Author's Notes: A good friend of mine, a man I consider both my brother and the one that got away, is leaving New York in a few days. Tonight, I was actually thinking of a story to write in his honor when a sound led me to my window. This story is dedicated to Tiger. Feedback to cobalite@yahoo.com
Pebbles On My Window
By Cobalite Ice
I lie in bed, in a place between sleep and awareness. I'm trying not to think about the heat, which is just above sweltering. Just when my mind seems about to give up, and shut down, something pings my window. I stumble to my feet, and look out the window. There he was, standing there like always. I call out his name, and he shushes me. It's about then I realized I'd gone to bed in just my underwear.
I quickly pull on a robe, knowing he hadn't noticed. He wouldn't have noticed if I'd come nude. "Xander."
"Hey, Wills. I, uh, forgot my key again."
"That's twice this week." I shake my head, and let him in. "What happened this time?" "I went to McDonalds around eleven and got talking to one of the guys. It was one thirty by the time I got home, and both of them were unconscious." When someone else says that, their parents are asleep. When Xander says it he means it.
"You can stay here. You're always welcome." Especially since you're as dense as a brick and will never realize how much I care about you. "I'll go tell Mom you're here so she won't be shocked tomorrow."
"Thanks, Wills. You're the best."
I go into my mother's room, and wake her up. "They locked him out again."
She looks at the clock. "Willow, it's two o'clock. Tuck him in on the couch and go to bed."
"Just wanted to let you know." I grab the stuff from her closet that Xander always uses, and the change of clothes he keeps here. "Go change, and I'll put that stuff in the wash so it'll be clean tomorrow."
After he changes, I watch him try to get comfortable on our couch. "People think it's strange we're such good friends, you know." "Why? We've known each other forever. Me, you and Jesse. The three Musketeers, founders of the We Hate Cordelia Club." "Xan, I know you call me Wills, but you know it's short for Willow, right? You do realize I'm a girl, that's why I had a Barbie for you to steal."
He thinks hard, and I realize it's never occurred to him that most people of the opposite sex as close as we are usually share a bed, or similar tastes in men. I suddenly have to know. "Xander, why do you always come here? Jesse lives closer."
For a minute, I don't think he's going to answer me. "I'm safe here." I think about coming home from babysitting one day and finding him sitting on my couch with a split lip.
"Goodnight, Xan."
"Night, Wills. Sleep well." He doesn't know I never sleep well knowing he's under the same roof.
Years later, I'd finally discover he always came to me because Jesse's mom once called home to tell them where Xander was. He didn't come to school the next day.
All too soon, Jesse was gone, and Xander and I were the two lone Musketeers. Within the week, Giles had given us keys to the library, and whenever Xander got locked out that's where he'd go. That night, the Saturday before the start of sophomore year, was the last time I ever heard pebbles on my window.