Author: Newport
E-mail: Jase1486Yahoo.com
Rating: pg13 to maybe R. just gotta see where the story takes me
Disclaimer: I think it's stating the obvious when i say that i don't
own the show or characters.
Spoilers: Shows over, nothin left to spoil.
Summery: Not quite sure. Just gonna start typing and keep typing
until a story pops out of my jumble of words, HeHe.

Authors Note: This is my first attempt at Fanfiction. I've been
reading it since 2000 and I've been a big B/X Fan Since I stumbled
across my first b/x fic. It was Taygeta's fic "Becoming One" after
that I just fell in love with B/X Fanfic stuff. I'm also a big
Jason Mraz Fan so that's why I'll probably have Xander be playing
some of his songs. When I saw his "Curbside Prophet" live
performance with the Blues Travelers at Yahoo Launch i got hooked on
his music. He's really amazing in his live performances. I got the
idea for this fic when I downloaded a few live performances of his
when he was at Java Joes Cafe'. Anyways here goes.

The Bronze

Buffy, Xander, Willow and Oz are seated at their usual table. The
Bronze is somewhat packed tonight with Teens dancing and laughing,
just experiencing life. Oz an Willow are seated real close to each
other with willow leaned into Oz's side whispering in his ear and
giggling after she was done whispering. Oz had his arm around
willows side and was whispering right back to her cracking a smile
every now and then. This little display had been going on for about
30 to 35 minutes now. Buffy had been watching the whole time; she
thought it was cuter than cute. Xander sat beside her bored outta of
his mind. He thought the display that Oz and willow were putting on
was Disgustingly sappy but couldn't help but smile because at how
happy his friends looked.

Xander would occasionally steal a glance at Buffy while she sipped
at her drink and bopped her head along to the music that was playing
over the house speakers. God she's amazing Xander thought. She
seems to be doing a lot better after Dead Boy left. Xander Thinks
back to the first few weeks after Angel's departure.

Flash Back

Xander had Finally left for his road trip. He was finally free! No
parents there to yell at him No vampires and other People of the
dead kind to try to kill him. For once Xander Harris was free for
the first time in his life, utterly and truly free. He had been on
the road for about 7 hours now and it was time to stop to get gas
for the 3rd time. Damn the Mileage on this thing sucks He thought
as he was pulling into a truck stops gas station off of I-5.

He got out and put the gas pump into the hole on the car and
started to fill the car. As he was waiting for it to finish he
spotted a pay phone on the side of the Gas station. I should
probably check in just to see how things are he tried to convince
himself as to the reason for his to calling. Truth is he has only
been gone for 7 hours and already he missed his friends, well more
specifically he already missed 'Her'. Buffy. God how many times did
her name wander through his head a day? He didn't even know but he
was fairly sure that if he got a dollar for every time it did he
would have enough money to buy out Bill Gates for Microsoft 3 or 4
times over by now.

Xander walked over to the pay phone and picked up the receiver and
dropped a quarter into the slot. He dialed the number he knew by
heart and waited for the familiar voice to pick up. When the phone
was answered he almost didn't recognize the voice. "Hel..'Sniff'
Hello" Buffy 's voice sounded hoarse and cracking probably from
hours of crying alone in her room. God how many time have I done
that Xander Thought to himself. "Buffy? What's wrong?"

"Angel..... Angel left" Buffy Said.

"What? When?" Xander asked concerned. Granted he never really liked
dead-boy but he knew that Angel made Buffy happy

"A few hours ago. He just.... I.... god I'm so lonely Xander, I..."
That was as far as she got before she dropped the phone and broke
down crying.

Xander held the phone close to his ear and listened to her cry on
the other end for a few seconds. She sounded like she was in so much
pain. Needless to say that after he Hung up He hopped in his car and
Hauled ass back to Sunnydale.

End Flash Back

--------------------------------------------------------------

Over the next few months Buffy gradually got better. Over time she
realized that it was for the best but that didn't make it hurt any
less. But what surprised her the most was how much Xander was there
for her those months. He would come by her house everyday and just
hang out with her for hours on end. He would go patrolling with her.
Always making sure she was ok after the whole Angel phiasco.

She grew to be so comfortable around him, he would make her laugh
and smile. Kick her in the ass and set her straight when she thought
that everything that happened was her fault. He would be her
Shoulder to cry on when she was having a rough day. She can't count
the number of times that Xander came over to her house and she cried
her self to sleep in Xanders arms.

But now recently when she's around him she feels this thing between
them that she really can't describe. She lights up when he enters
the room. She notices that she's been hugging him a lot more than
she ever did, constantly wanting to touch him or be touched. She
goes on patrol with him every night now. When they both go to their
respective homes she calls him as soon as she gets home to 'Make
sure he got home'. And ends up talking to him until the early
morning sunrays peek through her Curtains. One day she just started
to see him with all new eyes and she really liked what she saw.

Then it hit her like a Mac Truck at a hundred and ten miles an hour
I'm in love with Xander she gave a little gasp as this revelation
hit her and it drew the attention of the other patrons at the
table. "Everything alright Buffy?" Xander asked concerned. He looked
at her with those big chocolate eyes that had so much caring and
comfort and love, aimed right at her that she couldn't find the
words to respond. She was hypnotized by his eyes, so she just gave a
short nod. Willow and Oz went back to cuddling and whispering,
Xander looked at her for an extra second before going back to his
drink.

What the hell am I going to do about this now? How do I deal with
this? There's no way he'd return my feelings especially after all
the crap I've put him through and the way I treated him. She was
about to dwell on this further when a figure approached the table.

"Xander?... Xander oh hey what's goin' on man!"

Xander whipped his head around to see who the owner of the voice
was. When he saw him his eyes light up in recognition. "Oh shit
Topher what's up?!" Topher gave Xander a bear hug.

"Topher what are you doing here? I thought you were in Portland
doing the touring thing?"

"We finished that already. We're just passing through town on our
way back to L.A. thought we'd give your Uncle Rory a heart attack
when we showed up at his front door to say hi, hehehe."

Topher was a large black man with a baldhead accept for on the back
of his head he has a patch of Dreadlocks that reaches all the way
down to his lower back. "So kid who are your friends?" He asks as he
looks at the faces around the table. He gives them all a smile and
for a second Buffy, Willow and Oz are reminded of a big fluffy teddy
bear.

Xander Puts an arm around Topher's shoulders and gestures to his
friends like Vanna White while introducing his friends. "Topher this
is Oz, Willow and Buffy."

"Guys, this is Topher he's a friend of my uncle Rory's. I've known
him since I was like 5 years old." They all shake hands and nod
while smiling at Xander's friend. Xander turns back to Topher "So
what are you doing at the Bronze?"

"Well actually we were looking for you and your uncle said that you
hang out here most nights, so we thought we'd show up and give you a
shout... so 'Shout!'" Xander gives a little chuckle "Well thanks for
the shout."

Buffy notices how close Topher and Xander acted, they had a real big
brother little brother going on. She thought it was really sweet.
She clears her throat to get their attention." Topher would you like
to join us?"

Topher smiles at her "don't mind if I do". Oz grabs an empty stool
behind him and swings it around his side while some how still
staying glued to Willows side. He hands the stool to Topher "here
you go man". Topher takes the stool "Thanks, Oz was it?" Oz grins
and nods, "Thanks".

For the next half hour the gang plus Topher sat around the table
swapping stories and having some good laughs. The gang really
started to like Topoher. He told them how he met Xander's uncle at a
coffee house in San Diego during an open mic night. Also how Xander
used to go down to San Diego to visit him every couple of months
until he got into high school. Willow always wondered what he did
when his Uncle Rory took him to San Diego. Topher started telling
story after embarrassing story about the kinds of stuff they used to
get into down in San Diego.

"So when Xander hopped out of the car to moon the people on the
bleachers I slammed on the gas! It was the funniest damn thing to
see Xander running after the car with his pants around his ankles."
The entire table was laughing their ass off by now. Willow had tears
coming out of her eyes she was laughing so hard, Oz was laughing so
hard that almost no sound was coming out of his mouth. Buffy was
clutching her stomach with tears streaming down her face laughing so
hard that she couldn't breath, she was afraid that if she laughed
any longer that she might actually choke to death. Xander was
blushing bright red and trying to slither off the stool and under
the table.

After the laughter died down Xander turned to Topher with a grin and
said " And thank you for that". Topher slaps him on the back" Hey
man it's what I'm here for." Despite trying to be mad at Topher he
couldn't fight down the smile that came to his face thinking of that
incident.

Up on the stage one of the waitresses was trying to get the
attention of everybody in the club by tapping on the mic. "Excuse me
ladies and gentlemen, we're going to be trying something different
tonight. Instead of having Scheduled acts perform tonight it's going
to be open mic night. So if you wanna give it a shot some on up."

Oz looks up from planting a kiss on willows nose " Oh! I forgot
about that, that's why The Dingo's couldn't play tonight."

Topher looked over at Xander "Open Mic Night? Xander we gotta do it!"

Xander looks at him and than at the surprised looks on his other
friends faces then back to Topher "No no no no no!" Topher jumps out
of his chair

"Yeah come on! We used to play all the time in my garage"

"Yeah but that was a long time ago."

"So what, come on man you were so good I got the instruments in my
trunk I'll just go get them" Topher starts to run off but Xander
grabs him by the back of his shirt and tries to pull him back "No
dude no, no. We're not doing it" Topher tries to pull away again so
Xander starts to lean back as far as he can while Topher leans as
far forward as he can. "Yes come on man let me go get em', come on!"

The group just stares at them wanting to say something but instead
are trying not to laugh. Topher looks back at Xander while still
leaning forward "Xander we're playing weather you want to or not.
Now let me go or I'll kick you" Xander just grips the shirt harder
trying to lean back farther "your not gonna kick me... Owww!" The
other occupants at the table can't take it anymore and start to
crack up

Xander's holding his leg while Topher runs off to get the
instruments. Xander sits back down still holding his leg. Buffy asks
what everybody else was thinking "Xander how come you never told us
you played music?"

"Well I don't really I mean me and Topher just used to make up songs
when we were hanging out in his garage. Just something to pass the
time. besides I'm not really that good. I really don't want to play
I'm just going to embarrass my self" Xander looks down at the table.

Buffy gently puts her hand on his arm "Xand I'm sure your great,
will you please play? For me." Xander looks at the hand on his arm
and then up to her beautiful face. That little half pout half smile
always makes him fold "Okay I'll play," she smiles as he looks into
her eyes with a surprising amount of intensity "For you." Those two
words sends shivers down her spine as she stares into his eyes. her
fingers start to rub small circles on his arm. They're just staring
into each other's eyes when Topher comes up behind Xander

"Okay man here you go" Topher says while handing Xander an acoustic
guitar. Xander takes it into his hands trying to get a feel for it
again. Xander stares at the guitar in his hand "I can't believe I'm
going to do this"

Topher looks at Oz "Xander tells me that you're in a band? Can you
play an upright Base?" He leans the Base outwards towards Oz until
the Werewolf grabs it.

"I think so, my Parents made me take Cello lessons when I was
younger. It can't be much different. It's basically the same
instrument minus the bow of horse hair." Topher smiles at Oz "Right
on!" Willow beams with pride at her boyfriend and gives him a sweet
kiss on the cheek "That's my baby" Willow whispers into his ear.

Topher Pulls his Bongo drum out of his duffel bag with the strap for
it and puts it on with the drum in front of him. "Come on let's go."
Topher hops up on stage with Xander and Oz right behind him. Topher
goes up to the second mic that's situated to the side of the middle
mic. "Hey everybody how's it goin'. We're gonna start up in a
second, we just need a few minutes to prep." The three guys huddle
in the corner for a few minutes while figuring out wich songs to
play and also teaching oz the base lines for most the songs they
want to do.

While they're up on stage the girls at the table start to chat while
waiting.

"So wills do you think they're going to be any good?"

"I don't know I didn't even know that Xander could play, But if my
baby is gonna be playing then they'll be reasonably good" She says
while starting off into the distance with a dreamy look on her face.

Buffy starts to laugh, "God Wills, you are truly in love aren't
you?" she teases her witch friend. Willow Nods emphatically to
Buffy. "Yup I am! But I'm not the one that's been making google eyes
all night at a certain Brunette that we both know"

Buffy quickly looks away while trying to fight a blush from creeping
up to her face. "I...I.. I don't know what you're talking about"

Willow just stares at Buffy. Buffy starts to squirm in her seat
under the stare of the red headed witch. This goes on for four and a
half minutes of willow boring holes into her slayer friend. Finally
buffy can't take it any more and just folds like a bent straw.

"Okay, Okay I love Xander, I'm in love with Xander. Okay? ya happy
now?" Willow just gives her friend the biggest smile Buffy has ever
seen "I knew it, I knew it, hahahaha. Oh Buffy this is so great,
what the hell too you so long huh?"

Buffy has entirely no clue what to say. She was worried what willow
would think but this reaction was not what she had in mind.
"You mean you don't mind," She asks quietly.

Willow looks at her like she didn't hear her right "What, Buffy
obvcourse I'm okay with this. It's Great!"

"What's great?" A voice behind the girls asks. they both turn around
to see Giles standing there.

"Giles what are you doing here? I thought you were researching
tonight?"

"What? Only you and Willow are allowed to 'Get your boogie on' as
you kids say" Giles looks back to Willow "So what's so great?" Buffy
tried to silence Willow with a kick to the shin but she saw this
coming and hopped off her stool and blurted to the watcher "Buffy is
in love with Xander!"

Buffy slowly turns to her watcher wondering what her reaction would
be. Giles just looks from Buffy to Willow to Buffy and then back to
Willow. He's quiet for a few seconds then "Dammit, Damn Damn Dammit"
He reaches into his back pocket and pulls a fifty out and hands it
to Willow. Willow just smirks and snatches the bill from Giles'
hand.

Giles looks at Buffy with an annoyed expression "You couldn't have
waited till next month to fall in love with him? That was my day on
the pool!" Buffy looks at them both with shocked looks.

"You guys had a pool going?" she asks.

"Yup and I won! So thank you.," she says as she reaches over to give
her friend a hug. They would have elaborated on the subject more but
that was the time that Topher decided to step up to the mic and
introduce himself, Oz and Xander. Giles looks up to the stage with
shock and surprise written all over his face.

"Is that Xander up there? He plays?"

Both girls look at each other and then back to the watcher. Buffy
answers, "I think we're about to find out"

Next Part Coming soon. Please R&R. This is my first fanfic so give
me the truth, good or bad cuz I want to get better at this writing
gig hehe. by the way i called the fic On Love In Sadness because
that's the first song they're gonna play but i was just to tired to
get to it tonight but i promise i will get to it ASAP. thanks
everybody.

Jason