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Notes: This was the first fanfic I ever wrote and was written in November 1997, which makes it a second season AU now.
"The Xand-man scores again," Xander said triumphantly as his jump shot sank through the net. Xander and Drew were playing one on one in Xander's driveway.
"So Xander," Drew said casually, "Tell me about your pretty friend."
"Buffy is taken my man, she is going to declare her love for me any day now. Just as soon as she gets over thatÑ" Xander paused, catching himself, "older guy she's dating."
But Drew wasn't paying attention. "Not Buffy, Willow," he said, in a tone that plainly stated it should have been obvious. "Is Willow going out with anyone?"
"No," Xander said, wondering why he was suddenly feeling uncomfortable. "You're not thinking of asking her out are you?"
"Yeah, got any advice?"
"But, but, you don't even know her. She likes computers. You know nothing about computers," Xander said.
"Well, neither do you and she's put up with you, despite all your flaws, for years. I've got to look good in comparison," Drew said playfully.
"I guessÑIÑgo for it," Xander said, not knowing how to explain why the idea of Drew and Willow going out bothered him so much.
"Hey Xander, let's go try and talk your mom into ordering pizza for dinner instead of Chinese."
"Okay," Xander said following after Drew and looking a little sickly. ----- A couple of weeks later
Drew was waiting by Willow's locker when she got out of second period. "Hi Drew," she said.
"Hi Willow," he said and then stopped. 'I didn't realize this would be so difficult,' he thought. He stood there awkwardly for a moment. Willow got her books and then looked at him quizzically. "Do you want to walk with me to class?" she asked finally.
"Yeah, uh I mean no, I mean that is, did you want to go to the movies with me on Friday night?" he asked all in a rush.
Willow paused, her mouth opening and closing, but no sound came out. "You mean, like a date," she finally squeaked.
"Yeah, like a date," he said. 'Great,' he thought, 'You sounded like an idiot and she's going to say no. You've alienated one of your best chances for a friend here in Sunnydale.'
Willow was having her own mental battle. 'I can't believe he asked me out. He's so cute. Why would he do that? Oh, God, I've got to give him an answer. It might be fun, but what about Xander?' Another voice whispered in her head. 'Forget about Xander, he's never going to notice you. Even after Buffy turned him down, he's still stuck on her and what about that mummy girl?' 'Buffy' Willow thought, 'She would know how to handle this. What would Buffy do?' Willow thought back to when Buffy and Angel had been having problems. She had dusted herself off and gone on a date. 'Nevermind that he tried to feed her to some giant reptile/monster, that wasn't Buffy's fault.' Willow took a deep breath and surprised both of them by saying, "I'd love too."
"I understand, I hope we can still be friends, wait, yes? You said yes," Drew said. Willow nodded. "Yes!" he yelled, causing several heads to turn and look at him. "I mean great, so I'll pick you up at 7:30?"
"Okay," Willow said. He bent down, kissed her cheek and then took off before she noticed how his hands were shaking. ----- Willow walked into the classroom in a daze and sat down next to Buffy.
"What truck hit you?" Buffy asked.
"Drew asked me out on a date," Willow replied.
"Details!" Buffy demanded.
"Let's get started class," the teacher said. Buffy pointed to her notebook. Willow nodded and took out a sheet of paper.
{He was just waiting for me when I got to my locker and asked me out} she wrote.
{What exactly did he say?}
{Just did I want to go out, he stuttered a lot though, it was kind of cute}
{What did you say?}
{Yes}
{What about Xander?}
{?}
-----
Class ended way too slowly for Buffy and she pounced on Willow as soon as class ended. "Are you excited? What about Xander?"
Willow paused. "Yes, I'm excited. I still like Xander, but I can't wait around forever for him to notice me."
Buffy smiled, "I understand. So when's the big night and what are you doing?"
"Friday and the movies."
"Great, How about I come over on Friday and help you get ready. I've got a ton of clothes that would look perfect on you."
"I don't know,"
"C'mon you'll look great, remember Halloween, Casper?" Willow blushed, remembering how she had been too scared to wear the outfit Buffy had given her as a Halloween costume and then the pure rush of confidence after she was back to normal and the way she had strutted home, sans sheet.
"Maybe you're right," Willow said, considering. "Why don't you come over at five? That will give you plenty of time after school to train with Giles and then stop home for whatever you need and it should give us enough time to get me ready."
"Agreed," Buffy said as Xander walked up.
"What's agreed?" he asked.
"I'm going over to Willow's on Friday to help her get ready for her date with Drew," she said.
"He actually did it? He asked you out?" Xander said, he had hoped that since a couple of weeks had passed since Drew brought the idea up that he had dropped the whole plan.
"Why not?" Willow said, sounding harsher than she meant to. 'Why is it so hard for you to think of me as date material?'
"I just meant that I was surprised he got the courage to ask you," Xander said. 'I just meant that the thought of you going out with my cousin bugs me.'
"I can't believe you knew he was going to ask Willow out and you didn't tell me," Buffy said, lightly smacking Xander on the arm.
"Are you sure you should go out with him? You hardly know him," Xander said.
That was just too much for Willow. "What? How many people have you gone out with that tried to kill you? How many girls have you lusted after without knowing a single thing about them other than their bra size? I may not know Drew that well, but I do know he's your cousin and you should show some family loyalty. Or is that the problem? You don't think I'm good enough for your cousin. What is it? I'm an okay friend, but a guy would really have to be scraping the barrel to want to date me? Is that it?" she said.
"No, I," Xander began, but Willow was gone. "What just happened?" he turned to Buffy who was watching the direction Willow had gone off in with a mixture of pity and pride on her face. He thought he heard her whisper, "You go girl," but decided he must have imagined it.
Buffy turned to Xander. "You're question was a little out of line. Look at it from Willow's perspective. She hasn't had a thing with a guy since Moloch. You should be happy for her, not bringing her down. I mean, it's not like you've got a thing for her yourself, right? It's not like you have jealousy as an excuse or anything." Buffy watched Xander's face go through several contortions as she said the last two sentences. The look on his face made her smile inwardly. 'Maybe he's starting to get a clue. I like Drew, but itÕs hard not to see how perfect Willow and Xander would be together. Not to mention, it would solve some of my own problems.' Buffy still felt bad every time she though about how she had turned Xander down for the dance and hurt his feelings. She was reminded of it every time he said something about Angel. Although, that had long ago crossed the line from pitiful to annoying.
"No, of course not," Xander said, "I'm just looking out for my best bud." 'So why is this bugging me so much? And why haven't I thought about Buffy for weeks?' "Must be the effects of living on the Hellmouth," he said, "Tends to make you paranoid."
Buffy laughed and decided not to press the issue.