Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters get in.

Buffy's Screen Test

The three adults and Buffy stayed up on the stage until the students started trickling in for practice, the older ones all excited to see their former drama teacher again. The girls also all wanted to see the dog who was currently running around the stage like she owned it, Robert calling her over and holding her for the girls to pet. Buffy, diva that she was, soaked up all the attention like it was her due, licking hands and squirming with delight at each new face and gentle stroke. When everyone had arrived and been given the opportunity to greet the two guests Eames called for everyone to take a seat, Robert surprising everyone by turning the dog over to their math teacher before taking the seat Saito was holding for him.

Not surprised, he'd figured that the students would just assume the dog was Mal's, Eames delighted in informing his actors that Buffy belonged to their math teacher. He'd asked Arthur earlier if he'd like him to explain the details of how the man had ended up with the dog and to his delight his darling had just shrugged and told him to go ahead if he liked. His man was self assured, that was for sure, the whispers and looks he was getting from the students not appearing to faze him in the slightest.

"Buffy, so named by Mr. Gordon's grandmother, is going to be a part of our first production. Or at least we're going to see if that's the case." Seeing the confusion Eames explained how she was going to be dressed up as 'Buffy in Boots' and act as the pretend narrator. First they'd see how she reacted to being on the stage with a large audience, which was why he wanted everyone to remain seated while they had a little screen test for the dog.

Everyone enthusiastic about the idea Buffy was returned to the stage, Arthur remaining nearby and leading her through the actions of climbing up and onto a box so that she was facing the teenagers. She looked around, obviously very aware of her surroundings, but her quick glances down to make sure that Arthur was still there and wanted her to stay put seemed to ease whatever worries she might have had. When he gave her the signal to speak she barked cheerfully, right off the box in fact when she got a little too enthusiastic about it.

She didn't mind the cheering and clapping from the students when Eames announced that he'd seen enough, Buffy seeming to take it as her due as she bowed without Arthur giving her the signal to do so.

A consummated diva, Arthur thought with a smile as he retrieved her from the stage. No surprise there.

Aside from Buffy's early fall off the box everyone agreed that her 'screen test' had gone very well and she was welcomed as a member of the cast. They'd work on how to incorporate her now that they knew she could handle it, Eames informed his students, but for now it was time to get to work practicing what was already planned out.

Leaving their seats the students headed for the stage now to begin practice, Buffy happy to stay with Arthur and Mal in the audience now. For the most part the two friends stayed quiet while the students ran lines, stroking and petting Buffy into a pile of happy goo in Arthur's lap. Only when the students were given a short break did they break their silence.

"He's very good."

"Yes, he is."

Mal shot him a look out of the corner of her eye. "You know, you love Britain. And you could easily afford to move there. I'm sure he'd make it worth your while."

Arthur stared at her in surprise, the emotion that much stronger when he realized she was dead serious. "I haven't even known him two months, Mal. I think it's a little early for either of us to be thinking about me moving across an ocean to be with him." The invite to the man's next family reunion came to mind, but Arthur pushed that thought aside determinedly. "I need a better reason than great sex to move away from all my family and friends."

Opening her mouth to suggest that Eames could stay instead Mal wisely held her tongue, sensing that Arthur didn't want to discuss it. Which intrigued her that much more, as well as helped her forget her nerves about being back at the school. "You know…you've never been so closed mouth about a relationship before. Is he special at least…or is it that you think you need to be careful with me because my love life exploded epically in my face?"

"A bit of both I suppose. He's…not like anyone I know. He attracted me only slightly more than he annoys me."

"Good." Mal grinned at him. "You'll be more invested if you can't figure him out."

Knowing better than to argue, and just happy she sounded so like her normal self, Arthur let it go and instead asked for her take on what she'd seen so far performance wise, knowing she wouldn't have missed much given how focused she'd been on the stage performances. Plus it would hopefully distract her from thinking about where she was and the possibility that she would run into Dom, hopefully.

Thinking he just didn't want to talk about his relationship with Eames Mal smirked at him, stating that her opinions would do the Englishman a lot more good than him and she would much rather talk about how nicely the man's trousers were hugging his very nice ass today.

Laughing Arthur agreed that they did, settling in to discuss Eames's 'interesting' wardrobe for the rest of the break.

)

Not being a fool Arthur had known from the beginning that there would be a price to pay for having invited Mal on campus and not telling Dom ahead of time. He'd only gone along with the idea of Mal being the one to bring Buffy to the school because he'd known that the other man had a meeting that would keep his friend well occupied for the time Mal would be around. One of their chief benefactors had a granddaughter in the school who was far more interested in sleeping with the entire football, basketball AND wrestling teams than doing her school work. So as well as needing to discuss the fact that she was failing every class Dom also had to address the issue of the fact that it would be really appreciated if she left the other sports teams alone since the three teams she'd already messed with weren't doing so well in terms of teamwork and understanding that her moving from one guy to the next wasn't a reflection on them. So yeah, he'd known without a doubt that as soon as that meeting was over Dom would be going home to down a great deal of liquor, which he naturally couldn't do on school grounds, and that therefore the odds of his two friends meeting up and talking to each other had been negligible.

But he also knew that there was no way in hell Dom wouldn't hear the next day that his estranged wife had been on school grounds at the same time as him. And that more than that, Arthur had been well aware ahead of time that she'd be coming and hadn't told him.

Benefactor or not Dom would have canceled that meeting in a heartbeat for a chance to be with Mal and they both knew it, so Dom would be gunning for him before the end of Tuesday's classes and Arthur knew it.

And he had plenty of experience dealing with Dom when his temper got the best of him, Arthur reminded himself as he watched the rehearsals wind down for the day, Eames giving his usual end of practice pep talk as well as assigning the various students certain area of the script to work on specifically. Fights with Dom tended to get very ugly very fast and all the man's anger, and the betrayal he'd feel, would be aimed at him with lethal intent.

Not for the first time though, and he'd handle it just as he always did.

Unfortunately he couldn't be sure that Dom would have the sense to wait until they were alone to verbally or even physically attack him. Just imagining what would happen if there were other teachers around, much less students who would spread their version across the school and internet without a thought to the consequences to Dom's career or Mal's emotional fragility if her husband lost his job because of her indirectly…it was enough give him ulcers.

When he'd agreed to her bringing Buffy to the school he hadn't been thinking clearly, hadn't considered that the lure of the play Eames and Robbie were involved in would be so irresistible to her that she'd stick around to watch even knowing that Dom might be around. He was too used to her avoiding anywhere her husband might be that it had sunk in too late that she'd stay instead of dropping Buffy off and then bailing immediately.

Just one more piece of proof that his brain didn't function properly around Eames, Arthur acknowledged as he automatically followed her over to the stage as the students left, happy in some part of his mind even as the rest of his thoughts continued to focus on the fact that he was going to have to go to Dom's house and tell him about Mal coming so that there was no chance that the initial explosion took place on school grounds. Which meant that on top of Dom's anger over Mal, he was also going to have to deal with the lingering results of the grandfather/principal meeting from hell, not to mention the bonus of the effects of the alcohol Dom had consumed before he got to the man's house.

Fuck.

"You alright there, Darling?"

"Don't call me darling at school." Arthur shot back automatically, forcing his face into neutral lines since there was no way in hell he wanted Eames getting it into his stubborn head that he should come with him to Dom's. In fact it would probably be for the best if his lover didn't know where he was going at all.

Trying again Eames said Arthur's name this time, forcing himself not to touch since the man was such a stickler for appearances while they were at school.

"I'm fine. I just realized I forgot something and I hate that. Mal, would you be able to give Eames a lift back to my place? If not that's okay, I can drop him off and then take care of the errand."

"No, I can give him a lift. We can talk stuff over on the way."

"You're this tense over a forgotten errand?"

"Oh the stories I have to tell you." Shaking her head Mal threw a companionable arm over Eames's shoulder. "I've seen him make Hermione Granger look like a slacker when it comes to freaking out and worrying over the silliest of things. Trust me, the man's a SCARY perfectionist at times."

Since he was just fine with Mal distracting the far more observant drama teacher Arthur dryly told them that he'd leave them to their story exchange, handing Buffy over to Mal before heading out with his cool mask firmly in place.

He was going to need it.

)

Pulling into Dom's driveway Arthur turned off his car, undid his seat belt and then got out with the air of a man preparing to stand before a judge for a sentence. Delaying the inevitable for a moment he paused to study the house for a moment, remembering when he'd helped his friends with their house shopping and how much Mal had loved this one. Dom had wanted something a little smaller but he'd never been able to deny Mal anything, especially when she'd told him that they'd fill it with kids soon enough. That that hadn't happened was just one of the many reasons Mal hadn't wanted the house when Dom had offered to move out so that she could stay there after she felt up to living by herself. The house, to his eyes now, seemed as empty as it had when they'd come to see it for the first time. It was back to being a house, Arthur recognized every time he came now, no longer a home.

Shaking his head in regret over that fact Arthur locked his car doors and then headed for the stairs that led up to the porch.

Ringing the doorbell Arthur didn't have long to wait, Dom opening the door with a look on his usually handsome face that made it plain the meeting had been as bad as they'd both thought it would be. Possibly worse.

"Come so I'm not drinking alone?" Dom drawled out, raising an eyebrow. "Not usually your thing. You should have brought Eames."

Given the way this conversation was likely to go Arthur was pretty sure bringing Eames would have been extreme stupidity on his part. "Got a few minutes?"

He'd only had a glass of whiskey thus far, his brains far from addled just yet. "I'm not going to like what you've come to tell me, am I? Is Mal alright?" Dom demanded to know, eyes flashing with fear and anxiety.

"She's fine, but no, you aren't going to like what I've come to tell you either. You're going to be pissed at me."

Relaxing a little now that he knew his wife was okay Dom moved to the side, motioning the other man to come in. If Arthur said he wasn't going to like what he was about to hear then that was probably true, unfortunately. They should both have a drink first, he decided, pouring them both one once he'd retrieved a second glass and they were in the living room, which was where he'd been camped out with the bottle.

The house was immaculate as always, a little put together for Arthur's tastes even when Mal had been around. The two had always tried too hard to appear to have the perfect everything, just one of the many reasons their lives had exploded so epically in Arthur's opinion. Of course he was a perfectionist himself, but that's where the difference lay. He liked things perfect because that's just how he was wired. His friends sought perfection because they cared too much about what the other and society thought of them.

Automatically taking the drink when it was handed to him Arthur thanked him, lifting his glass in time with Dom in a short salute before he took a healthy swallow while Dom drained half his glass.

Sipping the drink now Arthur studied Dom over the rim, the blond doing the same. They went back too far not to know each other annoyingly well when they put effort into it, which they were both doing now.

"Eames decided it would be funny to try and include Buffy in the school play. Mal dropped her off today after school and hung around for the rehearsals."

Dom's hand tightened around the glass he held. "She was at the school? For nearly two hours? While I was there?"

Arthur nodded.

"Why the fuck didn't you let me know? I could have canceled that meeting from hell and…and talked to her. At least gotten to see her. Do you know how fucking long it's been since I've seen her in person? How the hell am I supposed to fix things with her if nobody will let me see her? Dammit, Arthur!"

Setting his glass down, just in case he needed his hands free, Arthur crossed his arms in front of him for the moment. "I've made my position clear, Dom. I think you're both going about this the wrong way and NEITHER of you will listen to me. I didn't call you down because we both know she wouldn't have stayed if you were there and if you'd tried to make her I would have had to interfere. In front of our STUDENTS."

"A real friend-"

"Would force you into couples' therapy again." Arthur interjected smoothly. "The last doctor didn't work but I think that was on him. I didn't like him when I met him that one time. You two need a detached third party and it can't be me since you both seem to think I'm biased."

"You ARE biased! You're always on her side!"

Sighing Arthur could see this going the way all their arguments had gone since Mal had started to show the signs of the depression she'd hidden from them for God only knows how long. He'd known it would be just like this and he didn't know how to stop it as he automatically defended himself, reasonably bringing up all the times he'd been on Dom's side while the man threw back at him all the times he'd stood in as a shield for Mal when he thought Dom was too much for his friend to handle on her own.

Trying to redirect the ranting Arthur interrupted Dom by suggesting that rather than go over old ground AGAIN they focus on the fact that maybe Mal would want to help out with the future school production as a volunteer and if that was the case would he give his word not to come down to the theater and interfere? Eames was good for Mal, they spoke the same drama language and seemed to be getting along well thus far. Maybe Eames could become her friend and help her in a way they couldn't.

"Right, because it would be such a great idea for her to get involved with a smooth-talking, drama obsessed actor with a British accent!"

"Mal is well aware that he's gay and sleeping with me, Dom."

"Right, because the guy being gay has always stopped her before."

And they were right back into familiar, well worn territory, Arthur trying to make the older man see that Mal only thought of him as a friend and her calling him that night was not a declaration of who she loved more.

And as always they got nowhere and nothing was resolved.

Big surprise.