Buffy walked through the cemetery, it was just another lousy night on patrol. The last vamp had torn her windbreaker, her favorite warm-up jacket. Buffy was still grumbling incessantly about it when she heard thunder roll in the distance. She decided on one last pass through the cemetery and then it was back to the dorms. She was about midway through the cemetery when the skies opened up and dropped their full fury onto her. "Great, salt in the wounds. I'm gonna be so sick tomorrow."
She continued trudging through the downpour, soaked to the bone after only a couple of minutes of it. Then, as her luck would have it, a Vamp jumped out at her. Her anger over her present situation allowed her to take the fight to the poor unfortunate creature. Just as she was about to finish him, the vamp pushed her right into a freshly dug grave, which now doubled as a rain collector. Buffy climbed out of the grave covered in mud, and blood-boiling angry. The vampire watched her climb out, and knew he was in deep trouble.
He took off, and Buffy gave chase. She chased him out of the cemetery and almost a half mile into town before she caught up with him. Then proceeded to beat the hell out of the undead jerk. He swung at her wildly, but she blocked the punch and then kicked his legs out. Before she staked him, she said. "Normally I'd send you to hell with a glib remark, but since I'm muddy, I'm just gonna stake you." The stake struck home, and he exploded into dust. Leaving the already muddy slayer covered in ash. If it was somebody else this was happening to, she be on her back rolling with laughter.
Buffy pushed some of her wet hair out of her face then tried to wipe some of the mud and ash off. As dirty as her hands were, she only succeeded in smearing it around. She took in her surroundings, realizing that she was all the way across town from campus, and it was still pouring. Sighing, she began to walk towards campus.
After a couple of blocks, she stopped. She was only a block from Xander's house. "I hope he's home, cause I'm really cold, and really wet." She trotted towards Xander's house with purpose. When she reached his house, all the lights were out, and she was about to walk back towards campus when she noticed that Xander's car was still in the driveway. She walked to the backdoor, only to find it locked. She looked under the doormat hoping to find a key, but there was none. Left with no other choice she walked over to the basement window. She looked inside to see Xander in bed, asleep. She knocked on the window, Xander didn't move. She knocked again, nothing.
She decided to add another count of Breaking and Entry to the list of things she's done since becoming a slayer. She pushed on the window, and after brief resistance the window opened upwards. She slid feet first in through the window and dropped onto the floor. She looked down to find a muddy puddle forming at her feet. She slipped the tattered jacket off and dropped it on the floor. Next, she pulled her shoes and socks off, followed closely by the warm-up pants leaving her only in a damp T-shirt and gym shorts. She pulled the tie out of her wet hair last. Leaving her feeling less wet.
She walked over to Xander's bed, and shook him desperately trying to wake him up. Xander snored loudly, then swiped at the offending hand. He rolled from the middle of the bed to the left-hand side. Buffy decided to do the stupid thing and slid into bed with him.
"Good night Xander."
Xander rolled back towards her a little ways, and responded, "Night Buffy."
Xander woke up slowly, offended by the morning sun. He looked towards the alarm clock while wiping his mouth. It was after eight. Blinking the last remnants of sleep out of his eyes, he sat up. Well, he tried to sit up; something was pressing against his right side. Looking down he found a lump with a head of wet, blonde hair. The lump sighed in its sleep, Xander immediately recognized it as Buffy. Buffy?!?
Xander's first thought was that he was still asleep. After all, not a night went by that Xander didn't dream of waking up next to Buffy. To be more accurate he dreamed of how he got to waking up with Buffy. The problem with this theory was that Xander was still fully clothed and the best he could tell, Buffy was too. If this was a dream, it was horribly realistic. Xander looked around and noticed his window was open. He never left the window open. He began to review the previous night's events. He came home, no Buffy. Watched TV, no Buffy. Had a sandwich and a couple of Twinkies, still no Buffy. Then he went to bed, no Buffy then either.
The thought of food sidetracked him, he was hungry. Of course he was always hungry. He could go for some Twinkies, or maybe some fruit pies. Yeah, fruit pies... He stopped that line of thought, back to the matter at hand. Namely, Buffy... Buffy in bed... Buffy in HIS bed. Despite the fact that a lot of his dreams had come true, he had no idea why.
She stirred, and Xander's mind went blank. She had pressed against him and to top it off she sighed in content. But Xander's rational side figured she was dreaming of Angel, or Riley, or just about any other guy, not Xander. Never Xander.
Xander sat up gently not wanting to wake her. He smoothed her hair back it was completely dirty. He wondered briefly what had happened to her. Deciding it couldn't hurt to admit it to her while she was asleep, he tenderly said. "I love you Buffy."
Buffy sighed again, "I love you too Xander."
They were the five most beautiful words in the English language. His mind rewound them and play them back in slow-mo. I. Love. You. Too. Xander. He almost wanted to cry. It didn't matter that she probably didn't mean it that way. It didn't matter that she was asleep when she said it. All that mattered at that moment was that Xander had heard Buffy say she loved him.
He indulged in that beautiful sentence a little longer, then climbed out of bed. He found a pile of sopping slayer clothing. He grabbed some of his clothes, a towel and a pad. He scribbled a note down and set it with the clothes at the foot of his bed. Then he took her clothes upstairs to wash them and make some breakfast.
Buffy woke slowly; rolling over she found Xander's alarm clock reading eight thirty. She sat up and stretched, looking around she found a note at the foot of the bed. She picked up the note, it read. "Take the towel for a shower. The clothes are for you, when you're done I'm making breakfast in the kitchen. --Xander."
She took a quick shower in Xander's bathroom to get clean. She was grateful for Xander's hospitality considering she had broken into his bedroom in the middle of the night and slid into bed with him sopping wet and dirty. She also thought of how good it had felt to sleep in the same bed as him. She had rolled into him at one point, and she thought of how safe and content she felt there. She had to stop those thoughts though this is Xander. Even if he did still have feelings for her, she had probably hurt him far too often for him to ever accept any affection she could show him.
She took a mental step back, where did this sudden urge to show Xander affection come from? When did Xander become someone that she wanted? The part of her that was hung up on him answered. Xander had been there for her since the moment she had met him. There when she was with Angel, there when Angelus surfaced. There when she was crying over Parker, and later Riley.
It didn't matter that he had a major league crush on her, it didn't matter that she never returned the support he gave her. All that was ever important to him was her. He didn't just have a crush, he was in love with her. And maybe, just maybe she could fall in love with him too.
By the time she had drawn this conclusion, she had finished the shower and was dressing. The T-shirt was like a tarp on her. She tied it off in front, and subconsciously pushed the shirt up and pulling the shorts down revealing as much flesh as possible for Xander's viewing pleasure and still remain decent. She grabbed her hair tie and pulled her hair into a ponytail, then headed upstairs.
As she reached the top of the steps delicious smells greeted her senses. She entered the kitchen to find Xander cooking. It was certainly a pleasant surprise. She couldn't see what was he cooking so she stood on tiptoe to see over Xander's shoulder. "What ya' cookin'?"
Xander turned to her with a grin, "Food, but I'm afraid you can't have any."
Buffy stuck out her bottom lip in a mock pout, and in a childish voice she said, "Why not?" She batted her eyes for emphasis.
Xander was unaffected by her pouting, "Cause this food is for Buffy."
"Wait Xander, my name is Buffy."
"Oh thank the heavens, I thought you were never going to get here." He turned back to the food and Buffy smiled. Buffy overlooked the setup; Bacon, Eggs, and Pancakes. She reached for a piece of bacon on a warming plate by the stove, but was valiantly turned away by Xander's spatula. "Bad Slayer. Be patient."
Buffy resumed her pout. "But, I just wanted a piece."
Xander turned completely around with his arms folded, "No buts young lady. Go, sit, wait, now." He was trying to keep a straight face, but failing miserably.
Seeing a potential weakness, Buffy decided to fight dirty. She stepped very close to Xander, pressed her thigh against his and ran a hand through his hair. In a voice so thick with honey that she'd have to visit the dentist tomorrow, she said. "Please Xander."
Xander looked as though his brain had melted, he managed a vowel sound before suddenly turning back to his cooking. Victorious, Buffy grabbed a piece of bacon and took a seat at the island.
Buffy stabbed the last of her pancake with her fork. Taking it into her mouth, she made noises of content, eventually swallowing. "God Xander, have I told you how good that was?" She asked before taking a drink of the hot tea Xander had made.
Xander smiled, "About twenty times so far, but please continue and thanks again." Xander picked up a plate containing the last pancake. "More?"
Buffy shook her head, "No, I couldn't."
Xander waived the plate under her nose, "Come on, what's one more gonna hurt?"
Buffy was defeated. She plucked the pancake from the plate with her fork and plopped it down onto her plate. Then she grabbed the jar of strawberry jam and spread some onto her pancake. She looked up to see Xander smiling and take a bite of his bacon. Buffy sliced up the cake and took some onto her fork. She took it in, and was once again impressed by Xander's ability to cook. "Xander, I'm gonna blow up if I eat much more."
"I'm glad you like it. Mom doesn't let me cook a lot. She says she'd gain a thousand pounds if I did."
Buffy swallowed another bite, then offered Xander a forkful, which he gratefully accepted. "I can see why. I didn't know you could cook."
Xander took a drink of his tea, "Willow and I taught each other how to cook when we were six. We used to cook for each other about once a week. Now, Willow can COOK. I might be good, but she is far better."
"I don't think I'd want her to cook for me then. I'd weigh a million pounds, cause you are really good."
Xander looked down suddenly, turning red. "C'mon Buff, you're embarrassing me."
Buffy slid her stool closer to Xander's. "It's true, and do you know what else?" Xander shook his head in the negative. "I think it's pretty sexy." She slid her foot up Xander's calf to emphasize her point.
Xander's eyes shot wide open, "Really?" His voice cracked.
"Mm-hmm." Buffy smiled, and Xander tried to collect his jaw off the floor while turning brand new shades of red. Buffy leaned in and kissed him roughly. She pulled back tugging on his bottom lip as she did.
She looked into his eyes deeply, "Xander, do you remember the first thing you ever said to me?" He nodded dumbly, "Ask me again."
Xander's mouth open and closed soundlessly as he tried to find his voice. She found his sheepishness cute. "Can..." He coughed to clear his throat. "Can I have you?"
Buffy nodded while she grabbed his hand and led him back down to the basement. "I'll let you know when I'm done with you."