As Xander walked out of the library, he unconsciously clenched and
unclenched his fists. As if steered by autopilot, Xander stalked in a
blind rage through the empty corridors of Sunnydale High School. It wasn't
until the he felt the crisp night air against his skin that he took any
notice of where he was or what he was doing.
Xander began pacing around aimlessly in the courtyard of the high school as he weighed the options that were immediately available to him. "Let's see, I could go home, but all that's waiting for me there is an empty house, an empty fridge, and hours of country music. Right now, I've got all the pain I can handle, but I'm sure I'll get around to that country music sooner or later." Probably sooner. Xander began to voice his other options. "Man, I really need someone to talk to about this. God knows I can't go to Willow, I really doubt that she wants to hear anything from me regarding my quasi-relationship with Cordelia." Xander began to ruefully chuckle at himself with that one. Relationship, good one Xander. Believing that you actually had one, or even a chance for one with Cordelia is what got you into this mess in the first place. "Besides, Willow has Oz, and after all I've put her through emotionally, however unintentionally, she deserves to have some worry-free And Xander free. happiness."
Xander ceased pacing and plopped himself down on one of the stone benches, the coolness of the granite seeping into Xander as he settled in to continue talking to himself. "Buffy for sure is out. Besides her never ending gig as the Chosen One, she's got relationship problems that make mine look like the Brady Bunch in comparison. I mean, not only is she in love with a Vampire, but Dead-Boy has to go and turn evil on her." Xander looked up at the stars and sighed. "You know, we've got a lot in common Buffy and I. Not only do we have people we were involved with turn on us and rip out our hearts, but we can't help but still care about them even while they're gripping our still-beating heart in their hands. And even when they've tossed our hearts aside like yesterday's rubbish, we're scrambling to try and give our hearts back to them." Now that I think about it, we owe each other some SERIOUS I-told-you-so's. Xander sighed again. "Nope, the last thing she needs is to have a Xander-shaped pity party heaped on top of her own troubles."
Xander looked down at the ground. "But, eliminating those two from the Xander support hot-line leaves me in a serious shortage of friends." Xander ruefully grinned. Shortage? That's as much of an understatement as saying the Sahara Desert is dry. "You know what the saddest thing is? That I only have two friends that I can count on." Admittedly, I thought I had three before tonight... more fool me. "There's only really one person that could understand what I'm going through right now, and I don't think he could do anything but listen." Waitaminute! Isn't that what I said I needed? Xander my boy, sometimes you are denser than a wall of lead.
Xander got up from the stone bench and turned his gaze in the direction of his house. "If I'm going to go there tonight, I'm going to need more protection than this pocket-sized cross I carry around with me." With a final longing look towards the light coming from one of the library windows, Xander set off for home.
Xander began pacing around aimlessly in the courtyard of the high school as he weighed the options that were immediately available to him. "Let's see, I could go home, but all that's waiting for me there is an empty house, an empty fridge, and hours of country music. Right now, I've got all the pain I can handle, but I'm sure I'll get around to that country music sooner or later." Probably sooner. Xander began to voice his other options. "Man, I really need someone to talk to about this. God knows I can't go to Willow, I really doubt that she wants to hear anything from me regarding my quasi-relationship with Cordelia." Xander began to ruefully chuckle at himself with that one. Relationship, good one Xander. Believing that you actually had one, or even a chance for one with Cordelia is what got you into this mess in the first place. "Besides, Willow has Oz, and after all I've put her through emotionally, however unintentionally, she deserves to have some worry-free And Xander free. happiness."
Xander ceased pacing and plopped himself down on one of the stone benches, the coolness of the granite seeping into Xander as he settled in to continue talking to himself. "Buffy for sure is out. Besides her never ending gig as the Chosen One, she's got relationship problems that make mine look like the Brady Bunch in comparison. I mean, not only is she in love with a Vampire, but Dead-Boy has to go and turn evil on her." Xander looked up at the stars and sighed. "You know, we've got a lot in common Buffy and I. Not only do we have people we were involved with turn on us and rip out our hearts, but we can't help but still care about them even while they're gripping our still-beating heart in their hands. And even when they've tossed our hearts aside like yesterday's rubbish, we're scrambling to try and give our hearts back to them." Now that I think about it, we owe each other some SERIOUS I-told-you-so's. Xander sighed again. "Nope, the last thing she needs is to have a Xander-shaped pity party heaped on top of her own troubles."
Xander looked down at the ground. "But, eliminating those two from the Xander support hot-line leaves me in a serious shortage of friends." Xander ruefully grinned. Shortage? That's as much of an understatement as saying the Sahara Desert is dry. "You know what the saddest thing is? That I only have two friends that I can count on." Admittedly, I thought I had three before tonight... more fool me. "There's only really one person that could understand what I'm going through right now, and I don't think he could do anything but listen." Waitaminute! Isn't that what I said I needed? Xander my boy, sometimes you are denser than a wall of lead.
Xander got up from the stone bench and turned his gaze in the direction of his house. "If I'm going to go there tonight, I'm going to need more protection than this pocket-sized cross I carry around with me." With a final longing look towards the light coming from one of the library windows, Xander set off for home.