman I love moves closer to me in the booth. She reaches out and takes my hand in hers.

"You know, you keep checking out guys like this and I might start having to get jealous."

Hearing her say that makes me lean into her a little, reaching under the table with my free hand and putting it on her thigh.

"Aww, come on baby... you know you're the only one for me."

To prove my point, I lean forward, melding us into a kiss. It quickly deepens so I turn my upper body into hers slightly. We kiss passionately for a while, my hand sliding its way up her thigh.

What happened to Buffy?

I break the kiss and look around.

"Where's Buffy? She should've been back by now."

My girlfriend groans in slight frustration.

"Dawn..."

"I'm sorry, it's just... she's got that sling on her arm for another week or so."

Faith looks around before her eyes come back to mine.

"The girl's a slayer. Even with a sling on her arm, she can handle herself. Besides... it looks like she's just fine."

What's she talking about?

She points in the direction of the bar and I follow her line of sight. Over at the bar is my sister, talking to some guy.

He seems cute, and isn't dressed in the eighties like a vampire. Of course, he could still be a vampire. Buffy could just be talking to him because she knows he's a vampire and has to slay him.

"Oh... he's not...?"

My eyes meet Faith's as I silently ask the question. She stares at the guy seriously for a moment, focusing her slayer senses.

"Nope, he's a warm blooded American male as far as I can tell. Totally date-able."

When she says that, I just have to smile.

Especially since Buffy just laughed at something he said. That's a definite good sign in my book.

"Good..."

A gentle hand touches my cheek, turning my attention back to her.

"Yeah, it is... now where were we?"

My smile turns to a grin and I lean toward her, letting us kiss passionately in our booth at Slash.

* * *

Well that went well.

Faith and I make our way to the main exit of the club, hand in hand, Buffy and Derrick along with us.

It went very, very well. I think they've really hit it off. He's just a nice, normal guy who Buffy seems to like. As far as we can tell, he's not evil at all. Faith can usually sense whether someone's demonic or evil or something, and she hasn't sensed anything like that from him since we first met him. At first I had to keep checking with Faith to make sure. I didn't think it was possible for Buffy to meet someone who isn't evil. But Faith keeps telling me there isn't any kind of evil vibe from him.

So I guess it really has happened. Buffy's met someone she actually seems interested in who isn't evil, which is a really good thing. I think the last person she met who wasn't evil was Riley, and that was like almost 5 years ago. Of course, things didn't exactly work out between Riley and my sister, but Buffy was dealing with a lot of things back then that's not as big a deal now, which is also a good thing. Because Derrick seems like an actually nice guy and he actually seems to like Buffy as much as she seems to like him.

Apparently he's a teacher at the local adult learning center. He teaches English as a second language for French people. And that definitely works in his favor since most of the time Buffy can barely speak English, let alone any other language. Maybe he can teach her a few things while they get to know each other. Assuming they do get to know each other. I mean, she only just met the guy, and as far as I can tell, she hasn't given him her number or anything. This might just be a one time thing for Buffy, to see if she still has what it takes to date someone again.

From what I've seen though, she does. They've been clicking all night and even shared a dance or two earlier. It wasn't slow dances or anything, but at least it's a start. Something to build on, if they actually want to build on it that is. I hope they do. Buffy needs to find something better to do then sit at home watching movies and eat cookie dough. She's been pretty much stuck on that since we left Sunnydale and it's not good for her. But if things go well with this Derrick guy, she might just find a reason to have a little more fun in her life. And I couldn't be happier about that idea.

We leave the club together and I can't help but turn to Buffy and Derrick immediately.

Okay, let's see what I can do to help things.

"This was fun."

My sister and Derrick both look at me, not really saying anything.

"Don't you think so, Buffy?"

She gets this slightly annoyed look on her face and I think she's already caught on to what I'm doing.

"Yeah, I guess..."

My eyes meet Derrick's as I look at him.

"What about you Derrick? Did you have a fun time?"

He smiles at me.

"Yeah, I did. I'd love to do it again some time."

Ooh, GREAT answer. VERY good answer.

"I wouldn't mind that. Would you Faith?"

Looking at Faith, she looks at me, then at Buffy, then at me again.

"Well, I... I don't know DK... but I'm thinking maybe that's Buffy's decision to make. But I'm cool with it if she is."

Why isn't she trying to help me?

"All right, well, how about... Buffy, you should give Derrick our number so we can make plans. How about that?"

Buffy glares at me for a few seconds.

"Or how about... you go on ahead and I'll meet you in a second. How's that for you?"

There's no way I'm leaving her alone to reject this perfectly nice guy.

"I can wait."

There's a long moment of silence before my girlfriend breaks in, grabbing me by the shoulder.

"Uh, you know, I think your sister's right Dawn. Let's go over this way."

"Hey, Faith..."

Faith has to pretty much pull me away from my sister and Derrick, but eventually I go. As we walk out of earshot, I turn to Faith.

"What was that?"

She looks at me, slightly confused.

"What?"

"Why didn't you back me up when I was trying to get Buffy to give him her number?"

We stop together.

"Dawn, do you have any idea how badly your sister's going to kick my ass for trying to help you at all? I'm gonna have bruises for weeks."

Yeah, right...

"Oh come on, she's not gonna hurt you. If she did she'd get an earful from me and she knows it."

"Still... you could've been a little more subtle you know? You might as well have been shoving them together."

I roll my eyes and turn back to where Buffy and Derrick are, watching them talk.

"It's better than leaving them alone and having Buffy reject the poor guy isn't it?"

They look pretty serious together. I wonder what they're saying.

"Maybe you're right DK, but you can't force two people to be together who don't want to be. Something like that's only gonna end badly."

"I know, but he's a nice guy. She should at least give him a chance."

"You're preaching to the choir babe."

Buffy reaches out and touches him on the arm with her good hand, her serious face never leaving her expression.

Damn it...

"I should go over there. Find out what they're saying to each other."

I'm about to get involved when I feel Faith grab me by the belt around my waist and pulls me against her, my butt forced up against her crotch.

"Oh no, you don't. You're staying right here and out of your sister's business. I want you all to myself."

Her soft lips kiss my neck and I have to gasp at the feeling.

Mmm, can't get distracted.

"You know... you could, tell me what they were saying. If you used your slayer hearing you know."

She responds between kisses.

"Yes, I could do that... but... I'm a little... busy right now."

My girlfriend chuckles and I do the same when her breath tickles my neck. She hugs me tightly to her and I put my hands on hers, enjoying the feeling.

"Just let her do what she thinks is right."

That makes me groan in frustration.

"But I don't wanna."

I bring my eyes back up in the direction of my sister and I see Derrick take her hand gently. He kisses the back of her hand in what looks like a really romantic gesture. The only problem is that all Buffy does is smile politely at him before they make their goodbyes.

Oh come on... that's a load of crap. Why did she do that?

Buffy starts making her way towards us, a less than happy look on her face. Faith lets me go and steps back as Buffy walks right up to me.

"Dawn, Marie, Summers..."

All of the sudden, I feel a stinging smack on the back of my head. It's not hard, but just enough to hurt.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Oh like you don't know. Could you be a little MORE obvious? You're lucky all I'm giving you is a smack. Because from where I'm sitting, you deserve a lot more than that young lady. Now let's go."

She starts walking back to our place and my girlfriend and I follow. Faith puts her hand on the back of my head where I got smacked and rubs it lovingly.

"I was just trying to help you know."

My sister looks up at the sky slightly and sighs.

"Yes, well, no matter what you want to think Dawn, I have actually been dating a lot longer than you have. And as much as I can understand you wanting to help, I don't need THAT big of a push, all right?"

I nod and Faith brings her hand down around my shoulders while we continue to walk.

"Okay... all you had to do is say something."

"I'm just glad that you're going to be at school when I meet him for lunch. That would probably be a total disaster."

Wait, what? Did she just say what I think she said?

"You're... you're meeting him for lunch?"

She nods to confirm.

"Mhmm..."

Oh my god...

"Really?"

"Yeah... I gave him my number, my CELL PHONE number, and asked him to call."

Oh my god...

"Really?"

Buffy laughs and so does Faith.

"Yes, really..."

"Oh my god that's so great."

But hold on... lunch?

"But wait, you invited him to lunch?"

Why would she do that?

"Yes..."

"Okay but... lunch isn't a date. Lunch is... well, lunch."

"I know that. But I don't want to push my luck too fast with him. Plus, there are strategic reasons for a lunch date."

Strategic reasons?

Faith seems to get it before I do.

"Oh... good idea."

Looking at Faith for a second, I look between the two of them, trying to figure it out.

"What?"

My sister looks at me and kinda shakes her head while rolling her eyes.

"Think about it Dawn. Why would I want to meet him for lunch in a well lit place with lots of natural sunlight?"

He's a vampire?

"But... Faith told me he wasn't a vampire."

"And he's not. At least, as far as we can tell he isn't. But with my track record, I think it makes sense not to leave anything to chance. Not to mention, a lot of your evil demons who can shape shift into human form aren't big fans of the sun even though they can walk in it. So if I meet him for dinner, then I won't know for sure if he's evil or not. If I meet him for lunch though, I can at least eliminate a few demons from the list."

Oh...

"Well I don't think he's demonic. He doesn't seem demon-y."

"He isn't. But like I said, it's better safe than sorry."

I guess that makes sense.

Faith finally speaks up.

"So I guess everything worked out for the best eh?"

Buffy looks at both of us for a long silent moment.

"Looks that way."

She's right... everything did work out for the best.