Once they were all settled at the dining room table with their food, Willow did nothing but play with her mashed potatoes. She remembered feeling ravenous in the kitchen, but now in here she couldn't force herself to eat. She glanced around the table and noticed Buffy in the same state next to her, pushing her green beans around on her plate sightlessly. Joyce seemed to be doing better, managed to chew and swallow a few bits of her pork chop, but didn't really seem to taste anything. Spike and Dawn, well they seemed to be okay with everything. Dawn ate at a sedate pace and Spike, just to her left, ate as if nothing had happened, as if Xander hadn't broken down in front of them all.

Willow took a deep breath, tucked her hair behind her ear and tried to stop twitching her leg from between the table. She desperately wanted to go back into the kitchen, to make sure Xander was okay, but she knew she couldn't. Joyce had told them that Xander would sit with them when he was ready and not one moment before. She had looked very stern and mom-like just then and Willow knew not to go against her.

"Does that happen often?" Buffy asked from her right.

Joyce's gaze snapped toward her. "Buffy! That's not important," she said, still in mom-mode. "What's important is that he's okay afterward." She speared another piece of pork with her fork, but no one missed the glance she sent toward the kitchen door.

Buffy looked at her mom with wide incredulous eyes. "Of course that's the important part, mom, but he never mentioned… anything about this! I want to know if this has something to do with his surroundings or…"

"It usually isn't this bad," Willow said, continuing to play with her potatoes. She glanced at Joyce apologetically. "N-not with me anyway, but I don't live with him so I can't really tell you what he's like all the time. I know he-he sometimes gets nightmares, like really bad and he'll start yelling in his sleep and stuff like that, and you can't really touch him or he'll wig out more-"

"Red," Spike surprised her from her rambling. He didn't say anything more, but the look was unmistakable.

"Oh…whoops," she said, feeling herself blush under his stare. "I just meant to say that usually he isn't so tense. Y'know, maybe it wasn't such a good idea for him to come with us to the mall."

"Well, what else were you going to do?" Dawn asked, her blue eyes sharp as Willow had ever seen them, as sharp as Spike's were. "You can't just keep him locked up in the house!"

Buffy reacted immediately, snapping at her little sister. "You know that's not what she meant, Dawn. She just meant maybe we should have gone later in the week, or…or maybe we shouldn't have stayed so long. We could have done something else, like gone to a park."

"Yeah, and we could have thrown Frisbees and balls for Xander to fetch, too. I think he really would have enjoyed that," Dawn said sarcastically with a heavy roll of her eyes.

"Girls!" Joyce said before the fight could escalate any further. "Finish your supper and then you can start World War III in the living room like normal sisters." She took a deep breath and shook her head. "I'm sorry about that, Willow. We all know what you meant, even Dawn. This is a stressful situation for all of us and we're all at a loss for what to do. Spike, please pass the salt."

Spike did as he was asked and handed Joyce the salt.

After that they were silent and when they had 'finished'—leaving various amounts of food on their plates—Joyce told them to leave them be and that she would take them to the kitchen later. Dawn hopped upstairs with an angry huff. Spike stayed at the table with Joyce. She and Buffy moved into the living room, hoping to find Xander there and disheartened when they saw the darkening room devoid of all life with the television going.

"How long do you think they'll be in there?" Willow asked, twisting her fingers together.

Buffy shrugged a little helplessly. "I dunno. When Giles used to give me lectures they never lasted more than ten minutes." She looked towards the kitchen door as if willing herself to see through it. "I wonder what they're talking about."

"Giles is probably giving him a pep talk," she said, hoping for levity, knowing she was falling short. Buffy gave her a small grateful smile for her effort before she took her seat, patting the cushion beside her.

"C'mon, Wills. We'll wait for him to come out."

She fell beside her friend and pulled her feet up under her. Buffy grabbed the remote and turned it to a family channel, and they watched two shows with half an eye. Mostly they waited avidly for Xander to emerge. Willow hoped that he would do so soon. She wanted to apologize for crowding him, and for dragging him around the mall when he hadn't even settled into his new surroundings. She should have known better; her mom was a psychologist, after all.

By the third show, Joyce went upstairs as well, popping in to make sure that they were okay. An hour later, Spike stomped to the front door, telling them to lock up before they went to bed.

After Spike was gone, Willow couldn't take it anymore. She stood up, hands twiddling for a moment in indecision before she straightened her spine. "I think I need a drink," she said with a nod, watching as a glimmer came into Buffy's eyes as well.

"Y'know, I am feeling the thirst now that you mention it." She too hopped off the couch and together they went to the kitchen, trying to make it look as natural as possible. Willow knew she would probably fail, but Buffy made it look somewhat believable.

They walked through the doorway and Willow swept the room, only to find Giles at the table, book in hand. She came up short, her brows furrowing. "Where's Xander?" she demanded looking all about the room as if he was hiding in one of the cupboards. She remembered he used to do that when they were small and he didn't want her or Jesse to find him.

Giles started visibly with a small gasp. "Good lord, you startled me." He set his book down in favor of taking his glasses off for a quick polish. "Xander went to bed shortly after supper. Said his nerves were acting up. He says goodnight."

Willow nodded, but couldn't stop her face from falling.

Giles saw the look on her face as he returned his lenses to his face. "It's better that he went straight to bed. He said he didn't sleep very well this previous night."

She was sure that was supposed to help, but it just made her realize that she hadn't really been the best friend to Xander since they arrived.