by Mace

Though everyone had managed to piece together what had happened from what Whistler, Xander, and Giles said, the mystery of what actually happened at the mansion was soon cleared by Buffy and Drusilla. That's when the truth came out . . .

"Wait a second . . ." Willow said as Buffy finished up the story with Drusilla's arrival. Pure un-Willow-like fire burned behind her eyes. She turned fiercely to Xander. "*YOU DIDN'T TELL HER?!?*"

"Tell me what, Willow?" Buffy asked, startled.

"HE DIDN'T TELL YOU WE WERE GOING TO ATTEMPT THE SPELL AGAIN!!!" Willow yelled.

Xander glanced at the floor, wishing he was invisible.

"WHAT?!?" Buffy yelled. "You *KNEW*? How could you do something like that Xander? I had to send him to Hell!"

"I- I- uh-" Xander looked around the room for support, but even Cordelia was aghast at what he had done.

Buffy was sobbing uncontrollably from the betrayal and the fact that Xander had *known*.

"Buffy, I uh- " Xander said.

"Get out," she said between sobs. "Leave. He'll be in Hell for eternity because of you. I don't know how or why, but it doesn't matter. I love him, Xander. Even now. How you could do something like that to not only me but to him is unbelievable. I don't want you in my house ever again," she said with cold clarity.

Everyone knew that Buffy was not just mad and would get over it. And Drusilla knew that it was taking all the self-control the petite Slayer had to not kill him on the spot. Drusilla saw the change in his demeanor almost immediately. His shoulders straightened and he looked defiantly into Buffy's eyes.

"He deserved it. He was a demon. He killed Theresa, Miss Calendar, and tried to kill us," Xander hissed softly.

Using only a minuscule amount of Slayer power, Buffy slapped him. Drusilla was ready to spring on her, should it turn ugly.

"Leave," she said softly.

He did. As soon as the door shut behind him, she bounded up the stairs. Everyone left shortly after that. Buffy had locked her door and didn't come out until the next evening when she went hunting.

It was the last time Xander and Buffy spoke. Xander no longer hung around the Slayerettes. He broke it off with Cordy shortly after his tirade with Buffy. Cordy was heart-broken. Everyone soon discovered how deeply she cared for the boy. She denounced her other more-popular friends the following school year, creating lasting relationships with the Slayer, Willow, Oz and eventually Drusilla. Buffy seldom if ever spoke of Xander's betrayal. Xander began hanging out with different kids, eventually working his way into the popular group.

Buffy was a celebrity around school. She had managed to elude the Sunnydale police force, and even get into Snyder's good graces. Though she had lost her reputation of being weird, and was simply Buffy Summers. She never, not so much as once, dated anyone.

In early October, the Dingoes signed with a producer in Los Angeles and went national. Oz and Willow were famous. Willow had gotten over her stage fright and took Devon's place as lead singer. Devon had an untimely demise at the hands of a vampire. "Destiny's Soul" their first album went platinum by Christmas. And though she sang with one of the most popular bands in the country, Willow's disposition never changed from the sweet, shy, hacker she had been the day she met Buffy Summers.

Drusilla moved in with Buffy and her mother. She stayed in the basement during the daylight and came out to hunt vampires with Buffy at night. Word got out pretty quickly that Drusilla had a soul and was helping Buffy slay vampires. The vampire population rose greatly. Buffy and Drusilla killed about five to ten vampires apiece a night. Drusilla suffered greatly, but her guilt was not nearly as great as Angel's had been. Most of Drusilla's soulless-vampiratic life was covered by the haze of madness. Buffy did her best to comfort Drusilla, and Joyce reminded her so much of her own mother.

Buffy stopped being quite so pale and thin, she was back to impeccable form by November. She laughed and smiled like a normal teenager. It was only a facade. Only alone, at night, did Buffy let her false-cheerfulness fall away, and she let herself grieve for her lost lover. She kept Angel's apartment in perfect condition, cleaning and dusting once a week. It was then that Drusilla found out how much Buffy was really hurting. . . .

One raining night, shortly before Christmas, when Buffy had gone out hunting alone, (vampires disliked the rain immensely) she found herself in Angel's apartment. Rain-soaked, she slipped into some clothes that she had begun keeping in Angel's apartment and lied down in between the red, silk sheets.

When Buffy didn't show up at three, when she always did on rainy nights, Dru went out in search of her. Dru walked into Angel's apartment on light feet, so as not to disturb the Slayer. Buffy was tossing, turning, crying, and screaming Angel's name, though her voice was barely at a whisper. It took all the might Dru had to not break down and cry at the sight of her best-friend. She left her where she was, knowing how badly Buffy would feel if Dru woke her up. Buffy came in at dawn, looking wet, but as if nothing had happened. Dru's heart wrenched.

Buffy strolled down the street, hunting vamps. It was still raining, so Dru had stayed inside. She had only gotten five that night and was about to go home when she heard someone cry out. A vampire was attacking a young man. Buffy whirled the vamp around and put a stake through his heart. Buffy looked over at the young man.

"Xander?" she whispered.

Xander looked at Buffy and down at the sidewalk.

"Hey, Buffy," he said quietly.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go home now. Thanks."

He started walking off.

"Xander, wait," she called after him. She strode up to him and looked at him. "I'm sorry, Xander. Sorry that I blew up at you, sorry that things turned out this way, just sorry."

"I know, Buffy. I just- I- I really like- love Cordelia. Even now, after all this time. And even though we argued a lot, I loved her when we first started going out. I just didn't want to admit it to myself. Buffy, you were my friend, and I knew how much he hurt you . . ."

"Xander . . ."

"But it wasn't him. I know that too. I had a crush on you when we first met, but it passed, I just didn't know it. Little did I know, Idiot Jed was controlling me," Xander smiled his lop-sided grin.

"What?" Buffy asked, smiling.

"Ask Cordy. Anyway, so I never like Angel not because I was jealous, but because . . . you never knew him, so you don't know . . . vampires killed Jesse and forced me to kill his body, but he was bad then. I resented that you didn't kill Angel, but when you did, I realized how hard it was for you. Jesse was my friend, but I had Willow. You couldn't kill him when he was good, that would have been murder. You couldn't kill him when he was bad because it would mean giving up any hope of ever having him back. You had to kill him and send him to Hell because he loved you . . . no one deserves that, Buffy, and I'm sorry," Xander said.

Tears had formed in Buffy's eyes. She hugged Xander and smiled.

"So, we're friends again?" Buffy asked.

"If you wanna be," Xander said.

"Good, now come with me to the Bronze. Oz and Willow will be there, I convinced Dru to get outta the house to come with us, and it would really make Cordy's day if you asked her to dance," Buffy said.

Do you want to read part four? Go here.

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