Chapter 3. Herbie Goes to Sunnydale.

The next day, Buffy goes out to her car and sees that Xander is walking over to her. Buffy quickly gets into her car and tries to ignore him, but he knocks on the window. She rolls down her window.

"Hi," says Buffy with a very nervous look.

"Is there something wrong?" asks Xander.

"No, there's nothing wrong."

"I mean with your car."

"Oh, you heard."

"I think it woke up the whole neighborhood."

"Well, it's definitely something with the horn and the wheel. It's kind of hard to turn."

"Really? Mind if I give it a try?"

"Sure." Buffy moves over to the passenger seat and Xander gets into the car.

"Nice interior." Buffy just smiles. Xander drives the car to school and it works perfectly for him. Buffy is very confused by this. When they enter the parking lot, Buffy sees Spike next to a parking space. Xander drives over to the space, but by some strange force the car continues to go over the bump and almost runs over Spike. Spike backs away a little freaked.

"Oh my gosh," says Buffy. "You almost hit Spike!" Buffy gets out of the car to help Spike.

"I didn't do it on purpose," says Xander. "I pressed the breaks." Xander looks at his foot, which was on the break all the way.

"What the bloody hell was he trying to do?" says Spike.

"I'm so sorry, Spike." Xander moves the car back and gets out.

"Why was he driving your car?"

"He's my mechanic. He was just checking it out." Buffy grabs the keys from Xander's hands and walks away with Spike. Willow approaches Xander as he continues to figure out how the car got over the sidewalk when he was pressing the breaks and what reason would make the car do that.

"Xander?" says Willow trying to bring him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, Will?"

"Why were you in Buffy's car?"

"I'm her mechanic like she said." Xander nods his head and heads inside.

"Aren't we tense?" Willow follows him. "Hey, wait up."

After school, Buffy drives her car into the driveway and gets out. She looks over across the street and walks over to Xander's house. When she is about to knock on the door, someone startles her from behind.

"Hey," says Xander on the side walk. "I'm not home." Buffy turns around and takes a deep breath.

"I'm sorry about what happened at school," says Buffy. "I shouldn't have blamed you. It's the car that is malfunctioning."

"I can see. Let me get my tools and I'll come and take a look at it."

"Thanks." Buffy gives him a sweet smile and heads back to her house. Xander enters his house and runs upstairs. He tosses his bag on his bed and takes off his shirt.

Buffy heads to her room, too. She goes to her closet and pulls out her sweats, so she can take a run while Xander messes with her car. When she closes her closet, she sees Xander without his shirt again. He sees her looking again and Buffy ducks. She moves to the side of the window.

Xander, from his house, smiles at that. He begins to think if he should wear a shirt or not. Xander smiles at himself and decides not torture Buffy and puts on a shirt. He heads outside with his tools as Buffy exits her house in her sweats. She is wearing a pink halter top and skirt that have shorts under them. Xander stares at her and completely phases out.

"Xander?" says Buffy walking up to him and waving her hand in his face.

"Oh, sorry," says Xander. "I was just thinking." He moves over to the car. Buffy starts to stretch out.

"I'm going to go for a run. Be back in a few." Xander looks at her as she bends over to touch her toes. He quickly closes his eyes and tells himself he should have come out without the shirt. She then heads down the block.

A little while later, she comes back out of breath. She looks at Xander, who seems to be having trouble locating what the problem of the car is. Buffy walks up to him and he gets startled.

"Sorry." Buffy laughs a little. "Any luck?"

"Everything is perfect. Oil's fine. There is nothing wrong with this car."

"Then why did it try to trample my boyfriend?"

"I don't know."

"I'm going to go in and get some water. Want a bottle?"

"Sure." Xander wipes the sweat off his forehead as Buffy heads inside to get the waters. The sun is scorching and the rattling in his brain on how this car honks its own horn by itself, keeps going forward when the breaks are being used and the steering wheel is hard to move at times. Buffy comes out and hands one of the bottles to Xander. Xander takes the bottle and takes a large gulp. He then throws some on his face.

"Mind if I take off my shirt?" Buffy's eyes get big and she begins to stare at his chest. She quickly comes to.

"Um, sure." Buffy walks over to the other side of her car. Xander smirks as he takes off his shirt and puts it over his shoulder.

"Maybe it's the…" Xander scratches his head. Buffy decides to give herself a cat wash before she goes over to Xander. She tries not to stare at him, but it was hard.

"So nothing." Xander sighs.

"It's a mystery."

"My gosh, it's so hot." Buffy heads under one of the trees in her front yard and then she sees the hose and gets a grin. Xander is still behind the car, thinking about the problem with it. Buffy turns on the water and pulls the hose over to where Xander is. "Xander, give up. Why don't you close the hood?" Xander nods his head and closes the hood. He then gets soaked by Buffy, who squirts him with the hose.

"You little vixen." He takes his wet shirt off his shoulder and starts to twist it.

"Now, Xander. I'm a girl; you can't do that to me." Buffy starts backing up.

"Who says?" Xander runs after her and tries to wip her with his wet shirt. She keeps wetting him with the hose. They laugh as Xander grabs the hose and points it at Buffy. They are both soaken wet and feel very refresh.

"Okay, we so need to stop." Buffy drops the hose and looks at Xander all wet. They are both breathing heavily and smile at each other.

"I think we needed that." Buffy moves in closer and their lips are five inches away, when Buffy stops. Xander stops right after she did and looks down. "I gotta go."

"Okay, bye." Buffy bows her head and feels completely stupid. Xander picks up his shirt and tools. He then heads to his house. Buffy closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "Xander?" She calls him just before he enters his house. He turns around and looks at her. "My friends and I are going to the Bronze tonight. Do you want to come with me?"

"Yeah." Xander gives her a big smile. "I'd like that." Buffy smiles back and heads into her house.

Later, Buffy exits her house in a mini skirt and a small shirt covered by a leather jacket. She pulls out of the driveway and looks over at Xander's house as he is coming out. He is wearing a deep blue shirt, with a black under shirt and some blue jeans. Xander gets into her car and they drive off.

Buffy and Xander remain quiet, until they stopped at a red light. They are both avoiding their gaze. Suddenly, the doors lock on their own and the car makes a quick left turn.

"Buffy, where are you going?" asks Xander. "The Bronze is that way." Xander points to the other direction.

"I'm not doing anything, it's the car," says Buffy trying to turn the wheel, but it won't budge. She presses on the breaks and the car just keeps going faster. Xander then looks at the locks and notices that they are locked. He tries to pull it up, but it won't budge either. "What the hell is wrong with this car?"

"Calm down, Buffy." Buffy glares at him.

"Calm down, you tell me. Xander, the car is driving by itself." Buffy lets go of the wheel and pulls her legs up onto the seat. Xander's eyes widen.

"There is a reasonable explanation."

"Like what?"

"Give me a second and I'll find it." The car makes another turn and enters some wooded area. It stops abruptly on a quiet hill overlooking the town. The car turns off. Buffy tries to open the door, but it won't open.

"Great, we are stuck here." Xander looks at their surroundings

"Is this make out point?"