Chapter Twenty-Eight
Later that night, Buffy became fed up with the foldout bed in the living room. She was cleaning, or looking for something Darry couldn't remember which, when she tripped of the metal support beams.
"That's it, I'm sick of this thing. No offense Darry but you have to find somewhere else to sleep." Buffy said.
Dawn shook her head. "Well, they both can't sleep in my room; I need some bit of privacy, if that's possible." Dawn muttered.
Willow was the one who came up with the 'prefect' idea. "The attic space, no one uses right? Why don't we fix it up so Darry and Kellie can sleep in there? It'll be just like adding another room to the house." Willow suggested.
"No way, I'm not sleeping in that attic." Kellie grumbled.
"Besides, the attic isn't a very fit room." Buffy added.
"Well, Xander's a construction worker, he can fix it up." Dawn suggested.
Darry looked over at Buffy. "It does sound like a good idea; I'm not trying to like, move in by force or anything but we'd both be out of your way then." Darry pointed out.
Kellie couldn't help but agree with what Darry had said. Finally, Buffy agreed. "I'll talk to Xander tomorrow." She agreed.
Kellie started planning out how she wanted to decorate the room; she and Dawn began drawing up sketches and planning things out. To Darry, it seemed like it was Kellie and Dawn moving into the room, not Kellie and herself.
Once Dawn and Kellie were in bed and Darry was sleeping on the floor in Willow's room (Buffy had kinda broken the bed in a small rage earlier), she and Willow decided to try and call Oz's number again.
Buffy held the phone in her hand and listened to the ring. Three. Four. Five. Six. Finally, on number seven she was startled by a voice. "Hello?" The voice said.
Buffy was startled by the familiarity of the voice. "Oz? This is Buffy." She said.
There was silence on the line for a second and then Oz answered. "Buffy, hi. How are you? Is everything okay?" Oz asked.
Buffy noticed that both Giles and Oz had asked if everything was okay. Maybe that meant that she should keep in better contact with her friends. "Yeah Oz, everything is fine." Buffy said. She wasn't sure how to ask Oz to come back to Sunnydale. "Oz, I have to ask you a favor, if you don't want to do it I totally understand but just hear me out." Buffy said and told Oz about Darry, leaving out the part that she was a werewolf, and explaining what exactly she wanted him to do.
Once she was finished, there was silence on the line again for a few minutes. "All right, I'll meet her." Oz finally agreed.
Buffy found it hard to contain the excitement she was surprised she felt. "Great. When will you get here? Where are you anyway?" Buffy asked.
"I'm in L.A. It won't take me long to get there. Tomorrow, if I set out early." Oz answered.
Buffy smiled. "Great, see you then." Buffy said and said goodbye. She hung up the phone and looked at Willow. "He said he'd come." She told her friend.
"Good." Willow smiled.
The next day, Buffy and Willow were unsure of how to tell Darry that they had set up a blind date for her. What if Xander was right about Darry never having a boyfriend because she never wanted one? What if Darry and Oz didn't like each other and Oz left again, all mad at her and Willow? What if Darry got mad at her and Willow because they were meddling her private life?
After Dawn left for school, Buffy decided to tell Darry about Oz coming to see her. After all, she wasn't sure when he would show up and she didn't want him to come before Darry knew what was going on.
"Darry, Willow and I thought…well, we know this guy and we think that he would be prefect for you. So, we called him and he agreed to come here and meet you so please don't be mad." Buffy said, the words rushing out of her mouth.
Darry looked and her and then over at Willow. "You set me up on a…date?" Darry asked, shooting a look over at Kellie.
Kellie smiled. "I think that's great Darry!" Kellie gushed and smiled again.
Darry studied her cousin and then returned her gaze back to Buffy and Willow. "So, when do I get to meet him?" Darry asked, not sure if she liked the prospect at all.
"Today, I hope. His name is Oz and he's really nice." Buffy answered.
Darry forced a smile and nodded her head. "Sounds like fun, I'm sure he is nice." Darry said.
Willow frowned. "You don't seem too excited Darry." She observed.
"No, I am. It's just…unexpected" Darry said. "But, thank you guys for going to so much trouble for me. Thanks." Darry smiled, a genuine smile this time.
"Okay, great." Buffy said and smiled.
Kellie stood up from her spot at the table. "I have to go." She said and without another word left the house via the back door.
"That's very strange." Darry muttered and turned away from the door.
Kellie hurried towards Spike's crypt, she had told him that she would visit him the next day (today) and she hoped that she wasn't 'late'. Not that there was a set time or anything. Kellie reached the crypt and opened the door. Spike was nowhere to be seen, however there was one of the rotted chairs positioned in front of the door. Kellie looked around and saw Spike fiddling with the buttons on his TV. Spike looked up and smiled when he saw Kellie.
"Was wonderin' when you'd get here, pet." Spike said and walked over to her.
Kellie smiled; she couldn't help herself she was totally won over by the vampire's charms. "Sorry, I had some stuff at home." Kellie said.
"You almost missed 'Passions'." Spike said and motioned to the TV.
Kellie smiled. "Wouldn't want that would we?" Kellie said. The two sat down in the two half-rotted chairs.
Sometime around noon, Willow became worried about Oz. The redhead turned to Darry, who was not worried, who was enjoying a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
"Darry, why don't you…never mind." Willow muttered and turned away. She turned to Buffy instead.
"Are you getting a little worried about Oz?" Willow asked.
Buffy shrugged. "No, not really. He can take care of himself Will, besides it's not even that late. It's just noon." Buffy pointed out.
Willow nodded. "I guess you're right, he can take care of himself I guess." She muttered. "Plus its daylight." She added, more to herself then to Buffy.
"Yes, good point." Buffy said. She opened the door to the pantry and grimaced. "Okay, who ate all the potato chips?" She asked, looking up.
"That would be Dawnyie." Darry told the vampire slayer. "She used the last of them for her lunch today."
"Great." Buffy muttered. "Darry, why don't you run to the store and get some more chips, real fast." Buffy suggested.
Darry groaned. "Why don't you go get them?" She asked, though she had to admit to herself that she wouldn't really mind getting out of the house.
"I have to wait here, until Oz gets here." Buffy answered.
"He's my date." Darry muttered, low enough so neither girl could hear. "But, whatever I'll go get them." She agreed.
Buffy gave Darry the money and the girl left the house.
Back in Spike's crypt, Kellie was lost in thought and not paying attention to anything but her own thoughts. Spike noticed Kellie's blank stare and her still features.
"What's on your mind pet?" Spike asked, startling Kellie out of her thoughts.
"Nothing, nothing. I was just thinking have you ever dated a human before, or just vampires." Kellie asked, semi-whispering the question as though it was too embarrassing to speak.
"When I was human I dated humans but since I've became a vampire I've only 'dated' Drusilla and Harmony. Well, I had a small fling with Buffy but that's old." Spike answered.
Kellie studied him. "Oh." She said, her voice gave no indication of how she felt.
"Why do you ask?" Spike asked, studying her closely.
Kellie shrugged. "No reason." She said, once again her voice flat and dull.
Spike wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. He turned away from Kellie and attempted to focus his attention back on the TV. However, he couldn't keep his thoughts of Kellie and what Kellie might have meant by her question.
Everything looked the same, nothing changed. Oz looked out the window of his van at the o' so familiar scenery of Sunnydale. It was weird to be back, after almost three years. Oz couldn't sort out all his emotions; he knew that if he tried he wouldn't feel anything about coming back. Sunnydale was just another town, there wasn't anything here, anymore, that meant anything to him. He didn't know why he had agreed to come back. However, he wasn't ready to admit to himself that the girl that Buffy had described seemed slightly interesting to him. He also wasn't ready to admit to himself that he was lonely; since he had left Sunnydale, the second time, he had had almost no human contact. He hadn't bothered to control the werewolf anymore; he was used to being alone.
Oz parked his van outside of the Sunnydale Supermarket; he might as well make a good first impression. He figured it would be a gentlemanly thing to do to show up with flowers for his 'mystery' date. She was even more of a mystery because he didn't know her name.
Darry was walking down the sidewalk, nearing the Sunnydale Supermarket. She wasn't paying attention and ran right into someone opening the door to his or her car. It was a van door, so Darry ran right into it. She saw stars and then fell to the ground, her head throbbing.
Oz opened the door to his van and it slammed right into a passerby. "Great." Oz groaned and hopped out of the car. "I haven't even been in Sunnydale for more then five minutes and all ready I'm hurting people."
He shut the van door and knelt beside the person he hit. It was a girl, who looked about his age; she had long light brown hair and pale skin and three long scratches, which looked like they were healing, down her face. Oz couldn't help but be absolutely taken with her.
"Are you okay?" He asked the girl, who didn't appear to be okay. She tried to lift her head; he put his hand on the back of her head and helped her sit up.
She shook her head, as though trying to clear her thoughts. "Ow." She muttered and blinked her eyes.
"I'm really, really sorry, I should have been paying attention to what I was doing." Oz apologized.
She finally appeared to focus her thoughts. "No, I should have been watching where I was going." She said and smiled at him.
Oz couldn't help but smile back. "Can you stand up; I feel really bad, are you sure you're not hurt?" Oz asked.
She nodded. "Yes, to both questions." She answered. Oz took her hands in his and slowly helped her up. She was shaky at first but then she slightly regained her footing.
"Once again, I'm really sorry." Oz apologized again.
"I'm fine, really. It's okay, but I have to go. I'm on an important shopping mission." She said and motioned to Sunnydale Supermarket.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Oz asked.
"Yeah, it's not like you whacked me with a metal pipe or anything. I'm fine." She assured.
Oz was reluctant to let her go, partly because he wasn't sure that she was 'perfectly fine' and partly because he knew he was attracted to her. He felt like he was betraying Buffy, though, because he had agreed to meet the girl that she had 'picked out' for him. Oz watched the girl disappear inside the supermarket and then got back in his van, forgetting about the flowers. He didn't want to go inside the supermarket, for fear that he would run into her and there was no telling what he would say to her. He had never felt this way about anyone before, and he barely knew her. In fact, he didn't even know her name.
Buffy was pacing back and forth in the kitchen. "No Darry, no Oz and no Kellie, to add to the list." Buffy muttered.
Willow looked over at her friend. "You sent Darry to the store, Oz didn't tell us when he'd be back and as for Kellie, I'm sure she's fine." Willow reassured her friend.
Buffy turned to face her. "I know, I just want everything to be prefect. I don't want Oz to get here and Darry not be here." Buffy explained.
Just then the doorbell rang. "Looks like that's not gonna happen." Willow muttered. Both she and Buffy left the kitchen and headed to the front door.
Buffy answered the door and wasn't surprised to see Oz standing there. He hadn't changed a bit; Oz looked at her and then over to Willow. No one said anything. Finally, Buffy said, "Why don't you come in?"
She stepped aside and let him enter the house. Oz looked around, as though he was checking for signs of change. Buffy glanced over at Willow, who seemed unfazed by Oz being there. She must have really gotten over his leaving, just as she said. Buffy smiled, everything was going smoothly so far…except for the fact that Darry was M.I.A.
"So, what's new?" Buffy asked, trying to think of something to say to keep Oz from noticing that his blind-date was not on the primacies.
"Not much." Oz said, his thoughts darting back to the girl that he had meet fifteen minutes, or so, ago.
Before anyone had a chance to so anything, the door in the kitchen opened and closed. Willow left the room to see if it was Darry. She entered the kitchen and was slightly upset to see that it was Dawn, home from school.
"What's wrong?" Dawn asked, looking over at Willow.
"Nothing." Willow muttered. Dawn craned her head so she could see into the living room.
"Who's here?" The teenager asked, seeing Oz and Buffy talking.
"Someone." Willow answered. "Did you see Darry by any chance?" Willow asked.
"No, isn't she here?" Dawn asked.
"No, she isn't." Willow answered, trying not to sound too mean when she said the words.
"So, who is that?" Dawn asked and inched toward the living room.
Oz and Buffy sat on the couch; Buffy figured that the person who entered the house wasn't Darry. She was very close to telling Oz that Darry wasn't here. In fact, she decided it was better to.
Buffy explained, rather quickly, that Darry wasn't here. Buffy made up a story about her having to find someone and that she would be back any minute. Oz didn't seem too bothered by the news; if he was he didn't let it show. In fact, Buffy remembered, he never let anything show.
"Buffy, I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything about you and Willow 'setting' this whole thing up but I need you to know that on my way here I met someone. That's not exactly how it sounds, keep in mind; it was sort of an accident and I didn't even catch her name but I just thought you might want to know." Oz said.
Buffy thought for a minute. Even though Oz didn't say it, Buffy knew what he was trying to say: thanks for thinking of me but I found someone on my own. Buffy forced a smile. "Thanks Oz." She said. How lame was that? 'Thanks Oz', she couldn't think of anything else to say.
In the kitchen, Willow was filling Dawn in on the whole 'Oz/Darry' thing. Suddenly, the kitchen door opened and Darry walked in. She looked slightly worse for wear.
Willow eyed a still-forming bruise on Darry's forehead. "What happened to you?" She asked.
"Long story." Darry muttered and put the bag of chips on the counter.
Dawn studied her. "Yeah, it fits right in with your battle scratches." Dawn muttered.
"Thanks Dawn." Darry muttered.
"You don't look that bad. He's already here, Buffy's talking to him in the living room." Willow said and motioned with her head.
Darry groaned, once again her thoughts going back to the guy who had whacked her with the door to his car. Despite his injuring her (which didn't hurt that bad) she was attracted to him, even though she didn't know him very well.
Darry walked into the living room, both Buffy and the guy who was seated beside her turned around. Darry felt her eyes widen when she saw whom Buffy was sitting beside. It was the guy whom she had 'meet' at the supermarket. She saw his eyes widen as well when he saw that it was she.
"You." He whispered, clearly pleased.
"And you." Darry whispered, pleased as well. "I mean hi." She said, louder.
"You two know each other?" Buffy asked, very surprised.
"Yeah, we just met." Darry answered, looking over at Buffy.
Suddenly, it clicked for Buffy: Darry was the girl Oz had meet at the supermarket. Talk about serendipity, Buffy thought with a smile, perhaps all this would work better then she had hoped.
Later that night, Buffy became fed up with the foldout bed in the living room. She was cleaning, or looking for something Darry couldn't remember which, when she tripped of the metal support beams.
"That's it, I'm sick of this thing. No offense Darry but you have to find somewhere else to sleep." Buffy said.
Dawn shook her head. "Well, they both can't sleep in my room; I need some bit of privacy, if that's possible." Dawn muttered.
Willow was the one who came up with the 'prefect' idea. "The attic space, no one uses right? Why don't we fix it up so Darry and Kellie can sleep in there? It'll be just like adding another room to the house." Willow suggested.
"No way, I'm not sleeping in that attic." Kellie grumbled.
"Besides, the attic isn't a very fit room." Buffy added.
"Well, Xander's a construction worker, he can fix it up." Dawn suggested.
Darry looked over at Buffy. "It does sound like a good idea; I'm not trying to like, move in by force or anything but we'd both be out of your way then." Darry pointed out.
Kellie couldn't help but agree with what Darry had said. Finally, Buffy agreed. "I'll talk to Xander tomorrow." She agreed.
Kellie started planning out how she wanted to decorate the room; she and Dawn began drawing up sketches and planning things out. To Darry, it seemed like it was Kellie and Dawn moving into the room, not Kellie and herself.
Once Dawn and Kellie were in bed and Darry was sleeping on the floor in Willow's room (Buffy had kinda broken the bed in a small rage earlier), she and Willow decided to try and call Oz's number again.
Buffy held the phone in her hand and listened to the ring. Three. Four. Five. Six. Finally, on number seven she was startled by a voice. "Hello?" The voice said.
Buffy was startled by the familiarity of the voice. "Oz? This is Buffy." She said.
There was silence on the line for a second and then Oz answered. "Buffy, hi. How are you? Is everything okay?" Oz asked.
Buffy noticed that both Giles and Oz had asked if everything was okay. Maybe that meant that she should keep in better contact with her friends. "Yeah Oz, everything is fine." Buffy said. She wasn't sure how to ask Oz to come back to Sunnydale. "Oz, I have to ask you a favor, if you don't want to do it I totally understand but just hear me out." Buffy said and told Oz about Darry, leaving out the part that she was a werewolf, and explaining what exactly she wanted him to do.
Once she was finished, there was silence on the line again for a few minutes. "All right, I'll meet her." Oz finally agreed.
Buffy found it hard to contain the excitement she was surprised she felt. "Great. When will you get here? Where are you anyway?" Buffy asked.
"I'm in L.A. It won't take me long to get there. Tomorrow, if I set out early." Oz answered.
Buffy smiled. "Great, see you then." Buffy said and said goodbye. She hung up the phone and looked at Willow. "He said he'd come." She told her friend.
"Good." Willow smiled.
The next day, Buffy and Willow were unsure of how to tell Darry that they had set up a blind date for her. What if Xander was right about Darry never having a boyfriend because she never wanted one? What if Darry and Oz didn't like each other and Oz left again, all mad at her and Willow? What if Darry got mad at her and Willow because they were meddling her private life?
After Dawn left for school, Buffy decided to tell Darry about Oz coming to see her. After all, she wasn't sure when he would show up and she didn't want him to come before Darry knew what was going on.
"Darry, Willow and I thought…well, we know this guy and we think that he would be prefect for you. So, we called him and he agreed to come here and meet you so please don't be mad." Buffy said, the words rushing out of her mouth.
Darry looked and her and then over at Willow. "You set me up on a…date?" Darry asked, shooting a look over at Kellie.
Kellie smiled. "I think that's great Darry!" Kellie gushed and smiled again.
Darry studied her cousin and then returned her gaze back to Buffy and Willow. "So, when do I get to meet him?" Darry asked, not sure if she liked the prospect at all.
"Today, I hope. His name is Oz and he's really nice." Buffy answered.
Darry forced a smile and nodded her head. "Sounds like fun, I'm sure he is nice." Darry said.
Willow frowned. "You don't seem too excited Darry." She observed.
"No, I am. It's just…unexpected" Darry said. "But, thank you guys for going to so much trouble for me. Thanks." Darry smiled, a genuine smile this time.
"Okay, great." Buffy said and smiled.
Kellie stood up from her spot at the table. "I have to go." She said and without another word left the house via the back door.
"That's very strange." Darry muttered and turned away from the door.
Kellie hurried towards Spike's crypt, she had told him that she would visit him the next day (today) and she hoped that she wasn't 'late'. Not that there was a set time or anything. Kellie reached the crypt and opened the door. Spike was nowhere to be seen, however there was one of the rotted chairs positioned in front of the door. Kellie looked around and saw Spike fiddling with the buttons on his TV. Spike looked up and smiled when he saw Kellie.
"Was wonderin' when you'd get here, pet." Spike said and walked over to her.
Kellie smiled; she couldn't help herself she was totally won over by the vampire's charms. "Sorry, I had some stuff at home." Kellie said.
"You almost missed 'Passions'." Spike said and motioned to the TV.
Kellie smiled. "Wouldn't want that would we?" Kellie said. The two sat down in the two half-rotted chairs.
Sometime around noon, Willow became worried about Oz. The redhead turned to Darry, who was not worried, who was enjoying a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
"Darry, why don't you…never mind." Willow muttered and turned away. She turned to Buffy instead.
"Are you getting a little worried about Oz?" Willow asked.
Buffy shrugged. "No, not really. He can take care of himself Will, besides it's not even that late. It's just noon." Buffy pointed out.
Willow nodded. "I guess you're right, he can take care of himself I guess." She muttered. "Plus its daylight." She added, more to herself then to Buffy.
"Yes, good point." Buffy said. She opened the door to the pantry and grimaced. "Okay, who ate all the potato chips?" She asked, looking up.
"That would be Dawnyie." Darry told the vampire slayer. "She used the last of them for her lunch today."
"Great." Buffy muttered. "Darry, why don't you run to the store and get some more chips, real fast." Buffy suggested.
Darry groaned. "Why don't you go get them?" She asked, though she had to admit to herself that she wouldn't really mind getting out of the house.
"I have to wait here, until Oz gets here." Buffy answered.
"He's my date." Darry muttered, low enough so neither girl could hear. "But, whatever I'll go get them." She agreed.
Buffy gave Darry the money and the girl left the house.
Back in Spike's crypt, Kellie was lost in thought and not paying attention to anything but her own thoughts. Spike noticed Kellie's blank stare and her still features.
"What's on your mind pet?" Spike asked, startling Kellie out of her thoughts.
"Nothing, nothing. I was just thinking have you ever dated a human before, or just vampires." Kellie asked, semi-whispering the question as though it was too embarrassing to speak.
"When I was human I dated humans but since I've became a vampire I've only 'dated' Drusilla and Harmony. Well, I had a small fling with Buffy but that's old." Spike answered.
Kellie studied him. "Oh." She said, her voice gave no indication of how she felt.
"Why do you ask?" Spike asked, studying her closely.
Kellie shrugged. "No reason." She said, once again her voice flat and dull.
Spike wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. He turned away from Kellie and attempted to focus his attention back on the TV. However, he couldn't keep his thoughts of Kellie and what Kellie might have meant by her question.
Everything looked the same, nothing changed. Oz looked out the window of his van at the o' so familiar scenery of Sunnydale. It was weird to be back, after almost three years. Oz couldn't sort out all his emotions; he knew that if he tried he wouldn't feel anything about coming back. Sunnydale was just another town, there wasn't anything here, anymore, that meant anything to him. He didn't know why he had agreed to come back. However, he wasn't ready to admit to himself that the girl that Buffy had described seemed slightly interesting to him. He also wasn't ready to admit to himself that he was lonely; since he had left Sunnydale, the second time, he had had almost no human contact. He hadn't bothered to control the werewolf anymore; he was used to being alone.
Oz parked his van outside of the Sunnydale Supermarket; he might as well make a good first impression. He figured it would be a gentlemanly thing to do to show up with flowers for his 'mystery' date. She was even more of a mystery because he didn't know her name.
Darry was walking down the sidewalk, nearing the Sunnydale Supermarket. She wasn't paying attention and ran right into someone opening the door to his or her car. It was a van door, so Darry ran right into it. She saw stars and then fell to the ground, her head throbbing.
Oz opened the door to his van and it slammed right into a passerby. "Great." Oz groaned and hopped out of the car. "I haven't even been in Sunnydale for more then five minutes and all ready I'm hurting people."
He shut the van door and knelt beside the person he hit. It was a girl, who looked about his age; she had long light brown hair and pale skin and three long scratches, which looked like they were healing, down her face. Oz couldn't help but be absolutely taken with her.
"Are you okay?" He asked the girl, who didn't appear to be okay. She tried to lift her head; he put his hand on the back of her head and helped her sit up.
She shook her head, as though trying to clear her thoughts. "Ow." She muttered and blinked her eyes.
"I'm really, really sorry, I should have been paying attention to what I was doing." Oz apologized.
She finally appeared to focus her thoughts. "No, I should have been watching where I was going." She said and smiled at him.
Oz couldn't help but smile back. "Can you stand up; I feel really bad, are you sure you're not hurt?" Oz asked.
She nodded. "Yes, to both questions." She answered. Oz took her hands in his and slowly helped her up. She was shaky at first but then she slightly regained her footing.
"Once again, I'm really sorry." Oz apologized again.
"I'm fine, really. It's okay, but I have to go. I'm on an important shopping mission." She said and motioned to Sunnydale Supermarket.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Oz asked.
"Yeah, it's not like you whacked me with a metal pipe or anything. I'm fine." She assured.
Oz was reluctant to let her go, partly because he wasn't sure that she was 'perfectly fine' and partly because he knew he was attracted to her. He felt like he was betraying Buffy, though, because he had agreed to meet the girl that she had 'picked out' for him. Oz watched the girl disappear inside the supermarket and then got back in his van, forgetting about the flowers. He didn't want to go inside the supermarket, for fear that he would run into her and there was no telling what he would say to her. He had never felt this way about anyone before, and he barely knew her. In fact, he didn't even know her name.
Buffy was pacing back and forth in the kitchen. "No Darry, no Oz and no Kellie, to add to the list." Buffy muttered.
Willow looked over at her friend. "You sent Darry to the store, Oz didn't tell us when he'd be back and as for Kellie, I'm sure she's fine." Willow reassured her friend.
Buffy turned to face her. "I know, I just want everything to be prefect. I don't want Oz to get here and Darry not be here." Buffy explained.
Just then the doorbell rang. "Looks like that's not gonna happen." Willow muttered. Both she and Buffy left the kitchen and headed to the front door.
Buffy answered the door and wasn't surprised to see Oz standing there. He hadn't changed a bit; Oz looked at her and then over to Willow. No one said anything. Finally, Buffy said, "Why don't you come in?"
She stepped aside and let him enter the house. Oz looked around, as though he was checking for signs of change. Buffy glanced over at Willow, who seemed unfazed by Oz being there. She must have really gotten over his leaving, just as she said. Buffy smiled, everything was going smoothly so far…except for the fact that Darry was M.I.A.
"So, what's new?" Buffy asked, trying to think of something to say to keep Oz from noticing that his blind-date was not on the primacies.
"Not much." Oz said, his thoughts darting back to the girl that he had meet fifteen minutes, or so, ago.
Before anyone had a chance to so anything, the door in the kitchen opened and closed. Willow left the room to see if it was Darry. She entered the kitchen and was slightly upset to see that it was Dawn, home from school.
"What's wrong?" Dawn asked, looking over at Willow.
"Nothing." Willow muttered. Dawn craned her head so she could see into the living room.
"Who's here?" The teenager asked, seeing Oz and Buffy talking.
"Someone." Willow answered. "Did you see Darry by any chance?" Willow asked.
"No, isn't she here?" Dawn asked.
"No, she isn't." Willow answered, trying not to sound too mean when she said the words.
"So, who is that?" Dawn asked and inched toward the living room.
Oz and Buffy sat on the couch; Buffy figured that the person who entered the house wasn't Darry. She was very close to telling Oz that Darry wasn't here. In fact, she decided it was better to.
Buffy explained, rather quickly, that Darry wasn't here. Buffy made up a story about her having to find someone and that she would be back any minute. Oz didn't seem too bothered by the news; if he was he didn't let it show. In fact, Buffy remembered, he never let anything show.
"Buffy, I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything about you and Willow 'setting' this whole thing up but I need you to know that on my way here I met someone. That's not exactly how it sounds, keep in mind; it was sort of an accident and I didn't even catch her name but I just thought you might want to know." Oz said.
Buffy thought for a minute. Even though Oz didn't say it, Buffy knew what he was trying to say: thanks for thinking of me but I found someone on my own. Buffy forced a smile. "Thanks Oz." She said. How lame was that? 'Thanks Oz', she couldn't think of anything else to say.
In the kitchen, Willow was filling Dawn in on the whole 'Oz/Darry' thing. Suddenly, the kitchen door opened and Darry walked in. She looked slightly worse for wear.
Willow eyed a still-forming bruise on Darry's forehead. "What happened to you?" She asked.
"Long story." Darry muttered and put the bag of chips on the counter.
Dawn studied her. "Yeah, it fits right in with your battle scratches." Dawn muttered.
"Thanks Dawn." Darry muttered.
"You don't look that bad. He's already here, Buffy's talking to him in the living room." Willow said and motioned with her head.
Darry groaned, once again her thoughts going back to the guy who had whacked her with the door to his car. Despite his injuring her (which didn't hurt that bad) she was attracted to him, even though she didn't know him very well.
Darry walked into the living room, both Buffy and the guy who was seated beside her turned around. Darry felt her eyes widen when she saw whom Buffy was sitting beside. It was the guy whom she had 'meet' at the supermarket. She saw his eyes widen as well when he saw that it was she.
"You." He whispered, clearly pleased.
"And you." Darry whispered, pleased as well. "I mean hi." She said, louder.
"You two know each other?" Buffy asked, very surprised.
"Yeah, we just met." Darry answered, looking over at Buffy.
Suddenly, it clicked for Buffy: Darry was the girl Oz had meet at the supermarket. Talk about serendipity, Buffy thought with a smile, perhaps all this would work better then she had hoped.
