FIC: Deterioration (1/?)

["Shannon" <lusty_wrong_feelings@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Author: Shannon
Rating: G - PG. I'm not going anywhere perverted with little kids!!
Disclaimer: Joss is a lucky, lucky man.
Summary: AU Buffy & Co. They're in 1st grade. I'm gonna make with the
couples, but the couples *I* want. Buffy/Willow, Xander/Anya,
Tara/Spike, Giles/Joyce.

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**First Day of School**

Buffy walked into the new school holding her Mom's hand. She didn't
really want to let go when she got in, but she had to be a big girl.
Plus, her mom had her hands full with the baby. Joyce bent down and
took Buffy's shoulders in her hands. "Honey, you don't need to be
brave. You can cry if you want to. It's a new school, all the kids
your age will." Buffy shook her head vehmently, and Joyce
sighed. "Okay, sweetie. Mommy's going now. Will you be okay?" Buffy
nodded. "Can I say bye to Dawnie?" Joyce smiled warmly and
transferred the 3-month-old into Buffy arms. She used to be very
cautious about Buffy holding her, but Buffy protected her in a way
that was indescribable. She cradled the baby in her arms, carefully
supporting her head, and began whispering to her. "Dawnie, do you
miss daddy? I do. I wish daddy were here with us." Dawn looked up at
her with big blue eyes, and yawned. Buffy giggled. "You sleepy
Dawnie? Mommy can take you home now." She kissed her little sister on
her tiny cheek, and carefully handed her back to Joyce. Buffy stood
on her tiptoe and hugged her mother goodbye. "Bye Mommy." She stood
up as tall as her 3 foot frame allowed her, and bravely walked into
her classroom. She eyed everyone suspiciously. Her mom had told her
that it was still about 20 minutes until her class started, so she
figured she had time to look at everyone.

The teacher was sitting behind his desk, doing some boring grown-up
thing. There was a little girl with long red hair sitting next to a
little boy with scruffy dark brown hair. The girl kept ducking her
head and blushing as the boy laughed loudly. Behind them, there were
two other little girls, both of them blonde, but one had curly hair
and wide eyes. The other didn't look like she was talking alot, and
tried to hide behind her long hair. Off in the corner was a little
blonde boy. He was sitting by himself playing with two little
dinosaur figurines.

Buffy figured that the little boy by himself might want some company
so she went over and introduced herself. "Hi! I'm Buffy! What's your
name?" The little boy looked startled. He wasn't used to people
talking to him much. "William." He stared up at her. "What're you
looking at??" Buffy didn't like people staring at her. "Nothing! I,
uh... I just.." He sighed. "Never mind. I'm sorry." He couldn't
believe he'd messed up a chance to have a friend. So he was really
surprised when Buffy just giggled. She thought he talked funny. Buffy
sat down next to him. "Do you like sitting by yourself?" William
shrugged. "Not really... I just don't know anyone here." He pointed
to the shy girl with the long blonde hair. "Neither does she, but
that other girl just started talking to her. She knows funny stuff."
Buffy nodded. "Do you know anyones names?" Willian smiled and nodded.
He liked this girl, she was nice to him.

He pointed to the girl and boy sitting together. "That's Willow and
Xander. They're best friends 'cause they've known each sice they were
babies." He leaned over to her and whispered, "I think they've
kissed!" Buffy giggled. "Really?" William nodded, and pointed over to
the two blonde girls. "Anyway, they're Anya and Tara. Anya's the one
with the curly hair. She talks about money all the time, and, um...
other weird stuff." He blushed. "Weird stuff? Like what?" Buffy's
little eyebrows came together as she wondered what could've made
William's cheeks go red. "Um, nothing. Tara is really shy. She
doesn't really talk to anyone. But she's really, really pretty."
William blushed again when he realised that Buffy was grinning at
him. "Is she your girlfriend?" William gasped. "What? No... no!"
Buffy figured it out. "Ohh! You like her, don't you!!" William
blushed even harder as he tried to deny it. "No!! Nuh-uh..." Buffy
kept grinning. She so didn't believe him, but she felt bad that he
was embarrassed. "So, what's the teacher's name?" She changed the
subject, and William looked at her gratefully. "That's Mr. Giles.
He's my dad."

Buffy looked shocked. "Really??" William looked down. "Yeah. Well,
not my real dad. My real mom and dad gave me away when I was a baby.
Dad says that they really loved me, but they couldn't look after me."
Buffy eyes were feeling prickly. That was so sad! "I don't have a
daddy either. Well, I do, but he left. Him and my mommy were always
fighting. So now I live with my mom and my baby sister." William's
eyes brightened. "You have a baby sister?" Buffy nodded. "Yep. Her
name's Dawn. She's so cute." William smiled. "I love babies!" The
bell rang, and everyone scrambled for their seats. In the first row,
Willow, Xander and Anya sat together. In the second row, Buffy,
William and Tara sat together.

Mr. Giles started talking, and Buffy tried to listen, she really did,
but she kept looking at -- what was her name? Oh yeah, Willow 's
hair. It was so pretty. She'd alway loved red hair, and she wished
she could have it. Her head snapped up when she realised that William
was poking her. "Hey, quit it!" William just pointed to Mr. Giles who
was looking at her expectantly. "Umm... hi!" She blushed, and William
tried to help her out. He leaned over and whispered to her, "You have
to tell the class about yourself."

Buffy stood up, and began talking. "My name is Buffy Summers. I'm 5,
I have a baby sister and a mommy. I love ice-skating, and I love
making friends." She sat down, and Mr. Giles smiled at her. "Thankyou
Buffy. William?" William stood up and cleared his throat. "My name is
William Giles, and I'm nearly 6. I live with my dad. I love monsters
and dinosaurs and other stuff." He blushed and sat down. Mr. Giles
smiled warmly at his son and waited for Tara to stand up. "Tara?" She
dipped her head, and said so softly that Buffy barely heard her, "Do
I have to?" Mr. Giles nodded gently. "It would be nice."

Tara stood up. "My n-name is Tara Maclay, and I'm 6. I live w-with my
mommy and daddy, my bother Donny and my cousin Beth. I like horsies."
She sat down quickly and ducked her head. Mr. Giles sighed. She would
be very hard to get to be talkative. Willow stood up, and began
reciting about herself. "My name is Willow Rosenberg, I'm 5 and
Xander is my best friend forever. I live with my mommy and daddy, and
I love reading." She sat down and smiled to herself. Xander
practically jumped out of his seat, and tripped over himself. The
whole class erupted in giggles, and Xander jumped up and bowed. "I'm
Alexander Harris, but I'll let you guys call me Xander. I'm 5, and I
live with my mom and my mean dad. I love having Will over 'cause
she's my best friend forever, and I love sleeping outside." He sat
down then quickly stood up again. "And army stuff is cool, and I'm
heaps funny!" He sat down again with a sheepish look on his face.
Anya stood up, after giving Xander a strange look. "My name is Anya
Emerson, and I'm 5 years old. I live with my mother and my father.
Mom says money is good, and dad says sex is good!" She smiled and sat
down. Mr. Giles' eyes bugged out, and cleared his throat. "Well, yes,
uh... yes." He started cleaning his glasses and turned around to his
desk. It was going to be a long day.