Destiny Lost
#2: In the Space of Desire
Authors: Sonya and Erin
E-mail: sonyajeb@swbell.net OR carynsilver@yahoo.com
Rating: PG-13
Category: B/X, O/Other, AU, action/adventure, romance
Summary: This is a sequel to our epic saga "In the Space of a Heartbeat," which is a story about what would happen if Buffy had never gotten the Slayer powers.
Disclaimer: We do not own Buffy or any of the original characters or ideas from the show. They all belong to Joss, Mutant Enemy, etc. All we own is our own creative genius (unless that's too strong a word :) and any characters we make up.
Distribution: Regulars... SURE!!! Newbies... ask and you shall recieve!
Feedback: Love it! We want to know your likes AND dislikes. Flames are the only thing we do not accept.
Spoilers: None much for the shows, but heavy spoilers for the earlier installments of this fanfic series!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter Six
The Cellar
Buffy looked around the dance club with the eyes of a newcomer. This was only her third visit to the place, and she liked it more with each trip to Calvin. Of course, The Cellar was no Bronze, but it was filled to the brim with teenagers -- even on a school night -- and loud music reverberated against the walls.
Oz had gone backstage to set up, leaving Buffy lounging on a red sofa near the wall to await both the Dingoes performance and the arrival of her tardy boyfriend. She'd been there for about fifteen minutes, and Xander had yet to appear.
Sipping her Coke, Buffy tried not to stare at the club's entrance too hard. Looking desperate was not a part of her plan. Instead, she focused on the club itself and its patrons.
The Cellar was a funky establishment. In the basement of a nice restaurant, Madeline's Bistro, at first Buffy had thought it would be boringly quiet and sedate. She'd been wrong. Lots of sound-proofing separated the two worlds of diners and dancers, and gave the owners of the place two ways to make money. Calvin was a small town with an even smaller school district, but, lucky for the owners, the loss of the Bronze brought them many Sunnydale high schoolers looking for a new place to party. Liquor rules were the same as the Bronze -- if you had I.D. you got your hand stamped at the door, if not, no alcohol.
The club's decor was comfy. The stage was big, as was the dance floor. A long, wooden bar that served everything from beer and martinis to soda and mineral water occupied two thirds of the back wall, and had bar stools for sitting, if one had the mind to chat with a bartender. Along the rest of that wall and part of the next, The Cellar offered pool tables, air hockey, dart boards and other group games. There were plenty of places for a couple to find privacy, and lots of tables and couches capable of seating a large group.
The feature that gave The Cellar it's unique atmosphere was the large, spiral staircase that was the main entrance to the club. In Slayer-mode, Buffy had long since scouted out any other entrances and exits -- there weren't many. By the bathrooms in the back there was an emergency door, one of the "an alarm will sound" variety. And there were a few small windows at ground level -- above the reach of most people's arms, even if they stood on tiptoe. Buffy could touch them only if she jumped at full Slayer power. But the spiral staircase was pretty with wrought iron swirls and a brass banister. The bartender would even take a souvenir picture of people on the staircase -- for a modest price.
Buffy sighed and sipped her Coke again. Where the heck was Xander? She didn't want to be a possessive girlfriend, but he should have dropped Sonya off a long time ago.
"Hey, Buffy. What's up?"
Buffy looked up to see Xander's friend Amy smiling down at her. Buffy smiled in return and gestured to the section of the sofa beside her. "Not much. I'm waiting for Xander, but I think he's forgotten our date."
Amy laughed and sat down. "Xander's a great guy, but I've noticed that he has a punctuality problem. We had first period together before I left for Europe, and he was always late. I'm sure he'll be here before you know it. And you can make him grovel for his lapse in attention."
That made Buffy giggle. "True, making him grovel for a little while would be fun." Then she sighed. "But The Cellar's not as much fun as usual without a dance partner."
"Tell me about it," Amy replied. "I used to have the same problem at the Bronze."
"You did? Really?" Buffy looked at Amy in amazement. She seemed to be guy-magnet material. She had the requisite long, blonde hair, fair skin and her warm brown eyes were rimmed with long, lush lashes. She had a good figure, too, which was covered tonight by a navy blue, knee-length skirt and a sleeveless, blue and white tank top. "I can't see why."
"I guess not, now," Amy admitted. "One thing Europe gave me was a little polish. Besides museums and national monuments, I got to visit some great stores over there -- especially in Paris. But when I lived here before, I was kind of dowdy. I was overweight for awhile, though my mother took care of that for me. Xander told you about that, I assume?"
"Yeah," Buffy admitted, wondering if Amy would be mad that Xander was talking about her. "He was just filling me in, though. He didn't mean anything by it."
"Oh, that's fine," Amy assured Buffy, her smile never wavering. "I know that you, Xander, Sonya and the librarian are waging a war against the dark forces in Sunnydale. My mom was one of those dark forces. I'm just glad she's gone." Amy paused for a minute, and then continued with her story. "But, like I said, before Europe and before that thing with my mom, I was pretty much the shy, quiet introvert."
"I know something about that," Buffy said.
"No way!" Amy protested.
"Yes way!" Buffy answered. She gestured down to her legs which were covered in an attractive pair of skin-tight, black pants. Her outfit was topped off with a white, short-sleeve shirt with a scalloped neck line that revealed her cross necklace. "During my freshman year in high school I was pretty popular, but then this guy hit me with his car. I broke both legs in several places. It was horrible. I was in a wheelchair for months." Even though Amy knew about vampires, Buffy didn't think Giles would like Buffy to tell her about how the accident had caused her to miss her Slayer destiny the first time, so Buffy skipped that part. "Anyway, all my so-called friends dropped me. It made quite an impact. Until I moved here, my mom was my best friend. Can you believe the corniness?"
"I don't think that's corny," Amy said softly. "It's sweet."
Buffy realized that her joke wouldn't seem very funny to Amy, and hurriedly backtracked. "No, my mom's great. I love her a lot. But you have to admit, most people would find that corny." Buffy's eyes landed on Cordelia and her band of wanna-be's across the room. "They'd think it's corny."
"Well, they're a bunch of fools," Amy replied in a harsh tone. At a surprised glance from Buffy, Amy hastily added, "Sorry. I've just suffered a lot of malicious treatment from them in the past."
Remembering some "Muffy" comments, Buffy sympathized. "Me, too. I just try to ignore them now."
"Best course of action," Amy agreed.
The two girls sat in silence for a few moments, and Buffy began to feel really glad that she'd come tonight, even if Xander was missing in action. Just then Oz and the Dingoes took the stage. Buffy leaned over to Amy. "Have you ever heard these guys play?"
"No." Amy shook her head. "But I've heard that they're really good."
"I know the guitarist."
"He goes to our school, right?"
"Yeah. Oz was the first friend I made in Sunnydale."
Amy sat back in her seat, her eyes on the stage. "Well, I can't wait to hear them."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After leaving the medical clinic, Xander and Sonya went to Sal's Diner, their favorite greasy spoon, for chili-cheeseburgers and French fries.
"Mmm..." Xander groaned, licking the grease and salt from his fingers after the last fry. "That was superb."
"Superb?" Sonya raised an eyebrow.
"Superb!" Xander repeated with an emphatic nod. "Are we having dessert?"
It was Sonya's turn to groan. "I'm stuffed. But I guess if you're really determined to get something else you could talk me into a few bites."
"Hey," Xander said, throwing out his arms extravagantly. "This is a celebration of your great visit with Dr. Keller. Anything goes." He yelled over to the man behind the counter, "Sal! We need one hot fudge sundae with all the trimmings and two spoons."
"You got it," the burly owner of the diner called back, and minutes later the two teens were faced with a huge mountain of ice cream layered in whipped cream and chocolate sauce.
"Yum," Xander said, twirling his spoon in anticipation. "Hot fudge."
Sonya laughed. "You are a nut, Harris. But I'm glad you thought of this. It really made the end of my day much better than the beginning."
"That's what I'm here for," Xander replied, taking a big bite of the sundae. His next words were muffled by the food in his mouth. "I'm the sugar and grease specialist."
As they ate, Xander kept glancing over at Sonya. She was so animated tonight, so happy. He hadn't seen her like this... well... ever. Xander congratulated himself on bringing up the whole Dr. Keller thing to begin with. Sure, it had been a rocky beginning, but to see Sonya like this, it was worth it. They'd been having a great time all evening -- talking and laughing, reminiscing over some of their worst opponents, dishing about Giles and plotting ways to make the stuffy Brit more human.
Of course, Xander and Sonya had done things together before. They'd chilled out in front of movies, slaved over homework and Giles training sessions and they'd fought together. Even from her wheelchair, Sonya had been devastating to one vampire at a time. He could still remember the first time she'd taken him out to patrol. Sonya had nailed a vamp at twenty paces by flinging a stake at the demon from her chair. And they'd saved each other's butts several times. Mobile Sonya had saved Xander from being turned into a vampire by his former best friend Willow's new demonic self. (The thought of Willow still made Xander's heart twinge in pain, so he pushed that away quickly.) And Xander had saved Sonya from making an irreversibly bad decision the time right after her accident when she'd slit her wrists. That memory hurt as well, so he pushed it away and decided to concentrate on tonight -- the first night that they'd been so carefree. It was almost like the rest of the world didn't even exist.
"You like?" Xander asked with a grin as Sonya slowly munched a whipped cream-covered cherry.
"Yeah," Sonya admitted with a sigh. "But I'm full. You're really going to have to finish that thing."
Xander looked at the half-eaten sundae with consideration. "Yep. I can do that."
Sonya laughed at Xander for what must've been the millionth time that evening. She was having so much fun. This had been just what she needed, and Xander was a great friend to take her out for a celebration. And he'd been considerate enough not to ask if he could bring Buffy. Sonya wasn't in the mood to have Buffy gloating about how well the doctor visit went. Sonya realized with a start that Xander hadn't even mentioned his girlfriend all night.
"Hey, Harris?" she asked. "Was Buffy busy tonight or something?" She didn't know why she was compelled to ruin the moment, but once thought of, the words seemed to spring unbidden from her lips. "I mean, I'm having a great time, but I haven't seen you two lovebirds apart for this long in weeks."
A pained expression crossed Xander's face. "Ohmigosh! I totally forgot. Buffy and I were supposed to go to The Cellar tonight to see the Dingoes." H e looked at his watch the pained expression turned to one of extreme dismay. "I'm two hours late to pick her up. She's gonna kill me!"
Sonya sighed and knew that her evening was ruined. (I should never have opened my big, fat mouth) she though angrily. But aloud all she said was, "Go, call her. I know neither of us will have any more fun until you do."
Xander flashed her a grin. "Thanks for being so understanding, Parker." Then he jumped up from the table and ran for the pay phone near the bathrooms.
While she waited, Sonya reached into the pocket on the back of her wheelchair and pulled out the white, paper bag Nurse Jane had given her before she left Dr. Keller's office. Inside was a small bottle of pills.
"Guess it's time for the first one," she muttered to herself. "The food thing is certainly covered."
Sonya opened the bottle and plucked out a medium-sized tablet. It was bright purple. When she looked closer, Sonya thought she could make out little blue flecks, too. "Hmm," she grunted. "Pretty pills. Who'd have thought?" With that, she stuck the tablet in her mouth and washed it down with a swig of root beer. Then she put the bag and the bottle back into the pocket on her chair.
Just then, Xander returned from his foray to the phone.
"Is she pissed?" Sonya asked, unable to stifle a smile.
"She wasn't home." Xander sighed. "She went to The Cellar with Oz. Joyce said she thought maybe we were meeting there."
"You realize you're going to have to do some serious making up time, don't you?" Sonya asked.
"Yeah." Xander looked over at Sonya and added, "Hey, want to come with me? You haven't been to The Cellar yet, have you? It's pretty fun, and you can save me from Buffy if she gets murderous."
Sonya laughed. "You big chicken! All right, you talked me into it. I'll go. But just remember, you owe me one."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
By the time the Dingoes had finished their first set and Oz came over to say hello, Buffy had about decided Xander was a big flake and was never coming. But when Oz approached their couch, Buffy put on a smile and introduced him to Amy.
"Nice to meet you," Amy said with a big smile for the guitarist. "I really enjoyed your set. You guys rock."
"Thanks," Oz said, sitting down in an overstuffed chair with denim upholstery that was across from the couch. "We're still learning, though."
Seeing that they were going to get along all right, Buffy stood with her empty glass and said, "I'm going to dispose of this. Be right back."
She walked slowly toward the bar, trying to decide what to do next. She was stuck at The Cellar until Oz was done playing, unless she could convince Amy to give her a ride home. But Amy seemed content to stay for awhile. She set the empty glass on the edge of the bar with a thank-you smile to the bartender, and then felt someone tap her on the shoulder.
Buffy turned, a happy expression leaping to her face. "Xan..." The word and the smile died on her lips when she saw it wasn't him. Instead it was a big guy wearing a Calvin High letterman's jacket. He was kind of attractive in a jock sort of way -- big biceps, good body, thick neck, blue eyes and blond hair. "Yes?" she asked.
"I was wondering if you'd like to dance with me?" The guy was attractively shy, but Buffy suspected it was all just an act. After all, how many football studs are really shy.
"What's your name?"
The guy replied, "Lance, Lance Roundman."
Buffy glanced toward the spiral staircase one last time. No Xander. Then she looked consideringly at Lance. (It's not like I'm going on a date with him. It's just a friendly dance between two new acquaintances, right?) she told herself. Then she nodded at Lance. "Sure. I'm Buffy, by the way."
Lance took her arm and escorted her to the dance floor. They moved into the middle of the crowd and started moving to the pulsating beat of the music coming over the sound system while the band was on break. A few seconds later, the music changed over to a slow song.
"If you want, we can sit this one out," Lance said.
Buffy was impressed in spite of herself. What a gentleman! Most guys would use this as an excuse to swoop her into an embrace and cop a feel. "No," she decided, "we can keep dancing, if you want to."
"Great!" Lance held her in a loose embrace as they swayed to the music. Buffy kept to her own dance space -- not letting her head rest on his chest like she would have with Xander. After a minute of silence, Lance asked her to tell him a little about herself.
"Well," Buffy said, not wanting to lead the guy on, "I should tell you, I have a boyfriend."
"I kind of figured," Lance admitted in a disappointed tone that was quite flattering. "But that's OK. I just wanted the chance to talk to you for a minute. I've seen you here a few times and always wanted to come over and introduce yourself. But you were always with that other guy -- I guess your boyfriend."
"Yeah, that's my Xander," Buffy said with a small smile. She didn't want to rub it in.
"Where is he tonight?" Lance wanted to know. "I'm surprised he let you get away. If you were my girlfriend, I'd be afraid another guy would swoop in on you." His chuckle was a little abashed, as he realized that now he was actually doing the swooping, kind of.
"Oh, Xander's not like that," Buffy said with confidence. "We have a trusting relationship. And tonight we just got our signals crossed on when we were meeting. What about you? Tell me about yourself."
"Oh, well, I play football for Calvin. I'm a senior."
"Do you like that?"
"Sure, it's fun."
Buffy was starting to get a little bored. Then she had a good idea. "Hey, Lance, how would you like to dance with my friend Amy. I happen to know for a fact that she *doesn't* have a boyfriend." The perfect solution, Buffy decided -- Amy and Lance could have a fun dance without worrying about propriety.
"That girl that was sitting with you?" When Buffy nodded, Lance agreed enthusiastically.
"Great," Buffy said, moving out of his arms. She grabbed his wrist as they moved through the crowd so as not to lose him. She was pulling him behind her over to the couch where she'd left Oz and Amy when she suddenly came up short. There was Xander, with Sonya right behind him ((How the heck had he gotten Sonya down the stairs?)) and he was staring at her with the angriest expression she'd ever seen on his face.
"Xander..." she called, dropping Lance's hand like a hot poker.
Xander didn't say anything. Instead, he turned around and walked toward the exit.
Buffy stood there for a moment, feeling Lance's confused gaze, Oz and Amy's sympathetic eyes and Sonya's angry stare on her. Then she turned and ran after Xander, hoping she could still catch him.
#2: In the Space of Desire
Authors: Sonya and Erin
E-mail: sonyajeb@swbell.net OR carynsilver@yahoo.com
Rating: PG-13
Category: B/X, O/Other, AU, action/adventure, romance
Summary: This is a sequel to our epic saga "In the Space of a Heartbeat," which is a story about what would happen if Buffy had never gotten the Slayer powers.
Disclaimer: We do not own Buffy or any of the original characters or ideas from the show. They all belong to Joss, Mutant Enemy, etc. All we own is our own creative genius (unless that's too strong a word :) and any characters we make up.
Distribution: Regulars... SURE!!! Newbies... ask and you shall recieve!
Feedback: Love it! We want to know your likes AND dislikes. Flames are the only thing we do not accept.
Spoilers: None much for the shows, but heavy spoilers for the earlier installments of this fanfic series!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter Six
The Cellar
Buffy looked around the dance club with the eyes of a newcomer. This was only her third visit to the place, and she liked it more with each trip to Calvin. Of course, The Cellar was no Bronze, but it was filled to the brim with teenagers -- even on a school night -- and loud music reverberated against the walls.
Oz had gone backstage to set up, leaving Buffy lounging on a red sofa near the wall to await both the Dingoes performance and the arrival of her tardy boyfriend. She'd been there for about fifteen minutes, and Xander had yet to appear.
Sipping her Coke, Buffy tried not to stare at the club's entrance too hard. Looking desperate was not a part of her plan. Instead, she focused on the club itself and its patrons.
The Cellar was a funky establishment. In the basement of a nice restaurant, Madeline's Bistro, at first Buffy had thought it would be boringly quiet and sedate. She'd been wrong. Lots of sound-proofing separated the two worlds of diners and dancers, and gave the owners of the place two ways to make money. Calvin was a small town with an even smaller school district, but, lucky for the owners, the loss of the Bronze brought them many Sunnydale high schoolers looking for a new place to party. Liquor rules were the same as the Bronze -- if you had I.D. you got your hand stamped at the door, if not, no alcohol.
The club's decor was comfy. The stage was big, as was the dance floor. A long, wooden bar that served everything from beer and martinis to soda and mineral water occupied two thirds of the back wall, and had bar stools for sitting, if one had the mind to chat with a bartender. Along the rest of that wall and part of the next, The Cellar offered pool tables, air hockey, dart boards and other group games. There were plenty of places for a couple to find privacy, and lots of tables and couches capable of seating a large group.
The feature that gave The Cellar it's unique atmosphere was the large, spiral staircase that was the main entrance to the club. In Slayer-mode, Buffy had long since scouted out any other entrances and exits -- there weren't many. By the bathrooms in the back there was an emergency door, one of the "an alarm will sound" variety. And there were a few small windows at ground level -- above the reach of most people's arms, even if they stood on tiptoe. Buffy could touch them only if she jumped at full Slayer power. But the spiral staircase was pretty with wrought iron swirls and a brass banister. The bartender would even take a souvenir picture of people on the staircase -- for a modest price.
Buffy sighed and sipped her Coke again. Where the heck was Xander? She didn't want to be a possessive girlfriend, but he should have dropped Sonya off a long time ago.
"Hey, Buffy. What's up?"
Buffy looked up to see Xander's friend Amy smiling down at her. Buffy smiled in return and gestured to the section of the sofa beside her. "Not much. I'm waiting for Xander, but I think he's forgotten our date."
Amy laughed and sat down. "Xander's a great guy, but I've noticed that he has a punctuality problem. We had first period together before I left for Europe, and he was always late. I'm sure he'll be here before you know it. And you can make him grovel for his lapse in attention."
That made Buffy giggle. "True, making him grovel for a little while would be fun." Then she sighed. "But The Cellar's not as much fun as usual without a dance partner."
"Tell me about it," Amy replied. "I used to have the same problem at the Bronze."
"You did? Really?" Buffy looked at Amy in amazement. She seemed to be guy-magnet material. She had the requisite long, blonde hair, fair skin and her warm brown eyes were rimmed with long, lush lashes. She had a good figure, too, which was covered tonight by a navy blue, knee-length skirt and a sleeveless, blue and white tank top. "I can't see why."
"I guess not, now," Amy admitted. "One thing Europe gave me was a little polish. Besides museums and national monuments, I got to visit some great stores over there -- especially in Paris. But when I lived here before, I was kind of dowdy. I was overweight for awhile, though my mother took care of that for me. Xander told you about that, I assume?"
"Yeah," Buffy admitted, wondering if Amy would be mad that Xander was talking about her. "He was just filling me in, though. He didn't mean anything by it."
"Oh, that's fine," Amy assured Buffy, her smile never wavering. "I know that you, Xander, Sonya and the librarian are waging a war against the dark forces in Sunnydale. My mom was one of those dark forces. I'm just glad she's gone." Amy paused for a minute, and then continued with her story. "But, like I said, before Europe and before that thing with my mom, I was pretty much the shy, quiet introvert."
"I know something about that," Buffy said.
"No way!" Amy protested.
"Yes way!" Buffy answered. She gestured down to her legs which were covered in an attractive pair of skin-tight, black pants. Her outfit was topped off with a white, short-sleeve shirt with a scalloped neck line that revealed her cross necklace. "During my freshman year in high school I was pretty popular, but then this guy hit me with his car. I broke both legs in several places. It was horrible. I was in a wheelchair for months." Even though Amy knew about vampires, Buffy didn't think Giles would like Buffy to tell her about how the accident had caused her to miss her Slayer destiny the first time, so Buffy skipped that part. "Anyway, all my so-called friends dropped me. It made quite an impact. Until I moved here, my mom was my best friend. Can you believe the corniness?"
"I don't think that's corny," Amy said softly. "It's sweet."
Buffy realized that her joke wouldn't seem very funny to Amy, and hurriedly backtracked. "No, my mom's great. I love her a lot. But you have to admit, most people would find that corny." Buffy's eyes landed on Cordelia and her band of wanna-be's across the room. "They'd think it's corny."
"Well, they're a bunch of fools," Amy replied in a harsh tone. At a surprised glance from Buffy, Amy hastily added, "Sorry. I've just suffered a lot of malicious treatment from them in the past."
Remembering some "Muffy" comments, Buffy sympathized. "Me, too. I just try to ignore them now."
"Best course of action," Amy agreed.
The two girls sat in silence for a few moments, and Buffy began to feel really glad that she'd come tonight, even if Xander was missing in action. Just then Oz and the Dingoes took the stage. Buffy leaned over to Amy. "Have you ever heard these guys play?"
"No." Amy shook her head. "But I've heard that they're really good."
"I know the guitarist."
"He goes to our school, right?"
"Yeah. Oz was the first friend I made in Sunnydale."
Amy sat back in her seat, her eyes on the stage. "Well, I can't wait to hear them."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After leaving the medical clinic, Xander and Sonya went to Sal's Diner, their favorite greasy spoon, for chili-cheeseburgers and French fries.
"Mmm..." Xander groaned, licking the grease and salt from his fingers after the last fry. "That was superb."
"Superb?" Sonya raised an eyebrow.
"Superb!" Xander repeated with an emphatic nod. "Are we having dessert?"
It was Sonya's turn to groan. "I'm stuffed. But I guess if you're really determined to get something else you could talk me into a few bites."
"Hey," Xander said, throwing out his arms extravagantly. "This is a celebration of your great visit with Dr. Keller. Anything goes." He yelled over to the man behind the counter, "Sal! We need one hot fudge sundae with all the trimmings and two spoons."
"You got it," the burly owner of the diner called back, and minutes later the two teens were faced with a huge mountain of ice cream layered in whipped cream and chocolate sauce.
"Yum," Xander said, twirling his spoon in anticipation. "Hot fudge."
Sonya laughed. "You are a nut, Harris. But I'm glad you thought of this. It really made the end of my day much better than the beginning."
"That's what I'm here for," Xander replied, taking a big bite of the sundae. His next words were muffled by the food in his mouth. "I'm the sugar and grease specialist."
As they ate, Xander kept glancing over at Sonya. She was so animated tonight, so happy. He hadn't seen her like this... well... ever. Xander congratulated himself on bringing up the whole Dr. Keller thing to begin with. Sure, it had been a rocky beginning, but to see Sonya like this, it was worth it. They'd been having a great time all evening -- talking and laughing, reminiscing over some of their worst opponents, dishing about Giles and plotting ways to make the stuffy Brit more human.
Of course, Xander and Sonya had done things together before. They'd chilled out in front of movies, slaved over homework and Giles training sessions and they'd fought together. Even from her wheelchair, Sonya had been devastating to one vampire at a time. He could still remember the first time she'd taken him out to patrol. Sonya had nailed a vamp at twenty paces by flinging a stake at the demon from her chair. And they'd saved each other's butts several times. Mobile Sonya had saved Xander from being turned into a vampire by his former best friend Willow's new demonic self. (The thought of Willow still made Xander's heart twinge in pain, so he pushed that away quickly.) And Xander had saved Sonya from making an irreversibly bad decision the time right after her accident when she'd slit her wrists. That memory hurt as well, so he pushed it away and decided to concentrate on tonight -- the first night that they'd been so carefree. It was almost like the rest of the world didn't even exist.
"You like?" Xander asked with a grin as Sonya slowly munched a whipped cream-covered cherry.
"Yeah," Sonya admitted with a sigh. "But I'm full. You're really going to have to finish that thing."
Xander looked at the half-eaten sundae with consideration. "Yep. I can do that."
Sonya laughed at Xander for what must've been the millionth time that evening. She was having so much fun. This had been just what she needed, and Xander was a great friend to take her out for a celebration. And he'd been considerate enough not to ask if he could bring Buffy. Sonya wasn't in the mood to have Buffy gloating about how well the doctor visit went. Sonya realized with a start that Xander hadn't even mentioned his girlfriend all night.
"Hey, Harris?" she asked. "Was Buffy busy tonight or something?" She didn't know why she was compelled to ruin the moment, but once thought of, the words seemed to spring unbidden from her lips. "I mean, I'm having a great time, but I haven't seen you two lovebirds apart for this long in weeks."
A pained expression crossed Xander's face. "Ohmigosh! I totally forgot. Buffy and I were supposed to go to The Cellar tonight to see the Dingoes." H e looked at his watch the pained expression turned to one of extreme dismay. "I'm two hours late to pick her up. She's gonna kill me!"
Sonya sighed and knew that her evening was ruined. (I should never have opened my big, fat mouth) she though angrily. But aloud all she said was, "Go, call her. I know neither of us will have any more fun until you do."
Xander flashed her a grin. "Thanks for being so understanding, Parker." Then he jumped up from the table and ran for the pay phone near the bathrooms.
While she waited, Sonya reached into the pocket on the back of her wheelchair and pulled out the white, paper bag Nurse Jane had given her before she left Dr. Keller's office. Inside was a small bottle of pills.
"Guess it's time for the first one," she muttered to herself. "The food thing is certainly covered."
Sonya opened the bottle and plucked out a medium-sized tablet. It was bright purple. When she looked closer, Sonya thought she could make out little blue flecks, too. "Hmm," she grunted. "Pretty pills. Who'd have thought?" With that, she stuck the tablet in her mouth and washed it down with a swig of root beer. Then she put the bag and the bottle back into the pocket on her chair.
Just then, Xander returned from his foray to the phone.
"Is she pissed?" Sonya asked, unable to stifle a smile.
"She wasn't home." Xander sighed. "She went to The Cellar with Oz. Joyce said she thought maybe we were meeting there."
"You realize you're going to have to do some serious making up time, don't you?" Sonya asked.
"Yeah." Xander looked over at Sonya and added, "Hey, want to come with me? You haven't been to The Cellar yet, have you? It's pretty fun, and you can save me from Buffy if she gets murderous."
Sonya laughed. "You big chicken! All right, you talked me into it. I'll go. But just remember, you owe me one."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
By the time the Dingoes had finished their first set and Oz came over to say hello, Buffy had about decided Xander was a big flake and was never coming. But when Oz approached their couch, Buffy put on a smile and introduced him to Amy.
"Nice to meet you," Amy said with a big smile for the guitarist. "I really enjoyed your set. You guys rock."
"Thanks," Oz said, sitting down in an overstuffed chair with denim upholstery that was across from the couch. "We're still learning, though."
Seeing that they were going to get along all right, Buffy stood with her empty glass and said, "I'm going to dispose of this. Be right back."
She walked slowly toward the bar, trying to decide what to do next. She was stuck at The Cellar until Oz was done playing, unless she could convince Amy to give her a ride home. But Amy seemed content to stay for awhile. She set the empty glass on the edge of the bar with a thank-you smile to the bartender, and then felt someone tap her on the shoulder.
Buffy turned, a happy expression leaping to her face. "Xan..." The word and the smile died on her lips when she saw it wasn't him. Instead it was a big guy wearing a Calvin High letterman's jacket. He was kind of attractive in a jock sort of way -- big biceps, good body, thick neck, blue eyes and blond hair. "Yes?" she asked.
"I was wondering if you'd like to dance with me?" The guy was attractively shy, but Buffy suspected it was all just an act. After all, how many football studs are really shy.
"What's your name?"
The guy replied, "Lance, Lance Roundman."
Buffy glanced toward the spiral staircase one last time. No Xander. Then she looked consideringly at Lance. (It's not like I'm going on a date with him. It's just a friendly dance between two new acquaintances, right?) she told herself. Then she nodded at Lance. "Sure. I'm Buffy, by the way."
Lance took her arm and escorted her to the dance floor. They moved into the middle of the crowd and started moving to the pulsating beat of the music coming over the sound system while the band was on break. A few seconds later, the music changed over to a slow song.
"If you want, we can sit this one out," Lance said.
Buffy was impressed in spite of herself. What a gentleman! Most guys would use this as an excuse to swoop her into an embrace and cop a feel. "No," she decided, "we can keep dancing, if you want to."
"Great!" Lance held her in a loose embrace as they swayed to the music. Buffy kept to her own dance space -- not letting her head rest on his chest like she would have with Xander. After a minute of silence, Lance asked her to tell him a little about herself.
"Well," Buffy said, not wanting to lead the guy on, "I should tell you, I have a boyfriend."
"I kind of figured," Lance admitted in a disappointed tone that was quite flattering. "But that's OK. I just wanted the chance to talk to you for a minute. I've seen you here a few times and always wanted to come over and introduce yourself. But you were always with that other guy -- I guess your boyfriend."
"Yeah, that's my Xander," Buffy said with a small smile. She didn't want to rub it in.
"Where is he tonight?" Lance wanted to know. "I'm surprised he let you get away. If you were my girlfriend, I'd be afraid another guy would swoop in on you." His chuckle was a little abashed, as he realized that now he was actually doing the swooping, kind of.
"Oh, Xander's not like that," Buffy said with confidence. "We have a trusting relationship. And tonight we just got our signals crossed on when we were meeting. What about you? Tell me about yourself."
"Oh, well, I play football for Calvin. I'm a senior."
"Do you like that?"
"Sure, it's fun."
Buffy was starting to get a little bored. Then she had a good idea. "Hey, Lance, how would you like to dance with my friend Amy. I happen to know for a fact that she *doesn't* have a boyfriend." The perfect solution, Buffy decided -- Amy and Lance could have a fun dance without worrying about propriety.
"That girl that was sitting with you?" When Buffy nodded, Lance agreed enthusiastically.
"Great," Buffy said, moving out of his arms. She grabbed his wrist as they moved through the crowd so as not to lose him. She was pulling him behind her over to the couch where she'd left Oz and Amy when she suddenly came up short. There was Xander, with Sonya right behind him ((How the heck had he gotten Sonya down the stairs?)) and he was staring at her with the angriest expression she'd ever seen on his face.
"Xander..." she called, dropping Lance's hand like a hot poker.
Xander didn't say anything. Instead, he turned around and walked toward the exit.
Buffy stood there for a moment, feeling Lance's confused gaze, Oz and Amy's sympathetic eyes and Sonya's angry stare on her. Then she turned and ran after Xander, hoping she could still catch him.