Chapter 10. The Hunt.

They all exit the hotel and head outside to the car. Xander and Buffy look back inside of the hotel and they hear a slow song come on. Buffy sighs.

"I remember Prom," says Buffy as she closes her eyes. "The hell hounds I choose to forget."

"The what?" asks Derek.

"Never mind," says Xander.

"You two went to Prom together?" asks Catia.

"No, we didn't."

"That's because you asked Anya," says Buffy turning to Xander.

"You were all obsessed about going with Angel, or did we forget about that?" says Xander. They both laugh and then look at Catia and Derek. Buffy gives Xander an apologetic face and pulls him close to her. Xander gives her a grin and wraps his arms around her. Buffy gives Xander a smile.

"Will you dance with me?" she asks. Xander bows his head and looks into her green eyes.

"You know I've got this pain in my…" Xander replies.

"Xander."

"Ah, what the heck." The two start to dance to the slow music coming out from the hotel. "If only Spike and Angel could see this." Buffy moves her head up and glares at Xander.

"You are truly evil, you know that?" Xander gives another grin.

"I thought that's what you liked in a man." Buffy smiles and puts her head on his chest as the two move to the music.

The next day, Buffy and Xander are lying on Xander's bed in Xander's apartment. Buffy turns to Xander and looks at him as he stares at the ceiling. Xander then turns his eyes to her.

"I think you're going to have to get used to taking me to the hospital every morning," says Xander and Buffy laughs.

"No," says Buffy as she climbs on top of Xander. "It's because you're all bruised up from last night and the fight."

"Yeah, remind me not to get into a fight before I go to bed with you."

"Promise. Leave the fighting to me."

"Well, I would have if you wouldn't have gotten kidnapped."

"That is so not my fault, Alexander Lavelle Harris. I would hurt you real badly if it wasn't for you being hurt already." Xander gives her an evil grin.

"You can't do anything about it, Buff. I'm innocent."

"Yeah, right." Then the phone rings and Xander grabs it.

"Hello."

"Xander, have you heard from Buffy? Is she with you?" asks Giles with a concerned tone. "She hasn't called since she left here."

"Oh, yeah," says Xander as he tries to get up, but Buffy won't let him because she is still on top of him. "She's right here." Xander hands the phone to her. "It's Giles."

"Hello, Giles," says Buffy as she gets off of Xander and he grabs his pants from the floor to put on. "I'm okay. The vampire colony is caput."

"Well, that's good news. Are you okay? You sound different."

"Well, I'm just happy that I finished the job quickly so I can spend some time with Xander." Buffy looks at Xander.

"Right then. I just wanted to make sure you were alright since you didn't have the decency to call me when you arrived."

"Sorry, Giles. I kind of got carried away." Buffy wraps the blanket over her body and walks over to Xander. She pushes him onto a chair and straddles him. "I've got some other good news, but I'll tell everyone later. How's Dawn?" Xander wraps his arms around her waist.

"She's fine. What kind of news?"
"I'll tell you later. I've gotta go. Need to shower. Bye, Giles." Buffy throws the phone on the bed and starts to kiss Xander.

"Why didn't you tell Giles?" asks Xander as he pushes Buffy away.

"I want to tell everyone at the same time. I want you to come to England with me."

"I can't do that."
"Why not?"

"Because I've got a job here. A good job. And a life…Buffy I can't just drop it and leave it."

"I guess I've inherited my ex-boyfriends leaving town routine."

"That's not you. I want us to work, but I can't live my life in England. Besides, I think Giles can't take another person at his place." Buffy laughs at Xander's comment.

"What are we going to do? I don't want to leave Dawn. I know she's well taken care of but…"

"You'll miss her. I know." Buffy pulls herself off of Xander and walks over to the bed.

"I'm going to go shower now." Buffy heads over to the bathroom. Xander nods his head and looks at the bathroom door.

The two had breakfast and didn't say anything to each other. Xander washes the dishes and Buffy sat in the living room looking out the window. Buffy sighs and gets up. She walks over to Xander, but then the doorbell rang. Xander heads to get it. He opens it and sees Derek.

"Hey, Derek," says Xander as he welcomes him into his apartment. Derek walks in and says hi to Buffy. "So, what are you up today?"

"I'm heading back to Mexico. Just wanted to say my goodbyes."

"That's too bad. We could have celebrated tonight. You know, once I've got my strength back."

"I can't believe you didn't go to the hospital after all that we went through last night."

"I guess I'm just a macho man." Xander gives a grin. Buffy walks over to the two.

"Well, we're going to miss you," says Buffy. She hugs Derek and gives him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for all your help."

"Welcome," replies Derek with a smile. "Well, I better get going. If you guys end up in Mexico, look me up."

"We will," says Xander as he pats him on the shoulder and leads him over to the door. As Xander closes the door, he bows his head and looks over at Buffy, who is staring right at him. Buffy is fidgeting with her fingers and then turns around to look out the window. Xander walks up to her and sighs.

"So, when are you leaving?" asks Xander. Buffy looks down at her fingers.

"Tomorrow. I guessed that the colony wouldn't take that long to find and kill, so I thought four days would do it and so it's done and…" Xander turns her around to face him. He lifts her chin up.

"Buffy, I love you," says Xander as he looks into her green eyes. "I don't want you to go, but I can't ask you to stay." Buffy puts on a sad face and looks into his deep, brown eyes.

"Long distance sucks," says Buffy. Xander nods. "I don't want that. All I want is you."

"What are you trying to say, Buffy?"

"I love you, Xander. I want to stay with you, if you let me."

"Hmmm, let me think about it. Darn, I'll have to cancel my date with Melinda, Marisa, and Tina this week. I think I can manage it." Buffy gives him a grin.

"I'll make sure you'll cancel those dates. I've got the perfect excuse. You've got syphilis."

"Ha ha, very funny, Buff." The two then start to kiss and all is well at the Harris residence.

Meanwhile, Derek heads back to his hotel room to grab his things and pay the bill. He opens the door to see Catia standing outside of his hotel room.

"Hi," says Catia. Derek puts his bag down.

"Hi," replies Derek.

"I came over to see if you wanted to have lunch, but it seems like you're going somewhere."

"Going back to Mexico."

"Oh, so soon?"

"Yeah, um I have some business to attend to."

"Important huh?"

"Yeah."

"Well, maybe some other time when you come back around here." Catia looks down and turns around and starts to walk away.

"Catia wait. I…"
"What?" She turns around. Her light brown locks swing around and Derek walks up to her. He grabs her from her waist and kisses her on the lips. As he releases her, Catia looks at Derek and gives him a smile.

"Maybe I can stay a little bit longer." Derek smiles at her as the two walk over to his hotel room. Derek opens the door, grabs his bag, and lets Catia into the room.