What with most of my clothing still in boxes since I moved out of Willow's place, I didn't have a lot to wear. Faith offered to loan me something, but I really didn't want to play Faith-lite. That's not my style, and I didn't want Xander thinking about Faith when he was with me …

Damn. There goes that jealousy thing again …

Finally, I decided to settle on my most comfortable jeans and a T-shirt. I've never been a fashion plate, and girly-girl has never been my thing. It was still pretty warm out, but I wore a jean jacket anyway because it had an inner pocket sewn in it to hold my stake. I'd sooner forget my underwear—if I wore any—than my stake …

"Hi, Ken. Ready for the Xander Harris experience?" Xander's smiling at me, and I can't help smiling back.

"I've got my E-Ticket, Xander."

"So color me curious, Ken. Where are we heading?"

"It's in walking distance. I think you'll have fun."

"I've got the company of a beautiful woman all to myself, so how can it not be fun?"

"You think I'm beautiful?" I can't believe I just said that. Am I TRYING to make myself look like an idiot?

"Well, yeah. I may have only one eye, but I'm not blind." Xander smiles sweetly at me and touches my cheek. "Trust me on this, Ken."

There's just something about the way he says things like that that makes me feel … happy. I'd had been lonely for so long that I'd forgotten what it felt like to have someone pay attention to me. And when someone like Xander Harris looks at you like that … it really is amazing.

"Thank you, Xander. Come on. Let's go."

We only had to walk a few blocks before we reached the street fair that I had heard about from one of the girls. There were elephant ears and corn dogs and cotton candy, and just about every other form of junk food you can imagine. People dressed in clown outfits were running around the streets.

Xander shudders. "Clowns. Clowns are evil."

I squeeze his hand. "Don't worry, Xander. I'll protect you."

"Saved by the Slayer. Thanks, Ken." He squeezes my hand in return.

And somehow, it doesn't seem like I have to let go of his hand. His hand is larger than mine, larger than Willow's. It's strong and callused from the work that he does, and it feels like it belongs in mine.

"Anytime, Xan. Anytime."

"You know, in spite of the fearsome clowns, I think that this was a great idea. I feel like I've died and come to junk food heaven."

"There are corn dogs in heaven?"

"There should be."

I don't know how much we eat, but I do know that somehow no matter what, we always wind up holding hands again. We're sharing cotton candy when we walk past a ball booth vendor.

"C'mon, Mister. Win a stuffed animal for your little lady."

"What do you think, 'little lady'?"

"Go on, Xan. Give it a shot. That stuffed beagle is calling my name."

"Yeah?"

"Well, he's lisping because his tongue is stuck out, but I definitely think he's trying to say my name."

"Far be it for me to disappoint you and the beagle."

He gives it a good try, but he can't seem to quite knock the cups down to win the prize. After three tries, the beagle is still on the wall, the vendor is grinning, and Xander is looking ready to pop.

"Mind if I give it a shot, honeybunch?" I ask him with a grin and a wink, doing my best to look all girly and helpless. "It looks like fun."

There's a gleam in his eye when Xander hands me his last ball and says, "Sure, snugglelips."

I tossed the ball almost negligently at the cups, and they went down. "Oh. Did I do that?"

"I'm sure it was just a fluke, sweetheart. Why don't you give it another try?" Xander grins.

I won about half a dozen stuffed animals before the vendor finally asked us to leave. Laughing, we gave all but the beagle away to some kids and made our way back to the school.

"Does it bother you?"

"What?"

"That I was able to out throw you."

"Are you kidding? I spent my teen years having a crush on a girl who could bench-press a Yugo."

"You had a crush on Buffy?" That was something that I hadn't heard from Willow in all the time we were together. To be fair, I wasn't really that interested in anything but her anyway, so even if she had told me I wouldn't have paid attention.

"Yes. Unfortunately, the Buffster's tends to prefer older men who lack pulses, so I never really had a shot with her." I'm alert to hear if there's any bitterness in his voice, but I can't find it.

"Are you still in love with her?"

"Buffy?" Xander chuckles. "No. I can't imagine a time when I won't love her, but I'm not in love with her. We've been through a lot, and I'd follow her into hell again if she needed me to, but it's not a romantic love. She's more like a sister to me … a sister who just doesn't have much time for me right now."

"You miss her."

"I do. Her and Willow. Even G-Man. Dawnie is the only one I speak to on a regular basis now. They're busy doing the whole 'We're in charge of saving the world now' thing. I'm lucky if I see them once every couple of months."

"You saved the world a lot too, Xan—and I'm not just talking about the yellow crayon story."

"Thanks, Ken. That means a lot to me."

"No problem, honeybunch." We stop at the door to the school again. "Well, thanks for going out with me, Xan. It was fun."

"There was snacky goodness, and stuffed animals. It's all good." He pauses. "And I got to spend the evening with you. It was a lot of fun for me too."

"So …"

"Yeah …"

I look at him.

He looks at me.

"I guess I had better get going. See you soon?"

"Yeah."

"Good night." He kisses my cheek and then turns to go.

"Xander?"

"Yeah?"

Without stopping to think about what I'm doing—if I think, I know I'll never have the guts—I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him passionately on the lips.