Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I shall give a cookie to all of you. Here's the next chapter, as promised. Constructive criticism is welcomed, flames shall be used to heat my flat.
Chapter Two
"Buffy, please pay attention! Just because patrolling has been slow lately does not mean that you can slack off on your training!" Rupert Giles said angrily.
Buffy Summers shot an apologetic look at her Watcher. "Sorry, Giles. Look, Willow's coming over to study for our history exam tonight; I'll make sure we get in some research on this Order, or whatever it is," she compromised.
Giles sighed. "It's not just the Order I'm worried-"
"Uh, hello?" a new voice said from the doorway of the library, cutting off the Watcher's impending lecture.
Buffy looked up, closing the book and slipping it into her bag. Research would have to wait. Smiling at the young man in the doorway, the Slayer got to her feet and walked over to him. "You must be new here. I'm Buffy Summers," she introduced herself.
The other teen flashed her a brilliant smile and shook her hand. "Xander Harris, and yeah, I'm new," he said, brushing his long sable hair out of his eyes. "I've got a free period now, so I thought I'd take a look around."
Buffy checked her watch. "Do you want some company? I could show you around and we could grab an early lunch," she offered, simultaneously letting her gaze drift over him. He was probably around six feet tall with long, thick sable hair that reached his shoulders. Dark brown eyes met Buffy's gaze with an intensity that startled her. Despite his broad shoulders, his light blue Phish t-shirt hung loosely on him and his tan cargo pants, worn Birkenstocks, and bronzed skin tone implied that he spent a lot of his time outdoors. Not bad, she thought to herself.
"Lunch sounds great," Xander replied, opening the door for her. He started off down the hallway, then stopped and turned back to Buffy with a sheepish grin on his face. "Um, which way is the cafeteria?"
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"So, what was your old school like?" Buffy asked once she and Xander had settled down at a table with their food.
"My old school?" Xander repeated. "Oh, I was home-schooled. My dad never really liked public schools, so he took over my education." The teen rolled his eyes. "My family can be kind of overprotective."
Buffy laughed. "It was still probably better than good ol' Sunnydale High," she said sardonically.
"I don't think it's that bad," Xander replied with a grin. "Except for the food, anyway." He pushed a greyish-brown slab of food around on his plate with a fork. "I still can't figure out what this is," he commented.
"I think it's tofu. The lunch ladies have had a vegetarian streak for the past week. I had hoped that it had ended." She took a bite of the corn and shrugged. "Some of it's not bad."
They chatted for a while longer and the more they talked, the more at ease Buffy felt. Whatever had set off her spidey-sense earlier couldn't have been Xander. The Slayer found herself enjoying his company; he was funny and easygoing, if not a little goofy. Willow would love him, Buffy thought as Xander went rambling off the topic of discussion yet again, a habit Willow did quite often.
"So, do you have a girlfriend?" Buffy asked casually. She hoped he didn't, so she could possibly hook him up with Willow.
"Nope," Xander replied with a wry smile. "Never had one. I'm gay."
That threw her. Buffy looked at her new friend in complete surprise. For once, the Slayer was at a loss for what to say. "Oh, um, that's cool," she said weakly. At Xander's embarrassed look, she immediately felt bad. "I'm sorry, Xan. I'm just kinda at one of those I Have No Idea What To Do In This Situation moments. It really is cool with me; I've just never met anybody who's gay before." She grinned at him. "Do you have a boyfriend, in that case?"
Xander's cheeks flushed a little. "Sort of. He's older than me, so he says he won't consider being with me until I turn eighteen," he said glumly, spearing a piece of tofu with his fork. Shaking off his pensive expression, he smiled slyly at Buffy. "Enough about my tragic love life," he said. "What about you? You got a boy waiting out there for you?"
Buffy smiled, her face automatically softening at the thought of her vampiric boyfriend, Angel. "Yeah, I do," she replied. "Some of my friends still think I'm a little crazy for dating him, but it's my choice, not theirs."
"An independent girl. If I were straight, I'd marry you," Xander said dramatically. Buffy laughed and finished off her Diet Sprite. Lunch was almost over, so the Slayer decided to head over to the computer lab and wait for Willow.
"What's your next class, Xan?" Buffy asked as she and Xander walked down the toneless, pale halls of Sunnydale High School.
Xander dug around in the pockets of his cargos and pulled out a battered piece of paper. Gingerly opening it, he quickly scanned its contents, making a face when he read what class was next. "Chemistry," he grumbled.
"Not a science fan?"
"Not particularly. It makes more sense to me than Algebra, but I still don't really understand it," he said, stuffing his schedule back into his pocket.
"Wait until you meet Willow," Buffy said. "She's a genius when it comes to science, and I'm sure she'd be willing to help you out."
As if on cue, a small, redheaded girl walked out of the lab, stuffing a notebook and a computer science textbook into her bag.
"Sorry I missed lunch," she apologised. "Miss Calendar let us work on our projects today, and I think I figured out the last formula, so I couldn't take the time to eat 'cause I might forget it, and I'm babbling in front of a complete stranger. Feel free to shut me up," she finished guiltily.
Buffy shot the other girl a grin. "It's okay, Wills. This is Xander Harris; he's new here. Xan, this is Willow Rosenburg."
"Hey," Xander said with a wave. "I hear you could maybe help me pass chemistry?"
Willow brightened. "No problem. Are you free tonight? Buffy and I were going to have a study night, so if you can, you could come over and have pizza or something."
"Sounds good. I'll just need directions," Xander replied as the trio walked down the hall to the science wing.
Buffy dug a pen out of her bag and took Xander's hand. "Here," she said, writing her address and phone number on the back of his hand. "Just call if you have any trouble finding it. Five-o-clock sound okay?"
Xander glanced at the address on his hand as they reached their next class. "Fine by me."
The three teens took their seats as Mr. Campbell began explaining their next lab assignment. As Buffy pulled out her textbook, the same eerie feeling came over her that she normally felt when a demon was nearby. She quickly looked around, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, everything seemed normal, and the feeling passed quickly. Making a mental note to mention it to Giles, the Slayer put the feeling out of her mind and, grabbing her lab coat, joined Willow and Xander in the back of the room.
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Xander waved to Buffy and Willow as they piled into Ms. Summers' Explorer, and headed to the nest with a satisfied smile on his face. Everything was going according to plan, just as Spike had said it would. It was only the first day, and already the young telepath had met his Master's quota for the week.
Casting a quick look around to make sure nobody was around, Xander climbed over the fence and jumped down into the soft grass of Restfield Cemetery. He stopped for a moment, scanning the minds of those in the area with his own before he found the one he was looking for. "Stay there," he sent, feeling the other's acknowledgement.
Xander took off at a jog, his shoulder bag slapping against his hip with every stride. A pair of elderly women shot him a dirty look as he ran past them, nearly running them down as he did so. Finally, he caught sight of the familiar white-blonde head standing safely in the shadow of a tree.
"Did you miss me?" Xander asked with a grin, letting his bag fall to the ground as Spike pulled him into a bear hug.
"More than I thought I would," Spike admitted, his voice muffled by the bigger man's shoulder. "Got used to seein' your mug around all day. Dalton was absolutely beside himself."
Xander chuckled. "He worries too much."
"He wasn't the only one, pet."
Xander blinked in surprise. "Oh," he said finally. He wasn't used to Spike's paternal tone, and didn't know what to say. Fortunately, the Englishman solved the boy's problem for him by gently brushing his lips against Xander's.
A disgusted snort from one of the elderly women broke them apart. Spike shot her an icy glare and growled softly. Turning back to Xander, the vampire slid an arm around his waist and led the boy back to the lair. "Come on, Xan. I want to hear every detail about your day and about this Slayer," he purred.
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Spike leaned back against his pillows, taking a long drag on his cigarette. It took him a few moments to sort through the multitude of information that Xander had sent to him telepathically. The boy himself sat on the end of the bed, happily snacking on the Chocolate Hurricane bars which Spike had stolen for him.
"She's young," Spike commented, stubbing out his cigarette in an ashtray when he saw that it was starting to bother Xander. "Younger than the others I've faced. That could be her downfall."
Xander nodded. "Yemph. Thee's." He swallowed. "Sorry. Yeah, she seemed overconfident, but she's really high-strung. A couple times she almost sensed me."
"Hm. What did you pick up for family?"
"Only child, lives with her mother and sometimes sees her father on weekends. Her father is a touchy subject. Her friends are Willow Rosenburg and Rupert Giles, who is also her Watcher," Xander said in a monotone, hungrily eyeing a bulge in Spike's shirt pocket. "She also has a boyfriend, but I couldn't pick up much other than he's older and her Watcher and the witch don't trust him," he added.
The hopeful glance at his pocket didn't escape Spike's notice. "Do you think you can get me more information about this bloke?" he pressed. This Slayer was quite unusual in that she had friends, not to mention a boyfriend. The young vampire was eager to learn more, for every detail would count when it came down to the final battle.
"Yeah. I'm going over her place to study tonight. I'll try to find out more then," the teen replied, his dark eyes flickering meaningfully back and forth between Spike's face and his pocket.
Spike nodded and pulled the last chocolate bar from his pocket and tossed it to Xander, who eagerly pounced on it. The vampire was content to wait for the time being.
Xander finished the chocolate bar and crawled up the bed and pressed himself close to Spike, his face buried in the crook of the vampire's neck. Spike breathed in the boy's scent, a feeling of utter contentment running through his body as he felt the warm body against his own. He was looking forward to Xander's upcoming birthday just as much as the telepath was; it had been getting increasingly harder to keep his touch light and platonic.
Spike was worried about Damien, though. He had no idea what his headstrong Childe would do when he claimed Xander, and hesitated to dwell on such thoughts.
He looked down at Xander, one hand coming up to run through the young man's long hair. He looked completely relaxed, a small smile playing on his lips as big puppy-dog eyes met the vampire's. He whispered something against Spike's neck as he fell asleep and the Brit's eyes widened when he deciphered what it was.
Replaying the words in his head, Spike fell back against the pillow in shock, the meaning of what Xander had said finally hitting him like a hammer blow. Unconsciously resorting back to a childhood method for dealing with stress, the Master vampire curled himself into a tight ball, still pressed against Xander, and let sleep claim him, the words "I love you" still replaying themselves through his head.