Xander was bored. He had been lying in this hospital bed for nearly two weeks now, and he had had enough. He was in a private room, so he had no one to talk to and Buffy and Willow wouldn't be out of school for ages. He wished, not for the first time, that there was a TV in the room. He wasn't strong enough yet to walk to the day room. On the bright side though he would be able to go home in a couple of days.
His Mum had been in to visit him a couple of hours before, but she hadn't stayed long. She was working nights at the moment and she had just finished work. His Dad was still in L.A. on business, but his secretary had sent a huge bunch of flowers and some grapes to make up for it. Like that made everything OK.
Xander looked down at his plaster casted leg. He was quite embarrassed about the whole thing. It wouldn't have been so bad if he had done it playing sports or while he was helping Buffy Slay. But no, he had to do it when he did his good deed for the day.
Willow's parents were away visiting family and she had got herself locked out of the house. So he'd offered to break in for her. At the back of the house wasa little sloping roof and he'd fallen off there. It wasn't very high either. It was only four foot off the ground. That's what made it worse. Willow hadn't teased him. She was really concerned about him. She'd got him to the hospital and stayed with him while he got his leg x-rayed and set. He didn't like hospitals, you see, it was probably the smell or something. Willow remembered that, so she kept him company. She was so sweet.
She'd been to visit him everyday now after school, and everyday she would bring him something nice to eat. He kept telling her that it was speeding his recovery, but she would just laugh and ruffle his hair. She knew how much it annoyed him and took great pleasure in doing it. He could only get annoyed with Willow for a second then he'd laugh and everything would be great again.
Buffy couldn't stop laughing when she had found out what had happened. She had come to visit him after school the next day with a gift. It was all wrapped up in shiny paper and it had a huge bow on the top. He didn't know what it could be and was dead excited when he opened it. Buffy had bought him four feet of bungee rope. It cheered him up considerably, it was the sort of present he'd buy. However, he would have liked a Playboy Bunny. Maybe he should start dropping hints? His birthday was just around the corner.
He turned and looked at the photo on his bedside table. Willow had brought it in yesterday. It was him, Buffy and Willow sitting in The Bronze. It had been taken a fortnight before, on the evening of his accident. Both of them looked so pretty and he wasn't half bad either. Dashing, he would descibe himself.
Xander was suddenly struck by how much the two of them meant to him. Willow he had known since he was 3 years old. Fourrteen years was a long time. They had done so much together. Played at each others houses, made snowmen in the winter, water fights in the summer. He'd taught her how to ride a bike and she'd taught him how to bake cookies. They'd gone to their first High School Dance together, and never went again. Every other Saturday they'd rent a horror movie and Willow would scream in all the right places and Xander would laugh at her, then they'd probably end up having a popcorn fight. It was great fun if they had syrup on the popcorn becuase it would take days to get it out of her hair.
Then there was the ice cream incident. It was hard to believe it was over half a year ago. They had been walking back from The Bronze munching on ice creams and Willow got some on he nose. She looked so cute, it made something flutter in his stomach. When he wiped it off he felt something, he still couldn't describe it. It felt - right. Then the moment was spoilt by a bloody vampire!! Then Buffy appeared to save the day and kicked ass. The moment was gone, and it had never come back again.
Xander sighed. It was another 'If Only. . .' to add to the pile. He could hear the faint sound of Dolly Parton in the distance. Ah, the music of pain.
He looked back at the photo. Willow had looked stunning that night. Buffy had done her hair and lent her one of her dresses. The guys were falling over her. But she turned them all down. Xander remembered telling her that she was mad. But Willow disagreed, she said she was there to enjoy the evening with her friends, not with a guy who couldn't see past what was on the outside.
That's what Xander loved about Willow, what was on the inside. She was kind, caring and totally adorable. She was also helping him pass High School. She was a real Angel.
Angel.
Well, that was a way to really spoil the mood. Xander's thoughts turned to Buffy. Buffy was totally different. She wore the trendiest clothes, as well as the smallest she could decently get away with. Not that that was a bad thing thought. Not at all!
She was so different. She came from the big city, she was very worldy wise and she was the Slayer. A whole other life. Very secret agent. She was also in love with a vampire. Not a good thing if you were a Vampire Slayer. He also loved her.
Xander didn't know what it was, maybe it was the way her hair glowed in the sunlight, or the way she chewed her pen when she was trying to concentrate in lessons, or the way she could always in control. Maybe it was because she carried a stake with her in school and passed it off as an anti-attack device. He supposed it was in a way.
He loved it when she smiled, but that was something he saw so rarely these days. She was so sad, and it made him sad too. All this Slaying was starting to get to her. Slaying, it sounded so glamourous, so gung-ho.
Maybe it was the whole glamour thing. Vampire Slayer had a certain mystique about it, which nothing else could really match. Not even naked cheerleading. Buffy was a heroine, a fighter against Darkness with a big 'd'. Willow had seen his 'pee pee' on the first day of kindergarten. There were some things you could never live down.
Buffy didn't know these things. That was good. A clean slate means everything in this game of love and war. But her and Willow were very close, god knows what Willow had told her. Please not the 'pee pee' story!!!
Xander was struck by realisation, and it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would. He loved both of them. He wondered whether there were any states that would let him have two wives.
There was a tap on the door. He looked up to see Buffy and Willow peeking round the door.
"Hi!" he greeted them. "I was just thinking about you."
"Oh yeah?" replied Buffy. "And what were you thinking then?"
"We brought double choc chip cookies." Added Willow.
"You mind readers!" Xander's stomach rumbled, loudly, in apprieciation. "Are there any states where I can legally marry both of you?"
Buffy and Willow both laughed. It was nice to see them happy. They passed him the cookies and settled down on either side of the bed. He smiled. He'd be out of hospital soon and back with his two best friends.
He loved them both. A lot.
"Do you want to be my harem?" he asked.
THE END
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