Scene 16- In the living room. Willow and Paige sit talking. Paige hasn't brought up the Conner situation, but Willow is getting close to weaseling it out of her.
WILLOW: So, you came from where?
PAIGE: I lived in Florida. Miami, just outside of there, a small community. I lived with my parents, and four brothers. Of course they weren't my real family. It was a good life, my parents were both lawyers there. They made a lot of money. They were around all the time because their office was in the guest room. My brothers are Caleb, Preston, Mitchell, and Warren. Mitchell and Warren are twins.
WILLOW: Really? Four brothers? I'm an only child, so it wasn't exactly very crowded.
PAIGE: I couldn't imagine being in a house with no siblings. No full bathrooms, no busy phone lines, no dates running around, no shoes in the hall.
WILLOW: So you like it there?
PAIGE: Until my parents sent me to live with my adoptive uncle. They said that I should get my high school education in Los Angeles. My uncle was my Watcher, and he explained my dreams. I believed him strangely enough. I researched it, and it led to Angel. I asked him for help in exchange for information, plus I'm going to pay him, even though he doesn't know it.
WILLOW: What information? ( At that point, Buffy and Angel enter, Conner is in Buffy's arms. They are whispering, and Buffy is nodding.)
Scene 16
BUFFY: Willow, could you call Xander? I need him to be here.
WILLOW: I already did, he should be here soon.
PAIGE: I'm guessing you told her, Angel.
ANGEL: I did. ( He sat down on the step and watched Buffy impatiently wait for Xander to arrive. Within seconds, Xander came through the door. Dawn came back in on instinct.)
BUFFY: Willow, I know you're dying to know what the news is. I know there is no warning, so I'm going to say it very quickly. Well, I'm moving to L.A to be with Angel and Conner. ( Willow stared at her wide-eyed. Dawn stepped back in shock, Xander just stared at Buffy, and grabbed Willow by the shoulder when she didn't blink. He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.)
WILLOW: What- what do you mean? You're going to L.A? Why?
BUFFY: I want to be with my son.
WILLOW: ( Taken aback.) Your what?
PAIGE: ( Paige steps forward to explain things.) Buffy is Conner's mother, if you want to take a blood test, it'll come out like that. These texts are truer than life itself. For some, they are life.
BUFFY: ( To both herself and Paige.) I don't need a test to know Angel's telling the truth.
WILLOW: ( Still in shock.) So you just pack up and go to L.A?
ANGEL: Willow's right, you shouldn't have to do this, Buffy. ( Conner cooed in Buffy's arms when he heard Angel speak. Buffy sat down next to Angel and put her hand on his leg.)
BUFFY: I want to, Angel.
WILLOW: ( Steeping forward.) ( Decisively.)Then I'll move, too. I've got nothing keeping me here.
BUFFY: You'd move?
ANGEL: Are you sure, Willow? I mean, you're completely welcome.
DAWN: I'm staying here. I can't go to L.A, Buffy. I've got school, my friends, and Ian here. Plus, I just found out I have a younger sister. Why can't Angel come here?
BUFFY: Because Angel has a job out there.
ANGEL: Buffy could work with Wesley Gunn Fred, Cordy, and me. We'd have a full team then.
XANDER: ( Suddenly worried.)I'm staying here.
WILLOW: ( She turned, shocked that Xander was going to stay. She had tears in her eyes.) You're going to stay here?
XANDER: Yeah, I mean I'll make trips to see you guys, calls and stuff. But, Buff, don't you think Dawn can stay with me?
DAWN: Is that okay Buffy?
BUFFY: I trust you Xander, but I don't know if it's a good idea to leave Dawn with you alone. I don't know.
XANDER: Buff, it's okay, I'll take care of her. We'll come down there all the time, and we'll call every day. But first you have got to explain what you mean by you being Conner's mother.
ANGEL: I know, you don't trust me as far as you can throw me Xander, but I'd never do anything to hurt Buffy... ( He stood.) I wouldn't make up these texts. Paige brought them to me...
XANDER: ( Interrupting.) Who are you, Paige?
PAIGE: ( Rising.) I'm, uh, Buffy's sister. Paige Summers. ( She stuck out her hand for Xander to shake it.)
XANDER: ( Nodding numbly. He shakes his head.) By now, I believe it. ( He shook here hand and gave her a hug.) You chose now to come here? Willow, can I see you out on the porch?
WILLOW: Yeah. ( She followed Xander out to the porch. He closed the door behind him)
Scene 17
XANDER: Are you okay, Will?
WILLOW: I never thought that we'd be moving away. When we were little, I always it would be you and me. And when Buffy said she was going to L.A, my first thoughts were that I couldn't stay here, but I couldn't go. Xander, why aren't you going?
XANDER: I'm somebody Willow.
WILLOW: ( Defensively, she steps forward. She tries to reassure him with her thoughts.) You've always been somebody, Xander.
XANDER: Like who, we've got The Slayer, the Witch, and The Key, what am I? Xander the Loyal?
WILLOW: You're Alexander Harris. My ex-boyfriend who I dumped because you stole my Barbie doll. ( He laughs.)My best friend.
XANDER: Great, that works, but if you guys are somewhere else, I'm important. Will. ( He grabbed her arms and looked into her eyes.) Will, I love you, okay. Don't ever forget that. I've tried the married thing, and I couldn't go through with it, but I can be an importance here. Not with Angel, Buffy, Dawn, and you.
WILLOW: Xander, please, come with us. I don't know what I'd do without you, and Dawn. I... Xander, please. I need my best friend to be there for me. And you need me. And you are important. Things are different now, I have no powers anymore. I have them, but, Xander, I can't use them. I can go back to being Research Girl, and that's it. You aren't just anybody. ( Xander stands up straight again, thinking.)
WILLOW: So, you came from where?
PAIGE: I lived in Florida. Miami, just outside of there, a small community. I lived with my parents, and four brothers. Of course they weren't my real family. It was a good life, my parents were both lawyers there. They made a lot of money. They were around all the time because their office was in the guest room. My brothers are Caleb, Preston, Mitchell, and Warren. Mitchell and Warren are twins.
WILLOW: Really? Four brothers? I'm an only child, so it wasn't exactly very crowded.
PAIGE: I couldn't imagine being in a house with no siblings. No full bathrooms, no busy phone lines, no dates running around, no shoes in the hall.
WILLOW: So you like it there?
PAIGE: Until my parents sent me to live with my adoptive uncle. They said that I should get my high school education in Los Angeles. My uncle was my Watcher, and he explained my dreams. I believed him strangely enough. I researched it, and it led to Angel. I asked him for help in exchange for information, plus I'm going to pay him, even though he doesn't know it.
WILLOW: What information? ( At that point, Buffy and Angel enter, Conner is in Buffy's arms. They are whispering, and Buffy is nodding.)
Scene 16
BUFFY: Willow, could you call Xander? I need him to be here.
WILLOW: I already did, he should be here soon.
PAIGE: I'm guessing you told her, Angel.
ANGEL: I did. ( He sat down on the step and watched Buffy impatiently wait for Xander to arrive. Within seconds, Xander came through the door. Dawn came back in on instinct.)
BUFFY: Willow, I know you're dying to know what the news is. I know there is no warning, so I'm going to say it very quickly. Well, I'm moving to L.A to be with Angel and Conner. ( Willow stared at her wide-eyed. Dawn stepped back in shock, Xander just stared at Buffy, and grabbed Willow by the shoulder when she didn't blink. He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.)
WILLOW: What- what do you mean? You're going to L.A? Why?
BUFFY: I want to be with my son.
WILLOW: ( Taken aback.) Your what?
PAIGE: ( Paige steps forward to explain things.) Buffy is Conner's mother, if you want to take a blood test, it'll come out like that. These texts are truer than life itself. For some, they are life.
BUFFY: ( To both herself and Paige.) I don't need a test to know Angel's telling the truth.
WILLOW: ( Still in shock.) So you just pack up and go to L.A?
ANGEL: Willow's right, you shouldn't have to do this, Buffy. ( Conner cooed in Buffy's arms when he heard Angel speak. Buffy sat down next to Angel and put her hand on his leg.)
BUFFY: I want to, Angel.
WILLOW: ( Steeping forward.) ( Decisively.)Then I'll move, too. I've got nothing keeping me here.
BUFFY: You'd move?
ANGEL: Are you sure, Willow? I mean, you're completely welcome.
DAWN: I'm staying here. I can't go to L.A, Buffy. I've got school, my friends, and Ian here. Plus, I just found out I have a younger sister. Why can't Angel come here?
BUFFY: Because Angel has a job out there.
ANGEL: Buffy could work with Wesley Gunn Fred, Cordy, and me. We'd have a full team then.
XANDER: ( Suddenly worried.)I'm staying here.
WILLOW: ( She turned, shocked that Xander was going to stay. She had tears in her eyes.) You're going to stay here?
XANDER: Yeah, I mean I'll make trips to see you guys, calls and stuff. But, Buff, don't you think Dawn can stay with me?
DAWN: Is that okay Buffy?
BUFFY: I trust you Xander, but I don't know if it's a good idea to leave Dawn with you alone. I don't know.
XANDER: Buff, it's okay, I'll take care of her. We'll come down there all the time, and we'll call every day. But first you have got to explain what you mean by you being Conner's mother.
ANGEL: I know, you don't trust me as far as you can throw me Xander, but I'd never do anything to hurt Buffy... ( He stood.) I wouldn't make up these texts. Paige brought them to me...
XANDER: ( Interrupting.) Who are you, Paige?
PAIGE: ( Rising.) I'm, uh, Buffy's sister. Paige Summers. ( She stuck out her hand for Xander to shake it.)
XANDER: ( Nodding numbly. He shakes his head.) By now, I believe it. ( He shook here hand and gave her a hug.) You chose now to come here? Willow, can I see you out on the porch?
WILLOW: Yeah. ( She followed Xander out to the porch. He closed the door behind him)
Scene 17
XANDER: Are you okay, Will?
WILLOW: I never thought that we'd be moving away. When we were little, I always it would be you and me. And when Buffy said she was going to L.A, my first thoughts were that I couldn't stay here, but I couldn't go. Xander, why aren't you going?
XANDER: I'm somebody Willow.
WILLOW: ( Defensively, she steps forward. She tries to reassure him with her thoughts.) You've always been somebody, Xander.
XANDER: Like who, we've got The Slayer, the Witch, and The Key, what am I? Xander the Loyal?
WILLOW: You're Alexander Harris. My ex-boyfriend who I dumped because you stole my Barbie doll. ( He laughs.)My best friend.
XANDER: Great, that works, but if you guys are somewhere else, I'm important. Will. ( He grabbed her arms and looked into her eyes.) Will, I love you, okay. Don't ever forget that. I've tried the married thing, and I couldn't go through with it, but I can be an importance here. Not with Angel, Buffy, Dawn, and you.
WILLOW: Xander, please, come with us. I don't know what I'd do without you, and Dawn. I... Xander, please. I need my best friend to be there for me. And you need me. And you are important. Things are different now, I have no powers anymore. I have them, but, Xander, I can't use them. I can go back to being Research Girl, and that's it. You aren't just anybody. ( Xander stands up straight again, thinking.)