Title: You Have 30 Minutes Or Else

Author: White Werewolf

Rating: PG or T Nothing worse than the show.

Category: Buffy/Xander…I know the challenge asks for Xander, but who

am I kidding. I'm getting into a very strong BX mood again.

Disclaimer: Buffy is owned by Whedon, UPN, and Fox. I don't own anything.

Summery: It's been a long day for Buffy and Xander, all they want is a

pizza they made last night, but what happens when their plans get

destroyed by the people they love the most.

--------------------------------------

"Willow, is there anything to eat?"

The redhead in question walked into the kitchen and saw Dawn going through the refrigerator.

She pointed out, "Take a look, Dawn. Xander just went shopping the other day, the whole fridge is full."

Dawn turned to her, "What are you talking about? There's nothing! It's all disgusting. I mean, who likes chopped liver or who wants to eat broccoli? Are you sure it was Xander was the one who went shopping? If it's him, it's usually Junk Food R Us.'"

Willow looked at the fridge and had to agree.

"I mean, where's the Twinkies? Where' the hamburger? Where's the leftover Chinese food? I want my Lo Mein. There's nothing here, but healthy food."

Willow sighed, "Ever since he and Buffy got together, nothing but healthy and nutritional food has been around. I swear, it's like living with my parents again. Only that Mom and Dad are Buffy and Xander, and not Sheila and Ira Rosenberg."

Dawn closed the fridge. "I mean, a year ago, Buffy and Xander acted like they were Mom and Dad, only that they were together, and not separated. They're wasn't anyone but us. Spike disappeared and you were in England with Giles. That was a good Summer, now they actually worked through their problems and created a more strict home life."

Willow added, "They only want what's best for you, Dawn."

"But why drag us into it?" Faith asked as she entered the kitchen. "Anything good in there?"

Dawn said, "Take a look for yourself. There's nothing. Nadda. Zippidy-doo-dah."

Faith opened the fridge. At first glance, she said, "What do you mean? There's a ton of shit in here."

Andrew grinned as he walked inside, "Any Hot Pockets?"

Faith smirked, "Got to those earlier, Andy."

He snarled, "Faith…remember we talked about that? Where's Xander?"

She grinned, "X isn't here to save you, Nerd Boy. He's at work."

"Faith, stop calling me names."

Dawn rolled her eyes, "Andrew, chill. We're all hungry. There's nothing to eat!"

"Here's some tuna." Faith pointed out.

"Yeah, that's a week old." The former key said. "If you want to eat it, then that's cool. It's your stomach."

Faith smiled, "Doesn't matter to me, D. I am a slayer after all."

She shrugged, "Doesn't matter. Thanks to Willow, being a slayer is nothing special."

Andrew reminded them, "Guys, focus. I'm hungry. What's there to eat?"

Dawn looked in the fridge and spotted something behind the carrots. "Hey, there's a whole pizza back here."

As soon as she said pizza, every one turned to her. Dawn took out the carrots and noticed it was separated into two halves. One side was with pepperoni, hamburger, and sausage. The other side had mushrooms and green peppers.

She placed the dish on the counter and put the carrots back. "There's more than enough for all of us."

"Shouldn't we save some for Buffy and Xander? I mean, it wouldn't be fair."

Dawn looked at the young blond, "Andrew, chill. We're hungry, they know they buy food for everyone, and we're hungry we should eat. I mean, they cannot deny us food. What kind of parents' would they be if they didn't feed their children?"

Andrew reminded her, "The kind of parents' that really aren't parents."

Faith growled, "You hungry or not? We could just as well not feed you."

He huffed, "Fine. Then I'll just order one."

Dawn grinned, "Be sure you have lots of garlic on that."

Willow asked, "Are vampires afraid of garlic?" They all looked at each other and shrugged.

"Never really thought about it before." Faith said.

Willow was about to say something when Dawn interrupted, "If we weren't talking about this now, half the pizza would be gone and we'd still have more food to eat."

Faith shook her head, "Fuck this. Red, get the plates."

----

Same Time

Xander slammed the door shut and entered his office. After flipping his light back on, he walked to his desk, pulled out his chair and cursed, "Dammit."

He nearly slammed his forehead on the desktop.

"Sometimes, I fuckin hate this job." He said to himself.

"Only sometimes?"

He tiredly looked up and spotted Buffy standing in the corner. Seeing her caused him to show a small smile. "When did you get here, Buffy?"

She walked over to him and sat down on his desk. "After we talked on the phone I realized that you were in a pretty shitty mood." He huffed, "That's putting it mildly. You didn't have to work here today."

Buffy shrugged, "I was working with Giles today. He called me up at 4 am, saying that I had to be in front of the council by 6:00."

Xander replied, "Well, I'm not a slayer. I need more sleep then you do."

She shot back, "That doesn't matter, Xand. Don't think you're the only one who had a rotten day. It's nearly 7:00 at night, and I'm exhausted."

He yelled, "So am I! I'm also hungry! I'm tired! I'm annoyed! And I'm tired!"

She giggled, "You already said that."

He smirked as he got up from his seat. "I guess I did. Sorry. But you get what I'm saying. I'm tired."

She got up as well and wrapped her arms around him. "Yeah, I do. We're both tired and hungry and annoyed."

Xander said, "At least you didn't have to be in a room full of teenage girls mooning over that the actor who plays the future Brainiac!"

She scowled, "Who?"

"That actor…I don't know his name. James something or other."

Buffy figured out who he was talking about. She rolled her eyes, "That guy from Smallville? Please, I don't see it! What's so cute about him?"

He returned, "I know. Do they ever realize the guy's like over 40 years old?"

She smirked, "And people thought you were jealous over a guy that I dated who was over 200 years old."

Xander added, "People can be fickle."

She sighed as she leaned her forehead against his chest. "I know."

He kissed the top of her head and sniffed her hair. "I love that shampoo of yours."

Buffy grinned, "Took a shower before I got here. Believe me, I needed it."

Xander remembered something, "You know what?"

She looked up at him, "What?"

Xander reminded her, "We made that pizza last night. From scratch. How about we go home, heat it up, and chow down."

Buffy smiled, "Sounds like a plan. Pizza is just what we need."

He let go of her and went for her jacket. "Why did you come here?"

Buffy admitted, "I knew you needed some cheering up. And to tell you the truth, so did I."

Xander said, "It worked. C'mon, let's go home." He opened her leather jacket and she slipped her arms in the sleeves and pulled the jacket on herself. She smiled her thanks and went for the door.

He then went for his jacket and followed suit. Turning off the lights as they left.

---

Back at the House

Faith took a bite of her slice, "Damn, that was good."

Dawn admitted, "Who knew Xander was a good cook?"

Willow smiled, "He has his moments, Dawn. Xander always made food for Buffy and I during special occasions."

Andrew put his plate, "Don't you think what we did was wrong?"

Faith glared over at him, "Get over it, Andy. We were hungry, there was no food, the only food we wanted to eat was the pizza, and what good are starving people to Buffy and Xander. The way I see it, what happens if the house was attacked, and we were starving."

Dawn nodded, "Yeah, we'd be vamp food sure enough. Then how would they feel knowing that the only thing that would of helped us survive was food, and we had to eat their pizza in order to be in proper fighting ability. Therefore, if we didn't eat this pizza, we'd have more of a chance to die. So, what we're doing is only benefiting us."

Willow looked at them strangely, "Strangely enough, what you say makes sense."

Faith shrugged, "Of course it does, Red. Now, quit trying to rationalize with Drew and slap me another slice."

"Which side?"

"I ain't trying to lose weight, pass over the one with the sausage, hamburger, and pepperoni."

Willow obliged as Andrew slumped down in his seat. "Maybe your right." The younger man said.

"Of course we're right," Dawn reminded him, "so do us all a favor, and chill."

"What the HELL do you think your doing?"

The four Scoobies turned to the door and spotted an angry Buffy and an equally angered Xander.

Faith smiled, "We're eating, B. What does it look like we're doing?"

Xander growled, "You're eating the pizza Buffy and I made last night!" Xander then went to the table and his eyes widened, "They ate it all!"

Buffy glared at them, "Xander and I needed that pizza that tonight!" Dawn said in her defense, "We were hungry."

Willow pointed out, "And there wasn't any food!"

Andrew shook his head, "They made me eat it!"

Buffy yelled, "The whole fridge is full! What do mean there isn't anything to eat! We went shopping yesterday!"

The younger Summers opened the fridge and pointed, "You expect us to eat this! Where's the Twinkies? Where's the hamburger? Where's the left over Chinese food?"

Buffy shot back, "Excuse me if we wanted you to eat healthy for a change!"

Dawn looked at her sister's boyfriend, "Why aren't you saying anything to help us out? You love those types of food!"

Xander growled, "Your forgetting one thing, Dawn. That pizza was Buffy's and mine. We made it. We bought the vegetables, we bought the meat, we bought the cheese, the dough, and we bought the tomato sauce! We had a crappy day at work, and that pizza was the only thing that was going to salvage our day!"

Buffy started to get ever more irritated, "And now that's gone!"

Faith said, "Y'know if your so hungry, B. And you want pizza, go order one."

The elder Slayer stalked toward her, "Follow your own advice, F. You should've gone out to order one!"

Andrew said, "That's what I suggested."

Xander shook his head, "Nope, that's not going to happen. That's too easy."

Buffy said to him, "What do you think they should do?" He grinned, "Here's what's going to happen! Buffy and I are sick of doing all the work, of doing all the responsibilities for our home. It was the same back in Sunnydale. Two years have passed, and nothing has changed. They're going to learn some responsibilities. And first, they're going to make us a pizza. They're going to go to the supermarket, re-buy all the ingredients, and make us a pizza."

Buffy grinned, "I like that idea."

"Now hold on here." Faith said.

She shook her head, "Nope. That's the rule. You want to live here, you do the work. And a pizza is the perfect thing to start! You're going to make a pizza in 30 minutes or else!"

"It takes longer then that," Xander supplied her with. "First buy the ingredients, then come home, and then start the 30 minutes. Pizza places used to do that all the time."

Dawn yelled, "And what do you mean or else!"

Xander argued, "Or else you four leave and find some other place to live. Buffy and I are more than willing to have the house to ourselves. So, either shape up or ship out!"

Buffy glared, "Now go!"

Andrew added, "All of us?"

Xander nodded, "All of you. Now go!"

They mumbled all the way out the door. "Alright we're going. But we don't like this." Faith said.

"Tough. Now go." Buffy said.

And then they went.

As soon as the door slammed shut, Buffy yelled, "I can't believe them!"

And in response, Xander chucked to himself. Buffy looked at him strangely,

"What are you laughing at? They ate our pizza!"

Xander grinned, "Do me a favor, Buff. Go to the fridge and tell me that it was the pizza behind the carrots?"

"Why?"

He added, "Just do it."

"Ok." Buffy said. She went to the fridge and checked it. "Yeah, it's gone."

Xander added, "Now check under the lima beans."

Buffy looked at him strangely but did it anyway. Her eyes immediately widened.

"When did you make this?"

Xander grinned as she pulled out another pizza. "You don't spend 8 years living with teenage girls and not pick up a few tricks. After you went to bed, I made another one. Just in case something like this happened. Not to mention I put the Twinkies in my underwear drawer."

Buffy immediately awarded him with a thousand watt smile. "No one separates Xander from his Twinkies." She placed the pizza on the table, closed the fridge, and pulled him down for a kiss.

After they separated, but with them still holding each other, she

said, "I got the best boyfriend."

"Don't you forget it."

Buffy said to him, "But you sent them to get pizza ingredients. Won't they notice a pizza was here?"

Xander smiled, "Not if we eat it before they get home. That way we get two pizzas for the price of one. And after the day we had, we definitely deserve it."

"Why send them out then?"

Xander reminded her, "To teach them a lesson. There's nothing such as a free ride. They needed this lesson."

Buffy had to agree. His girlfriend kissed him again, "I love you"

"I love you too," Xander said. "Now, let's eat us a pizza."

Buffy smiled, "Let's."

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THE END