Buffy Summers tried to keep the tears from falling.

It was harder than she thought it would be, attending the funeral of Forrest Gates. She and Forrest had never been friends, really, mostly they tolerated each other. Then, after Riley *betrayed* the Initiative for her, Forrest had made his feelings very clear. He absolutely did not like Buffy, or anything that she stood for.

So his funeral shouldn't have been difficult. She shouldn't be crying.

But she was.

She lovingly stroked her boyfriend Riley Finn's hair as he sobbed on her shoulder. Riley didn't care who saw him cry over the death of one of his best friends. Hell, they'd been friends for six years, protected each other, worked together daily.

And now Forrest was gone, never to return.

Even though Riley didn't kill Forrest per say (he *was*, after all, dead when Riley found him working for Adam), the sobbing man still felt some kind of guilt for his death.

Riley was grateful that Buffy had decided to come to the funeral with him.

Willow Rosenberg glanced down at her hands, flexing them. Funerals were difficult for her. She didn't know Forrest, couldn't even remember if she'd ever actually talked to the man, but felt a need to be there. She thought that she should be there for Buffy and Riley, plus she hoped that this would give her closure over the entire fiasco that was the Initiative.

"Xander," Anya whispered to Xander, who sat between Anya and Willow.

Xander Harris looked over at his girlfriend. "Yea?"

"Funerals suck."

"Yea," he said softly, holding her hand. He leaned over and kissed her. "I love you," he said softly.

Her smile could have lit up the whole cemetery, had anyone noticed.

Xander turned to Willow. "Wills..." he whispered, his voice starting to break.

Willow's heart constricted. < Don't say it, please, goddess, don't say it, > she begged silently.

"I haven't been to a funeral since Jesse," he whispered, his eyes following the coffin being lowered into the ground.

Tears fell down Willow's cheeks as she remembered her best friend (other than Xander) growing up. "Ms. Calendar's was hard too," she whispered. "Why is it that we can't go to a funeral of someone who got to live their whole life and enjoy it?"

"We live on the Hellmouth," Xander replied, wrapping his arm around his best friend. "We could leave..."

"And go where?" she asked. "No, we have to be here. Buffy needs us."

"And we need her," Xander replied.

Willow sighed, scanning the group around the burial plot. There were a lot of guys she had seen before, realizing that most of them were probably a part of the Initiative. < Or what was the Initiative. >

Her gaze fell on a man sitting alone. He had a blank look on his face, as if he were denying the funeral even existed. Willow knew that it was the third in the trio Riley once patrolled with. < Graham...damn. I don't know his last name. >

Willow reluctantly sighed, standing up. "I'll be back," she whispered to Xander. She began to weave through the mourning crowd.

*-*-*-*

Graham Miller saw her approach out of the corner of his eye. < Great. Now one of Buffy's little friends is coming over to talk to me. What could she possibly have to say? She didn't know Forrest. >

Willow sat down next to him. She touched his arm softly. He turned to her, the blank look still on his face.

"When I was six years old, I met Xander and Jesse," she began. "Xander is that guy sitting over there, on the other side of Buffy." She nodded towards her group of friends. "We were inseparable. They protected me from bullies." She laughed softly. "We didn't know the dangers of this town. When we were sixteen, the Master showed up. He started turning people, so he could have his army. Jesse was one of them. Xander and I had never cried so hard....and to this day, I don't think either of us has yet."

She sighed. "That night, after he rose, we saw him. It was a shock, I assure you. Here, we had buried our best friend, and now he's walking around like nothing ever happened. That's when we discovered vampires really existed." Tears started streaming down her face. "Buffy staked him. We had to see our best friend die. Again."

Graham turned to her, knowing the girl was in pain. However, she could never understand what he felt. "And that is supposed to make me feel better how? That I know that Forrest won't become a vampire?"

Hurt flashed in her eyes. She locked her lips in a thin line. When she finally spoke, her voice was cold and emotionless. "No," she replied. "We were best friends for eight years, Graham. Eight years with no worries, nothing. And then, all the sudden, he's gone. I told you my story to let you know that I can empathize. I've been there. I've been where you are now."

Graham's heart felt like someone had stabbed him as he listened to her words. "Oh, god...you have been doing this for years."

"Four," she whispered. "Ever since our sophomore year in high school."

"How? How could you be so young and inexperienced and yet go out, night after night and fight?" He trembled as his tears started to fall. "I mean, we've been trained and were much older...."

Willow shrugged. "I didn't think I had a choice. I mean, I *did*, but I wouldn't have slept good at night knowing that there was this girl all alone out there trying to fight the forces of evil while I was tucked into a warm bed. And I had to do it for Jesse. I didn't want his memory to die in vain." Her shoulders started to shake as she started to cry. "Every vampire I kill, or watch one of the others kill, I say in the back of my head, 'I hope that was the one that sired you, Jesse, and that we've made something drastically wrong right.' "

Graham reached out, pulling Willow into his arms. She started to sob against him. Graham closed his eyes and allowed himself to grieve for his best friend Forrest.

*-*-*-*

Buffy glanced around. "Where is Willow?" she asked softly, glad it was still daylight and they were protected from the evils of the night for the time being.

Xander nodded. "Here she comes, with that other Commando guy."

Riley glanced up, tears forming in his eyes again. He squeezed Buffy's shoulder, then walked towards Willow and Graham. He met them half way.

"Graham."

They had barely spoken since Riley defected. The leader had no idea how his subordinate -- his friend -- felt about him. Riley knew he had the support of the Scooby Gang, but his heart feared that he had lost two best friends that day.

Graham rubbed his face with his free hand. Willow wouldn't let go of the other. "Riley. We've been through a lot. You are my best friend, man. You..." He swallowed the lump in his throat. "You are all I have left."

More tears fell on Riley's cheeks. He stepped to Graham, hugging the man he called friend. Graham wrapped his free arm around Riley, patting him on the back. They pulled away.

"Graham?" Willow said softly.

Graham looked down at the extraordinary woman who, in a matter of twenty minutes, showed him a courage and bravery he hadn't seen in someone in a long time. "Yea, Willow?"

"You don't have to be alone. You can help us, if you want. Adam may be gone, but the demons will still come."

Buffy, Xander, and Anya had joined the three standing there. Graham looked at all of their tear stained faces. "After everything...you will let me join you?"

Buffy smiled, nodding her head.

Xander laughed. "Of course, Commando. We let Spike join us, and he has actively tried to kill us at least four times in the last two years."

Anya shrugged. "They let me join, and I caused a whole 'nother dimension to open."

Willow shuddered softly. "Not the Vampire Me story. Not yet. I don't want to scare him away."

Graham smiled softly, looking at the group of mismatched friends. "Oddly enough, I think I will fit right in."

Riley chuckled. "Might actually be the most normal of all of us."