Chapter 9.

Buffy's woodcraft skills need work. Xander thought to himself as he easily kept track of the two women trying to follow him inconspicuously. Is sneaking around still called woodcraft skills if it's in a city? the random thought struck him. He banished the idea as he approached the cafe. Looking in, he could see her already waiting for him as he was on-the-dot on time. He positioned himself with his back to the door as he sat down, something that Methos never would have done, but in this case, hiding his 'date' from prying eyes was more important than his own safety.

"Xander. Glad you could make it." she said as he sat down.

"Of course, Joyce. I never pass up coffee with a beautiful woman. Especially not one who wants to give me money." Xander flirted.

"Oh, stop." Joyce replied jokingly. It was really too bad she was seeing Ted. Otherwise she would have been tempted to flirt back.

Their drinks arrived and they got down to business. "So, how'd we do?"

Joyce smiled. "$50,250."

Xander nodded. 50k was about what he'd been expecting.

"Well, after my commissions on the buy and the sale," Joyce leaned in and whispered so as not to be heard by the passing waitress. "I'm now holding a little over $45,000 of your money. What do you want me to do with it?"

Xander opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by a shrill voice. "Mom!? You're dating Xander!?"

Xander turned in time to see Buffy catch Willow as she fainted dead away.

The entire coffee shop stopped what they were doing to watch the drama.

"Buffy! I'm not dating Xander. We met here to discuss business. Private business." Joyce said sternly. She was red-faced with embarrassment. Buffy was going to get a stern lecture when they got home.

Joyce stood and walked to her daughter. Xander followed and took Willow from Buffy's arms. He knew Buffy could carry her easier than he could, but it would look weird and they already had enough people staring at them, though most went back to what they were doing once it was clear that it was just a misunderstanding.

"Come on, young lady. We are going home to have a talk about personal boundaries. Will you be okay, Xander?"

"Yeah. I'll take Willow home and explain the situation to her. We can meet again tomorrow to finish today's business?"

"That'll be fine." Joyce assured him then started dragging her daughter home.

"I'm not dating Joyce Summers." were the first words out of Xander's mouth when Willow finally woke up.

He went on to explain that she was doing some art buying and selling for him since he was still a minor and didn't have the time anyway.

"You set us up." Willow realized.

"Of course." Xander grinned.

But Willow wasn't smiling. "That was a mean trick." she accused.

Xander got similarly serious. "Why? I'm not dating you or Buffy. If I want to date someone, it's neither of your business." he said flatly.

"Your last girlfriend tried to drain the life out of me. I think it is my business." Willow countered.

Xander sighed. "Willow. You're my sister and I love you. But if I wake up crazy one day and want to date Cordelia Chase, it still wouldn't be your business. And I'm not sure you realize how scared you make me that you think it is. I'm going to be frank with you; I think you're a little obsessed with me and it's not healthy."

Willow just stared at him open mouthed for a full minute while she processed what he'd just said.

"I was there for you when your sister 'disappeared' and I'm proud to call you my friend but I think I've turned into a crutch for you. A crutch that's preventing you from making new friends."

"No. You're not a crutch!" Willow denied. "You're like a pole-vaulting pole, pushing me higher than I could reach on my own."

"Maybe. But if you want to be a pole-vaulter, eventually you have to let go of the pole." Xander turned her metaphor against her. "Now, I'll tell you where I want this to go. My goal. My goal is to have a nice, normal friendship with a girl, who doesn't buy every season of Highlander just because I like it, and doesn't hack my medical records to check up on me. And for my part, I'll stop pretending to be interested when you, Buffy, and your new friends talk about clothes or boys."

"But- but... I love you!" Willow blurted out.

"I know. But there is such a thing as loving someone too much." Xander softly rebuked. "Now, this is going to hurt us both, but I have memories to fall back on to help me, so you go ahead and take Buffy to talk to all you need. I'm going to keep myself as separate as possible for a while until I see you making new friends. Okay?"

Xander received only tears in answer.

"Hi, Joyce. It's Xander."

"..."

"No. It's fine really. Actually, I'm really hoping you didn't ground her. Willow really needs a friend right now."

"..."

"Well, that's the problem. It's me she's upset about. I'd put her on to explain it, but she's crying too much."

"..."

"Thanks. I really appreciate that. And while Buffy's here, I could come there and we could finish our business? Bonus points if you tell her before she leaves. That might be better punishment than grounding anyway."

"..."

"Yes, I've been told that I'm evil any number of times."

"..."

"Alright. I'll be over in a bit."

"Is Willow going to be alright?" were the first words out of Joyce's mouth as they sat down in her living room.

Xander sighed, he'd hoped he wouldn't have to explain this, but it seemed that Joyce was just too caring a person to not do anything. "Eventually. I kinda broke up with her."

"Oh, I didn't know you two were dating." Joyce said.

"We weren't. It came to my attention recently that she was/is a little obsessed with me. So, I decided the best thing was to take a break from each other. Let her find her feet without me." Xander explained.

Joyce frowned. It didn't sound like the best way to handle it to her, but it sounded like Xander was behaving fairly maturely. Still, he could have been nicer about it. Wean her off gradually, perhaps. But they had business to get down to.

Now that he'd made his first sale, he had a safe-deposit box with all his money in it that Joyce had set up for him. With that, finding an apartment would be easy. The other requirement for emancipation would be harder to come by. A good job at least. Still, if it meant out of the Harris house, flipping burgers for a bit might be worth it. Unless... "Joyce. I don't suppose you could use an assistant down at the gallery." He then outlined the requirements for emancipation, including stable employment. Joyce was surprisingly eager. Surprising; as she'd been a little colder since he told her about what had happened with Willow.

With a job in hand, he set out to find a furnished apartment – which was easy in Sunnydale, people disappeared and left all their stuff behind all the time – and paid the first, last, and security deposit in cash. He was told he could move in that day.

Finally, now that he had money, he could do what he'd been itching to do since he realized that Methos' memories weren't leaving any time soon. He could buy a sword.