Xander woke slowly, stretching in the darkened bedroom. He turned his head to find Buffy staring at him.

"Oh my God," she said softly. "It wasn't a dream."

"Sorry to disappoint," he said stiffly. He figured it was too good to be true. The Slayer declaring her love, seducing him. Seducing him! Now she regretted it and it was going to be one of those little secrets that never got mentioned again. Like Faith. He started to get out of bed, trying to hide his shame as he scanned the room for his pants.

Her hand shot out, grabbing his wrist and pulling him toward her. "No, you don't understand," she said, running her other hand over his face. "I'm happy it wasn't a dream." She giggled. "'Cuz it might not happen again if it was."

She kissed him and he sank back against her body incredulous. Some time later, she asked: "What are we going to tell people?"

"About this?" he asked, startled.

"About Spike, Xander," she said. "This is going to be out in the open so fast their heads will spin. But we need to explain Spike."

"You want to tell people about us?" Xander clarified.

She raised herself up on one elbow, looking down at him. "Of course I want to tell people about us. I may throw a parade to tell people about us. After all, two actual human people who used to date demons finally getting together should be worth a parade.

"What did you think? That it was going to be a secret?" she stared at him. "You don't want it to be a secret, do you?"

"God, no," he grinned at her. "I'm voting for the parade idea myself."

She giggled again.

"You know, I think that's the most I've heard you laugh since…" he stopped.

"Since I came back," she said softly, smiling one of the heartbreaking smiles that had made him follow her like a puppy in high school. "It's okay to say it. I know now I'll be okay. I have you, I have Willow and Dawn and Giles, and Tara and Anya…"

They stared at each other. "Anya!" they said together.

"Shit," Xander added. "Can we go back to 'secret'?"

"She's gonna go nuts, isn't she?" Buffy asked.

"That's for starters, I would guess," he said. "She may in fact go all vengency on both our asses."

He stared up at the ceiling. It had only been weeks since he left Anya at the altar. She was sure to assume that he and Buffy had been, uh, involved, prior to that.

"Maybe we should wait to tell anyone, for a while, at least," Xander suggested tentatively. He hated the idea of sneaking around. It reminded him of Buffy and Spike's secretiveness.

Buffy's bedroom door burst open, and Dawn stood there, framed in the light from the hallway.

"Buffy, Spike's coat is in the hallway and he's no where around and I found a bunch of stakes and OH MY GOD, Xander is in your bed!"

Xander scrambled to yank a blanket over himself, distinctly hearing a "What?" from somewhere down the hall. Sounded like Willow, he thought.

"Dawn, close the door," Buffy said.

"What is going on? Are you and Xander, I mean…What is going on?"

"Dawn! Close.The.Door." Buffy barked. The door slammed.

"I am not moving from this spot until I have some answers," they heard Dawn shout through the door.

"Dawnie, what's going on?" Xander groaned. It was Willow all right.

"Xander is in there with Buffy and they're both naked!" Dawn shouted.

"What?" Willow said. The door flew open again and Willow stood there next to Dawn, mouth hanging open.

"Willow, close the door, we'll be out in a minute," Xander said as calmly as he could.

"Darn right you will, Mister," Willow said. The door slammed closed again. Buffy and Xander looked at each other.

"I think you got your parade," he said. They both burst out laughing as they circled the room finding Xander's scattered clothes. He watched Buffy dress, marveling both at her almost feline grace and the fact that almost all her bruises had disappeared, except for one dark one across her lower back. His face darkened as he thought of what Spike had tried to do to her.

Buffy pulled on a shirt and crossed the room to kiss him. "Well, shall we face the band?" she asked.

"Sure we couldn't just stay in here?"

"We might need food, bathroom, things like that eventually."

Xander's stomach growled.

"Or now," she said, rolling her eyes.

"What about Spike?" he hissed at her as she opened the door. She looked back at him, and he was glad to see that the dark circles that had been ever present under her eyes since she came back were lightening.

"We tell the truth. To everyone, about everything," she said.

"This should be fun," he muttered under his breath. She took his hand in hers and led him out of the room.

Willow and Dawn were standing there, both with their arms crossed. Tara was hovering in the doorway of the room she had shared with Willow, small smile on her face. Xander looked at her. He had heard the two witches were back together. She winked.

"Explanations, please," Willow demanded, looking from Xander to Buffy.

"Well, you see, Will, it was like this," Xander began.

"Spike tried to rape me. Xander killed him. We realized we're in love with each other. We had sex. And now we need food," Buffy said. She pulled Xander past them and down the hall toward the kitchen.

Dawn and Willow looked dazed. Tara covered her mouth, turning laughter into a cough.

"When did Buffy start talking like Anya?" Dawn demanded of Tara. "Is this a sleeping with Xander thing?

"Wait, did she just say Spike is dead?"

"Did she just say they're in love with each other?" Willow asked Tara.

"Don't know, probably not, yes and yes," Tara said. "Taking the questions in order, that is."

Dawn and Willow looked at each other, then after Xander and Buffy. They could hear laughter floating up from downstairs.

"Whatever happened," Tara said softly. "I think it's a good thing. For both of them."

"I want answers!" Dawn shouted. She stormed down the stairs into the kitchen. And found herself staring into the muzzle of a gun.

"Ah, the Slayer's little bitch of a sister. You can go stand over there by Xander the Useless," said the man with the gun. Xander took Dawn's hand and pulled her behind him. Buffy was standing on the other side of Xander, in front of the back door.

"Warren, stop this," Xander said. "This is crazy. You don't want to do this."

"Crazy? Crazy?" Warren demanded. He screamed at Buffy. "You destroyed my gang, destroyed it, do you understand? You even wrecked my lair, you bitch."

Behind Warren, Xander could see Willow. The front door was behind her. Go, Willow, he thought desperately. Get help. But Willow crept forward, Tara behind her. Each of the witches had swords in their hands.

"So, who's going to be first?" Warren sneered. He moved the gun from Buffy to Xander to Dawn, who was huddled behind Xander's back. "I think we'll let the Slayer watch her sister die first."

He pointed at Dawn, who screamed and started walking out from behind Xander, eyes vacant. Xander grabbed her, but whatever spell Warren was using was strong, and he was pulled along with the teenager. Xander could see Warren's finger tightening on the trigger. He fought to shove Dawn back behind him. The gun banged, and Xander shoved Dawn into Buffy and they both tumbled to the floor.

"Xander, no!" Buffy screamed. Xander felt as if a club had hit him, hard, in the upper ribs, and he looked down to see blood pouring down his left side. He sank to his knees, holding his hand against his side as if to stop the blood. Warren laughed.

Suddenly, the swords the witches were holding leapt forward of their own accord, slamming into Warren's back and jutting out his chest. Blood burst from Warren's mouth and his spasming hand squeezed the trigger as he fell, the bullet smashing through the glass of the back door.

Damn, Xander thought, looking down at the blood. I really liked this shirt. All four of the women were screaming as he fell face first on the ground, parallel to the corpse of Warren Means.