Chapter 2

The return of the Scooby Gang

The rest of the afternoon went happily. Buffy showed her friend around the city then they agreed to meet at 9 p.m. in a trendy bar in Los Angeles with Xander. Buffy had saved up to buy a small car that she had already dirtied in every way possible, from spilled ice cream on the passenger seat to dirt from her garden that had stuck to her shoes on the floor mat. According to her, she spent all her free time cleaning it.

On the road, Willow asked the question that had been burning on her lips for several minutes already. "Hey, have you met Angel now that you work in the same city as him?"

"Um, no, never. But I guess I might someday if I go out after 8 p.m.! I told him I found a house around L.A. but didn't mention that I found a job here. I don't think it'd do any good."

Willow was silent. She imagined the pain her friend must have endured thinking back to her first love. The one that had never left her heart despite all this time. Their love story had been so strong and the breakup so painful…

"Hey, Will, don't worry about me! It's in the past now! I can think of him without bursting into tears! He's still special to me but I know we won't grow old together. He's just… my first love that I'll never forget, you know?"

She grinned and Willow responded in kind. "I'm glad you made it."

"So am I. It was hard, I can't deny it. But everything's fine now. It's over between us. Besides, everything has changed so much since…"

Buffy's voice broke and Willow looked questioningly at her. Yet they had arrived in front of the bar and it didn't give her time to ask her friend for more explanations. Buffy was already almost out of the car, probably relieved not to face the questioning look of her best friend. Willow got out and acted as if nothing had happened. She had just met Buffy and she knew her well enough to know that she would come and talk to her if she wanted to. Overwhelming her with questions would do no good except to push her a little further to her limits. She made a mental note to share her impressions with Xander though. Maybe he had other information because, after all, he had often seen Buffy since the destruction of Sunnydale. Yes, if something was wrong with Buffy, he would have noticed.

Buffy came closer, bringing her out of her thoughts, "Look, he's over there! Let's go!"

The girls reached Xander and the three old friends hugged each other. "Dammit! Six months since the three of us met! Willow, I missed you!"

"I missed you too, Xander! I'm so happy to see you two! Wow, your eye, it's amazing, Xander! One might think nothing happened!"

"You'll notice that there's a little scar here… It looks manly, doesn't it? I didn't think I'd say that one day, but thank God there are people who die and save others! And I'm so glad everything worked out because I had to live with Buffy for two months to be able to pay for this operation!"

"Hey, it wasn't that bad!" Buffy teased him.

"Either way, it was worth it," Willow said.

"What would I do without you girls?" Xander agreed, placing each of his arms on their shoulders.

"And what would we do without you?" The two young women replied in unison and they all burst out laughing. "Well, how about we go get something in the bar?" Xander suggested.

"Here we go!" Willow smiled.

They chose a small table away in a corner of the room. This way, they were able to talk without shouting too much.

"What do I get you, folks?" A waiter asked.

"I'll take a tequila," Buffy said.

"Two!" Willow added.

"Vodka orange for me, please!" Xander asked.

"Consider it done!"

A few moments later, the three friends were sipping drinks while reminiscing about their past, mostly filled with vampires and other demons. Indeed, since their meeting when Buffy had moved in Sunnydale, there were few moments when the Slayer and her friends had been able to rest. Despite this sinister aspect, this evening, they had decided to laugh about it and remembered Xander's acts of bravery, Willow's failed spells and Buffy's clumsiness.

"My God, Willow, I think the worst was when Spike and I fell in love! I was so mad at you!" Buffy gasped between laughs.

"I know that!" She replied.

"Is it true that you wanted to play the Blue Danube at your wedding?" Xander joked.

"There's no way! I thought you'd have forgotten this kind of embarrassing detail!" Buffy exclaimed. "Well, it's true but after all, it was like this wedding: complete nonsense!"

The three friends became silent for a few minutes then Xander surprised his friends. "You know, it's very weird for me to say this, but I almost regret not having told him I was just starting to like him."

"Who?" Willow asked.

"Spike. He gave his life for all of us, after all! Well, I know he did it mostly for Buffy but he's been helping us a lot in the last times. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I really liked him, but he did what he had to do in the end."

"You're right. He had become almost kind. And I must admit that I miss his sarcastic remarks from time to time."

Buffy hadn't said a word. She seemed elsewhere.

"Hello, Buffy! You still with us?"

"Eh? Yeah, yeah, sorry. I was in my thoughts and I think I'm a little tired."

"It's true that it's already past midnight," Willow noticed.

"Wow! I lost track of time!" Xander exclaimed.

"So have I," Willow kept on, "Buffy, we should go home. Aren't you working tomorrow?"

"I do; I have to be there at 8:30."

"Let's go then," Xander said while getting up.

They paid for their drinks and went out into the night lit by thousands of neon lights and all kinds of lights. The night in L.A. was never completely dark. They stopped in front of Buffy's car to say goodbye and Willow and Xander decided to meet the next day at Buffy's house since Xander wasn't working that Friday. Buffy would join them at the end of the day. Finally, the girls got into the car while Xander headed towards his own, parked a little further away.

The journey was quicker than on the way there because the traffic jams had disappeared as the night progressed. The two friends exchanged only a few words. As soon as they arrived, they wished each other good night and went to bed.

Chapters are short for now but they'll be longer from chapter 6.