Room 406, evening

[izzyalienqueen]

Isabel sat on her bed reviewing the to-do list for prom as she went through emails from various vendors.

Despite an occasional sneeze and sniffle, it had been a fairly productive day, coffee with Parker, goofing with Jack in class, and then meeting with Anakin.

Opening another email, she smiled, relieved to see the backdrops had been shipped.

The door was open.

Comments

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

Dawn ducked her head, letting her hair fall forward, "Because Sam's really, really good at it?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel grinned, "I take it congratulations are in order?"

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

Dawn beamed, "They wouldn't be out of place, no."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Okay, this calls for chocolate." Isabel got to her feet and raided the chocolate stash in her desk drawer, returning with a bag of Dove eggs. "When? Was it romantic? Did you have fun?"

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

"Wednesday," Dawn took an egg and started unwrapping it, "and I had a lot of fun, and I don't know if it was romantic? I just know it worked."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"We were in a tent in the rain," Isabel shrugged. "It's whatever works for you. I'm glad you're happy."

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

And the goofy look came over Dawn's face again, "I am. And he didn't turn into a vampire and try to kill everybody I love yesterday, so whoo hoo, extra bonus points for me!"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Given what I've heard about life in Sunnydale? I understand your glee," she chuckled. "Because yes, vampire or dead people would definitely put a damper on the afterglow."

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

"Ohhhhh yeah," Dawn nodded, not ashamed to admit that Angelus still scared the crap out of her.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"So do you feel any different?" Isabel asked. "I remember smiling a lot that weekend. Which was interesting because it was Parents Weekend and Max was here."

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

"I don't know," Dawn thought about that while she munched on chocolate, "I guess I feel more relaxed, and closer to Sam, and, yeah, happy. But Katara was teasing me yesterday, and the idea of marrying Sam came up--and oh my god, did you know girls from her village get married at seventeen?--and I got big with the flaily."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Unconsciously Isabel reached up and rubbed her shoulder. It was fading with each treatment, but it still wasn't fast enough to satisfy Isabel. "I can imagine," she said, trying to stay cheerful for Dawn's sake. "It's way too young. And besides, I think I'm proof...You know what, just don't buy rings anytime soon. You're sister would do bad things to Sam."

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

"I think there won't be any ring buying for a long, long time," she assured her, "and Buffy...yeah, the less she knows about this, the less she'll harass me and threaten Sam."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Buffy's actually fairly far away," Isabel pointed out. "I'd worry about the more immediate threats, Xander and Willow."

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

"Buffy's got weird radar for this kind of thing," Dawn replied, shrugging, "and oh my god, I can never talk to Xander again, can I? God, will he know just by looking at me?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Just send her a nice vague letter, having fun, prom's coming up. No I'm not sleeping with my boyfriend. You'll be fine," she said. "As for Xander? I think he has enough of his mind that he won't notice. So you'll be safe for a while."

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

Dawn snickered, then sobered, "Yeah, I feel so bad for him and Bridge. I mean, I can kind of see Xander's point, y'know?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I guess. But life's just too damn short sometimes," she said, thinking of Alex, of Liz and Maria, waiting for Max and Michael. "If you can be happy with someone, you should go for it."

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

"See, and I agree with that too," Dawn frowned, "which really screws me up, because I just want them both to be happy, and I'm not sure there's a way to have that happen right now."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Then I'm right there with you," Isabel nodded. "Because I want them both to be happy but yeah, there's a lot of stuff to deal with."

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

"And we can't make it go away, which stinks on toast," Dawn tossed her wrapper towards the trash can, then had to get off the bed to pick it up when it fell short. "Xander deserves to be happy, and I'm not afraid to take on the universe to make that happen."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"You know I've got your back if you do," she promised. "Personally I was leaning towards locking the two of them in a very small closet."

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

Dawn started giggling. "Don't you think they've had enough of closets?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel laughed at the double meaning. "Possibly. But I don't know what else to do. He's being so stubborn."

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

"Okay, new plan," Dawn had spent a few years of her early adolescence obsessing over Xander, so she felt she knew him better than most, "if he's being stubborn, we have to be even more stubborn. By not mentioning it at all. Because he's dug his heels in and could feel like he's being attacked. Let him do whatever mental math he's got to do, and we'll just throw the party when he finally comes to his senses."