Buffy and Willow woke the next morning and went to the cafeteria for
breakfast.
"I can't believe Giles made us research," Buffy said.
"Well, but it was of the good. I mean, Xander has these powers now. That's in the 'yay' column, right?" Willow asked.
"Well, yeah, I mean it's always good to have help, and Xander definitely will want to help. Ugh. Don't pay attention to me, I just wanted to put off research mode until it was absolutely necessary for some evil, or whatever."
Buffy and Willow reached the line, grabbed a tray each and started putting food on them.
Buffy grabbed a box each of milk and cereal, put them on her tray and moved down the line.
"That's not effective use of meal points," said the tall, dark haired, young man in front of her.
"Effective use of meal points?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said. "See, you gotta stash things. Like a banana," he said, grabbing the fruit in front of him. "It fits in a pocket, easy. Apples and oranges will usually fit under those Styrofoam bowls they have for cereal, and milk. . . milk's tricky."
"Is it?" Buffy asked, intrigued.
He smiled. "Yeah. See, you could stick it in a backpack, but there's a high visibility factor. You could go for another pocket, but if the pocket's too small, you risk busting the milk, and then you got wet pants. And that's not fun for anybody."
"I see," she said, amused. "I'll be sure to use my meal points more effectively next time."
"Good. My name's Parker, by the way," he said, holding out his hand.
"Buffy," she said, shaking his hand.
"So, freshman, huh?" he asked.
"Is it that obvious?"
"Only to the trained eye, like mine. Plus, the lack of dining hall experience is a dead giveaway," he said as he gave his meal ticket to the man at the register. Smiling, Parker picked up his food and waved. "See you around."
Buffy and Willow headed to a table and sat down, after paying for their meals.
"So, who was that?" Willow asked accusingly.
"That was, apparently, Parker," Buffy said.
"Mm hmm. And Parker would be?"
"Some. . . cute boy who showed me how to steal food from the dining hall."
"A cute boy, you say?" Willow said. "And will you be seeing this cute boy again?"
"Will," Buffy said, "he's just a guy in a line getting food. It was just a. . . random cute-boy encounter. Not like we made plans to have kids or anything."
"I see," said Willow 'He looks kinda like Xander' "And this would be the same cute boy who's sitting over there staring at the back of your head?"
Buffy whipped her head around, and saw that, indeed, Parker was looking at her. He waved. Blushing, Buffy waved back and turned towards Willow.
"Yes," Buffy said. "That would indeed be the same boy."
"A potential."
"Potential?"
"A potential date."
"I'm sure he's just being friendly. Besides, he didn't even ask me out or anything. He's probably not even interested."
Willow grabbed Buffy's hand. "And, if he were to ask you out, what would you say?"
"Will, I hardly know him. I mean. . . he seems nice enough. And definitely in the hot region. So.. yeah. I guess. But nothing serious, like a date. A 'get to know you' thing. If he asked me out on a 'get to know you,' then I would say yes."
"I see," said Willow, releasing Buffy's hand.
"Hey Buffy," Parker said, appearing at her side and crouching down as Buffy's eyes went wide. "Umm, I was wondering. A few of my friends are throwing this party tonight, nothing big, just kind of a 'getting to know you' thing for some freshmen. Do you. . . maybe wanna go with me? Um, your friend. . ."
"Willow," Willow supplied.
"Is invited, too, and if you wanna bring other people. I just figured, you know, since you're new and all, it might help you get acquainted. Meet some people on campus," Parker said. "Nothing too serious."
Buffy glared at Willow for a couple of seconds, then turned to face Parker. "Sure," she said, as non-chalantly as possible. "I'd love to."
"Great," said Parker. "It starts at ten, but nobody's gonna show until eleven, at least. It's at the Phi Sig house, just off campus. You know where that is?"
Buffy nodded.
"Great. Well, then I guess I'll see you tonight. Nice to meet you, Willow," he said, moving off.
Buffy turned back to Willow, who had a huge grin on her face.
"I cannot believe you just did that. He was standing behind me the whole time I said that, wasn't he?"
"Not the whole time. I think he came in about the time you called him hot," Willow said, proud of herself.
Buffy glared at her some more. "Fine. But you're coming with me tonight. There is no way I can possibly go alone, especially not after that performance."
"Oh, but, I can't!" Willow said. "The Dingoes are playing at the Bronze, and I have to be there to support Oz!"
"Will! You got me into this!"
"Why don't you take Xander?" Willow suggested. "I'm sure he'll be happy to get out of Giles's place, and he could probably use something to take his mind off his stupid parents leaving. Who knows? Maybe he'll meet a girl there!"
"I suppose. . ." Buffy said, reluctantly. "Okay. I'll ask Xander when we get to Giles's."
"Good," Willow said. "Now let's eat, I'm starving."
* * * * *
"You want me to what?"
"Come to this party with me. Well, not with me, with me, cuz there's this boy that I'm meeting there, but I don't wanna go alone, and. . . and maybe you can meet some girl there!"
Xander looked at Willow, who smiled at him.
'Just my luck' Xander thought. 'She finally asks me out, but it's so she's more comfortable around another guy.'
"Please, Xan. . ." Buffy said, pouting out her lower lip. "For me?"
"That's not fair, and you know it," he said, pointing an accusing finger at her.
Buffy hit him with her puppy dog eyes.
"Fine! Fine. I give up. I'll go to this stupid party with you. I can't stay out too late, though. I'm sure Giles needs to get some sleep without me coming in at all hours of the night, and I have to get up early tomorrow and start looking for a job."
"Great!" Buffy said. "Pick me up at 10:30?"
Xander nodded sullenly.
"Now that everybody's social life is in order, can we return to the task at hand?" Giles asked, impatiently.
"Yup!" Buffy said, grabbing a book and sitting down.
"Good. Now, I have come across a few entries dealing with. . . well, with Xander. It appears that some evil or other shall rise on the night of the blue moon, and destroy life as we know it, unless the Chosen One and the White Knight can stop it."
"Giles!" Buffy said. "I told you, no apocalypses until October. That's still a whole month away."
"Well, I'm sorry, Buffy, but prophecies wait for no Slayer. We still have a few weeks left until the blue moon, though, which should be ample time to prepare."
"What is a blue moon, anyway?" asked Xander. "Other than a song, I mean."
"A blue moon is the second full moon occurring within one month," Giles explained.
"Guess that means I'm out of the fight," Oz said.
"Um, yes, I expect so. But the prophecy only refers to the Chosen One and the White Knight fighting, so perhaps your particular skills will not be necessary to avert this particular apocalypse."
"So what's the big bad this time?" Buffy asked.
"I'm not sure yet," Giles said. "Some demon or other, probably. I still have a few texts to look through."
"Does anybody else find it odd that we're sitting here talking about an apocalypse like it was a book report?" Xander asked. "Should we maybe be a little more worried?"
Everybody looked at each other, then shook their heads.
"Just wondering," Xander said.
Everybody went back to their reading.
* * * * *
At 7 pm, Oz left to go set up at the Bronze where his band, Dingoes Ate My Baby, were performing that night. Buffy and Willow left soon after to get Buffy ready for the party that night, leaving Giles and Xander to continue research.
"So, what type of job do you think you'll look for?" Giles asked later, sipping his tea and turning a dusty page.
"Well, I was thinking about that earlier," Xander said, looking up from his book. "You remember how in high school I loved to work with papers and books and all that?"
Giles looked up. "Um. No, actually, I don't."
"Me either. I figured I'm more of a hands-on type of guy. And now I've got this strength thing going for me, so I think either I'll become a professional wrestler, or like some kind of construction type deal."
"A professional wrestler?"
"Yeah. But then I'd have to come up with a name, and a costume, and really, it's just not worth it. And I thought 'Well, whenever we've got an apocalypse on the horizon, we tend to destroy things.' Right? I mean, we blowed up the high school pretty good."
"Yes, I suppose that's right. And you know, you do speak the language natively, it wouldn't do you too much harm to speak it correctly."
Xander grinned. "Yes it would. Anyway, if stuff keeps getting destroyed, it must need to get rebuilt. And I'm willing to bet that anybody who's willing to stay on a crew in this town for more than a few months will have a quick shot at promotion. What do you think, not too crazy?"
"Actually, that seems like a very solid plan. I would imagine there is a high turnover rate in any job like that here in Sunnydale. Well thought out, Xander."
"Thanks G-man. Well, I guess I'd better get ready to escort Buffy to her date," Xander said, a little bitterly.
"Do I detect a note of jealousy?" Giles asked.
"Gee, why would I be jealous?" Xander asked, sarcastically.
Giles looked at him over the rim of his glasses.
"Giles, close your eyes and imagine this for a second."
Giles looked at him skeptically.
"I'm serious, this is a serious exercise."
"Oh, all right."
Giles closed his eyes.
"Ok, you're 16, it's early on in your sophomore year of high school. Your hormones are raging, like they do for every boy of that age. You're riding your skateboard to school, avoiding people, weaving in and out of pedestrian traffic. You're looking for your best friend because you're having problems with the math, and seem well on your way to solidifying yourself as the class loser yet again. You get to school, and it seems to you like the crowd parts. You see a flash of blonde hair. Remember, you're sixteen years old. Somebody walks in front of you, obstructing your view for a second. Sixteen years old, yes?"
"I get it Xander, I'm sixteen."
"Right. So the person in front of you moves. And you see a girl you've never seen before. She tosses her hair over her shoulder, and you see. . . Buffy."
"Okay."
"You're a sixteen-year-old, red-blooded American boy, hormones raging, and the first thing you see at school is Buffy."
"I see what you mean, she is a lovely young woman," Giles said.
"Right. So 'lovely' that you skateboard right into a stair railing. Then you talk to her later that day, and find out what an amazing person she is."
"I think I see your point."
"Now multiply that by 3 years."
"Oh. Oh dear."
"And now you get the picture."
"But, um, well, I don't wish to pry. . ."
"Ask away, G-man, I can take it."
"Cordelia?"
"Ah. Yeah, Cordy. She was great. And I did love her, but the truth is, she was never first in my eyes."
"Oh," said Giles.
"Or second, for that matter."
"Right. But you. . ."
"I did love her. But I knew, and I think she did too, that it just wasn't right. My little thing with Willow proved that."
"Yes. I suppose it's for the best, really."
"Yeah. But hey, maybe this guy actually has a pulse. That's gotta be better, right? I mean. . . that means he's a lot less likely to try to kill us all."
"I would think so, yes."
"Right. Well, like I said, I better get ready. Wouldn't wanna keep Buffy waiting."
"Of course," Giles said as Xander walked towards his room. 'Poor man. If only you knew' Giles thought.
* * * * *
"Just a second!" Buffy yelled, having heard a quick couple of knocks on her door. She grabbed her hairbrush and opened the door.
"Whaahhaaah," was the greeting she received.
"Should I take that as a compliment?" she asked, letting Xander into the room. He nodded, jaw open and not making any sounds. Buffy was wearing a low-cut, red top that hugged her in all the right places, and black pants that accentuated the curve of her hips without being so tight that they looked uncomfortable. Her hair was let down, sweeping gently across her back a few inches below her shoulders.
Buffy rushed over to the mirror on her closet door and brushed her hair a few more times.
"You really think I look okay?" she asked.
"No," he said. "You look fabulous."
Buffy turned around and smiled at him.
"You don't look half bad yourself," she said, giving him a quick look up and down. Xander was wearing a relatively tight black shirt that showed off his newly acquired muscles, a loose fitting black jacket that seemed to hang off his shoulders. "In fact, I bet you get lucky."
"Yeah," Xander said sarcastically, "I'm definitely in the mood for some meaningless sex. It worked out so well the last time. Me, half-naked outside of Faith's room, her trying to kill us. What could be funner?"
"Hey, I'm sure that there aren't gonna be any rogue Slayers at this party. Last time I heard, which was about a week ago, Faith was still in a coma. No new Slayers have been called. Besides, I didn't really mean you should go sleep with some random girl. I just want my Xander-shaped friend to be happy, that's all."
"I know," Xander said. "I want that too. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find somebody more in favor of Xander-shaped happiness than me. Just gets a little lonely in here some times, that's all."
"Well, let's go fix that, shall we?" Buffy said, as she led Xander out the door.
'Let's' Xander thought. 'If only.'
* * * * *
"Buffy!" Parker said, opening the door to the frat house. "You look amazing! I'm glad you could make it."
"Hi, Parker," Buffy said. "This is Xander, one of my best friends from high school."
"Xander, nice to meet you," Parker said, extending his hand.
"Hey," Xander said, making sure to give Parker's hand an extra-firm squeeze. 'He looks like me. Dammit, she's going after Xander-clones, but not Xander!'
"Well, come on in, make yourselves at home. Drinks are in the kitchen, help yourselves to whatever you want. Buffy, come here, let me show you some stuff," Parker said, grabbing Buffy's hand and dragging her towards the back of the house.
"Um, okay," Buffy said, allowing herself to be led. "Xander, go mingle!" she shouted over her shoulder as she followed Parker.
"Mingle," Xander muttered. "Yay. Fun."
Heading towards the kitchen, Xander got himself a drink and walked around the house.
"Hey there, tiger," a female voice said. "You come around here often?"
Xander groaned inwardly at the horrible pick-up line, put on a charming smile and turned around to see who was addressing him.
"Hi," he said, turning to see an attractive brunette girl with a vacant look on her face. "Xander Harris, and no, I don't."
"Candy," she said, giggling. "Xander's an odd name."
"Well, my best friend in pre-school couldn't pronounce my whole name, which is Alexander, by the way. She shortened it to Xander and it kind of stuck."
"Aww," Candy said, moving closer to Xander. "That's cute!"
Xander nodded patronizingly. "Candy's an interesting name, too. Is it short for something?"
"Nope!" Candy giggled out. Xander could smell the alcohol on her breath. "Daddy said I was the sweetest little thing he ever saw, like candy, and so that's what my parents named me."
"So, are you a freshman here?" Xander asked, not really caring.
"Uh huh. Me and my best friend are roommates, it's so fun! We both have totally the same taste in clothes and everything, and we're basically the same size, so we can mix and match outfits!"
"Wow, that's great," said Xander, actually hoping he sounded as bored as he felt.
"I know!" Candy said. "Hey, you're pretty cute. What dorm are you in?"
"Oh, I'm not in a dorm," Xander said. "I live off campus."
"Oh, wow, that's got to be so fun! I thought they didn't let freshmen live off campus."
"They don't."
"Oh wow, so you're like older or something."
"Or something."
"Do you have like huge parties and stuff?"
"No, my roommate's not much of a partier. Neither am I, to tell the truth. I'm actually just here as a favor to a friend."
"I get that. I suppose it could get old after a while, but I'm new to this whole thing, so I'm gonna party like it's 1999!" Candy giggled.
Xander cringed. He hated that line.
"That's great."
"I know! It's all so great."
Xander quickly checked his watch. '11:15. I've been here fifteen minutes and I'm bored out of my skull. Where's Buffy?'
"So, do you wanna go somewhere a little more private, and talk?" Candy asked him, stroking his chest with her index finger.
"Ah, no," Xander said. "Actually, I have to go to work soon."
"Oh," Candy said, disappointed. "Wait, what kind of job starts this late on a Sunday? What do you do?"
"I kill vampires and demons, along with my friends," he said. "We save the world pretty much on a weekly basis. The pay sucks, but there's a high job satisfaction."
"Fine," she said. "Don't tell me."
"Yeah, look, I actually do have to be going. I'm gonna find my friend, just to check in. See you around, yeah?"
"Okay," Candy said, slipping a piece of paper in his jacket pocket. "Call me!"
Xander walked off, putting his drink down on a table, and went in search of Buffy.
* * * * *
"So what was it you wanted to show me?" Buffy asked as she followed Parker towards the back of the house.
"Hold on, we're almost there," he said, opening the door to the yard behind the house.
He led Buffy on to the back patio, and sat down on a bench facing away from the house, guiding her to the seat next to him.
The bench was near the edge of a large hill, which looked out over Sunnydale.
"Wow," said Buffy. "This is gorgeous."
"I know," Parker said. "I sometimes come out here just to think."
"So, are you a brother here?"
"Yeah. Frats aren't really my thing, but I knew a lot of the brothers here before they pledged. They convinced me to pledge, and so now I'm here. Most of the guys are cool."
"Do you party a lot?"
"Nah," Parker said. "I find most of the people you meet at parties are either too drunk to remember you, or too stupid to be worth any time. That's why I invited you, I didn't want to be bored."
"That's sweet," Buffy said, smiling and blushing. "But you don't even know me. How do you know I'm not stupid, or a lush?"
"Just a feeling. I saw you in line this morning, and you just seemed different, you know?"
"I guess," she said, looking at him. 'Wow, he's got eyes. . . of course he has eyes, stupid. But they're good eyes.'
Parker turned to look at her, and smiled.
Buffy blushed again, and turned away. 'Ooh. Good smile, too.'
"So," Parker said. "Tell me about Buffy. . . um. . . I don't know your last name."
"Summers," Buffy said.
"Tell me about Buffy Summers."
"There's not much to tell. Moved to Sunnydale from LA before my sophomore year of high school, went through all the normal teen angst stuff there, and maybe a little more than my fair share. Now I'm at UC Sunnydale. That's pretty much it."
"How come so much drama?"
"Oh. Well, I was dating this older guy," she said. 'Way older. And why am I telling him this? Oooh, eyes again. . ..' "And, well, let's just say it ended badly."
Softly taking Buffy's hand, Parker smiled sympathetically. "I know what that's like. My last girlfriend. . . well, I thought she was the one, you know? Like this eternal love. We were inseparable. It actually annoyed a lot of our friends," he said, chuckling "But then I went to her apartment one day and found her with this other guy. Kinda shattered my world for a while. I haven't really dated anybody since."
Buffy looked back at him, and leaned in a little closer to him. "I'm sorry," she said.
Parker leaned in a little closer to Buffy. "I wasn't really ready for anything," he said, gazing into her eyes and leaning closer still. "I think I am now, though."
Buffy leaned forward and grazed his lips with hers. The quickly moved closer, and brought more force to the kiss. After a minute or two, Parker leaned back, and put his arm around Buffy, pulling her close to him. She nestled into his chest, and they sat there for a minute.
"That was nice," Buffy breathed.
"Yeah," said Parker. "Really nice."
* * * * *
"Hey, have you seen that guy Parker?" Xander asked somebody in the kitchen.
"Uh yeah, I think he's out back," the guy said, pointing towards the rear of the house.
"Thanks."
Xander walked towards the back of the house and saw the door leading to the outside. Taking a quick peek through the window, he saw Parker's arm around Buffy, and his heart fell a little.
'That's okay, Xan-man. She's known him a whole day. She's only known you for, what, 3 years? Can't expect her to rush things, now, can you?' he thought bitterly.
Sighing, he pulled the door open and went into the backyard. He cleared his throat, and Buffy turned to look at him.
"Hey Buff," he said, his voice sounding more upbeat than he felt.
"Hey Xan," she said. "Everything ok?"
"Peachy," he said. "But I need to take off. Early morning, and all that. You'll be ok here?"
"Yeah, Xan," she said, leaning into Parker a little more and smiling. "I think I'll be just fine."
"It was nice to meet you, Xander," Parker said from the bench, holding out his hand for another handshake.
"Yeah," Xander said coldly, not moving from his spot. "Goodnight Buffy
"Night Xan," she said, as Xander went back inside the house.
"He didn't seem to like me very much," Parker said when Xander had shut the door.
"Yeah," Buffy said. "That's no surprise. He's kind of protective of me and Willow. Like a big brother thing. He worries. It's sweet."
Buffy turned back to Parker and kissed him again.
"But I like you just fine."
They sat there talking and kissing late into the night, and early morning.
"Well," Buffy said at about 3 am. "I should probably go. Walk me back to my dorm?"
Parker smiled warmly. "It would be my pleasure."
* * * * *
Buffy unlocked her door and poked her head in, looking for signs of Willow. Seeing none, she steeled her nerve.
"So, um, my roommate's with her boyfriend for the night. Do you wanna, maybe, come in?"
"Buffy," Parker said, looking at her seriously, "I don't want you to rush into anything."
"Me either," said Buffy, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside and kissing him passionately. "But this doesn't feel like rushing."
The door slammed shut.
-----------------
End Chapter 3
"I can't believe Giles made us research," Buffy said.
"Well, but it was of the good. I mean, Xander has these powers now. That's in the 'yay' column, right?" Willow asked.
"Well, yeah, I mean it's always good to have help, and Xander definitely will want to help. Ugh. Don't pay attention to me, I just wanted to put off research mode until it was absolutely necessary for some evil, or whatever."
Buffy and Willow reached the line, grabbed a tray each and started putting food on them.
Buffy grabbed a box each of milk and cereal, put them on her tray and moved down the line.
"That's not effective use of meal points," said the tall, dark haired, young man in front of her.
"Effective use of meal points?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said. "See, you gotta stash things. Like a banana," he said, grabbing the fruit in front of him. "It fits in a pocket, easy. Apples and oranges will usually fit under those Styrofoam bowls they have for cereal, and milk. . . milk's tricky."
"Is it?" Buffy asked, intrigued.
He smiled. "Yeah. See, you could stick it in a backpack, but there's a high visibility factor. You could go for another pocket, but if the pocket's too small, you risk busting the milk, and then you got wet pants. And that's not fun for anybody."
"I see," she said, amused. "I'll be sure to use my meal points more effectively next time."
"Good. My name's Parker, by the way," he said, holding out his hand.
"Buffy," she said, shaking his hand.
"So, freshman, huh?" he asked.
"Is it that obvious?"
"Only to the trained eye, like mine. Plus, the lack of dining hall experience is a dead giveaway," he said as he gave his meal ticket to the man at the register. Smiling, Parker picked up his food and waved. "See you around."
Buffy and Willow headed to a table and sat down, after paying for their meals.
"So, who was that?" Willow asked accusingly.
"That was, apparently, Parker," Buffy said.
"Mm hmm. And Parker would be?"
"Some. . . cute boy who showed me how to steal food from the dining hall."
"A cute boy, you say?" Willow said. "And will you be seeing this cute boy again?"
"Will," Buffy said, "he's just a guy in a line getting food. It was just a. . . random cute-boy encounter. Not like we made plans to have kids or anything."
"I see," said Willow 'He looks kinda like Xander' "And this would be the same cute boy who's sitting over there staring at the back of your head?"
Buffy whipped her head around, and saw that, indeed, Parker was looking at her. He waved. Blushing, Buffy waved back and turned towards Willow.
"Yes," Buffy said. "That would indeed be the same boy."
"A potential."
"Potential?"
"A potential date."
"I'm sure he's just being friendly. Besides, he didn't even ask me out or anything. He's probably not even interested."
Willow grabbed Buffy's hand. "And, if he were to ask you out, what would you say?"
"Will, I hardly know him. I mean. . . he seems nice enough. And definitely in the hot region. So.. yeah. I guess. But nothing serious, like a date. A 'get to know you' thing. If he asked me out on a 'get to know you,' then I would say yes."
"I see," said Willow, releasing Buffy's hand.
"Hey Buffy," Parker said, appearing at her side and crouching down as Buffy's eyes went wide. "Umm, I was wondering. A few of my friends are throwing this party tonight, nothing big, just kind of a 'getting to know you' thing for some freshmen. Do you. . . maybe wanna go with me? Um, your friend. . ."
"Willow," Willow supplied.
"Is invited, too, and if you wanna bring other people. I just figured, you know, since you're new and all, it might help you get acquainted. Meet some people on campus," Parker said. "Nothing too serious."
Buffy glared at Willow for a couple of seconds, then turned to face Parker. "Sure," she said, as non-chalantly as possible. "I'd love to."
"Great," said Parker. "It starts at ten, but nobody's gonna show until eleven, at least. It's at the Phi Sig house, just off campus. You know where that is?"
Buffy nodded.
"Great. Well, then I guess I'll see you tonight. Nice to meet you, Willow," he said, moving off.
Buffy turned back to Willow, who had a huge grin on her face.
"I cannot believe you just did that. He was standing behind me the whole time I said that, wasn't he?"
"Not the whole time. I think he came in about the time you called him hot," Willow said, proud of herself.
Buffy glared at her some more. "Fine. But you're coming with me tonight. There is no way I can possibly go alone, especially not after that performance."
"Oh, but, I can't!" Willow said. "The Dingoes are playing at the Bronze, and I have to be there to support Oz!"
"Will! You got me into this!"
"Why don't you take Xander?" Willow suggested. "I'm sure he'll be happy to get out of Giles's place, and he could probably use something to take his mind off his stupid parents leaving. Who knows? Maybe he'll meet a girl there!"
"I suppose. . ." Buffy said, reluctantly. "Okay. I'll ask Xander when we get to Giles's."
"Good," Willow said. "Now let's eat, I'm starving."
* * * * *
"You want me to what?"
"Come to this party with me. Well, not with me, with me, cuz there's this boy that I'm meeting there, but I don't wanna go alone, and. . . and maybe you can meet some girl there!"
Xander looked at Willow, who smiled at him.
'Just my luck' Xander thought. 'She finally asks me out, but it's so she's more comfortable around another guy.'
"Please, Xan. . ." Buffy said, pouting out her lower lip. "For me?"
"That's not fair, and you know it," he said, pointing an accusing finger at her.
Buffy hit him with her puppy dog eyes.
"Fine! Fine. I give up. I'll go to this stupid party with you. I can't stay out too late, though. I'm sure Giles needs to get some sleep without me coming in at all hours of the night, and I have to get up early tomorrow and start looking for a job."
"Great!" Buffy said. "Pick me up at 10:30?"
Xander nodded sullenly.
"Now that everybody's social life is in order, can we return to the task at hand?" Giles asked, impatiently.
"Yup!" Buffy said, grabbing a book and sitting down.
"Good. Now, I have come across a few entries dealing with. . . well, with Xander. It appears that some evil or other shall rise on the night of the blue moon, and destroy life as we know it, unless the Chosen One and the White Knight can stop it."
"Giles!" Buffy said. "I told you, no apocalypses until October. That's still a whole month away."
"Well, I'm sorry, Buffy, but prophecies wait for no Slayer. We still have a few weeks left until the blue moon, though, which should be ample time to prepare."
"What is a blue moon, anyway?" asked Xander. "Other than a song, I mean."
"A blue moon is the second full moon occurring within one month," Giles explained.
"Guess that means I'm out of the fight," Oz said.
"Um, yes, I expect so. But the prophecy only refers to the Chosen One and the White Knight fighting, so perhaps your particular skills will not be necessary to avert this particular apocalypse."
"So what's the big bad this time?" Buffy asked.
"I'm not sure yet," Giles said. "Some demon or other, probably. I still have a few texts to look through."
"Does anybody else find it odd that we're sitting here talking about an apocalypse like it was a book report?" Xander asked. "Should we maybe be a little more worried?"
Everybody looked at each other, then shook their heads.
"Just wondering," Xander said.
Everybody went back to their reading.
* * * * *
At 7 pm, Oz left to go set up at the Bronze where his band, Dingoes Ate My Baby, were performing that night. Buffy and Willow left soon after to get Buffy ready for the party that night, leaving Giles and Xander to continue research.
"So, what type of job do you think you'll look for?" Giles asked later, sipping his tea and turning a dusty page.
"Well, I was thinking about that earlier," Xander said, looking up from his book. "You remember how in high school I loved to work with papers and books and all that?"
Giles looked up. "Um. No, actually, I don't."
"Me either. I figured I'm more of a hands-on type of guy. And now I've got this strength thing going for me, so I think either I'll become a professional wrestler, or like some kind of construction type deal."
"A professional wrestler?"
"Yeah. But then I'd have to come up with a name, and a costume, and really, it's just not worth it. And I thought 'Well, whenever we've got an apocalypse on the horizon, we tend to destroy things.' Right? I mean, we blowed up the high school pretty good."
"Yes, I suppose that's right. And you know, you do speak the language natively, it wouldn't do you too much harm to speak it correctly."
Xander grinned. "Yes it would. Anyway, if stuff keeps getting destroyed, it must need to get rebuilt. And I'm willing to bet that anybody who's willing to stay on a crew in this town for more than a few months will have a quick shot at promotion. What do you think, not too crazy?"
"Actually, that seems like a very solid plan. I would imagine there is a high turnover rate in any job like that here in Sunnydale. Well thought out, Xander."
"Thanks G-man. Well, I guess I'd better get ready to escort Buffy to her date," Xander said, a little bitterly.
"Do I detect a note of jealousy?" Giles asked.
"Gee, why would I be jealous?" Xander asked, sarcastically.
Giles looked at him over the rim of his glasses.
"Giles, close your eyes and imagine this for a second."
Giles looked at him skeptically.
"I'm serious, this is a serious exercise."
"Oh, all right."
Giles closed his eyes.
"Ok, you're 16, it's early on in your sophomore year of high school. Your hormones are raging, like they do for every boy of that age. You're riding your skateboard to school, avoiding people, weaving in and out of pedestrian traffic. You're looking for your best friend because you're having problems with the math, and seem well on your way to solidifying yourself as the class loser yet again. You get to school, and it seems to you like the crowd parts. You see a flash of blonde hair. Remember, you're sixteen years old. Somebody walks in front of you, obstructing your view for a second. Sixteen years old, yes?"
"I get it Xander, I'm sixteen."
"Right. So the person in front of you moves. And you see a girl you've never seen before. She tosses her hair over her shoulder, and you see. . . Buffy."
"Okay."
"You're a sixteen-year-old, red-blooded American boy, hormones raging, and the first thing you see at school is Buffy."
"I see what you mean, she is a lovely young woman," Giles said.
"Right. So 'lovely' that you skateboard right into a stair railing. Then you talk to her later that day, and find out what an amazing person she is."
"I think I see your point."
"Now multiply that by 3 years."
"Oh. Oh dear."
"And now you get the picture."
"But, um, well, I don't wish to pry. . ."
"Ask away, G-man, I can take it."
"Cordelia?"
"Ah. Yeah, Cordy. She was great. And I did love her, but the truth is, she was never first in my eyes."
"Oh," said Giles.
"Or second, for that matter."
"Right. But you. . ."
"I did love her. But I knew, and I think she did too, that it just wasn't right. My little thing with Willow proved that."
"Yes. I suppose it's for the best, really."
"Yeah. But hey, maybe this guy actually has a pulse. That's gotta be better, right? I mean. . . that means he's a lot less likely to try to kill us all."
"I would think so, yes."
"Right. Well, like I said, I better get ready. Wouldn't wanna keep Buffy waiting."
"Of course," Giles said as Xander walked towards his room. 'Poor man. If only you knew' Giles thought.
* * * * *
"Just a second!" Buffy yelled, having heard a quick couple of knocks on her door. She grabbed her hairbrush and opened the door.
"Whaahhaaah," was the greeting she received.
"Should I take that as a compliment?" she asked, letting Xander into the room. He nodded, jaw open and not making any sounds. Buffy was wearing a low-cut, red top that hugged her in all the right places, and black pants that accentuated the curve of her hips without being so tight that they looked uncomfortable. Her hair was let down, sweeping gently across her back a few inches below her shoulders.
Buffy rushed over to the mirror on her closet door and brushed her hair a few more times.
"You really think I look okay?" she asked.
"No," he said. "You look fabulous."
Buffy turned around and smiled at him.
"You don't look half bad yourself," she said, giving him a quick look up and down. Xander was wearing a relatively tight black shirt that showed off his newly acquired muscles, a loose fitting black jacket that seemed to hang off his shoulders. "In fact, I bet you get lucky."
"Yeah," Xander said sarcastically, "I'm definitely in the mood for some meaningless sex. It worked out so well the last time. Me, half-naked outside of Faith's room, her trying to kill us. What could be funner?"
"Hey, I'm sure that there aren't gonna be any rogue Slayers at this party. Last time I heard, which was about a week ago, Faith was still in a coma. No new Slayers have been called. Besides, I didn't really mean you should go sleep with some random girl. I just want my Xander-shaped friend to be happy, that's all."
"I know," Xander said. "I want that too. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find somebody more in favor of Xander-shaped happiness than me. Just gets a little lonely in here some times, that's all."
"Well, let's go fix that, shall we?" Buffy said, as she led Xander out the door.
'Let's' Xander thought. 'If only.'
* * * * *
"Buffy!" Parker said, opening the door to the frat house. "You look amazing! I'm glad you could make it."
"Hi, Parker," Buffy said. "This is Xander, one of my best friends from high school."
"Xander, nice to meet you," Parker said, extending his hand.
"Hey," Xander said, making sure to give Parker's hand an extra-firm squeeze. 'He looks like me. Dammit, she's going after Xander-clones, but not Xander!'
"Well, come on in, make yourselves at home. Drinks are in the kitchen, help yourselves to whatever you want. Buffy, come here, let me show you some stuff," Parker said, grabbing Buffy's hand and dragging her towards the back of the house.
"Um, okay," Buffy said, allowing herself to be led. "Xander, go mingle!" she shouted over her shoulder as she followed Parker.
"Mingle," Xander muttered. "Yay. Fun."
Heading towards the kitchen, Xander got himself a drink and walked around the house.
"Hey there, tiger," a female voice said. "You come around here often?"
Xander groaned inwardly at the horrible pick-up line, put on a charming smile and turned around to see who was addressing him.
"Hi," he said, turning to see an attractive brunette girl with a vacant look on her face. "Xander Harris, and no, I don't."
"Candy," she said, giggling. "Xander's an odd name."
"Well, my best friend in pre-school couldn't pronounce my whole name, which is Alexander, by the way. She shortened it to Xander and it kind of stuck."
"Aww," Candy said, moving closer to Xander. "That's cute!"
Xander nodded patronizingly. "Candy's an interesting name, too. Is it short for something?"
"Nope!" Candy giggled out. Xander could smell the alcohol on her breath. "Daddy said I was the sweetest little thing he ever saw, like candy, and so that's what my parents named me."
"So, are you a freshman here?" Xander asked, not really caring.
"Uh huh. Me and my best friend are roommates, it's so fun! We both have totally the same taste in clothes and everything, and we're basically the same size, so we can mix and match outfits!"
"Wow, that's great," said Xander, actually hoping he sounded as bored as he felt.
"I know!" Candy said. "Hey, you're pretty cute. What dorm are you in?"
"Oh, I'm not in a dorm," Xander said. "I live off campus."
"Oh, wow, that's got to be so fun! I thought they didn't let freshmen live off campus."
"They don't."
"Oh wow, so you're like older or something."
"Or something."
"Do you have like huge parties and stuff?"
"No, my roommate's not much of a partier. Neither am I, to tell the truth. I'm actually just here as a favor to a friend."
"I get that. I suppose it could get old after a while, but I'm new to this whole thing, so I'm gonna party like it's 1999!" Candy giggled.
Xander cringed. He hated that line.
"That's great."
"I know! It's all so great."
Xander quickly checked his watch. '11:15. I've been here fifteen minutes and I'm bored out of my skull. Where's Buffy?'
"So, do you wanna go somewhere a little more private, and talk?" Candy asked him, stroking his chest with her index finger.
"Ah, no," Xander said. "Actually, I have to go to work soon."
"Oh," Candy said, disappointed. "Wait, what kind of job starts this late on a Sunday? What do you do?"
"I kill vampires and demons, along with my friends," he said. "We save the world pretty much on a weekly basis. The pay sucks, but there's a high job satisfaction."
"Fine," she said. "Don't tell me."
"Yeah, look, I actually do have to be going. I'm gonna find my friend, just to check in. See you around, yeah?"
"Okay," Candy said, slipping a piece of paper in his jacket pocket. "Call me!"
Xander walked off, putting his drink down on a table, and went in search of Buffy.
* * * * *
"So what was it you wanted to show me?" Buffy asked as she followed Parker towards the back of the house.
"Hold on, we're almost there," he said, opening the door to the yard behind the house.
He led Buffy on to the back patio, and sat down on a bench facing away from the house, guiding her to the seat next to him.
The bench was near the edge of a large hill, which looked out over Sunnydale.
"Wow," said Buffy. "This is gorgeous."
"I know," Parker said. "I sometimes come out here just to think."
"So, are you a brother here?"
"Yeah. Frats aren't really my thing, but I knew a lot of the brothers here before they pledged. They convinced me to pledge, and so now I'm here. Most of the guys are cool."
"Do you party a lot?"
"Nah," Parker said. "I find most of the people you meet at parties are either too drunk to remember you, or too stupid to be worth any time. That's why I invited you, I didn't want to be bored."
"That's sweet," Buffy said, smiling and blushing. "But you don't even know me. How do you know I'm not stupid, or a lush?"
"Just a feeling. I saw you in line this morning, and you just seemed different, you know?"
"I guess," she said, looking at him. 'Wow, he's got eyes. . . of course he has eyes, stupid. But they're good eyes.'
Parker turned to look at her, and smiled.
Buffy blushed again, and turned away. 'Ooh. Good smile, too.'
"So," Parker said. "Tell me about Buffy. . . um. . . I don't know your last name."
"Summers," Buffy said.
"Tell me about Buffy Summers."
"There's not much to tell. Moved to Sunnydale from LA before my sophomore year of high school, went through all the normal teen angst stuff there, and maybe a little more than my fair share. Now I'm at UC Sunnydale. That's pretty much it."
"How come so much drama?"
"Oh. Well, I was dating this older guy," she said. 'Way older. And why am I telling him this? Oooh, eyes again. . ..' "And, well, let's just say it ended badly."
Softly taking Buffy's hand, Parker smiled sympathetically. "I know what that's like. My last girlfriend. . . well, I thought she was the one, you know? Like this eternal love. We were inseparable. It actually annoyed a lot of our friends," he said, chuckling "But then I went to her apartment one day and found her with this other guy. Kinda shattered my world for a while. I haven't really dated anybody since."
Buffy looked back at him, and leaned in a little closer to him. "I'm sorry," she said.
Parker leaned in a little closer to Buffy. "I wasn't really ready for anything," he said, gazing into her eyes and leaning closer still. "I think I am now, though."
Buffy leaned forward and grazed his lips with hers. The quickly moved closer, and brought more force to the kiss. After a minute or two, Parker leaned back, and put his arm around Buffy, pulling her close to him. She nestled into his chest, and they sat there for a minute.
"That was nice," Buffy breathed.
"Yeah," said Parker. "Really nice."
* * * * *
"Hey, have you seen that guy Parker?" Xander asked somebody in the kitchen.
"Uh yeah, I think he's out back," the guy said, pointing towards the rear of the house.
"Thanks."
Xander walked towards the back of the house and saw the door leading to the outside. Taking a quick peek through the window, he saw Parker's arm around Buffy, and his heart fell a little.
'That's okay, Xan-man. She's known him a whole day. She's only known you for, what, 3 years? Can't expect her to rush things, now, can you?' he thought bitterly.
Sighing, he pulled the door open and went into the backyard. He cleared his throat, and Buffy turned to look at him.
"Hey Buff," he said, his voice sounding more upbeat than he felt.
"Hey Xan," she said. "Everything ok?"
"Peachy," he said. "But I need to take off. Early morning, and all that. You'll be ok here?"
"Yeah, Xan," she said, leaning into Parker a little more and smiling. "I think I'll be just fine."
"It was nice to meet you, Xander," Parker said from the bench, holding out his hand for another handshake.
"Yeah," Xander said coldly, not moving from his spot. "Goodnight Buffy
"Night Xan," she said, as Xander went back inside the house.
"He didn't seem to like me very much," Parker said when Xander had shut the door.
"Yeah," Buffy said. "That's no surprise. He's kind of protective of me and Willow. Like a big brother thing. He worries. It's sweet."
Buffy turned back to Parker and kissed him again.
"But I like you just fine."
They sat there talking and kissing late into the night, and early morning.
"Well," Buffy said at about 3 am. "I should probably go. Walk me back to my dorm?"
Parker smiled warmly. "It would be my pleasure."
* * * * *
Buffy unlocked her door and poked her head in, looking for signs of Willow. Seeing none, she steeled her nerve.
"So, um, my roommate's with her boyfriend for the night. Do you wanna, maybe, come in?"
"Buffy," Parker said, looking at her seriously, "I don't want you to rush into anything."
"Me either," said Buffy, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside and kissing him passionately. "But this doesn't feel like rushing."
The door slammed shut.
-----------------
End Chapter 3
