Say Goodbye: Chapter 12 - Call Me
by 8SimpleRules
Chapter 12 - Call Me
ROME, ITALY
Dawn gentely put the phone back in the stand, watching herself in the mirror. The person staring back looked just as bad as she felt, her eyes hollow and big, her face pale and her mouth open in a silent question.
Buffy. Gone?
It felt surreal. The moment she’d picked up the phone and Liz had sobbed out the fact that Buffy had disappeared in the car on their way to the airport, Dawn had been set in autopilot. She’d called Giles and Willow, calmly explaining what had happened and then called back to Liz to say it was okay if she got on the plane and came back.
After that, she was left on her own.
“Dawn?”
Well, not entirely. David was there, as it was his apartment too. She was looking for her own place, but with school and all, there wasn’t any time. Besides, money was big issue. Dawn wanted to pay for herself this time, not letting David or Buffy cash in..not even Giles, though he asked - in a very gentle, slip-it-in-casually kind of way. But still, she wanted to be on her own.
“David!”
David’s face popped around the corner, his chesnut brown bangs falling into his eyes making him looking at least 200 years younger than he was. What was up with her sister and older guys? Dawn shook her head, trying to focus on her sister’s boyfriend without her vision getting blurry because of the oncoming tears.
“It’s Buffy…she’s gone. Disappeared. In L.A.” Dawn felt a knot building up in her throat. Giles had said that he would be right on it, but if that only meant that he was going to stick his nose in a book Dawn wanted make sure that someone actually did something. Willow had said that she was going to do a location spell a.s.a.p and that Dawn should stay by the phone.
“You sure?” David’s casual voice woke Dawn up from her thoughts. What was up with him? His fiancée had gone AWOL and he sounded like she’d said that she had just lost the remote.
Dawn nodded while staring at him. “I’ve already called Giles and -”
“You did what?!” The sudden rage in him alarmed her. Outside everything was as it used to be, the sun shining down on busy streets, high voices shouting out stuff in Italian, a stereo in another apartment on full blast. It was peaceful and familiar, yet Dawn couldn’t let go of this sense of unease filling her being as she looked into her sister’s lover’s cold eyes. She never liked him. Most women melted like butter in sunshine whenever they saw him, but his perfect looks and ways freaked her out and instead of attractive attributes she saw them as inhuman. Robot like.
“Well,” she tried to explain as calmly as she possible could, David didn’t like emotional outbursts. Maybe that was what Buffy liked, as she had a hard time putting her feelings in words. She always punched them out. “I thought it was the best thing to do. They know Buffy and -”
“And I don’t? Dawn, I’m her fiancé! If anything happens to her, it’s my responsibility!”
“What are you talking about!? You hardly know her!” Her dam burst, tears trickling down her cheeks.
The Immortal looked at her, gob smacked. To upset Dawn was a big mistake, but she’d called Giles! What the hell was he supposed to do now?
The ringing of the phone made them both jump. The display read Willow but before Dawn could reach it, David had picked it up.
“Hello Willow”
“Oh, hi David. Um, is Dawn there?”
He hated this. The way they shut him out, didn’t let him be a part of the group. Liz felt the same. Without a word he handed the phone to Dawn.
“Dawnie?”
“Willow, hey! You found anything out yet?”
“Buffy is still in L.A. That’s all I know, I’m too far away to locate her exact location. I’m planning on going there. Booking a ticket right now.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“Dawnie, no. Buffy wouldn’t want that, you have school. Whatever it is, I’ll fix it. Trust me?”
Dawn grunted. “Fine, whatever.”
“Can I have a word with David?”
“Sure.” Dawn pushed the phone into David’s hands before she ran into her room.
“David, is she okay?” Willow’s worried voice made David feel a flash of guilt but he quickly shook it off.
“She will be. Are you going to L.A?”
“Yeah…wait, how did you know she’s in L.A?”
Dammit. “I overheard your conversation with Dawn. I was thinking as you are going, if it isn’t better that I stay here to keep an eye on her?”
“Oh,” Willow sounded surprised. “I thought you would…never mind, I guess that is what Buffy would suggest anyways. I call you when I get there. Keep an eye on Dawn, these things happen in our line of work, but it’s always hard on her.”
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