Over the next month Willow tried to talk to Buffy about Xander being involved in the Slaying, without mentioning him being a mutant.
'I just know she'll think that's a good thing.' Willow thought. 'Buffy, herself will tell you she needs help with the Slaying. She hates being the Slayer and hates doing it alone. Which is just one reason why it's a good thing I have a gift for Magic. I can make it easier for her. But if she thinks Xander is a mutant then she'll want him more involved and that will risk hate groups finding out that Xander's a mutant and coming after him and us. But while Buffy admits he's not particularly helpful, like I am, he's also not really a hindrance either. So what will it take to convince her to keep him out of Slaying?'
The last month hadn't been easy for Xander either. In fact he was miserable.
'Cordelia won't listen to me at all. I've tried explaining it to her and she just doesn't want to hear it. And I've tried to draw her into a bicker flirt but she's too angry. Too hurt. And it's my fault, I get that. I did something stupid, again. And I still don't understand why. The transference theory is the only one that seems to make any sense. But Cordelia won't let me explain and now she's flirting with that ass, the new Watcher, Wesley. And once again someone who should be old enough to know better is playing around with a teenager. If Angel was human the age difference between him and Buffy would be the same as the age difference between Cordelia and Wesley. I get why Cordelia is flirting with him, she wants to feel better. But he should know better. She's just barely eighteen!'
And then they found out an unscheduled apocalypse was happening.
The group raided a cave just outside town that they thought had vampires in it. Turned out, it was some nasty and strong female demons. Xander tackled one that was sneaking up on Buffy and got slammed into the wall. Willow, who witnessed it, was horrified.
'Oh my gods.' She thought. 'He's not even bleeding. First he got a broken arm and it healed in two weeks, then he got a skull fracture and it healed overnight and now he's been slammed head first into the wall and he's not even bleeding, just a little stunned. He really is a mutant. He doesn't just heal fast, he's barely getting hurt any more. I can't let the others see him like that, they'll figure it out!' All the horrible scenarios of what would happen if anyone found out Xander was a mutant were dancing in her head. 'Buffy has to do something to get him to stop Slaying!'
Willow never saw the flash in Buffy's eyes, but neither did anyone else, since Buffy was picking herself up off the ground. She saw Xander laying nearby and suddenly remembered Willow's concerns about Xander being involved in the Slaying and decided maybe Willow was right, maybe Xander shouldn't be involved. He was just going to get hurt. So she told him so.
"Don't the apocalypses usually happen in late spring?" Buffy asked when Giles informed them that those demons were known as the Sisterhood of the Jhe and that they were an apocalypse cult. As in they wanted to cause an apocalypse. "And how do you know they want to cause an apocalypse?"
"Because they follow star patterns and there's one happening tonight that is very important to them. It's the only reason I can think of as to why they'd be Sunnydale now. We've never seen them here before after all. I'll consult the Spirit Guides, they may be able to confirm it."
"You do that." Buffy said and headed off to class.
For once Xander was having a fairly good day. If he didn't think about Buffy suddenly deciding he shouldn't be involved with the Slaying after all. 'Why is it that whenever I save her life, she decides to punish me for it?" He thought as he drove the absolutely gorgeous Chrysler Bel Aire convertible his Uncle Rory had loaned him around town. He stopped to get the donuts Buffy asked for and ran into Cordelia, who poured on the mean and suddenly Xander had had enough. 'Yes, I did something stupid but I don't deserve this!' And then they were arguing and both were saying mean things to each other. 'I feel like my life is falling apart.' Xander thought. 'A month ago I had the girl of my dreams, I had friends and I had a purpose. I did one stupid thing and now I have none of it. Cordelia hates me, Giles is ignoring me and Buffy and Willow are trying to push me out of the Slaying. Cordelia's right, they think I'm useless. But if they'd just let me prove I'm not.' The argument ended when another girl approached and asked Xander about his car and they starting talking. Then she asked for a ride and Xander agreed. He couldn't help checking to see if Cordelia saw him with another girl and it was rather satisfying to see the gob smacked look on her face as another girl paid attention to him.
What really made it a good day though was stopping zombies and Jack O'Toole, head zombie, from setting off a bomb in the boiler room, after he saved Faith's life and she decided she wanted to have sex with him. Her throwing him out afterwards was a bummer, but the sex was great. And he was never going to tell anyone, let alone Oz, that he ate a zombie.
When Cordelia approached him the next day to lay more mean on him, he just smiled and walked away. 'I'm always going to love her, but I don't have to put up with the mean.' He thought. It was the last time Cordelia was mean to him.