TITLE: "One Thing Leads to Another"
AUTHOR: Alessandra "Pamela"
EMAIL: alessandra@destructo-girl.com
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!

"Give me another one, Willy"

"A-are you sure, Slayer?" the bartender asked nervously.

Buffy quirked her eyebrow, daring him to argue. Willy knew better, though, and quickly set another screwdriver in front of her.

She’d spent the past hour or so nursing one drink after another, wallowing in self-pity over the sad state of her life. Just a year earlier, she probably would have been out with Riley. Maybe they’d have doubled with Xander and Anya and gone to a movie or something. Back then, she would have loved going out and escaping yet another dull and often irritating night with her mother and annoying kid sister.

Oh, how much things could change in a year.

It was strange, really, because a year was so short, yet at the same time, it was a lifetime. A year could make your boyfriend betray and then leave you. A year could take away your mother. A year could give you a sister that isn’t exactly real. And so many memories that it’s impossible to fathom the concept that she’s not your sister.

Buffy swallowed the last of her drink, enjoying the way it burned a path down her throat, warming her belly. She knew this was pathetic, to get wasted in a seedy bar just because she felt sorry for herself. She had a lot. Even though her mother was dead and her father was off, gallivanting about the world with women not too much older than her, she had Dawn. And then there was Giles, who had been more of a father to her in four years than Hank Summers had in twenty. Plus, she had her friends, who were the most loyal and true friends a girl could hope to have.

Still… was it too much to want more? Was it wrong for her to want someone of her own the way Xander had Anya and Willow had Tara? Sure, she could go to Giles or be with Dawn, but it wasn’t the same.

She missed Riley.

Willy had set a fresh drink in front of her as soon as she’d finished the last one. As Buffy picked it up and took a sip, someone sat down in the stool beside her. She kept her face forward, hoping she wasn't about to get hit on. Even if she was jonesing for a boyfriend, one of Willy’s regulars wasn’t her type and she wasn’t in the mood for pummeling.

"Can I get a Coors?"

Buffy turned her head sharply upon recognizing the voice of the man next to her.

"Graham?" she asked, her voice full of surprise.

Graham Miller stared back at her with an equally stunned look on his face. He’d known that by coming back to Sunnydale, he’d risk running into her… but he hadn’t dreamed it would be anyplace like this.

"Uh… hi Buffy," he replied feebly, not knowing quite what to say.

"W - what are you doing here?" she asked, her heart beating a bit faster. Riley had left with Graham; if Graham was back, was Riley as well?

Graham tried to come up with an answer. It certainly wouldn’t do to tell her the truth… very unprofessional. Funny how one little blonde could make him forget all about his duty to keep his work classified.

"Um… my job," he finally said, hoping vague would suffice.

Buffy nodded and smiled sadly, "Ah… that" She took another sip of her drink as Willy handed Graham his beer. With a deep breath, she asked the question that she both had to know and was scared to hear the answer to, "Is Riley back too?"

Graham averted his eyes, studying the counter in front of him. He’d known this was coming. Sighing, he shook his head, "No, he isn’t"

Buffy felt tears sting her eyes, "I figured as much"

Over the past five months, Graham had tried to despise her dozens of times. Because of Buffy, Riley had quit the military, albeit temporarily. He’d lost sight of all his goals and had come so close to losing everything he’d worked years for. Hell, it was his love for Buffy that had driven Riley to *allow* vampires to *bite* him.

Yet, Graham had never succeeded. He’d known that Buffy wasn’t a bad person. Whether or not she had loved Riley, and he really believed she did, it wasn’t her fault. Riley had been in a bad place, made some bad choices….

From the first time he had met her Graham liked Buffy Summers.

The sad look on her face made his heart go out to her, so as an act of comfort he went ahead and divulged something he probably shouldn’t have, but it seemed worth it to let her get her hopes up just to see her smile, "Well, he could be coming. It’s not for sure yet… he’s on leave right now in Iowa. If he wants, he can come back here or get stationed elsewhere"

Buffy laughed humorlessly, "Yeah, I’m sure he’ll *choose* to come back here"

"I wouldn’t be surprised… he misses you a lot"

She shrugged her shoulders indifferently before giving Graham a grateful smile, "Thank you"

He took a chug from his beer and nodded, content with the comfortable silence for a moment before asking, "So… what’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?"

Buffy chuckled loudly, the alcohol making his bad line all the more funny, "I’m not twenty-one, so most places won’t serve me. But Willy here… he likes me… don’t you Willy?"

"Yeah, sure," the man replied quickly as he wiped up the counter a few feet away.

"So.. anything big going down here? I’m just wondering… business, you know?"

"I defeated a god the other night," she replied.

"Are you for real?"

Buffy grinned, "Yup, kicked her sorry ass"

"You go girl"

"You guys aren’t going to get into that capturing and testing crap again, are you? Because I really don’t need to go through that again"

"Nope, we’re strictly fighting the forces of evil. Slaying… just like you. Except we still have our gadgets. Shit, I wasn’t supposed to tell you that"

Buffy smiled and pretended to zip her lips, "I can keep a secret"

***

"So, we manage to pull the demon off him and dispose of it… but by that point he is crying for his mommy and he… he… wet his pants!" Graham managed to spit out before bursting into laughter.

Buffy laughed along with him and shook her head, "Poor guy… his first mission"

"He’ll live," he replied, calming down enough to drink the last of his beer.

They’d been drinking together quite profusely for the past few hours… and both were far from sober. Neither seemed to mind, though. In fact, they both appeared to enjoy each other’s company as they drank themselves into senselessness.

As Buffy finished her screwdriver, she looked at the empty glass and sighed, "I think I’m sick of these"

Normally, Graham would never have dared to do what he was about to do. When he was sober, he would know better than to ever dare to ‘go there’ the ex-and-possibly-soon-to-be-again-girlfriend of his best friend.

But he was drunk.

Grinning at the blonde on the stool next to him, he asked, "Ever done body shots?"

Buffy giggled and shook her head, "Nope… but it sounds fun"

"It is, believe me… want to try them?"

"Okay"

"Willy!" Graham bellowed, then smiled lopsidedly as the bartender appeared before them, an annoyed look on his face, "We’re going to need some tequila, some salt and a lime… we’re going to do some body shots"

"You sure that’s a good idea, man?" he asked. A small part of him nagged that he knew this girl and she wasn’t the type to do body shots… but mostly he didn’t want to have to stop her from killing the guy.

"Oh, just give us the damn stuff!" Buffy ordered, "Why must you constantly question us?"

Willy just shook his head again before going to get what they wanted. He really needed to get out of this business, or he’d end up in an early grave.

Once all the ingredients were in front of them, Graham smiled at Buffy, "Now, you’re gonna have to trust me here, okay?"

She nodded quickly, and held out her arms, "I’m putty in your hands"

He quickly placed the lime wedge in her mouth with the rind facing in. As Buffy giggled, Graham licked the inside of her wrist and sprinkled salt over the wet area. Last, he poured some tequila into a shot glass and placed it between Buffy’s breasts, appreciating, not for the first time that night, her choice of a low cut top.

As Buffy’s eyes widened, Graham winked at her, "Ready?"

She nodded again, more slowly, and watched with engrossment as Graham lifted her wrist to his mouth and sucked all the salt off of it before sticking his head in her cleavage and fishing the shot glass out to swallow all the liquid in one gulp and sucking on the lime… which was still in her mouth.

They soon came dangerously close to kissing, albeit with the lime still half in each of their mouths… and neither seemed to mind in the least. When Graham at last pulled back, Buffy smiled widely at him.

"I like it"

"Oh yeah? Well… there’s another way we can do it"

"There is?"

"Mmm hmm… instead of putting the salt here," he explained, gently rubbing his thumb over her wrist before moving it to the inner curve of her breast, "We put it here"

Buffy’s mouth made a perfect ‘O’ as she realized what he was saying. Grinning again, she asked, "Can we try it that way now?"

***

"This just ain’t fair," Willy whined to himself as he stared across the bar at the Slayer and her ‘friend’. They’d opted to move from the bar to a booth half an hour earlier and their body shots had quickly been forgotten when they began making out quite passionately.

The entire thing had left him ill at ease, but he’d opted not to try and intercede. Besides, the Slayer would probably be too embarrassed when she sobered up to try and kick his ass for letting her make a fool of herself.

Unfortunately, it was time for him to close up. All the vampires and other demons were leaving without incident… but those two appeared to think they were the only people in the world. He reluctantly walked over to the booth and cleared his throat.

Seeing that they were either too engrossed to hear him, or just didn’t care, Willy spoke up, "Uh… Slayer?"

Annoyed, Buffy pulled away from Graham and gave Willy a dirty look, "What?"

"I gotta close… you need to… go," he said quickly.

Buffy pouted as Graham extracted himself from her arms and pulled his wallet out. After handing Willy a wad of bills, he slid out of the booth, wavering only slightly on his feet, and tugged Buffy along with him.

As the two of them made their way out the door, Willy looked after them and shook his head. This was *not* good.

***

"So, where do you want to go?" Buffy asked, her words a bit slurred, in between giggles as she and Graham walked down the dark street with their arms around each other.

"My place, if we can make it," Graham replied, dipping his head down to kiss her.

Buffy laughed, "What, you want to get it on out here on the street?"

"I may have to pull you into an alley," he said before kissing her again, his hand on the back of her head to hold her to him.

After a moment, she breathlessly pulled back and looked at him, a dangerous glint in her eyes, "Do it"

Graham didn’t have to be told twice. He grabbed her hand and pulled Buffy into a nearby deserted alley that was just barely illuminated by a streetlight some ten yards away. Immediately, she was pushed against the wall before Graham crushed his lips against hers. Buffy moaned into his mouth, her hands wildly moving over his back and he pressed his growing erection against her, the layers of clothing between them doing nothing to hinder the intense desire they felt for one another.

His hands slid over her butt and down the backs of her thighs before Graham pulled Buffy’s legs up so that she could wrap them around his waist. She immediately bucked against him, eager for any contact she could get. He pushed back, groaning as they rubbed against each other, mimicking the actions that would soon follow.

Graham’s lips moved over Buffy’s jaw and down the side of her neck, while she panted and moaned. His hands slid up her short skirt and found her panties damp in the crotch. Buffy gasped as Graham stroked her through the thin silk before his own desire got the best of him and he ripped the scrap of material from her and tossed them aside.

Buffy’s focus shifted to their mutual purpose and moved her hands down to Graham’s waist to aid in getting his pants open, while keeping her legs around him. It took some creative maneuvering, but they managed to get them open enough for his erection to spring free. Buffy smiled in appreciation as she wrapped her hand around it and gave it a few slow strokes. Graham groaned as he grew even harder and the need he felt grew even more intense.

He covered Buffy’s hand with his own and directed his hardness to her center, taking a moment to tease her by sliding the head over her dripping slit before driving it home. She moaned loudly as he filled her, her head falling back as waves of pleasure crashed through her.

Graham gritted his teeth, determined to not let the way her strong slayer muscles were gripping him through her orgasm caused him to lose control. Even in his drunken haze, he wanted to draw out his pleasure.

Buffy quickly recovered and playfully gave him a squeeze. Graham retaliated, grinning as he fiercely thrust inside her. Eager to prove she was more than a match for him, she moved her hips, thrusting back against him.

Soon, the only sound to be heard in the alley was the slapping of one body against the other as Buffy and Graham kissed, caressed and brought each other to electrifying orgasms. As they came back into themselves, Buffy released her hold of Graham and slid her legs back down to plant her feet on the ground before readjusting her skirt.

The two embraced and shared a fiery kiss. With a playful smile, Graham said, "Let’s go to my place before some vamp catches us with our pants down"

Buffy laughed hysterically as Graham grabbed her hand and lead the way to his apartment, his lust for her giving his alcohol addled brain a focus.

***

"Mmm…" Buffy moaned into Graham’s mouth as they staggered through the door to his apartment.

They hadn’t made very good time, with all the breaks they taken to lean against cars and light poles to make out, setting off car alarms and leaving dogs barking in their wake. Still, they had made it without having to duck into any more alleys, but their need for each other was growing nearly unbearable.

Graham kicked the door closed behind them, his hands busy caressing her cheeks before running through her hair. Buffy’s own hands were occupied with the task of unbuttoning his shirt before stroking over his nicely muscled chest and abs.

When the need to breath grew persistent, they pulled apart. Graham shrugged out of his shirt, letting it fall to the floor while Buffy pulled her own shirt over her head and quickly discarding it. Biting her bottom lip and unconsciously giving Graham an incredibly sexy look, she unclasped the front hook of her bra and released her breasts from their confines.

After a second’s glance, Graham closed the small distance between them and palmed both her breasts. Buffy moaned and moved her hands around him, lightly scratching his back. In an instant, they were on the couch, Buffy’s small body pinned beneath Graham’s as they kissed one another passionately.

Too impatient to remove the rest of their clothing, Graham pulled Buffy’s skirt up, and since her panties had been abandoned in the alley, she was completely bare. Quickly tugging his pants down past his hips, he was freed once again. He slid a finger inside her, mercilessly teasing Buffy, making her beg before he gripped his erection and led it to her opening, sliding inside her.

Their second mating was as frenzied and desperate as their first. Graham pounded inside her, using the rough pads of his thumbs to tease her hardened nipples. Buffy gasped as waves of pleasure crashed through her, her hips ceaselessly raising to meet his thrusts. Feeling himself nearing climax, Graham moved his hand between their bodies and found her clit, distended and begging to be touched. He was never one to deny a beautiful woman, so Graham began massaging it with his thumb, making Buffy cry out his name as her body was wracked with orgasm. He let himself go, pumping furiously as he spilled his seed deep inside her.

Spent, Graham collapsed on top of Buffy as the both of them panted, taking a few moments to calm down before Buffy began giggling.

"That was fun"

He couldn’t help but grin, giving her a quick kiss on the lips, "Very fun. We’ll have to do it again sometime very, very soon"

"Just let me know when you’re *up* for it," Buffy replied, before laughing at her own bad joke.

Giving her a wicked smile, Graham slid down a bit, sucking as much of one of her breasts into his mouth as possibly before pulling back and teasing the nipple with the tip of his tongue. As she hissed and her eyes rolled back in her head, he gently nibbled in it, then repeated the entire action several times before moving to the other breast.

After a few moments, Buffy was once again filled with hunger. Her hips began moving up of their own volition as her fingers softly pulled at Graham’s hair while she begged him to give her what she desperately needed…. him.

He moved his mouth back to her lips, kissing her passionately, while he felt around the waist of her skirt, trying to find a way to get it off her. At last he found a zipper and slid it down, moving his lips to her neck, sucking at her skin, knowing she’d be baring the evidence of it the next day… and not caring.

Buffy tried to push Graham’s pants the rest of the way down, using her feet. The two only succeeded in becoming hopelessly entangled. Laughing at their situation, Graham sat up and worked on removing his pants, realizing that his shoes would have to come off first, as Buffy pulled her skirt down her legs.

They were almost successful until Graham lost his balance and tumbled off the couch, ending up on his back on the floor. While he moaned in despair at his bad luck, Buffy laughed hysterically from the couch, before noticing the fact that Graham was obviously still *very* turned on.

Wordlessly, Buffy got off the couch and knelt near Graham’s feet, pushing his legs apart and crawling in between them before taking his erection in her hand. All the breath left his body as he watched her slowly stroke his length with her tiny hand. She stared down at her hand, seemingly fascinated, before softly kissing the head, which elicited a desperate moan from Graham.

As though she just realized that he was still there, and very much enjoying what she was doing, Buffy glanced at his face and met his eyes before giving him a smile and sliding her mouth down over his length as far as she could. He continued to watch her, enthralled, as Buffy worked him, swallowing more and more of his length until her nose was buried in the rough dark hair that surrounded his genitals.

As if the sensations she was already sparking in him weren’t enough, Buffy moved her hand to his balls, gently squeezing his sac and making him thrust up to her mouth. She handled it well, allowing Graham to have more control, sliding himself in and out of her mouth before he felt his orgasm swiftly approaching.

"Buffy, I… I’m gonna…"

"Give it to me," she said in a low voice before sucking hard on the head of his penis.

Graham groaned as he felt his semen spurt inside her mouth. Buffy swallowed it eagerly, lapping up every last drop. As he tried to catch his breath, she crawled back up his body, placing kisses on his abs and chest before their lips met once again.

They began kissing carnally, and Graham slipped his hand down to slide a finger in her moist entrance. Buffy moaned and bucked against him as he added another finger, driving her wild with desire.

"Straddle my face," he softly ordered.

She smiled and obeyed, placing each knee on either side of Graham’s face. He spread her lower lips with two fingers and slipped his tongue between them, lightly flicking her clitoris before closing his lips over her swollen nub and sucked hungrily on it. Buffy cried out and fell forward, putting her hands on the floor above Graham’s head to steady herself. He slid his tongue inside her, savoring the taste of her nectar.

"Oh God, Graham… yes… right there," she moaned mindlessly as he made her shake with desire. She was so close. Just a bit more and she’d be there.

Graham softly bit down on her clit and pushed Buffy over the edge into climax. She screamed as her body jerked uncontrollably, only staying on top of Graham’s face so that he could lap up her juices by his firm grip on her hips.

When she stilled, he lifted her as though she weight nothing and set her down so that she could lie beside him, face to face. They kissed again, a bit more gently this time, and ran their hands over each other’s sweaty skin.

"You know, I just realized what a bad host I am. I haven’t even given you the grand tour of my place," Graham joked, "Where should we start, the bedroom?"

Buffy smiled, "That sounds good, I’d like to *thoroughly* explore your bedroom"

"Well that’s good, Miss Summers, because I am nothing if not thorough," he teased, climbing to his feet and pulling her up as well. They shared a deep kiss before Graham swept her up in his arms and carried the giggling girl bridegroom style to his bedroom.

By the time they reached the bed, their lust was once again too great to be bothered with trivial matters like getting under the covers. Graham set Buffy down and she quickly rolled to her stomach, getting on all fours and looking back at him with a sexy smile on her face. He found it irresistible and quickly climbed behind her, rubbing the head of his erection over her sopping entrance, teasing her for a moment before slipping himself inside her yet again.

This time he managed to maintain more control and slowly pulled almost all the way out of her before roughly slamming inside her to the hilt. Buffy cried out and bucked back, but Graham didn’t heed her, setting a slow pace until his own desire would no longer permit it. Soon, they were slamming against each other in an animalistic frenzy, completely caught up in their passion.

Buffy found herself exploding in orgasm all too soon and Graham slowed his thrusts until Buffy’s shaking subsided. Despite her protests, he pulled out of her and moved onto his back on the bed. She took the hint and straddled him, sliding down on his length with no preamble.

Almost immediately, Buffy was moving at a furious pace, bouncing up and down on him with her hands on his thighs as she leaned back, her eyes closed and her back arched as Graham thrust up inside her and manipulated her clit with the pad of his thumb.

She found herself in orgasm again, but this time Graham was coming as well, spilling himself inside her. Buffy collapsed on top of him and kissed his shoulder as her body relaxed.

Both found they were at last sated and shared a few soft kisses on the mouth before falling asleep in each other’s arms, not even thinking about what the next day would bring.

Graham groggily came awake to the shrill sound of the phone ringing as the throbbing in his head hit him like a ton of bricks. What had he done and who up there hated him so much?

Groaning, he rolled over and picked up the receiver. As he held it to his ear, he became aware of a body beneath him. Looking down, his eyes met the horrified ones of Buffy Summers, his best friend’s girlfriend.

The girl he had spent the night before having sex with.

"Oh God!" they exclaimed in unison as Graham slammed down the phone, without ever even hearing who it had been and Buffy scrambled to cover herself with a sheet.

Wrapping the bedspread around his waist, Graham looked at the girl again and asked, "What did you do?!"

"What did *I* do?" she repeated, "What about you?"

"Oh God," he said again, noticing the hickey on her neck, "Do you really have to ask?"

Buffy shook her head, trying to deny what they had obviously done, the memories of which were slowly penetrating her mind, "Where are we?"

"My place," he answered, still staring at her and silently admonishing himself for thinking she looked awfully sexy with her hair all messed up in his bed, wearing only a sheet.

"Stop staring at me, Graham," she cried, looking around the room, "Where are my clothes?"

"I don’t know! Why do you think I’m any better off than you?" he sighed, climbing off the bed with the bedspread still around his waist and began searching for clothing.

"Because you’re the one who got me drunk and brought me back to your place to seduce me," she accused, getting up as well.

"You cannot be serious! Did you *completely* forget last night?!"

"No, unfortunately, I have bits and pieces. Right now, I am remembering you convincing me to do body shots pretty well"

"Uh, you enjoyed them, Honey, and begged me to do it," he retorted.

"In your dreams," she yelled, the search for clothing forgotten, "Trust me, if I was sober, there is no way I’d let you do *that* to me"

"Maybe so… but you were already drinking before I got there and I didn’t convince you to *keep* drinking once I was there, so if you were wasted when I was wasted and suggested body shots, this is as much your fault as it is mine"

Buffy put her hand on her forehead, knowing he was right. "I can’t believe this. I have never ever done anything like this before. I’m not the type of person who has one-night-stands. Oh God, a one-night-stand! And with you, of all people, Riley’s friend"

"Hey, it’s okay," he said, attempting to comfort her, "You got drunk and made a mistake"

She felt tears well in her eyes, but refused to let them fall. She would *not* cry in front of him. "I’ve ruined any chance I had with Riley. Even if he *does* come back and wants to give our relationship another shot, when he finds out that I slept with you, he’ll never speak to me again"

"Riley never has to know. Look, you two may very well get back together in the future, but you aren’t together right now. As of this moment, you’re single and free to sleep with anyone you want. You didn't cheat on him. He doesn’t need to know and he doesn’t *have* to know, because we can pretend this never happened"

Buffy looked up at him with wide eyes, "Really? You aren’t going to tell Riley?"

He shook his head, "Like I said, you didn’t cheat on Riley, and knowing that we… slept together… would only hurt him, even though we really didn’t do anything wrong. So by not telling him, we’re protecting him"

"So, we forget this and never tell anyone and it just goes away," Buffy said.

"Exactly," he nodded.

"Good," she replied, breathing a sigh of relief, "Now, if I can just find my clothes"

Together, the two of them managed to find her shoes, skirt, and bra in the living room, but had no luck when it came to her shirt and panties. Buffy started to get panicky as she searched everywhere, racking her brain to remember where she had taken it off.

Standing in the middle of the living room, Buffy frantically clutched the clothing they had managed to gather. "It has to be here somewhere, I’m positive I had it when we got here. I can’t go home without a shirt on!"

"I don’t know where it could be," Graham said, a little calmer, "We’ve looked everywhere. Do you want to just borrow one of mine? I’m sure if your shirt is here, I will come across it and then I can return it to you"

Buffy slowly nodded her head, wondering if this was all routine to Graham, since he certainly seemed a lot calmer than she was. As a thought hit her, she frowned and asked, "Um, do you know where my car is?"

"Probably still at the bar," he replied as he walked back to his room, trying to think of a shirt that wouldn’t be way too big and obviously a man’s shirt on her.

"Of course," she sighed, and considered calling one of her friends to pick her up, but immediately discarded the idea. She definitely didn’t want anyone to ever find out about this and there was no way they wouldn’t find out if they had to come over to Graham’s and find her wearing one of his shirts.

Graham emerged with a white dress shirt, figuring it was better than nothing, and asked, "If you want, I’ll go ahead and walk with you back to the bar"

"No, I’ll be fine alone. You can shower or whatever," she replied, taking the shirt from him, "Thank you"

"No problem. You can change in my bedroom if you want"

Buffy nodded and walked briskly into the bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Graham ran his hands over his face, still in shock. This was so out of character for him. He had only gotten as drunk as he’d been the night before a handful of times, and he had *never* brought a girl home with him before. And Buffy; of all the girls in the world, why did she have to be the one that he just couldn’t resist? Even though he’d always found her attractive, immediately after he had first seen her, she’d been the girl that his best friend had a thing for, and then she was his best friend’s girlfriend - two very off-limit categories.

So why was it that with some alcohol, he’d managed to lose all resolve to be respectful to Riley’s feelings and had sex with Buffy - several times - and now couldn’t stop thinking about how much he wished he could do it again?

Buffy emerged from the bedroom a moment later and, much to his dismay, Graham found her even more attractive wearing his shirt with a knot tied in front.

"Thanks again for the shirt…. I’ll wash it and return it to you… maybe tomorrow?" she asked.

"That’ll work"

"Good," Buffy said, nodding as the two stood awkwardly, trying to avoid each other’s eyes, before she jerked her head towards the door, "Well I’ll just… go"

"Okay, bye"

"Bye"

Confused, embarrassed and mad at himself, Graham watched as Buffy left the apartment, knowing things would never be the same again.

***

"So, did you go find yourself a boy toy and have a wild fling last night?"

Buffy almost dropped the carton of milk she had retrieved from the refrigerator as she jerked her head to look at her younger sister at the kitchen counter. Dawn laughed at her own joke, too caught up in her new issue of Teen People to notice Buffy’s reaction.

"I just stayed home and watched TV," Buffy lied, trying to appear calm. Of course Dawn wouldn’t know the truth, how could she? She hadn’t gotten back from her friend’s slumber party until several hours after Buffy had returned from Graham’s and the sleeveless turtleneck Buffy wore conveniently covered the hickey Graham had left. The secret was safe.

"There’s a shocker," Dawn retorted, "You know, Buffy, you really should go out. Melinda’s mom *did* say that I could come over to her house whenever I needed to. I can spend a night there so you can go out and meet someone"

Buffy smiled, touched by her sister’s thoughtfulness, "That’s okay, Dawnie. I don’t think I can take another relationship right now"

"Why not? Everything has calmed down and it *has* been six months since Riley…"

"Fled? Let’s face it, if I keep dating, the Sunnydale tourism bureau is going to come have a talk with me. I’m going to deplete the population"

Dawn rolled her eyes, mentally cursing Riley for what had to be the hundredth time since he had left for Belize the previous December. As much as he had annoyed her with the kiddo comments and the way he’d put his big old hand on her head and ruffle her hair, she’d always liked Riley to some extent. Even though she’d loved Angel more, Buffy had always been sadder when he had been around, so it had made Dawn happy to see how happy Buffy was with Riley. And then when he’d taken her to the park when her mom was sick, Dawn had decided Riley was definitely okay and worthy of her sister. But then he’d gone and betrayed Buffy, and left her *again*. Now Buffy had a complex and Dawn wanted to feed Riley’s family jewels to her friend Hayley’s gerbils.

She watched as Buffy studiously made mashed potatoes and decided that it was for her own good to start dating again. What were the odds of yet another guy being idiotic enough to dump Buffy and run out of town?

***

"Thirty-nine, forty," Graham counted as he finished his last set of arm curls. If anything good came out of his one-night-stand with Buffy, he’d get really toned.

It had been a day since their uncomfortable morning-after and Graham couldn’t get her out of his head. He’d tried watching TV, but couldn’t focus. He’d tried reading a book, but had only read the same paragraph for half an hour, as his mind kept drifting back to her. The only thing he had found success with had been lifting weights and working out. Even still, Buffy was always there, just below the surface.

It was so ironic that the one girl he couldn’t touch was the one girl who got under his skin, into his mind. And try as he might, he couldn’t seem to forget her.

He stripped off his shirt and walked into his bedroom, deciding he needed a shower. Maybe then he could go out and socialize. Being with other people could help him forget Buffy. Unfortunately, she was the *only* person he knew in Sunnydale.

Stepping into the shower, Graham let the water run over his body, washing the sweat and grime off his skin. He was due to start setting up the Sunnydale Headquarters the next day and he was starting to worry that he wouldn’t be able to get anything done because a certain petite blonde would occupy all his thoughts.

Grimacing, he closed his eyes and imagined her. She was opening the shower door and giving him that smile that drove him wild as she made herself at home under the spray of water. As her hair grew soaked, Graham admired the rivulets of water that trailed a path over her tanned skin. Even though most of the time he had seen her naked had been when he was drunk, he knew her body like the back of his hand. He could clearly recall the way her nipples looked, hard and rosy, jutting from her round, full breasts. How perfect her legs were, firm and strong, yet still soft, and how she wrapped them around him when he was inside her.

His mind shifted from his memories, back to his fantasy, as Buffy stepped closer to him, her eyes boring into his as she placed her hand on his chest, "Hi"

"Hi," he replied before Buffy covered his mouth with her own.

Their tongues dueled as their hands explored each other’s bodies. Buffy moved her hands over his buttocks, gently kneading his flesh before they moved around to the front of his body to find his hardness at full attention. He moaned into her mouth as she stroked him with one hand and caressed his sac with the other.

And then she was on her knees, swallowing his length enthusiastically. Graham’s eyes rolled back in his head as her talented tongue worked it’s magic. No other woman could make him feel this way. It was incredibly frustrating and exhilarating at the same time.

Hooking his hands under her arms, he lifted her, those amazing legs moving around his waist automatically. Pressing her against the wall of the shower, Graham reached between them and guided his cock to her entrance, sliding into her with a sigh of contentment.

Buffy moaned and thrust her hips toward him, "Yes.."

He quickly began moving inside her, getting closer to release with every stroke. She was so hot, so tight and those muscles… Graham didn’t think he could ever get enough of her.

Buffy reached her orgasm, her timing perfect as Graham was reaching his as well. He spilled his seed inside her as nonsensical sounds erupted from deep in his throat, vaguely feeling Buffy’s nails dig into his back.

Graham groaned as he looked down at his hand holding his now shrinking manhood. He couldn’t believe he’d resorted to masturbating in the shower while imagining Buffy. This was beyond sick!

Thoroughly disgusted with himself, he quickly finished his shower before getting out and dressing, then finding himself wondering where he would go. Out to dinner all by himself - possibly one of the most pathetic things in the world? Out to a bar like he did two nights earlier, which had gotten him in this situation in the first place? Sunnydale didn’t have a lot going for it. When he had lived with all his friends, every night had been fun. There had always been someone to hang out with, but now all he could do was sit home and think about Buffy.

Deciding a night at home was his best option, Graham pulled out the telephone book and placed an order for a pizza before flopping down on the couch and grabbing the remote. After several minutes of channel surfing, he settled on a horror movie on the Sci-Fi channel.

Despite the fact that the movie wasn’t all that great, time passed quickly and before he knew it, there was a knock at the door. He got up and went to answer it, pulling out his wallet so he could pay the delivery person.

However, when he opened the door, instead of finding a sixteen year old kid, he found the object of nearly all his thoughts for the past 48 hours standing there.

"Buffy," he said quietly, surprised.

She gave him a small, strained smile, "Hi, I was, um, returning your shirt"

"Oh, oh, uh, come in," Graham told her, stepping aside so she could enter the apartment.

Buffy awkwardly walked past him, the shirt she had borrowed the morning before in her hands. "I washed it and everything, so you don’t have to worry about that"

"Thanks," he smiled, taking the shirt from her.

"Well, thanks for letting me borrow it. I appreciate it," Buffy replied, then felt stupid, "Since I would have been topless otherwise"

"How are you doing?"

"Other than feeling like a big idiot for going out and getting so drunk that I didn’t know what I was doing, I’m fine"

"Hey, don’t worry - you aren’t the first person to do something when they were drunk that they wouldn’t even consider if they were sober. And you weren’t alone in this, you know. I did it too," he consoled.

Buffy shook her head, "I just can’t believe we did that"

"I know; it’s been thirty-six hours and I still can’t believe it," he sighed. "Um, by the way, there’s something I have been wondering about. Last year, you and Riley… well, I know that you were using condoms and we didn’t use condoms last night. So should I worry? I mean, I’m clean and I would assume you are too, but there is still…"

"I went on the pill last summer," she answered quickly.

"Oh, good"

Buffy couldn’t help but laugh, "This is ridiculous. We really think we’re going to be able to pretend that nothing ever happened between the two of us? What if Riley does come back and we do get back together? You and I can hardly even look at each other, he’s gonna know *something* is up"

He sighed, "I know, you’re right. We just have to calm down. It’s not like we killed somebody. We slept together, and we’re both single, so it’s not like what we did was even wrong, really. There is the whole Riley factor, but like I said before, we aren’t really betraying him"

"Yeah, we were drunk. If we were sober, we never would have slept together, at *least* because it would hurt Riley to know that," she agreed.

"Exactly. It wasn’t our fault, really"

"It wasn’t! It was Willy’s fault. I should go kick his ass"

Graham smiled, "What do you say we just don’t let the guilt and regret get to us? The best thing we can do it forget this happened and move past it for Riley’s sake and if we keep thinking about it, that will never work"

Buffy returned the smile, finding it easier to talk to Graham now that they had everything out in the open. She remembered now that she had always thought he was a nice guy. "Maybe we could try to be friends?"

"I’d like that a lot," he said, "You know, I don’t know many people in Sunnydale anymore, and I think we always got along"

"We did," she agreed, "I have friends, but they’re all paired up. It would be nice to have another single friend to hang out with"

They were interrupted by another knock at the door. Graham tossed the shirt on the arm of the couch and turned towards the door, "This time it’s gotta be the pizza"

Sure enough, as soon as he opened the door, he was hit with the delicious smell of pizza. He quickly paid the kid and returned to Buffy, "Want to stay and have dinner with me?"

She shrugged her shoulders, since Dawn had gone to the roller rink with her friends and wouldn’t be home until after eight. "Sounds nice"

"Great," he replied, "Let me go just get the table ready. I thought I’d be eating alone and was going to be a total guy and eat on the couch"

"Hey, the couch is fine with me. Then we can watch… is that Disturbing Behavior?"

He smiled sheepishly, "It was the only thing on"

"It’s not too bad, as far as horror movies go. Most of the ones they make these days would be more aptly called ‘horrible’ movies. At least this one is somewhat plausible," Buffy replied, then continued at Graham’s incredulous look, "You really think there hasn’t ever been mass brainwashing in Sunnydale?"

Only on the Hellmouth could two people sit and enjoy a pizza while discussing eggs that hatched creatures that then latched on to normal people and made them slaves to Mother Bezoar. Despite the bizarre factor, Buffy and Graham found they enjoyed each other’s company.

"God, I’m full," Buffy groaned, patting her stomach.

"Well, you ate three slices. You’re so tiny; I figured you’d only eat one. I never would have offered you food if I knew you ate so much," Graham teased her.

Buffy smacked him on the arm playfully, "You are, like, five pieces!"

"I’m a growing boy!"

"Oh please," she rolled her eyes.

Noticing she had a bit of spaghetti sauce smudged by the corner of her mouth, Graham couldn’t help but grin at her. He grabbed a napkin and lifted it up, "You have some sauce there"

"Oh," she said quietly, allowing him to wipe her face.

Before they knew it, their faces were mere inches apart as they stared into each other’s eyes. Slowly, they closed the gap between them and kissed each other tenderly. After a moment, they pulled apart, remorse written all over their faces.

"We shouldn’t," she whispered.

Instead of replying, Graham kissed her again, with more force as his passion grew. Buffy reciprocated, her hands moved up to play with the short hairs at the base of his neck while Graham’s roamed over her back.

When they broke apart the second time, they were both panting, and not just from a lack of oxygen. The little voice inside each of their heads that was reminding them how wrong this was became increasingly hard to pay attention to.

"Do you want to stop?" Graham asked.

Buffy knew that if she said yes, they would stop, immediately. Graham may not be able to find the will in himself, but he could do it for her. Unfortunately, she didn’t possess the will either. She hastily shook her head before covering his mouth with her own, giving him a soft, yet fervent kiss before feeling his tongue touching on her lips. She opened her mouth and allowed him entrance, their tongues engaging in the most friendly of battles.

Graham’s hands found the hem of Buffy’s top and pulled it over her head, tossing it on the floor beside the couch before she pulled his sweater off. Her bra soon joined the clothes on the floor and they wrapped their arms around each other, kissing passionately as their naked chests crushed against each other, creating a most delightful friction.

Graham pulled away from her lips only long enough to say, "Bedroom"

They bumped into the recliner, the coffee table twice and the wall, but they managed to make it into the bedroom without having to stop kissing. Once beside the bed, they realized things would move a lot faster if they let go of each other for just a moment and quickly pulled off the rest of their clothes.

Nude, they climbed on the bed and back into each other’s arms. Graham kissed her deeply on the mouth before moving his lips to the side of Buffy’s neck, kissing the faded hickey possessively. He continued to kiss a trail down to her shoulder and beyond, coming to her breast and suckling her nipple before teasing it with his tongue. Buffy moved her hands to his head, interlacing her fingers in his hair as he switched to the other breast, giving it the same treatment. She was amazed at how well he seemed to know what drove her wild and began moaning loudly. All too soon, he abandoned both breasts, ignoring her cries of protest, and kissed across her abdomen before he found himself at the juncture between her thighs. He placed her legs on his shoulders and kissed the inside of each thigh before tenderly caressing her center with his mouth. It was featherlight and frustrated Buffy beyond belief. As though he knew just how far to push her, Graham kissed her again, with more pressure, before darting his tongue out to touch her aching clit, making her arch off the bed.

"Oh, Graham!"

She was dripping with moisture that was so sweet and distinctly *Buffy*. Graham lapped it up like a starving man, running his tongue up and down, managing to make contact with her clit with each stroke.

In no time, Buffy was writing wildly and babbling incoherently as she was wracked with a powerful orgasm. Graham continued to greedily drink her juices until she stilled, trying to catch her breath.

Moving back up her body, he placed wet kisses as he went until they were once again face-to-face. Buffy put her hand on the back of his head and pulled him down to kiss her almost violently as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Graham gripped his erection, rubbing the tip against her slit, mercilessly torturing her until the need became to great and he slowly slid inside.

Their mating was somewhat slower than it had been when they were drunk. They still felt an intense desire, but had the control to try and savor the intense sensations they felt as Graham pulled almost all the way out of Buffy, only to thrust back and fill her completely. Bracing himself on his elbows, he never ceased in his kisses. Whether they were on her mouth, face, neck or breasts, Graham’s lips were always on Buffy. The Slayer felt frenzied, moaning continuously as she lightly scraped her nails over his back and lifted her hips to meet his thrusts.

Their need only grew and with it grew the pace and force of their thrusts. Graham pounded inside her, now moaning as well. Feeling his climax coming, he slid a hand between them and stroked her clit, almost immediately bringing her to her second orgasm of the night. No match for those amazing Slayer muscles, Graham could no longer hold off his release and spilled himself deep inside her, moaning her name loudly.

Not thinking about the fact that she was strong enough to kick his ass to next week, Graham rolled the both of them so that he was on bottom with Buffy resting her head on his chest so that he wouldn’t crush her.

The two were silent for a few moments, calming down after the passionate sex and remembering how they really weren’t supposed to be doing what they had just done.

Graham heard Buffy sigh before she said, "Why did we do that?"

He was quiet for a moment, considering his answer carefully. "Well, to be perfectly honest, it was amazing sex"

She couldn’t help but chuckle, "Yeah, it was. But we both agreed that for us to have sex is to betray Riley and this time we didn’t even have being drunk as our defense"

"I don’t know," he shrugged, "Neither of us are nymphomaniacs and it’s not like we go around just having casual sex. Maybe we just needed it"

"Why did we need it?"

"We’re lonely?"

"I’m sure that if I just tell Riley I had sex with his best friend because I missed him, that will make it all better"

"You won’t tell him," Graham replied, "Even if we aren’t drunk, we’re still two single people and this isn’t wrong. Nothing has changed from the original plan. We don’t tell Riley"

Buffy lifted her head and looked him in the eye, "And we don’t do this again?"

"Right"

"Okay," she sighed and sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest. Shyly, she picked her pants and panties up off the floor and slid them on, modestly covering her breasts with her arms as she retreated to the living room to get her bra and top. While she was gone, Graham put his boxers and pants back on.

A moment later, a fully dressed Buffy returned, carrying the shirt Graham had worn earlier. "Here you go"

"Thanks," he said, giving her a grateful smile before putting it back on.

He watched her slide her shoes back on and tried to work up the nerve to ask her the question that kept going through his mind.

Once she had all her possessions back on her body, the two of them walked back to the living room and Buffy grabbed her purse.

"Well, I’d better be going; it’s getting kind of late"

Graham opted not to point out that it wasn’t even eight o’clock yet and instead gave her a slight nod.

"Goodnight," Buffy said quietly, opening the door.

"Uh, Buffy," he said quickly.

She paused and turned to look at him, "Yeah?"

"Can we still… did you change your mind about us being friends?"

Buffy shook her head, "I’d still love to be friends with you"

He couldn’t help but smile in relief, "Great; I’ll call you soon then. We can do something. I mean, not sex-something. We can go to the movies or, you know, innocent, just friends stuff"

She laughed, "I know what you mean. I’ll see you, Graham"

"Bye," he called after her, watching as she walked down the hall of the apartment building before shutting the door after her.

With a sigh, Graham turned around and collapsed on the couch, wondering if they really could just be friends. What was up with him? Sure, Buffy was beautiful, but it’s not like he had no control of his body. What was it about her that made him want her more than he’d wanted anything in his life?

The cushions in the couch had gotten messed up during their makeout session and one of them was now crooked, allowing Graham to find the top Buffy had been wearing that first night. It must have gotten jammed into a crevice.

Picking up the stretchy purple top, Graham brought it to his face and inhaled deeply, still being able to detect Buffy’s perfume on the clothing. Pulling it back to look at it, he found that it had gotten a bit dirty being buried in his couch.

Looks like he’d have to wash and return it like she had done for him.

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.

"That was very good, Dawn," Buffy complimented her little sister as she leaned back in her chair, her stomach pleasantly full.

"Yes, best spaghetti I have had in a long time," Graham nodded his assent.

"Good, then you can sign here," Dawn grinned, setting a piece of paper down in front of Buffy, who quickly signed on the line so that Dawn could get credit for completing the assignment.

"So how does the kitchen look? Am I going to have a stroke?"

Rolling her eyes, the brunette replied, "It’s not bad at all!"

"Why don’t I trust you? Oh yeah, I’ve seen your bedroom," Buffy joked, then looked at Graham, "Want some coffee?"

"Sure, that would be great," he replied.

Despite Buffy and Dawn’s protests, Graham insisted on helping them clear the table. With the three of them cleaning the kitchen, all the work was done in no time and Buffy and Graham sat on the couch with their mugs of coffee while Dawn, after much nagging by Buffy, sat in the dining room doing the rest of her homework.

"I can’t wait until school lets out so I don’t have to go through the nightly homework mess," Buffy sighed and shook her head, "I just pray she passes all her classes"

"She’s not doing well in school?" Graham asked.

"Dawn has always loved school. She’s, like, the opposite of me. Grades were never an issue until now," she explained, "With all the stuff with my mom… she started ditching. I had *no* idea until I got called in for a meeting with her principal and they threatened to take her away. Shows how great I am at this stuff, huh?"

"Yeah, because it’s really abnormal for a kid to ditch school and their parents to be oblivious," he replied sarcastically, "Buffy, for one thing, you are new to this. Plus, you’re going through the loss of your mother too. Give yourself a break. I think you’re doing a great job with Dawn, for what it’s worth"

"You really think so? She’s doing okay?"

"For a kid who just lost her mother? She’s doing much better than okay"

She gave him a small smile, "Thank you"

He shrugged, "All I did is tell you what I see"

"No, you didn’t," Buffy shook her head, "You let me know that I am not totally screwing up my sister and that there is a chance she won’t spend her entire life in therapy and hating me. I worry about that"

"You know, as lonely as I have always been without a brother or sister, I feel lucky that I didn’t have to be in your position when my mom died"

"As scary as this is, like I told you the other night, without Dawn I think I would lose it if I didn’t have her. She keeps me grounded. I can’t go into a deep depression, I have to go on living because Dawn needs me"

Once again, Graham was impressed by how caring Buffy was. It never ceased to amaze him how strong, yet gentle she could be. Unlike Riley when he first came to Sunnydale, Graham knew there were shades of gray. He wasn’t as naïve about everything being clearly defined as good or evil. When he’d been with the Initiative, it had just been easier to let *them* make the decisions; to take orders and feel like he was fighting the good fight.

But Buffy was the one who decided what to fight against and what to fight for and she’d obviously done a better job of it than they did. He could easily see why Riley had given it all up to stick around and help her.

"Buf-fy!" Dawn whined, "I need help with my math!"

Frowning at Graham, Buffy said, "Now on this I seriously suck. I really should have paid attention when I was her age because I have the hardest time helping with homework"

He smiled, "Well, math has always been my strong point. I could help her if you’d like"

Grinning, she nodded quickly, "Thank you, you’re wonderful!"

***

"Well, thanks again for dinner," Graham said as he opened the front door.

"You’re welcome, and thank you too," Buffy smiled.

Dawn nodded, "Yeah, I appreciate it. If Buffy had been the one to help, I’d *still* be working on my homework"

Shooting her sister a dirty look, Buffy said, "Don’t you need to get to bed?"

"In a minute," she replied. "So Graham, you know how you said that ‘Shrek’ looked good? Maybe we could go see it soon?"

"We?" he asked.

"Yeah, you know, you, Buffy and I," Dawn explained, then laughed. "Don’t worry, I’m not asking you out on a date!"

Buffy shook her head, "Isn’t she a sweetheart?"

Graham smiled, "I’m in if Buffy is"

"Sure, sounds fun," she replied casually, while her heart fluttered. Despite the fact that she *knew* she shouldn’t be feeling this way - she never had when she made plans with Xander - she couldn’t help it.

As much as she hated herself for it, Buffy knew that in her heart, Graham was not just Riley’s best friend anymore.

***

Buffy sighed as she walked through the deserted cemetery. Why did it seem like whenever she was itching for a kill, there were no vampires around? Soon after Graham had left, Willow and Tara had arrived for Dawn Duty while Buffy patrolled. She’d spent the past two hours ready to stake anything with fangs, but instead had just had a lot of time to try and sort through her thoughts about Graham

And all she’d come up with was that it was very wrong. He was Riley’s best friend and even if she and Riley were over for good, wasn’t it wrong for her to hook up with his best friend? Besides, she was just asking to let Graham hurt her like Parker did and this time she wouldn’t have the excuse that he tricked her. Graham had expressed no romantic interest; it had just been sex to him. It was supposed to have just been sex to her, but no. Apparently the fates hadn’t had enough fun screwing with her yet.

Maybe she didn’t really like Graham as anything more than a friend either. It could just be an attraction she felt towards him. He was pretty easy on the eyes after all. Still, she’d thought he was cute the first time she had met him, but had never acted on it. When Riley had been there, it had never even occurred to her that she might want to have a relationship with Graham.

Perhaps that was it. Riley was gone. Buffy was lonely and needy. Then there was Graham, handsome and sensitive and able to relate to what she was going through. Hell, it was good enough to even excuse her inappropriate twinges whenever she saw him. She was in mourning and grief made people do funny things, like get crushes on their ex-boyfriend’s best friend. She’d get over it - maybe after she and Graham spent more time together, they’d get to be better friends and the way she felt about him would change.

Feeling optimistic, Buffy decided to call it a night. After all, summertime in Sunnydale was notably less active as far as baddies were concerned. They tended to go on vacation. Why waste her time when she could get a good night’s sleep?

***

Graham lifted the telephone from the cradle for the umpteenth time that day before quickly hanging it up, as he’d done every time previously. Shaking his head, he couldn’t believe how ridiculous he was being.

It had been nearly three days since he’d seen Buffy, that fabulous night when Dawn had invited him over for dinner. He had wanted to take full advantage of the teen’s suggestion that they see a movie right away, but had managed to suppress the urge to call Friday night. That would have been beyond pathetic. Calling Saturday wouldn’t have been much better. Besides, Saturday night was date night, so had he and Buffy gone to the movies then, even with Dawn tagging along, being surrounded by couples would have made for a very uncomfortable situation.

But now it was Sunday and after much consideration - since he’d had all Friday and Saturday night to analyze things - Graham had decided that if the three of them were to see a matinee, it wouldn’t be at all awkward.

If he could just get the nerve to *call*, maybe they could actually *go*.

He asked himself why he was so nervous. It wasn’t a date. He and Buffy had agreed that they would be friends and only friends. She was off-limits to him; he couldn’t get with his best friend’s girl. Whenever he’d wanted to catch a movie with any other female friend, it had been no big deal.

Taking a deep breath, Graham picked up the receiver and dialed Buffy’s number before he had the chance to chicken out.

***

Buffy was in the midst of vacuuming the living room, wondering if they should get a new couch as she did nearly every day since her mother had died on it, when the telephone rang. She’d only had time to turn the vacuum cleaner off before she heard Dawn thundering down the stairs.

"I got it!"

Buffy reluctantly returned to her cleaning, admonishing herself inwardly for hoping it was Graham, as she had done every time the phone rang or there was a knock at the door for the past few days. She was no better than those pitiful women on the soaps that she pretended not to watch. Sitting around, hoping a man would call her.

As if she hadn’t made enough mistakes in her love life, now she was jonesing for attention from a guy it would be *so* wrong to date. If that weren’t enough, she was begging to get hurt; Graham just saw their sex as sex. She wasn’t foolish enough to say it was making love - she wasn’t in love with him - but she definitely felt more than friendship.

It was just as well that Graham wasn’t making any contact with her. He was by far the worst person for her to get involved with. Perhaps she’d take Dawn’s advice and go out and socialize. She didn’t need a boyfriend - was probably better off without one at this point in her life - but if she could get her mind off of Graham, maybe Buffy could get back on the right track.

"Hey Buffy, what are you doing this afternoon?" Dawn called from the kitchen.

Figuring it was one of her friends and she wanted a ride to their house, Buffy replied, "Just cleaning. Nothing important"

She didn’t hear a reply for several moments until Dawn came into the living room, a bright smile on her face.

"That was Graham. He’s going to be here in an hour so that we can catch the three o’clock show. We’re going to see ‘Shrek.’"

"But, you didn’t even ask me!" Buffy protested, torn between being upset with her sister for making plans without her and for forcing her to spend time with Graham, and being excited about spending time with Graham.

"Yes I did, I asked if you had plans"

"Dawn, asking if I have plans and asking if I want to go to the movies are two different things"

"True… but I only thought it was important that you didn’t have plans. I don’t care if you feel like seeing a movie… you *need* to. Come on, get out, have fun, make me happy?"

Buffy sighed and cocked her head to the side. Why even bother arguing?

***

"This is okay with you, right?" Graham asked as he, Buffy and Dawn exited the Summers’ home.

"Of course, why wouldn’t it be?" Buffy questioned him.

He shrugged, "It’s just that I never actually talked to you, just Dawn"

"Oh, and I am not trustworthy?" Dawn exclaimed, her hands on her hips.

"No, you’re not," her sister retorted, then smiled at Graham, "But don’t worry, because I’m very fine with this"

Graham opened the passenger door of his car and pushed the front seat forward to allow Dawn to get in the back.

"Wow, old car," she idly commented.

"It’s not old, it’s *classic*," he disagreed, "This is a 1965 Fastback Mustang. It’s not *old*"

Dawn shot a questioning look at her sister, who simply shrugged and smiled at Graham, "All we know about cars is you put gas in them and they go"

Once the brunette got in the back, Buffy climbed in the passenger seat as Graham walked around to the driver’s side. They had soon backed out of the driveway and started down the street as Graham flipped on the air conditioner.

Dawn sighed happily, "Graham I’m *so* sorry I called this car old. It has air conditioning! It’s the best car in the world!"

At Graham’s confused look, Buffy explained, "The air isn’t working in my mom’s… uh… my jeep"

"Any idea why?"

"Probably because it sucks," she smiled, "I really need to take it in to the shop, it’s just a hassle and I hate to be stuck without a car for a few days. My mom used to just rent one, but I’m sure it’s a big pain"

"I told her she should just get a new car and dump the jeep at the dealer, but does she listen to me? Nope" Dawn added from the backseat.

"Dawn, I told you, I want to talk to Mr. Boyd first," Buffy said, then told Graham, "He’s my mother’s attorney. Since she died, he’s been really great about handling the gallery and financial stuff"

"Oh please, the gallery is doing great and Mom had savings, not to mention her life insurance! We can afford a car"

"Dawn," Buffy warned, effectively shutting her sister up.

As they continued on their way, Graham tried to figure out if he’d have time to do mechanical work.

***

"That was so funny! Wasn’t it?" Dawn chattered as the three of them walked out of Sun Cinema at nearly five that evening.

"Yeah, it was very funny," Graham agreed in that quiet way of his, smiling down at the bubbly girl.

"I bet you one thing, though, she may have laughed, but Buffy thought it was gross," she winked at him before looking at her sister, "You did, didn’t you?"

Buffy saw both Dawn and Graham giving her amused looks and calmly replied, "No, I don’t seem to appreciate bathroom humor as much as you two, but the movie *was* funny…. sometimes"

"It wasn’t too disgusting, was it?" Graham asked her.

Buffy shrugged, "I suppose not"

Dawn’s stomach grumbled, demanding to be fed, which Buffy found surprising considering all the candy and popcorn she had consumed.

"Can we have dinner now?" the girl asked.

Buffy nodded, "Want me to make some of that stir fry stuff? Graham if you want, you’re free to join us"

They shared a smile before Graham nodded, "I’d love to have dinner with you two again… but you shouldn’t go to the trouble of cooking. Let’s go to a restaurant"

"Yeah!" Dawn cheered, "Coco’s!"

Buffy nodded, "Alright, that sounds good. Where should we go?"

"Coco’s!" Dawn repeated loudly.

Grinning, he replied, "I heard Coco’s is good"

***

"Mmm… these are the best," Dawn raved, taking a bite out of one of her crispy chicken fingers doused in honey mustard.

"Really? You give us the impression that you hate them the way you’re shoveling them in your mouth like they may run away," her sister quipped.

Graham smiled and took a bite out of one of his own chicken fingers, "They are pretty good"

"Buffy’s just cranky because she’s having a boring old salad," Dawn informed him.

Buffy stuck her tongue out at the girl before stabbing a piece of lettuce and bringing it to her mouth. It was true that her salad was less than exciting, but watching Dawn devour her dinner wasn’t exactly appetizing.

"Hi Dawn!"

The three of them looked up and saw Dawn’s friend, Lisa standing beside their table. Dawn sat up straighter and smiled.

"Hey, what’s up?"

"Oh, I’m just here with my family and saw you, so I thought I’d come over," Lisa explained, "Hi Buffy"

"Hi," Buffy smiled. She liked Lisa, she’d been a good friend to Dawn, and had been really supportive through the whole thing with their mom. "Oh, Lisa, this is Graham, Graham this is Lisa. She’s Dawn’s best friend"

"Nice to meet you Lisa," Graham said politely.

"You too," she said as the smile on her face grew wider, looking at this very handsome man. She and Dawn were going to have to dish before school the next day!

***

"Thanks for today, it was really nice," Buffy said shyly as she walked Graham to the door. He’d come in and hung out for a bit when he’d returned them to their home.

"Yeah, I had a great time"

She nodded, "I’m glad we decided to be friends"

"Buffy, I’ve been thinking about your car. You know, when I bought my Mustang, it was a piece of crap. Not just in need of a paint job, but the engine too. I completely rebuilt it… so I know my way around a car. Want to let me try to get your air conditioning working again?"

"Oh no, I could never ask you to do that. I’ll take it in soon"

"Come on, I want to"

"Graham it’s too much," she argued.

"Buffy, you have risked your life to save mine. Granted, it was a lot of people you were saving at the time, but I was one of them. Besides, I doubt you wouldn’t do the same if it had just been me"

"That was my job"

"Well, I’m your friend. It’s my job to help you out"

"Graham-"

"Buffy"

She sighed and smiled, "You’re sure you want to do this?"

"Positive. I can work on it tomorrow night, probably do it all in a few hours," he answered, "I’ll just have to go home, change and have dinner after work and then I’ll be here"

"Let me make you dinner. It’s the least I can do"

"Alright," Graham smiled, unable to resist an invitation to share a meal with her.

"Great! What’s your favorite meal?"

"I’m sure I’ll love anything you make for me"

***

"So… who is Graham?" Lisa asked almost immediately after she and Dawn had greeted each other in front of Sunnydale Junior High School.

"Uh… the guy who was sitting with Buffy and I last night," Dawn replied, unsure of what Lisa was asking.

Her friend rolled her eyes, "I *know* that… but is he Buffy’s boyfriend?"

"No, he’s just a friend. Actually, he’s, like, best friends with Riley"

"So Riley and Buffy got back together?"

"No, Riley’s not back in Sunnydale. Graham and Buffy are friends too now"

"Really? That kind of sucks… Graham’s really hot… we could live vicariously through your sister. Plus, Buffy really needs a man"

"Yeah… that’s true," Dawn agreed, "But who knows… they’re just friends right *now*"

Lisa smiled, "But you see potential for more?"

"Maybe… Graham looks at Buffy… well, not like how he looks at me. But he’s pretty quiet, so he’s hard to read. And Buffy is still so weird trying to take care of me and be strong and all that, so I can’t figure her out half the time. Oh! But the other night I invited Graham over when I had to make dinner for my assignment, and Buffy spent a long time in her room getting ready"

"Well, that’s something!" Lisa grinned, "You know, we’re getting out of school in a few days and we’re going to have a lot of free time"

"Ooh… we can play matchmaker!" Dawn giggled, walking arm-in-arm through the doors with her friend.

This was bound to be one interesting summer.

"Wow, this is really nice," Graham, commented, looking down at the meal Buffy had prepared.

"Oh, it’s nothing," Buffy lied. She’d spent several hours that morning going through cookbooks and trying to find the perfect meal. She’d finally settled on lemon chicken, seasoned potatoes and a green salad. It was more ‘adult’ than macaroni and cheese, but didn’t appear to be overly romantic.

Buffy chose not to ponder why the decision had been so important.

"How come you never made this before?" Dawn asked before taking a bite, "Mmm, it’s yummy"

"Thanks. And I am trying to learn how to make new things. We’re going to get sick of eating the same stuff all the time if I don’t"

"Too bad you two aren’t guys. We can eat the same thing every night," Graham half-joked.

"Like pizza? I think I could eat pizza every night," Dawn said.

"You’d get sick of it," her sister disagreed.

"I know! Why don’t we order pizza tomorrow night and the night after and so on and see when I get sick of it?"

Graham chuckled, "A science experiment, huh?"

"Exactly! I can write a hypothesis tonight if you’d like, Buffy"

"How about you just do your homework tonight and we can eat well-balanced, healthy meals?"

Dawn gave Graham a sullen look, "Gee, I don’t have to wonder why you like hanging out with Buffy. She’s just *super* fun"

"She has her charms," Graham replied quietly, making Buffy blush before studiously cutting her chicken.

There was a definite tension in the room, which did not go unnoticed by Dawn, but she chose to file that away later so she could discuss it with Lisa. Playing the part of the oblivious sister, she rambled on about the latest rumors Kirsty Sims was spreading around the school until Buffy and Graham got over their discomfort and once again relaxed enough to make casual conversation.

***

Buffy carefully walked into the garage with a cold bottle of water. She didn’t want to startle or annoy Graham by hovering, but it seemed rude to sit in the house while he’d spent nearly an hour under the hood of her car.

When he looked up, she smiled, "I thought you might like a drink"

"Actually, yeah, that’s be great," he replied, gratefully taking the bottle from her and gulping some down.

"How’s it going? Need help?"

Graham grinned, "It’s really driving you insane that you have to let me fix this, doesn’t it?"

"Yes, I’m a control freak, I know," she sighed, "But actually, what really bothers me is that it’s *my* car and you are doing all the work"

"Well, I like working on cars"

"I hope you aren’t just saying that to make me feel better," Buffy told him, then asked, "So, any idea what’s wrong?"

He nodded, "Unfortunately, I think your compressor has gone out"

"Is that incredibly difficult to replace? I can take it to a shop. Dawn and I can rely on rides from friends for a few days, we’ll be fine"

"No, it’s not hard, it just takes a few hours. However, it’s four hundred dollars for a new compressor"

Buffy grimaced before shrugging, "Not the most fun way to spend four hundred dollars, but I need a car"

"I have some money; I could loan you some," he offered, knowing better than to even suggest that he *give* her money. Besides, he really didn’t like the fact that he’d give Buffy four hundred dollars without a second thought. He liked to think he was a good friend, but he wasn’t *that* good a friend to someone he’d hardly known until a week and a half earlier.

"Don’t worry, I have the money," she assured him. "But would you mind taking me to the store? For one thing, I have never bought a compressor before and also, it’s kind of a long walk"

"Of course I’ll take you," Graham rolled his eyes. She was self-reliant to a fault.

After Graham had cleaned up a bit and Dawn had headed over to Melinda’s so she wouldn’t have to go to the ‘boring car parts store’, he and Buffy climbed in his Mustang and headed to the nearest auto parts supplier. They walked in the door and found the store was relatively quiet, with only a few customers inside. As they walked down the aisles and found what they were looking for, Graham noticed Buffy getting quite a few appreciative looks, and felt the envy of the other men. Despite the fact that he wasn’t supposed to even think of Buffy as a female, it sure felt nice.

***

Since it was already almost nine o’clock by the time they returned home and Graham had told her he expected to take several hours putting the new compressor in, Buffy insisted he finish it the next night. When she went to get Dawn from Melinda’s, she asked if her sister could get a ride to school with them the next day and they said it was fine, so the girls would be okay without a car for the day.

Graham reluctantly agreed to leave the car as it was, since he was pretty tired already and didn’t relish the thought of being there until one in the morning.

"Thank you so much again," Buffy smiled, "You have no idea how wonderful you are. I trust you, and I wouldn’t trust a mechanic, so at least I have peace of mind now"

"You’re sure you two aren’t going to have to eat broth for a month because you spent so much money, right?" he asked.

Buffy laughed, "I promise, it’s fine!"

"Okay, see you tomorrow?"

"Of course, and come by at six again, I’ll make you dinner, okay?"

Graham nodded enthusiastically, "You don’t have to ask me twice. That’s some of the best food I’ve had in years"

After they said their good-byes, Buffy went back to the kitchen to start looking for something else to cook the next night since she had a couple hours before Xander was supposed to show up to stay there while she patrolled. Dawn had already gone to bed, so she had peace and quiet while she scanned through the cookbooks, determined not to feel bad about doing it. She and Graham had gone in a car, at night, by themselves, to the store and hadn’t done anything inappropriate. They were doing great at the just friends thing.

All she had to do was get rid of the underlying tension that was often right under the surface when Graham was around and she’d be home free.

***

"Ahh, so this is some of that newfangled air conditioning those kids are always talking about, huh?" Buffy joked as she and Graham sat in the front seat of her car testing the new compressor.

"Amazing, ain’t it?" he smiled before shutting it off, "I guess I am done"

"Thank you again, so much," Buffy gushed, "I feel like I owe you big. What can I do?"

"You’re here, you let me be your friend and spend time with you and your sister. That means a lot"

"Oh yeah, we’re the two most popular hostesses in town," she retorted, "Actually, this *is* Sunnydale…"

"You two are great"

They smiled at each other and were silent for a moment before Buffy opened the passenger side door and climbed out. Graham did the same on his side before following her out the garage door and back into the house.

"So, that should take care of your air conditioning problem, I hope. I kind of got the impression from Dawn that it goes out a lot?" Graham asked.

Buffy shrugged, "It was okay for about three years, then it started going out once or twice a year"

"Jeez, great car," he replied sarcastically.

She smiled, "I know; it’s not very reliable and I really should just trade it in for a new car like Dawn says, but I just can’t"

Graham frowned and was about to ask her why she couldn’t when there was a knock at the door.

"Oh, that must be Willow!" Buffy exclaimed and rushed to the door. Graham trailed behind, wondering why Buffy had friends coming over at eleven o’clock at night.

"Hi!" she greeted as she opened the door to reveal a redhead standing on her porch.

"Hey Buffy, how are things?" the other girl said as she stepped inside.

"Just fine, I totally lost track of time, I can’t believe it’s already eleven," Buffy replied, then looked at Graham, "Oh, I’m sorry, you guys remember each other, right? Willow is my best friend and Will, Graham worked with Riley in the Initiative"

The redhead smiled apprehensively, "I remember. Does this mean Riley is back?"

"Uh, no," Graham replied quietly, "At least not yet. It is possible that he’ll be coming back sometime soon"

"Oh, well is everything okay? I mean, is some bad thing going down?"

"No, Graham and I have just been hanging out," Buffy explained, "He actually just spent tonight putting a new compressor-thingy in the jeep so I can have air conditioning again"

"Wow, that is really great of you"

"It’s nothing," Graham said modestly, "I’m good with cars and I like helping Buffy"

Willow smiled widely at him; she’d been a bit anxious first since, with the exception of Riley, she really hadn’t trusted anyone from the Initiative. However, Graham seemed like a good guy – he *had* been Riley’s best friend, after all – and Buffy really needed to have good people like that around her, especially now.

"Willow and my other friends all take turns coming over to stay here with Dawn while I patrol," Buffy told him, "You know, just in case"

"Oh yeah, I hadn’t even thought about the fact that you still patrol"

"A slayer’s duty never ends," she half-joked.

"If you want, I could go with you," Graham offered.

Buffy smiled, "You go home. It’s late and you have to work tomorrow"

He would have argued, but he really was tired. "Alright, if you’re sure"

"I can take care of myself, as far as slaying is concerned, anyway," she assured him as the two of them walked to the door, "See you in a while, Will"

"It was nice seeing you again," Graham told the witch.

Willow smiled and waved, "Bye!"

The two walked out front and said goodbye before parting ways. As Buffy walked alone down the quiet streets towards the cemetery, she thought about Graham. She really had wanted to him to join her, but she had seen how exhausted he was. Besides, despite the fact that they had been really well behaved as of late, as far as keeping their hands, lips and other body parts to themselves, she still didn’t trust herself not to repeat past mistakes.

***

"So, did you do it?"

Dawn sighed into the telephone, "Yeah, but I really don’t think this is a good idea. Buffy will probably get mad at me"

"Nah," Lisa replied on the other end, "Just tell her that kids are supposed to bring both their parents to the graduation and even though she isn’t your mom and Graham is just a friend, it would make you feel less left out. It’ll make her feel totally guilty, trust me. My cousin, Talina’s parents are divorced and she has a million ways to get what she wants through guilt"

"But that doesn’t seem right. I mean, Buffy can be a pain in the ass but I love her and she’s in just as much pain about my mom"

"Yeah, and if we were doing something to hurt her, that would be a problem. You like Graham, right?"

"Sure, he’s really nice"

"And he’s hot, isn’t he?"

"Definitely good looking"

"He treats Buffy well?"

"Yup"

"Then don’t you think they should get together?" Lisa persuaded, "We’re *helping* Buffy"

Dawn bit her bottom lip, "I just hope this doesn’t blow up in my face"

"Dawn! Ready to go?" Buffy called from downstairs.

"I’d better go now, see you at the ceremony"

"Okay, good luck!" Lisa said before they both hung up.

Dawn grabbed her sweater and ran down the stairs to find her sister waiting, "I’m ready"

"Are you up to something?"

"No, why?" Dawn asked, trying to appear calm, as she opened the front door and started walking to the jeep parked in the driveway.

"Because you’re being weird"

"I am not!"

"Yes you are," Buffy argued, but shook her head and brushed it off as she followed her sister to the car.

She had other things to worry about, like how she was going to get through the next few hours. Buffy had only agreed to go because the graduation had been important to Dawn. However, all the sympathetic looks and comments she would be getting from all the parents who knew about her mom were something Buffy absolutely didn’t enjoy.

***

Buffy frowned as she saw her sister looking around the crowded auditorium. She still hadn’t been able to shake her suspicions that Dawn was up to something and now she appeared even sneakier.

"Looking for someone?"

Dawn looked at her and tried to figure out what to say when she saw Graham walk in the doors about ten feet behind Buffy.

"Graham!"

Surprised, Buffy turned around and saw that her friend was indeed there. "Graham, what are you doing here?"

"You didn’t know I was coming?" he asked.

Dawn smiled nervously as they both turned to look at her questioningly. "Well, you see, this is something that you’re expected to bring your parents to and Buffy, you’re the closest thing to a mom that I have. And I know Graham isn’t my dad, and I don’t see him as fatherly or as your boyfriend or anything, but he’s my friend. And even though he hasn’t been my friend for long, he’s special to me. Almost like a big brother. If I can’t have my parents here, I wanted two very special people here. Are you guys mad?"

Buffy and Graham exchanged looks before turning back to Dawn and giving her small smiles.

"It’s fine, Dawnie"

Dawn could tell her sister was near tears and felt a pang of guilt, but reminded herself what Lisa said. This was for Buffy’s own good.

"Oh that’s great. Well, you two sit down and I’ll go check in with Mrs. Douglass," she told them before rushing off, relieved that it had worked. Now it was up to the two of them.

Doing as Dawn directed, Buffy and Graham found two seats in the rapidly filling auditorium.

"Wow, I had no idea she felt that way about me," Graham said.

"I think Dawn feels a connection with you. You’re a great listener. You don’t treat her like a kid; she appreciates that"

"Still, I feel very special"

"You are special," Buffy replied, giving him a tender smile.

"Oh Buffy!" an older woman exclaimed as she approached the two of them.

Buffy plastered a fake smile on her face, "Mrs. Jennings"

"It’s so good to see you here. You’re taking such good care of little Dawn. After your mother passed, I was so worried about her, but she has such a wonderful sister, that I’m sure she’ll be fine," the woman rambled, "Oh, who is this?"

"I’m sorry, this is Graham Miller," Buffy explained, then added before the woman jumped to the wrong conclusion, "He’s a friend of Dawn and I"

"Ohhhhh," she replied, raising her eyebrows. Obviously Mrs. Jennings didn’t quite buy that.

"Nice to meet you," Graham said politely.

Buffy was afraid she was about to get a long grilling about how things were going, or even worse – the real deal with Graham, but luckily Mr. Jennings appeared and politely dragged his wife away.

"She was interesting," Graham commented.

Buffy nodded, "I first ran into her when I had to go bring some paperwork to the school right after my mom died. She is very concerned about Dawn and I. But in all honestly, I think she would love it if I totally screwed up so that she’d have something to gossip about"

"Too bad for her, she’s going to be vastly disappointed," Graham smiled.

Buffy returned the smile before their attention was directed to the Sunnydale Junior High principal standing on the stage in front of the microphone. All thoughts of Mrs. Jennings disappeared as Dawn’s graduation ceremony began.

:: On To Next Part ::