Xander swallowed at Buffy’s tone, not sure of what to say. She had been speaking random thoughts for a while now…if just to get everything out in the open, he guessed, he wasn’t really sure. He agreed with her though, he did quiet frequently, but specifically, about the brightness of the afternoon, he agreed. It was way too bright to be the day after…

"I’m gonna go grab a coke before class," Willow spoke up and then stood slowly. Xander noticed Buffy’s small nod of acknowledgment, despite the fact that she never turned to look at the other girl, and then he noticed the blank look in Willow’s eyes as she gathered her things slowly and headed back inside.

It seemed to him that everything was in slow motion now…everything methodical…nothing done in fun or jest. Even in the situations that he could make a joke, or Buffy would laugh, or Willow would blush redder than her hair – nothing happened.

In all honesty, he couldn’t really expect it to be any different. Yesterday he was at one of his best friend’s funeral…he had to watch Jesse be buried mere hours before – of course things wouldn’t be the same. And to top it off, there was nothing he could do about it – nothing to say.

The whole week prior had gone by in a flash; all Xander could really remember was driving Buffy home after they had left Angel in the hospital. She had the same vacant look in her eyes that she had now, dull and haunted, red from tears that he knew she shed, but wouldn’t let him see. Her jaw always seemed to be set in stone now, too, she was always determined. She had good reason to be, Xander knew, because it had been a vampire that had killed her best friend…a vampire that had gotten away, and he knew that she was going to find it.

They were going to find it.

Xander sighed and sat up, unable to take the silence anymore – Jesse hated silence, and therefore, to him it was almost disrespectful to his memory to let life fall into it. "You wanna hang out tonight?" he asked quietly, leaning into Buffy’s shoulder in a quietly playful manor. Ever since she had gotten out of his car that night they hadn’t really been alone, except for school; a fact that could, for the most part, be attributed to the fact that all their parents were wigged at the close proximity of the, hospital named "gang violence fatality", and the fact that Xander just couldn’t bring himself to do much of anything.

He had kept up with school just as Buffy and Willow had, but that had been about it for the past week. He had skipped swim practices in favor of sleeping and had spent more time alone than he ever thought he would…but then again, outside of class, Buffy had been scarce, as well, and Willow…she was… she was taking the place of somebody who had been there since the beginning, and she was having a hard time with that so she did what the Romans were doing – she kept to herself.

Buffy’s brow furrowed as if he had shaken her from a deep thought before she arrived at an answer. Xander always knew that when she hesitated before speaking she was trying to come up with a decent excuse to say ‘no’. "I should train after practice," she said in a low voice. "I haven’t been stellar in either lately."

"Yeah," Xander sighed, "I need to get back into it too…"

"That’s what’s supposed to happen, right?" Buffy interrupted out of the blue. "People always die – you just have to keep living. Jesse died, but we’re still here." She finished staring off into space again, looking just beyond all the matriculating students…the lucky ones who were wasting their day.

"Yeah," Xander agreed again. "Keep living…but," he paused and swallowed. His eyes were stinging and not for the first time since Jesse had died. He had been inconsolable at points over the last week, crying into his mother’s shoulder in the privacy of his room countless times at just the simple thought of Jesse not being there anymore. Death had never seemed so real to him, as it did right now. He hated that thinking about it would make him cry again, especially in front of anybody…in front of Buffy when she seemed to be wearing a constant façade of strength. "It’s hard." He felt a tear roll down his cheek and he turned away from her quickly so that she couldn’t see it.

Buffy heard the hitch in his voice and turned to face him only to find herself looking at the back of his head. She didn’t really know what to do, "I’m going to patrol later." She spoke sternly, ignoring the fact that she knew Xander was crying. "I’m going to find the one that…I’m going to kill her."

She watched the back of his head nod and heard a sniffled grunt of agreement. "And you’re going to help," she told him quietly.

Xander turned to face his friend with now red eyes, his face a mask of confusion as he waited for her to continue.

Buffy looked down at her hands before she spoke, "We don’t deal well, Xan," she started out with a labored giggle.

"That’s a given." He answered back.

She raised her eyes and smiled at him, "Yeah. We lose one and separate ourselves from who’s left…" Buffy hesitated, disturbed by her own sentence. "But," she started again with a nervous swallow, "I’m not going to lose anyone else…not to this town and what’s in it. I’m not going to bury more of my friends. I don’t really have that many…"

"What are you saying?" Xander asked his mouth quirking into a grin. <Was she offering…>

"You…we…"

"Us…" Xander added as if on cue.

Buffy focused on her hands again, "I need to train more, so I don’t have a lot of free time…and…and I want to make sure you’re safe…you and Willow," she added, glancing up to meet his gaze briefly. "I thought that, if you don’t tell Giles, you could patrol with me…I could teach you the fighting stuff, so you’d have that for defense…and then you could go out with me…on patrol, just till we find the bitch that killed him."

Xander almost flinched at the venom in her voice. He wasn’t used to the vengeful Buffy that he had been introduced to about a week ago, and to tell the truth it was halfway scary. He knew that Buffy could be as stubborn an ox when she set her mind to something, and it wasn’t that he didn’t back he crusade whole-heartedly, but she was fixated on it… and the last thing he wanted was to lose her to this. He was sure that Jesse would agree with him on that too. "If that’s what you think you need to do," he said with a shrug.

Buffy cast him a skeptical look and her mouth cracked into a grin. "Oh please, Xander," she shook her head, "You’ve been begging me to let you come out with me."

Xander shook his head, "No – no I haven’t…I’ve been begging you to go out with me."

"Same diff, isn’t it?" Buffy shrugged dismissively. "The point is that I want you to be able to defend yourself…"

"So this has nothing to do with spending more time with me…you know…" he trialed off and gestured between the two of them. "You know…" he reiterated again when Buffy maintained her vacant stare.

Her brow furrowed at her friends confusing hand gestures, "I don’t want you to die." Buffy stated that fact clearly and watched as Xander’s gaze dropped to his knees.

"Right," he nodded, sounding almost disappointed. "You don’t want me to die. And here I was thinking you might want to, oh I don’t know; finally talk about what happened…"

"Jesse died Xander." Buffy stated defensively.

"I know!" he snapped and then collected himself. "I know, and I’m so sorry about that…I’m so sorry, but you know what?"

"What?" Buffy asked quickly, knowing tat she would have gotten an answer regardless of if she had chosen to speak.

Xander looked ahead briefly and squinted against the sunlight before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. "I wanted to go to you about it – about how it was tearing me up inside. And I thought you would come to me about the same thing; but you didn’t."

"Well sorry if I’ve been focused on my retaliatory…"

"Whatever." Xander cut her off and ignored her narrowed eyes. "It’s more than that…it’s…it’s everything since…"

Buffy huffed out a loud breath and stood up, flinging her bag over her shoulder at the same time. "Willow was right," she said, "I need caffeine before Bio."

"This is just what I’m talking about!" Xander said loudly as he stood up and followed her, now talking to her back as Buffy made a hasty retreat inside the school. "You don’t ever talk about anything, but that doesn’t change the fact that things happened, Buffy."

Buffy reached into her purse and pulled out a dollar bill, "Should I get a diet Coke or a Sprite?" she contemplated out loud. "They say that clear sodas are better for you."

"Sprite is caffeine free." Xander told her shaking his head. "But things between us specifically changed," he got back on topic, "It should have brought us closer together…"

"You’re right. Diet Coke it is." Buffy pushed the button and retrieved her soda. She wished he would stop talking about what he was obviously trying to broach…in front of the whole student body it seemed. Not only was she not ready to discuss all the kissage with him, but Buffy was quiet sure that this was not the appropriate time to be having the conversation either. There had to be some sort of time limit before you pushed the memory of your best friend’s murder out of your mind in order to focus on hormonal conflicts.  But Xander was till talking behind her as she walked down the hall towards their homeroom. All Buffy could do was hope that Willow would be sitting there so that he was forced to shut the hell up.

Xander’s hand shot out and grabbed her forearm before she was home free and able to walk into the class room. "Buffy," he sighed as if he were collecting his thoughts. "I know the timing sucks, I really do," he pleaded as he looked in her eyes, searching the clear blue orbs for some sign as to how to proceed in this matter, but she was giving him nothing. "I know that we just lost somebody who was – will always be a huge part of our lives – but I’m still here…and so are you." Xander glanced down at his hand on her arm and Buffy followed his gaze. He didn’t let go despite the fact that he knew that she could probably rip it off if she so chose. "But that night…with us…it was great Buff."

She just watched him. Buffy couldn’t deny that kissing Xander in real life that night was better than she had hyped it up in her mind to be. She couldn’t even deny that she hadn’t thought about doing it again, despite the circumstances of the last week – that was just what made her feel like the scum of the earth…she hadn’t spent all her time trying to figure our how to make the vampire pay for what she had done. She had spent a lot of the last week just wanting to cry on Xander’s shoulder…just wanting to be as close to him as humanly possible, because if what had happened had taught her anything, it was that everything was unpredictable and the people closet to you would be the first that were ripped away.

"Just let me train you…"

"No!" Xander shook his head and let his hand loosen its grip. "I mean, yeah – train me and whatever, but don’t make that about this. This," he gestured between the two of them, "has nothing to do with the Slayer."

"Shhh!!!" Buffy’s eyes darted around the hall. "You do realize that it’s not supposed to be public knowledge right?"

"It’s not about the Slayer," Xander said again more quietly. "It’s about you and me…"

"As long as it’s about me, now Xander, it’ll be about the Slayer." Buffy said sadly and looked down at the hall floor as the first bell rang in the background.

"No," Xander denied while craning his neck to catch her eyes. He offered her a grin when she caught what he was trying to do and raised her gaze to his, "It’s about you, Buffy. Not the Slayer, cuz those are two different things…believe me, I know. I haven’t been thinking about kissing the Slayer all week long."

Buffy laughed slightly, "And you don’t think it’s at all weird that we are best friends since, like, forever…"

"A little," Xander admitted with a shrug. "But I got over it pretty quickly…well partially over it."

"Over it enough to ‘not be able to stop thinking about it’?" Buffy asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Well, yeah…" Xander tried to sound confident.

"And over it enough to fell completely comfortable telling me about it?"

Xander sighed, "Like I said, I can adapt easily…and I can tell you anything. You are my best friend…"

"All week huh?" Buffy’s tone suddenly became curious as she glanced into the class room. If they both had been thinking about it, what was the harm really? If she just gave in this one time, she would really not have to feel like such an insensitive bitch later. She noticed Willow first – well, she was only really looking for Willow in the first place; she was the only one who any of this would matter to anyway.

Buffy groaned and watched as Scott crossed the room and slid into the seat next to the red head. She watched as her friend nodded sadly but the shrugged indifferently. Scott must have asked where she was – the last thing, Buffy knew, Willow wanted to be asked following a question that was obviously about Jesse. That ass munch…

<Takes one to know one.> She was an ass munch…

Her eyes darted back up to Xander’s long enough to see him nod despite the fact that he was trying to follow her gaze into the classroom. "Add that onto everything else," he chose not to voice the previous events, "and I’m surprised that I haven’t wondered into oncoming traffic."

"It’s been on my forefront too." Buffy nodded, and then looked down. She was forced to take a step closer to him as more students filed into the room they were still standing in front of. She watched Xander’s eyes dull briefly and could just imagine the bazillion boob jokes that flashed through his mind at her mention of ‘her forefront’. "Does that make me a bad person?" she asked despite herself.

Xander refocused and grasped her right hand in his. "No…never." He denied. "It makes you human…"

"Is it human if I want to blow off homeroom…" she trailed off and gestured with her head down the hall while applying a slight pressure to his hand. "Just so I don’t have to keep dealing with it…" her voice was low at the end of her sentence.

Xander began to walk down the hall, not releasing her hand and leading her discreetly away from the room, "Just tell me where you want to go," he said slightly over his shoulder as he turned the corner. "Tell me where you want to not deal for a little while, and I’ll wait with you."

Buffy smiled at the back of his head and reached up to grasp his hand that held hers with her other one, stilling his path. Xander stopped and looked around the empty hall. "We shouldn’t wait here," he said his eyes focused on the Principal’s office nervously. The last thing he needed to top off all his skipped practice was to be banned from the meets for skipping class. And he knew for a fact that Buffy’s dad wouldn’t be thrilled if he got another call about her absence from school, when she had so obviously left the house that morning.

Buffy nodded and looked around the hall to make sure they were alone before she took a step back, not letting him go so that he stepped with her. "In here," she whispered and reached behind her with her freehand, opening the door to the broom closet behind them.

All Xander could do was offer her a surprised grin as Buffy disappeared into the small room. Xander licked his lips and scanned the length of the hall one more time before grinning to himself and following her inside. <Oh, how I do love my best friend> he thought as he shrugged his backpack to the floor and shut the door quietly behind himself.

~*~*~

He rolled his neck around slowly and felt it crack under the pressure. "That’s the stuff," he groaned in relief.

Then his brow furrowed. <What the…> The last thing he remembered was Buffy…

He laughed to himself. She would be the last thing he remembered. That was his stupid luck that his last conscious thought would be of his best friend’s pretty much girlfriend, and not the completely hot chick that he had reeled in all by himself…

He wondered if he had gotten her number before he had… he had absolutely no clue, really. He remembered walking in an alley with the girl – Darla. The he remembered falling, and then Buffy swooped in like Batman and picked him up…

<But I feel fine.> he settled, <I feel better than fine.> Hw finally opened his eyes, only to find himself in complete darkness. <And creeped out…> Well, he thought he should be creeped out…he thought he should be screaming and perhaps peeing a little, but he wasn’t. He was oddly calm…and it felt great. He felt different.

He sat up and held his arms out in front of himself. "I’m all here," he mumbled to himself after a brief examination. "Now where is here?" he looked around the room. It was dark, only lit by candles. And he could hear the drip of water hitting already formed puddles. He could hear slight scurrying footsteps and smell the dampness that permeated the area…

Everything was so clear…

He could hear a heart beat.

"Jesse," a familiar voice beckoned from behind him.

"Darla," he turned with a grin to watch her walking up slowly behind him. He concentrated on the calm footsteps in contrast to the young girl who she was dragging with her. He felt a tingling surge go through him, and it felt almost like he had to sneeze, but nothing came out. Darla thrust the girl towards him and she struggled through the ropes that bound her hand together as she stumbled to the ground.

Jesse involuntarily licked his lips and brought his hands up to his face. It was still tingling under his fingertips as he slid them along…ridges? "What’ the matter with my face?" he asked, fighting to push down an insatiable hunger that was rising more and more as he watched the girl struggle in front of him…focused on the fear in her eyes…listened to her pleading whimpers as she couldn’t get free.

Darla just grinned at him as she strolled up to where he sat on the ground. "Eat," she ordered, kicking the girl closer to him. "I’ll explain everything childe."

Jesse was still mildly confused but glanced down at the girl. She couldn’t have been more than fourteen, herself, but he could smell fear. It made him growl in anticipation. He ran his tongue over his teeth, feeling the drastically sharper canines in front and he lunged at her, laughing against her throat at her muffled scream.

~*~*~*~

Willow had walked by the library on her way to Biology to check to see if Buffy and Xander were in there. She had no idea why, but whenever she couldn’t find Buffy, the first place she had learned to look was in the library.

She had never figured Buffy for much of a reader, based totally on the fact that Willow had taken two of every English pop quiz since the first week of school in order to spare her friend, so she had no idea why she chose to hang out there.

And she knew that Xander usually went with her because, well, he was Xander and she was Buffy. He’d follow her into a leper colony. But they weren’t in there. And the librarian, who seemed to know who she was told her that he hadn’t seen her, but then asked  that if she did find Buffy to ask her to see him – which had only served to wig Willow out more.

<Was Buffy hanging out with the librarian for fun?> Willow asked herself, but was happy that her excursion to the long way to the lab had at least gotten her away from Buffy’s ex. She didn’t know how many times she could tell Scott that she didn’t know where the other girl was. She almost wanted to tell him that she couldn’t find Xander either just to watch his head explode.

Willow chuckled to herself as she tried to focus on Mr. Gregory’s bio lecture about fungus, but as she glanced to the normally occupied seats around her, all she was reminded of was that both Buffy and Xander were in school today – they both had just skipped home room and now first period.

<Percy,> she tried to force the glum mood out of her mind at the possibility of Xander spending time alone with Buffy with thoughts of the other boy. If he weren’t a senior, he’d be there to take her mind off of it…but that wasn’t the case. And  she was sitting in the lab without the company of her group… <Well,> she sighed internally, <Xan’s gonna want notes.>

~*~*~

Xander’s hands just kept skimming over her hips. Up and down. Not even back and forth. He was still so unsure of what exactly to do with them. His tongue, on the other hand, was completely comfortable doing what it was doing.

Buffy moaned into his mouth, a low vibration that passed into his mouth just as she pushed her hips against his and pushed him into the row of shelves opposite them – changing their positions while keeping her arms around his neck. She titled her head down in a vain attempt to catch her breath, but Xander continued his onslaught. He pushed his mouth back against hers and Buffy was forced willingly back into the kiss.

Her left hand left it’s grip on the back of his neck and gripped the wooden shelf behind his head to catch their balance when Xander twisted their positions and turned his back away from where she had him pinned.

He knew that it was ironic, but the janitor was definitely going to have to clean up the broom closet when they left. That line of thought left his head quickly though when he felt Buffy’s hands slip form behind him and slide down the front of his shirt.

Buffy slide her lips over his and then bit at his mouth; pulling away while teasing his tongue with hers while keeping her eyes downcast. She rested her palms on his stomach, contemplating her next move, before deciding that it was probably best not to think about it. She couldn’t be as shy as he was being with her, or the most they’d do on their honeymoon would be holding hands.

She leaned up into his mouth and started the fevered kiss again as she moved her hands down to Xander’s waist and the pushed them up and under his t-shirt. Xander jumped at the contact of her hands on his bare skin but it only served to make himself kiss her harder. He figured if he didn’t he’d have to think about what he should be doing more.

Trying to match her boldness, Xander pushed Buffy back into the brick wall and slid his hands further down her back. He set himself mentally and kept moving his left hand down until…

<Alright> Xander tried to maintain his breathing as his hand groped at Buffy’s rear. <I can do this…I can do this. I’m touching her butt…> He was becoming more and more aware of a certain part of his anatomy that was more than willing to stand up and join in his mental ‘Happy Dance’, but, much to his disbelief, he was more nervous about touching her with his hands than her knowing when she had him sporting wood.

Xander groaned into her mouth when he felt her lick the roof of his mouth with a rough swipe on her tongue and scrape her fingernails over his nipples at the same time. "Buff…" he rasped out and broke the kiss, breathing hard.

"Hmmm?" she asked distractedly, still feeling his chest as her own rose and fell against his stomach. <What could he possible have to say…>

"I…" Xander shook his head to clear it and took another deep breath.

Buffy interrupted him with another kiss. "No talk now," she nibbled against his lips. "Talk when where not on class time." She surprised him by reaching behind them and grasping the wrist of the hand that was positioned on her ass, applying gentle pressure as she glided it up her side.

Making out always had a natural progression to Buffy; one that Scott had taught her. It just seemed that Xander needed more prompting that her ex did, so it was her job to help…

Xander jerked his hand out of Buffy’s grasp when she slid it up to her breast, stopping just below and leaving him to take over from there. "Buffy!!" he pulled away shocked and took a step back, causing her hands to slip form under his shirt . Just when Xander thought he had everything under control, she had to go and override his system again. He would never admit it, especially not with his status in the school, but he had never been to…he had never actually and with purpose touched…

"It’s a boob Xander, not plutonium." Buffy exasperated.

Obviously Buffy had. Xander realized as he watched her try to smile thought the mutual nervousness. <Fuckin Scott…> "I know…" he cut his eyes away from her and jammed his hands into his pockets. "It’s just…You…You’re…"

She ignored his incoherent ramble and stepped towards him again, taking his hand back in hers. "Breathe Xander," she cautioned warmly and raised his hand to her chest. He watched her with wide eyes, but was forced back into action as Buffy started kissing him again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The End Part 12

Title: Before the Fall of Rome (13/?)

Author: Brooke

Email: yabbadabbadome13@yahoo.com

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything. I wished I owned the two Xanders’ from "The Replacement" though. Buffy and friends are owned by Joss, Mutant Enemy, 20th Century Fox, The UPN and whoever else has rights to the show.

Summary: You remember all that crap that started post-puberty…yeah, it’s great isn’t it. It was when life started

Distribution: I don’t know why anybody would want this, but if somebody does…sure.

Feedback: Definitely!! Tell me if it sucked or if you liked it. Whatever. Just write back!

Authors Note: Takes place in an AU season 1 where Buffy and Xander are best friends and Willow is the new girl as Sunnydale High. It is the beginning of their sophomore year and, as 15 and 16 year olds, hormones and feelings are taking center stage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy wasn’t going to patrol tonight – well, that was what she had told Giles after her training session that afternoon, and to her surprise he had agreed. He seemed to be very cautious of pushing her too hard that afternoon, and even his criticisms sounded more friendly and concerned than usual. Buffy didn’t necessarily like the non-judgmentally anti-quippy Giles, but she was more than a little grateful that he saw fit when to let up on her. He had agreed that she should take a few more days off from formal patrol, just to make sure that she was in top form when she finally did get back out.

She did feel a little bad though that the reason that he thought that she wasn’t dealing was that he had a conversation with Willow in the cafeteria about her whereabouts during the first period time slot, and Willow said that she hadn’t seen her. When Giles had questioned her about it, Buffy, being quick with the excuses, had come up with the Grievance Counselors office.

Giles had accepted her excuse, no questions asked, and left Buffy feeling even more like a callous bitch at the fact that she had spent the better part of forty-five minutes making out and groping Xander in a broom closet, of all skanky places. She felt that she owed it to everybody to throw her revenge into full gear and get the information that she needed tonight.

She would slay for Giles, and find out where the vampire who killed Jesse was for the benefit of not only her piece of mind, but also for his memory. She owed him that, at least, for her selfishness – no matter what Xander said to counter that belief.

So Buffy had climbed out of her window right after dinner and began her impromptu patrol with the hope that it would be a quick one. Ever since…her parents had insisted on spending more time with both her and her sister, and she knew that if she didn’t have a lot of free vampire hunting time before, it was going to be cut down to figurative seconds now. Luckily she had sensed that she had her audience right away, and not long after that she had drawn the attention of a hungry twenty-something vampire in the first cemetery she walked into.

She needed to know where the vampire that had taken her best friend away was, and she knew that Angel could tell her. That reject Prince of Darkness knew the bitch that was responsible for what had happened and as soon as he told her what she needed to know he’d pay too.

Her plan to draw Angel out was going perfectly. Buffy congratulated herself as she turned her body so that the vampire she was fighting punch deflected off of her arm before hitting her in the side of the ribs. She was glad that Xander had a late practice and that they were starting their training the next day because she was sure that he wouldn’t support her plan at all – and not just the ‘getting the shit beat out of her’ part, but the ‘I have to talk to Angel’ aspect as well.

But thoughts of Xander had to be pushed to the back of her mind because this clown had no idea who he was dealing with obviously, Buffy thought as she feigned horror at the demon’s arrogant smirk. He thought she was fighting out of terror, the pure desire to stay alive and get away. Buffy laughed to herself and let herself take a hit to the ribs and she fell to the ground holding her stomach. She fought off a real wince when she hit the grass <Maybe that wasn’t the best idea…>

"Please," she pleaded in her best helpless voice, "please don’t hurt me…" Buffy stayed on the ground and pushed herself back from the advancing vampire.

He just cricked his neck and licked his lips. "Please," he mimicked, "Let me go, please… Beg some more." He finished and hauled her off the ground by her forearm.

<Where the hell is he?!> Buffy’s mind screamed as she was lifted in the air, now being held by her throat. She clamped her hands around the vampire’s wrist while her feet dangled in the air. Her fake fight was getting a little out of hand. It almost made her wish that Angel had given her his cell pager number or something; at least that way she wouldn’t have to play bait when she needed him… INFORMATION from him. Buffy wouldn’t ever let herself need that defunct demon.

The vampire she was fighting laughed up at her, "Didn’t your parents ever tell you not to go out after dark?"

Buffy kicked out, trying to seem as desperate as possible, her foot connecting solidly with her opponent’s groin. They both hit the ground at the same time and Buffy rolled to her knees to catch her breath. She really wanted to kill this ass hole…both of them. "HELP!!!!" she yelled for effect. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!!"

The vampire struggled to his feet through gritted teeth and pulled Buffy to her feet by her hair.

<OWWWWW!!! Son of a…> she was cut off by a strong upper cut to her chin that sent her flying backwards through the air. She hadn’t seen that coming and she was thankful for her Slayer strength because that would have knocked a normal girl unconscious – it would have knocked a normal Evander Holyfield unconscious. Buffy slammed down hard on her back, just missing slamming into a tombstone on the way and pushed herself up on her hands. She shook her head briefly to clear her vision and opened her eyes. She had to end this now before her ‘plan’ got her killed.

The vampire stepped up to her and she could see the disbelief in his eyes that she was sitting up, but that didn’t erase the cruel grin on his face. Buffy took a deep breath and looked up at him, then lay back down and pushed herself into a backwards summersault and got to her feet. She fell into a fighting stance and discretely slid a stake out of the back of her shirt, ignoring the pain that shot up her back.

She eyed the vampire in front of her without revealing her weapon. "Never touch the hair," the told him calmly before she prepared to attack. But before she could move she watched his eyes widen with horror as his head turned down to his chest. He looked up at her again before he evaporated into a cloud of fine dust and blew away, leaving her face to face with…

Angel.

"Took you long enough," Buffy scoffed as she relaxed her fighting stance. "Jeez, you’d think if you’re going to follow me all night, you’d at least have the common courtesy to come to my rescue…"

"Are you alright?" Angel asked and Buffy scowled at herself for picking up the warm concern he always displayed whenever he spoke to her.

"No," Buffy pouted and rubbed her back with her left hand. "My ass hurts." She started walking away and hoped Angel took it as a sign to follow her. "Kiss it better," she added over her shoulder when she turned to see if he had gotten her silent hint.

Angel hung his head and chuckled to himself before starting after her. "I was just waiting to see how long you’d let yourself be beaten before you decided to fight back. You lasted about five minutes longer than I thought you would." When he finished he was walking side by side with her.

Buffy glanced up at him quickly but didn’t let her surprise be given away. "So you knew?" she asked, "You knew that I wasn’t fighting back and you just decided to watch?"

"Well, Home Improvement was a rerun and I needed some form of entertainment," he shrugged while keeping his eyes straight ahead. "Although, watching you was sort of just like TV. I mean, where else is a girl going to get in a fight and have her hair look better after she got her ass kicked?"

Buffy slit her eyes at him and ran a hand defensively through her disheveled hair, pushing some fallen strands behind her ears. "I really do hate you, you know that?" she told him.

"Then why all the suffering to get me out here?"

"You were already out here being all ‘Psycho Stalker Man’…"

"You wanted me to come out." Angel said confidently, even though he knew she was right. Except he wouldn’t refer to himself as psycho. He was slightly surprised that Buffy didn’t seem to be angry with him anymore about his watching out for her – a fact that he’d be sure to mull over later, perhaps with some input from Whistler.

"I need information." Buffy said tightly, "It wasn’t a social call."

Angel nodded, but doubted if she believed what she was telling him herself. He could see a purple bruise forming on her left eye, and knew that she had taken drastic measures to get his attention that night. If all she wanted was information, and she knew that he was there, all she would have had to do was call out and threaten him some more. She hadn’t threatened him at all and it had been a good fifteen minutes of conversation.

"Ask away," he said calmly while putting his hands in his pockets.

Inside Buffy was fuming. He had let her get beat up and watched. He had taken her kill. He was all concerned for her wellbeing after the fact. And he was always so indifferent. All he ever did was piss her off, and the fact that he had the ability to do that meant that he was always in the back of her mind. Buffy hated him for that the most.

She set her face in stone and stopped walking. "Jesse," she said flatly and Angel turned to face her.

"I’m sorry," he said and Buffy could tell that it was the truth. She swallowed and looked towards the ground. "I was hoping that he would make…"

"I just need to know where the one who did it is." Buffy cut him off and looked him in the eyes with a quiet sniffle. She refused to let the demon see her weak and broken.

Angel’s heart leapt to his throat. "I can’t tell you that…"

Buffy laughed humorlessly, "That’s funny, cuz you’re going to."

"I’m not going to send you…"

"If you don’t tell me I can find out on my own. She’s not going to get away with killing him," she stopped and took a deep breath. "For somebody so concerned with my safety…"

"That’s why I can’t tell you." Angel insisted. "I’m sorry about you friend, but I don’t…"

"Don’t make me have to kill you earlier than I planned." Buffy warned in a low voice.

"You go after Darla and I won’t have to worry about you killing anything," Angel shot at her.

<Darla.> Buffy filed that name away. If he told her nothing else, she and Giles could at least research that name.

"You’re not ready to face her…" Angel continued. He had to make her see that while she was good, she was still no match for what this town really had to offer. She would have to get there soon enough, but she wasn’t there yet, and he wouldn’t let her go into a fight blind before she would be able to handle it.

"I’ll decide what I’m ready for." She hissed, "You don’t know me. All you know is that I lost one of my best friends, you have no idea what I’ll do to keep that from happening again…"

"Die?" he asked loudly. "I’m not going to send you to die."

"I would if that’s what it came down to," Buffy told him the absolute truth. "But I don’t plan on it…"

"You go after Darla…she’s not alone. She has the most powerful vampires in the western hemisphere here with her. Did you know that?" he spoke quickly. "Did you know that they could kill you three times before you hit the ground?"

"I’m the Slayer…"

"You’re a child." Angel pointed at her. Buffy couldn’t help the flinch that his tone elicited but she kept her otherwise defiant stance when he kept talking. "They’re planning something…it’s called the Harvest…it’s coming and I seriously doubt you’re ready for that, but I’m not sending you after her a minute sooner."

"I don’t have a choice!" Buffy shouted back, her anger flaring inside. "And YOU are NOT my Watcher. YOU don’t send me anywhere. Either you help me or you die…"

Angel laughed in her face, literally smiling full on. "I’m so tired of your empty threats. If you’re going to kill me do it now. It’ll be better than how I’m living….following you around and taking you abuse…"

"Abuse?! What the fuck are you talking about? Nobody told you to do whatever it is that you seem to have made it you’re mission to do…"

"Toting that boy everywhere!" he said next as Buffy looked on shocked. "He’s going to get himself killed or worse off get you killed…"

Buffy ran her hand over her face and into her hair. "Darla." She stated, cutting off his rant. Was he jealous of…? Why would this vampire be jealous of Xander? "The Harvest," she said next. "You’ve really been a lot of help, now I’ll go and have my WATCHER and my BOYFRIEND help me research them." Buffy turned on her heel and started quickly out of the cemetery not quiet sure why she felt it necessary to refer to Xander as her boyfriend to get a rise out of Angel. She could feel him watching her walk away and was glad that he wasn’t following her. Weather he knew it or not, Angel had given up more that the necessary amount of information for her to launch her own defensive; and she’d do it with or without him. She didn’t need him.

~*~*~

"So let me get this straight," Jesse asked again to the two vampires standing in front of him. "You guys," he gestured between Darla and the one who she had told him was called Luke. "are going to open the gates of Hell."

Luke rolled his eyes and nodded, "Yes."

"Tomorrow night?" Jesse asked.

"Yes."

"And Buffy…" the young vampire trailed off.

"Is the Slayer," Luke filled in as prompted. "We have to kill her in order for the prophecy to come to pass."

"And by ‘come to pass’, you mean…"

"Happen!!!!" the young boys standing behind them yelled. "Why couldn’t you get the other one?" he asked Darla next, "He seemed much smarter."

Jesse tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at the boy, "Believe me he just seems that way." He turned back to Darla, unable to keep his leer hidden, "And you vampireized me so get to her?"

Darla looked up at her childe through her eyelashes. "Exactly," she told him and slowly approached him. "We need you to help us destroy her."

Jesse seemed to think for a moment. He felt indestructible…all powerful…immortal. He didn’t have a care in the world. Granted he knew he could take Buffy on, and she would probably be too distracted by the task of having to fight her best friend to offer proper competition, but he wasn’t really sure that he wanted to. He didn’t want to waste his first encounter with her trying to break her face open – he wanted her to suffer…he wanted to draw this out. Why should he be the grunt man of this rag tag team of misguided demons? If this was the only outfit in town, he figured he could easily form his own. He could take the town over all while his dear friend Buffy was busy crying on Xander’s shoulder over what she had let happen to him.

"Why should I help you?" he smirked at Luke as he crossed his arms in front of him.

Luke hated these children – all so arrogant and incipient, and just plain stupid. He wondered what type of public education system this seemingly affluent town was pushing to have fostered generation after generation of spoiled simpletons. "You’ll do what you’re told boy," he sneered at him.

"By who?" Jesse questioned eyeing the larger man defiantly. "You?" he laughed. Luke lunched at him and Jesse jumped back as Darla caught him just in time.

"You can’t even kill a little girl." Jesse laughed out loud. "You said that you had an army of twenty seven and you guys all couldn’t take down Buffy Summers. There are three of you…" he glanced at the little boy and corrected himself. "Sorry. Tow of you left, and you still can’t beat little Buffy Anne. The girl is more clueless than Alicia Silverstone," he laughed again. "Her name is Buffy for Christ’s sake."

"You would think it would be as simple as that," Darla spoke this time. "But she’s stronger than you’d think…that’s why we needed you…"

"To get Xander?" Jesse filled in the last part of the plan, his mouth turning into a manacle smirk. Killing Xander would fuck Buffy up royally – she’d need therapy for the rest of her life, if it lasted much longer after that anyway. Either way it would be fun to watch.

"So," Darla tilted her head at him again, "Are you game?"

"Lets go get us some more eats…and sacrifices," he added glancing to Luke, "And I’ll think about it."

"You decide now!" the boy yelled, slamming his fist down onto the stone ledge he was seated on. Jesse noted how the rock crumbled underneath it, and held his hands up in surrender.

"Alright, alright…I’m game for Operation destroy the Slayer." Jesse told them. "I’m just hungry again; that girl was so small…a little bit stringy too."

"Sorry," Darla said sincerely.

"Not a problem, Sweetheart." Jesse pretended to tip an imaginary hat at her. "Let’s go build us up an army." His stomach growled as he headed out of the underground lair and he was able to her Darla walking behind him.

~*~*~

"I’m telling you Harris, whatever you did before practice today needs to be a regular thing. You were kicking all sorts of ass." Jeff said before taking a gulp of Coke while bobbing his head to the fast beats that were flooding the Bronze.

"Yeah, man. Whatever you’re taking that got you back into the game, you need to share." Larry spoke through a mouthful of fries.

Xander just laughed and shook his head, "Sorry gentlemen, but my pep goes with me to the grave." He wished he could tell them that he had spent last period perfecting his ‘second base’ skills in the librarian’s office while Giles had been in a faculty meeting. Spending several periods a day alone with Buffy really seemed to do wonders for his concentration…got his blood flowing and cleared his head and all that. His states of total physical relaxation had really put him on the edge of perfection during practice, and to celebrate, as well as to help him get his mind off the past week, his teammates had offered to hang at the Bronze with him.

Xander wanted to keep feeling bad that he was having the day of his life, he really did; but it was getting harder and harder to do. Granted, things would never be the same again for a host of bad reasons – they would also never be the same for a helluva lot of fantastic reasons too. <Like boobies> his mind spoke up.

"Come on Harris. What’s you’re secret?" Larry asked as he nudged him with his shoulder.

"A full eight hours sleep." Xander sighed. "You gotta get eight."

Jeff chuckled, "That’s what the cheerleading team said before the homecoming game."

"What?" Larry asked confused while wiping some ketchup off of his lip. "Why would they say that?"

"You gotta get eight…get ate." Jeff nodded along with his explanation.

"Oh," Xander nodded. "I get it. Get ate…"

"Are you guys ten?" Jeff asked as he pushed himself away from the table. "That was a perfectly funny play on words and it went over both of you guy’s heads… I swear, sometimes I wonder about you two…"

Larry and Xander just watched as the other boy pushed his way thru the crowded dance floor towards the bar before glancing at each other. "I got it the first time," Xander spoke up.

"Me too," Larry nodded as he shoved more fries into his mouth. "I got it."

Xander nodded to the music and scanned the dance floor. He hadn’t been to the Bronze without his girls in forever, and not having his female components there was offering a completely different view of the club scene. He wished Buffy were there…he wondered, then if she would have gotten the joke. He hoped she wouldn’t; but he’d have to tell it to her to make sure she was as clueless about the ‘eight/ate’ thing as he was. Xander knew he wouldn’t be thinking about it at all if Buffy hadn’t been all gun-ho with the groping and instructions all day long. ‘Friend Buffy’ was not nearly as bold as ‘Kissable’ Buffy, and that fact kinda scared him…in an ‘it’s really hot to be dominated’ sort of way.

"Whatcha thinking about, Dude?" Larry asked, waving his hand in front of Xander’s face to get his attention.

"Oh," Xander forced himself to pay attention to the present, despite his fond memories of the past. "Uh…nothing…nothing…"

Larry narrowed his eyes at him, "Yeah right man. Something’s up…"

"Nothings up," Xander defended. "Everything is down as it gets."

Larry eyed him skeptically but started eating his fries again, "If it’s any consolation," he spoke after a moment. "We all lose friends…I mean, in eighth grade Mike Solman got kidnapped – he was my best friend…"

Xander furrowed his brow and looked down at the table, he remembered when that happened. He wondered if it was because of vampires and not some homicidal pedophile…he wasn’t sure which one of those options would be best. He wondered if Buffy was the Slayer back then too, or if it were some other girl who was letting the unsuspecting citizens of Sunnydale be ravished. "I’m sorry man." Xander said sincerely.

Larry smiled a little, "Don’t be…I mean, yeah, and thanks, but I got over it a little. It still hurts sometimes, but I coped."

Xander nodded in response, unsure of what exactly to say to him. Larry had a habit of being completely oblivious one minute and being the pinnacle of maturity and wisdom the next. He had to cope…he was working overtime to cope as quickly as possible.

"You just gotta seize the day – Carpe Diem." Larry looked philosophically out at the dance floor at the gyrating teenagers. "If kids disappear and die…it can happen to anybody – just make sure that at the end if each day you’ve done everything that you wanted to, just in case there is no tomorrow."

Xander tossed him a lopsided grin. "That’s a little morbid, don’t you think?"

"It’s true Xander. Don’t waste time…"

"Buffy…" Jeff’s voice broke back into their conversation and Xander’s head snapped around.

"Where?" he looked at the entrance and then scanned the dance floor to the bar. Xander distinctly remembered her saying that she was going to cheer practice, training with Giles, and then home for dinner – as was now a requirement made by her father. Not that he wouldn’t be thrilled if she had shown; he just hadn’t told her that he was going to be there. He didn’t want to give Buffy the wrong impression that he was going to make a habit of clubbing without her.

Jeff narrowed his eyes at his dark haired teammate. "Not here, man." His mouth fell into a smirk when Xander visibly deflated. "Jeez man, jumpy much?"

"Naw," Xander denied. "I just…"

"Whipped," Jeff coughed into his hand and Xander shook his head. "Don’t worry man." Jeff spoke before Xander could. "I wouldn’t mind that either, I mean – Buffy Summers. Hacha!"

Larry laughed out loud while Xander considered the comment and tried to fight down the well of anger that was rising in his throat.

"I know what you mean, J-dog." Larry spoke and Xander whipped his head around to glare at him as well. "The cheerleading squad this year is top notch. I almost want to give up the pool and hit the football field."

"Seriously," Jeff grinned. "I actually considered joining the squad myself…hell; I’ll even be a towel boy if I have to…"

Xander forced out a nervous chuckle and joined in the conversation, "They are hot."

Jeff nodded, "And she broke up with that pussy Hope," he added, signaling that he was back on the topic of Buffy. "You know about that Harris?" he asked next turning his full attention to Xander, who spoke tight lipped.

"Yeah."

"So what’s up with that?" Jeff probed, "What went down?"

"I don’t know…"

"Liar," Larry threw in. "You know you’ve got the info – you two are, like, best friends right?"

"Yeah Harris is the luckiest man on earth." Jeff hopped back onto his stool. "So c’mon man. Help me out…"

"With what?" Xander asked, not liking where this conversation was headed.

"Winter Formal is coming up, Harris. I needs me a hottie on my arm."

"What’s that got to do with Buffy…?"

"Ass hole," Larry punched Jeff in the arm. "How can you ask him that? Xander probably wants to take her…"

"They’re best friends," Jeff laughed. "He doesn’t want to waste time working an empty font. Right Harris? You could be working a sure thing at that dance…like Cordelia or Harmony! I’ve been hearing things about Harmony, oh man…"

"What do you mean ‘working a sure thing’?" Xander shook his head to refocus the conversation.

"You know…" Jeff trailed off, but then shook his head when Xander showed no sign of understanding. "You could go to the dance with somebody you have a definite chance with…"

"What makes you think I don’t have a chance with Buffy?" he asked defensively.

"I told you he wanted to ask her." Larry spoke up and Jeff rolled his eyes at him.

"You’re in the friend zone." Jeff pointed out. "I mean, if you act fast you could probably swing something with the red head, but, as far as you’re concerned, Buffy Summers is long gone."

Xander tried to hide his smirk at the hidden falseness of that statement diverted his eyes to the table. "Willow’s spoken for," he said instead of acknowledging the comment and fighting off the tingles that recalling his school day with Buffy brought on. "Percy."

"Right." Jeff nodded. "Well, you’re screwed in that department…"

<Almost> Xander’s mind agreed.

"But back to me, then we can work on you." Jeff kept speaking. "Not only is she single and hot…but I heard that she was quite the fast one…"

Xander’s head snapped up again, his defenses rising at the comment about his best friend. "Who said that?" <So I can kick their ass.>

"From the direct source," Jeff said excitedly, not picking up on Xander’s threatening tone. "During soccer season Scott was always telling us about her – he said by the third week, second date, he was in there."

"Three weeks?" Larry smirked. "You do realize that the dance only lasts about three hours right?"

<Buffy’s never had…> "I hope by ‘in’ you mean in her house for studying…"

Jeff shook his head "Oh, he said there was eating…"

<It’s a boob, Xander. Not plutonium.> "Scott’s an ass," Xander spoke up. "Buffy’s never…"

"Sure," Jeff said in a disbelieving tone.

"She hasn’t…I would know, and I don’t so therefore – IT, whatever you’re talking about, didn’t happen. In fact, I’m going to go talk to Scott…"

"Rushing to the lady’s rescue in the honor department much? So what if they did…that’s not the point." Jeff said dismissively. "The point is that I want to be the next." He caught Xander’s angry gaze. "Or the first, whatever. Just can you hook me up… put in a good word…"

"So you can molest my best friend?" Xander asked shocked. "Why would I do that now?"

"Bros before hoes." Jeff offered and watched Xander’s eyes flare. "Joking man, lighten up a little."

"Listen," Xander huffed, while he stood up. "Thanks for the night out and everything, but I gotta go." He started walking away from the table without looking back.

"It was a joke Harris!" Jeff called to his back as he watched Xander cut through the crowd.

"That was low, dude." Larry told him. "You can’t tell a guy that about a chick who’s his friend…"

"He’s just pissed cuz he’s never gonna be there." Jeff shook his head. "That’s alright. I don’t need her best friend to back me up. Fuck Harris."

~*~*~*~

Xander shoved his hands into his pockets as he made his way outside. He hung his head and hugged his jacket around him more as the crisp fall California air bit at his face. What had started out to be such a great night had turned into a huge suckfest…and at the hands of one of his close friends no less.

Well close friend in the in the way that they were both on the swim team and were guys… Jeff was really just another sleazy guy who was always looking for an easy way out and a piece of ass. And he honestly thought Xander would help hook him up with any girl, especially Buffy; that just proved that was one Tylenol Gel Cap short of a full medicine cabinet. 

He shook his head and thought back to the conversation as he walked down the street. He shouldn’t have gotten so upset, and he definitely shouldn’t have let it show quiet so much – Larry was already picking up his discomfort at the idea of playing matchmaker, so he would have to be more discrete. But in the other hand, what if it were true? What if Jeff wasn’t lying about what Scott had said? Well, not that Scott what Scott had said; Xander had no doubt that pig wrapped in Boy Next Door paper had said a lot of things about Buffy. It had been some if the things that Xander had heard him say about other girls while he was with her that led to their first break up in the middle of freshman year…but he had never heard him say anything about Buffy directly. <Scott’s a liar anyways.> he pointed out to himself, <Buffy would have told you if anything had happened…> But…Why would she had told him?

Xander was lost in his thoughts as he headed out of the alley behind the exit of the Bronze and onto Main Street so he wasn’t paying attention when his shoulder collided roughly with the torso of another boy who was passing him by.

"Sorry," Xander said distractedly as the impact swung him around partially. The person, whom he had hit however, didn’t seem to be the least bit affected as he grasped the girls who he was walking with hand and continued towards the entrance.

"S’okay," the other boy said finally over his shoulder and Xander could hear a hint of a laugh on his voice.

He knit his brow together at the sound of the voice, but when he turned to see who it was exactly who had spoken the boy and his female companion were past him and all he could make out was the backs of their heads. But still…the voice…the hair…the height…

"Jesse?" Xander called quietly after them; his tone a mixture of fear bewilderment and excitement. "Jesse?!" he called again. He thought he saw the boy’s stride break, but he didn’t turn around to acknowledge him before he and the blonde girl he was with disappeared inside the club.

Xander kept his eyes focused on the door of the Bronze and took a step forward to follow them, but then stopped and shook his head. "Nah," he said out loud and started back down the street sadly. He hated how he had so much on his mind that it had resorted to hallucinations. "It couldn’t be."

~*~*~

"That was him?" Darla asked as she hung off of Jesse’s arm as they entered the club. "That was Xander?"

Jesse smirked and looked around the familiar crowded warehouse. He could feel the beat, hear the heartbeats – hundreds of them…the smell of sweat, and passion…hormones signing in the air and luring him in. "Yeah," he answered her distractedly. "That was him…"

"Why didn’t we grab him?" she asked, watching Jesse scan the club until his eyes stopped on a brunette girl in the middle of a small crowd of girls. She watched him skeptically and Jesse pulled his arm away from her.

"It’s not time yet," he said quietly as he started towards the girl.

Darla sneered at him, but he couldn’t see it. "Friend of yours?" she asked bitterly, despite herself. She had lost Angelus to the Slayer and now she had to lose her brand new childe to that little girl…Darla could rip her throat out and serve it to him on a platter.

"You could say that," he said over his shoulder as he smoothed out his black sweater. "Or you could say that she’s my worst enemy and she’s about to see what she missed out on…"

"I thought we came here for minions." Darla pouted. "Let’s just get some wrestlers and go."

"No," Jesse said sternly. "I wanna party. I wanna make her pay…"

"We don’t have time for revenge…"

Jesse turned his head suddenly and crooked his mouth into a smile. "You’re jealous," he said with a hint of mirth.

Darla rolled her eyes. "I am not…"

"You’re jealous of Cordelia…"

"With that name there’s no way she’d make an effective minion." Darla said confidently.

"But we can fuck with her head." Jesse raised an eye brow hopefully. "That’ll be fun."

"We?" Darla smiled seductively at him and tilted her head to the side innocently.

"Of course we." Jesse told her softly. "Forever…I’m yours right?"

"Forever." Darla smiled and approached him.

Jesse grabbed her hand and led her through the crowd. "We’ll pick some of the stronger ones," he shouted over the music. "We’ll have magnum force tomorrow night…then we’ll take out Harris." He felt Darla grip his hand in both of hers as he pulled her along. "Buffy won’t see it coming till they’re putting him in the ground." He was cracking up inside – not having a soul made everything so easy. He eyed Cordelia and released Darla’s hand. "You wait here," he told her. "I’ll be right back."

Truth be told, Cordelia was the only reason Jesse wanted to come here tonight. He knew that he would find her at the club and was itching to try out his new suave immortal charm. But Darla had followed him, and his plans for the night would have to be drastically curbed. He knew now for sure that she would not react well to his turning the head cheerleader, so right now he would just have to settle with plan B – telling Cordelia to do what he wanted her to do. After all, he had nothing to lose anymore.

Before she could protest Jesse had walk away and straight up to Cordelia’s group, placing himself directly opposite her and making sure to laugh exaggeratedly at whatever she had just said.

"What do you want Loser?" Cordelia fired at him with venom.

Jesse didn’t even shift under the scrutinizing gaze of the five girls he had just interrupted. He could feel them staring at him just as much as he could feel Darla’s eyes boring into his back. "You." He told her simply.

The girls laughed and Jesse just eyed them. "You’re kidding right?" Harmony said.

"I wasn’t talking to you." He said, breaking through the circle and gripping Cordelia’s arm. "Dance." It wasn’t a question. He had ordered her while looking directly into her eyes.

Cordelia looked down at his hand and then back into his eyes. She stared at him as if she were trying to see through him…as if she were searching for something… "Alright," she said meekly and Jesse led her through the crowd to the dance floor.

"Wasn’t that Jesse?" Amethyst spoke up as they watched Cordelia go.

Harmony rolled her eyes, "Yeah…"

"Didn’t Buffy just go to his funeral?" she asked. The other girls just furrowed their brows and turned to watch Cordelia dance with the boy they all thought had died.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The End Part 13