All stories are rated PG - 13

"Well…I couldn't exactly let my good friend go vampire hunting by herself, now could I?" he replied with a question glance as he walk beside her.

"You could…" she began as she gave him a look, "and you should. Xander, I'm a big girl now and I'm the slayer…remember? I can take care of myself, although, that's more than I can say about you, you walking infirmary!"

"Why, I thought my devilishly handsome looks made up for that," he said with a light chuckle.

"Devilishly handsome…right…" she replied sardonically and she began to laugh with him.

"I guess I do look pretty awful," he admitted as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his tan corduroys.

"Awful doesn't cut it, Xander, I've seen vampires that look more alive than you do," began Buffy, but before she could continue, he stopped her.

"Hey! My male ego is taking way too many punches from the queen of the stake, so let's leave the subject of me and my looks alone for awhile."

"Oh, you know I'm just joking Xander," she replied playfully as she leaned against a tree with a sigh, fiddling with a sharp stake, "but what do you want me to say? You're handsome, debonair, well-dressed," she smiled as Xander took in the comments readily, " What? Ya want me to lie?"

He chuckled as he approached her, and meeting his eyes against hers, replied, "Now that was a sharp blow, next thing I know you're gonna stake me with that," he takes hold of the hand that clenched the stave.

"I don't know, maybe I will," she said, "Maybe it'll put you out of your misery."

"Oh, I'm feeling a lot better right now," Xander retorted, and Buffy realized that he was closer to her than he had been before.

"Why is that?" she uttered a little bit nervously at his being so close to her, but she was reluctant to move away as she felt a sense of comfort in his presence. His dark eyes softened under her glance and her eyes shifted quickly at his hand that continued to grasp hers. His lips whispered softly in her ears, and his words touched her heart, "Because you're here."

The momentum hung in the air much like the stars clung to the dark skies above, and the two stood still listening to an ancient zephyr that began to fade into the calm. It had heard so many whispers from lovers young and old and its arrival seemed to want their first words to each other, to have them echo those of such professions from the days of yore.

"Xander?" her voice broke the silence as she recalled his words and her heart skipped a beat just thinking of them.

"Hmm?" he replied as he realized she was looking into his eyes, again.

She leaned closely to his ear and whispered, "I love you, too."

It was by chance that she saw them in the hall that day. She had opted to take the longer route to her cheerleaders' meeting as opposed to the shorter route and had bumped into the couple in the hall. Buffy was noticeably holding hands with Xander and they had been laughing over some inside joke, but when they spotted her in the hall the laughter quickly subsided. At that moment, Cordelia came to grips with the reality that the relationship she had known with Xander was truly over in his eyes and that she had lost somehow in her scheme of things. The conversation was brief and awkward and they parted not soon after their first encounter with each other.

As she walked towards the room where the meeting was to be held, something in her caused her to turn back and sit down in contemplation on a nearby bench. She couldn't conceive how it was possible that everything that she had planned to the utmost detail had gone awry. The Colin plan was the only thing that had worked, and the only problem with it was that it had worked all too well. Cordelia had wanted to make Xander jealous and she had accomplished just that, however, she had never thought that he would break up with her over one dance. She had to keep her pride, and despite the drab personality of Colin Williams and her missing Xander, that meant she had to continue to date Colin as if she liked him…which she didn't.

She shook her head in frustration and in doing so she closed her eyes, and saw the image of their clasped hands had seared itself into her memory. It made her recall how she and Xander use to do the same thing, which brought her to the memories of their short, but sweet relationship. How was it that she got the short end of the stick, when she was the one that was trying so hard to keep him in her arms? There was the keyword…try, but in trying all she had succeeded was pushing him farther away from her…more than he had ever been before.

A wave of realization hit her even quicker than the surge of sadness that had overcome her just minutes before. It made her realize that she was going about this all wrong by just sitting around and brooding over him. After all, she was Cordelia Chase, and what Cordelia Chase wants…she gets…no matter the cost.