*The Pub*

The girls turned into the carpark and turned the car off; they all got out of the car and made their way into the pub. Isabel noticed that as they got closer to the entrance Willow became more and more uncomfortable. Isabel walked over to her and gave her the jacket; that she'd been carrying.

"Thanks, but I think they might yell at me if I don't at least make an appearance in these clothes."

"Well it's here if you need it."

"Thanks, um.can I hide behind you when we go in?"

"Sure."

"Thanks."

Buffy, Jasmine and Anya walked in, and seconds after the entire pub let out a great cheer and Willow and Isabel rushed in to see why. All of the patrons had their eyes on the large screen off to the right of the bar. Willow's eyes turned to the screen not sure what to expect, the action was happening in slow motion, obviously a re-play. One guy in a black jersey with a red diagonal strip had just jumped onto the shoulders of another guy wearing a black and white striped jersey. The one that had jumped stayed there and caught a ball before falling back to the ground that was when she saw the shorts that they were wearing, they looked like they should be on eight-year-olds.

"They're short shorts."

"Yeah, they are. All the teams have to wear them, although they are bigger than they were last year."

Isabel walked off and Willow wondered if the shorts could get any smaller.

"Hey."

"Hi, where's Willow?" Spike said looking around her. His eyes set upon her and he was pretty sure he must have died and gone somewhere nice, coz she looked amazing, he just couldn't take his eyes off her.

"She was contemplating if the shorts could get any smaller."

"They look tight enough to me," Anya said ogling the player that was bent over picking up the ball.

"Sure do," Buffy said agreeing.

"So," Xander said changing topic. "Do you think Giles is having fun where we left him?"

"Hopefully," Anya said.

"I'm gonna get a drink, Spike will you give me a hand?"

"What? Oh sure luv."

Spike and Isabel made their way over to the bar and ordered.

"So, you like Willow."

"No!"

"Then why had you been mentally undressing her since she came in, though she hasn't been much better."

"I have not.was it really that obvious?"

"Yes it was, why don't you just do something?"

They got their drinks and made their way over to the table.

"Coz the bloody slayer would stake me," Spike answered without thinking halfway to the table, Isabel stopped in her tracks and almost dropped her glass. She shook her head and walked over to the table, she sat between Riley and Thomas and slowly sipped her drink.

The game ended, and the patrons all calmed down, they sat and drank waiting for another game to begin.

"Are you okay?" Thomas said leaning over to Isabel and whispering in her ear.

She turned her head and was centimetres away from him, she moved backwards at the same time that he did causing there to be an overly big gap, all of the other members of the table watched their exchange.

"Fine, I need some air."

Isabel stood up and walked towards the door, Xander stood up and went to check on her, he thought that if he didn't no one would, Thomas seemed dazed and confused, and Spike seemed weird too.

He got outside and found her seated on the bonnet of Thomas's car.

"How are you doing?" Xander slipped onto the bonnet as well and waited for an answer.

"Fine, now I was a little hot and flustered but I feel much better now," she smiled at him.

They stood up and walked back inside and he cracked a joke about the game and Isabel laughed, more than she had in a long time.

Inside a commentator was announcing another game; Isabel and Xander made their way over to the table as Ben was giving everyone a very brief run down of the game.

"Why didn't you do it earlier?" Willow asked trying to follow.

"I knew another game was coming so I thought I would explain it properly."

"Okay," Ben looked at their confused faces and wondered if he should start again. "Should I start again?"

At the collective nod he began again.

"Okay, so this is football, also known as AFL. In a game of footy there are two teams and in the last game these two teams were Essendon and Collingwood. This game is between Hawthorn and the Eagles, my personal favourite team. Anyway there are 38 players in a team and from them 22 are picked and of them 18 are allowed on the ground at once. So there are two goals, one at each end, and they consist of four white metal poles, the two in the centre are taller than to two outer ones. A goal is when the ball is kicked between the two tall goalposts and they are worth six points and a point is if it hits the goal posts and still goes through or if it goes between the little goalpost and the big ones. Oh, a point can also be made if the other team sends the ball over the line. The guy in white, goal umpire, that stands between the middle posts raises one arm for a point and two for a goal. There are two types of passing, kicking and handballing, It's easier to show those but they are pretty obvious, if you receive a handball then the opposition can tackle it away from you. If you catch a kick and no one else touches it first and you don't drop it then you have marked the ball, that's what happened when you girls walked in, if you mark the ball then the opposition can't tackle the ball away. However, if someone else touches the ball first or you drop it then the opposition is free to tackle. If you are running with the ball then you have to bounce it once every ten metres. I think that's just about it, if there is anything else I'll explain as we go."

"How on earth do you bounce a ball like that?" Riley asked looking at a ball that was sitting on the bar, it looked a little like a gridiron ball but it was more slender, a bit longer and red. He'd go have a look at it later.

"It's easier once you get the technique down, tell ya what tomorrow we'll get a small game started and me and Isabel can teach you some basic ball skills."

"You and Isabel?"

"Yeah, she can do most of it, why? You seem surprised."

"No I just assumed that Thomas would be helping you."

"Nah, he has to go visit some relatives tomorrow."

Thomas smiled at them then turned to the screen as the start siren rang. He smiled a small smile at the shock they would get when they saw just how good Isabel was with a football, the only person better was Luc, and he wasn't down yet.

Everyone sat and watched the first quarter everyone but Spike asked at least one question.

"Spike, you seem to get it," Isabel said as she glanced at the pool tables.

"Yeah, I came and lived down here once, but the game was a bit different then and the commentators are explaining most of it."

"Okay, does anyone wanna play a game of pool while the tables are empty?"

All of the girls nodded their agreement and left the boys to watch the remainder of the game. The girls played for a solid hour and just as the third term buzzer was heard the door to the pub opened and Melissa and Stacey strolled through the door.