Part 10

      "Hey, Angel.  Ummmm, is Willow around?"  Angel looked at the boy that had
appeared at his doorstep, surprised to see him after everything that had
been said.  He could tell that it wasn't easy for Xander to stand there, but
he had to give the boy credit for doing it.  He reluctantly opened the door
a little wider and signaled for Xander to come in.  Xander's eyes opened
wide when he saw, not only Willow, but also Cordelia and Spike.  His heart
broke a bit when he saw the closeness between the blonde vampire and the
cheerleader, but was glad that she had found someone who apparently cared
for her.  After everything that had happened the past week, he figured she
deserved someone who could make her happy.
      "Xander," Willow asked tentatively as she approached her childhood friend.
"What are you doing here?  Where's Buffy?"
      "She's probably still at the library, not like I care anymore," he replied
wearily.  He had thought a lot about the things he had done over the course
of his relationship with Buffy and realized what a complete and utter idiot
and jerk he had been.  He had hurt his best friend by not telling her about
his being involved with their other friend and he had ruined any chance he
had with Cordelia.  He only hoped that he could salvage something out of the
mess that had become his life.  "I came here to say I'm sorry.  About
everything.  I was an idiot listening to Buffy.  I was just so happy to
think that she had finally begun to care about me the way I care about her
and I let it cloud my better judgement.  I know that isn't really an excuse,
and I know that I have a lot of work to do to gain your trust and friendship
again, but I hope that you'll at least be willing to try."
      Willow looked at the boy that she had grown up loving.  She's come to
realize that her feelings towards Xander were more like the friendship love
than true love.  That's what she had with Angel.  But, she could still feel
the pain at having discovered his lying to her.  She didn't know if she was
willing to let herself be open to that kind of pain again.  And she hadn't
forgotten who else had gotten caught in the crossfire.
      "Xander, I'm not the only one who got hurt because of this," she reminded
him.  Xander nodded his head as he made his way over to Cordelia.  He heard
Spike growl at his approach but didn't allow it to stop him from doing
something that had to be done.  In fact, it made him happy that the vampire
felt so protective of the brunette.
      "Cordelia, I know there is no way I can make up for all the pain I caused
you," Xander began.  "I just want you to know that I never intended to hurt
you.  When you and I first got together, it was just so weird. So unexpected
that I wasn't sure when the other shoe would drop.  Then Buffy came and told
me about how her feelings had changed and I was walking on a cloud.  I told
her about you and that I needed to explain to you about what happened, but
Buffy asked me not to.  She said that it would be easier to hide our
relationship if we continued to act as if nothing had changed.  I never
thought about what that would do."
      "Well, you are a boy after all," Cordelia threw at him.  "And a teenage
loser at that."  Instead of sending a scathing reply back at the girl who
looked so comfortable on the lap of her former enemy, Xander just looked
down at the ground and accepted what she said to him.  He knew that whatever
she said to him was well deserved.
      "Xander," Willow said his name quietly as she came to his side.  "What do
you want?"
      "I want everything to go back to the way it used to be," the admitted,
knowing that it was a futile dream.  "But, since I know the past can't be
changed, I'd be happy to just try and start over.  With all of you."  His
looked swept over the occupants of the room, including Spike, before finally
landing back on Willow.  "Especially you, Wills.  You've been my best bud
for as long as I can remember.  We were two of the three Musketeers.  I
don't even want to think of what my life would have been like if you hadn't
have been in it.  And I can't stand the thought of you not being in it."
      Willow took in the words pouring from her friend's mouth, finding herself
wanting to try and salvage her friendship with him.  She knew that Angel
would support her with whatever decision that she made.  She wrapped her
arms around him and felt as Xander took in deep breaths.
      "It'll take a lot, Xan, but I want to try too," she whispered.  She felt
his arms go around her and hug her tightly, trying to draw whatever comfort
her could from her presence.  She pulled back and looked at him.  "You're my
best friend, even if you are a big idiot.  Just promise me that you won't do
anything this dumb again."
      "Not me.  I'll do something else dumb," he grinned, glad that he had a
chance to save his friendship.  "Originality is the key after all."
      "Man, Red, are you sure you want to stay friends with the wanker?' Spike
groaned.
      "Yeah, I'm sure."

      Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Buffy slammed the door to her home
and threw her books on the table in the hallway, drawing her mother from the
kitchen.  Joyce took one look at her daughter and knew that something had
happened that upset the young girl.
      "Buffy, what's wrong?"
      "Willow went after Angel all because she was upset about Xander and me,"
Buffy wanted.  "Then, when I called her on it, Angel showed up and chose her
over me.  And then Xander accused me of using him and chose Willow too.
Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, Giles and Ms. Calander yelled at me,
telling me how inconsiderate I was being to my friends.  Me, being the
inconsiderate one.  What about them?  I mean, they're the ones that decided
to turn their backs on me."
      "Well, what makes you think that Willow went after Angel specifically to
get back at you?" Mrs. Summers gently probed.  "That doesn't sound like
something that she would do."
      "Please," Buffy rolled her eyes, "it's so obvious.  I mean, Willow and
Angel have nothing in common.  He is completely out of her league.  They're
not even in the same ballpark."
      "Then why would Angel be with her?"  The blonde shrugged her shoulders.
      "I don't know," she admitted.  "Maybe to make me jealous because I broke up
with him.  There's no way that he could actually be interested in her.
Willow is like, so not his type."
      "Well, I've only met Angel a few times but he doesn't appear to be the type
of person to use an innocent girl like that."  Joyce ignored the snort that
came from her daughter when she called Willow innocent.  "But that doesn't
explain about what happened with the others."
      "Well, Giles and Ms. Calander were telling me that Willow and Angel didn't
go out of there way for the relationship," Buffy explained, her tone leaving
no doubt what she thought about that explanation.  "And then said that since
I had Xander, that I shouldn't care about Angel.  They didn't understand
that, just because I was with Xander, it didn't mean that I wanted to see
Angel with someone else.  Especially Willow."
      "And did Xander here you say this?"
      "Yeah, he was in the library with us," Buffy told her mom.  "He accused me
of using him and said that he was going to try and see if he could get
Willow to forgive him.  Then I told him that if he left, that he wasn't
going to be welcome back.  Then he left.  He chose that bitch over me."
      "Buffy Anne Summers," Joyce exclaimed, hearing her daughter swear.
      "Sorry," she apologized.  "It's just the thought of everyone turning
against me gets me so mad.  I can't even see straight."
      "I know, baby," Joyce cooed as she took her daughter into her arms.  "It'll
get better, I promise."
      "I know.  I'll make them all understand that I'm the only one meant to be
with Angel," Buffy said.  'And I will do that.  Trust me.'  She thought to
herself.  'Anyway I have to.'
 

Next