Far from Home

Spoilers: Don't think so.

Rating: PG I think.

Read the rest of the series before you read this.

Far from Home Part 6

"Angel, you can take a break," Bodie yelled from the kitchen, "And if you see her, tell Joey that she better start showing up soon or she's in trouble." Buffy let out a sigh of relief. She took her tips for the day and went to her room. She was about to lie down when she heard a sniffle behind her open door. Buffy got up to close it only to find Joey crouched behind it.

"What do you do in here all the time by yourself?" Joey asked, trying to hide her tears.

"Nothing," Buffy said. "What are you doing here?"

"I had no where else to go," Joey whimpered softly.

"Bodie wants you back out there," Buffy said.

"Oh, no. Not now, not like this," Joey rubbed her eyes. "I--"

"This is because of Dawson, isn't it?" Buffy interrupted.

"How did you--"

"I heard you guys yesterday. Who's Jen?"

"Jen," Joey repeated scornfully. "You know the problem? The problem is that it was never me. He still wants Jen. It was always her. Always. Boy, was it stupid of me to believe that he could actually want me when he could have had Miss New York."

"You are stupid," Buffy suddenly said, "to be moping about this because you have some lack of self-esteem. Doesn't that excuse sound lame to you? I heard what you said. I saw your face when he said that he needed you more than ever. I know what you're thinking. You're afraid to let him in, aren't you? You're afraid of needing someone. He loves you and here you are crying over some petty stupid thing you made up to distance yourself from him. You have to need someone, even if you don't want to. You can't help it, you will. So you better enjoy your time with him because he won't always be there for you. You'll lose him completely one day after he tells you one last time that he loves you. After you lose all hope of getting him back, you'll get a glimpse of his love again and then you'll have to let go of him forever. Get out of here. You make me sick."

Joey got up although she was sobbing violently. "Gi-gi-give m-me a mi-minute a-and,"she took a breath. "And don't worry. I'll l-l-l-leave you alone."

"I loved him," Buffy said quietly after Joey had stopped crying. "I'm really sorry I snapped like that, but don't throw your love away because one day it will be too late." Joey nodded in forgiveness and left Buffy alone, closing the door behind her. Buffy dissolved into her tears.

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"Dawson?" Joey whispered from the ladder. The window was open. "Are you awake?" No response. Joey climbed in the window and looked at the clock. 2:30AM. "Dawson?" she whispered again. "She walked over to the bed and sat down at the edge of it. She watched him breathing as he slept, the moon casting a soft glow of light onto his face. She carefully pulled down the covers and laid down next to him. She noticed little dots of dampness on his pillow and the drying streams of water near his eyes glistening.

"You must have just fallen asleep," Joey whispered, very gently putting her hand on his cheek to try and get rid of the tears she knew that he recently shed for her. "I know that it's me, Dawson, not Jen. You were just trying to be a good friend." She paused. "And I was trying to find a reason to push you away. Every time I need someone, I lose them. I couldn't handle losing you. I'm sorry. I love you." Joey lightly gave him a peck on the lips and put her arms around him. She watched him until she fell asleep herself.

*******************************************************

"Man, can't they make a connecting flight from California to Capeside?" Oz complained.

"I know. I could have done without the connections in Minnesota and North Carolina when we're trying to get to Boston. Total waste of time. And the airlines don't even give out the delicious roasted peanuts anymore. Stale pretzels instead? What's up with that?" Xander agreed.

"You guys wanted the discount flight," Jen pointed out. "What did you expect? Now stop whining. We're almost back to Capeside."

"Why couldn't Cordy come in the car?" Xander whined. "Why is she in the taxi?"

"Because I had three weeks worth of luggage and the car could only fit two more people and minimum baggage. You two had the least."

"Look, I'm going on the highway," Jen's grandmother suddenly said, "and if you all don't stop whining there will be no slaying because we will probably get into an accident before we get home!"

******************************************************

"I don't know about you four," Giles said after paying the taxi driver and Jen and her grandmother left them at the hotel, "but I made sure to get my own room. Quite frankly, I'll welcome ten hours without having to hear Xander's versions of '999 Vampires Staked to the Wall'."

"Hey!" Xander objected. "It's a classic!"

"Yeah, well we got two adjoining rooms with two single beds in each," Willow said, pulling out the room keys.

"Good. Um... Jen's grandmother will be here to pick us up at 1PM tomorrow afternoon. I suggest that you all get some sleep," Giles said, opening the door to his room. "Good night."

"Okay," Cordelia said, "we're upstairs." They tiredly dragged their bags upstairs to their rooms. "I'm exhausted," Cordelia yawned. "A quick shower to get rid of the stale airplane smell, some time to fix my hair, and I'm going to bed."

"Um, yeah, bed," Xander opened up the adjoining inside door. "Me and Oz got a slight problem. See, you guys got two singles. We got one king size."

"Sorry, but I prefer not sleeping in the same bed as people like... Xander," Oz followed Xander in.

"So," Xander said, "how about Willow shares her room with Oz and I'll sleep with Cordelia?"

"Xander!" Willow exclaimed. "How about I share the king-size with Cordy and you guys use our room?"

"I'm with Willow on this one and I'm too tired to argue. Anyone want to disagree with me?" Cordelia asked. No one volunteered. "Good," she smiled, "then let's get some sleep."

*****************************************************

"Mmmm... Joey?" Dawson said sleepily the next morning. "Hey, Jo, when did you get here? Joeeey."

"Huh?" Joey groaned and looked at Dawson. "Gee, thanks for waking me up. I came over last night and didn't want to wake you up."

"But I went to sleep kind of late last night so you must have gotten here really late. Anyway, I'm really sorry," Dawson put his arms around her and put his head on her shoulder.

"I don't care. I've already forgiven you. In fact, I should be apologizing. Actually, I did but you were asleep. I was pushing you away, Dawson. No good reason. The problem was me. I'm afraid."

"Afraid? Of me?"

"Of loving you too much. I don't want to love you and then have to lose you, Dawson. First my dad, then my mom, I can't lose you, too. Except for Bessie and Alexander, you're all I have left," Joey said sadly. Dawson held her tighter.

"You'll never lose me, Jo. Not completely. You'd never lose me, not even if you killed me."

"Killed you?" Joey asked alarmed. "Where the heck did that come from?"

"I don't know," Dawson said honestly. "I certainly didn't mean to say that. I don't ever even want to think about that. It just came out, like it wasn't me saying it, I don't know..."

"Okay, let's pretend that never happened," Joey said, still a little shaken up from the idea. "Listen, um, I don't have to go to work today. You want to go to the Ruins and hang out?"

"Hang out and make up? I'd love to," Dawson grinned.

"Okay, but it will probably be a good idea to brush your teeth before we 'make up'." Joey jokingly made a disgusted face.

"Hey, well you don't smell spring-fresh, either." He stuck his tongue out at her.

"Hmm. We can have some fun if you stay in that position, Dawson," Joey smiled. She leaned in to kiss him but then stopped and pushed him off of the bed.

******************************************************

Xander, Cordelia, Willow, Oz, and Jen were sitting there bored out of their minds while Giles eagerly told the new Watcher about Acathala and they talked about prophesies.

"Don't you have anything to do in this town?" Cordelia rolled her eyes.

"Yes, actually, although not much. You want to go out and meet some of my friends?" Jen offered.

"Are they hot?" Xander asked, suddenly interested. Cordelia slapped him in the back of the head.

"Yes, any friends of yours are friends of ours," Oz said politely. He looked at Cordelia glaring at Xander who was rubbing the back of his head. "Or at least me and Willow."

"Okay, I went next door to Dawson's before to see if he was home, but he won't be back until later. Why don't we go eat lunch? We can go to the Icehouse where my friend Joey is a waitress."

"Joey? Waitress? What an odd name for a girl," Cordelia said.

"Yeah," Willow, Oz and Xander agreed. Jen smiled and they left the house.

********************************************************

"So, how's the most beautiful waitress in Capeside doing today?"

"Hi, Pacey," Buffy rolled her eyes and smiled. "Do you want anything to eat?"

"Nah, I just came to talk to you."

"Well, that was nice. Thank you." Buffy's eyes went over Pacey's shoulder. She suddenly noticed Xander and Oz walk in behind a blond girl that she didn't know followed by Willow and Cordelia. "That can't be them. How the hell did they find me here? I've got to get out of here," Buffy whispered to herself.

"What? What are you staring at?" Pacey asked, confused.

"Is that invitation to the Rialto still good?" Buffy changed the subject. "Because I think my shift is over, hey, right now, how about that? Let's go out the back so I can throw my apron in my room."

"Yeah, great--" Pacey was elated but cut off when he heard Jen call his name.

"Pacey! I'm back!"

"Jen!"

Oh, great, Buffy thought anxiously The blond with my friends would just have to know Pacey and direct them over here.

"Jen," Pacey said, getting up to give her a hug, "where did you go?"

"Um... back to New York for a while. Why don't you meet some of my friends that I brought back?"

"I'd love to, but it will have to wait because I'm about to go to the Rialto with her. Jen meet Angel Summers, she's new in town," Pacey pointed behind him, not realizing that no one was there.

"Angel Summers?" Willow looked up just in time to see a dirty blond ponytail disappear into the back. "Buffy? Buffy, come back!"

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