CHAPTER FORTY-SIX: XANDER (III)

Saturday: 11am

10th July 1999

California: Sunnydale

Ethan, Giles, Buffy and Olivia sat in the living room of Giles' apartment, the first three sifting through books, whilst Olivia sat on the couch drinking scotch.  Buffy could feel the woman's eyes on her every so often, but she studiously ignored the way that Olivia was staring at her.

Buffy sighed silently and ran a hand through her hair.  There was a knock at the door, the sudden noise of it making the entire room jump.  Buffy was on her feet first.

Jay, Faith, Xander, Willow and Oz all stood on the doorstep looking worried.  Buffy gave them small smiles and wordlessly invited them in, hugging both Jay and Faith as they passed.  Xander too stopped to see how the blonde girl was holding up.

'You okay?' he mouthed.

She gave a half-hearted nod.  He put his hand on her shoulder and tried to give her a smile.

'You?' she asked.

'Better now.'

She smiled and gave him what was supposed to be a quick hug, but Xander held onto her tightly.  She sighed and melted into it, allowing herself to be comfortable in his arms.  Again she felt Olivia's eyes on the back of her neck.

Giles and Ethan looked up at the entourage that had just entered, both of the men giving them smiles while Giles motioned them to take seats wherever they could find them.  Willow and Oz ended up sharing the one-seater couch whilst Jay, Faith, Xander and Buffy took spots on the floor.

'What's happening?' Willow mouthed.

Giles, Buffy and Ethan all shrugged and pointed to the books they'd been looking through.  Buffy grabbed the pen and paper she'd been using earlier.

'We're looking into it.  Haven't found anything yet.'

Faith and Jay grabbed books from the table, Willow, Xander and Oz following their example.  Another piece of paper on the table caught Faith's attention and she picked it up, skimming over what looked to be a nursery rhyme of some sort.  Her brow furrowed as she read the first two lines.  She handed it to Buffy, pointing at the place she'd been pondering over.  Buffy's eyes lit up, wondering whether Faith had cracked on to something important.

Buffy handed the paper to Giles after circling the first two lines.  He too looked intrigued, but didn't know what it could mean.

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Saturday: 6pm

10th July 1999

California: Sunnydale

The sun had gone down and still no one had found anything.  Buffy stood up and looked at Giles.  'Patrol,' she mouthed.

He nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder, silently imploring her to be careful.  She smiled and nodded moving away from him towards the weapons chest.

She looked towards the other four teenagers.  'Home?'

Jay and Faith shook their heads, but Willow, Oz and Xander nodded.  She motioned for them to come with her so she could walk them home safely.  They stood and waved at the other occupants of the room, leaving them to their research.

The four friends walked through the silent town.  Buffy had been expecting it to be a smorgasbord for the vampires seeing as their victims now couldn't scream, but the vampires too seemed to be too freaked out to wander into the streets.

There was silence everywhere, and it was strangely eerie.  The town hadn't been too loud at night usually, but this enforced silence seemed to weigh far more heavily than the usual quietness of the streets.

They arrived at Willow's house first, and the redhead went inside after they had exchanged hugs once more.  Oz too went into the redhead's house, Willow's parents away for the weekend and Oz unwilling to leave his girlfriend alone while she had no way to call for help if, for some reason, she needed any.

Xander and Buffy set out towards his home, walking in silence.  Xander sucked in deeply and decided to try his luck.  He slipped his hand into Buffy's grasp.  She looked up at him, a little startled but she left her hand in his.  Xander nearly jumped for joy but kept himself outwardly calm while inside he was having a complete panic attack.

He'd managed to calm himself down slightly by the time they had reached his house.  He reluctantly removed his hand from hers and looked at her.  He gave a small smile and mouthed a 'thank you' to her.  She nodded and went to walk away.

Xander caught her arm gently, knowing full well that he couldn't have restrained her even if he had wanted to.  Buffy stopped and turned to him.  Xander, in an incredibly bold move for him, closed the distance between them, and bent his head down to kiss her.

What surprised him even more was that she kissed him back.  Her hands snaked around his waist, one of them coming up to play with the tendrils of hair that covered the back of his neck.  By some silent agreement they both pulled back simultaneously, breathless and awestruck.

Buffy looked up at him and smiled shyly.  Xander's hand came to stroke her cheek gently and he pressed a caste kiss to her forehead.  'Be careful.'

She nodded and walked away, Xander watching her until she turned the corner onto the next street.  Xander grinned and went into the house, a smile on his face for the rest of the evening.

(Quotes and themes from "Hush".  Replace Riley with Xander and it's sorta almost the same…awww…)