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 Seven
The Cellar
Buffy ran after Xander, and finally caught up with him near the bar.
"Xander, wait!" she cried, grabbing his arm and pulling him around. She had to use a little extra force, and Xander staggered. "I'm sorry!" she said, letting go.
Xander removed his arm from her grip with a grimace. "You should be more careful. I think you left a bruise." No teasing lightened his words at all.
"Look, I'm sorry about Lance," Buffy said quickly, "but you have to know that we were just dancing. I waited for you forever. I got bored and he asked me to dance. That's all there is to it. I even told him I have a boyfriend."
"Then why were you holding hands with him," Xander accused.
"We weren't holding hands!" Buffy protested. "I was bringing him back to introduce him to Amy."
Xander rolled his eyes and looked away, the cold expression never leaving his face. Buffy started to get angry herself.
"Why are you treating me like this anyway?" she demanded loudly. "You're the one who left me hanging! You were supposed to pick me up hours ago. I was afraid you'd had a wreck or something." That was an exaggeration, but once it was out Buffy wasn't about to take it back. He owed her some explanations, too.
Suddenly, Xander's clouded expression cleared. He blinked and then he pulled her into a hug. "You're right, I'm so, so sorry Buffy. I didn't mean to forget. I don't know what came over me."
Back in his arms where she belonged, Buffy felt the tension of the fight melt away. "I'm sorry, too. I guess I shouldn't have danced with another guy."
"No," Xander protested, "you weren't doing anything wrong. I mean, we don't have to be that possessive of each other, do we? I'm sorry I got jealous."
Buffy looked up at him and smiled. She still felt a little uncertain about his rapid mood swings, but she wanted things to be OK between them so she would meet him halfway. "I accept your apology."
He leaned down and gave her a small kiss, which she returned. Then she asked, "Where were you all this time, anyway?"
"Sonya was hungry after her appointment. I took her to Sal's." As they started walking slowly back toward the others, he put his arm around her shoulder. "I just completely forgot we had plans tonight. Sonya and I started talking and reminiscing... I'm such a flake."
"Well, if you're not going to obsess over me dancing with Lance, then I won't obsess about you taking your friend to dinner," Buffy promised. "By the way, how did the appointment go?"
"It went great!" Xander told her enthusiastically. "This Dr. Keller really thinks he can help her. He's got her on treatments already."
"Wow," Buffy remarked. "That's fast."
"Well, what else does he have to do here?"
"True." She looked up at him. "How did you get Sonya downstairs anyway?"
"Oh, I tipped the doorman upstairs and he let us in the emergency door around back. That's the one with the ramp for bringing down supplies," Xander explained.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Buffy ran off after Xander, Sonya, Amy, Lance and Oz sat and stood in awkward silence for a moment. Sonya found that she couldn't really look at Oz without remembering how mean she had been to him that morning.
Finally, Amy said, "Hi, Sonya."
"Hey," Sonya replied. "It's been awhile."
"Yeah."
When that conversational gambit petered out, Amy turned to Lance. "Hi, I'm Amy Madison."
"Lance Roundman," the football player replied. "Buffy actually brought me over here to meet you, but I guess things didn't go quite as she planned."
"Not hardly," Oz muttered from his chair in the corner.
Amy smiled at Lance. "Well, I'm glad to meet you anyway. And I'm sure things will be fine..."
While Amy babbled perkily to Lance, Sonya finally glanced over at Oz. She found him staring at her. Sonya looked away quickly. The words "I'm sorry" came to her lips, but she bit them back. Then she looked up and saw Xander and Buffy coming back, all smiles and lovey-dovey again.
"Hey, guys," Xander said sheepishly. "Sorry about that."
"Xander," Buffy said, "I want you to meet Lance. He goes to Calvin High."
Xander stepped forward and shook Lance's hand with a firm grip. "Hi."
"Hey, nice to... um... meet you," Lance said uncertainly. He looked around at all the awkwardness and then blurted, "Look uh... I've got to go see what my pals are up to." He shrugged. "I rode with them and they might be wanting to leave or something..."
Buffy smiled at him, not noticing the sharp glance Sonya gave her, and tried to make him feel more comfortable. "That's cool, Lance. We understand. Maybe we'll see you next time."
"Yeah, maybe." And with that, Lance beat a hasty retreat to the other side of the room.
"Darn, and he was such a cutie," Amy remarked to no one in particular. When no one laughed, or even said anything, Amy said, "You know, I think it's about time for me to go home. Wouldn't want to be too exhausted for my first day back at school tomorrow."
"Yeah," Sonya spoke up. "I really need to get home, too." She looked at Xander pointedly. "Are you still driving me?"
Xander looked helplessly from Buffy to Sonya. "Um... well..."
Buffy really wanted to ride home with Xander, but she didn't want to say that out loud. If she said it out loud then she'd look bad for forcing Sonya to find another ride. Not a big deal for most people, but for Sonya... Also, Buffy wanted Xander to say he wanted her to ride with him. She waited for a minute.
"I've got to go," Oz said suddenly. "Another set." Then he left, heading back stage. Buffy envied him his easy escape route from the uncomfortable situation.
"Well," Amy offered, "someone can go with me." She looked at Sonya pointedly, who ignored her.
Buffy stood there, letting the silence lengthen. Xander continued to glance between her and Sonya, like a deer trapped between two oncoming cars. Finally she blurted, "Thank you, Amy. I'd love a ride."
"Buffy..." Xander called as she grabbed Amy's arm and started to walk away.
"Call me later," Buffy replied brusquely, leaving him alone with Sonya.
Once they were gone, Xander sighed. "Well, none of that went exactly as I had hoped."
"Let's go home, Xander," Sonya said quietly. "Everything will be better after a good night's sleep. You'll see."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning, Giles was surprised when the phone rang. Sonya had gotten in rather late the night before, so he grabbed it up on the first ring. He thought perhaps it was Angel calling to report some odd happening on last night's patrol -- the souled vampire usually gave Buffy and Xander a night or two off every week. Giles encouraged the practice when nothing unusually dire was happening. It kept the two teens from being too distracted by each other while patrolling.
"Hello?" Giles asked into the receiver. But instead of Angel, the voice on the other end of the phone was feminine.
"Mr. Giles?"
"Yes?" The voice was American, so it wasn't someone from the Council calling to check up on him...
"This is Joyce Summers. Buffy's mother."
"Oh?" Giles replied, wondering why she was calling.
"I hope you don't mind me calling you at home. I got the number from Buffy."
"It's fine. Has something happened to Buffy?"
"Oh, no," Joyce hastened to assure him. "Nothing like that. Actually, I was calling to set up a meeting with you."
"Really? Is something wrong?"
"No, no," Joyce said again, "I would just like to meet you and talk about the tutoring program you and Buffy are doing. It's working very well. She's already bringing up her grades."
Giles didn't really know what to say. He realized he would have to talk to Buffy first and see what was going on with her mother. Finally, before the silence could get too lengthy, he suggested, "Well then, how about this afternoon. About four thirty?"
"That would be fine," Joyce agreed. "I'll leave the gallery a little early and see you then."
They said goodbye and hung up. Giles stood there, staring at the phone and wondering what in the world he would say to Buffy's mother. He had never met the woman before. It would definitely be interesting.
"Who was on the phone?"
Giles turned to see Sonya sitting in the doorway of the kitchen. "Mrs. Summers."
"What did she want?"
"I'm not exactly sure. I think she wants to be more involved in her child's life."
"Oh, great! That's all we need."
Giles moved to the refrigerator. "Do you want anything for breakfast?" he asked. "We have eggs."
Sonya looked up, surprised. "You can cook?"
"I'll have you know that I can make quite a mean omelet on occasion." Giles smiled at her, noticing that she looked more down that usual this morning. "Is everything all right? How did your doctor's appointment go?"
"It went fine." Sonya went about the business of fixing herself a bowl of cereal. "I'll have eggs tomorrow, OK?"
"Up to you," Giles replied, handing her the milk.
Sonya pulled out a pill bottle and popped a purple tablet into her mouth, washing it down with a spoonful of milk from her bowl. Giles quickly fixed her a glass of orange juice. "Here you go."
"Thanks." Sonya looked up at him. "What's going on here? Why are you being so butler-like?"
"Can't I help you every once in awhile?" Giles asked. "You are my ward, after all. Now, what happened at the doctor's office, and how much are these pills and treatments costing me?"
With a happy smile, Sonya explained to him everything Dr. Keller had said. Giles couldn't keep a smile from his lips. It sounded so good. He really hoped it would all work out. He didn't want to see her hurt again. And for Sonya to be able to walk again... Giles knew he would do almost anything to have that happen.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Xander never called Buffy, and Buffy wasn't very happy about it. When he wasn't in English class that morning the part of her that was glad not to have to deal with the situation out-weighed the part of her that wondered what had happened to him.
Buffy was glad to find Amy in several of her classes that day. She and the new girl were hitting it off quite nicely. Buffy was glad to finally have a normal girl friend -- a friendship where she didn't have to constantly worry about every little thing she said.
Amy, Buffy and Oz had lunch together in the cafeteria.
"Did you see Xander yet?" Amy asked when they sat down.
Buffy sighed. "Nope. He's been conspicuously absent this morning."
"I saw him," Oz volunteered. "In the parking lot with Sonya after second. I guess he drove her."
"Maybe they stopped for breakfast on the way," Buffy mumbled. "What is his deal today? And last night, too, for that matter? We just got everything worked out, and then he's acting all weird again."
Amy shrugged. "Maybe it's fear of commitment. Maybe the two of you were getting to close and it freaked him out."
"No!" Buffy protested. "That doesn't make any sense. Xander's not like that."
"It's not like him to ignore you either," Oz said, gesturing to the window.
Buffy followed his gesture and saw Xander and Sonya eating together outside. She frowned and turned pointedly away from the window. "Jerk," she muttered under her breath.
Amy exchanged a worried glance with Oz, but aloud she said, "Maybe he's just trying to bolster her for the next doctor's appointment this afternoon or something. Or maybe he's feeling just as awkward as you are and hence the avoidance."
"Maybe," Buffy agreed. She wanted to look back out the window, but she wouldn't let herself.
The rest of the day was Xander-free as well. When Buffy got to the library after school only Giles was there.
"Hi," she greeted him quietly. "Where is everybody?"
Giles looked up distractedly. "Oh... ahem... Xander took Sonya to her appointment with Dr. Keller. I would have done it, but I have a meeting with your mother here in a little less than an hour."
Buffy sat her books down and hopped up onto the table. "She followed through with it, did she?"
"Yes. Do you know why?"
"She wants to be more involved in my life," Buffy said. "You know, Giles, it's really hard lying to her like this." Buffy hesitated, and then plunged in on a subject in which she already knew the Watcher to be immobile. "I really wish I could tell her the truth! It would make things so much easier. I think, subconsciously, Mom knows I'm keeping something from her. That's why she's snooping around now. It's making it hard for me to patrol."
"No!" Giles snapped. "If I've told you one time, I've told you a thousand times. Being the Slayer requires the strictest secrecy. Your mother is a target, simply because she's your mother. What if someone kidnaps her to get to you. If she knows anything, she will not be able to withstand. It's too risky!"
Angry, Buffy hopped off the table and strode over to the circulation desk, her boots clicking on the tile floor with each step.
"First of all," she said, ticking each thing off on a well-manicured finger, "you're a good one to talk about secrecy, oh recruiter of the Pseudo-Slayer. Secondly, my mother isn't the biggest wimp in the world. And third, if she knew everything, she wouldn't rat us out. She's not like that!"
"For the last time, no, Buffy!" Giles said, looking her straight in the eye.
Buffy paused at the anger she saw there. "Giles," she said softly, "are you OK? Is there something else wrong?"
The librarian hesitated, and then the library doors opened. Joyce walked in saying, "I'm sorry I'm early, but I got off early and..." The shutters to Giles' soul few up again and he was all stuffy Brit.
"Hello, Mrs. Summers."
"Oh, please," Joyce said with a big grin, "call me Joyce. Mrs. Summers is Hank's mother."
"You know what?" Buffy said, gathering her books together. "I'm going to vacate and let you two talk. Easier for you to talk about me if I'm not here, right?"
"Wait, Buffy," Giles said, giving her a meaningful look. "We didn't finish with that history section."
"I'll go home and work on it right now," Buffy said, realizing that she was blowing off training, and not even caring. "If I have problems, I'll give you a ring later." She walked quickly to the doors before Giles could come up with something else. "Bye, Mom. See you at home!"
When the doors slammed shut behind Buffy, Joyce turned to Giles. "Is she always this excitable around you?"
"Er... yes... quite," Giles mumbled.
Joyce laughed, "And I thought it was just around me."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Finally, about six o'clock, after Buffy and her mother had finished dinner and Buffy had finished grilling Joyce about her uneventful meeting with Giles, Buffy couldn't stand it anymore. She called Xander's house. When his mother picked up the phone, Buffy asked, "Is Xander home?"
"Um... actually no," Mrs. Harris said in an uncertain tone. "I don't believe he is."
"Do you know where he went or when he'll be back."
"Er.. no, I don't."
After keeping a firm grip on the tongue that wanted to demand how she could call herself a good mother, Buffy just said, "Tell him Buffy called, please." Then she hung up.
"No luck?" Joyce asked, pausing by Buffy's bedroom door.
Buffy shook her head. "No. He's not home."
"I'm sure it will all be all right," Joyce said, coming in and sitting next to her daughter on the bed. "Xander's really in love with you. I can see it every time he looks at you. He probably just doesn't know how to get over this first rough spot."
Buffy gave her mother a small smile, glad she'd confided in her over dinner. "Amy said something like that, too."
"Well, then, we must be right," Joyce assured her.
After a minute, Buffy stood up and threw a sweatshirt on over her jeans.
"Are you going out, honey?" Joyce asked.
Buffy picked up her backpack-style purse. It was full to the brim with stakes, crosses and holy water, but her mother didn't know that. Sunset had come and gone an hour before, and Buffy had to patrol. And since she hadn't talked to Xander, apparently she was patrolling alone tonight. But, Buffy knew she couldn't tell her mother any of that, so aloud she said, "Yeah, I think I'm going to try and find Xander so we can talk things out. He might be at the Coffee Shoppe."
"That's a good idea, dear," Joyce said with a motherly smile. "I'm sure it will all work out well. You'll see. Do you need a ride?"
"No," Buffy said. "It's not that far. Nothing in Sunnydale is that far. I can walk."
#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 Seven
The Cellar
Buffy ran after Xander, and finally caught up with him near the bar.
"Xander, wait!" she cried, grabbing his arm and pulling him around. She had to use a little extra force, and Xander staggered. "I'm sorry!" she said, letting go.
Xander removed his arm from her grip with a grimace. "You should be more careful. I think you left a bruise." No teasing lightened his words at all.
"Look, I'm sorry about Lance," Buffy said quickly, "but you have to know that we were just dancing. I waited for you forever. I got bored and he asked me to dance. That's all there is to it. I even told him I have a boyfriend."
"Then why were you holding hands with him," Xander accused.
"We weren't holding hands!" Buffy protested. "I was bringing him back to introduce him to Amy."
Xander rolled his eyes and looked away, the cold expression never leaving his face. Buffy started to get angry herself.
"Why are you treating me like this anyway?" she demanded loudly. "You're the one who left me hanging! You were supposed to pick me up hours ago. I was afraid you'd had a wreck or something." That was an exaggeration, but once it was out Buffy wasn't about to take it back. He owed her some explanations, too.
Suddenly, Xander's clouded expression cleared. He blinked and then he pulled her into a hug. "You're right, I'm so, so sorry Buffy. I didn't mean to forget. I don't know what came over me."
Back in his arms where she belonged, Buffy felt the tension of the fight melt away. "I'm sorry, too. I guess I shouldn't have danced with another guy."
"No," Xander protested, "you weren't doing anything wrong. I mean, we don't have to be that possessive of each other, do we? I'm sorry I got jealous."
Buffy looked up at him and smiled. She still felt a little uncertain about his rapid mood swings, but she wanted things to be OK between them so she would meet him halfway. "I accept your apology."
He leaned down and gave her a small kiss, which she returned. Then she asked, "Where were you all this time, anyway?"
"Sonya was hungry after her appointment. I took her to Sal's." As they started walking slowly back toward the others, he put his arm around her shoulder. "I just completely forgot we had plans tonight. Sonya and I started talking and reminiscing... I'm such a flake."
"Well, if you're not going to obsess over me dancing with Lance, then I won't obsess about you taking your friend to dinner," Buffy promised. "By the way, how did the appointment go?"
"It went great!" Xander told her enthusiastically. "This Dr. Keller really thinks he can help her. He's got her on treatments already."
"Wow," Buffy remarked. "That's fast."
"Well, what else does he have to do here?"
"True." She looked up at him. "How did you get Sonya downstairs anyway?"
"Oh, I tipped the doorman upstairs and he let us in the emergency door around back. That's the one with the ramp for bringing down supplies," Xander explained.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Buffy ran off after Xander, Sonya, Amy, Lance and Oz sat and stood in awkward silence for a moment. Sonya found that she couldn't really look at Oz without remembering how mean she had been to him that morning.
Finally, Amy said, "Hi, Sonya."
"Hey," Sonya replied. "It's been awhile."
"Yeah."
When that conversational gambit petered out, Amy turned to Lance. "Hi, I'm Amy Madison."
"Lance Roundman," the football player replied. "Buffy actually brought me over here to meet you, but I guess things didn't go quite as she planned."
"Not hardly," Oz muttered from his chair in the corner.
Amy smiled at Lance. "Well, I'm glad to meet you anyway. And I'm sure things will be fine..."
While Amy babbled perkily to Lance, Sonya finally glanced over at Oz. She found him staring at her. Sonya looked away quickly. The words "I'm sorry" came to her lips, but she bit them back. Then she looked up and saw Xander and Buffy coming back, all smiles and lovey-dovey again.
"Hey, guys," Xander said sheepishly. "Sorry about that."
"Xander," Buffy said, "I want you to meet Lance. He goes to Calvin High."
Xander stepped forward and shook Lance's hand with a firm grip. "Hi."
"Hey, nice to... um... meet you," Lance said uncertainly. He looked around at all the awkwardness and then blurted, "Look uh... I've got to go see what my pals are up to." He shrugged. "I rode with them and they might be wanting to leave or something..."
Buffy smiled at him, not noticing the sharp glance Sonya gave her, and tried to make him feel more comfortable. "That's cool, Lance. We understand. Maybe we'll see you next time."
"Yeah, maybe." And with that, Lance beat a hasty retreat to the other side of the room.
"Darn, and he was such a cutie," Amy remarked to no one in particular. When no one laughed, or even said anything, Amy said, "You know, I think it's about time for me to go home. Wouldn't want to be too exhausted for my first day back at school tomorrow."
"Yeah," Sonya spoke up. "I really need to get home, too." She looked at Xander pointedly. "Are you still driving me?"
Xander looked helplessly from Buffy to Sonya. "Um... well..."
Buffy really wanted to ride home with Xander, but she didn't want to say that out loud. If she said it out loud then she'd look bad for forcing Sonya to find another ride. Not a big deal for most people, but for Sonya... Also, Buffy wanted Xander to say he wanted her to ride with him. She waited for a minute.
"I've got to go," Oz said suddenly. "Another set." Then he left, heading back stage. Buffy envied him his easy escape route from the uncomfortable situation.
"Well," Amy offered, "someone can go with me." She looked at Sonya pointedly, who ignored her.
Buffy stood there, letting the silence lengthen. Xander continued to glance between her and Sonya, like a deer trapped between two oncoming cars. Finally she blurted, "Thank you, Amy. I'd love a ride."
"Buffy..." Xander called as she grabbed Amy's arm and started to walk away.
"Call me later," Buffy replied brusquely, leaving him alone with Sonya.
Once they were gone, Xander sighed. "Well, none of that went exactly as I had hoped."
"Let's go home, Xander," Sonya said quietly. "Everything will be better after a good night's sleep. You'll see."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning, Giles was surprised when the phone rang. Sonya had gotten in rather late the night before, so he grabbed it up on the first ring. He thought perhaps it was Angel calling to report some odd happening on last night's patrol -- the souled vampire usually gave Buffy and Xander a night or two off every week. Giles encouraged the practice when nothing unusually dire was happening. It kept the two teens from being too distracted by each other while patrolling.
"Hello?" Giles asked into the receiver. But instead of Angel, the voice on the other end of the phone was feminine.
"Mr. Giles?"
"Yes?" The voice was American, so it wasn't someone from the Council calling to check up on him...
"This is Joyce Summers. Buffy's mother."
"Oh?" Giles replied, wondering why she was calling.
"I hope you don't mind me calling you at home. I got the number from Buffy."
"It's fine. Has something happened to Buffy?"
"Oh, no," Joyce hastened to assure him. "Nothing like that. Actually, I was calling to set up a meeting with you."
"Really? Is something wrong?"
"No, no," Joyce said again, "I would just like to meet you and talk about the tutoring program you and Buffy are doing. It's working very well. She's already bringing up her grades."
Giles didn't really know what to say. He realized he would have to talk to Buffy first and see what was going on with her mother. Finally, before the silence could get too lengthy, he suggested, "Well then, how about this afternoon. About four thirty?"
"That would be fine," Joyce agreed. "I'll leave the gallery a little early and see you then."
They said goodbye and hung up. Giles stood there, staring at the phone and wondering what in the world he would say to Buffy's mother. He had never met the woman before. It would definitely be interesting.
"Who was on the phone?"
Giles turned to see Sonya sitting in the doorway of the kitchen. "Mrs. Summers."
"What did she want?"
"I'm not exactly sure. I think she wants to be more involved in her child's life."
"Oh, great! That's all we need."
Giles moved to the refrigerator. "Do you want anything for breakfast?" he asked. "We have eggs."
Sonya looked up, surprised. "You can cook?"
"I'll have you know that I can make quite a mean omelet on occasion." Giles smiled at her, noticing that she looked more down that usual this morning. "Is everything all right? How did your doctor's appointment go?"
"It went fine." Sonya went about the business of fixing herself a bowl of cereal. "I'll have eggs tomorrow, OK?"
"Up to you," Giles replied, handing her the milk.
Sonya pulled out a pill bottle and popped a purple tablet into her mouth, washing it down with a spoonful of milk from her bowl. Giles quickly fixed her a glass of orange juice. "Here you go."
"Thanks." Sonya looked up at him. "What's going on here? Why are you being so butler-like?"
"Can't I help you every once in awhile?" Giles asked. "You are my ward, after all. Now, what happened at the doctor's office, and how much are these pills and treatments costing me?"
With a happy smile, Sonya explained to him everything Dr. Keller had said. Giles couldn't keep a smile from his lips. It sounded so good. He really hoped it would all work out. He didn't want to see her hurt again. And for Sonya to be able to walk again... Giles knew he would do almost anything to have that happen.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Xander never called Buffy, and Buffy wasn't very happy about it. When he wasn't in English class that morning the part of her that was glad not to have to deal with the situation out-weighed the part of her that wondered what had happened to him.
Buffy was glad to find Amy in several of her classes that day. She and the new girl were hitting it off quite nicely. Buffy was glad to finally have a normal girl friend -- a friendship where she didn't have to constantly worry about every little thing she said.
Amy, Buffy and Oz had lunch together in the cafeteria.
"Did you see Xander yet?" Amy asked when they sat down.
Buffy sighed. "Nope. He's been conspicuously absent this morning."
"I saw him," Oz volunteered. "In the parking lot with Sonya after second. I guess he drove her."
"Maybe they stopped for breakfast on the way," Buffy mumbled. "What is his deal today? And last night, too, for that matter? We just got everything worked out, and then he's acting all weird again."
Amy shrugged. "Maybe it's fear of commitment. Maybe the two of you were getting to close and it freaked him out."
"No!" Buffy protested. "That doesn't make any sense. Xander's not like that."
"It's not like him to ignore you either," Oz said, gesturing to the window.
Buffy followed his gesture and saw Xander and Sonya eating together outside. She frowned and turned pointedly away from the window. "Jerk," she muttered under her breath.
Amy exchanged a worried glance with Oz, but aloud she said, "Maybe he's just trying to bolster her for the next doctor's appointment this afternoon or something. Or maybe he's feeling just as awkward as you are and hence the avoidance."
"Maybe," Buffy agreed. She wanted to look back out the window, but she wouldn't let herself.
The rest of the day was Xander-free as well. When Buffy got to the library after school only Giles was there.
"Hi," she greeted him quietly. "Where is everybody?"
Giles looked up distractedly. "Oh... ahem... Xander took Sonya to her appointment with Dr. Keller. I would have done it, but I have a meeting with your mother here in a little less than an hour."
Buffy sat her books down and hopped up onto the table. "She followed through with it, did she?"
"Yes. Do you know why?"
"She wants to be more involved in my life," Buffy said. "You know, Giles, it's really hard lying to her like this." Buffy hesitated, and then plunged in on a subject in which she already knew the Watcher to be immobile. "I really wish I could tell her the truth! It would make things so much easier. I think, subconsciously, Mom knows I'm keeping something from her. That's why she's snooping around now. It's making it hard for me to patrol."
"No!" Giles snapped. "If I've told you one time, I've told you a thousand times. Being the Slayer requires the strictest secrecy. Your mother is a target, simply because she's your mother. What if someone kidnaps her to get to you. If she knows anything, she will not be able to withstand. It's too risky!"
Angry, Buffy hopped off the table and strode over to the circulation desk, her boots clicking on the tile floor with each step.
"First of all," she said, ticking each thing off on a well-manicured finger, "you're a good one to talk about secrecy, oh recruiter of the Pseudo-Slayer. Secondly, my mother isn't the biggest wimp in the world. And third, if she knew everything, she wouldn't rat us out. She's not like that!"
"For the last time, no, Buffy!" Giles said, looking her straight in the eye.
Buffy paused at the anger she saw there. "Giles," she said softly, "are you OK? Is there something else wrong?"
The librarian hesitated, and then the library doors opened. Joyce walked in saying, "I'm sorry I'm early, but I got off early and..." The shutters to Giles' soul few up again and he was all stuffy Brit.
"Hello, Mrs. Summers."
"Oh, please," Joyce said with a big grin, "call me Joyce. Mrs. Summers is Hank's mother."
"You know what?" Buffy said, gathering her books together. "I'm going to vacate and let you two talk. Easier for you to talk about me if I'm not here, right?"
"Wait, Buffy," Giles said, giving her a meaningful look. "We didn't finish with that history section."
"I'll go home and work on it right now," Buffy said, realizing that she was blowing off training, and not even caring. "If I have problems, I'll give you a ring later." She walked quickly to the doors before Giles could come up with something else. "Bye, Mom. See you at home!"
When the doors slammed shut behind Buffy, Joyce turned to Giles. "Is she always this excitable around you?"
"Er... yes... quite," Giles mumbled.
Joyce laughed, "And I thought it was just around me."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Finally, about six o'clock, after Buffy and her mother had finished dinner and Buffy had finished grilling Joyce about her uneventful meeting with Giles, Buffy couldn't stand it anymore. She called Xander's house. When his mother picked up the phone, Buffy asked, "Is Xander home?"
"Um... actually no," Mrs. Harris said in an uncertain tone. "I don't believe he is."
"Do you know where he went or when he'll be back."
"Er.. no, I don't."
After keeping a firm grip on the tongue that wanted to demand how she could call herself a good mother, Buffy just said, "Tell him Buffy called, please." Then she hung up.
"No luck?" Joyce asked, pausing by Buffy's bedroom door.
Buffy shook her head. "No. He's not home."
"I'm sure it will all be all right," Joyce said, coming in and sitting next to her daughter on the bed. "Xander's really in love with you. I can see it every time he looks at you. He probably just doesn't know how to get over this first rough spot."
Buffy gave her mother a small smile, glad she'd confided in her over dinner. "Amy said something like that, too."
"Well, then, we must be right," Joyce assured her.
After a minute, Buffy stood up and threw a sweatshirt on over her jeans.
"Are you going out, honey?" Joyce asked.
Buffy picked up her backpack-style purse. It was full to the brim with stakes, crosses and holy water, but her mother didn't know that. Sunset had come and gone an hour before, and Buffy had to patrol. And since she hadn't talked to Xander, apparently she was patrolling alone tonight. But, Buffy knew she couldn't tell her mother any of that, so aloud she said, "Yeah, I think I'm going to try and find Xander so we can talk things out. He might be at the Coffee Shoppe."
"That's a good idea, dear," Joyce said with a motherly smile. "I'm sure it will all work out well. You'll see. Do you need a ride?"
"No," Buffy said. "It's not that far. Nothing in Sunnydale is that far. I can walk."