Title: No Harm, No Foul

Author: Whiskey Meteor

Rating: PG

Summary: Andrew has a good talk with some airplane passengers on his way back to England. And then gets a little surprise when they arrive.

Disclaimer/Notes: Takes place in Ats season 5. Sort of a rewrite of the episode in which Andrew makes a cameo over. Carries on from the end of Restoring Harmony. This time from Andrew's point of view

________________________________________________________________

I squeezed into my seat as quickly as I could. It was a crappy seat--right in the middle of the center cluster of seats; and because they were waiting for *me* before the plane could leave, everyone was already seated. ...And sort of pissed off about waiting. There was a large woman on my right and an even larger woman on my left, and they both looked like the talkative type. I groaned silently, dreading the inevitable boring conversations I'd be dragged into over the hundred-hour flight back to England. I'm joking of course, it's more like seven, but it's still a really long flight.

If I strained my eyes and my neck I could see a tiny figure standing in the window of the airport terminal. It might have been Harmony. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought that it probably wasn't. I mean, why would she stay to watch my plane leave? For a minute I imagined that she was like Sam and I was Frodo, sailing away to the Undying Lands. Maybe she just wanted to make sure I was really gone so she'd be certain she was rid of me.

I couldn't believe the mess I'd made of everything. Well, not everything, just the Harmony thing. I'd had a chance with a super-hot (albeit vampiric) girl who actually liked me back, and I'd completely screwed it up. It was like a Star Wars prequel--all the potential for an unprecedented success was there, but when it actually happened, it was a total flop.

I groaned and rolled my eyes at myself, and the woman on my right eyed me curiously. I considered explaining, but I wouldn't have known where to start. I looked down at my knees and the woman eventually lost interest in staring at me when the stewardess came out to give us the little safety speech. I looked up and pretended to be interested in learning where all the emergency exits were. But I wasn't paying attention. I just kept going over it all in my mind: pretty girl, mutual attraction, abysmal kiss. What went wrong? It just didn't make any sense.

The stewardess finished her safety lecture and the plane began to move, taxiing slowly over towards the runway. I used to be afraid of flying--before England, anyway. But in the past few months I'd been on a plane practically every week. It still wasn't what I'd call fun, but I wasn't terrified anymore, and that was something.

The cabin shook a little as the plane sped up down the runway, and then everything tipped back and I knew we were taking off.

On my very first flight--from L.A. to England after the whole First thing--I sat beside Xander, and I was so freaked out that he had to hold my hand to calm me down. I thought it was so sweet of him, that later on when he fell asleep and drooled all over my shoulder, I didn't even complain. He said sometime I could drool on *him*, and then we'd be even. And then he blushed.

The woman on my left patted my arm all of a sudden, and I jumped. "I'm Carol," she said. "Not a good flyer, honey? You look a little tense." She had an American accent, and I wondered fleetingly if she was sort of between home countries, like me.

"I'm Andrew," I offered. "And no. Well, kinda." I shrugged. "I'm okay with planes. Mostly. But there was this whole thing with a girl. And a kidnapping."

Carol's eyes went wide. "You kidnapped a girl?"

"No, she kidnapped... You know, I'd really rather not talk about it, okay?" Unlike some people, I just didn't feel comfortable discussing my life with complete strangers on airplanes.

Carol smiled. "Sure honey," she said.

"It's just," I started, "she was really cute and nice--well, sort of. I mean, in her own way, you know? Kinda like Cat Woman, but without the whip and the latex cat suit? And she *liked* me, and I liked her--or at least I thought I did, but now I'm not so sure--and then we kissed, and it wasn't good at all. Like imagine Spock and Yoda dating. It just doesn't work, right? At least not past the thinking about it stage. And it couldn't have been her, because she dated Spike, so she's gotta be way experienced, right? So it had to be my fault, but I can't figure out why." I took a deep breath. Carol looked a little sorry for having asked in the first place. But she had asked, and she wasn't going to get away now that she'd got me started. "So what's wrong with me?" I pleaded.

Carol looked at me thoughtfully. "Honey, I don't know if *I* can answer that for you," she said at length. "This might be something that you have to figure out on your own."

Nice try, I thought. "I've been trying to remember all my first kisses," I said, ignoring Carol's attempt at disengaging from the conversation. "Like to see if there's a pattern or something?" Carol sat back in her chair, getting ready to listen. "Like maybe I'm just a crappy kisser, you know?"

"I'm sure you're not, honey," she assured me.

"Okay," I said, concentrating and thinking back. "My first kiss was with Shelly Heywood. At recess, by the jungle gym in fourth grade."

"And how was it?" Carol asked.

I shrugged. "It was okay. I guess."

"Well what did she think?" the woman on my other side asked abruptly. She had an English accent--smooth like Giles'. Carol and I turned to look at her curiously. "Sorry," she said, "I couldn't help but overhear. My name is Sarah." She gave a little wave. Carol and I waved back. "And what did Shelly think?" Sarah prompted. "About the kiss, that is."

"I don't really remember," I admitted. "But there wasn't a sequel, so she couldn't have been too impressed." The women nodded thoughtfully. "And then there was Emily Watkins." I frowned, remembering. "It was bad. She hit me," I said. "I didn't really like her anyway. I only did it on a dare. Which might have had something to do with her hitting me..." I was quiet for a moment, and then Sarah nudged my shoulder.

"And then?" she asked.

"Then there was..." I looked down and fidgeted. Nobody knew about my next kiss. I sighed, thinking, what the hell, I'd probably never see these women again anyway. "Then there was Warren." I blushed despite myself. Carol looked a little confused for a second, but then understanding seemed to hit.

"And how was the kiss?" she asked. "With... him"

"Wonderful," I admitted reluctantly. "It was in the van, and Jonathan was out testing Buffy..." Now both women looked confused. "Long story," I explained. "But he kissed me, and at first I didn't want to, but then it was really... good."

"And what did he think?" Sarah asked.

"He said," I closed my eyes so I could picture the memory, "Andrew, you're amazing. Never let me say you're talentless again, okay?"

"This Warren fellow doesn't sound like a very nice boy," Sarah offered.

"He wasn't," I admitted. "But the kisses were very, very nice."

"So there were more kisses?" Carol asked carefully.

I nodded. "Only a few, though. There wasn't a lot of time, and we were hardly ever alone. And then Willow skinn--I mean, he sort of... went away."

"He left you?" Carol asked.

"No," I sighed. "It's complicated. We weren't really *together*, you know?"

"So what happened after Warren, then?" Sarah prompted.

"Not a lot," I admitted. "I sent Dawn a card on Valentine's Day, but Buffy threatened me, so... I didn't like her that way, anyway. I just thought it would be nice to send her a card 'cause we're sorta friends." I waved my hands dismissively. "And then there was the whole... thing with Xander." I decided it would be best to leave out the love spell detail. I didn't want Carol and Sarah to think I was a total freakazoid. ...Even if I was.

"And what happened with Xander, honey?" Carol asked.

I fidgeted. This was going to be hard to explain fully... without explaining fully. "There was a... misunderstanding?" I started, and then closed my eyes to remember. There was a container of red liquid on the counter. Xander and I were alone in the house. He thought it was cranberry juice and poured us each a glass. And then, about halfway through dinner, things got interesting: Xander swept the plates off of the table--no wait. I'm pretty sure it was me. Maybe it was a mutual sweeping?--and then... Well, it was amazing. His hands were so rough, but he was so gentle that he could have been wearing oven mitts for all I cared. And his lips? Oh god. And his... Wow. And then we were on the table, and... naked, and then... And then it felt so good I could have died happy right then and there. And when it was over he said he loved me, and I said it too. I know it was just the love potion, but it felt real. I was so happy that I cried, and Xander just held me really close and kissed me until the tears stopped coming.

When Giles and Dawn came back later, we were dressed again, but in the process of getting undressed again. Dawn apologized like a million times and Giles was really mad and did that quiet disappointment thing, but when the spell wore off Xander said it was okay, because nothing happened--at least, nothing more than they saw happen. It was nice of him. I guess.

I opened my eyes and looked back at Carol and Sarah, who were waiting patiently for me to elaborate. "We... sort of accidentally kissed," I said, sparing them the details.

"And?" Sarah asked.

I sighed heavily. "And it was the best night of my life," I said sadly. And it had been. No wonder the kiss with Harmony had sucked. Anything after Xander would be crap by comparison.

Carol looked confused again. "So, then why aren't you with Xander?" she asked.

"Duh," I said. "Because he's not interested?"

"Are you sure?" Sarah asked.

I pouted. I needed a carrot. I dug quickly into my carry-on and fished out my lunch bag. "I'm sure," I said, offering the bag to the two women.

"Aren't you smart to pack a snack," Sarah said, carefully taking a carrot.

"It's just leftovers from lunch," I explained. "And credit should go to Xander for packing it." Carol quirked an eyebrow. "What?" I asked, perplexed.

"Did he paint the bag for you too, dear?" Sarah asked.

I looked down at the lunch bag. I'd almost forgotten it was decorated. Since he'd gone to England, Xander had been officially unemployed. Dawn called him Unemployed Man for a while. She made him a cape and everything. And when he was on lunch duty, my bag always got decorated. I guess I'd just started taking it for granted. "Yeah," I said, "he did."

Carol smiled at Sarah knowingly. "Honey, are you *sure* he's not interested?" she asked me.

"Carol's right, Andrew," Sarah chipped in. "Maybe what happened between you and Xander wasn't all that accidental."

Of course it was, I thought. If it hadn't have been fort he love potion, it never would have happened. I munched thoughtfully on a carrot, suddenly unsure of whether or not that fact disappointed me. And why did Xander spend so much time decorating my lunch bags anyway? Sometimes Dawn got a smiley face--and sometimes Giles got a smiley face with glasses. But I got my name in big, bold letters and brightly colored, though slightly confusing, pictures. They weren't offensive or anything. Actually, there was something sort of... comforting about them that I just couldn't put my finger on.

Once there was a hammer with little nails; and another time a glass filled with pink juice; and then there was a little parrot that was so cool I'd kept it, folded neatly, in one of my drawers. I wasn't sure if they'd meant something, and if they had, I had no idea what it was. And ever since the love potion thing, I'd been too embarrassed to ask. We hadn't talked a lot since then. I mean, not like we talked a lot before then, but afterwards, he sort of avoided talking to me.

"What are you thinking about, honey?" Carol asked, interrupting my train of thought.

"Hm?" I looked up at her. "Oh, nothing." I tucked my lunch bag into my carry-on and settled back into my seat. "I've had a long day," I explained. "Thanks for listening. I'm gonna try to get some sleep now, okay?" Both women offered me comforting smiles as I put my head back and closed my eyes. I didn't think that I was all that tired, but as soon as my eyes shut, I drifted off. I guess being kidnapped really tires you out.

* * *

"...doesn't know? Like Andrew?" I woke to Carol's voice in a whisper, and opened my eyes quietly. She was talking to Sarah, who had left her seat and was crouched in the aisle beside the other woman.

"You really think that he doesn't know?" Sarah asked quietly.

I cleared my throat, and both women turned my way. Carol smiled sweetly. "Sleep well, honey?" she asked.

I frowned. "Who doesn't know like Andrew what?" I asked.

Sarah laughed uncomfortably. "We were just talking," she said, "and I thought that perhaps your friend Xander isn't aware that he's interested in you."

Carol nodded in agreement. "Mm-hm," she said. "We think he just hasn't figured it out yet. That he's, you know, gay."

I frowned a little harder and crossed my arms over my chest. "And what about the 'like Andrew' part?" I asked firmly.

The women exchanged glances. Carol cleared her throat. "Honey," she said, "have you thought that maybe your physical relationships with women haven't been great could be because you don't like... women?"

I gasped. The thought actually hadn't crossed my mind. "Do you... I mean..." I stuttered.

Carol patted my arm reassuringly, and Sarah walked around back to her seat. "You really hadn't thought about it that way, had you?" she asked as she sat back down beside me. I shook my head slowly.

"Well, it's not the end of the world," Carol said softly.

"What?" I asked, suddenly coming back to myself. "No, I... I mean, I'm not upset," I said. "I just... that sort of explains everything, doesn't it?" Both women nodded. "So I'm not a bad kisser. I was just kissing the wrong people."

"It makes sense, doesn't it?" Sarah asked sweetly.

I nodded. It did make sense. And I can't believe I hadn't considered it. I mean, I kissed girls and it invariably totally sucked, and I kissed boys and it (so far, anyway) had always been totally awesome. But... "But Harmony was hot," I said. "I mean, *I* thought she was hot. And why would I think that if I don't like girls?"

"Well, honey," Carol said, "that just means you know an attractive woman when you see one."

"I can look at another woman and find her attractive, and that doesn't make me gay." Sarah added. "So there's no reason that it should make you straight." Women, I thought, are *so* smart.

Carol nodded. "Most women can," she said. "And I'm sure that if most men weren't so uncomfortable with their sexuality, they could too."

"You're a credit to your gender, Andrew," Sarah offered. I smiled. It was nice to be a credit to anything.

"So I'm gay," I said. It sounded okay. And it felt sorta good to say it. "I'm gay." My smile grew. "I can't wait to tell Willow and Kennedy," I said. We could start a club or something. Like the Super Gay Friends. That would be so cool. "And maybe now Buffy'll stop glaring at me every time I talk to her sister," I mused. "And Giles... I can already see him cleaning his glasses."

"And Xander?" Carol asked carefully. "Are you excited about telling him as well?"

I frowned. What would Xander do when I told him? Would things with him be more uncomfortable when he found out?

"I think he'll be excited to hear it," Sarah said in my silence. "Maybe it will serve as the push he needs."

Carol nodded sagely. "If he knows that you're gay, he's more likely to realize the truth about his own orientation."

I shook my head. "I don't understand why you think he's gay," I admitted. "Or why you think he'd be interested in me if he were."

"Well you could always do a spell of some sort," Sarah said. I turned to her, mildly shocked.

"I have a friend in Newcastle who's part of a coven," Carol added. "I could call her for you if you'd like?"

Well what do you know. Either the magic community was growing, or I'd reached the point where they were just attracted to me. Like Xander and demons. Or Ring Wraiths to the one ring. "That's okay," I said. "I'm kinda... in that line of work too."

"Then you could try that," Sarah suggested. "Just to get the ball rolling, as it were?"

"I don't know," I said, shaking my head. "I mean, sure, you get what you want, and it's fabulous, and he's gentle and rough in all the right ways, and you both think you're in love, but then when it wears off it's all awkward and you're back to having nothing."

Carol smiled knowingly. "There's something you're not telling us, isn't there honey?" Damn her woman's intuition.

I hung my head. "Yes," I admitted.

"So you and Xander...?" Sarah ventured. I nodded.

"And the misunderstanding you were talking about was a love potion," Carol guessed.

I nodded again. "But I didn't mean to put a spell on him," I explained. "It wasn't my potion, and we thought it was juice." I sighed. "It looked just like juice. Just a glass filled with red-" I stopped. Something had just occurred to me. "The glass on the lunch bag," I thought out loud. "Why would he draw that on my lunch bag?"

"Draw what, honey?" Carol asked.

"Xander packs our lunches sometimes," I explained, "and he draws stuff on them." I reached into my carry-on bag and pulled out the lunch bag as evidence. "After the potion incident," I went on, "he drew a glass on my bag. With red juice. Just like when we drank the love potion."

Sarah smiled and nodded. "There," she said, "didn't we tell you he was interested."

"He was probably trying to remind you of what happened," Carol chimed in. "He obviously still thinks about it."

"What else has he drawn on your lunch bags?" Sarah asked thoughtfully.

"Well, this," I said, holding up the current bag, which was painted with the English flag.

"To remind you where home is," Carol exclaimed. "To remind you where he's waiting for you."

"What else?" Sarah demanded.

"Um," I said, thinking. "A hammer, and nails." The two women looked at each other thoughtfully. "Ooh!" I exclaimed, an obvious thought suddenly connecting. "He's a carpenter!"

"Well, there," Sarah nodded. "That's a direct reminder of him."

"He wants you to keep him on your mind," Carol agreed.

Why hasn't this occurred to me before, I thought? "And there was a parrot," I said. "Which makes sense because of the eye-patch." The women looked at me, confused. "Xander," I explained. "He has an eye-patch."

"Whether he knows it or not," Sarah said, "that boy has feelings for you."

"Why wouldn't he just say something?" I asked.

"Maybe he's not sure about his feelings yet," Carol suggested. "Or maybe he's worried about your feelings in return."

Sarah nodded in agreement. "No offense meant, Andrew, but when it comes to understanding and sharing their feelings, men are useless."

I shrugged. "No offense taken," I said. "Remember? I'm the guy who liked kissing boys but couldn't figure out that I was gay?" I looked back and forth between the two women. "So you really think he's interested?" I asked.

They nodded in tandem. "Are you interested back?" Sarah asked.

I didn't even have to think about it. "Definitely," I said. "But what am I supposed to do about it?"

"Well, honey," Carol said, "I think we can all agree that your friend Xander isn't going to initiate anything."

"Carol's right," Sarah agreed. "If you want Xander, then you might have to go get him yourself."

Me make the first move? I blanched. I wasn't a make the first move kind of guy. ...Or was I? If I concentrated, I could remember my own hand reaching out across the table to sweep the dishes to the floor. Maybe I was a make the first move kind of guy. At least, when I was under a love spell. Maybe the women were right. Maybe I did need a love spell to help move things along a little...

* * *

My heart was beating so hard I could hear it like a cave troll tromping around in my ears by the time the plane landed. Sarah and Carol had come up with a half a dozen plans for me to get Xander. None of them sounded like they'd actually work, though, and most of them were more like bad porn plots than sound Getting The Guy plans. But it was sweet of them to try and help.

When the stewardesses said we could get off the plane, Carol let me go in front of her, and Sarah squeezed into the aisle behind me. "So do you know what you're going to do, honey?" Carol asked.

"I'll think of something," I lied.

"Well whatever you decide," Sarah said brightly, "be sure and let us know how it all turns out." We'd exchanged email addresses during the flight.

"I will," I promised.

After clearing customs, the three of us head off to claim our luggage. We rounded the corner into the baggage claim lounge, and a man stepped out of the small crowd waiting there. "Carol?" he called in a light English accent. I would always think of America as my home, but you just had to love that accent.

"Arthur!" Carol called and waved jovially. "My husband, Arthur," she explained to Sarah and I.

"Oh," Sarah exclaimed, and waved to another woman in the crowd. "There's my sister. Wasn't she sweet to come in and meet me?" I nodded unenthusiastically. I wasn't expecting anyone to pick me up. Nope, I had a nice, long, lonely taxi ride to look forward to.

"Can you get home all right by yourself, honey?" Carol asked me.

"Sure," I said. "I've done it lots of times be-" I stopped mid-word as someone standing in the waiting crowd caught my eye.

"What is it?" Sarah whispered.

"It's... it's..." I took a good look, just to make sure I wasn't seeing things. Tall, dark hair and eyes, a little embarrassed, hands shoved down into his pockets... "It's Xander," I whispered back.

Sarah and Carol exchanged smiles conspiratorially . "Tell us how it goes," Carol commanded with a wink, before heading off with her husband. Sarah waved and I'm pretty sure she was giggling as she left with her sister.

On my own again, I caught Xander's eye and waved. He waved back, and met me at the baggage conveyor belt.

"Good trip?" he asked.

"It was okay." I kept stealing glances his way. I couldn't imagine why he'd come to pick me up. I could just see Sarah and Carol analyzing this to death. They would have said that it meant that Xander had the hots for me, and him picking me up was probably an unconscious metaphor for him picking me up romantically. ...I really hoped they were right.

"Yours is the green one, right?" he asked, keeping his eyes glued to the bags sliding by in front of us.

"Yeah, it is," I confirmed. "Green with the little Yoda iron-on on the side." I looked up and over at Xander. I had to know why he was there. "So..." I fished. "Thanks for comin' to pick me up."

"Hm?" Xander said. "Yeah, sure, no problem." My bag circled around and I fished it off of the conveyor belt. "I mean, it's a long flight, and I figured you wouldn't want to take a cab..."

"Thank you, Xander," I said. "That was very sweet of you." He blushed. I couldn't believe it. It was *so* cute. Maybe Carol and Sarah were right. Maybe Xander did have a thing for me after all. He set out ahead of me towards the exit, and I happened to notice that the blush still coloured his ears a bright red. Suddenly I had a very clear memory of kissing those ears and feeling that same blush hot against my skin, and if Xander hadn't have been walking in front of me, he would have noticed my blush too.

"So how come your plane was delayed?" Xander called back to me.

"Um," I started. I wasn't entirely sure that I wanted Xander to know about the whole Harmony kidnapping me fiasco. "Someone was late... and they--I mean, we had to wait."

Xander glanced back at me with a smug smile. His blush had gone the way of Obi-Wan. "Now when you say 'someone' was late for the plane," he said dryly, "you mean you, right?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes. But it wasn't my fault."

We found the car, and Xander tossed my things in the back. "No?" he asked, smiling. "I think I sense an interesting story coming up."

We got into the car and buckled up. I sighed, resigning to tell the story, but to leave out some of the... well, most of the details. "Okay, so everything went well at Wolfram & Hart. But I ran into... this girl I sort of used to know? Harmony?"

Xander scoffed. "You're kidding, right?" He frowned. "Gotta be a different Harmony than the one I knew."

"Blonde? Perky? Vampire?" I prompted. "Fabulous nails?"

"Sounds like one and the same," Xander said. "So she's up to her old tricks, huh? Where did you run into her?" he asked, a slightly worried tone to his voice. "Is this something we should put one of the slayers on?"

"What?" I asked. "No, no, she's working at Wolfram & Hart," I explained. "She's good now."

Xander looked unconvinced. "And what does she have to do with you being late for your flight?"

I fidgeted. "Well, she kinda... kidnapped me."

"Um, didn't you just say she's good now?" Xander asked.

"Yes," I admitted slowly. "And I know what you're going to say."

"Well, it's just I don't usually put 'kidnapper' on my 'things that make people good' list."

I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. He could be so difficult sometimes. "She let me go," I retorted.

Xander chuckled. "Well good for her," he said dryly.

I rolled my eyes. "Xander," I whined, "she has it really hard over there because nobody believes that she can ever be good again." I shrugged. "I said I believed in her, and she didn't want to lose the only person around her that cared."

Something in Xander's expression softened. And then his cheeks reddened just a little bit. "So how did you get her to let you go?" he asked, sincere now.

By being gay? "She changed her mind," I said. "She realised that it was the right thing to do."

He looked over at me for a moment and then started the car. "I wasn't going to say anything," he started, "but those are her pants, aren't they?"

I looked down at my pink pajama bottoms and then nodded. "I um... Spilled something on myself when she did the... the kidnapping me thing," I lied in explanation. "So she let me borrow a pair of her pajamas."

He chuckled. "You know, it's not a bad color on you."

"Really?" I asked. "She said that too, you know."

Xander smiled and said, "Well, maybe she's good after all," and I thought, there you go Harmony: one more person who believes in you.

* * *

When we got back home, the house was quiet and empty. It was usually filled with watchers and slayers and Scoobies in training. It was very rare to be alone with someone here. My heart started at the thought that maybe Xander had a plan to make a move and I wouldn't have to do it. But then the skepticism kicked in and I calmed down a little: maybe it was just a coincidence.

Xander took my bag and tossed it lightly into my room. I smiled. He smiled back. I think we were both suddenly aware of just how quiet the house was without its other occupants. "Are you hungry?" Xander asked abruptly. "You must be hungry." Although I was, he didn't wait for my answer. "I have some pizza warming in the oven," he said, moving towards the kitchen. "I'll put it out if you get us something to drink."

I followed him into the kitchen quietly. He seemed a little... edgy. "Xander, are you okay?" I asked.

"What? Yeah, fine," he said, fishing the warm pizza box out of the oven. "Dandy," he added, taking the box with him out of the kitchen and down the hall into the living room.

Dandy? I thought. Something was definitely not dandy. He was avoiding eye contact and talking even less to me than before the whole love potion thing. I blushed and pushed a sudden, sharp memory of that night out of my head. I turned and looked around to find something to drink. I took two glasses out of the cupboard, placed them on the counter, and peered into the fridge. There was orange juice, (yuck) and a carton of milk (probably expired). I sighed, closed the door, and looked back to the empty glasses.

Then something on the counter caught my eye: a jug filled about half way up with a translucent, red liquid.

My stomach flopped. Had Xander planned this? Did he want me to put a spell on him again? Xander's voice called in from the living room. "Find anything?" he asked. There was a pause, and I couldn't think of what to say. "I think there's some orange juice in the fridge," he added after a moment.

I swallowed. Xander knew my stance on OJ. I took a step towards the supposed red juice. If Xander wanted this... I hesitated. Maybe he didn't know about the potion sitting on the counter. Maybe he was just being strange for the usual reasons, whatever they were.

I reached out and grabbed a hold of the juice jug. But then, maybe Carol and Sarah were right, and he just needed something to start the ball rolling. I took a breath and poured two glasses. After all, maybe it was just juice.

I hoped I was doing the right thing. But I had the sneaking suspicion that what I was doing bordered more on dastardly than it did on right.

"Doin' okay in there?" Xander called again.

"Coming," I said, letting out my breath of air and starting into the living room. Harmony, I thought, should have eaten me when she'd had the chance.

The End.