Title: Blinded (1/?)
Feedback: Will pay for feedback.
Disclaimer: No suing allowed, because Joss/FOX/whoever owns Buffy and
friends. I'm just borrowing them for the time being. No money is being made
here. Now, money being *lost* is whole different matter, but let's not get
into that because it's totally unrelated.
Note: This is far in the future.
ONE
His lawyer dropped of the divorce papers in a large, yellow manila envelope.
Buffy didn't want to touch it anymore than she had to, so she placed it on
the coffee table and left it there. Her signature would end their one and a
half years marriage.
Some people predicted that their marriage wouldn't last long anyway, and
Buffy winced as she realised how right they were. She was only twenty-four
when she married him - it seemed ages ago. Perhaps they were both young and
foolish; too blinded by 'love' to look further down the road at their future
together.
She looked at the manila envelope and wondered if she still loved him after
all they've been through. And then she wondered if she ever loved him in the
first place.
She sighed and placed her mug next to the envelope. It was eleven a.m., but
all she wanted to do was to crawl back into bed and die. The Chosen One, the
divorced Slayer. That would look good on her business card, if she ever got
one. I slay marriages as well as vampires, she thought and then laughed at
her pitiful state.
She remembered when she sensed that it was not going to work out between
them. There had been a time when all they did was argue and fight. When they
weren't doing that, they weren't even talking to each other, fuming over the
other's past mistakes. Towards the last month, they were constantly yelling
at each other, and he finally moved out.
He told her he was living in an apartment with a friend of his, and by
'friend' he meant a young, sexy brunette named Tammy. Buffy met her once,
and she remembered not liking her mascara.
A week ago she had bumped into him and Tammy at the nearby supermarket. She
never knew she could regret grocery shopping so much. They briefly nodded as
they passed each other in the aisle, but that was basically all they did.
One and a half years of marriage and now all they do is nod when they see
each other.
Buffy drank the last of her coffee and carelessly placed the mug in the
sink. She didn't feel like washing it just then. She walked back to the
living room and noted the yellow envelope again. The pale color of the
envelope sickened her, and she shared the same feeling for its contents as
well. She tossed it one more sideways glanced and climbed upstairs to her
bedroom.
She looked at the full length mirror by the side of her room. Her reflection
stared moodily back at her and she frowned some more. She put her hand on
her hip and analyzed her reflection pessimistically. She could swear there
were bags under her eyes, and the beginning signs of a wrinkle forming on
her forehead. The slayer ran her hands through her blonde hair and turned to
her bed. At the moment, her bed looked like the only comforting thing in the
world to her.
She crawled under the covers and put her head gently on the pillow with a
whispered sigh. She went to sleep, with the foolish hope that when she woke
up, there wouldn't be a yellow envelope on her coffee table downstairs, and
that her marriage would be as perfect as it seemed to be when they first
started out. Her eyes welled with tears as she recounted the good days; the
days when they weren't fighting , the days where they got along. As these
bittersweet thoughts filled her mind, she slowly drifted off to sleep.
The telephone rang.
Buffy groggily sat up , her hands searching out for the offending phone. Her
hand grasped the plastic receiver and she brought it to her ear with her
grumpy 'Hello'.
"'Ello, sunshine." The cheery voice on the other end contrasted greatly with
Buffy's.
"Go away, Xander," Buffy grumbled, although she was secretly glad Xander
called. She needed somebody to talk to, and Xander seemed like a perfect
candidate.
"Your words are like ice daggers striking my vulnerable heart. What's
eating my favourite Slayer?"
"Riley's lawyer just delivered the divorce papers," Buffy explained, as she
used her free hand to rub her eyes. She shook her head and continued. "I'm
pretty much Miss Sucky Life right now."
Xander's voice softened as he replied. "Oh."
"I expected something more comforting than that."
"There's not much I can do over the phone. You should see me work wonders in
person," he said. "Wait right there, I'm coming over."
"No, you don't really have to…" Buffy protested weakly; actually, she
wouldn't mind having Xander around. It would be nice to have someone to talk
to, besides her lawyer or a marriage counselor.
"Oh, come no. You know you want me to," Xander quickly answered, as if he
were expecting her to say something like that. "So why don't you slip into
something revealing and wait for me?"
Buffy laughed. It was the first time she did in quite a while. "All right."
"Good. I'll see you soon." He hung up.
She placed the receiver back on the handle and walked downstairs. She sat on
the couch and waited patiently for him, staring at the second hand of the
clock to pass the time.
It took him nearly an hour to arrive.
Which was pretty odd, considering he lived only four blocks away, and owned
a car. She heard the car door slam and footsteps leading up to her door. Her
doorbell was broken, and he knew that. Three solid knocks sounded and Buffy
got up. As she walked towards the door, the knocking multiplied into a
mini-door-knocking concert. She swung the door open.
Xander stood there with a bouquet of flowers tucked under one arm, holding a
gigantic stuffed pig. Upon seeing Buffy, he bent down and scooped up a box
which he had placed on the ground earlier on. He gave her a lopsided grin.
"Sorry it took me so long, but I didn't know what would cheer you up, and I
didn't want to take chances so I bought the entire gift store. They gave me
a 'Preferred Customer' card too."
Buffy smiled at him. "Hi, Xander." She stepped aside and allowed him in, and
closed the door behind him. He turned around and thrust the gifts at her,
biting his lower lip in a mischievous boyish fashion.
She smiled again as she took the gifts and placed them on the nearby table.
"You're a sweetheart, you know." She leaned forward and gave him a small
peck on the cheek.
"I know," He looked down, blushing madly. After all these years, he still
went crazy whenever she showed him even the slightest sign of affection. He
turned away from her, hoping that she didn't see his flushed face. She
didn't. "That's what everybody tells me."
"That's because it's true," she said in a sing-song voice, turning around.
She paused for a while, and her tone turned serious as she looked at him.
"Thank you."
"No problem," said Xander, waving his hand. He motioned his finger at her
apparel. "That's not what I would call revealing. I must say I'm
disappointed. I expected something a little more flashy, a little more sexy,
a little more va-va-voom."
Buffy looked down at her old T-shirt and black sweats. "This is about as
va-va-voom as I get at the time being. Sorry." She looked back up at him.
"So, what do you want to do now?"
They spent the next five hours curled up in Buffy's bed watching television
and talking, each trying to outdo the other in the Most Pathetic Life
category. At the moment, they were watching a less than satisfactory movie
on Hallmark. Buffy rested her head on his chest gently and he wrapped his
arm around her in a warm 'nothing-more-than-friends' manner.
As the credits rolled, Buffy tilted her head slightly to look at him. "I
guess this movie proves one thing I've known all along. All men suck."
"Hey!"
"Present company excluded."
"Thank you," he said as he gave her another one of his playful grins.
"That's because I'm the only one who loves you , you know that."
"I know that very much," Buffy answered. She lifted herself up slightly and
gave him another kiss on the cheek before placing her head back on his
chest. "How is it that you never married?"
"All the women I asked said 'no'."
"Don't be absurd. As far as I remember, you never even asked anybody."
"True, true, but then I've never felt that way about someone before," he
lied. Here was the woman of his dreams, lying beside him. He resisted the
urge to brush a stray strand of her hair from her face.
"I'm sure you'll find her someday," she said reassuringly. "Unless of
course, you think you've found her , and you're lured into a false sense of
commitment and longing and dependence and before you know it you're trapped
in a loveless marriage where the only way out is to kill yourself or your
spouse."
"Thanks for the optimistic perspective."
"It's the divorce papers talking, not me." She sighed again. She didn't feel
great, but she felt a thousand times better than this morning. She never
knew Xander could be so … comforting. She glanced sideways and looked at the
radio clock sitting at her bedside. "Did you know it's nearly six?"
He looked at the clock himself, as if he did not believe her. "Wow. I had no
idea I was here for so long. I'd better scoot. Dinner doesn't make itself."
He paused and looked at her. "Hey, why don't you come back with me? We could
have dinner together. I'm making meatloaf. I'm told I make a kickass
meatloaf."
"Well…"
"Come on. You know I won't take no for an answer."
"… I guess so."
"Great. Let's go."
The car ride was brief, but Buffy enjoyed getting out of her house.
Everything there seemed to remind her of Riley, and this short outing was a
refreshing change of scenery. On the way they talked some more, and it
amazed Buffy how they never ran out of topics.
Xander dug into his pockets and fished out a bunch of keys. He searched
through the key ring and selected a small, bronze colored key. He fit it
in the lock and turned it, hearing the affirming 'click' of the door being
unlocked. He turned the handle and opened the door.
He stepped inside, and came face to face with Spike.
Feedback: Will pay for feedback.
Disclaimer: No suing allowed, because Joss/FOX/whoever owns Buffy and
friends. I'm just borrowing them for the time being. No money is being made
here. Now, money being *lost* is whole different matter, but let's not get
into that because it's totally unrelated.
Note: This is far in the future.
ONE
His lawyer dropped of the divorce papers in a large, yellow manila envelope.
Buffy didn't want to touch it anymore than she had to, so she placed it on
the coffee table and left it there. Her signature would end their one and a
half years marriage.
Some people predicted that their marriage wouldn't last long anyway, and
Buffy winced as she realised how right they were. She was only twenty-four
when she married him - it seemed ages ago. Perhaps they were both young and
foolish; too blinded by 'love' to look further down the road at their future
together.
She looked at the manila envelope and wondered if she still loved him after
all they've been through. And then she wondered if she ever loved him in the
first place.
She sighed and placed her mug next to the envelope. It was eleven a.m., but
all she wanted to do was to crawl back into bed and die. The Chosen One, the
divorced Slayer. That would look good on her business card, if she ever got
one. I slay marriages as well as vampires, she thought and then laughed at
her pitiful state.
She remembered when she sensed that it was not going to work out between
them. There had been a time when all they did was argue and fight. When they
weren't doing that, they weren't even talking to each other, fuming over the
other's past mistakes. Towards the last month, they were constantly yelling
at each other, and he finally moved out.
He told her he was living in an apartment with a friend of his, and by
'friend' he meant a young, sexy brunette named Tammy. Buffy met her once,
and she remembered not liking her mascara.
A week ago she had bumped into him and Tammy at the nearby supermarket. She
never knew she could regret grocery shopping so much. They briefly nodded as
they passed each other in the aisle, but that was basically all they did.
One and a half years of marriage and now all they do is nod when they see
each other.
Buffy drank the last of her coffee and carelessly placed the mug in the
sink. She didn't feel like washing it just then. She walked back to the
living room and noted the yellow envelope again. The pale color of the
envelope sickened her, and she shared the same feeling for its contents as
well. She tossed it one more sideways glanced and climbed upstairs to her
bedroom.
She looked at the full length mirror by the side of her room. Her reflection
stared moodily back at her and she frowned some more. She put her hand on
her hip and analyzed her reflection pessimistically. She could swear there
were bags under her eyes, and the beginning signs of a wrinkle forming on
her forehead. The slayer ran her hands through her blonde hair and turned to
her bed. At the moment, her bed looked like the only comforting thing in the
world to her.
She crawled under the covers and put her head gently on the pillow with a
whispered sigh. She went to sleep, with the foolish hope that when she woke
up, there wouldn't be a yellow envelope on her coffee table downstairs, and
that her marriage would be as perfect as it seemed to be when they first
started out. Her eyes welled with tears as she recounted the good days; the
days when they weren't fighting , the days where they got along. As these
bittersweet thoughts filled her mind, she slowly drifted off to sleep.
The telephone rang.
Buffy groggily sat up , her hands searching out for the offending phone. Her
hand grasped the plastic receiver and she brought it to her ear with her
grumpy 'Hello'.
"'Ello, sunshine." The cheery voice on the other end contrasted greatly with
Buffy's.
"Go away, Xander," Buffy grumbled, although she was secretly glad Xander
called. She needed somebody to talk to, and Xander seemed like a perfect
candidate.
"Your words are like ice daggers striking my vulnerable heart. What's
eating my favourite Slayer?"
"Riley's lawyer just delivered the divorce papers," Buffy explained, as she
used her free hand to rub her eyes. She shook her head and continued. "I'm
pretty much Miss Sucky Life right now."
Xander's voice softened as he replied. "Oh."
"I expected something more comforting than that."
"There's not much I can do over the phone. You should see me work wonders in
person," he said. "Wait right there, I'm coming over."
"No, you don't really have to…" Buffy protested weakly; actually, she
wouldn't mind having Xander around. It would be nice to have someone to talk
to, besides her lawyer or a marriage counselor.
"Oh, come no. You know you want me to," Xander quickly answered, as if he
were expecting her to say something like that. "So why don't you slip into
something revealing and wait for me?"
Buffy laughed. It was the first time she did in quite a while. "All right."
"Good. I'll see you soon." He hung up.
She placed the receiver back on the handle and walked downstairs. She sat on
the couch and waited patiently for him, staring at the second hand of the
clock to pass the time.
It took him nearly an hour to arrive.
Which was pretty odd, considering he lived only four blocks away, and owned
a car. She heard the car door slam and footsteps leading up to her door. Her
doorbell was broken, and he knew that. Three solid knocks sounded and Buffy
got up. As she walked towards the door, the knocking multiplied into a
mini-door-knocking concert. She swung the door open.
Xander stood there with a bouquet of flowers tucked under one arm, holding a
gigantic stuffed pig. Upon seeing Buffy, he bent down and scooped up a box
which he had placed on the ground earlier on. He gave her a lopsided grin.
"Sorry it took me so long, but I didn't know what would cheer you up, and I
didn't want to take chances so I bought the entire gift store. They gave me
a 'Preferred Customer' card too."
Buffy smiled at him. "Hi, Xander." She stepped aside and allowed him in, and
closed the door behind him. He turned around and thrust the gifts at her,
biting his lower lip in a mischievous boyish fashion.
She smiled again as she took the gifts and placed them on the nearby table.
"You're a sweetheart, you know." She leaned forward and gave him a small
peck on the cheek.
"I know," He looked down, blushing madly. After all these years, he still
went crazy whenever she showed him even the slightest sign of affection. He
turned away from her, hoping that she didn't see his flushed face. She
didn't. "That's what everybody tells me."
"That's because it's true," she said in a sing-song voice, turning around.
She paused for a while, and her tone turned serious as she looked at him.
"Thank you."
"No problem," said Xander, waving his hand. He motioned his finger at her
apparel. "That's not what I would call revealing. I must say I'm
disappointed. I expected something a little more flashy, a little more sexy,
a little more va-va-voom."
Buffy looked down at her old T-shirt and black sweats. "This is about as
va-va-voom as I get at the time being. Sorry." She looked back up at him.
"So, what do you want to do now?"
They spent the next five hours curled up in Buffy's bed watching television
and talking, each trying to outdo the other in the Most Pathetic Life
category. At the moment, they were watching a less than satisfactory movie
on Hallmark. Buffy rested her head on his chest gently and he wrapped his
arm around her in a warm 'nothing-more-than-friends' manner.
As the credits rolled, Buffy tilted her head slightly to look at him. "I
guess this movie proves one thing I've known all along. All men suck."
"Hey!"
"Present company excluded."
"Thank you," he said as he gave her another one of his playful grins.
"That's because I'm the only one who loves you , you know that."
"I know that very much," Buffy answered. She lifted herself up slightly and
gave him another kiss on the cheek before placing her head back on his
chest. "How is it that you never married?"
"All the women I asked said 'no'."
"Don't be absurd. As far as I remember, you never even asked anybody."
"True, true, but then I've never felt that way about someone before," he
lied. Here was the woman of his dreams, lying beside him. He resisted the
urge to brush a stray strand of her hair from her face.
"I'm sure you'll find her someday," she said reassuringly. "Unless of
course, you think you've found her , and you're lured into a false sense of
commitment and longing and dependence and before you know it you're trapped
in a loveless marriage where the only way out is to kill yourself or your
spouse."
"Thanks for the optimistic perspective."
"It's the divorce papers talking, not me." She sighed again. She didn't feel
great, but she felt a thousand times better than this morning. She never
knew Xander could be so … comforting. She glanced sideways and looked at the
radio clock sitting at her bedside. "Did you know it's nearly six?"
He looked at the clock himself, as if he did not believe her. "Wow. I had no
idea I was here for so long. I'd better scoot. Dinner doesn't make itself."
He paused and looked at her. "Hey, why don't you come back with me? We could
have dinner together. I'm making meatloaf. I'm told I make a kickass
meatloaf."
"Well…"
"Come on. You know I won't take no for an answer."
"… I guess so."
"Great. Let's go."
The car ride was brief, but Buffy enjoyed getting out of her house.
Everything there seemed to remind her of Riley, and this short outing was a
refreshing change of scenery. On the way they talked some more, and it
amazed Buffy how they never ran out of topics.
Xander dug into his pockets and fished out a bunch of keys. He searched
through the key ring and selected a small, bronze colored key. He fit it
in the lock and turned it, hearing the affirming 'click' of the door being
unlocked. He turned the handle and opened the door.
He stepped inside, and came face to face with Spike.