(Harris, where you at, man?)
"Hey, Deke," Xander said. "I'm headed home. What's going on?"
(We're all meetin' up, down at the bar. You game?)
"Yeah, sure," Xander said.
(Half hour?)
"I'll see you guys there," Xander said.
Xander turned his truck around and headed for their normal bar, and arrived fifteen minutes later, beating the rest of the team. He approached the bar and ordered a beer.
"You look like you've had a long day."
Xander turned to see an attractive brunette woman with deep brown eyes and a healthy tan.
"I have had a very long day," he said, smiling at her. "But it seems to have gotten better just recently. I'm Xander."
"Lara."
"Would you like something to drink?" Xander asked.
"Sure," she said. "Gin and tonic."
Xander signaled for the bartender and placed the order before turning back to her.
"So what are you doing in a dive like this?" Xander asked her, leaning back against the bar and taking a sip of his beer.
"Oh, I come here for the ambiance," she said with a smile. "Actually, I'm meeting my brother here in a few minutes. He's been trying to convince me to get back with my ex, who's a friend of his. But, you know, he was just way too into his job and... well, he's not going to change."
"I know what you mean," Xander said. "The last girl I dated was... well, a long time ago, actually, but you know. I have friends who have had the same problem."
"How long?" Lara asked.
"Oh, no," Xander said. "That'll just make me seem even more pathetic than hanging around in a bar, alone, at 23, at this time of night already has."
"I was here alone, too, you know," she said, smiling coyly.
"Ah, but you were here for a reason, thus making you not pathetic."
"Well, you could be here with me," Lara said. "And then we could be not pathetic together." She flashed him a brilliant smile.
"This wouldn't just be your way of avoiding your brother and your ex, would it?"
"Hmm... maybe. But would that be so bad?"
Xander feigned pondering it.
"Oh come on," she said. "I can leave a note for him, tell him I had to go, and we can go somewhere way more fun. Please?"
"Ah, what the hell," Xander said.
"Okay," Lara said. "Let me just leave a note, and then I'll meet you outside?"
"Sure," Xander said, smiling. He walked outside and called Deke.
"Hey, it's me. I'm not gonna be able to make it after all," he said
(Ah, man, you crashin' out on us?)
"Hell yeah," Xander said. "I met this girl –"
(Say no more,) Deke said. (And good luck.)
"Thanks," Xander said before hanging up. A minute later, Lara joined him outside.
"So where can I take you?"
"I don't know," she said. "Know any good all night diners?"
Xander pondered for a second. "Well, IHOP never closes."
"IHOP it is," Lara said.
Xander smiled and led her to his truck and opened the door for her, helping her up into the cab before circling and climbing in himself. They headed off.
Xander rolled over in bed and looked at the brunette head of hair next to him.
'Wow,' he thought, rubbing his hands over his face as he sat up. 'That was intense.'
As he sat up, Xander noticed the distinct lack of a quilt on his bed. And that the sheets were all on one side. And that Lara had absolutely nothing covering her shapely ass.
He might not have noticed things in that order.
Xander got out of bed, slipped on some boxer shorts and padded out to his kitchen area. He started some coffee brewing and opened his fridge to see if he had anything he could use to cook breakfast. He was surprised to find he had half a dozen eggs that Dawn had picked up for him, and a small package of bacon as well.
Xander pulled out a pan and started cooking.
"Morning," Lara said, coming out of his bedroom wearing his robe.
"Hey," Xander said, smiling at her. "Bacon? Eggs?"
"I'd love some," Lara said, sitting down at his small table.
Xander and Lara continued talking and flirting while Xander cooked up breakfast, then poured a cup of coffee for both himself and Lara.
"How do you like your coffee?" he asked.
"Cream and sugar, please," she said, smiling at him.
Xander fixed her coffee, then started to take it over to her, not noticing he had left a drawer open. He smacked his shin into the drawer and fell to the ground with a yell, dropping and smashing both coffee cups.
"Ahh, dammit," he said. He was then surprised when his door was slammed open and Faith, glistening with sweat and wearing jogging shorts and sports bra, rushed in.
"Are you okay?" Faith got out before seeing Lara sitting at the table. "Oh. Uh. Hey. I uh... heard something break..."
"Oh," Lara said, looking at the attractive young brunette who had felt comfortable bursting into Xander's apartment unannounced early in the morning. "Oh," she said. "Um, oh."
Xander stood up.
"Hey, Faith," he said. "I'm fine, yeah. Oh, and uh, Lara, this is Faith. Faith, Lara."
"Hi," Lara said, smiling falsely at the other young woman.
"Hey," Faith said, one eyebrow raised.
"Uh, Faith is an old friend from back in high school," Xander said, noting the uncomfortable feeling in the room. "She got into LA a little while ago and is staying with a mutual friend of ours. What brings you by this morning, Faith?"
"Oh, I was out for my run, and some, uh... big hairy guy smacked into me, knocked me down pretty hard, scraped my knee to some shit. It was like two blocks from here, so I thought... clean it out and stuff."
"Sure," Xander said, nodding at her. "First aid kit's in the bathroom."
"Thanks," Faith said, before making her way through Xander's bedroom and into his bathroom.
Lara looked at him accusingly.
"What?" he asked.
She shook her head in disappointment. "I know I've only known you since yesterday, but I thought you weren't like other guys," Lara said.
"What? What do you mean?"
"Oh come on," she said. "A girl who looks like that has a key to your apartment and is comfortable just showing up whenever? Tell me there's nothing going on."
"There's nothing going on," Xander said, sincerely. "Faith is a friend. Yes, she has a key to my apartment, but so do most of my friends in town."
"And just how many of these 'friends' are guys?" she asked, accusingly.
"Three," Xander said, as he pointed to a picture on his wall of the whole Angel Investigations crew. "Them, over there."
Lara looked over at the picture. "And I suppose both of those girls have keys as well?"
"Fred, that's the really thin one, she doesn't. And Cordy did... does, I suppose, but uh..."
"What?" Lara asked, harshly. "You messed around on her and she hasn't talked to you in a while?"
"No," Faith said, from behind Lara, scowling at her. "Queen C's in a coma, has been for a couple months. Real nice attitude, by the way. Thanks for the clean-up, Xan. I'll catch you later." Faith stormed out of Xander's apartment, slamming the door behind her.
Lara sat there with her mouth open, in shock. She turned to Xander, who was quietly cleaning up the coffee with some paper towels.
"Xander, I am so –"
"No," he said, softly. "There's no way you could have known."
"Was she –"
"She was a very good friend," Xander said.
"I'm sorry. I just assumed –"
"I know," he said. "It's okay."
"No, it's not. Xander, I should have –"
"Listen, let's just forget the whole thing, okay?" he said, smiling at her has he tossed the paper towels in the trash. "I myself have had significantly worse reactions to... things. Let's just not worry about it, and move on, okay?"
"Sure," Lara said, smiling at him. She pushed away from the table. "I'm gonna take a shower."
"Sure," Xander said. "There's towels in the cupboard."
"Thanks," Lara said, walking back towards the bedroom.
"No problem," Xander said.
Lara paused at his bedroom door, considered for a moment, then turned back.
"Xander?" she asked.
"Yeah?"
"Scrub my back?"
Xander looked up at her and smiled, softly. "Some other time," he said.
Lara smiled at him and nodded, before heading off to shower. Once Xander heard the shower running, he slammed his fist into the kitchen counter, releasing a good deal of anger. He took a deep, calming breath, and then finished cleaning up the mess.
Lara felt bad about what she had said, she really did.
But not bad enough to stop from snooping. After turning on the water and finding a towel, Lara started looking through Xander's cabinets. She found the normal supply of Advil, Excedrin, various other over-the-counter medicines, and all the other normal bathroom supplies of a bachelor in his early twenties. And she found the most well stocked first aid kit she had ever seen in her entire life.
Upon opening a small bag under the sink, she found it to be stocked with holy water, a few crosses, and some sharpened pieces of wood.
'Who are you, Xander Harris?' she thought.
Having completed her snooping, Lara disrobed and got in the shower.
"Hey," Lara said once she was clean, dry and dressed and had come out of the bathroom. She saw Xander was fully dressed.
"Uh huh," Xander said into the telephone by his bed. He held up a finger to tell her to wait. "Okay, yeah, I can be there in fifteen to twenty. Right. Bye."
Xander hung up and turned to Lara. "Hi," he said. "Sorry, I'm gonna have to run. Duty calls."
"Duty?" Lara asked.
Xander smiled and pointed to the badge clipped to his belt.
"You gotta be kidding me," she said. "You're a cop?"
"Yeah," he said. "That bug you?"
"No, I guess not. My last boyfriend – the one who was too into his job – he was a cop, too. I'm sure you're not of the same mindset, though. He was... a different kind of cop."
"In LA?" Xander asked as he took his gun out of his nightstand drawer and holstered it. "Maybe I know him."
"I doubt it," Lara said. "He spends most of his time with his SWAT buddies. It's kind of annoying, he was just way too into his job."
Xander froze. "SWAT buddies?"
"Yeah. He and Michael are on the same unit or whatever."
"Michael?"
"My brother, Michael Boxer. He's really over-protective of me."
Xander winced. "Your brother, Michael Boxer," he said. He thought for a moment. "Oh. So... your ex is Jim Street."
"How did you know that?" Lara asked.
"Well, unless Sanchez switched teams since she had a kid, or Deke was cheating – which I don't believe – pretty much the only other option is Street."
"How –"
Xander stuck his hand out. "Xander Harris," he said. "Newest member of Hondo Harrelson's SWAT team."
Lara looked at him in disbelief. "Oh, Christ."
---------
End Chapter 11