More Than Friends?

"Let me guess. You failed." Buffy said sarcastically. He answered by waving his driver's license in front of her face.

"Congratulations." Willow said.

"So, what do we do to celebrate?" Xander asked.

"Movie? I'll treat." Buffy suggested.

"Good idea. I hear Romeo and Juliet is back in the theaters." Willow said.

"A chick flick? Uh uh. Who just passed their driving test? I think I should pick the movie." Xander disagreed

"Excuse me? Who's paying?" Buffy said.

"Fine. I'll go see your chick flick." He said in disgust.

"Then it's settled. You can drive us home afterward." Buffy said. Xander thought for a moment. Buffy's house was closer to his house than Willow's. He would be alone with Buffy for a few minutes.

"Okay. But you guys have to get there on your own."Xander said.

"Good. How about after school tomorrow?" Willow offered. They had all been enrolled in summer school due to all of the classes they had missed.

"Sounds great! I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Xander said as he went to go kick his father out of the driver's seat of the family car.

"Willow, honey," Mrs. Rosenberg said as she walked into Willow's room, "Aunt Cathy called. She needs you to babysit for Bryce for a few hours. I told her you would."

"Sure, Mom. When?"Willow asked.

"Um, now."

"No! I promised Buffy and Xander I'd go to the movies with them today. I'm running late as it is."

"Willow, family comes before friends, you know that."

"Fine. If Buffy or Xander call later, tell them where I went, okay?"

"Okay."

Willow left to go babysit for her little cousin.

"Where is she?" Buffy asked. She and Xander had been waiting for Willow for a half hour.

"I don't think she's coming. I mean, she wouldn't be this late." Xander said.

"You're probably right. Let's just go in and watch the movie. No sense in wasting an entire afternoon." Buffy said, leading him into the theater. They sat down just as the movie was starting.

"Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life;

Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Doth with their death bury their parents' strife.

The fearful passage of their death-marked love, And the continuance of their parents' rage, Which, but their children's end, naught could remove,

Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage; The which if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend."

The movie continued, and as much as Xander hated to admit to himself, he enjoyed it. 'Of course,' he thought, 'it couldn't hurt that I'm watching it alone with Buffy'.

'Wow,' Buffy thought, 'He looks like he's actually enjoying it. Maybe I misjudged him.' Buffy sighed and sank back into her seat. They sat there for about two hours, just watching as Romeo and Juliet met, fell inlove, and died.

"A glooming peace this morning with it brings.

The sun for sorrow will not show his head. Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;

Some shall be pardoned, and some punish'ed; For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

She could have been mistaken, but Buffy thought she saw a tear rolling down Xander's cheek. As they walked out into the light, she could see he had been crying.

"So, now I know why you didn't want to see this movie. You didn't want me to see you cry." She teased.

"Hey, I have irritated eyes. They're just adjusting to the change in light." Xander defended as he held the car door open to let Buffy in.

"You were crying and you know it." Buffy continued. After a long silence, she realized that it wasn't something to tease him about. It showed he was sensitive, and it was hard to find that in a guy these days. She could tell he didn't like being teased. They pulled up to her house. She looked at him. "Hey, Xander, I'm sorry. I think it's great that you're a sensitive guy. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." She put a hand on his shoulder, and he looked at her. Before either of them knew it, they were kissing. When Buffy realized what they were doing, she pulled away.

"Um, Xander, I better go-"

"No, wait." Xander pulled her back into a passionate kiss. To her surprise, she kissed him back. They sat there, kissing, until Buffy pulled away again.

"Xander, I-"

"Sh." he put a finger on her lips to quiet her. "Don't say anything. Just meet me at the Bronze in an hour. Okay?"

"Okay." She smiled. "Xander, I liked it." She kissed him lightly on the lips. "An hour. I'm there."

Xander smiled at her. 'I can't believe this is happening,' he thought, 'A couple of weeks ago, I was lying on my bed listening to country music because she wanted to be friends. Now...' he didn't finish the thought.

Buffy walked toward the house. 'I can't believe it. A couple weeks ago, I was giving him the 'Let's be friends' speech, and today, I am going on a date with him and kissing him passionately.' She unlocked the door and walked up to her room. She collapsed on her bed and sighed happily. 'He's a great kisser, though." She smiled, and started getting ready for her meeting with Xander.

As Buffy stepped into the shower, she realized what she had just done. 'I kissed Xander!' she thought, 'And I liked it. When did this happen? When did I start feeling this way?' She thought hard. 'I guess it started after he revived me. So why did I just realize it today?'. She stepped out of the shower and started to get dressed. I must have been too busy with school,' she decided. 'And the movie must have helped. I mean, if Willow had come...Willow! How is she going to take this? She's inlove with him!' Then she sat down on her bed and a new thought pushed its way into her mind. 'Am I?' She pushed the thought away and finished getting ready.

"Hey, Buffy!" Xander called as she walked into the Bronze. She saw him and walked over to the table he was sitting at and sat down next to him.

"Xander, how did you get here so fast? I'm, like, ten minutes early." Buffy asked.

"I drove." He answered.

"Xander, it's a five minute walk from your house. Why did you drive?"

"I felt like it. Anyway, we need to talk."

"I know. What happened earlier, it was-"

"Incredible." Xander interrupted.

"Well, yes, but, I don't know. I mean, I don't know how I feel."

"Buffy, if you want to just forget it happpened,-"

"No, I don't want to forget it. I-I don't know what I want to do. Why does this have to be so complicated?" She looked down at her hands. Xander lifted her chin so their eyes were even.

"It doesn't have to be." He said softly. Their eyes locked, and Buffy quickly looked away. Xander could see she was on the verge of crying. He stood up and hugged her.

"Come on, you know I hate to see you sad." He said tenderly. She hugged him back.

"I just don't know what to do." She whispered. Xander stepped back a little bit, looking at her.

"Look, Buffy, do you want some time to think about this? I mean, it's kind of confusing."

"No. It is confusing, but the longer I think about it, the more confusing it'll get. We need to talk about this now."

"Well, what is your heart telling you? 'Cause I've always believed that when dealing with matters of the heart, you should do what your heart says."

"Wow. Did you make that up?"

"Uh, no. I got it from a calendar. But it's true. What is your heart telling you to do?"

"This." She kissed him deeply.

"Wow." Xander said when the kiss ended. "I can't argue with that." He pulled her into another kiss.

Willow watched on silently. She had gotten back from her aunt's house a couple of minutes ago. She had called both Buffy and Xander's houses, and they hadn't been home, so she figured they would be at the Bronze. She had figured right. But she hadn't figured that she would be standing across the room watching them kiss. She left, silently screaming at herself for not telling him how she felt sooner.

"Oh, no." Buffy said, pulling away from Xander.

"What?" Xander asked. Buffy pointed toward the doorway, where Willow was leaving. "Oh."

"I better go talk to her." Buffy said, walking to the exit.

"Willow! Wait up!" Buffy called. Willow kept walking. Buffy caught up to Willow and stopped her.

"Willow, I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. I should have told him sooner."

"So you're not mad?"

"No. Not at you or Xander, at least. I'm mad at myself for being so shy. If I'd told him sooner, I would've at least known how he felt."

"Will, it's not your fault either. Things happen. You can't exactly change it now. Hang in there. You'll find someone else."

"Sure." Willow said and walked off. Buffy watched her walk away, wondering if their friendship would be the same.

Willow slammed her bedroom door behind her. 'How could she do this to me?' she thought. 'She knows I'm inlove with him!' She fell down onto her bed and started to cry. She saw the many pictures of her and Xander and closed her eyes. She was asleep in no time, even though it was only 7:30.

As Willow walked into school, she saw Buffy and Xander. Together. Holding hands. She started to walk away, but Xander saw her. "Hey, Willow! Over here!" He called. She walked over to them.

"Hi." She said quietly.

"What's up?" Xander asked.

'How can he act like everything's normal?' A part of Willow asked. 'Maybe because it is to him.' Another part of her answered.

"Nothing much." She answered. Buffy saw the look on her friend's face.

"Willow, can I talk to you for a sec? Xander, I'll see you later. I have to talk to Willow alone right now."

"Sure. Bye." Xander said, giving her hand a squeeze before walking away.

"Willow, what is going on?" Buffy asked.

"Like you don't know."

"Willow, are you really willing to throw away your friendship with Xander just because you can't have a relationship with him?"

"Does it matter? He'll be so wrapped up with you he'll barely notice I exist." Willow said bitterly.

"That's not true and you know it. You'll always be his best friend. Just because he doesn't love you that way, it doesn't mean he doesn't love you. I know you hate to hear this, but you're like a sister to him. In twenty years, if it doesn't work out between us, you'll still be his best friend. That is, if you let him."

"And if it does work out between you two, he'll be inviting me to your wedding and your children's birthday parties. I'll pass, thanks."

"Willow, even though you don't realize it, he cares about you more than he'll ever care about me."

"Yeah right. That's why he always gushed about how beautiful you are and how graceful you are in front of me. He's so ignorant. If he paid any attention to me at all, he would have figured out how I felt years ago."

"Willow, you're gorgeous. He just never noticed that because you were always so close to him. If you and I switched places, and I had known him all my life, and you had just come to Sunnydale 6 months ago, he would be going out with you right now. It's just that when he met you, he wasn't interested in girls. So now that you're growing up, he doesn't notice it because you're his best friend. It's hard for him to picture you in that way."

"I guess you're right. It's still going to take some time to get used to, though."

"I'll try to help you adjust. You know, I never meant to hurt you. It all just happened so fast."

"I understand. Look, I have to get to class. I'll see you later." She walked away. Buffy looked after her for a second, then went to find Xander.

Finally, Buffy caught up to Xander.

"Hey, Buffy," He said noticing her walking up to him."Is everything okay with Willow? Do you know why she was acting that way?"

"Yeah. She was just feeling sort of like the fifth wheel. I explained to her that we will both still have time for her."

"Great." Xander said, pulling Buffy toward him, kissing her deeply. She put her arms around his neck, returning the kiss. She pulled away reluctantly.

"We have to get to class. If we start cutting summer school classes, Snyder will probably keep us back in the 10th grade until we're in the same classes with our kids." She said. He took her hand in his and they walked to class together.

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THE END

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