A/N: I was watching "Into the Woods," and I saw Xander doing his little thing - you know, lecturing Buffy about how much she really loves Riley and whatnot. And this line popped into my head: "If he couldn't be happy, then, by God, he would make sure that she was." If you follow me closely (which I'm sure none of you do), you know I have all these theories about how Xander secretly loved Buffy all along but he moved on because he knew that she needed him to be there just as her friend. You know the drill. I wanted to write Xander's reasoning behind the things he said. It's very short, I know, but I like it. I can't write this whole lengthy thing with Xander just being serious, because he ISN'T like that most of the time. I hope you like it, despite the fact that it's... fun-sized.
Stay
Riley's going to leave.
When I told Anya I had business to take care of, I was telling the truth. I went around to the back of the store and looked in one of the windows - Giles always left the one right smack in the middle of the wall open to allow fresh air to enter while Buffy trained.
Of course, I knew that he would before he ever said it to Buffy. I've known it for weeks. Months wouldn't even be that big a stretch. It all came down to when, exactly - what would trigger the inevitable heartbreak.
But, I had realized, it was, in fact, evitable.
Buffy did love him. She really did, with all of her heart. But that wasn't enough. Her heart belonged to Riley, yes, but her soul - that was with Angel in L.A. Riley knew that. He wasn't stupid. And, yeah, he was probably right to leave. Odds were, it would be what was best for him.
I don't care about that. All I give a crap about is Buffy. What's best for her; what will make her life even just a little bit better.
I love her. But I can never have her.
If I can never have what I want; never be happy, then, by God, I will do everything in my power to make sure that she is.