Buffy POV

Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns everything except for the plot of this fanfic

A.N: Some of the dialogue where Xander asks Buffy out is taken from the episode Prophecy Girl. In this fanfic the Master is already dead, and Willow is already gay.

"Buffy, I like you, a lot. And I know we're friends and we've had experiences. We fought bloodsucking fiends, and that's all been a good time. But I want more. I want to dance with you at Spring Fling." Xander said.

A million thoughts were flying through Buffy's head at once. She really liked Xander. He was funny, and he was surprisingly kind and sensitive, and he had a pulse, which was always a plus. He already knew that she was the Slayer and had stood by her through everything that had happened since she had come to Sunnydale. Now that she was really looking at Xander for the first time, she realized that he was actually really cute. His brown hair was wavy and slightly messed up in a very adorable way, and the brown eyes that she had looked at and taken for granted every day were a beautiful shade of brown. On the other hand, she and Xander had a great friendship, and she didn't want to ruin that if they broke up and things became awkward. She didn't think she could bear it if she and Xander broke up and they could barely talk to each other anymore.

"Xander, I don't know what to say. I don't want to spoil the friendship that we have." Buffy said.

"I don't want to spoil it either, but that's not the point, either you feel a thing or you don't."

Buffy really did feel something for Xander. She realized that if she didn't take a chance now, she would always regret not acting on her feelings for Xander. It would be worth the risk if their relationship wound up becoming something wonderful and they wound up being closer than they ever had before.

"I do. I feel something for you Xander. I want to go to Spring Fling with you."

Xander broke into a big smile. "Really? You do?"

"Yes, I do." When Buffy said this Xander did a little victory dance in his chair that Buffy thought was dorky, but in a cute way. Just then, Willow came back with her drink. She had been gone for much longer than Buffy thought was actually necessary. The three of them talked and laughed together until long after their curfews.

The next day, Buffy went to her morning training session with Giles before school. She was really hoping that Giles wouldn't mind her taking the night of Spring Fling off from patrolling. As long as no impending apocalypses that needed stopping or large scale demonic attacks came up in the week between now and Spring Fling, she just might be able to convince Giles to let her go. Buffy walked into the library and found Giles poring over a heavy, ancient book. Please tell me he's reading that because it's his idea of fun and not because he's researching how to stop some big bad. Giles wasn't cleaning his glasses like he usually did when he was upset about something, which was a good sign.

"Giles, please tell me Sunnydale isn't in danger again." Buffy pleaded.

"No, no all quiet on the western front." Giles reassured her. Buffy gave him a confused look.

"Don't you ever read anything besides magazines? It's a reference to a book. It means that everything is relatively calm. As calm as it ever is around here anyway." Giles said. Well there's a small miracle. The hellmouth is actually calm for once. Wonder how long that'll last Buffy thought with a little bit of bitterness. Sometimes she wished she lived somewhere where demon attacks and apocalypse weren't a regular occurrence and that she had a normal life where she could date guys without worrying about whether their date would be interrupted by the forces of darkness.

Buffy breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, because Xander asked me to Spring Fling and I was hoping that I could skip patrolling that night and go."

"Buffy, your duty as a Slayer is to protect the world from vampires and demons, not to go out on dates with boys."

"Giles, I'm sixteen years old. I need to have some semblance of a social life. I promise I won't let my dating get in the way of my Slaying duties. I'll keep up with my training and patrolling. I'll be a model Slayer." Buffy crossed her fingers hoping that Giles would say yes despite the fact that the last time she went on a date with a boy, it ended with him almost being killed by vampires. It would be different with Xander than it was with Owen. Xander knew about vampires and demons. He also knew how to handle himself in a crisis and had enough common sense not to go 1rushing into danger like Owen did on their disastrous first and only date.

"Okay, okay. You can go to Spring Fling with Xander as long as there isn't some particularly aggressive demon or vampire that needs Slaying."

"You're the best Giles."

"Now can we get on with your training? You still need some work with the crossbow."

Buffy trained with Giles until the warning bell rang and she had to go to her first period computer class, which she had with Willow. The hallways were filled with the noise and chaos that all high schools had during passing periods. It was a big contrast to the quiet library. Today they were having class in the computer lab because they were supposed to be working on a computer program for a project. Buffy sat at a computer next to Willow. Their teacher was busy walking around helping students who were struggling with the project.

"Buffy you'll never guess who I just asked to Spring Fling." Willow whispered excitedly.

"Who?" Buffy asked doing her best to look busy so that the teacher wouldn't notice that she and Willow were talking instead of working on their projects like they were supposed to be doing.

"That really cute new girl from my English class, Tara."

"And...? What did she say?"

"She said yes!"

"That's awesome! We should go dress shopping together after school and my training."

"Yeah, we should do that."

"Speaking of our love lives, I didn't want to bring this up when we were all at the Bronze, but I thought you had a crush on Angel."

"I did, but he hardly ever talks to me except to warn me about some grave danger. I finally realized that there was always a perfectly cute, nice guy right in front of me."

Just then Buffy noticed Cordelia and two of her friends walking toward them. All three of them were walking confidently with their heads held high, strutting around like they owned the place like usual. Buffy supposed that the confidence came with being the most popular girls in school. It was easy to be confident when you knew that nobody would dare to criticize you for fear of being ostracized. Buffy couldn't see how bitches like them got to be so popular. Had she really been as shallow as them at her old school before she became the Slayer and found out about vampires and demons? It was hard to believe.

"Oh look, it's dorky and dorkier" Cordelia sneered at them.

"Wow Cordelia, that's a good one. Really original." Buffy said sarcastically.

"You wouldn't know an original comeback if it hit you over the head with a brick" Cordelia scoffed as she and her friends walked to their computers.

"It's good to know you can always count on Cordelia to brighten your day." Willow said. Buffy shook with silent laughter and turned back to her computer screen.

"If I ever start acting like that, you have my permission to shoot me." Buffy said.

"I'd have to finish vomiting first"

"Now, we should get started on this program, because I don't have a clue what I'm doing, so this is going to take awhile." Buffy furrowed her brow in concentration as she tried to make some sense of the assignment.

"It's not so hard once you understand the basics. Here, let me help you." Willow and Buffy spent the rest of the period working on their programs. Buffy made some considerable progress, and the task didn't seem as difficult as it did at first. Willow was a real lifesaver. Buffy didn't know how she understood these complicated ideas so quickly. She was like a computer genius. When the bell rang, Willow and Buffy went off to their next classes with plans to meet by the library after Buffy's training session.

The rest of Buffy's classes dragged on in a haze of boredom. The bright spot in her day was her last class, which she had with Xander. They walked to their class together holding hands. Buffy really liked the feel of Xander's hand in hers. It made her feel tingly inside. When the bell rang and their class started, she had a hard time paying attention to the teacher and keeping her eyes off Xander. Xander seemed to be having a similar problem. He kept glancing over at Buffy trying (and failing) to be inconspicuous.

Soon it was time for Buffy to go to her training session with Giles. It seemed to drag on forever in her anticipation to go shopping with Willow. Finally, her training was over and she met Willow outside of the library. Buffy couldn't wait until Spring Fling. She was half nervous and half excited.

At the mall, Willow and Buffy spent hours looking through the dresses and tried on too many dresses to count. They had to take a dinner break in the food court halfway through. Willow wound up picking a pink dress that looked beautiful with her complexion and her red hair. Buffy chose a dark red strapless one. They even managed to find shoes to match. Willow got silver ones and buffy found some nice black ones. They went home with their arms full of shopping bags. The shopping trip was a huge success.

A.N Reviews are much apreciated. I hope you liked the chapter