Part 51 - Perfect Night
Valentines Day

Xander walked to Buffy's house, feeling better than he had in
months. He hadn't felt that good since Angel had returned from
hell and sent his and Buffy's world into a tailspin. Now,
everything was different, though. She loved him, and actually
wanted to be with him. The last month, they'd only gotten
closer, more sure that they were committed to each other
completely. They'd talked about it and had decided on
Valentine's Night to be the night they made love. He'd arranged
for dinner at the best Italian restaurant in town and a suite at
the Holiday Inn.

Joyce answered the door when he knocked. "Hello, Xander," she
said with a smile. "Happy Valentine's Day. Come on in. Buffy
should be down soon. I have to go check on dinner...." her voice
trailed off as she retreated to the kitchen.

Xander waited but didn't have to wait long. He looked up as
Buffy walked down the stairs. She was wearing a red, low-cut
dress with spaghetti straps, the skirt reaching to mid-thigh,
and black high heels. She'd curled her hair, then pulled it up
in a clip away from her face. Around her neck was the gold cross
necklace he'd given her.

Buffy smiled as she saw him in a black suit. She reached him and
put her arms around his neck. "Happy Valentine's Day, Xan. Black
is good on you."

He smiled and pulled the bouquet of red roses from where he'd
been hiding them behind his back. "Happy Valentine's Day,
Buffy." He chuckled when she just looked at him in disbelief.

They were interrupted by the doorbell. "Giles," she explained
and went to the door. "Giles," she greeted her Watcher with a
hug. "Mom's in the kitchen."

"I don't... I can sit out here and wait..." Giles offered.

Buffy laughed. "Mom's in the kitchen," she repeated. "Do me a
favor and tell her to put these in a vase for me when you go in
there?" She handed him the roses. She smiled as he wandered off
in that direction muttering something about 'getting no
respect.'

She turned back to Xander then. "I love you," he said.

She smiled. "Thank you for the roses, Xan. They're beautiful.
And I love you too," she replied. She put her arms around his
neck and kissed him thoroughly, leaving him with no doubts as to
her feelings. When she pulled away she turned to yell, "MOM!
WE'RE LEAVING!"

"OKAY! BYE!" Joyce yelled back.

"So let's go," Buffy said. "And I know you have no faith
whatsoever in my driving so Mom agreed to let you drive the
Jeep." She handed him the keys and they walked out to the
garage.

**************

Buffy smiled over at him as he drove them to the restaurant. She
felt nervous, but she knew that she didn't have any doubts about
wanting to make love with him.

He looked over at her with a smile as they reached a stop light.
"Everything okay?"

"Wonderful," she said and took his hand in hers.

"No second thoughts?" he asked. "It's okay if you do, there's no
rush--" He was cut off as Buffy leaned over to kiss him.

"I don't feel rushed, Xander," she assured him. "I'm a little
nervous, yeah," she shrugged. "But I love you and I want to make
love with you."

"I love you, Buffy," he added and kissed her quickly.

She smiled and settled back in her seat. They finally reached
the restaurant and walked inside. Buffy was amazed he'd chosen
this restaurant, it had to be the most expensive in Sunnydale.
Typical Xander, though, to not hesitate to go for the best for
her. She loved him for it, though. She didn't mind being treated
as incredibly special, she felt the same way about him.

They ordered dinner then Buffy grabbed one of Xander's hands.
"So..." she started to say then frowned as her cell-phone rang.
Giles had bought it for her after the incident with Angel,
insisting she carry it with her at all times. "Yes?" she said
irritatedly. She sighed then, shook her head. "Can't you get
Angel? ... Of course you can't find him; he's probably on
patrol. No, Will, don't apologize. It's not your fault; I'll be
right there."

Xander had already gathered something was wrong. He stood and
got up, arranging for the waiter to cancel the order, relieved
when he found it hadn't even been placed yet. He returned as
Buffy ended the call with Willow. "Trouble?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Vampires at the Bronze," she replied
softly. "Let's go." He nodded and they walked back out to the
Jeep.

******************

Two hours later...

"I swear, do demons KNOW when I'm planning something and I
really don't want to be interrupted?" Buffy grumbled as she and
Xander walked back into her house. They'd gotten to the Bronze
just in time to fend off twenty vampires at the Bronze who'd
decided to have a feast. She and Xander had chased another one
into a cemetery, where she'd managed to stake him finally.

She'd turned to Xander with a sigh of relief then, only to be
tackled by a slime demon. Xander had killed it before it had
done any damage... further than covering her in goo.

"I _told_ you we didn't want to follow that other vampire,"
Xander said now with a grin. He was horrified when she burst
into tears though. "Buffy!" he said, pulling her into his arms.
"What is it? Please, don't cry!"

"It's... not... fair," she said between sobs. "I wanted this
night to be perfect and... it's ...all ruined!"

"Oh," Xander said and sighed with relief that it wasn't anything
more serious than that. "God, Buff, don't scare me like that.
Hey, it's okay," he added, when she didn't let up. "We have the
rest of our lives here, I don't think demons are going to keep
us apart forever." He pulled away and lifted her chin to look
into her eyes. He brushed the tears from her cheeks and kissed
her gently. "I love you too much to let a few demons change my
mind about that."

She got hold of herself and smiled. "I'm sorry. I just really
hate that everything got all screwed up."

"It's all right," he assured her. "Let's just call it a night
and try again another time, all right?"

She nodded and he kissed her again. "Good night, Buffy. I love
you," he said and left.

****************