𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐘 ● BTVS

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍.

𝐁𝐔𝐅𝐅𝐘 𝐕𝐒 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐔𝐋𝐀

the bright summer sun shone down on dakota, its heated rays soaking into her skin. the sound of the gentle waves crashing onto the shore relaxed the brunette who was flat on her back, pair of sunglasses shielding her eyes from the light. there was a soft breeze circling the air but nothing too strong which only sent dakota into a more relaxed state.

"i'm exhausted just looking at those two," xander broke the comfortable silence, speaking about buffy and riley, "all the splashing and jumping and running... shouldn't relaxing involve less exertion?". 

anya looked back at him, "absolutely. exertion can lead to sweatiness". 

"which can cause the pain and heartbreak of stinkiness. better to just stay put," tara grinned up from her book. 

"this is why we're friends," dakota said, lifting her hand up and pointing at tara. 

"i think we've just put our finger on why we're the sidekicks," willow joked, making the group smile. "game over?".

buffy and riley rejoined the group, riley showing them the deflated football, "uh, buffy slayed the football". 

"nice one, buff," dakota gave her a thumbs up, again not opening her eyes to see who exactly she was giving the gesture to, just following the sound of their voice.

"hey, dee dee, how come sawyer didn't join us?" willow looked down at the girl. 

dakota didn't answer right away. she hadn't seen much of sawyer throughout the summer which gave her more time to hang out with spike. she found herself enjoying his company more than anyone else's over the break. 

one thing she hadn't mentioned to the vampire though was the night he paid sawyer a visit. spike hadn't brought the topic up which made dakota feel as though he didn't want her knowing about it. dakota found herself itching to ask spike why he'd done it and what on earth was wrong with her boyfriend, but every time she was unable to.

"dee dee?" willow nudged the brunette's leg, given the girl hadn't responded. 

"oh," dakota propped herself up, lifting her sunglasses onto her head. "i suppose he wasn't feeling in a sun mood today. we wanted to spend more time with our families this summer anyway," she shrugged lazily. 

xander couldn't help but chuckle, "who would willingly do that?".

dakota flashed him a sarcastic smile, "yes, living with my dearest brother again has been the highlight of my summer. thanks for asking". 

the group laughed at her humor, xander poking his tongue out at her to which she returned like a child. 

"where's my burger?" buffy pouted from riley's lap. "yeah, man. i'm starving. cow me," riley added to the demands that xander was getting. 

"the, uh, fire's not cooperating. it's comforting to know that i lack the culinary finesse of a caveman," xander looked defeated at the unlit fire. 

"awh, that sucks. i always thought you were a caveman," dakota sulked jokingly.

xander rolled his eyes at his twin, attempting to tend to the fire once again. 

"ignis incende," willow threw her hand out to the pit, a mass of flames appearing. xander fell back into the sand, staring at it in shock. 

"willow, check you out! witch-fu," buffy smiled happily at her friend.

"it's no big. you just have to balance the elements so when you affect one, you don't wind up causing-".