Coming Together

Rating: R eventually

Pairings: Buffy/Oz: Xander/Willow,

Summary: After Oz and Cordelia find Xander with Willow, Cordelia leaves Sunnydale for good. Oz doesn't know how to cope, so he goes off of the deep end, until Buffy helps him. Angel having told Buffy he was leaving her, she was going nuts too. Season: Mid-Season Three.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all, the mastermind that is Joss owns everything.

Chapter one

Buffy was in shock. She was walking home from what could have been the worst night of her life thus far. Angel was leaving her? She'd just got him back, so this just wasn't fair! Maybe he'd never really loved her, even though he'd been sure to tell her that he did. Was it another woman? Had he gone evil again, and she just didn't know about it? This was terrible, she needed a friend to talk to, but all of her friends hated Angel. When she got to her house, she went up to her room, threw off her clothes, and crawled into bed. After she'd been laying there for awhile she, she got up and went over to the window. She lifted the curtains, she didn't care that she didn't have any clothes on, she was just making sure the window was locked. This was the first time s he'd ever locked her window, because she knew that Angel came in to see her sometimes, so she just never cared, but she did now. After that was done, she curled back into bed, and went into a fitful sleep.

Oz needed to pull himself out of this stupor. Oz had tried to, but the image of Willow with Xander was branded into his skull. He would never have thought that a girl like Willow would have cheated on him. Not that Willow wasn't a great person, but she was supposed to be his. Not to get all wolfy , but he'd pretty much put his mark on her. Since the fist time he'd ever saw her, He'd been in awe of her. Sure at the time, he'd had a slight crush on Buffy, but he'd just thought Buffy was the ditzy friend of hers. That was of course before he found out that Buffy was a very intelligent person. Willow had gotten into his system so easily, that it scared him. Most girls didn't stand a chance with Oz, because they had to have substance. He thought that Willow had been the one, but he was wrong.

Buffy woke up the next morning, and she was still in a funk. She couldn't shake the feeling. It was as if someone had placed an anvil on her chest, because breathing was becoming an issue. She quickly dressed for school, because she was going to be late. She was supposed to meet Giles in the library before classes started, but it didn't look like that was going to happen. When she arrived at her first class, she wasn't late, but it was a close call. Willow ran into the class late, and gave her a strange look. Buffy ignored the looks that both Xander and Willow were throwing her, and payed attention to the teacher. About two months ago, Oz and Cordelia had walked in on Xander and Willow at the old factory. They had been making with the smoochies, and Cor and Oz haven't been the same since. Oz completely broke up with Willow saying he couldn't handle the fact that she'd cheated on him. Cordelia broke up with Xander for the same reason, only she wasn't as nice about it. Xander and Willow had been devastated for about a month and a half, but recently started dating each other. It was Buffy's turn to be dumped it looked like. It wasn't any fun!

Willow didn't know what was wrong with Buffy, but something was definitely bothering her. She'd just have to catch her after the class was over, but she didn't. Buffy was the first person to leave the class, and head to her next one. Willow didn't have second period with Buffy, and neither did Xander. Why was Buffy avoiding her? Had she done something, that she wasn't aware of? It bothered her throughout the day. Every period that she had with Buffy, she had a reason not converse with them. She even ditched them at lunch. Cordelia noticing the drama that was happening walked up to them. " Oh, has Buffy finally realized what losers she's been hanging out with? Maybe I'll talk to her. If she's finally woke up, maybe she'll want to hang out with the real people of high school." With that she walked away.

After school Buffy went to the library as she'd planned. The look on Giles's face told her that he didn't appreciate her not showing up this morning. She sighed and resigned herself to feel his wrath. " Buffy, are you alright? When you didn't show up this morning, we were all dreadfully worried, but then Willow came in here between classes to tell me that you were here, and went to all of your classes. Buffy hung her head. " I'm sorry, Giles, I didn't mean to worry you, I just woke up really late, and I didn't want to be late for my first class. I'm really sorry." Giles looked at her with a smile on her face. " It's quite all right, Buffy. Is there something you want to talk about?" Before Buffy could answer, Oz walked through the door. Giles smiled at him. " Oz, hello, how are you?" Oz nodded, never was much to speak. " I'm doing okay, Can I use the cage today? I broke the lock on mine." At the look of distress that crossed over Giles's face, he quickly amended. " I didn't do anything. I hit my head on the beam, and when I woke up I was just outside of my cage. I've even got the bump to prove it, Hi Buffy." She waved at him. Giles told him it was absolutely fine that he used the cage, and hung up some towels for his privacy. Buffy walked up to him, before he'd shed any of his clothes.

" How are you doing?" He shrugged his shoulders. " I'm doing alright I guess." She smiled. " We've missed you coming around, you know." He looked away, so she added. " Hey, I'm not judging you. If you don't want to come to the meetings, it's perfectly understandable. You can ask Giles here, I've been trying to duck out for awhile." Giles nodded his agreement to her statement. " Sorry about that, Buffy, it's just been kind of hard. I'm finally over it now, so if you still want me to come, I will." She smiled. " Well, of course I want you to come, Oz. It would be great to have you back. Say, do you want me to watch you tonight?" He nodded. " Yes, please, I'd rather you do it, then someone else." She smiled at him. " Okay, I'll just go home, to get changed and a book or two. Giles, will you stay here, until I get back?" When he nodded she said good-bye for now to Oz, and headed home