"This is not even a challenge tonight," Buffy said in disgust.
She'd staked five vampires, and beheaded a ... well, she didn't
know what it was, but beheading it had worked. "At least they're
all being helpful and poofing tonight," she added.

"Don't complain," Xander said. "Remember the last time you
complained about how easy it was?"

"Good point. But I want some excitement," Buffy said. "I just
want something a little bit more difficult, is that too much to
ask? ...Not now!" she yelled, as a vampire jumped out at her and
she staked him quickly. "Geez, trying to make a point here, and
...what?!" she yelled as Xander burst out laughing.

"I'm not laughing at you Buffy.... you would have had to see it
from my perspective," Xander grinned at her. "You're rambling
about wanting a challenge, and then the vamp tries to oblige, but
fails miserably. It was really funny!"

"Oh," Buffy shrugged. "Guess I'm back in shape, so it's taking
more to be a problem for me. Either that, or they're lulling me
into a false sense of security."

"Don't say that!" Xander yelled. "No jinxing of the night, okay?"

"Fine," Buffy said. She looked around, they'd reached the last
cemetery on her patrol route. "Well, let's call it a night," she
said. "Let's go across the street and find a payphone so I can
check in with Giles. Then we can go get Oz and Willow and go on
to the Bronze."

********
30 minutes later

"I thought you guys were all for the Bronze," Buffy said with a
frown. They were all in Willow's living room, and Oz and Willow
were suddenly uninterested in going out.
"We just changed our minds, Buffy," Willow replied.

Xander caught the look Willow gave him, and he interrupted.
"Wills, can I speak to you for a minute? In the kitchen?"

"Sure," she shrugged, and followed him.

"Not funny," he protested when they were out of hearing of the
others.

"I'm not trying to be funny," Willow replied, an innocent look on
her face.

"I caught that look, Willow Rosenberg," Xander said. "You're
trying to be a matchmaker, and it's not funny."

"Buffy could do a whole lot worse, and not much better than you,"
Willow said loyally.

Xander rolled his eyes, and sighed. "Thanks, Wills, really. But
you're forgetting Angel again. The love of her life."

"She's been happier lately, Xander," Willow said. "She told me
the nightmares stopped a while ago. She adores you, and I don't
think you should assume nothing can happen between you two. Why
don't you just go with her tonight, and give that famous charm of
yours a chance to work?"

"I have two things to say to you," Xander replied with an
exasperated look on his face. "You are a broken record lately
with your optimism, and you have a lot more faith in my charm
than I do."

"You won't get anywhere playing it safe," Willow said.

"Stop it."

"Making sense?"

"Ha, ha. What if I do something wrong, Wills? One wrong move and
I could lose her forever. I'd rather keep things as they are."

"You won't lose her," Willow said with a sigh. "You've got to
stop walking on eggshells about that, it's over. This is not the
same type of situation, anyway. She won't walk away from you for
loving her, Xander. And I can't believe you really would rather
keep things the same. If you do that, you're ignoring the chance
for both of you to be so happy you won't be able to stand it."

"I can't talk to you when you're like this," Xander shrugged and
walked back into the living room. "Well, Buff, looks like we've
been ditched. Wanna go anyway?"

"Sure," she said. "Have fun you two," she said to Willow and Oz.

"You too!" Willow said with a grin.

**********
Xander and Buffy had arrived at the Bronze, and found a table,
despite the Saturday night crowd. "You realize if we give up this
table by dancing we'll lose it," Xander said.

"I think it's worth that risk," Buffy said with a smile.

"Well, then," Xander took a deep breath, "you wanna dance?"

"Of course," she said.

He took her hand and led her to a free spot on the floor. She put
her arms around his neck, and he placed his hands on her hips.
She laid her head against his chest, and said, "You can hold me,
Xan, I won't take your arms off." She smiled to herself as she
felt his heartbeat speed up, but he wrapped his arms around her,
one arm around her waist, one slightly further up on her back.

Buffy sighed contentedly. "This is nice."

"Yeah," was all Xander could get out.

I must be crazy now
Maybe I dream too much
But when I think of you
I long to feel your touch

To whisper in your ear
Words that are old as time
Words only you would hear
If only you were mine

I wish I could go back to the very first day I saw you
Should've made my move when you looked in my eyes
'Cause by now I know that you'd feel the way that I do
And I'd whisper these words as you'd lie here by my side

I love you, please say
You love me too, these three words
They could change our lives forever
And I promise you that we will always be together
Till the end of time

*There was a time when this song would depress me and make me
think of Angel. Funny how much has changed in three months.*
Buffy looked up at Xander, and realized she'd never known a guy
who'd shown so much emotion so easily before. He didn't even try
to hide it, didn't try to be cool. She smiled at him, and he
smiled back. "What'cha thinkin'?" he asked.

"Just how much you mean to me," Buffy said honestly. She saw that
she'd caught him by surprise, and she tucked her head back under
his chin, saying, "You still find that hard to believe?"

"I still find it hard to believe that you've forgiven me," Xander
said. "I'd accepted that you'd never want me within fifty feet of
you ever again."

"Well I have forgiven you," Buffy said, and looked up at him
again. "So you're stuck with me."

"Promises, promises," Xander teased. They realized the song was
ending, so they broke apart, unwillingly on both of their parts.
"Let's get something to drink," Xander suggested. He took her
hand in his and they walked back to their table. "We still have a
table," he pointed out.

"Must be our lucky night," Buffy said.

"I'll go track down a waitress and get us something. Coke?"
Xander asked. Buffy nodded, and he went off on the mission to get
drinks. Buffy was glad, it gave her a few minutes to think about
things.

*Ever since last week, I can't stop thinking about how close we
came to kissing. And I can't decide how I would have felt about
it if we had. Maybe I wanted him to kiss me. I've really got to
figure out what all this means.*

"Hey, Buffy?"

Buffy looked up to see Xander sitting next to her, a worried look
on his face.

"Don't even start worrying," Buffy smiled at him. "I was just
lost in thought. I didn't even see you walk up."

"No kidding," Xander replied. "I wish you could've seen yourself.
"'A million miles away' doesn't even begin to describe it."

"Sorry," she said. "I'm here now."

"Good," Xander said. "You okay?"

"Did I mention that you worry about me too much?" Buffy grinned
at him. "I'm wonderful, Xander." At his skeptical look, she said,
"Do I not look it?"

"Well... you do look happy," Xander said.

"And am I ever able to fool you?" Buffy asked.

"No," Xander said. "Good point. Okay, so what makes you so
happy?"

"What do you think, silly?" Buffy replied, rolling her eyes.
"You. You've always been able to make me smile."

"Oh," Xander looked away, obviously at a loss for words, "Wanna
dance again?"

"Sure," Buffy agreed, and let him lead her back onto the dance
floor.

**********
(Lyrics: "I Love You" - Celine Dion)