Disclaimer: If any name, place, instance, bit of mythology, whatever looks familiar, then it came from the mastermind behind the whole show. We call him Joss Whedon

"Oh god," Xander said as he reached the bottom of the stairs where Cordelia was sitting, her hands clutched over her left breast in pain. Although his girlfriend was no longer making any noise, Xander could see the small rivers of tears flowing down her slightly paled cheeks. "Cordy," he began as he walked closer to her. "Cordy, what happened?" he asked as he sat down next to her, his hand going to her right shoulder.

Cordelia shook her head in slight shame as she moved closer towards Xander. "It's stupid," she whispered. "I'm stupid for allowing it to happen," she informed Xander.

"Shh, shh," Xander whispered soothingly as he pulled her closer to him. "I won't think any less of you. What happened?" he asked, wrapping his right arm around her shoulders.

Again Cordelia refused by shaking her head. "It's nothing, really," she tried to assure him. "I'm fine."

"If it's nothing, then remove your hands and put your shirt on properly," Xander told her. As Cordelia shook her head once more, Xander reached for her left hand, pulling it away from the rest of her body. He studied it for a moment, frowning at the blood on it. "Cordelia," he said in a warning tone of voice.

"Hmm?" she asked weakly.

"How'd this happen?" he asked as he pulled her other hand away, examining the wound. Focus on the wound, he commanded himself. That bite mark is what you're focusing on, not what is directly underneath it. "Who bit you?" he asked as he allowed for Cordelia to go back to covering the mark up.

"A vampire," Cordelia whispered in slight disgust.

"Any particular vampire?" Xander asked in concern.

Cordelia shook her head slightly. "Just a vampire. He scampered away through the sewers a little while ago. And Xander"

"What?" Xander asked as he looked into Cordelia's eyes.

Cordelia looked down, not wanting to meet Xander's gaze. "Can you not mention this to anyone? Willow in particular."

Xander nodded. "Of course," he promised as he stood up. "Wait here, I'll get you a first aid kit and all that."

Cordelia nodded as she watched Xander move up the stairs.

((And this would be the part in the episode "Innocence" by Joss where Xander comes up, Willow's there, and Angelus shows up and all that...Since it's not mine, I'm not writing it but that's where this fits in with that...))

"Where are you going?" Willow asked in a hurt voice as she saw Xander getting ready to leave the school library, a small white box held in her friend's hand.

"Just to the bathroom," Xander lied.

"Bathroom?" Willow asked in disbelief. "Is that what you're calling Cordelia now? First broom closets, now bathrooms?" she accused angrily.

"It's nothing like that!" Xander shot back angrily as he left the library. As quickly as he could, he ran to the entrance to the basement and down the stairs to where he had left Cordelia. "Sorry it took so long," he apologized. "Angel was up there and Willow was giving me a hard time about us."

"What us?" Cordelia asked.

"Us," Xander said. "You and me. Together." He sighed, moving closer to her and sitting down. "Fine. What we have may not mean something to you, but it means something to me," he said as he pried Cordelia's away from her upper body again.

Cordelia smiled slightly at Xander. "It does mean something to me," she assured him. "I get that it means something to you and that makes it a bigger something for me."

"Good," Xander said as he started dabbing at the bite mark with an alcohol wipe. Cordelia flinched slightly as it touched her skin. "Sorry," Xander apologized. "But Cordy..."

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you something?"

Cordelia nodded slightly before flinching again as Xander continued tending to her. "What is it?" she asked.

"The vampire," Xander began. "The one who bit you," he added for clarification. "Was it Angel by any chance?"

Cordelia felt her face flushing with embarrassment. Xander knew and she could not try to deny it. "How-how did you know?" she asked. Shit, she thought angrily to herself. Does he know anything else? Like what went on before that?

"Just a guess," Xander said as he applied a fresh bandage to the bite mark. He stopped momentarily, glancing down and smiling in approval. "He was up there talking...Taunting, actually. And threatening. He's evil now, Cordelia. I don't want you near him." He sighed, standing up while mentally adding to himself, I don't really want you near any man, but...­

"I don't want to be near him either," Cordelia said as she grabbed Xander's hand and pulled herself up. "And if I forget, I have the not flattering mark and sharp pain above my breast. And I know you were looking at it," she informed Xander.

"What?" Xander asked as he began walking up the stairs. "I was not," he argued.

"The two of us know that's not true," Cordelia countered. "Come on," she said. "The sooner we're out of this basement, the better."