Author's note: First time posting on FF and I'm certainly open to reviews, constructive feedback, etc. Thanks for reading!

Never again, isn't that what you said?

You've been through this before

An' you swore this time you'd think with your head

No one, would ever have you again

And if takin' was gonna get done

You'd decide where and when

Just when you think you got it down

Your heart securely tied and bound

They whisper, Promises in the Dark

~ Pat Benatar ~

Chapter 1 – Promises in the Dark

Buffy Summers pulled into the parking lot and sighed as she turned the keys to the ignition of her beat up olive green SUV, killing the pained wailing of Pat Benatar's Promises In The Dark on the radio as she did so.

"Still riding the geek machine, I see. And ugh, that wailing sounds like a banshee screeching. Like, seriously? How can you enjoy that? It's like the music of pain!"

Buffy looked over to the passenger side window and saw the source of her morning's grievance. Cordelia Chase shook her head while resting her arms comfortably on the open car door window.

"Good morning to you too, Cordy, and just FYI, they call that banshee screeching classic rock." Buffy deadpanned, sliding off her sunglasses, and then promptly sliding them back on as Cordy's bright blue and yellow sleeveless summer dress practically blinded her eyes with its cheeriness.

Cordy raised an eyebrow in disapproval and gave a derisive snort. "You know, you used to be a lot of fun back when you were normal, Summers. What in the world happened? It's like you're a total freak now. And FYI, no one listens to classic rock anymore. At least not the cool people, anyway."

And with that, she pushed away from the car window and sashayed coolly up the steps leading into the main building. Buffy gathered her books and bag, but stayed in the car until she was sure Cordy was out of sight.

"You wouldn't know good music even if it bit you in the ass, bitch." Buffy muttered, slamming the car door harder than necessary.

"So Mr Harris, it wasn't easy getting your transfer done, but we did it. And, as head of the Admissions Committee, let me start off by saying welcome to our beloved Sunnydale State University. I'm sure you'll soon find yourself right at home here at SSU."

The woman in the smartly tailored cream colored dress suit wore her hair in a short bob and despite her professional appearance, looked too young to be a professor. She smiled pleasantly from her side of the mahogany desk, and Xander nodded tentatively in reply. His gaze darted quickly towards the bronzed nameplate engraved Professor Jenny Calendar.

"Thanks, Professor Calendar, I'm extremely thankful to be here. And please call me Xander." He croaked, knowing that the only reason his transfer was successful was because of his Uncle Rory's connection to his old college buddy, Uncle Sam, otherwise known as Professor Finley, head of the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering at SSU.

"It's a real pity that the major program got cut at your old college, but hey, their loss is our gain, right?" she asked in a friendly tone, chocolate brown eyes twinkling.

"I have to agree with you there." Xander nodded in agreement, his enthusiasm sorely lacking. Unlike the lively professor, he couldn't seem to find much joy in his situation. He couldn't stop worrying about whether or not he was going to be able to fit in at the new college, whether he would be able to handle all the new course work, and most importantly whether he would be able to make any friends here at all. It wasn't as if he had much luck juggling all those things at his old college, but to do it all over again from the beginning was a lot more daunting than he was willing to admit.

As though she could read his thoughts, Professor Calendar added, "Well, since you didn't get a chance to attend our annual Orientation program, I'm assigning you to one of our third year students who also happens to be one of the key members in our Orientation Student Committee. He's just the right guy to help you get acquainted with everything here."

Xander was about to protest when there was a knock on the door.

"Ah! Speak of the devil," she beamed, "that must be him."

Her eyebrows raised in delight. "Always right on time, and he's super smart. Two wonderful qualities I love to see in our students!"

"But Professor Calendar, I really don't…" Xander attempted to politely object again.

"Come in!" she chimed in a louder voice, clearly ignoring him.

The door opened and Xander twisted in his chair to see a ginger haired guy enter the room. The spikey ends of his faux-mohawked hair were dyed black, and as he got closer, Xander noticed that the newcomer wore a maroon tee-shirt emblazoned with the word DINGOES in bold gold font underneath his forest green hoodie jacket. He couldn't help but think that the other student looked more like he belonged in a rock band than at college.

"Good morning, Daniel!" The professor stood up from her seat and placed both hands on her hips.

"Good morning Jenny." The red haired student replied politely with a curt nod, and then turned to Xander. "You're Alexander, huh?"

"Yup, that's me, otherwise known as Xander to my peers." Xander got up from his seat and shook his hand. "Nice meeting you, Daniel."

"Call me Oz, please. Only the professors and my parents call me Daniel." He offered with a lopsided grin.

"Oh, uh, okay." Xander nodded with his own grin.

Oz turned his attention back to Professor Jenny and began chatting about some committee business. Xander took the opportunity to watch the two, tuning out what they were saying. Observing Oz, Xander was amazed at how this exceptionally laid back looking guy could actually according to the Professor, be both punctual and smart.

Distracted by his observations, Xander only managed to catch the last part of their conversation.

"…not wrong, I think his first class doesn't start till ten, so I'll be leaving our new kid on the block here in your good hands for now, please play nice and try not to let the other guys chew on him too much ok?" She half joked, while walking back to her seat.

"Hey, nice as a baby wolf here, Professor, it's all good." Oz responded quietly, holding both palms up in mock surrender.

"Baby wolf, huh? You know, that actually suits you very well." She agreed affably. Glancing at the screen of her laptop, she grimaced, "Wish I could say the same about the rest of my schedule today though. It doesn't look nice at all."

"Speaking of schedule, Jenny, I actually came here with William. He said he has a meeting with you later?"

The professor glanced at her watch and raised both her eyebrows in surprise. "Woah, who knew he could actually be punctual?"

"The effects of hanging out with a baby wolf, I would surmise." Oz offered sagely.

Jenny laughed, "Ok, Daniel, Xander, thanks for making my morning a good one so far. We're pretty much done here, thanks."

The boys responded with their own thanks, and started heading out the office.

"Oh Daniel, could you do me a quick favor, and get William to come in now since he's early?"

"Okay, I'll let him know, Professor Calendar." Oz nodded and closed the door to her office. "Come on, Xander, let me buy you a coffee."

"Oh, no, it's okay, really. You don't have to," Xander replied, following the other student's lead towards the exit.

"My next class is in two hours anyway." Oz shrugged. "I got time."

When they arrived at the end of the corridor, Oz pushed the door open and called out to another guy who was leaning back lazily against a pillar, with one knee bent back so that his boot covered foot rested low on the pillar. He was in the middle of smoking a cigarette and talking to someone else when he turned his head towards them. Xander could see how Oz and this guy were friends, since he too looked more like he should be in band than in college.

"Jenny's ready to see you, Spike."

"Alright, cheers mate." The ash blond replied in a British accent.

Xander took in the sight of the Brit as they got closer. His short cropped hair was styled in messy spikes and he was dressed from head to toe in black from his boots to his skintight tee-shirt. The only other color he wore was the silver on the rings on his fingers and the bracelets on his wrists. Spike sucked in one last breath of smoke before he flicked the cigarette to the ground. He casually stomped on it with his boot, twisting once to extinguish it before heading towards them.

"So….is he like the Spike to your Oz?" Xander asked hesitantly, wondering what the deal was with all these guys and their aliases.

"You mean if he's like the William to my Daniel?" Oz replied with a question.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Yeah, you got it right."

"Okaaaay. Very eloquently put, indeed." Xander remarked dryly, before quickly adding, "So are they like stage names?"

"Well, I don't know about Spike, but I've preferred to be called Oz since I was a kid." He shrugged nonchalantly.

They stopped in their tracks when Spike reached them.

"See you at The Bronze tomorrow at six?" The blonde raised a scarred eyebrow in query.

"Yeah, okay, I gotta pick Willow up first anyway." Oz grinned at the mention of his girlfriend. "And since you're here, let me introduce you to the new kid."

Spike rolled his eyes and glanced over at the geeky looking brunet, he never understood why Oz bothered being so helpful. "Hello, new kid." He said gruffly for the benefit of Oz.

"Hi. And wow, I sure felt the love there." Xander replied sarcastically.

Oz smiled, enjoying how the two seemed to be hitting it off so well already. "His name's Xander, Spike. And Professor Calendar said not to chew on him too much."

"Oh, trust me, I wouldn't even dream of it." Spike snorted with disgust. "Would love to stay and chat with you kids, but I'd better be off now before she decides to soddin' chew me up for being late or whatever it is that's got up her overbearing arse."

As Spike sauntered off, Oz raised his eyebrows at Xander, almost apologetically.

"He's just a big ball of sunshine, isn't he?" Xander beamed with mock cheeriness.

"Just give the man some time." Oz grinned, "He's really not so bad once you get to know him. And besides, it's his first year in the graduate program. I guess he's just a little nervous about the whole thing."

"Which program is that?"

"Think he got onto Musicology." Oz stated simply, like it was not a big deal at all.

"What? That…that Billy Idol wannabe guy? No way. You can't be…I mean, you're joking...right?" Xander spluttered. He couldn't believe that someone like Spike could actually be smart or talented enough for such a program.

"Seriously, dude, I'm not."

Xander found himself dumbfounded by that piece of information. So much so that he couldn't bring himself to ask any more questions until they got their coffees from a nearby kiosk. Settling down on one of the nearby tables, Xander took a sip of his brew before finally asking Oz about his conversation with Spike earlier. "So, what's going on at The Bronze tomorrow night?"

Chapter summary:

Hope you guys liked it and thanks for reading. Do leave your thoughts if you've got any. :)

I also strongly encourage you to view the song with lyrics to get a good sense of this chapter's theme - search youtube for watch?v=Vd621WrVTI0 (sorry, FF doesn't allow me to post the entire URL here!)