1
Faith had waited in class for Xander to show, but he never came.
Which sucked, 'cause the only real reason she came to class today was to spend it with her bud. And he didn't even show.
What's up with that?
She had sat through the whole day, waiting for him to show up and giving Murphy dirty looks. At the end of the day, though, still no Xander.
It was on her way home that she finally saw him. He was standing in front of a dojo, talking to some old guy.
Getting off at the corner, she almost ran through the snow back to her friend. She just reached him as the man had turned and walked back into the building.
"Xander, where have you been?" Faith asked, breathless from the run from the bus stop.
"Nowhere," Xander said, looking at his friend, his dark eyes holding hurt.
"I sat through school wait for you to show up," Faith said, teasing. Hoping that Xan had forgiven her for this morning.
He seemed to have, but with Xander, you were never sure. He could hold grudge longer than anyone she knew.
"I just couldn't deal with it today," Xander said, looking away from the girl. The wind was whipping his hair around and you could almost smell the snow in the air that soon would be falling.
"I...I'm sorry," Faith said, looking down at her feet as they sank into the wet snow.
"The slap?" Xander asked.
"Yes," Faith said quietly.
"Don't worry about it." Xander with a grin. He had hoped she would have come clean about talking to Murphy, but she hadn't. "Been hit harder by people I like less."
"Xander..." Faith replied with a whiney voice. She already felt bad about slapping him, and knowing that didn't make her feel any better.
"Hey, We're FRIENDS," Xander almost snapped. "Friends forgive. So I forgive you."
"Xan.." Then it hit her – he knew about what she had said to Murphy.
Xander could see that she put it together.
"I got to go," Xander said turning toward his apartment.
"I am sorry," Faith said as she reached for him.
"Faith," Xander said, "I asked you to stay out of it. I told you I could handle it. But you just had to get in the middle of it."
"You were fighting over me," Faith snapped at him. "Didn't I get a say in what was going on?"
Xander's head dropped. He took a deep breath.
"It doesn't matter that it was about you. What matters is, now I will have to fight harder to be one of the guys," Xander said. "I let a girl fight for me. If my dad finds out about... hell, when word gets out, I am dog meat on a stick.
"And it's all because you had to stick your nose in the middle of what happened."
"Xander! This was about ME!" Faith snapped at him. "You fought over me! I get to have a say in that. I am sorry it bruises your male ego. You got hurt because of me. I wanted to fix it."
"Faith. You've got to understand something," Xander said. "You can't fix everything. Even if you cause something, you might not ever be able to fix it."
Faith stood there and just watched as her friend walked away.
Joe stood back in the shadows. He'd heard and seen everything the kids had told each other.
Kids, Joe shook his head. These kids were growing up fast. When he was their ages, the worst he had to deal with was how he would he get chocolate ice cream for desert instead of some kind of pie.
Broken homes.
Mothers doing god knew what.
How could he relate to them?
He'd decided right then and there to be there for them if they needed it.
The boy had already needed him once, and judging by the way he talked, would more than likely be back. Something had happened today that caused the boy to ditch school and end up here. He hadn't talked about it, but it was safe here and out of the weather. And as long as he gets back in school, Joe saw no reason he couldn't continue to hang out here.
The next day at school.
Faith arrived to class a little late. She had waited for Xander to show up at the bus stop, but he never came out of his building. She had waited on him until she had almost missed the bus. It had snowed again last night but the streets had been cleared enough for traffic to resume.
Normally, she would have just skipped the day, but mom had a new guy over today, and Faith didn't want to deal with it.
And most of the local stores still hadn't opened yet, so it was either school or freezing on the streets with some of the girls from down the block. Most of her friends were either dropping out of school or just going to school to stay warm and score a meal or two.
But as Faith walked into class she noticed something.
Her seat was moved.
And Xander was sitting with Karen.
Faith almost laughed out loud at seeing the boy's face as she walked in. He looked like a trapped animal with the hunter walking up to the trapped. As soon as Karen saw Faith, she let out a laugh and put her hand on Xander's forearm. Xander just looked more confused. Then he took notice of Faith.
Xander had came to school early today 'cause he had to get out of the apartment. It was no longer his home – just a place to out his stuff.
Faith had that smirk on her face. Was she laughing at him? Or at Karen? Sure, Karen was a bit of an air head, but she was trying to be nice to him.
Faith walked up to the two.
"How's it hanging X?" she drawled out.
"Ok. Just a little on the left side today," Xander told his friend. "How are they hanging?"
"Oh, about a B-cup right now," Faith said, looking at her chest with a thoughtful look, then glancing at Karen's flat chest.
Faith was what her mom had called a early bloomer, and was already started to show the lines of a knock out body once she hit adulthood.
"Oh gross," Karen snapped at the two, her tone very disapproving.
"What's the matter?" Faith asked "Jealous?"
"Of you?" Karen snapped. "Never. I was just having a nice conversation with my new friend here and you have to butt in and bring that low class talk here. Not that I'm surprised, considering where you're from."
Faith just glared at the blonde girl, her fist balling up. Then she calmed down, looking at Xander.
"So you dumping me for her?" she asked quietly.
"Can't dump what's not mine," Xander said just as quietly." But you're my FRIEND, and that never changes."
Karen just smiled looking between the two. Just a little push and she could get just what she wanted.
"But Karen, you talk to my friend like that again,." Xander said turning his dark eyes on the blonde and away from Faith, "and we'll have words. Faith here is my friend and I don't like people talking about my friends."
"Sorry," Karen said her face turning into a wounded puppy look, the same look she gave her father when he wouldn't let her have something, and it worked on the boy just as it worked on her dad. "It's just talking about those kind of things isn't what people talk about in mixed company."
"Well," Xander said, looking almost like someone had used a poleaxe on him, "just don't let it happen again."
Faith just looked at the boy, and thought, She flashes her baby blues and he just gives in? What's up with that?
She knew that with a little sex, a girl can just about rule any guy. As her mom had told her once, a woman's power was between her legs, and any man would do anything to get a taste.
She just never thought of Xander as being a guy.
Xander looked at his friend, then at Karen, who was just smiling at him.
Faith was his friend. Would he like to be more? He didn't know. Maybe. . . He wasn't sure any more. Especially with her just wanting to be his friend, and nothing more. And then there was the way Karen was acting like she wanted more than just friends.
Xander smiled back at the girl, and made up his mind.
At the smile, Faith felt like a dagger had been driven into her heart.
While she had said aloud that Xander was only her friend, in the quiet of her soul, she had felt very different. She wanted him. And to watch him smile at that… bitch... was just about more than she could take.
On top of that was the fact she didn't even know if he still wanted to be her friend anymore. After yesterday, she wasn't sure.
Just then the bell rang and the teacher walked into the class, calling the student to their seats.
Karen took one more look at Xander then walked away. Once she had turned away, the smile changed from the sweet smile that she had been giving Xander to one of victory over a fallen and hated enemy.
Faith moved into her seat next to Xander and he turned to look at her.
"Had our first fight?" Xander whispered as the teacher started to call out the roll.
"Yeah," Faith replied, biting her bottom lip.
"Didn't like it," Xander said looking away.
"Me either."
"Let's try not to have that again," Xander said, looking back at the girl, hope shining in his eyes.
"Can't promise that," Faith said. She knew she didn't want to, but people fight. She had seen it all her life. "But we can try."
"Good enough."
"Just so you know," Faith said drawing in a deep breath, "You're my friend too, and I WILL protect you if I can. So if you're going to get mad about me standing up for you, we might as well call it quits."
"Oh," Xander said, "okay, as long as the rule applies to you too. We can still be friends."
"Friends," Faith said with a nod of her head.
And with that they had pulled in closer together.
Murphy sat down across from Xander. He smiled at the two with a 'forgive me' smile.
Faith just scowled at him, then turned to the teacher's call out that she was in class. Xander just looked at him, then nodded.
Xander so wanted to knock the bigger boy down, but he knew he wouldn't be able to do that – not and be able to walk.
So he did the only thing he could think about – he forgave the boy.
But he wouldn't ever forget it.
Xander opened his apartment door. Usually, when he came in from school, his mom had a snack laid out. He would eat the snack, then start his homework.
But today was different. The smell of home was gone and in its place was a smell that he would always remind him of his father. Beer and whiskey.
"Dad?" Xander called out.
But he knew his dad shouldn't be home for a few more hours yet.
There was a groan from the living room. He stopped as he walked into the room. It was a mess: furniture was overturned, books and magazines from his mother's shelves were thrown about. And in the middle of it all lay his mother, a pile of empty beer cans at her side.
She groaned again looking at her son, then she rolled over and went back to sleep. She had started to drink a few weeks ago. At first, it was just to take the edge off of a day. Then it was to help her sleep at night.
But he knew what it really was about; it was to help her forget who she had married.
"Mom?" Xander called as he bent to help her up from the floor. The young preteen, was big for his age but it was still a chore to get his mother to her room.
After getting her to bed, he went about picking up the house, and then getting up his homework.
Xander sighed, and looked around.
This day was just the best that could have happen. . . NOT!
That night was pretty bad for Xander. He could hear his mom and dad fighting most of the night. Christmas was coming up and from the way the pressure was building here, it was going to be a doozey.
He just hoped it would get better.
It didn't.
End part four.
