Giles put down his empty plate and picked up the phone. He dialed the number of the school library, testing out his newly-gained knowledge of how to check his answering machine messages by remote. Ha! It worked! And just as he'd hoped, there was a call from Adam.
"Hello, Giles, it's Adam. Good news and bad news. Good news is, the ritual worked. Spike isn't much of a killer anymore, and Buffy's fine. The bad news will wait until I can tell you in person tomorrow morning when my flight lands at eight. It's 847. Talk to you then."
Eight o'clock the next morning found Giles waiting impatiently for flight 847, eager to see his slayer again. At last Adam came through the gate into the room. Giles looked past him, then back at his face. "Adam, welcome home. Uh, where's Buffy?"
Adam shook his head. "She, uh, didn't come. Let's just say the ritual worked, and she has a soft spot for vampires with souls."
"I see. Is - is that all the bad news?" Adam nodded. "Well, thank God it's no worse!" Giles said. "So she's all right?"
"She's fine. She was beaming and had her arms around Spike when I left," Adam said stiffly.
Giles understood. "I'm sorry. But perhaps we can yet change her mind about...uh, that, and about coming home?"
"You try. I've given up. Feel like giving me a ride home?" Adam said.
Giles consented, and they rode back to Adam's new apartment in silence. Adam invited him in for a cup of tea, and Giles walked into the new kitchen and looked around. "Uh, Adam? Did you know you seem to have a large gap in your kitchen?"
"Oh, that," Adam nodded. "Yeah, the countertop was so long they had to bring it up in three parts. The first two are here, but I'm wondering if I'll ever see part three of the Countertop." He grinned mysteriously.
Giles looked at him oddly, but said nothing.
Willow was lying on her bed at home, crying. Oz hadn't really even given her a reason for the breakup, just that he knew it wouldn't work out so why drag it on and on? She shook her head. She didn't think it was his lycanthropia, because they'd already worked through that problem. Which meant it must be her, she thought. She sobbed. The phone rang, and she rolled her eyes. She could think of any number of people who had her personal number, and didn't want to talk to any of them right now. Unfortunately, she was also cursed with one of those compulsive natures which can't bear to just let it ring, so she blew her nose and said her hello with as much cheer as she could muster.
Apparently, it wasn't enough. "Will? You okay? You sound upset." Xander said. Willow swore, deep inside herself. Why did he have to pick now to suddenly become observant-man?
"I - um... I - " She stammered.
"I'll be right over," he said, and the line went dead. Oh, great.
She was somewhat better composed when he got there, but still red-eyed. Xander walked into her room and hugged her immediately. "What's up, Will?" he asked tenderly.
"It's Oz," she said, breaking down again. The gentle note in his voice had done it. "He... I... We broke up. I mean, to be honest, he broke up with me. Yesterday. And I don't even know what I did!"
"I'm sorry, Will," Xander said. He supposed that, in a strange way, he was. Willow had seemed happy with Oz, and he was sorry to see her in pain. This did not diminish his urge to hurt Oz badly with dull silver objects.
"And he didn't even give me a good reason! All he said was that our relationship wouldn't last, so why drag it out. I mean, even if it wouldn't last, why not enjoy it when we had it? Cuz it's more than I had before!"
Xander stroked her back. He tried to crack a joke about what the children might have looked like covered in fur, but she just cried harder. He eventually got her calmed down and promised to go talk to Oz for her. Yeah, he'd talk to him, all right. He'd demand to know Oz's reasons for dumping the sweetest, smartest, most beautiful girl in the world, and then he'd punch him in the face as hard as he could.
Well, that was the theory, anyway. Oz's explanation took the wind out of Xander's sails, leaving him with no righteous indignation left for the hitting.
Oz had been just sitting outside in the park, playing (badly) on his guitar. Xander had come up and said, "Hey, Oz, what's up? Heard you just dumped my best friend, and she's crying over you now. Any reason I shouldn't punch your face in?"
"Well, yeah, actually, I think there might be." had been Oz's response. He'd then gone on to explain, "See, even if there weren't the werewolf thing, there's still the senior thing. I'm leaving in a couple of weeks to go to college in New York, and I didn't want to leave her tied down. Second thing is, I heard what you said to her in the hospital, that she's your best friend and you love her. Third thing is, you're her best friend, and she loves you. Always has. Now, I love her, but she could never love me as much as she loves you. Just hasn't known me long enough, doesn't have the background with me as with you.
"So, there it is. Would you believe I broke up with her because I love her and want her to be happy?" Oz shook his head and went back to his guitar.
Xander was stunned. "Yeah, man, I guess I would. I'm sorry." He stuck out his hand in a sudden gesture of friendship. After a moment's hesitation, Oz took it. "Good luck in New York, friend," Xander said, and left without bashing one single head.
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