Epilogue

"What the heck are you doing, Cowboy?" Dani asked teasingly as she gave Xander a hard shove on the chest. "Quit doing that. We're alone."

"Yeah," he responded, trying to erase the concerns from his mind, "I'm sorry. I'll stop." He reached out and pulled his girlfriend close to him, apologetically burying his face against her shoulder. He could feel her touch trying to lull him back into security, but at the next creak of the walls, Xander was sitting up erect yet again, his head trained towards the door.

"Xander!"

"I'm sorry!"

"No one is coming home for at least an hour. We. Are. Alone." Dani moved in closer towards him and smiled, the small action causing his heart to melt. "So, could we, I don't know, try and take advantage of this time?" Xander glanced down at the bed they were sitting on, realizing quickly that Dani's hand was no longer on the comforter, but sliding gradually up his thigh. She looked him over with a provocative glance, smirking dangerously.

"Take advantage of this time, huh?" Xander replied casually, trying to remain composed as he was drawn closer to the beautiful young woman before him. "Whatever do you mean by that?" he asked, intentionally trying to keep up the ruse of naivety.

Dani rolled her eyes and moved closer as well, her face close enough to Xander's that he could feel her breath. "Five years later and you're still this dumb? What the heck are they teaching you at that fancy university of yours?" She moved quickly, stealing a kiss before he could reply.

"Applied engineering," Xander answered innocently, blushing at the contact as he placed his hands around her waists. "It's actually very fascinatin', Dani. Last week before the semester ended we-"

"Shut up, Xander." Her mouth closed over his and thoughts of college, parents, and mythological monsters vanished completely from his mind. All that mattered was getting to be with the girl he loved, and he simply couldn't move fast enough for the opportunity, nor slow enough to make it last.

He could feel the daughter of Hades' hands pulling at his shirt, and with a jolt of excitement, he proceeded to do the same. It had been months since he had last seen his girlfriend at camp, and it seemed to him that the separation was finally going to pay off. Although he tried to contain his eagerness, the moment that their shirts were lying together on one end of the bed was a moment of great triumph for him.

"Xander," Dani breathed, pulling back into the pillows slightly.

"Dani," he breathed back, following as his body pressed against her, unwilling to let go.

"Xander, Xander stop." The suddenly serious tone in her voice shut off all passion and brought the son of Athena to a halt. He stared at her with wide, concerned eyes, his heart plummeting into his stomach for fear that he had done any number of things wrong.

"I'm sorry. It's my fault. What'd I do wrong?" he pleaded fearfully.

Dani shook her head and propped herself up on one elbow. "Nothing, nothing," she murmured reassuringly, sliding a bra strap back up her shoulder. "I just…I don't know. It's weird."

Xander's eyebrows lowered curiously. "What is? Are ya okay?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, I am, definitely," she answered truthfully, nodding her head. "Just…well…just all of a sudden…I just felt…"

Xander motioned with his hands for her to continue, anxiously wanting to know what was plaguing her. "Ya felt…?"

Dani shut her eyes and sighed reluctantly, her words spilling out quickly and blandly: "I felt like I just didn't want to have sex with you."

She opened her eyes to view her boyfriend's face which had grown suddenly pale and wide-eyed. "Ya…ya what?" he choked out, his hands twitching nervously with dread from an almost repressed memory suddenly coming back to light, at a terribly inconvenient moment, he would add.

"No, that's not it exactly," Dani backtracked, searching for more accurate words. "I suppose it wasn't that I didn't want to," she decided, her hand gently caressing Xander's cheek as she spoke, "more like…more like I couldn't. Like some supernatural force was keeping me from wanting to sleep with you, do you get it?"

Xander blinked, his face blank and emotionless. "Yeah," he responded dispassionately, "I get it."

Promptly, Xander threw himself down and buried his head against one of Dani's pillows, screaming in frustration.

~O~O~O~

Willard: HEY GUYS!

Xander: Dude! Knock first!

Willard: Knock knock! Who's there? AN AWESOME-TASTICAL IDEA.

Dani: Yes, Willard, you can crash here instead of the dumpster outside. I only kicked you out the once.

Xander: And that was only because you- *cough*- didn't knock.

Willard: No! You guys- LET'S CELEBRATE PANTSGIVING.

Xander: …Annually?

Willard: Every day!

Xander: Oh, sure, we'll just spend every day getting high and naked.

Dani: I'm in.

Xander: …As am I.