Same Old Story
by Vanilla Tiger
AN: Set not long after Storyteller. Thanks to Gehayi for the beta.
Written for the Anyaficathon for Emily, who requested Xander/Anya with bitchiness,
a line about happy endings and no sex.
Feedback to fitchers_bird@yahoo.co.uk.
Clichés. Dull, derivative, demonstrating a distinct lack of originality. Ideas copy-and-pasted from practically every movie in existence in order to comprise some vague attempt at real life.
When it came down to it, that was the crux of Xander’s issues with Andrew – well, at least one of his issues. There was nothing wrong with being a geek (not that Xander saw himself as one anymore), but surely Andrew could do more than regurgitate pop culture at every opportunity.
Take, for example, their present situation. After that interview for his ridiculous video project, Andrew had clearly seen that Xander and Anya still had some talking they needed to do and had taken it upon himself as self-appointed morale officer to get it done.
That much was irritating but acceptable. Where Andrew crossed over the boundary to slap-about-the-head territory was the way he did it. Following in the hallowed traditions of bad sitcoms and soaps all over the globe, the bickering ex-couple had been locked up in a confined space where, presumably, they were supposed to talk, share, rediscover their lost love and eventually get rescued. Then they would come out, dismissing the whole incident as part of the wacky hijinks that make up their life, and have a happy ending just in time for the closing credits.
Xander looked around the basement; deliberately not pausing on the sight of Anya huddled up against the opposite wall. Life didn’t seem to be following the script here, but then when did it ever in Sunnydale?
They sat in a sullen silence for a while, waiting for the other to make the first move, waiting for a cue to how this whole scene was about to play out.
The frustration got to Anya first. “I blame you for all of this.”
That was more than a little unfair, Xander thought. After all it had been Andrew who had made sure Spike was busy elsewhere, Andrew who had convinced Dawn into luring the pair down here and Andrew who locked them in. The case appeared as firmly closed as the basement door, and Xander said as much.
Anya waved her hands dismissively. “If you hadn’t left me at the altar all that time ago, Andrew never would have had to do this. In fact, if you had never lied to me and proposed then this whole mess need never have happened.” Her point made, she turned away.
“My fault! Excuse me for trying to save you from a life of misery.” Xander stood up in surprise. Surely this had all been understood. “I meant every word, Ahn,” he said more softly. “I only ever wanted us to be happy.”
Anya was not convinced. “Oh yes. I am so much happier this way, living in a crowded house surrounded by girls who believe that they’re all superheroes-in-waiting when they’re nothing more than cannon fodder. I like not having a way to earn money now that your best friend has destroyed my shop. And I just love having lost all of my powers and being left with nothing, whilst no one is willing to have sex with me. Yes, thank you very much for all you have done for me.” While her face was still turned away, the bitterness in her tone showed Xander all he needed to know about her expression.
“I thought that we had moved on from this. You said so after our ‘one more time,’ remember?” And he was bitter too. He was hurting, and however unfair he knew it was he wanted to make her hurt as well.
She lifted up her head that, although still unwilling to look at Xander directly. “Hey I wanted to move on just as much as you, but things just aren’t that easy. I’m fine with it, I can cope…”
“…Just as long as we don’t spend too much time together.” Xander finished her thought for her. What could have been a reflective sympathetic pause was harshly interrupted by his outburst of “Damn Andrew!”
“That’s your problem right there. Andrew has nothing to do with this mess. I’m sure he’ll let us out enough. This is all your fault. If you hadn’t cheated on Cordelia in the first place, I would never have to had entered this death trap of a town at all.”
“Make it our fault, and it’s a deal.” Pre-empting the rebuttal, Xander continued, “Don’t tell me you never had doubts about the whole thing too. Remember our duet? At least I was honest enough to face up to the facts.”
That grabbed Anya’s full attention as she whirled to face her ex-fiancé. “Honest! Honest would have meant you talked to me about this some point before what was supposed to be the happiest day of my life, which I don’t need to remind you has beensoon pretty long.”
“Anya!” Xander clenched his fists impotently, unable to express the swell of feelings sticking in his throat. She was right, but was so he; and it was all one great confused mess.
There were voices outside arguing, but that was the normal state of play in the Summers’ household nowadays. Right now the two were focused on each other.
“I want to be over you.” Her voice was distant and mildly surprised. “I thought I was. And then we get trapped in here and all I can remember is loving you.”
Xander knelt down beside her. Looking into her eyes, he said to her, “I know how you feel. Things aren’t just that easy though. We agreed that it’s over and it’s probably for the best.”
“Why?” With just one word, she broke his heart all over again. He wanted to explain just why it was obvious that the pair of them were doomed. Even apart from their issues, everyone knew that relationships formed on the Hellmouth could never work out.
Still, they were here, where they had been together for the last time. They were alone and it would be so easy for Xander to kiss her at this very moment.
Of course it was then that Buffy opened the door to let them out of the basement, a contrite Dawn and Andrew behind her.
“There’s a meeting in the sitting room in five minutes. I’ll see you there,” she said, barely looking at the pair before she rushed off. The lurking threat of the First was all she ever seemed to see these days.
As they walked out unable to look at each other, Xander caught a glimpse of Andrew’s disappointed face. This wasn’t the way any of them had hoped that this would turn out after all. Perhaps Xander too had hoped that their incarceration would have led to a full reconciliation.
Still, life isn’t like they pretend in the sitcoms, and things never are that simple. At least they all were still alive for now, and weren’t currently trying to kill each other.
In Sunnydale, that’s usually as close as you get to a happy ending.