One Week Later,
Monday afternoon

"Mom?!" Buffy walked into her house after an afternoon of shopping
with Willow. "I'm back," she called, not so loudly this time. She frowned,
"Now that's strange. She actually isn't here when I come home, for the
first time in over a month."

"Yes I am," Joyce said as she emerged from the kitchen. "I've got a
surprise for you Buffy," she smiled. "At least I hope you'll
appreciate it."

"Yeah, what is it?" Buffy asked, half-curious, half-suspicious.

"That would be me."

Buffy looked in surprise as the young man walked out of the kitchen.
He was six feet tall, with blue eyes and blond hair. He had an athletic
build, and tanned skin.

"Danny?" Buffy finally found her voice.

"Hey, Buffy," he gave her a hesitant smile. "I hope you're not mad.
Joyce and I have been planning this for like three months. I told her
I'd be going to New York in July to see my dad, and she suggested
that I drop by for a few days to see you. Well, insisted would be more
accurate. The surprise was her idea too."

"I'm not mad," Buffy said with a smile. "I'm really happy to see you,"
she said, and she walked over and hugged him. "I am Surprised, yes,
but it's a good surprise."

"I thought about telling you," Danny said. "But part of me was worried
you'd tell me you didn't want to see me."

"Don't be silly," Buffy replied. "Why would I not want to see you?"
She looked to where her mom had been standing, and laughed when she saw
that Joyce had made a silent exit. "Gee, she's not obvious, is she?"
Buffy said rolling her eyes. "Come on," she took his hand. "Sit down,
even though I know a lot from your letters it's not the same as talking
to you in person. How long are you going to be here?"

"A week," Danny said. "Unless you get sick of me that is, and then
I'll leave whenever you tell me to."

"Would you stop that," Buffy hit him on the arm playfully. "I haven't
seen you in two years, I seriously doubt I'll get sick of you in a
week. I think it's more likely that you'll get sick of Sunnydale in
less than a week, though."

"Not a lot goes on here?" Danny asked.

"Uh, well, let's just say not a lot good goes on here," Buffy replied.
"There's not much for teens to do. Our only hangout is the Bronze, and
they've got decent bands sometimes, but it gets old. The main bad
thing about Sunnydale is the, uh, crime. It's not a good idea to go out
after dark on your own."

"Really," Danny said, obviously surprised. "It looks like such a tame
town."

"It is until after sundown," Buffy said. "And then things get...
interesting." *Please don't make me slay anything this week,* she
mentally asked whatever Powers were listening. "You know, I want you
to meet my friends." At his disappointed look, she added, "Don't worry,
you'll get me to yourself some too."

The doorbell rang, and Buffy said, "Well, obviously this isn't one of
those times," with a shrug. She went to open the door, it was Willow
and Oz. "Hey guys," she greeted them with a smile. "Come on in, I
want you to meet someone."

They followed her inside, where Danny was standing by the couch. "Danny,
this is Willow and Oz. Guys, this is Danny, one of my friends from my
last highschool. I haven't seen him since I left, two years ago.
He decided to surprise me, with a little help from my mom."

"Nice to meet you Danny," Willow said, shaking his hand. "What she
said," Oz added, also shaking his hand.

"Well, we were going to get you to come to the Bronze tonight," Willow
said. "The Dingoes are playing. But you probably don't want to now."

"I definitely plan on showing Danny the Bronze at some point," Buffy
said. "But do you mind if we take a rain check for tonight?"

"Of course not," Willow replied. "Well, we don't want to interrupt, so
we'll go. I'm sure we'll see you around, Danny. I hope you like
Sunnydale. There's not much to see, though."

"So Buffy said, but I'm sure we'll figure something out," Danny
replied. "I didn't come here for the town, anyway."

"Stop that," Buffy said, rolling her eyes. She walked Willow and Oz to
the door, and asked, "You guys are going to play this weekend, right?"

"Yeah, you'll have two more chances to subject Danny to our ...
singing," Oz said. "Friday and Saturday."

"Good," Buffy said, "Have fun tonight, you two. And be careful."

"Always," Willow replied. "Don't worry," she whispered. "I'm getting
good at throwing things with my mind. If we get cornered, I'll just
clear a path and we'll run for it."

"First you, then Willow," Oz shook his head in mock-irritation. "Is it
something in the water? Us guys are supposed to protect _you_."

"Says who," Willow frowned. "I like being able to take care of myself.
And it's not like I don't still need you, it just means that...."

Buffy laughed as they went down the sidewalk to Oz's van. That was a
conversation she'd heard Willow and Oz have many times. She understood
Oz's point of view, it had to be annoying that he wasn't quite the
hero anymore, in his eyes anyway. Buffy knew that to Willow, though, Oz
would always be her hero.

She shut the door, and turned. She jumped when she realized that Danny
was standing right behind her. "Geez, Danny. Don't spook me, it might
end up badly," she said. "I've been learning some self-defense skills,
and I don't want to hurt you."

Danny gave her a skeptical look. "I seriously doubt you could hurt
me," he said, looking her up and down. "I'm a black belt in karate,
remember." Buffy's eyes narrowed, and she put her hands on her hips.
"Hey," Danny raised his hands in a defensive gesture, "don't get me
wrong, I'm glad you're learning how to defend yourself. I'm just
saying..." he trailed off as Buffy's eyes narrowed even more.

"You're just saying that you think you could take me," Buffy said, a
mischievous look in her eyes.

"Now, don't start this," Danny replied. "I don't want to hurt you--"

"Ha!" Buffy interrupted him. "I dare you," she challenged. "Take me
down."

"What?" Danny looked at her in shock.

"Come at me and try to knock me to the floor," Buffy explained. When
Danny still hesitated, she said, "Come on!"

"You've got to be kidding me," Danny protested.

"I'm not kidding," Buffy said determinedly. "I'm not asking you to
beat me up or anything, just try to knock me off my feet."

"Oookaaay," Danny said slowly. He walked toward Buffy, and she braced
herself. He rushed her as if to grab her around the waist, but she
dodged to the side, tripping him on his way by.

He went down with a thud, and Buffy smiled with satisfaction.

"What the--" Danny gave her a puzzled look. "You've got fast
reflexes," he admitted.

"Yep," Buffy agreed. "Come on, tough guy, I'm still standing," she
teased.

Danny approached her more slowly this time. They circled each other,
each analyzing the most likely advantage. Danny grabbed for her arm
and tried to pin it behind her back, but she surprised him by
going dead-weight on him. He released her arm and she jumped back to
her feet. She faced him again, and he shook his head in disbelief
that the tiny blonde was giving him so much trouble. She moved
slowly closer, and then suddenly kicked his legs out from under him.
He fell to the floor on his behind. "Hey!" he yelled in shock.

Buffy giggled, and reached out a hand to help him up. "Still think you
can take me?" she asked.

"Not as easily," Danny conceded, taking her hand. She pulled him to
his feet, and he said, "But I can still take you," as he returned to sit
on the couch.

She joined him, and replied, "By the time you leave here, Danny
Williams, I will have made you eat those words."

"You just might," Danny said. "You're definitely not the same girl I
remember from highschool."

"What, you mean the snotty, spoiled-brat cheerleader?" Buffy asked
innocently.

Danny chuckled, "Now, now, I never thought of you like that."

"Sure you did," Buffy said, "but that's okay," she added with a shrug.
"My opinion of you wasn't all that high then either. I don't think I
really appreciated you until we started writing each other after I left."

Joyce chose that moment to interrupt, "Hi, I know you have a lot to
catch up on so I'm going to get out of your way again. But I was
wondering if you'd like to have dinner here, or if you two are going
out for dinner. Either way it's fine with me, but it's
almost three, and if you want dinner I'll have to start soon---"

"Mom!" Buffy interrupted Joyce's nervous rambling. "Deep breath," she
suggested. "You're not expected to be super hostess, okay? If it's
okay with Danny we'll go out for dinner. Probably the pizza place down the
street."

"That's fine," Danny agreed. "It's food, I'll eat it."

"Some things never change," Buffy said with a roll of her eyes.


**************
The Bronze
8 pm

"Do you think he's an ex?" Xander asked as nonchalantly as possible.
He was not happy about the news of Buffy's visitor, and it was obvious.
Willow suppressed a smile at his thinly-concealed jealousy. "I haven't
got the slightest idea, Xander," she answered, trying to give her best
friend the proper amount of attention while still watching her
boyfriend's band up on stage. "She introduced him as a friend from
highschool. She _was_ happy to see him though. And if his being here
can cheer her up and take her mind off things, I'm glad he's here. And you
should be too," she said pointedly.

"I am," Xander replied not very convincingly. "If Buffy's happy,
that's good."

Willow wondered who he was trying to convince. She sighed, and turned
her attention to him. "You always did have bad timing," she said.

"Huh?" Xander gave her a puzzled look. "Not following."

"Your feelings for Buffy," Willow explained.

"Wha- But. I. How?" Xander stuttered.

"We've been best friends for ten years, Xander," Willow rolled her
eyes at him. "Do you think it isn't obvious to me how much you love her?
I'm not even sure how long ago I realized it, it's been a while. What
worries me is that she's still trying to get over having to send
Angelus to hell, and Angel along with him. I know you can't help how you feel
about her, I just don't want you to get hurt."

"It's a little late to do anything about that," Xander admitted,
knowing it was hopeless to argue with Willow's intuition where he was
concerned. "Whatever happens happens. I'm not kidding myself that she'll ever
feel the same way, though, you don't have to worry about that."

"That's so not what I was implying," Willow said. "I do think it will
take time, but I don't think it's out of the question completely--"

"No," Xander cut her off. "Don't do that. It's much better for me
_not_ to get my hopes up without reason."

"Xander--"

"Please, Willow. Denial's good right now."

"Fine," Willow sighed. "But I don't think you're giving yourself
enough credit. You're a great guy and --"

Xander couldn't help it, he laughed. At Willow's hurt look, he
explained, "You reminded me of someone just now. She said pretty much
the exact same thing."

"Well, if two people have said it to you, then it must be true,"
Willow replied with a grin.

"I think there's a flaw in that logic somewhere, but I'm not going to
bother trying to point it out," Xander said. "You were always
smarter than me, anyway, so it wouldn't work."

*******************
END Seven