"I can assure you, she did no such thing," Giles said.
"I think he's lying," Buffy said. "Willow? What do you think?"
"I'm pretty sure he's lying," Willow said. "I think she broke him, and pretty well, too."
Giles sighed. "Well, she just dropped it on me," he said. "No warning, or, or build up. Just… here it is! How was I supposed to react?"
"It's okay, Giles," Buffy said. "It's not embarrassing to be completely confounded by the statement of a seventeen year old girl."
"One who dropped out of high school," Willow added.
"Watch it," Xander croaked, clearly startling all three other occupants of his hospital room. "That's the mother of my child you're talking about."
"You're awake!" Willow accused him, rising to her feet.
"Uh huh," Xander said, pushing one of the buttons on his bed. The back lifted up to put him in a sitting position.
"That's cheating," Willow said, even as a smile broke out on her face. "How are you doing?"
"And how long were you awake?" Buffy asked as she and Giles both stood.
Xander shrugged. "Not long," he said. "Only since you started talking about Giles being broken. And I'm doing pretty good. Leg itches."
"That would most likely be the muscle repairing itself," Giles said. They were all gathered round his bed.
"How long have you guys been here?" Xander asked.
"Giles has been here pretty much since lunch," Buffy said. "I got here a few hours ago, and Willow just showed up about ten minutes ago."
"I brought you presents," Willow said, holding up a brown, magazine sized paper bag that was filled to bursting.
"Porn?" Xander asked, smiling. Willow glared.
"Comics, Xander," she said as Xander slid the bags contents out on his lap.
"Oh man," he said, flipping through the books there. "This is –"
"The first five," Willow said, grinning proudly. "And I've got the others at home, when you're done with these."
Xander turned to his best friend. "You are absolutely the best," he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her into a hug as Giles picked up a couple of the books from his lap.
"Preludes & Nocturnes, The Doll's House, Dream Country… what are these?" he asked.
"Only compilations of one of the best comics ever," Xander said. "That, my dear former watcher-man, can put nine out of ten of your stuffy old 'literary classics' to shame, any day of the week. It is true genius."
"And it's for Xander," Willow scolded, taking the books back from Giles.
"I was merely taking a look," Giles said.
"Don't worry, you can borrow them when I'm done," Xander said. "Hey, if you're all here, who's watching Oz?"
"Wesley is," said Willow.
"Yeah?" Xander asked. "How many of his teeth did you have to pull to get him to do that?"
"None, actually," said Willow. "He offered."
"And he's paying your medical bills," Giles said. "Or at the very least, passing them on to the Council."
"Gotta say, I don't mind that," said Xander. "Have uh… my parents…" His voice trailed off as Buffy and Giles glanced away and Willow petted his arm. "Not like I expected them anyway," he muttered.
There was a knock at the door. Giles and Willow separated, and Xander saw Faith standing there, leaning against the door frame.
"Hey," Xander said, surprise in his voice.
"Hey," said Faith. Their eyes were locked on each other.
"Yes, well," Giles said. "I was just about to go find some food…"
"I'll come with," said Buffy.
"Giles," Xander said.
"Yes?"
"He may be being nice right now… but Wesley and the Council don't need to know about the baby. Not until they need to know."
"Of course," Giles said. "They won't hear a word from me."
"Thanks," Xander said.
"I should really get back to Oz," Willow said. She leaned over and kissed Xander's temple. "You get some rest, okay?"
"I've been asleep all day, Will," said Xander. "And tell, uh… tell Wes thanks."
Willow nodded and left the room behind Buffy and Giles. Faith stepped up to Xander's bedside.
"You're here," he said.
Faith shrugged. "I said we'd talk later. It's later."
"You said that?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said. "This afternoon. You were reading a comic, I showed up, you got doped up…"
"I remember the comic," he said, creasing his eyebrows, "and I remember the morphine…"
"Oh," Faith said, suddenly much more reserved. "Well, it wasn't like –"
"I'm kidding, Faith," he said, smiling. "I remember that you were here, and I remember us talking, or, well, me trying to talk. You're way too easy a target. Sorry."
Faith smacked him on the head and smiled. "Jackass," she said.
"I am what God made me, " he said with a shrug.
"So, how much of this afternoon do you remember?" she asked.
"Uh," he said. "Something about you forgiving me. And right now I'm really hoping that wasn't just the morphine."
Faith smiled at him. "It wasn't," she said. Xander breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Only, a little after that, I kind of admitted that maybe it wasn't you needed forgiveness in the first place."
"Well, I can't comment about that," Xander said. "Cuz I still don't know what happened in the first place."
"Sex," she said.
"That much is obvious."
"No," she said. "I mean, the other day, after we found out for sure."
"Oh," Xander said. "But I thought –"
"I kinda took it as you… just wanting sex," she said.
"As in… the only thing?" he asked, bewildered.
"Yeah," Faith said. She shrugged. "Sorry. It's just, I was still so… I am still so skeptical of guys… and when you just wanted it like that…"
"Faith, I never would have done that if I thought you weren't comfortable, or, well, I mean…"
"I know what you mean," she said. "Now I do, anyway. Got some sense talked into me."
Xander smiled. "So, we're okay?"
"If it's possible," Faith said, "I'd like us to be better than okay."
"Yeah?" he asked. Did she mean friends? Or lovers? Or what?
"Yeah," Faith said. "See, here's what I kind of figured out. We're havin' a baby. And… you're a pretty good guy. And I thought, I haven't met a lot of good guys my age. I mean there's you, and…" she shook her head.
"Oz," Xander said.
"Yeah, well, he's short, hairy, and taken," Faith said. "And too quiet. Half the time you can't get more than three syllables out of him. Anyway. I kinda thought, once you're up to it, maybe we could, you know… date. Or something. Try it out, you know?"
"Is this before or after we get married?" he asked.
Faith shoved his arm, causing him to rock back and forth in the bed. "Quit it," she said. "I'm being serious."
Xander laughed. "Sorry," he said. "Um. Yeah. Dating. I'd love to. When I'm up and about, I'm gonna take you on a date like you've never seen… you know I only go Dutch, right?"
Faith glared at him, and he smiled. "Seriously, though," he said. "I would love the opportunity."
"Good," she said. Faith went on to tell him about what the doctor said about him needing help all day, and would he be open to moving in with her – only for the duration of his gimpiness, of course. Xander approved of the plan with a smile and a joke about seeing Faith in a sexy nurse outfit.
The two talked and joked into the night, neither noticing when Giles and Buffy stuck their heads in, and then quickly back out. And when the nurse came in and said that visiting hours were over, Faith leaned in and gave Xander a soft kiss on the lips.
"One more thing," she whispered to him. His eyes were still closed and he was smiling like a fool.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Xander… when we made love this afternoon –"
His eyes flew open. "When we what?"
Faith walked away from his bed and winked at him over her shoulder. "You're way too easy," she said, closing the door behind herself.
Xander smiled at the door, then set in to his comics.
"What do you want?"
Willow and Faith looked up at the man. He was much taller than they were.
"Um," Willow said, "we're here to get some of Xander's things."
Tony Harris frowned. "What for?"
"He's um… he's not going to live here anymore," Willow said.
"What?" Tony asked. "What the hell do –"
"It's just," Willow said, "he had an accident, and he needs pretty constant looking after. And so, he's going to be somewhere, for a while, without so much in the way of stairs. Somewhere it'll be easier for him to move with the wheelchair, and then crutches, later."
Tony Harris stared down at the two of them. "Don't think I'm paying for any of that crap," he said.
Willow shook her head. "It's being taken care of," she said. "Can we, um…"
"Only the crap that's in his room. The rest is ours, you hear? I don't want you two little bitches stealing what's mine."
Faith opened her mouth to reply, but stopped when she felt Willow's hand on her shoulder. Willow shook her head. Faith bottled up her comment and followed Willow up to Xander's room.
"Jeez," Faith said, when they got to Xander's room and shut the door. "He always like that?"
Willow shook her head as she started to pick through some of Xander's things. Willow obviously wasn't going to say any more than that, so Faith, too, started to look through Xander's room.
They started loading up the backpacks they had brought with knick knacks he had collected over the years, a few books, and some comics. Willow grabbed some of the pictures he kept, pictures of herself, Xander and Jesse, then later with Buffy, and even Oz and Cordelia. She wrapped these in a sweatshirt, and then started loading some of his clothes into her bag.
Faith found Xander's own backpack and started loading it with clothes, too. In about forty-five minutes, they were done. The only talking was when Faith asked Willow whether or not to bring something they'd found.
"Anything else?" Faith asked.
Willow, with a determined look on her face, walked over to Xander's window and unlocked it and tried to open it, but it would not budge.
"Pop this," Willow said.
Faith looked questioningly at Willow for a second, but then did as she asked. With very little effort – for her – the window slid open. Willow reached through the hole and removed the screen, placing it just inside. She closed the window, but not before making sure to leave something jammed in under it, so it wouldn't fully close.
"What's that for?" Faith asked.
"Not now," said Willow. She grabbed two bags, despite Faith being a Slayer, and opened the door. Faith quickly grabbed the last bag and followed as Willow walked out of the house and down the street. Faith had to almost jog to keep up with Willow's speed.
"Red," she said. "Hey, Red!" She grabbed Willow's arm and turned the girl. Willow was crying.
"Hey," Faith said. "What's going on?"
"That man," Willow said, "is as unfit to be a father as anybody ever was. He-he doesn't care, and he doesn't worry, and he never… he…" She shook her head. "Xander's not going back there. I don't care if he's staying with you, or with Giles, or with me, but he is not going to live with that bastard anymore."
Faith was pretty much shocked. She hadn't heard Willow use that kind of language… well, ever.
"So," Faith said. "The window –"
"If Xander needs more things, we can get in that way," Willow said. "I don't want to have to deal with him."
Faith looked back down the street at Xander's house – Xander's old house, she corrected herself.
"His dad," she said. "Is he always that bad?"
Willow shook her head. "He's usually worse," she said.
"How bad?" Faith asked.
"Do you really want to know?" Willow asked.
Faith looked back at the redhead, her… her boyfriend's best friend. God that was weird. "Yeah," she said. "I do."
"He always yells at Xander, for not living up to his expectations, even though he really just wants Xander to fail. Calls him worthless. Calls him a mistake. Xander has a problem of not believing he's worth anything, and that's the doing of one man."
Faith opened her mouth to say something, but Willow kept talking.
"The only time Xander stood up to him…" Willow shuddered with a memory. "Tony called me a whore. When Xander stood up for me, he got a fist in the face."
Faith was silent. She guessed Xander's home life was not good, but…
"You have any experience with that?" Willow asked as they started walking again.
"Yeah," Faith said. "My pops, before he split." She pulled her hair back, exposing a small scar below her ear.
"What's that?" Willow asked.
"Beer bottle," Faith said. Willow frowned. Faith looked at her. "You've got tear streaks."
"Don't care," Willow said. They continued to walk in silence for a couple minutes.
"Bein' the Slayer's the best thing that ever happened to me," Faith said. Willow turned and looked at her.
"So far," Willow said.
Faith looked at the redhead, and knew she meant Xander. "Yeah," Faith was forced to admit. "So far."
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End Chapter 16