TITLE: “One Thing Leads to Another”

AUTHOR: Alessandra “Pamela”

EMAIL: alessandra@...

RATING: NC17 overall

DISTRIBUTION:  My sites… anyone else, just ask.

FEEDBACK:  I would love it if you were so inclined. :)

SPOILERS:  This takes place after “The Gift” except Buffy didn’t die.

SUMMARY:  Buffy and Graham run into each other and find out they get along *really* well.  But will their loyalty to Riley keep them apart?

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” characters or situations (I will even give my story ideas to Joss in exchange for a day on the set).  I am borrowing them, without permission, and I mean no harm to them.  They all belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox, and Warner Brothers.  I wrote this purely for entertainment and not at all for profit.

NOTE: Moe is a goddess!  Best beta reader ever, I swear.  And Andra rocks too, for sitting and reading and helping me plot.  I’m super lucky to have them both!

***

Buffy carried the laundry basket filled with clean clothes up the stairs from the basement and into the living room to find her younger sister watching television.

“Dawn, have you finished your homework yet?”

Dawn sighed and turned around, a pout already on her face, “Come on Buffy, let me just watch TRL.”

“No, you need to get your homework done.  They’re already on edge because you missed two days last week.”

“Hello?  Glory kidnapped me!  I would have preferred being in school.”

“Oh okay, let me just go tell your principal that you were kidnapped by a god so that she could use you to open the portal to her dimension,” Buffy retorted, “Let’s see how fast they put me in the nuthouse and send you to Dad’s.”

“I don’t feel like it,” she whined.

“Homework.  Now.”

With a final sigh, Dawn turned the TV off and marched up the stairs to grab her backpack.  At least there was only less than two more weeks left of school.  In the fall, they would probably forget all about the ditching and slacking off and Buffy would chill. 

Then again, Buffy seemed really tense about everything lately.  Without the threat of Glory, Buffy was free to get maxi-stressed about bills and keeping the house clean and all sorts of other boring things.  What Buffy needed - heck, for the sake of Dawn’s sanity - what they both needed was for the slayer to get a life.

Or at the very least a boyfriend.

As she went into her room and grabbed her bag, Dawn ran through a mental list of available guys that she knew.  Unfortunately, with the exception of Xander - who was engaged to that fruitcake, Anya - all the guys she knew were old, like Mr. Giles, or her age, and the mere idea of Buffy dating one of her classmates was gross beyond the telling of it.

“What do you have to do tonight?” Buffy asked her as she sat down at the dining room table.

“Just math,” Dawn replied, pulling out her textbook and binder.

“Okay, well if you need help, just tell me.”

Half an hour later, Dawn happily shut her book, done at last.  She went into the kitchen to get a snack and found her older sister washing dishes.

“I finished my homework.”

“Good, maybe tomorrow you should do it right after school and then you won’t have to worry about it.”

Dawn rolled her eyes and glanced at the schedule Buffy had posted on the refrigerator.  “You didn’t mark off that I cleaned my room yesterday.”

“I ran out of gold stars,” Buffy told her.

“Well when will you get some?  You get on me about everything, all I want is some stars.”

Buffy rubbed her eyes tiredly, “I’m sorry, Dawn, I’m still trying to develop a routine here so I’m a little busy.  I’ll go tomorrow.”

Dawn frowned as Buffy left the room.  “Please God, give her a man.”

***

Seeing the mess in the living room, Buffy began picking up the various articles of clothing she and Dawn had strewn about and paused to look at the couch, her mind flashing back to the day she saw her mother’s lifeless body lying on it.  The day she’d never forget; the worst day of her life.

A sound of the doorbell ringing brought her attention back to the present.  Buffy hurried to the door and opened it, her eyes widening when she saw Graham standing on her porch.  Despite their agreement to be friends, she hadn’t expected to see him so soon, or if ever.  She’d figured he would feel too awkward.

“Hi Graham,” she smiled, “Come on in.”

“Thanks,” he replied, returning the smile.

Buffy led him into the living room, “Sorry about the mess, I was just cleaning up.”

“I’m a guy.  Trust me, this is nothing.”

“Sit down,” Buffy ordered, “Want something to drink or a snack?”

“No thanks, I had a big dinner and it wasn’t too long ago,” he replied, sitting down on the couch as Buffy settled herself in a chair.

“Oh yeah, you were going to start your new assignment today.  How did it go?”

“Pretty good.  There’s just a few of us until things get moving and I’ve got some good people working for me.”

“And are you loving being the boss or what?” she grinned.

“It definitely feels cool,” he admitted, then remembered the point of his visit and held up Buffy’s top.  “I, uh, found this in my couch.  I hand washed it and everything, just like the tag said.”

Buffy smiled as she imagined such a masculine guy as Graham hand washing her top.  “That was very thoughtful of you, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Dawn had been surprised to hear the doorbell since it was getting late, but figured it was one of the Scooby Gang, so when she walked into the living room and found a gorgeous guy who looked familiar talking to her sister.  Immediately, she noticed the way he was looking at Buffy and grinned.  God certainly had answered her prayer quickly.

Unfortunately, before she could get any quality eavesdropping in, the guy noticed her and smiled, “Hi.”

Buffy turned and found her sister standing in the doorway.  She hoped the brat hadn’t been there too long, because she really didn’t want to have to come up with a reason Graham had brought her the top.

“Graham this is my sister, Dawn,” Buffy introduced, “Dawn, this is Graham.  He’s a, um, he’s Riley’s best friend.”

Dawn’s mouth made a perfect ‘o’; she must have been wrong about her first impression of Graham.  Giving him a smile, Dawn walked further into the room and sat on the arm of Buffy’s chair, “Nice to meet you.  So does this mean Riley’s back?”

Both Graham and Buffy looked down, which was answer enough for Dawn.  She didn’t know if she was relieved or disappointed.  On the one hand, Buffy needed happiness and Riley could probably give it to her again, but on the other, Dawn was pretty mad at him.  Was he really worthy of her sister?

“Riley’s not here now, but it’s possible he may come back sometime in the future,” Buffy finally replied.

“Buffy and I are friends, so I just came by to talk to her,” Graham added.

Dawn smiled wider, deciding she may not have been wrong after all.  “Well, that’s good.  Buffy could definitely use more friends.”

Buffy rolled her eyes, “Don’t you have *anything* else you could be doing?”

“Nothing more fun that this,” Dawn taunted.  “So Graham, do you have a girlfriend?”

“Dawn!”

“I’m just making polite conversation, Buffy.”

Graham chuckled and shook his head, “No, I just got back in town.  Other than my co-workers, Buffy is pretty much the only person I know.”

“Oh, well then you guys should do stuff together, because you could use the company and I could use anything that will get her out of this house."

“Wasn’t Roswell going to start soon?  Go watch it upstairs.”

“Why can’t I watch it down here?  I like hanging out with Graham, unless Graham wants me to go.  Do you want me to go, Graham?”

“Um, no, you’re not bothering me,” Graham answered, not sure whose side to take.  On the one hand, he was Buffy’s friend, but on the other, Dawn was kind of amusing, despite the fact that he had a sneaking suspicion she viewed him as a prospective boyfriend for her sister.

“See, Buffy,” Dawn said before grabbing the remote and flopping down on the couch beside Graham.

“Well, of course he’s not going to tell you to leave.  You’re so rude, Dawn!”

The three of them spent the next hour watching television and talking during commercial and surprisingly enjoyed themselves.  Dawn’s presence automatically hindered any potential lust attacks between Buffy and Graham so they were able to relax completely and have a good time.

Seeing Dawn yawn reminded Buffy that it was getting late.  Smiling gently, she told her sister, “You need to hit the sack.”

Too tired to protest, Dawn simply nodded and stood, giving Graham a tired smile, “Will you come over again soon?”

“I’d love to, if your sister lets me,” Graham winked at her.

Buffy grinned, “You’re more than welcome here.”

“Good!” Dawn cheered, “Then I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay, it was nice meeting you,” Graham said.

Once they were left alone, he shook his head and smiled at Buffy, “She’s quite a character.”

“You could say that,” she sighed.  “I certainly have my hands full.”

Graham had noticed Buffy’s mother’s absence that evening, but had thought perhaps her she was out.  Riley had told him all about the tumor, but that she had gotten better right before he’d left town.  Concerned, he asked, “Is your mom sick again?  Riley told me how she had been in the hospital, but he said they’d removed the tumor.”

Buffy averted her eyes and quickly answered, “She died a few months ago.”

“Oh God, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault; you didn’t know.”

“I know, but I’m still sorry that you lost your mother.”

Buffy gave him a small, grateful smile, “Thank you.”

“You really are amazing, Buffy.  Seriously, I know how hard losing your mother can be, and not only do you have to deal with that, but you have to take care of Dawn as well.  And you’re doing such a great job.”

“I’m just surviving,” she sighed, “but thank you again.”

“If you ever need someone to talk to - you know, de-stress - I’m your man.”

Buffy smiled again, then asked, “You know how hard it is?”

It was Graham’s turn to look down, “My mom died in a car accident when I was eighteen.”

“That’s horrible.  You don’t have any sisters or brothers?”

He shook his head, “It was just me.  My parents where divorced when I was eight and my dad had never been around.”

“As difficult as being responsible for Dawn can be, I think it would be worse if I didn’t have her.  My dad is the epitome of absentee too.  I need her.  She gives me a reason to get up in the morning when I want to stay in bed all day and mope.  I really think if I didn’t have to keep it together for her, I would have fallen apart.”

“Sorry, but I don’t buy it,” he said, “You’re the strongest person I know.”

“Well, you don’t know me that well.”

“No, but I want to know you better,” he smiled, then blushed at the implications of his words and stood up.  “And on that note, I’d better be going.  It *is* getting late and I have a long day at work tomorrow."

“Well, okay,” Buffy replied, getting out of the chair, “But feel free to stop by any time.  Or call.  I really do enjoy talking with you.”

“Same here,” Graham said, repressing the urge to kiss her as she walked him to the door.

“Thanks again for bringing me my top.”

“No problem.  Good night.”

“Night,” she told him as he walked out the door, “Take care.”

Buffy closed the door after Graham and leaned back against it and sighing.  Why did Riley’s best friend, of all the guys in the world, have to be the only one since Riley to make her knees feel like Jello and her heart flutter?  She had to have the worst luck when it came to love!

***

“Come on Buffy, let me get Frosted Flakes,” Dawn pleaded as she followed her sister down canned foods aisle in the grocery store.

“No, it’s all sugar,” Buffy replied as she grabbed cans of whole tomatoes, “How many of these does your recipe call for?”

Dawn sighed and checked the grocery list she’d made for her assignment, “Two cans.”

Buffy grabbed two cans and put them in her cart, trying to ignore Dawn’s pouting.  If Mrs. Betts, Dawn’s Home Economics teacher, hadn’t assigned making dinner as homework that night, Buffy would have just done her shopping the next morning.  However, it would be ridiculous to make two trips unnecessarily.  Ridiculous, but less annoying, she had discovered.

“You know, you’re the oldest twenty-year-old I have ever met.  Sugar is fun. Sugar is great!” Dawn went on, “Please, Buffy?”

Buffy rolled her eyes, “Sure, fine, but when you get a cavity, I reserve the right to throw this back in your face.”

As Dawn happily went back to the previous aisle, with all the cereals, Buffy frowned.  Her sister was right; when did she turn into an old person?

***

Graham slowly pushed his cart down the aisle of the grocery store, trying to be sure not to forget anything.  He really should have made a list, but since he had *nothing* at home, he’d figured he didn’t need to.

The past week at work had been exhausting.  He was never so glad for it to be Thursday.  One more day and then he could have two full days of relaxation.  Despite the fact that his job did make him tired and hurt his shopping schedule, one plus was that it kept him too busy to think about Buffy *too* much.

Still, they had agreed to be friends and the last time they had hung out together, they’d managed not to do anything they weren’t supposed to.  Even if he did have entirely inappropriate thoughts about a friend who happened to be his best friend’s ex, as long as they managed to control their hormones, it didn’t hurt any to hang out, so maybe he could spend some time with her on the weekend.

As he pulled a box of Wheaties off the shelf and tossed them in the cart, he heard someone call his name.

Turning around, he found Dawn Summers clutching a box of Frosted Flakes and wearing a big grin on her face, “Hi!”

“Hey,” he smiled.

“Wheaties… wow, you eat such *exciting* breakfast food.  Much like Buffy and her Special K,” Dawn teased him.

“Well, if you’re going to mock me, I’ll just leave,” Graham joked.

She rolled her eyes, before getting an idea, “Hey, do you have any plans tonight?”

“Other than going home and crashing?  No.”

“Great!  You can come over for dinner.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Buffy may not want me to.”

“Oh please, of course she does.  Besides, *I* am making dinner tonight, so I think I have the right to invite a guest over.  Please?” she pleaded.

“I will if Buffy says it’s okay.”

“Cool,” she grinned, “She’s in the next aisle, we can go get her permission now.”

Graham slowly followed the teen, trying not to appear over eager about seeing Buffy again.  It was ridiculous; this girl made him nuts.

Buffy was busy selecting flavors of soup when her sister returned to the cart and tossed in the cereal box.

“Guess who’s here,” Dawn smiled at her.

Buffy looked up and was quite surprised to find Graham standing there with a half-full cart.  Giving her a small smile, he greeted, “Hi.”

“Hi Graham,” she replied, shooting a questioning glance at Dawn.  She was definitely up to something.

“I was just telling Graham how I’m making dinner tonight and that it would be so awesome if he could eat with us, but he wanted to be sure you were okay with it first,” Dawn explained.

“Dawn, I’m sure Graham doesn’t want to eat with us, you’re making him feel obligated.”

“No I’m not!”

“She really isn’t,” Graham assured her, “I understand if you don’t want me to, but if you don’t mind, I would love to come over.”

“Well, if you want to, I’d be happy to have you,” Buffy smiled, then blushed at her wording, “Um, have you *over*.”

She sighed and wondered how they’d ever get through an entire meal together.

***

Buffy checked her reflection in the mirror, trying to decide if she looked good in the knee-length denim skirt and dark blue halter top - without it being obvious that she wanted to look good.  She definitely shouldn’t want that, and to send those messages to Graham would be wrong.

Besides, they needed all the help they could get in the ‘not having sex’ department.

With that thought, Buffy thought twice about wearing a skirt.  Running her hands over the denim, she considered the idea for a moment before whining.  Pants were absolutely the way to go!

***

Promptly at seven, the doorbell rang and Dawn excitedly raced to the foyer, flinging open the door and beaming at Graham on the other side.

“Hi!”

“Hi,” Graham replied, smiling politely.

Dawn grabbed his arm and pulled him inside, speaking a mile a minute.  Graham couldn’t exactly understand her, but he got the impression that she was happy he’d arrived.

Buffy descended the stairs in a magenta tank top and black crop pants with magenta flowers on them, trying to appear casual, like she’d just thrown the outfit on.  She was pleased to see that he’d changed clothes as well, until she realized he obviously wouldn’t want to wear his military uniform unless he was working.

“Hi,” she said, a shy smile on her face.”

“Hi Buffy.”

“Well, this is perfect timing,” Dawn announced, grabbing both their hands and tugging them in to the dining room.  “Dinner is just about ready, so why don’t you two sit down while I bring it out?”

Before either could argue, Dawn was hustling into the kitchen, leaving the two of them alone.  They shared an awkward moment Graham pulled a chair out for Buffy.  She sat down and allowed him to push the seat in.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied, sitting in the chair across from her.

Dawn reappeared with a basket of French bread.  “What would you like to drink, Graham?  We’ve got milk, water, juice, tea and lots of soda.”

“Do you have Mountain Dew?” Graham asked.

“Mountain Dew is my favorite!” Dawn grinned.  “See Buffy, I’m not the only one who likes it.”

“Yes, Graham is also a caffeine addict, I’m so happy you two have this in common,” Buffy replied sarcastically.

Dawn rolled her eyes, “Want Diet Coke, Buffy?”

“That would be fine, thanks.  Do you want me to help you?”

“No, I’m fine.  Sit and talk!” she ordered, not wanting Buffy breathing down her neck.  The fact that her older sister had spent the past few hours getting ready had not gone unnoticed and she’d appreciated being unsupervised with all the ‘adult’ fire and sharp objects.

“I guess I baby her too much.  Habit, you know?” Buffy said to Graham.

He nodded, “I can imagine having a younger sibling would be a big responsibility, especially now.”

“Yeah, before I just worried about Dawn stealing my clothes or ruining my makeup, and, like, not *killing* herself when I had to baby-sit.  But now, I’ve got to get her through school and worry about her getting sick and everything,” she replied, “But I try not to think about it because it makes me insane.  Taking it one hour at a time goes much better.”

She rubbed her hand on her forehead, “God, what I ought to worry about is the fact that the most interesting thing I can discuss with another adult is the stress of being my sister’s guardian.  If you were forty, it would be one thing, but you must think I need a life in the worst way.”

“Not at all; I mean, I’m not anybody’s guardian, but I think we’re both members of the club where we grow up too fast.”

“That’s the truth.”

“I guess it happened for you even before your mom died, though, right?  Riley said you’ve been the slayer since you were fifteen.  I can’t imagine you were able to hold onto much innocence while dealing with vampires, demons and the end of the world.”

“Yeah, I haven’t been a kid for a long time.  But still, when my mom died, I had to change a lot.  Even without Dawn and the house and stuff, it’s like, no more Mom to baby me.  No more Mom to run to when something sucky happens and you just want to be hugged and feel safe,” she said, feeling tears sting her eyes.  Blinking them away, she looked up at Graham, “Man, this got depressing.”

“Sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize.  I actually like the fact that I know I can talk to you about this and you will know what I am talking about.  I love my friends, but with the exception of Tara, they can’t really relate.  It’s like we have this exclusive club that we all wish we weren’t members of.”

Graham nodded, “Just so you know, whenever you want to talk, I am here.  Things can get overwhelming sometimes.”

“Thanks,” she smiled, feeling incredibly lucky to be friends with Graham, especially considering their history.

Their conversation was interrupted by Dawn carrying in two bottles of soda before she brought out the spaghetti. Buffy and Graham summoned up all their courage... and started eating.

TBC...