Just Popcorn
Xander jogged across the lawn to his car where Buffy was waiting for him. He circled around to the drivers' side, hopped in and started the motor. "To the school?" he asked brightly, pulling the car away from the curb.Buffy nodded, "To the school," she confirmed. They drove on for a few minutes in silence, and then Buffy turned and looked at Xander expectantly. "So you wanted to talk to me?" she prompted, "Was Andrew bothering you? 'Cause I *could* get rid of him for you if you wanted."
Xander looked back at her, shocked. "Buffy!" he admonished.
Buffy rolled her eyes, "I was *kidding*."
"Oh," Xander said, and shifted in his seat, "Well, he wasn't bothering me anyway..." They pulled up in front of the school, and Xander turned to Buffy again. "Actually," Xander said evenly, "he kind of... asked me on a date." Buffy looked at him for a moment, and then burst into a fit of hysterical laughter. "Buff," Xander said calmly, "I'm not joking."
She continued to laugh, and let herself out of the car. "Ohh, thanks Xan," she sighed and leaned up against the car door. "Things have been so tense lately," she said, "I really needed a good laugh."
Xander frowned, "But I'm not joking," he insisted.
"Xander stop, you're killing me!" Buffy closed the door, and composed herself. She looked at Xander through the window and mouthed, "I'll talk to you later. Thanks for the ride." She waved and ran off towards the school.
Xander shook his head, "I hope she takes it that well when she finds out it's true..."
* * * * *
After dropping Buffy off at the school, Xander had gone home and changed. He'd thought for a while about keeping the black jeans, but in the end had opted for something a little less tight. He hoped that Andrew wouldn't be too disappointed.
As 5:30 drew closer, Xander began to worry more and more about what Buffy's real reaction to the situation would be. <What if she gets mad?> he thought, <What if she kills me? ...What if she kills *Andrew*?> Xander spent some time pacing the length of his living room, and then gave up and phoned Buffy's house. <Willow will know what to do,> he thought. The phone rang several times before it was answered by Andrew."Hello, Summers' residence, this is Andrew speaking, how can I help you?" he asked cheerily.
"Oh," Xander said, "Andrew, hi..."
Andrew had answered the phone in the living room, and he leaned up against the wall. "Xander," he said warmly, "how nice of you to call..." The smile on his face vanished abruptly, "You're not calling to cancel, are you?" he whined.
"What?" Xander said, "No, I just called to talk-," Andrew's smile reappeared, "-to Willow."
Andrew pouted, "Oh," he said, "I'll get her for you." Andrew turned away from the phone and shouted up the stairs, "Willow! Xander's on the phone for you!"
Willow came quickly down the stairs, took the phone from Andrew and shooed him out of the room. "Xan?" she asked, "you okay?"
Xander sighed heavily, "Wills, I tried to tell Buffy- about the me being gay thing..."
"And it didn't go well?" Willow guessed.
"She thought I was joking," Xander said flatly, massaging the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.
"Oh, Xan," Willow cooed, "I'm sorry... But, I'm sure she'll be fine when she, you know, figures out that you were serious."
"Do you think she'll figure it out by 5:30 tonight?" Xander asked hopefully.
Willow raised her frowned, "What happens at 5:30?" she asked.
Xander smiled shyly, "That's when I pick Andrew up for our date."
Willow made an excited noise, "Xander that's great! He asked you out? That's great!" she paused, and then continued, "That *is* great, right?"
Xander chuckled, "Yeah, I think so," he said. Willow sighed, relieved. "Andrew sort of mentioned that... it wasn't your idea?" Xander added.
"Oh..." Willow cleared her throat and laughed nervously, "Why... why would he say that... I-,"
"Wills?" Xander cut in.
"Yes?" She asked timidly.
"Thank you."
Willow slumped back against the wall, "Whew!" she sighed, "Don't mention it." She smiled devilishly, "So?" she teased, "What's the plan for the big date?"
Xander frowned, "Well, nothing if Buffy freaks out and kills one of us."
"Xander," Willow chided, "Buffy's not gonna *kill* anybody." She shrugged, "I'd be more worried about telling *Anya* if I were you."
"I already told Anya," Xander said, "this morning."
"Oh," Willow smiled, relieved, "and you're still alive and in one piece, so I'm guessing it went well?"
"Yeah, I guess," Xander shrugged. "She did scare me half to death.... and she pushed me around a bit, and dressed me up like Spike. But other than that-," he smiled, "-no permanent scars."
Willow furrowed her brow, "She dressed you up like Spike?"
"Well, I was in the shower and-," Xander started.
"I'm thinkin' maybe I don't want you to explain that," Willow cut in. She sighed, "Xan, I should go. Try to not worry about Buffy, okay?" Xander nodded, and Willow went on, "She's your friend, she'll understand."
Xander smiled, "Thanks," he said, "will I see you tonight?"
"Are you kidding?" Willow teased, "I wouldn't miss this for *anything*."
* * * * *
Buffy opened the front door and walked into her house. Glancing into the living room, she saw that as per usual it was full of young women- the potential slayers. She turned quickly towards the kitchen to avoid the crowd, and almost ran into Andrew, who was pacing anxiously in the hallway. He had a box of microwave popcorn clutched tightly to his chest, and seemed to be practicing some sort of speech under his breath. Buffy raised her eyebrows at him, expecting an explanation, but he simply pulled the popcorn box tighter to his body and hurried upstairs. Buffy shrugged and continued into the kitchen. Willow and Anya were sitting at the table, so Buffy slumped down in a chair beside them. "Hey," she said, "What's up with Andrew? He seems a little... extra crazy today."Willow took a breath as if to speak, but Anya cut in grumpily, "He has a penis." Anya scowled, excused herself from the table, and sulked out of the room.
Buffy looked at Willow, wearing a look of concern, "She meant his own, right? Like that he's a guy?" Buffy cocked her head to the side, "I mean, there's nothing... *extra* in that popcorn box, right? Just popcorn?"
Willow looked at Buffy in disbelief, "Buffy," she said, "ew, no."
"Well you never know," Buffy said defensively, "He is kind of... uber-strange."
"Yah, sure he's strange," Willow conceded, "But not in a carrying body parts around in a microwave popcorn box kind of way." She shrugged, "Give him a chance, Buff, he's not a bad guy."
Buffy raised her eyebrows amusedly, "Will, are you *defending* *Andrew*?"
Willow was about to answer, when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," she said, rose from the table and went to the door. Buffy followed Willow, and Andrew came bounding down the stairs and hovered anxiously behind them. Willow pulled the door open to reveal that their visitor was Xander. He was dressed nicely, in a button-down shirt and dark trousers (not as tight as the black jeans, but still decidedly clingy). Willow looked Xander up and down appreciatively, "You're looking spiffy," she said.
Xander did a little bow, "Thanks," he said.
"Very spiffy," Buffy agreed, "But you know you don't have to dress up to come to my house, Xan."
"Right," Xander said carefully, "Well, I'm... not staying..." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, and glanced behind the two girls to Andrew, "I just came to pick up... my date."
Buffy frowned confusedly, and Andrew pushed past her into the door way. "Thank you for coming to pick me up, Xander," Andrew said mechanically, and held out the battered box of popcorn. "I have popcorn," he said.
Xander smiled shyly. He reached out to take the box from Andrew, but Buffy stepped in his way. In one fluid movement, Buffy pushed Andrew and Willow back into the house, stepped outside with Xander, and closed the front door. "What are you doing? This isn't funny anymore," she said angrily.
Xander looked at her and took a deep breath, "It's not supposed to be funny," he said.
Buffy looked away from him and shook her head, "So, what, *you're* gay now too?" She looked back at Xander and narrowed her eyes, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I did," Xander said evenly.
"I thought you were joking," Buffy looked at him questioningly, "Xander, I can't let you do this," she said.
Xander shrugged impatiently, "Buff, I'm gonna be gay whether you *let* me or not," he said.
She frowned, "Xander, you know what I mean. You can't go out with *Andrew*."
"Why not?" Xander asked softly.
"Because he's evil?" Buffy suggested, "He killed his *best friend*!"
"He's not evil," Xander insisted, "He's changed... he's good now."
Buffy put her hands on her hips thoughtfully, "Maybe it's a spell," she said, "A gay love spell, gone terribly wrong... We could get Willow to-,"
Xander put his hands on Buffy's shoulders, stopping her train of though. "Buffy," he said, moving her gently away from the door, "It's not a spell."
Buffy stepped away from Xander, and he let his hands fall to his sides. She turned and opened the door. Willow and Andrew were waiting a few steps back, and watched Buffy and Xander apprehensively. "I don't approve of this, Xander," she said coldly.
Xander hesitated, then looked past Buffy to where Andrew was standing, waiting, with Willow. Andrew smiled at Xander reassuringly. "I'm not asking you to approve it," Xander said, turning back to Buffy, "I'm just asking you accept it." Buffy shook her head and clenched her jaw, then turned without saying another word and walked into the house and out of sight. Xander sighed sadly, and began walking back to his car.
Willow pushed Andrew out the door in Xander's direction, and after a moment's hesitation he ran and caught up. "Xander?" Andrew asked, "Is everything okay?"
Xander stopped and stood still, but remained facing away from Andrew. "Yeah, super," he said dryly. Andrew stepped up behind him, reached out and took Xander's hand in his. Xander sighed heavily, and let his head fall forward, "I just... I wish this wasn't so hard." Andrew frowned. He let go of Xander's hand and turned to go back to the house. Hearing the other man leaving, Xander whirled around, "Andrew," he called, "Where are you going?"
Andrew looked back at Xander sadly, "Back inside," he said quietly, "I'm not worth this much trouble."
Xander crossed the lawn and was in front of Andrew in a moment. He took Andrew's hands in his and looked down at him fondly. "You're wrong," Xander said, "This trouble will pass... And even if it doesn't, you're still worth it."
Andrew looked up at Xander questioningly, "Am I?" he whined, "Xander, you don't even know me."
Xander chuckled, and glad to see the mood lifting, Andrew smiled despite himself. "No, I don't know you," Xander conceded. He squeezed Andrew's hands lightly, "But I want to," he said.
Andrew smiled, "So we can still watch Star Trek together?" he asked shyly.
Xander opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by a peal of feminine giggling. He and Andrew looked back to Buffy's house, locating the origin of the interruption. Dawn was standing at her window, watching them and smiling broadly. She waved, and the two men waved back sheepishly, still holding their free hands together. Suddenly, Anya pushed into sight beside Dawn in the window, "What are you giggling about?" she asked Dawn, and then looked down to the lawn where Xander and Andrew were standing together. "Oh," she said huffily, and then shouted down at them, "Go away, you're corrupting young minds!"
Dawn scowled at Anya, "They're not corrupting my mind," she said and then turned to look out the window again, "I think it's sweet."
Anya scoffed at Dawn and then aimed the most intense frown she could muster at the two men outside. Andrew waved at her, and smiled meekly. Anya leaned out the window, apparently enraged, "Get a room!" she shouted. Then, looking slightly confused, she leaned back into the house and slammed the window.
Andrew looked at Xander, seeking an explanation. Xander shook his head, "Don't ask," he said. Andrew shrugged, and Xander coaxed him across the lawn and into the car.
As they drove out of sight down the road, Willow came running out of the house, waving the crumpled popcorn box over her head. "Wait!" she shouted, "You forgot..." she trailed off, seeing that they were long gone, and frowned. Buffy came out of the house and joined Willow on the lawn. She looked at the red-head questioningly, and Willow showed her the popcorn box. "They forgot the popcorn," she explained. Buffy nodded. Willow opened the box, and looked inside.
Buffy cocked her head to the side, "Xander really likes him, huh?" Willow shrugged in agreement. "And you think that's okay?" Buffy demanded, "Willow, he killed Jonathan."
Willow smiled sadly, "People change," she said.
Buffy frowned, and Willow handed her the battered popcorn box. Buffy looked inside the box, and then back up at her friend, "No body parts," she said.
"Nope," Willow agreed, "Just popcorn." She turned and walked back towards the house, leaving Buffy alone on the lawn looking down the road to where Xander and Andrew had driven away.