Well all I really want to do is love you
A kind much closer than friends use
But I still can't say it after all we've been through
And all I really want from you is to feel me
As the feeling inside keeps building
And I will find a way to you if it kills me,
If it kills me
~ Jason Mraz ~
Chapter 2 – If It Kills Me
Xander's left foot tapped to the beat of the song uncontrollably as the melody drifted faintly across from the little radio at the back of the kiosk. The tapping stopped abruptly when out of nowhere, a girl with red shoulder length hair that curled in at the ends, hopped into the chair next to Oz and swiftly gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
"Mornin' hot stuff, what's up?" she grinned saucily.
"Hey you," Oz beamed back at the girl. "We're just enjoying our healthy morning beverages."
The girl who was dressed in a baby blue cable knit cropped jumper with a pair of skinny red jeans and matching blue ballet pumps, wrinkled her nose in an adorable manner. "Coffee is a healthy beverage, huh?" She mused, stealing a sip from his cup.
"It's the breakfast drink of Champions," stated the other red head at the table with a straight face. "And while I love to bask in your presence, what are you doing here in my neck of the woods? Weren't you supposed to go to the bookstore or something like that?"
"Hmm, yeah, the plan is still on but since I'm early, I thought I might get lucky and catch you in the act of your daily coffee ritual."
"And caught me you did." He gave the girl a warm tender smile, obviously pleased that she knew him so well.
They exchanged a brief glance of affection before she nudged Oz gently, "So are you going to carry on making your friend uncomfortable with all our lovey dovey-ness or are you going to introduce us?"
The girl then looked over at Xander and offered a kindly smile.
"Will, meet Xander the new kid. Xander, meet Willow, my quirky but extremely wonderful girlfriend." Oz offered the second part of the introduction with pride.
Willow blushed slightly at her boyfriend's praise but still managed to give Xander a little friendly wave. "Well, nice to meet you, Xander."
"Nice to meet you too, Willow." Xander responded with his own little wave and a polite smile.
"I was just telling Xander about our thing at The Bronze tomorrow," Oz said, starting a comfortable flow of conversation between the three of them as they enjoyed their coffee. Grateful for the un-awkward and relaxed atmosphere, Xander was relieved that aside from Spike, the people he'd met here seemed really nice so far. For the first time in a while, he felt hope blooming in his chest, the possibilities suddenly seemed endless. Maybe I could even get myself a girlfriend some time this decade! He thought in amusement.
Unfortunately, before he was able to dream up any images and opinions of this hypothetical future girlfriend, a loud cheery ringtone interrupted his thoughts.
"Oh, that must be her!" Willow straightened her posture and sat upright, picking up her phone from the table. She took a quick look at the caller's face displayed on the screen before hitting the answer button.
"Hey chica," Willow chirped sunnily. After a pause, she began scanning their surrounding area, turning her head from left to right, and back again, "Uh huh, yeah, I know I promised we'd go to the bookstore together - but where the heck are you?"
Oz joined in the search and within ten seconds, he had found who Willow was looking for. He gently tapped his girlfriend's shoulder and pointed in the direction behind Xander.
"Okay, we found ya! Don't you dare move a muscle, missy! I'm coming to get you." Willow hurriedly ended the call and stuffed the phone back into her bag.
"Gotta run people, bye Xander, it was nice meeting you!" she waved at Xander and easily hopped out of the chair.
"Bye Willow." Xander waved back with a smile.
"And I love you, my sweet Ozzy." She beamed at Oz and bent down to give him a full kiss on the lips before running off in the direction he had pointed.
Xander twisted around his chair and watched Willow run towards a girl who squealed in glee when she saw the red head. As they hugged excitedly and started walking away together, Xander found his gaze uncontrollably drawn towards the other girl, mesmerized by the way she tossed her luscious long brown hair back behind her shoulder, her mischievous smile and her bright blue eyes illuminating with mirth as she giggled conspiratorially alongside Willow.
"Hellooooo, Earth to Xander?" Oz called out, noting the way his new friend's eyes glazed over while watching the girls.
Xander's head snapped back to face Oz again. "Who is that girl with Willow?"
"That's Dawn Summers." Oz couldn't hide his knowing smirk. He could almost see the wheels turning in Xander's brain.
"And why is that funny?" Xander's eyes squinted warningly. "Spit it out, Oz."
With a tilt of his head, he raised one eyebrow, "Hmm, you sure know how to pick 'em."
"What do you mean? Don't tell me she's got a boyfriend." There was a brief pause before he hastily added, "Or she's gay."
"No, none of that, but you're still going to need lots of luck if you're thinking of asking her out."
Not that he actually thought he stood a chance with the girl, but Oz's statement now got him curious, "Why do you say that?"
The red head chuckled, "Well, I know this is going to sound unbelievably weird, but Dawn and her older sister have this no-dating rule they strictly adhere to thanks to their mom."
Xander's brows furrowed in disbelief, "But this is America, and we're in college, the perfect place and time for freedom, sex, drugs and rock and roll. How is that possible?"
Oz shrugged in equal puzzlement. "I just know that Dawn's got into a lot of trouble last year and her mother's ultimatum to her was that she had to stay out of it this year – which includes the no-dating policy. It's either that, or get kicked out of the house and never come back again."
"Ouch." Xander winced in mock pain. "That seems a little extreme."
"Tell me about it." Oz rolled his eyes. "Buffy, Dawn's older sister, has been living with that rule ever since they moved here."
"Sounds like mom doesn't trust her kids at all, huh? What did she do to deserve that?"
"Well, Buffy was accused of…umm….kind of…setting fire to the gym during her final year at her high school, so she got expelled."
"So she's like a teen arsonist?"
"No, not at all, but it was an accident involving a couple of other students…Anyway, that's why her mother wanted to move them out here and impose all those rules on her."
"Holy cow, talk about getting stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time…" Upon hearing her story, Xander couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the other Summers girl.
Buffy twirled the pen carelessly between her fingers, rolling her eyes with boredom as she listened to the Professor drone on and on about the rich history of Shakespeare and the glories of the Elizabethan Age with all the enthusiasm of a sloth. She sighed in disappointment and tried not to slam her head against the table. She had expected her road to an English degree to be more interesting than this.
As her Professor turned to write something on the board, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She had the distinct and creepy sensation that she was being watched.
She leaned back in her seat and stretched her back a little, pretending to casually twist her neck so she could scrutinize the lecture hall. It didn't take her long to catch Parker Abrams two rows below, sitting diagonally across from her. He was openly looking at her, or her legs, to be more precise, with a pervy leer. She dropped her spinning pen onto her notes, and glared at him angrily with disgust and irritation. She fought her first instinct to pull her black bandage skirt down to cover her thighs and began to regret this morning's wardrobe choice, if it meant allowing that piece of scum an eyeful of her legs, or any other part of her body for that matter.
Oddly enough, once upon a time, Buffy would have been thrilled at the prospect of being the focus of Parker's interest, but she had already learnt her lesson about college boys the hard way and would've gladly punched him in the nose for looking at her like that if they weren't in a room filled with a hundred and fifty other people.
Parker looked straight at her and winked brazenly. She scowled in reply and resisted the urge to give him the finger before turning her attention back to the Professor, wishing he could let them go off early for once instead of overrunning like he usually did.
When the time finally came to release the students from his excruciating sermon, Buffy gratefully sent a thank you prayer to the gods above that she was conveniently sitting near the end of her row and hurriedly flew towards the exit before Parker could even get out of his seat.
Muttering several colorful expletives under her breath, Buffy's eyes were cast downwards as she stalked to her next class. She couldn't help but get mad not only at Parker, but at herself for allowing that jerk to affect her so much. Deeply engrossed in her own emotions and thoughts, she failed to notice the person walking towards her in the opposite direction and practically bulldozed into him, the force of the impact knocking him backwards while she fell on top of him.
"Oh, bloody hell!" the other person yelled in a blur of books and notes flying everywhere.
Buffy yelped in surprise as they tumbled to the floor. She had not only managed to knock over and fall right on top of someone, but also, to her horror and mortification, the huge, brick-heavy textbook that she had been carrying had fallen out of her arms and scored a direct hit on her unfortunate victim's face.