Inevitable

Inevitable Chapter Three

Willow noticed as soon as she got there, that something wasn’t quite right with this picture. Buffy was all huddled into a corner wither Xander. It was starting to make her nervous, and she really didn’t like the feeling that she was being left out. They’d both jumped almost completely out of their skin when she’d walked over to them.

“ Buffy you look great, I love that dress on you.” Buffy smiled at her.

“ My mom surprised me with it yesterday. I was so hoping to get this one. You look great too, Wils.” Willow was wearing a pink strapless dress with a matching pink wrap over her shoulders. Willow looked over at Xander.

“ Do you wanna dance, Xand? It looks like there is a pretty big crowd, so we should be good.” Xander noticed Buffy’s face fall when Willow posed this question to him. He was about to decline when Buffy put on a happy face.

“ That’s a great idea. Xander, you go dance with Willow, and I’m going to go see if I can’t get some punch.” Willow’s smile got wider, when Buffy hadn’t objected to the dancing. Willow led Xander to the dance floor, while Buffy walked sullenly over to the punch table. She grabbed her a cup full of punch when Owen walked over to her.

“ Hey Buffy. Look, I know we didn’t hit it off that great, but I was wondering if you’d like to dance with me.” Buffy looked over at Willow and Xander, who seemed to be having a great time.

“ Sure, why not?” With that they walked over to the dance floor, a slow song started, and they began to dance. Owen leaned down and whispered to her.

“ I’m so glad that a slow song came on. I am so not good with the fast dancing.” Buffy had to laugh at this. She put her head on his shoulder, and saw Xander standing with Willow at the snack table. He did not look happy at all. When the song ended, she thanked Owen for the dance, and walked back over to her friends. When she got there, Xander wouldn’t even look at her. She smiled at Willow, and grabbed Xander’s hand. Willow frowned at them as she was leading him to the dance floor.

“ Xander, what’s the matter? You’re not even looking at me.” He sighed and looked down at her.

“ You had to slow dance with that guy?” Buffy grinned at him.

“ Xander it was just a dance. You were dancing with Willow, you know.” Xander smiled back at her.

“ Did you really mean what you said? You really wanna go out with me?” Buffy looked down at her feet.

“ I’ve wanted to go out with you ever since you helped me pick my stuff up, Xander. Just look over at Willow, though. She is very uncomfortable with the fact we’re dancing together. She’s in love with you, and has been for a really long time. I can’t do that to her.” Xander opened his mouth, then closed it again. He was starting to get angry.

“ So, let me get this straight. I like you, and you like me, but we can’t be together? I think that Wil will understand, Buff. She knows how I feel about you.” Buffy couldn’t help but smile when he said that to her.

“ Xander, you don’t know how much I want to be with you. It’s not fair!” Xander pulled Buffy closer to him.

“ Well, why don’t we get this over with right now.” Buffy not knowing what he meant, looked up at him. Taking the opportunity, Xander lowered his head and captured her mouth with his. The kiss was slow, and soft. Buffy’s eyes drifted shut, wanting to savor the moment. When they finally broke apart from each other, they just stared at one another. When they heard a soft sob, the spell was broken. They both turned to find that Willow was fleeing from the gym, crying. Buffy hung her head.

“ I knew this was going to happen, Xander.” He looked at her stunned.

“ You’re telling me, that you didn’t want me to do that?” Buffy sighed and leaned into him.

“ No, I’m really glad you did, it’s just I don’t think she’s ever going to talk to either of us ever again.” Xander put his arm around Buffy, and held her really close.

“ She’ll be alright, Buffy, we’ve just got to give her some time.”

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Willow could actually feel her hear breaking into tiny little pieces. How could she have done that to her? Had she wanted her to come the dance, just so she could se that? She didn’t want to believe that Buffy could be so malicious, but here was the proof. Right in front her, Buffy had kissed Xander. Well it had been the other way around, but still! She ran all the way home, and when she got there, she ran up to her room. Her mother had called out to her, asking why she was home so early, but she didn’t answer her. She just locked herself into her room, and fell onto her bed. She laid there for a very long time, until she couldn’t cry anymore tears. Then she just laid very still trying to make the pain go away. It wouldn’t have hurt as much, if Buffy had just told her the truth. Sure, she would have been hurt then too, but it would’ve been better than being lied to. There was a small knock on her door, but Willow didn’t want any interruptions in her mope session. She eventually drifted into a very deep sleep.

Meanwhile, Xander was walking Buffy to her doorstep. They weren’t saying anything at all, just walking comfortably with one another. Cordelia passed them in her expensive car, shouting out something that sounded like “ way to crush Willow the dork”, but neither payed attention. When they reached her front door, Buffy turned and faced him.

“ I really hope she doesn’t hate us, Xander.” He sighed and gave her a big hug.

“ I’m sure everything will work out just fine, I mean look at us here.” Buffy had to smile at that. She leaned up on her tip toes and sealed the evening with a soft kiss. She then said her goodbyes and went in her house. Buffy smilingly walked up to her room, while Xander whistled on the way to his house.