Xander Harris took a good long look over the
faces of his friends. They all had taut smiles on their faces that were
obviously holding back tears. Buffy walked to him and stood in front of him.
"Wow. Who would have thought you'd be the first to leave town?"
He chuckled slightly. "Yeah, Mr.
'I-lived-in-my-parents'-basement-for-a-year.' I sure as hell didn't think I
would."
Instead of laughing with him, Buffy wrapped her arms around him in a hug.
"You be careful out there. And you'd better come visit." She choked
out the last part. "I'll miss you."
He hugged her back and smiled. "Come on, I'm only moving an hour away.
I'll be back here like every weekend... I swear."
Buffy looked up and him and smiled while she nodded. 'Buffy, Buffy, Buffy,' he
thought. But he could understand why she was so upset. He was one of the first
people she had met in Sunnydale, and the first that had discovered her secret.
He was there, before Angel, before Angelus, after Angel, before Parker and
Riley. And he was there after. In a recent life that had lacked and kind of
male figures, she had had him... and Giles. He was her best guy-friend... her
only guy-friend. In a world where nothing was stable, he was her rock, her
"White Knight" as Dead-boy had called him a few times. And even
though she ended up doing most of the actual saving, he knew his purpose in the
group... just to be him.
Buffy sighed. "Yeah, well, don't forget us in LA, ok?"
He smiled. "How could I?" He gave Buffy one last quick hug before walking
over to Giles.
"Well, G-man, looks like I'm finally big time college boy, huh?"
The Englishman paused before placing a hand on Xander's shoulder. "I'm
proud of you, Xander."
Now, Xander could feel his own eyes welling up with tears. Giles was always
like the father Xander didn't have... the one who cared about him, cared about
what he made of himself. Not like his own father, who couldn't care less what
Xander did. Underneath all the scorn and sarcasm, there was always a bond
there... as much of a bond as Giles let himself have with any of them. And to
hear those words come out of his mouth... 'I'm proud of you...' that made
everything seem worthwhile.
"Thank you... Giles." Xander whispered out, before moving on to
Willow.
She stood there, with Tara, smiling tautly, her bottom lip quivering.
"Oh, Will..." he hugged her and the tears came streaming down her
face.
Willow. Willow Rosenberg. His first love. Otherwise why would he have stolen
her Barbie when they were a five-year-old married couple? But then something
happened, people get older, and he forgot all about sweet, kind, Willow next
door. He took her for granted all those years, never realized that while he had
moved on, she was still in love with that little boy who had a penchant for taking
apart Barbies. From their days of playing Doctor to the Christmas when she
would come over to see the Snoopy dance... no one knew him better than she. How
could anyone? And now, for the first time in either of their lives, they were
going to be apart. A whole hour away. It seemed like an eternity. How would he
deal without seeing her face every day? As visibly hard as this was for her, it
was doubly hard for him. At least Will had someone... she had Tara. He didn't
even have Anya anymore. She had gotten her powers back and had chosen vengeance
over... him. It was quite a self-esteem deflator. And who was there to cheer
him up in the weeks after? Willow. Who was it that had given him the idea to go
to school? Willow. Who was it that had given him the idea to move away for the
time being? Willow. And who was the first person he told when he had been
accepted to UCLA? Willow.
**"What? UCLA? But? That's in.... well, LA. That's far away. It's Los
Angeles... it's like a whole other country."
"But you're the one who told me to go for it, Will. You're the one who
told me that maybe I needed a break from this place for a while."
"Well, yeah, but I didn't think you'd actually DO it! What am I going to
do without you, Xander?"**
He hugged her tightly as she tried to make out words through the tears.
"I'll.... miss ..... you.... Xander."
He sniffled and nodded. "You too, Will." They stood there for a long,
moment, hugging, before Willow finally let go.
"Well," she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "You'd better
go. Don't want to be late."
He nodded. "Okay. Bye, Will. See ya, Tara... you'd better take good care
of my Willow."
Tara smiled. "Definitely. Good Luck, Xander."
Xander began to walk to his car as he heard Willow yell out, "And call us
when you get there!"
He turned back to her, nodded, and got into his car. He took one last glance at
the group... Buffy, Giles, Tara and Willow. before lowering his sunglasses and
driving off.
He wasn't even out of the neighborhood before he finally broke down and started
crying.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Xander arrived at the hotel around mid-day and decided to take a nap. He hadn't
slept that night, with the anxiety and anticipation of a new day, a new place,
buzzing through his head.
When he woke up later that night, he decided to go out and see what LA was
like.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Angel walked out from his room into the main lobby of the hotel that was
serving as the headquarters for Angel Investigations. He looked around and saw
Wesley, but no sign of Cordelia.
"Wesley, you seen Cordelia today?"
Wesley looked at the clock. 'Hmm, one pm. Cordelia's not usually this late.'
"No, I haven't. Don't you think its kind of odd that..."
Before he finished that thought, Cordelia entered through the doors, a
frustrated air with her.
"Well, good morning, Cor---," Wesley began.
"I know, I know, I'm late. Sorry. I had a bad night."
Angel stepped forward. "Any visions?"
Cordelia walked behind the desk and sat down. "No... rats."
Both men were confused. "Rats?" Angel asked.
"Yes," she answered haughtily. "Rats have invaded my apartment.
Disgusting little vermin are crawling all over my nice clean apartment. And the
worst part, Phantom Dennis is trying to help."
"Help how?" Wesley asked.
"By killing them. You know just casually dropping a lamp on one, catching
another under a chair leg.... dropping a fire iron onto another. Very loudly.
He was doing it all night. I couldn't get any sleep."
Angel chuckled. "Why didn't you just ask him to stop?"
Cordelia frowned. "Well, I... I just couldn't. I mean, he was trying to
help really. It was kind of nice. Loud... but nice."
Angel sat down next to her. "Okay, well, we should get started on
this..."
"Oh, great..." she cut him off sharply as she lurched forward in the
couch.
"What?"
"As if my day couldn't get worse----ahhhhh." Cordelia fell to the
floor as the pain from a vision hit her like a truck. After she was done,
Wesley and Angel helped her back onto the couch.
"What'd you see?"
She took the glass of water that Wesley had gone to get and took a sip before
speaking. "A man... early twenties, dark hair, getting attacked out side a
club. Some hairy thing. Ugly. I think the club was around the UCLA
campus."
Angel looked at Wesley and Cordelia. "Okay, so tonight... we go
clubbing."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Xander walked around the UCLA campus, looking at the buildings, getting the lay
of the land. 'Wow... tomorrow, I will officially be a student of the University
of California at Los Angeles.' Just the thought of it gave him a thrill. He
really was college boy now. Amazing.
As he traveled out of the campus, he passed by a section of clubs. 'Hmm,' he
thought. 'I am a free man now. New guy in a new town... I gotta meet people
someway, huh?' So he parked his car and started walking toward the clubs.
------------------------------------------------------------------
"Okay... there! That one!" Cordelia pointed out the club that she saw
the dark haired man leaving as they drove past it in Angel's convertible.
"So park over there somewhere."
Angel parked the car and the three got out. "Okay, where to?"
"Well, it happened somewhere in between the club and the parking lot, so
lets just go there," Cordelia answered.
"Sounds like a plan to me. Let's go."
------------------------------------------------------------------
Xander got about half way to the club as he was blindsided and knocked into a
side alley.
"What the hell?" He started to stand up, but saw the thing that had
knocked him off his feet. It was large, about seven feet tall and very hairy.
"Why?" he asked no one in particular. "Why am I always the demon
magnet? Anywhere I go, big, ugly demons follow."
The hairy demon started to make his way closer, slowly. Xander started to
panic. "Um... yeah... what I just said about ugly... I didn't mean you in
particular. I meant... well, demons in general."
The demon growled as Xander tried to back away. "Um... not any demons that
are friends of yours mister demon sir, but um... well...."
The demon kept advancing as Xander backed himself up against the wall of the
building. He had no where to go.
"Uh-oh," he said to himself. "This is not good. Where's Buffy
when you need her?"
Suddenly, the demon stopped, stood up straight and turned around. Xander saw
the crossbow embedded in the hairy thing's back. "Wow. Talk about your
express shipping," he said quietly.
Another crossbow hit the demon and as it moved, Xander could see that it was
not Buffy saving his life, but Angel. The demon charged Xander, throwing him
against the wall as Angel followed close behind, wielding a sword. Jumping on a
dumpster, he grabbed a hold of the demon and swiftly lopped it's head off, as
Xander lay on the ground.
Cordelia and Wesley ran up to him as Angel was finishing up the demon.
"You're okay," Cordelia soothed him. "Can you hear my
voice?"
'I recognize that voice...' Xander thought and turned his head so that he could
see the woman's face. "Cordelia?"
As the man turned his face, she saw, though the trickles of blood, a face she
thought she knew. It was confirmed when she heard him speak.
"Xander?"
"Nice city you got here," he mumbled before passing out.
"I think we should call a doctor,
Wesley."
Wesley looked up at Cordelia and watched her pace back and forth across the
room, her eyes intent on the sleeping form of Xander Harris.
"Cordelia, he's only been unconscious for a half an hour. And he's had
quite a shock. I don't think there's anything to worry about."
She stopped and inhaled a deep breath. Wesley leaned forward. Hmm... maybe
she's going to stop pacing and rest for a moment, he thought. A moment
later, she resumed her pacing. Wesley leaned back in the chair, as Angel walked
in.
"So, how's he doing?"
Cordelia stopped and faced her boss. "He's still unconscious! How are we
supposed to know how he's doing if he's unconscious? I think we should call a
doctor. He might die or something," she said testily.
Angel was about to reply to her comment, but was interrupted before he got the
chance. "Nah... not this Xander."
Cordelia wheeled around to look at the young man lying on the bed as he slowly
moved to a sitting position. "Xander! You're ok!"
He groaned and clutched his side as he sat up fully. "You know me... A
Xander wobbles, but he won't fall down," he said with a smile. "Hey,
Wesley... Angel," he said with slight waves. As much as he was tempted to
still call Angel "Deadboy," he figured that since the vampire was
taking care of him apparently, it might not be the best idea.
Angel smiled... or at least, what went as a smile for him. "Hi, Xander."
"Nice to see you again, Xander," Wesley said, seeing the way that
Xander and Cordelia looked at each other, and starting to make an exit.
"But if you'll excuse us, I believe Angel and I have some work to be
doing."
He started to walk out. "Work?" Angel asked, before seeing the look
as well and understanding what Wesley was getting at. "Oh... yeah... work.
See you later, Xander."
The two left and Cordelia smiled and sat down next to Xander. "So, what
brings you to our part of the world... not enough adventure in Sunnydale?"
"Nope..." he said proudly. "Moving on to a new adventure."
She gave him a quizzical look. "What new adventure?"
"A little something called college... which I should be starting.. Tomorrow...
oooh," he finished with a groan.
Cordelia sat up, her eyes wide. "College! Xander! I'm so proud of you. I
thought you would just end up a townie in your parents' basement forever."
Xander laughed. "There's my Cordelia... I was wondering when she'd show
up."
Cordelia's spine tensed a bit. "Well, you haven't seen me for quite a
while... I've changed a lot. Grown a lot."
Xander nodded. "So have I. Moved out of the basement, for one. About a
year ago."
"Oh...," Cordelia said. "Did you get your own place, or did you,
I dunno, move in with someone?"
"Like who?"
"Well," she said, looking away. "You know... Anya maybe?"
Xander cringed. "Yeah... I wondered if you knew about that or not. No, I
didn't move in with her. She actually... left me a couple of months ago."
Cordelia looked up. "Oh... sorry."
"No prob." They sat in silence for a moment. "So... what about
you? Anyone in your life?"
She frowned. "Well, there was someone. Kind of. But he... left...
too," she said sadly.
"Ah," he said, making way for more silence.
And there they sat for a long while, side by side, silent, before they spoke at
once.
"Xander..."
"Cordy..."
"... I missed you," they lamented together. When they had realized
what they both had said, they sat there for another moment, looking at each
other through the silence. Looking at each other with eyes that hadn't seen
each other in what seemed like forever.
Wow... he's going to college. The Xander I knew never even thought
about college. He's changed a lot... just look at him. Well, yeah, he needs a
haircut, but... well... actually, that kind of works for him. But it's not just
the hair... he looks so much more mature now. Only two years, but it seems like
he's grown up about ten years. And he was with Anya all that time... until she
left him. He stayed with her. He was faithful to her. To Anya. He really has
changed...
She really has changed. Something happened to her. It must have. She seems
so... grown up. Like she finally realized that she's so much more than just a
Daddy's Girl, and that she can do so much more than just spend money.
She's realized that she has a place in the world. I guess working with Angel's
been good for her. And that guy... the one she said left. He must have hurt
her. I saw that sad look in her eyes when she mentioned him. I was the same look
she had in her eyes when I hurt her. But I would never do that to her again...
never.
----------------------------------------------
There they sat while worlds turned in between them. Two people, friends, yet
strangers somehow. Two years had passed, but for them it felt like eons.
Xander smiled and broke the silence. "So... do you maybe... I dunno...
want to go get something to eat sometime?"
Cordelia smiled and nodded. "Yeah... that would be nice. Really
nice."
-------------------------------------------------
THE END.