Title: Real Friends
Author: Paradox761
Email: Paradox761@mail.com
Website: members.tripod.com/~Paradox761
Disclaimer: Joss and co. own all things Buffy, no copyright infringement is intended so please don’t sue. I don’t have any money anyway.
Summery: Post “Superstar”, Xander confronts Buffy about the way she’s been treating him lately. Buffy denies it of course, but when Willow takes Xander’s side she’s forced to do some series thinking about her friends. Also, things heat up in the romance department for Xander and Anya, as well as for Willow and Tara. Can Xander, Willow and Buffy make it through all this and still come out friends on the other side?
Spoilers and such: General spoilers for season four, specifically for “Superstar”. Also, this is my first attempt at a Xander/Anya, so please be gentle. I’m of the mindset that Anya is different when she and Xander are alone, so you might find her characterization off a little bit. It’s all a matter of perspective. Also, this story was written before “New Moon Rising”, which kind of makes it a moot point as far as W/T, but I don’t think TPTB have been very far with the relationship as far as showing how they fell in love. Consider this an alternative explanation.
Also, acknowledgments and thanks have to go to the denizens of alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer. This story was inspired by the discussion threads that sprung up around “Superstar”. I’d like to thank you all by name, but I don’t have that kind of time here.
(BtVS, Xander/Anya, Willow/Tara, NC-17)

(6/9)

Xander kissed Anya passionately as they lay in his bed after making love. She stroked the side of his face and ran a hand through his hair, letting out a small whimper of pleasure as the kiss broke. “Have I told you that I love you?” Xander asked looking down at her.

“Yes,” she said smiling. “But I never get tired of hearing it.” Xander rolled onto his side and Anya settled herself with her head on his chest. The two stayed silent for a moment, just enjoying being close to one another. Anya spoke again some moments later. “I talked to Willow today.”

“You did?”

“I wanted to see how she felt about what happened. After you left this afternoon, I was worried about you.”

“What did she say?” Xander asked, trying to keep his voice neutral but coming out sounding slightly desperate.

“She said that she agreed with everything that you said. And she was worried about you. I told her that you were upset but that you were coping. And as far as losing her as a friend, she said that you should know her better then that, that you could never lose her.”

“You told her I said that?” Xander asked.

“Like I said, I was worried about you. I wanted to make sure that at least Willow understood what happened. As it turns out, she did. She stood up to Buffy after you left, really told her off to. She seemed pretty upset by it, but mostly I think she’s more upset that she waited so long to say anything to her.”

“Willow stood up to Buffy?” Xander asked, not bothering to hide his astonishment.

“Yeah, shocking, isn’t it.”

“So, not only have I managed to ruin my friendship with Buffy, I’ve ruined Willow’s friendship with her too. Great.”

“Oh, Xander. It’s not like that at all. Between the two of you, Buffy is bound to take what you said seriously. She just needs to think about it. You’ll all come out of this friends, you’ll see.”

“I hope so,” Xander said with a sigh. They were silent for a moment longer, and then Xander started to chuckle. “Willow coming to my rescue, just like old times. She really is a great friend, I better talk to her.”

“Yes, she is a good friend,” Anya said. “That’s why I think we should do something for her.”

“Like what?”

“Well, when I saw her today I saw Tara too. I guess Willow was telling her what happened and she was comforting her.”

“What does that have to do with doing something for Willow?”

“Xander, you know as well as I do. You’ve seen the way the two of them act around each other. Tara’s been like a godsend to Willow since Oz left, you’ve seen the change in her behavior. Tara’s in love with her, and I think Willow’s starting to fall too.”

Xander didn’t say anything for a moment. “I thought maybe it was just my imagination,” he said. “That maybe I was reading too much into it. Do you really think Willow’s in love with her?”

“Think about it Xander. The way they hang out at the Bronze, the way she walks her back to her room practically every night. Those big goofy grins on both their faces all the time, the casual touches. Willow’s just afraid. Afraid to be happy, afraid to admit she might have feelings for another girl, just afraid in general.”

“So what should we do about it?” he asked.

“Tell her. Let her know that it’s okay to let herself fall in love again, with whomever she wants. Let her know that you support her, that you know how she feels. Let her know that she deserves to be happy.”

“Right, got it,” Xander said, absorbing everything Anya had said. “I just have one question.” Anya looked up to meet his eyes. “Will you go with me?”




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