Friends and enemies
by Bwriter
Chapter three
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Chapter three
It was now 11am and Willow would be leaving for classes soon. Xander was finished his morning ones so he would be by any second and Giles was going over something in his office.
Xander, bursting through the doors, made Willow jump but Buffy had smelt him long before he came in.
"What's up with you?"
Buffy didn't do anything other than lower her head. Despite last nights welcome from him, she knew how he felt about Vampires in general, so she wanted to test the waters a little more.
"Hey guys. Nothing-just Cordy as usual. Where's Giles?"
"Office." Willow looked from Buffy — who was looking anywhere but at Xander — to Xander — who was looking directly at Buffy with a frown on his face — and decided that she needed to go and let these two talk.
Standing up and receiving a pout and a pleading purr from Buffy she told them both that she had class and that she'd be back later around lunch.
Buffy didn't no what to say. She hadn't spoken to Xander in the last six months and didn't really know how to begin.
On one of the times she was checking on him as he walked home from the Bronze, she found out a little piece of information that she hadn't known before. Xander was in love. She knew that he was dating Karen at the time but she also knew that he was not in love with her. She decided to break the ice by just asking him outright about it cause she figured that she couldn't feel more awkward than she did right then.
She caught him off guard. He squirmed and paced a little before sitting next to her.
"It's Fred."
Buffy was shocked. She never knew Xander was gay. What were the odds? Three best friends and thy all wind up gay. Thinking that Fred, not feeling the same way, was causing Xander's misery over it, she approached the subject carefully.
"Wow. Does he know?"
She watched Xander's eyebrows climb comically high on his head and his mouth dropped open.
"W...what are you talking about?"
Buffy knew that she had missed something but wasn't sure on what it was.
"Does Fred know that you like him?"
Xander started doing a brilliant impersonation of a gapping fish.
Y...ou t...hink I'm GAY!?" If Buffy was confused before, she was damn right perplexed now.
"But you said... Fred. Hence guy. Right?"
"Fred as in Fred. You know the girl who sat behind you in Math class?"
The confusion cleared.
"OH yeah I know Fred. Nice girl." Buffy was embarrassed and pissed off because she was embarrassed. When she was human, assuming Xander was gay wouldn't have embarrassed her. She just would have laughed it off. Now she didn't know what to say to a person that is — was? — one of her best friends.
Xander seemed to notice her unease. Moving his chair closer he slipped his arm around her shoulder and burst into laughter.
Buffy was shocked when she felt the arm. When she heard him laugh, hope flared in her that everything would be okay with the people who mattered. Willow still loved her and Giles and Xander have both now shown once or twice that they accept her as she is now.
"Hey Xand? You never really answered my question. Does Fred know?" That question sobered him up and the laughing stopped.
"No. She's too... and I'm just me. She could have any guy in school. Why would she want Xander Harris?"
It was meant as a rhetorical question but Buffy felt the need to answer it anyway.
"She would want him because he's a good person, who time and time again risks his life for those he cares about. She would want him because even when the odds are against him he'll come out swinging. I've watched you guys for months and I've seen the way you have handled yourself. You protected Willow when she went with you and Karen— for which I'm extremely grateful by the way - and you helped Giles on research. How many guys can claim to have saved the world and actually have it be true? Tell her Xander. Life is too short for you to not."
Buffy had looked Xander straight in the eye so he would know just how serious she was and that she meant every word that she had said.
She was unprepared fort the sudden hug she found herself in but after a moments hesitation she returned it. Xander was only the second human she had been in such close contact with, barring Willow. She honestly didn't know how her Demon was going to react but to her relief it also felt oddly pleased that Xander accepted her as she was and that it didn't register him as food, but as family.
"Thanks Buff. I'll think about what you said. So on to a happier subject. How did you and Willow's reunion go?"
Both Buffy's Demon and Slayer were shouting and growling out 'MINE' in her head but the rational part of her knew what Xander was asking ands knew not to take offence to it. Deciding to give him enough to let him know it went well she hinted at what had happened the night before only left out the part that had her biting Willow as she had done with Giles. No matter if they accepted her or not, she wasn't so sure they would be okay with her biting Willow, even if it wasn't in a feeding way.
"I think I'm gonna head out to the stacks and sleep for a while. I'll be back when Will gets here."
As she was leaving Xander's question stopped her.
"How will you know that she's back without someone coming to tell you?"
Buffy just smiled and told him she was very tuned into Willow and went to the area of the library that was scarcely visited, even by Giles.
When he thought she was out of earshot, he walked over to meet Giles who was leaving his office.
"Where's Buffy and Willow disappeared to then?"
"Will left to go to class and Buffy's taking a nap in the stacks. Speaking of, how do you think she's coping? She was kinda strange with me earlier. Like she didn't want to be anywhere near me."
"Xander, she's been through something terrible. She gave me a brief outline of what happened this morning but I know there were things left unsaid. I know the nature of her Sire and I think that until Buffy is ready to, or even wants to, tell us, we won't ever really know what happened to her. As for her not wanting to be around you, it was probably more a case of her not knowing how you were going to react being around her. Not to sound hard on you but of all us who weren't the Slayer, you hated Vampire's the most, and you never hid the fact. I'm not saying that in every case that's wrong, it's not, just in Buffy's, but maybe Buffy was scared of how you would react."
"But I was fine with her last night. Why would she think I would change my mind about her in a short amount of time?"
"Last night, once we all got over the shock of it, we were all — well nearly all of us — were so happy at seeing her again that maybe she thinks that was all it was. Excitement. She probably thought that once we had a chance to think about it we would see the errors of our ways in trusting her."
"Also Giles, we're gonna have to have a talk about Karen and find out what has been going on behind our backs for the last six months."
"Agreed."
Buffy left them feeling better. What Giles had said made sense. Rolling up her coat as a pillow she lay down and was asleep in minutes waiting for her Mate to come back.