IRRESISTIBLE

by A.J. Mitchell

Disclaimer: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc.

Rating: R (violence & implicit sex)

Pairings: Buffy/Xander

Timeline: This story takes place after the end of Season 6.

Spoilers: Anything up to and including the end of Season 6.

Summary: That woud spoil the fun.

Author's Note: This story is my own concept of what could have happened after "Grave", the second part of the season finale for Season 6. Thoughts are shown in italics. And thanks to Lori Bush, whose stories inspired me to write some of my own.

Feedback: Please feel free to send me any comments you have on this story. slayer_scribe@hotmail.com


CHAPTER 1

The bell tinkled over the door as Xander Harris walked into the Magic Box. He was there to pick up some extra stakes for the patrol that night since it was his turn to accompany Buffy on her rounds. He looked around quickly scanning the shop and breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't see anyone. He didn't want to run into Anya; he didn't have the time for another argument. All they seemed to do anymore was insult each other and argue about stupid little things, but then those stupid little things always turned into an argument about the wedding. He didn't need that right now. All he wanted to do was grab the stakes and go meet Buffy for patrol. He crept across the shop trying to make as little noise as possible as he headed for the back training room where the weapons were kept. So far so good, he thought as he reached the door at the back of the shop. One more quick check behind him and Xander slipped into the back. He checked all the boxes and the weapons chest with no luck. Anya must have moved them, damn! He trudged back into the shop without bothering to check first and walked right into the one person, or demon rather, that he didn't want to see. "Oof!" Anya gasped as she stumbled back a few steps, dropping the books she was carrying. She looked up from the floor and her mood shifted as she glared at Xander. "Hello, Xander," she said curtly. She bent down to pick the books up and Xander moved to help her, but she shot him another glare so he remained where he was. "Are you here for a reason? Or is this just another pointless wandering in the life of Xander Harris?" He paused for a moment to get his temper in check. He didn't have the time to get into another argument with her and besides he was here for a reason.

"No, Ahn. Actually I came here looking for the extra stakes for patrol tonight, but they don't seem to be where they're supposed to be." Okay so there was a little edge to his voice, but he couldn't control that. Anya huffed and she stood up with her armload of books and walked over to the large round table in the middle of the room where she set them down again. She turned to face Xander,

"I moved them. This is my shop and I needed to put something else back there, so I put them in Giles' old office behind the counter." Abruptly she turned again and started to sort the books, so Xander went to find the stakes on his own. As he walked in he marveled at how cluttered the little office was. He had no idea that Giles was such a pack rat. There were boxes all over the place filled with paper and books and bottles and all number of different objects. So he began the daunting task of looking for the stakes. It really didn't take too long since Anya had only put them in there recently. He picked them up and turned to leave the room when he noticed a bottle sitting in one of the open desk drawers. He picked up the bottle, shook it and heard the swish of liquid inside it. Hmmm… I should have figured that Giles kept some cologne in here, for all those times when you just have to smell your best while battling evil. Xander smirked at this and pocketed the bottle as he walked out of the office. Now he just had to get past Anya without an argument. He walked by her without a word and was heading towards the door when she turned to his back and called out. "Did you find them?" He stopped and closed his eyes. He turned to face her.

"Yeah, I found them, but I have to get going. I can't be late meeting Buffy-"

"Yes of course, I wouldn't want you to be late for Buffy." Her tone had taken on a distinct harshness to it. One that Xander was quite familiar with and he knew that a fight was inevitable. "Always running at her beck and call, huh Xander?"

"You know that's not how it is, Anya." She put her hands on her hips and stared him down.

"Oh isn't it?" The fire in her eyes burned as she spoke, "You'd do anything she asked you to do. You've already done more for her than you ever did for me." Her voice kept rising as she continued, "You still love her, don't you? That's why you wouldn't marry me! You're still in love with Buffy!" Xander had heard enough and he didn't have the time to hear anymore.

"Think whatever you want to, Ahn. If that's what it takes for you to feel better, then go ahead and tell yourself that I didn't marry you because I love Buffy!" He froze as soon as the last words left his mouth. Suddenly he couldn't speak, his mouth was dry and his tongue felt thick. "I have to go." He mumbled and then turned on his heel and walked out of the shop into the dwindling daylight, leaving Anya there fuming and glaring at the space where he had been.


Xander walked along the street quickly, half trying to get to Buffy's before nightfall and half trying to outrun the uncomfortable feeling he had in the Magic Box. Finally he had to stop and he leaned against a lamp post so he could try and clear his head. What the hell was that? What happened to me? I was just arguing with Anya like always and then I just couldn't say anything. I mean Buffy had nothing to do with why I didn't marry Anya. I didn't because I didn't want that future I saw to come true. I didn't want to hurt Anya. I didn't want to let Buffy die… Was that it?

He shook his head and stared up at the sky. No, no, that couldn't have been it. I got over Buffy a long time ago. I know that she didn't love me so there was no point in my loving her…no point… I'm not still in love with Buffy…I'm not…Still in love…With Buffy…Am I? Xander shook his head again realized that the street light above him had come on. It was night and he had to get over to Buffy's fast. There was no time to go home and change out of his work clothes like he'd planned, but he didn't want to show up smelling like sweat and sawdust. Then he remembered the bottle of cologne he had in his pocket. He pulled it out and splashed a little on and took a sniff. It smelled kind of musky, but decidedly better than what he smelled like a moment ago. He put the bottle back in his pocket and kicked it into high gear to get to Buffy's, pushing his earlier thoughts to the back of his head. But one of them floated back up as he ran: Do I love Buffy?


Buffy was sitting around the living room fiddling with the stake she was holding, waiting for Xander to show up. She sighed. He was late again. It didn't happen too often and she could forgive him. She knew he had a job and other obligations so if he was occasionally late for a patrol it wasn't a big deal. She sighed again and checked her watch. It wasn't a big deal, but it was a little annoying. She was about to call his apartment to see if he'd fallen asleep when he walked in the front door. "Sorry, Buff. I dropped by the Magic Box to get some stakes and…well Anya and…" he trailed off and shrugged, but Buffy knew what he meant. She got up off the couch and smiled as she walked over to him.

"It's okay Xan. But we do need to get going now." She tossed him the crossbow that was on the coffee table as she went out the door, he followed close after.

"Right behind you." He glanced down, "And what a behind it is." Buffy turned and gave him "the look". He put his hands up in defense, "Whoa! Kidding, kidding." She shook her head and turned back. Changing topics seemed to be the way to go so Xander asked, "Did the Dawnster get off alright?"

"Sure did," Buffy said. "It'll be nice to have her out of the house for the weekend. No complaining about my cooking." Xander chuckled at that which earned him a punch from the Slayer.

"Ow!" he said, rubbing his shoulder as they walked on towards the cemetery.


An hour had gone by and nothing had jumped out and gone "boo" yet. As they walked along Buffy thought she heard a noise from a nearby mausoleum and motioned for Xander to join her behind a gravestone. They waited in silence, senses peaked, muscles tensed and Buffy couldn't help noticing Xander's new musky sent. Well actually she'd been noticing it since he came to the house to get her. In fact, now that she thought about it, she couldn't help noticing a lot of things about Xander. When did he get so…yummy! She blinked as she gave herself the mental equivalent of a bucket of cold water in the face. What was that? Xander? Yummy? She looked over at him, squinting in the darkness. I mean he's not as gawky as he was in high school. He's gotten more mature and definitely more stylish. And he's still got that wonderful sense of humor. Buffy smiled to herself as she remembered the countless times that Xander had made her feel better with one of his jokes. He could always make her smile, even when she thought she didn't want to. As they waited her thoughts continued to drift. And he's become quite the looker too. I can see why Anya thought he had potential. He's got that handsome-rugged look going, with that little bit of stubble on his face. Sexy. And with all the work he does on the construction crew he's really filled out. Just look at those muscles. Mmmm…strong arms…chest…back…and that butt… A dreamy look passed over her face.

"I don't think there's anything in there, Buff." Xander said turning to her. "Maybe we should move-", his thought was interrupted when Buffy practically leapt on him and crushed her lips against his. She pushed herself into him, wrapping her arms around him as she kissed him with a ferocity that she'd never displayed before. Xander didn't know what was going on, but for the moment his brain had ceased to function and he was acting on pure instinct. He kissed back, mirroring her efforts. Their mouths opened allowing their tongues to explore, darting in and out with passion, their hands groping and sliding all over each other. Xander moaned softly as his lips kept moving, devouring her, tasting her. Buffy's hand moved down over his chest and kept going until it rested on his crotch and immediately the moment was shattered and Xander pushed himself back. "Whoa! Buffy! What're you doing? What are we doing?" In that brief instant Xander came back to his senses, but Buffy didn't. She moved against him again, brushing her lips along his neck, planting little wet kisses along as she went. What the HELL is going on? Xander panicked. There was no way he could physically stop Buffy from doing what she was doing, Slayer strength and all, but he had to think of something before she did something she was going to regret. He had to think of something, yes. And fast. Thankfully a solution came right then, in the form of two attacking vampires.

The mausoleum they had stopped in front of was not empty, as Xander had thought. There had been a couple of vamps inside robbing corpses for whatever they could find. They emerged from the building only to see a young man and woman making out behind a gravestone and figured they'd have a quick snack. Too bad for them that they didn't look closer. If they had they might have avoided being turned into dust. At least for that night. They pounced on Buffy and Xander, knocking them apart. One vamp went straight for Xander while the other one charged at Buffy only to be knocked aside. The first vampire was hovering over a disoriented Xander ready to take a bite when Buffy yanked him away. Xander got up to see Buffy and the vamp locked in combat, then out of the corner of his eye he saw the other one get up and take off across the cemetery, probably to get some friends. Xander was sure that Buffy would be fine with just the one vamp so he checked to make sure he still had the crossbow slung over his shoulder and ran after the fleeing vampire.

Buffy held the vampire by his shoulders and he by hers. They staggered back and forth trying to push the other away, but neither of them seemed capable of gaining the upper hand. "You know, this isn't getting us anywhere," Buffy commented. The vampire just snarled at her. "Oo, good come back. You should write pithy retorts for a living…Or, I guess un-living." Buffy rolled her eyes at her own bad joke. She was getting as bad as Xander. Still they struggled and Buffy was starting to get annoyed. "Okay I've had about enough of this," she pushed herself backwards pulling her knees in against herself letting the vampire fall towards her. As her back hit the ground she released her grip on his shoulders and pushed up against his chest with her feet, straightening her legs and sending him flying, headfirst into a nearby grave stone. She jumped back up to her feet and cartwheeled over to the prone figure of the vampire, pulling out her stake as she landed in front of him. One quick crouch, one quick stab and she was standing up again just as the soulless bloodsucker crumbled to dust at her feet. She looked around for Xander, but couldn't see him anywhere. She also noticed the absence of the second vamp and put two and two together. I should find him just to make sure he isn't in any trouble. And so she picked the closest direction to where she'd seen Xander last and set off.

Xander had chased his vamp clear to the other side of the cemetery and he was running out of breath. Geez! You'd think with all the exercise I get almost every night, not to mention at work…that I'd be able to keep up with a vampire… But then he did just run across the whole cemetery at top speed and he was lacking any kind of superhuman powers. Well on second thought, maybe I'm not doing too badly after all. But I've had it with all this running. He stopped and leaned against a tree and tried to control his breathing as he raised the crossbow to the level of his eye. Thankfully his memories from when he was soldier man came in handy in situations like this one. It only took him a few seconds to aim and pull the trigger and as he watched, the arrow whizzed through the air and lodged itself in the vampire's back, tearing through layers of muscle until it pierced the creature's heart and turned it to dust. Xander closed his eyes and let out a sigh. He knew that Buffy would come looking for him once she was done with her own vamp, but he didn't know what to expect when she found him.

When he talked to anyone else he always had a witty remark, or deadpan joke to deal with any situation that might arise. But when he tried to deal with his own thoughts and feelings Xander Harris had no jokes to use on himself and sometimes that made it all the harder to even acknowledge them. But now he had to. He had to try and make sense of what happened before Buffy caught up to him, so he had at least some idea of how to handle himself. Buffy had kissed him. Buffy had kissed Him! He had always dreamed of that moment from the first time he saw her and literally fell for her. And, granted, the moment itself wasn't what he had expected, but the experience of kissing her had been more incredible than he had ever imagined. He couldn't deny his own part in what had happened, he kissed her back when she pressed her lips to his and he'd felt his heart swell up and… He shook his head. How could he still have feelings for her that way? She'd rejected him when he'd asked her to the Spring Fling. He'd moved on, dated Cordelia, almost married Anya, he was over Buffy Summers. Or was he? He slumped against the tree and closed his eyes again. He was tired. He was confused. And he really didn't want to have to deal with this right now. But you have to!, his mind told him. Fine. I guess I'll have to start with-

"Xander!" His head snapped up as he heard someone call his name. No, not just someone. Buffy came jogging up from behind him, "Xander, are you alright?" He straightened up and put on his nonchalant grin before he turned to her approaching figure. And what a figure! He shook the thought from his head and leaned cockily against the tree.

"What's the matter, Buff? You don't think I can handle one little old vamp?" His tone was jocular, but his eyes betrayed the pain he felt at Buffy's question, because it showed that she still didn't think he could hold his own. Luckily she didn't see it the look and stopped a few feet away from him.

"Of course, I know you can, but I'm still allowed to be worried about one of my best friends, aren't I?" Xander nodded and then there was a rather uncomfortable silence as both of them thought about what had happened before the vampires attacked. Neither of them knew how to breach the subject, so Buffy, in true fashion, decided to avoid it for the time being. "Hey it's going to be dawn soon," she said checking her watch. "What do you say we call it a night and head to home?" Then as she realized how her last question sounded she quickly added, "Each to our own homes I mean." She hoped he didn't see the blush creeping into her cheeks, but Xander just nodded in agreement. So they bade each other good night and went their separate ways.


Xander laid awake in his bed staring up at the ceiling. It had been an hour since he had gotten home and crawled into bed and although he was tired he just couldn't fall asleep. He had too much on his mind. If nothing else he needed to be sure of his feelings for Buffy, if any. He closed his eyes and braced himself for what he was about to do. Then he reached down inside himself to his heart and then navigated his way to a little corner of it that he had locked off years ago. In his mind he swallowed deeply and froze. Could he really do this? There was only one way for him to find out if he was still in love with Buffy. Here it goes… He opened the proverbial door to that long forgotten part of his heart and was completely unprepared for what came rushing out at him.