CHAPTER FORTY: XANDER (II)
(Being Aussie, I don't know the exact dates that Americas would graduate or have their senior prom. If I'm wrong about this whole June thing, please feel free to correct me. I'd like to be accurate here…)
Tuesday: 3pm11th May 1999
California: Sunnydale
Buffy stood out the front of the Sunnydale Junior School, waiting for Dawn to get out of her final class. She stood with her back leaning against a tree, staring up into the sky at the cloud formations above her.
"What do you think?" came a voice from beside her. "A dog trying to climb a tree, or a duck trying to hang itself?"
She looked towards the person with the familiar voice and grinned at Xander.
"Hey Xand. What brings you to this part of Sunnydale?" she asked.
"Well, I failed a few grades, so I actually go to the junior school," he said seriously.
She looked at him with wide eyes, expecting for him to crack a smile. He didn't.
"Are you serious?"
He just nodded sadly. "Yup. I got held back in kindergarten four times cos I couldn't finger paint."
She broke out into laughter but stopped when she saw that Xander looked like he wasn't kidding.
"You are joking right?" she asked.
"No."
Buffy felt herself go red, feeling horrible for laughing at him. Xander finally smiled and punched her lightly on the arm. "Yes, I'm joking. Geez, how dumb do you really think I am?"
She pretended to ponder that. He poked her ribs, feeling insulted.
"You here to pick up Dawn?" he asked.
"Yup. Mom and Tim decided to go out tonight, so they asked me to take over Dawn duty," Buffy explained. "I even got outta work early to come pick her up."
"Sounds cool," Xander commented. He breathed in deeply and hesitated, something that Buffy noticed.
"What?" she asked.
"It's nothing," Xander said, shaking his head.
"No, come on, what? What is it? The suspense will kill me," she joked. She really did like Xander, and she knew that if she hadn't been the Slayer, she would have let herself fall for him completely.
"It's just…Friday night is Prom night," he said. "And…I was wondering if maybe you'd like to…go with me."
"To the Prom?" she repeated nervously.
He nodded, biting his lower lip as he waited for her to answer.
"Uh…I really don't know," she admitted.
"Well, you're not laughing, so that's a good start," he quipped. "I know that you don't want us to be together as more than friends, and that's okay. I understand that, I do, but…I'd really like to go with you. I'd really like to dance with you again."
Buffy swallowed hard and nodded. He looked at her with wide and shocked eyes.
"You nodded!" he cried happily. "Does that mean yes? You'll go with me?"
"Yeah," she replied, a smile coming to her face. "Yeah, I'd like to go with you."
Xander grinned and pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back and he pulled away abruptly.
"But only as friends," he said firmly.
She grinned and they shook on it. "I wouldn't have in any other way."
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Friday: 6:30pm14th May 1999
California: Sunnydale
"Uh…a little help please?" Buffy called down the hallway.
Giles appeared within seconds, his eyes going wide as he took in the sight of his Slayer in a Prom dress. It was a light pink backless dress that seemed to have a hidden zipper that had become caught in a fold of material. Giles looked towards her and suddenly thought of something, his hand touching her back lightly. She tensed and relaxed under him, laughing slightly.
"You're hands are freezing," she commented.
"You're scars are gone," he whispered.
She turned to look at him, a brilliant smile on her face.
"I never realised it, but…I think when I got all my powers back after that test, all the scars I ever had healed up completely. Every single one of them," she said.
"Good lord. That's…"
"Incredible, I know," Buffy said. "I only noticed it when I was trying dresses on a few days ago."
Giles bent down to held her with the stuck zipper and finally pulled back when the zip was in place.
"You look amazing, Buffy," he complimented. Ever since their hug after the Cruciamentum, he had called her Buffy instead of Beth. She would alternate between calling him Giles and Rupert, depending on what sort of a mood she was in. Giles when she was worried or upset, Rupert when she was happy and care-free.
"Thanks Rupert," she replied.
He smiled and held an arm out to her.
"Xander will be suitably impressed," he assured her.
"I don't want him impressed," she told him. "We're only going as friends."
"You know I don't object to you finding a uh…boyfriend," he said.
She smiled and let go of his arm as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
"I know. But I still do," she explained. "It wouldn't be fair. And a relationship needs a lot of effort to be put into it, and…the effort put there would be taking away from the slaying. And that's a risk that I can't take."
He nodded, understanding her reasoning. He really was quite proud of her decision to stay away from that aspect of the 'normal life' that he was allowing her to taste.
A noise from the kitchen startled her, and she turned.
"Ethan's in there," Giles whispered. "He said he had to come and see his daughter off to the Prom. Tradition and all that."
Buffy smiled and saw Ethan emerge from the kitchen. He looked up and stopped short when he saw Buffy standing beside Giles.
"Dear god in heaven, someone's lost an angel," he said dramatically.
Buffy went slightly red and Ethan stepped closer to her, taking her hands in his.
"You look wonderful," he said, kissing her forehead, not daring to touch her cheeks in case he ruined her carefully done make-up.
"Thanks Ethan," she whispered.
"You'll knock 'em dead," he said with a grin.
"I hope you mean that figuratively."
There was a knock at the door and Buffy breathed in nervously. She'd never been to anything like this before, the closest thing to a dance had been at a bar or club where she'd tried to pick up vampires. Ethan gave her a quick look to make sure she was ready for him to open the door. Buffy gave him a small nod and braced herself.
The door opened, revealing a smiling Xander, holding a bouquet of flowers. Xander nodded his greeting to Ethan and Giles. Xander turned to look towards Buffy, feeling his heart pounding in his chest. As much as he had said he didn't mind only being friends with her, a part of him still desperately wished that they could be together as more. But he had accepted that she didn't want to compromise him in any way, and a large part of him respected her even more for it.
"Ready milady?" he asked, a fake British accent tinging his voice.
He held his hand out towards her and she took it gracefully. He bent his head and kissed her knuckles.
"I saw that in a Nickelodean once, and I always wanted to do it," he quoted. The reference was lost on the Slayer, but she smiled all the same.
He handed her the bouquet of flowers which Ethan promptly took from her, promising to put them in water.
Buffy cast another smile to Ethan and Giles and was led out the door by the tuxedo-clad Xander.
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Ethan and Giles exchanged a look as the door closed behind Buffy. Things had been strained between them since the Cruciamentum. Giles had been on the receiving end of a rather severe beating, and it had been Faith who had stopped the fight when she'd seen that Giles had refused to even try to defend himself against Ethan's attack. The friendship that Giles and Ethan had made had been cracked almost beyond repair.
"We're not meant to look at her that way, are we?" Ethan asked.
Giles cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Uh…no. Not really."
"She's just so bloody gorgeous," Ethan explained, trying to justify himself. "And it's not like we're really related or anything."
Giles didn't answer. He just raised his eyebrows sceptically.
"I mean…we're still male, right? It's only natural to be attracted to…"
Giles nodded and looked towards the kitchen. "I'll get the scotch, shall I?"
"Good idea."
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Friday: 7pm14th May 1999
California: Sunnydale
Xander and Buffy entered the gymnasium that had been decorated in the school colours, balloons and streamers strewn throughout the building. Buffy breathed in nervously. Xander noticed and squeezed her arm comfortingly.
"You'll be alright," he whispered.
She nodded and they walked further into the building. Xander pointed towards where Willow and Oz were dancing.
Willow's eyes lit up as she saw Buffy and Xander walking towards them.
"Buffy! You look awesome!" she cried, giving the shorter girl a hug.
"So do you," Buffy replied.
Buffy gave a grin to Oz who just tilted his head in greeting.
"How's the Prom so far guys?" Xander asked.
"Strangely affecting. I got all teared up when they played 'We Are Family'," Oz commented, poker-faced. Xander grinned and pulled Buffy towards him.
"Dance?"
She nodded and the two of them began swaying to a slow song, other couples dancing around them.
Xander was aware of the looks that they were getting, and he knew that it wasn't because of him. The guys were all trying to sneak peeks at the gorgeous blonde girl that hardly anyone had ever seen before, while the girls were giving said blonde girl death stares that she was completely oblivious to. Xander grinned, thankful that Buffy wasn't paying attention to the other guys staring.
"Thank you for coming with me," he whispered as they danced.
"Thank you for inviting me," she replied. "I've never really been to a dance before. Not including the Bronze."
"Well, the Senior Prom's a big thing here," he explained. "It made sense to wanna share it with someone. Who better to share with than a good friend?"
She smiled at him and felt her heart do the strange flip-flop that it had done when she had seen Angel with his hair done properly. She really wished that she could have tried to make a relationship work, but she just couldn't put him or herself at so much risk.
She sighed and let herself fall into the comfort of his arms, letting the music sweep her away. For one night, she felt just like she'd always wanted to feel. Like a perfectly normal girl spending the night in the arms of her perfectly normal boyfriend.
Quotes taken from "The Prom" and one from "Titanic" as well. Oh, and "I Will Remember". Hehe…nearly forgot about that one…which, if you're into irony, is kinda funny. ;)
The Giles and Ethan thing started out as a joke. But, then it kinda made sense, cos…well, the whole Cruciamentum thing was still hanging and Ethan's reaction never really got explained, so…I think it works kinda nicely.
Another thing. A lot of you seem to wanna read the B/G alternates. I was really surprised by that, but I will post them. The problem is, I'm a complete idiot and I should have started posting them about a week ago to match up with where they're meant to be. The alternate chapters start in chap 32. But, (and this gets all kinds of confusing) there's not too much difference between the original chapters and the alternates, just a few misc sentences about Giles being in love with her and stuff. So, if you want to read the builup that starts in 32, go here:
http://www.angelfire.com/ks3/schoolies/btvs/itb32ethan_ii_bg.html
Or, if you just want to read the chap that is really different (ie Buffy doesn't leave the house and go find Oz, she and giles just talk), go here:
http://www.angelfire.com/ks3/schoolies/btvs/itb38rupert_bg.html
If you don't LIKE B/G, please don't read the alternates, kay? Ta!
Toodles.
K.
PS thanks to Dawn for your suggestion! Makes far more sense now!