Title: Morbid Curiosity

Author: DC – devils_symphony@hotmail.com

Disclaimer: If I had created 'Buffy', I wouldn't be here. Don't own, don't sue. 'Cept the plot. No one can claim that but me.

Author's Notes: Yo, all. Here's chapter four. You'll like. I hope. Gimme more feedback. *insatiable appetite*

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Stranger Things Have Happened…Not

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"Oh…" Voice filled with disgust, the stake dropped to the soft grass, and Buffy let go of Xander's wrist. His own hand touched the place where she had grabbed him, and he recoiled back, sickened. "Oh God…"

"What's the matter? Miss me?" asked Buffy, feigning coyness.

"Xan, what's going on?" asked Faith from somewhere behind him. Xander stepped back, unable to tear his eyes away at the parody of a human being in front of him. He had seen Buffy's corpse and he now he was seeing it again, only moving. This idea sickened beyond anything else. Some demon wearing a Buffy-suit was not his idea as a happy reunion.

"Come on, we're leaving." William's voice was sharp, authoritative, and Xander glanced back at him. The Brit was holding up his crossbow, eyes cold and determined.

"Are they leaving us already, Angelus?" asked Buffy, stepping back and smiling as Angelus didn't answer and wrapped his arms around her skinny waist that was emphasized through her mock black corset. Light blue jeans seemed painted onto her legs, heels on her boots digging into the ground. Xander shuddered as he took this creature in. To anyone else, she'd be attractive. But not after seeing her lying on the floor in the locker room. "Checking me out, Xan?" Her voice prodded him from his memories of that day, and he scowled at her, not an expression he wore often. "Do I look good to you?" She flicked her tongue out, wiping it quickly across her bottom lip, inviting.

Xander's mouth closed into a grim line, but he took a few steps forward to that he was only inches away from the vampire couple. Buffy batted her eyelashes and snickered as his lips almost brushed her hers. But that wasn't what he was going for. The distraction in place, Xander reached out and grabbed Angelus's wrist, felt for the ring before the vampire could draw and quickly yanked the silver band off his finger. "Hey!" the vampire cried in surprise, quickly drawing back from Buffy and Xander. The new Scooby member backpedaled a few steps, looking at Buffy coldly.

"No, you sicken me," he ground out, tossing the ring over his shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Faith catch it. Still looking at the parody of Buffy before him, he addressed the two behind him: "I think we have all we need. Let's go." William suddenly shot the crossbow, the arrow imbedding itself in Buffy's arm. She cried out, grabbing at it, vamping out. Any desperate hope that Xander had left that Buffy might still be Buffy, was quickly evaporating as those glassy yellow eyes fixed themselves on him. "That was a warning shot," said Xander, as if reading the Brit's mind. "Get out."

Both looking annoyed, the two turned tail and ran, disappearing quickly into the forest. Silently, as there was nothing to say, the three headed out of the graveyard.

---

The library was bathed in the yellowish glow that came from artificial light. It was a sight that Xander had never thought he'd ever see – a library after hours. Faith banged her way inside, the double doors swinging open as she walked through. William steadied the doors from swinging back and he and Xander followed her. "Yo, Ethan," called Faith, tossing her short sword onto the table. "We're home."

"Back so soon? I trust you brought what we needed," came Ethan's voice from some where upstairs.

"Yeah, Harris filched us one of the vamp's rings," she said, pulling off her jacket.

"That'll be perfect." Ethan now appeared from behind the bookshelves, descending one of the sets of stairs and smiling. "Sounds like a successful patrol. Give us the ring." He held out a hand and Faith threw it. The Watcher caught it easily and put it into his pocket without looking at it. Xander, meanwhile, hung around the doors, preparing to leave.

"Not completely successful," William said quietly, glancing at Xander, who glance back.

"Oh? How so?" asked Ethan absently, taking Faith's sword and walking over to William for the crossbow. He handed it over, gave another glance in Xander's direction and fell silent.

"A friend of mine, she's a…" Xander gave a long weary sigh. "She's a vamp."

"Buffy Summers," said Ethan without sympathy. He nodded. "Yes, as we discussed." This last statement was directed to William, who shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"Discussed?" asked Xander, now looking at William. It was the Brit's turn to Not Look. "Wait, you figured Buffy might be one of those things? And you didn't tell me?" he held up his hands before William could answer. "No, wait, answer this one first: how'd you figure she'd do that?"

"I did a little bit of research when the attack made the papers," William said, with a touch of quiet humility. "One of the police files – Gunn and I hacked in – said that her mouth was bloodied, even though there was not cut or bruising around that area, so I thought that there'd be a chance she could come back. I remembered seeing your name as the one who had found her, which is why I confronted you your first day." His informative tone disappeared as he plunged into apologies. "I'm sorry I didn't share this theory with you, but the evidence wasn't concrete, and you may never have seen her again, and you might have gotten ideas that she'd still be herself, and think of reunions and other silly romances…" Xander shot him a withering glare. He withered. "Sorry."

"Okay," sighed Xander, glare taken off. "It's fine. It's fine. It's done, finished. I just want to…can we hurt Angelus really bad? Please? Now that I know who killed her and seeing her again like that…" The anger that he had felt towards the situation in the cemetery welled up. He had to leave. "Listen, I'll see you tomorrow."

"See ya Xan," said Faith, and both Ethan and William nodded their farewells. Xander nodded back and left the library, walking down the school halls in a daze towards the exit. Once he had gotten to the doors, he couldn't help it. Biting his bottom lip so he didn't bite his tongue off, he slammed the double doors behind him as hard as he could. He heard the faint echoes that would be a great deal louder in the halls. 'Fuck this,' he thought furiously, jogging lightly down the streets towards his own home, trying to burn off excess anger adrenaline. 'It's too much.'

---

"Who the hell invented this?" Xander, Gunn, Faith and Tara looked on in surprise when William's sudden growl erupted from the quiet that was the library. His eyes flickered towards them all, and he looked sheepish. "Er, sorry, but I stand by my point," he said, resting his fingers on his portion of the turned down deck of cards. Small portion.

"Just draw," sighed Faith, tilting her head back, before resting her eyes on the upturned cards in the centre. Looking as distrusting as anything, William quickly upturned a card and placed it on the upturned deck in the centre. Xander could see the boy relax – Queen of Hearts and nothing to do with the Eight of Clubs.

"It's still a bloody stupid game," he mumbled at the amused looks he was receiving.

It had been a week and a few days since the discovery that Buffy Summers was a vampiress. The vampires since then had seemed to back off a bit, and patrolling had been desolate, or so the rest of the Scooby team had reported. Xander had taken a break from patrolling ever since that night, and no one complained. They had understood. Ethan hadn't yet said anything on doing a locator spell, and Xander just wished tha the crinkled evil British man would just hurry it up. He didn't like Ethan, but the other's seemed to, so he didn't say anything on the locator spell, or lack thereof.

But the event that would take place to tonight would lay waste to any patrol. Ever.

Spring dance.

It was a nice spring day, but the Scoobies had taken to hanging around the library after school for a while before going straight home. It was like that they were all delaying the inevitable episode that would take place that night. Well, Xander was. He didn't know about the rest of them. So someone – either Faith or Tara – had taken out a pack of cards. Xander, Faith and Gunn knew Poker, but no one could be bothered explaining to William and Tara. Everyone knew Go Fish, but no one would dare admit that they knew it. So they had started playing Snap. Faith was winning – damn her Slayer skills – and Gunn was going well. Xander and William were losing horribly and Tara had already lost.

"So, Faith, what are you wearing to the dance?" asked Tara. Gunn, William and Xander all exchanged a three-way glance that said the same thing: 'spare us the girl talk.'

"Thought I might try out the whole 'wearing a dress' thing," Faith said, flipping down a card. Seven of Hearts and a Two of Clubs. No go. "Bought one a few days ago after patrol. Late night shopping. Got some cool shoes to go with it."

"What does it look like?" asked Tara with interest.

"Goes to my knees, low neckline, black. Shoes got heels on 'em. Damn hard to walk in."

"Did you get a little matching hand bag too?" mocked Xander as Gunn flipped down a card. Ace of Hearts and Three of Hearts.

"Snap."

"Snap!"

"Snap!"

"Sn…bugger."

Gunn grinned and took the large-ish stack of cards into his own deck.

"What was that, Harris?" asked Faith, tilting her head at him.

"I asked if you got a matching handbag," Xander said, ignoring her glare at his teasing.

"Maybe a nice scarf and a few other fashion accessories?" William chimed in.

"Try'na fit in, now are we?" added Gunn innocently. All three boys got whapped, one way or another. "Damn, that hurt."

"Well come on, you two sounded like you were in the running for the Cordettes," William said, scowling at Faith who had socked him in the arm.

"Cordelia would never wear black," Tara corrected. "And just because we're not talking about fighting and spells and other supernatural horrors, doesn't mean that we're acting like the Cordettes." The three male Scoobies mumbled their apologies, smirked at each other and the game continued for a while, the pack growing steadily higher and higher. Then, Xander flipped a card. Five of Clubs and Jack of Clubs. No one saw it coming.

"Gah, er-"

"Snap!"

"Snap!"

"Gah! Mine! My card!" Xander complained loudly.

"Yay, finally, I got it," said William, and the he winced. "Faith, I think you just broke every single bone in my hand." Faith gave him a grin that would put the Cheshire Cat out of business and withdrew her hand. William smirked triumphantly and added it to his now thick deck. "Ha, lookit, I'm winning now." It took another ten minutes for the game to come to a conclusion. William was now Public Enemy Number One after his surprise come back and win. "Yes, well, all fear me and my Snap playing skills," he had said when three eyes burned holes through his head.

"Maybe we should go," Tara said, giggling a little at the level of immaturity that the group could maintain, even under extreme Snap circumstances. "Get ready and stuff."

"Ah, right, the dance," said Gunn, looking awkward. Xander smirked at him. Out of all of them, Gunn had been the most reluctant about the social mixer. Xander had never seen his date – Willow Rosenberg – before, but William and Faith had shown him the Computing awards she had won for the school, a bench below the football trophies. Next to her little plaque was a Science award, won by Winifred McDonald, sister to Lindsey McDonald, who had been upped a couple of years and had graduated two years younger than the rest of his class. He and his family were apparently living legends of the literate. This information had gone through on ear and out the other for Xander.

So, with this sort of thing surrounding Gunn's date, the African-American had been more than a little nervous. Gunn was fighting vampires personified, setting aside the Slayer. But now he had one limb out in unknown territory – normality. Especially since this limb was the one known as 'the dating game'. What was he going to talk about to Willow other than vampires? Xander couldn't wait to see how this would go. He wished his friend all the best, but Xander was preparing to watch and chuckle from afar.

After a few 'goodbye's and 'see you later's and one 'pick you up at six', the Scooby Gang departed, and Xander found himself walking home, alone, as usual. William usually got a parent to pick him up, or he biked home, and Gunn, Faith and Tara all took the bus. He couldn't help but feel a little bit of nervous excitement – this was a first date, even if he was only going to the spring dance with Tara as a friend – as he neared his house. Only a few hours to go until his mother was driving him to Tara's place and then to school. Xander winced a little as this thought floated through his head – classy way to take out a girl, get your mom to drive you. But he didn't picture arriving there on his bike and telling Tara that she'd have to ride on the handlebars. Though Xander knew that the amateur witch probably wouldn't mind and she might actually find it fun, it wasn't a very dignified way to get to a school dance.

'Because your mom's car is so dignified,' he thought, mentally rolling his eyes as he stepped up to the front door of his home. Unlocking it, he walked in. His father was working late, and his mother was at home, as per usual. She walked daylight hours but got off before the bell rang at Sunnydale High.

"Hi honey," came Jessica Harris's voice. "How was school?" he walked into the hall holding an armful of dirty laundry.

"Average," Xander said, glancing around as he walked passed her. In the lounge room, more than a few beer bottles littered the ground near the couch. He ignored this as he walked towards where his room was.

"Remember to finish unpacking properly, Xander," called his mom, who had gone back towards the laundry.

"Yeah."

"And you should phone Jesse. He's probably worried about you."

"Sure."

"And isn't tonight that dance thing you told me about?"

Xander paused and turned around, amazed. When there was no answer, Jessica popped her head around the corner, looking at him questioningly. Her reddish hair was swept up in a high ponytail, giving her a girlish look. "Um, yeah, you remembered?" Xander asked in mild surprise.

"Of course, I'm the one who has to drive you,' she said, disappearing again. "What's her name? Tina Mc-something?"

"Tara McClay."

"Pretty name. Well, get ready. Remember to shower."

Still amazed at the fact his mother had remembered such a detail, Xander nodded, as if that was any sort of good answer to someone not in the same room, and he turned, heading back towards his room.

---

Tara was pretty. Xander had always known this since he had met her, of course but…she was really, really pretty. Xander couldn't stop thinking this since he had picked her up at her own stereotypical suburban home, and now they were walking into the school gym together and he was still thinking it. Tara was damn friggin' pretty. Her strawberry blonde hair was swept up gracefully into to a coral pink alligator clip, with two locks framing her face. Her makeup was perfectly applied and made to match her silky textured light pink halter-top, which was patterned with feathers of the same colour. She wore a long denim skirt with a split that went to a few inches below her hip, and delicate pink strappy sandals made her seem taller.

"You keep staring at me," she chuckled. "Do I look weird?"

"Nah, not weird," Xander said as he held the door open for her. He felt unkempt next to her, even in his charcoal coloured trousers, white shirt and black denim jacket, his hair brushed to within an inch of its life. "Definitely not weird."

"Oh hey, there's Gunn and Willow!" said Tara, absently grabbing Xander's hand to drag him over.

"Gah," he said lightly at the contact, and let himself be dragged. Gunn was wearing something that didn't involve five layers of clothing – black jeans and a dark blue shirt. Next to him was acute, pixie-like girl who Xander assumed to be Willow Rosenberg. She had long red hair and a widow's peak. She smiled widely when she saw Tara and Xander, and waved. Her ensemble of clothing was…colourful. She wore something similar to one of Tara's peasant tops, only it looked like it had been tie dyed with about ten different colours. Her black skirt was the only thing of one colour.

"Hey! This is fun! I'm having fun. Aren't you? Isn't this fun?" Willow babbled excitedly. Xander glanced at Gunn to see his reaction to the chatter, and the so-called intimidating student had a look on his face that was nothing short of adoration. The immature side of Xander made gagging noises. The rest of him thought it was so sweet that he was inclined to mimic said gagging noises.

"I'm having fun," Tara said in agreement, smiling. "Willow, this is Xander."

"Hey! I'm Willow, as you could probably tell by Tara's introduction," said the redhead, shaking Xander's hand.

"Gunn, what did you feed her?" asked Tara, smiling at the excited Willow.

"Nothing," Gunn said absently, seemingly unable to tear his eyes away from the girl. 'If only the vampires of Sunnydale could see you now,' thought Xander, smiling.

"Lemme just say, if you wanna pick up girl's in the future, handlebar riding ain't a good idea, especially if they're skimpy like me," came a voice. Xander and Tara turned to see William escorting a slightly wind torn Faith over.

"Listen, my parents were out – again – and you said yourself, this afternoon, that those shoes were hard to walk in," argued William, nodding at everyone else in greeting. "And don't tell me it wasn't fun." Faith started to speak, but then she grinned, running a hand through her hair.

"Yeah, okay, I'll give ya that one," she said. Xander barely heard her, He was busy trying to decide whether it was legal to have a neckline so low, or perhaps there was an age limit. The black dress ended at her knees, displaying well tone, long legs, shown off even more by the strappy black sandals she wore. He snapped out of it and looked at William with a lopsided grin.

"You biked over here?"

"Well, yeah," he responded, sheepish. "No other option. Parents are at some sort of cocktail party with my father's work mates, so I hadn't much of a choice. But hey, at least I got to sneak out of the house wearing something not pastel." Xander blinked and surveyed what the Brit was wearing. Black jeans that seemed plastered on; Doc Martins; a burgundy coloured shirt and a black denim jacket over the top. Was there something wrong in thinking that another guy looked – there HAD to be a better word – edible? Probably. But Xander didn't concentrate on that so much.

"How'd you get here, Xander?" asked Gunn, snapping out of his Willow-induced trance.

"Mom drove," he answered, snapping out of his William-induced trance. "It may not be celebrity treatment, but it's not a bad car."

"Yeah, got my brother's girlfriend to drive," Gunn said.

"So you all managed to come here in the most geekiest way possible," said Faith, nodding. "Well done."

"Oh I dunno, Gunn's brother's girlfriend isn't exactly geeky," said Willow perkily. Gunn smiled widely as if the compliment was directed at him, and he absently put a hand on the small of the redhead's back, who blushed a little at the contact. Suddenly, Xander became aware of his surroundings.

The gym had been decorated within an inch of its life. The once manly home of basketball was now covered in pink and yellow paper flowers and big sheets of – more – pink. There was a long table at the side of it, which held bite-sized morsels of food and a few big bowls of the inevitable punch. Here and there were banners saying SPRING DANCE, in case everyone forgot what they were doing here. The music was quite loud, so their conversation had been held with slightly raised voices. Students from their grade milled around the centre, dancing half-heartedly as one does at the beginning of the dance (eventually escalating to pole dancing and discreet strip tease) or just standing in big groups and chatting.

"Doesn't the place look groovy?" Willow asked as their own chatting group paused to take it all in. "I was Assistant of Decoration Design. Doesn't that sound official? Like there should be capital letters at the front of it and stuff."

"Very groovy," said Gunn, in the voice of someone willing to agree with anything that their crush says, just to make said crush happy. "Wanna get some water-diluted punch?"

"Yup!" Without so much as a 'goodbye' or a 'can I get anyone anything?' they were gone, weaving their way through the crowds, Gunn creating a suitable path that Willow happily took.

"Innit so cute you wanna throw up?" asked Faith.

"Very," agreed Xander.

"Has Gunn ever been so smitten with anyone?" asked William, raising an eyebrow. "And looked it?" he added on afterthought.

"Maybe, but I don't anyone's told the tale and lived," Tara said. The four exchanged slightly worried glances. "Nah, we're the exceptions."

"We hope," Xander added.

"Man, this place better liven up soon or I'm living," Faith said, yawning. At that moment, the smell of too much perfume closed in, and everyone looked to the left to see Cordelia, followed by her faith Cordettes, walk passed.

"Hey, you know, I didn't actually think that this was a Halloween dance," she said, giving them all a disdainful look. She paused in front of Tara, looking her up and down. "Trying to fit in, much?" Tara's pink-tinted lips set in a thin line, as she blushed, looking away. Xander felt his own jaw tick. Cordelia's gaze settled on Faith, who was giving her a 'I – fucking – DARE – you' look. "Nice skin. Where's the dress, Über Slut?"

"You so have a death wish," ground out Faith, taking a step towards the cheerleader. The Cordettes snickered, looking as haughty as ever, and 90% more slutty than Faith.

"Don't like the truth, freak?" asked Cordelia.

"Leave us alone, Cordelia," sighed William in a weary voice. "Don't you have some footballers to climb?"

"Hey, geek, I wasn't talking to you," Cordelia said airily. "I don't even look at you. Who would?" 'Me,' thought Xander, only just refraining form saying it. William rolled his eyes but didn't say anything in reply. Cordelia smirked at him. "Yeah, silence is a virtue, English," she said.

"Not one that you possess, obviously," he said, too quietly for her to hear.

"Okay, let's move away from this circus." The Cordettes tittered, and Xander received a couple of appraisingly cynical looks from the one named Harmony and few other's who could have been her clones. Xander shuddered theatrically when they had walked away.

"Worse than vampires," he stated.

"At least vampires don't insult you why they're trying to tear your throat out," William said with a sigh. "And we're allowed to kill vamps. There's a law against killing the Cordettes, I think."

"There has to be a loophole," said Faith, before grabbing William's arm. "You, me, dancing, now. Before I murder someone." William gave Xander a comically helpless look as he was drug off. Xander laughed, but soon, he was holding Tara by the waist, her hands resting on his shoulders, as they danced a few feet away from where Gunn and Willow were talking quietly, with matching silly grins plastered on their faces.

"So that's the terrifying vampire hunter I got to know and love?" asked Xander, looking at them critically. Tara giggled.

"Totally scary. Vampires shake in their boots."

"As scary as a kitten. A kitten in the arms of a little redhead girl," Xander said, looking back at Tara. Her heeled sandals gave her an extra inch in height, so she was eye level with him. The rather upbeat song changed to a slower number. Over Tara's shoulder, he saw William and Faith dancing at a respectable distance. Gunn could have fit in between them. As this rather amusing visual passed through Xander's head, he felt Tara nervously move closer to him, and his heart skipped a beat. Was it possible that the strawberry blonde had a crush on him? Scary. He'd never been crushed upon before. Even scarier that it was Tara – earthy motherly older-sister-figure of the group. She was a great friend and possibly someone to confide in, but when she was wearing a bare-backed halter-top that showed off curves a motherly older-sister-figure shouldn't have…definitely scary. Xander gulped, and tried to do so quietly. He felt like she was so close that she could hear the blood rushing through his brain as he thought stuff. She stepped forward and back once, in time to the music, and Xander tried not to twitch as her thigh connected with his in that one movement.

"Er…hey, wanna get some punch?" he asked with a nervous grin.

"I'm n-not that thirsty," Tara stammered, and, blushing as she did so, she wrapped her arms around his neck fully, instead of the lightweight of her hands on his shoulders. Gulp.

"Okay," sighed Xander, stepping back, heart fluttering as Tara awkwardly stepped forward to match him. "I like you and ev-" He was cut off as she suddenly brushed her lips lightly against his, chaste and quick, as if accidental. She was now blushing furiously, looking at him with eyes waiting for approval, or, as far as the girl's ego went, looking for rejection. Wow. A kiss. From Tara. 'The poor girl must be reeling inside,' he thought absently. 'God knows I am, and I'm not the one doing the stealing of kisses, here.' "I like you and everything? But…"

"Oh goddess," she murmured, and Xander felt a pang of guilt.

"No, wait, listen-"

"No, don't worry," she gave him a weak smile as she backed up a step, hands falling to her sides, "I understand."

"Wait, I don't think you do-"

"I think I'll go," she said, head bowed. She turned on her heels and made fast time towards the door. Swearing under his breath, Xander went to follow her, determine to make it right. In doing so, he almost plowed into William and Faith, who had been heading over to the food table.

"Woah, what's the rush Harris?" asked Faith.

"Tara is, I need to-" he started…just as the music was cut and the lights went out. "Gah, black out." He looked around. Pitch black, as the windows had been covered in dark pink material for extra decoration. He reached out with both hands and accidentally hit Faith in the eye. The other hand clasped William's shoulder – he hoped it was, anyway. Denim-y – good sign. "Sorry Faith," he said. Shrieks rose from the crowd and fits of giggles happened around them as well.

"Can't see a bloody thing," murmured William, grabbing onto Xander's arm for security.

"Where's Tara?" asked the Slayer from somewhere beside Xander.

"She started towards the exit."

"I better get her. You two stay here." With that, Faith walked away – or at least, the staccato noises her heels made indicated so.

"Bloody hell, gotta love Sunnydale High. Something just has to go wrong," William said.

"Yeah, it's k-" before Xander could finish his sentence, he was pushed forward by some jerk running around in the dark. "Jerk off!" he yelled over his shoulder, hand still on William's shoulder. "Sorry, some guy pushed me."

"N-no problem," came William's stammer, and Xander almost jumped when the Brit's voice was right next to his ear. Xander turned his head slightly, forehead connecting gently with William's temple. He heard the other student breathe in sharply. Xander felt a rush of adrenaline. Sensibility gone and feeling the need to do the spontaneous at such a discreet moment (and feeling the opportunity of a blackout and this closeness would never arise again), Xander angled his head a little and placed a very gentle kiss on William's lips. It was something he had wanted to do ever since he had seen the boy walk in with Faith. He had never told himself, though, so Xander felt as surprised at his actions as William must be. Xander was about to pull away when the grip on his arm increased its pressure, so he lingered. The fact that William lingered too helped.

The kiss was broken, and Xander wasn't sure who broke it. Gulping ('what the hell could I lose now?') he started to go back in for another kiss, when he felt the tepid softness of William's lips against his again. Heart pounding, he moved closer to the Brit, putting a hand on the boy's waist, under his jacket. He felt a light and hesitant hand place itself on the base of Xander's neck, slender fingers spread apart. Xander was just starting to calm down, when he felt William tilted his head, open his mouth slightly. Hesitant (but not too hesitant at all, really) Xander opened his own mouth, cautiously sweeping his tongue across William's, which had flicked out as well. 'My god…' Xander thought. 'Ya think ya know a guy…' And that was the last of his thoughts for a while. The kiss was chaste, despite the occasional tongue play, but soon the mouths were closed and just pressed together. Xander's first real kiss, not stolen, and it was fucking sensation.

The moment seem to last forever, until someone bustled passed them blindly, causing both to detached and stumble. "Oh wow," murmured Xander. Suddenly, the lights came back on, and he realized he was a foot away from a very flustered William, who was now blushing furiously. The music came back on and around them, the students cheered, and dancing commenced. They locked eyes, both unable to say anything, as if there was nothing to say, despite a million and one words going through their minds.

Suddenly, Faith was there, looking worried. "Hey Xander, you're needed in the hall for repair," she said, hands on her hips. William took the opportunity to disappear into the crowds. Xander so wanted to go after him, but Faith's words caught him first.

"Who shot Johnny in the what-now?"

"Tara. Upset. Fix, mend." Faith said, getting behind him and pushing him the right direction. "She's kinda teary." Pang, went the guilt. 'Damn,' went the Xander. Sighing, he trudged through the dancing crowds (including discreet strip tease) and towards the exit. He opened the doors and turned right to see Tara pacing amongst the lockers, dabbing at red eyes with a handful of tissues.

"Oh man, I'm sorry," he said before thinking, walking over. She gasped when she saw him, turning away.

"Faith s-s-said she wouldn't…she promised not to bring you-"

"But I should be brung," he said, unaware of the bad grammar. He stopped behind her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Tara, I'm sorry. You'd make a great-" gah "-girl friend. It's just-"

"It's fine," she said, voice thickened from past tears.

"No, you're upset and I'm willing to take total responsibility for ruining a great night," Xander said firmly. When she didn't turn around, he stepped in front of her. She bowed her head so he couldn't see the red rim around her eyes. "Wish I could take back my reaction, but I can't."

"It's m-my fault," she stammered, "we agreed to go as friends."

"It's not your fault if you…liked me as…a not-friend," Xander said, stumbling over word choice. "It's just I rather you as a friend. Things would get weird and awkward if we took it any further." 'This ain't helping, you dork,' he thought. 'Shut up brain. I'm trying.' "I didn't practice this," he said apologetically, arms spread wide. He gave her a lopsided grin, trying to lighten the mood. "Listen, there's some guy out there who'd think you're swell, and I'd just be standing in his way. Some guy you'd like much better than me, okay? I can offer you more as a friend than I could as a boyfriend, trust me on this one." Tara gave him a weak smile, moving strands of blonde hair behind her ears. "Now, just mentally fix up my grammar and replace 'swell' with 'great', and we're peachy." She giggled, raising a hand to her mouth. "By the way, you look hot tonight."

"Thanks," she said, as he started guiding her towards the doors. "You know how to let a girl down without smashing her self-esteem too much."

"Again, I'm sorry, I should've-"

"It's fine," she said, genuine on the statement this time. She put an awkward arm around his, kissing him lightly on the cheek in a completely sisterly way. "You're gonna make some girl really happy one day, Xander Harris."

'Some girl,' he thought, heart skipping at memory of William's lips against his, 'right.'

---

Xander roamed the nibbles table, empty cup in hand as he contemplated risking a shot of sickly sweet pink punch. He grabbed a corn chip out of a bowel and wolfed it down happily. He hadn't seen William since that blackout kiss, and was secretly grateful. The night had been awkward enough without explaining his actions. It all seemed like a distant memory. Had William even kissed him back? Had Xander just accidentally brushed lips? Probably not, on both questions. It was William, after all. Why the hell would he go back in for more?

And there was no way the kiss had been accidental. The ghost of his adrenaline was still lingering somewhere in his gut. Time to drown in it in sickly sweet pink punch. He sauntered over to the bowl, about to grab the ladle when the lights, for the second time that night, flickered out, the music cutting out shortly. There were mixed groans and whoops form the student body. Sighing, Xander put down the cup. "Take it as a sign," he said allowed, turning towards where the faint lines of the exit were when the silhouettes of students didn't obscure the sight. Using that as an aim, he started towards it, apologizing to those he bumped into as he went. "'Scuse me, hard to see here, whoop, gah, sorry again. Dude, you're tall." He finally got to the doors, and he pushed them open gratefully, almost plowing into someone on the other side. "Man, I'm just…oh, hey Gunn."

The hall was a little better lit than the gym, seeing as though the hallway didn't have heavy pink material blocking the windows. Gunn smiled at Xander. "Yo. Man, this whole blackout thing's getting old. If it was Halloween, it'd be understandable, but this is just annoying." Xander looked up and down. They were alone, but the shadows covered up odd corners and curves. Silvery light from the outside world bounced off lockers, but it wasn't as good as its normal florescence that they got for artificial lighting.

At that moment, someone else opened the door, and both Tara and Faith emerged. "Hey," said Faith, closing the doors behind them. "This is getting wiggy."

"Very wiggy, hairy, even," said Xander. No one hit him for his lame joke. 'Yay.'

"Anyone seen Will? Haven't done so since just after the last blackout," said Faith. "Caught him near the exit, and he said he was gonna get fresh air. He's not out here, is he?"

"Nope, the place is William-less," Xander said, the little worm of worry crawling its way through his stomach.

"Well, we better look for him, in case this whole blackout thing isn't totally coincidental," Tara said. The four nodded resolutely, and started down the hallway, towards the exit. They all stopped short as the doors banged open, a familiar broad shouldered figure walking in, looking behind his shoulder.

"The Slayer and Co. should be in the gym. We massacre while its dark, kill the Slayer in the process, okay? He's just a back-up plan if…" Angelus trailed off when he saw the four standing there, all jaws hanging open. "We happen across her before hand," he finished, smirking. He opened the doors wider to see Buffy walk in, dragging William behind her, glasses missing and a long stream of blood going down the left side of his face, started at his eyebrow. The vampiress grinned and held William close to her, a dagger at his throat.

"Get off me," he growled, but his hands seemed bound behind his back, from what Xander could see or not see from his point of view.

"I will when you're dead," said Buffy, not taking her eyes off Xander. Her face was contorted into that of the demon inside of her, a hideous reminder of how not Buffy she was.

"I was hoping for a student massacre…ah well," said Angelus, waving his hands, dismissive. "Now, here's the deal. This one," he indicated William, "may live if the Slayer lets herself be handcuffed and she come with us. You're little friends will be spared. If not, then he's the first to go and everyone in this building dies. Everyone but us, of course."

"What, you and blondie gonna take the school?" asked Faith skeptically.

"What, just us?" asked Angelus. "Nah. Come in, boys." Xander's throat became a desolate wasteland when he saw about ten or more vampires walk in, each one with their game face.

"Maybe you shouldn't have asked," he whispered in Faith's direction.

"So, what's it gonna be Slayer? Everyone and you or just you?" asked Angelus, he, Buffy and William approaching them slowly. "Do the right think, Faith. Aren't Slayers natural born martyrs?"

"Nah, we're natural born fighters," she growled. "Let's do this properly. Let the boy go and we'll battle it out."

"Hm…now, that's up to Buffy, here," Angelus said, looking at his companion.

"Oh, but he tastes nice," Buffy said, her voice simpering. She put the tip of the bloodied blade up to her tongue, licking off a few of the crimson droplets. She pocketed the blade and pulled back William's shirt collar. The Brit stared at the ground, becoming number one contender for a living statue. "Ooh, he's been tasted before," Buffy said, fingering his light scars. She wrinkled her nose. "I hate leftovers." With that, she grabbed the back of his jacket and arms, and threw him towards the Scoobies. He landed with a hard smack on the ground on his stomach; a low moan of pain escaping passed his lips. Xander and Tara rushed forward with words of sympathy and promises of 'it'll be fine'. Xander went to undo whatever bonds were holding William's hands together, and cursed under his breath when he saw the metal handcuffs.

Buffy giggled, taking out William's glasses from her pocket, breaking them in two and throwing them over, the pieces landed with a small and sad 'ting' sound. "Lucky I've got two pairs," the Brit muttered when he heard the noise. Tara and Xander glanced at each other with sympathy for him, before helping William to his feet. Xander absent mindly brushed a lock of reddish-brown hair from William's eyes. He didn't notice his actions until William quickly leant his head away, blue eyes studying anywhere not Xander.

"So, Slayer, are we gonna do this, or what?" asked Angelus, obviously impatient.

"Here's the deal," Faith said, clapping her hands and rubbing them together as she took a few steps forward. "You manage to kill us? You can eat all them," she indicated the closed gym doors. "We kick your asses, you get outta here if you can still walk. Got it?"

"I think I've grasped the concept," Angelus said dryly.

"Good." Suddenly, Faith turned and ran. Glancing at each other, Gunn, Xander, William and Tara followed after her, Tara and Xander helping William along. "Library, get there," the Slayer said, slowing down so that she was at the same pace as everyone else. "I'll keep these guys at bay. GO!" Gunn sped up and Xander found that he yanked William and Tara along harder. Faith fell away from the group, and they skidded around a corner towards where the library was. Gunn banged opened the pliant library doors once they had gotten there, all four stumbling in. Gunn lead the way towards a cage that apparently was home to rare, magick books…as well as weapons. He grabbed an axe, gave Xander and Tara a 'help yourselves' indication, before walking over to William. Xander hesitated, watching.

"Will, you trust me?" asked Gunn, holding the axe in both hands.

"Do I have to?" he answered dryly.

"Uh, yeah."

"Then yes, I do."

"Great. Turn around, hold out your hands and pray real hard." Xander and Tara glanced at each other, questioning Gunn's sanity. William gave him a reluctant look before obediently turning, hesitating before reaching out his arms behind him as far as possible. Gunn hesitated as well, before raising the axe high in the air and bringing it down with a lot of speed. There was a sharp 'TWANG' and William and Gunn's cry of surprise when the Brit turned around, holding up his hands, which were freed. "Wow. It worked!" cried Gunn, both he and William exchanging happy grins.

"You would not believe how grateful I am to see my hands," he said, before glaring disdainfully at the cuffs that remained. "That may be problematic." William then glared at the doors. "Bitch broke my glasses." He paused and looked at Xander, who was now holding a stake, a double-headed axe and a crossbow. "That was tactless. Sorry."

"Nah, it was righteous," Xander replied, tossing him the crossbow. He didn't mentioned that he was a little shocked at William's vocabulary after saying a sentence that involved 'problematic' whilst keeping a straight face. Suddenly, Faith burst in. Everyone twitched his or her weapons before relaxing. The Slayer gave a nod of acknowledgment before walking over to the weapons cage and grabbing a short sword.

"Bastards are on their way, get ready for some action," she said, positioning herself in front of the doors. "Man, I knew I shouldn't have worn a friggin' dress tonight." There was a pause, and then distant yells from down the hallways floated towards the library. "Here we go." A vampire, in demon guise, kicked open the doors, saw Faith and started over. Suddenly, he was dust. William smiled with a touch of evilness as he started to reload his crossbow.

"And without my glasses. Take that, pillock," he muttered. Xander stared at him with wide eyes. In dark clothes, broken handcuffs around his wrists, a wicked cool weapons in his hands that he was handling with expert ease, no glasses, a small smirk and a dramatic trickle of blood down his face. He looked dangerous and entirely edible. Xander shifted his weight from foot to the other, gulping as he turned back to the doors. Five vampires at once entered through, kicking down Faith.

'Now is so not the time to think William-thoughts,' Xander thought, before stepping into the fray. 'Maybe later, though.' He glanced over at William, who shot another arrow deftly, dusting a vampire.

'Definitely later.'

~~~

Woohoo, slash! If you're surprised to find not much 'woe is me and my being gay!' from Xander or William in this chapter and future chapters, than that's because I find the whole thing silly. If you discover you're gay or bisexual, you're surprised, not disgusted. Generally, anyway. In my world, certainly. Perhaps. ANYway. The point is that I don't wanna bore people to death with it. This got slashy earlier than I expected, and I don't wanna stop now!

Oh, and someone emailed my about future plans with this story. I'll tell you what I told her: they'll be university years to come, more cameos and a lot more of…everything. Action, violence…oh yeah, and then there's the NC-17 scenes. But I won't be able to go into much detail here. *scowls at FF.Net* I'll post this on a future web site and then people can see the unedited NC-17 versions…once I write them. Yeah, that covers it. :) Hope you enjoyed this and will post again ASAP. I'm SO enjoying writing this.