Our Day Has Come

Part 9/9

 

We pulled up in front of the house. I started to open the door, but stopped and sat still when Xander cleared his throat and glared at me. He got out and came around to open my door, and I took his hand so he could help me out.

We walked slowly up to the front door. Mom had left the light on, of course. I glanced at the windows but didn't see any curious faces. Lucky for them.

We stood in front of the door for a while. It was pretty painfully obvious that neither of us was going to make a move, so finally I looked at him and cleared my throat.

"Xander? There's something I need to tell you."

His face fell, and I realized he'd taken it wrong. I froze, unsure how to go on, and he got himself under control before I could speak.

"What do you need to tell me?" He was closed off, the way he gets when he knows something bad is coming. It almost broke my heart, and I was so glad I could make it better.

I moved in close to him and stood up on my tiptoes to whisper into his ear. "I'm the kind of girl who kisses on the first date."

I stepped back to see his reaction. At first, nothing. Then a grin crept across his face. It was like watching the sun rise, except even more beautiful, and by the time it was done his smile had warmed me like noon in July.

It took him a few tries to say anything, and then all he could come up with was, "Oh, you are, are you?"

I nodded sadly. "I'm afraid so. Tara says that makes me a hussy. What do you think?" I batted my eyes at him as pathetically as I could manage.

He thought it over. "Well, Tara's a pretty smart gal. I'd hate to disagree with her, so I guess you're a hussy, all right."

I sighed. "I was afraid of that."

He looked around as if to spot any hidden listeners. "Buffy, I have something I need to tell you, too." His voice was lowered to a conspiratorial whisper.

"What's that?" I whispered back.

He leaned in to speak into my ear. "I'm the kind of guy who falls for hussies." He drew back and did his best to look ashamed.

I smiled just as widely as he had a minute ago, and I saw his eyes shine in response as I said "Oh, you are, are you?"

He nodded forlornly. "Yep. Head over heels, I just can't help it." Then he winked, and I giggled.

"What kind of guy falls for hussies, Xander? I don't know about this." I was thinking that this was almost more fun than kissing him was going to be, though I was bound and determined to find out for sure in the very near future.

He pondered my question for a few seconds. "I don't know, actually. A gigolo, maybe?"

I laughed. "Xander, a gigolo is a guy women pay."

He nodded enthusiastically. "That's me, then. That's what I want to be."

I tried to look offended. "You want me to pay you?"

"Hey, a guy's gotta make a living."

With an exasperated sigh, I dug into my little purse. After fishing around, I pulled out my hand and did a quick inventory. Thirty seven cents, a crumpled up receipt, and a piece of fuzzy pink string about four inches long. No idea where that came from. I turned to look up at him. "I'll give you twelve cents. I'm keeping the quarter to give to Will and Tara for laundry."

He nodded. "That's fair, I guess. Throw in the string and you've got a deal."

"Deal." I handed over his fee, then stepped back to wait for him to earn it.

He put the coins in his pocket, then spent a ridiculous amount of time trying and failing to tie the string around his left index finger. Finally, I took it away from him and tied it into a neat little bow, then looked up at him, my eyebrows raised in question.

He smiled. "Thanks. That's to remind me to kiss a beautiful lady tonight."

I ducked my head and smiled. "You sure you'll be able to remember? Let's face it, your memory doesn't always fire on all cylinders."

He sighed. "That's true. I better do it while I can remember, huh?" I nodded. "Good thing you're here, Buff..."

He stopped talking, but that was okay. I looked into his eyes. They're so expressive. They told me all I needed to know. All I ever wanted to know.

He licked his lips and all I could think was 'I wanna do that!' And then I realized I was about to get my chance.

He leaned in towards me, his lips tugging up into a smile. But his eyes were serious, not joking. Full of love. All kinds of love, and all for me.

Then his lips met mine and I couldn't think any more. Xander was kissing me, and all was right with the world.

<Oh my...> That was the only thought in my head, until I realized what was happening.

<I'm kissing Xander...>

<... kissing Xander...>

<... Xander...>

Suddenly, I heard a crash inside the house, then a muffled curse and some giggles. I wanted to curse a blue streak myself, but Xander didn't break the kiss, so I didn't either.

After a minute, though, he started shaking and sort of blowing air into my mouth. I was getting worried until I realized what he was doing. He was laughing. Xander was laughing into my mouth as we kissed, and it was the most wonderful thing I'd ever felt. I started laughing, too, just for the joy of it, and pretty soon we had to break the kiss and hold on to each other, we were laughing so hard.

Finally, we slowed down to the giggles, and then stopped altogether. "Was that your mom?" he asked as he wiped at his eyes.

I nodded. "That was Mom, and Dawn, and Willow and Tara. All of whom are soon to be very, very dead."

He laughed again. "Oh, leave 'em alone. You can't kill the people responsible for the coolest kiss ever."

I smiled from ear to ear. "Really? Ever?"

He nodded firmly. "Ever."

I had to look away. "Wow," I whispered, almost to myself.

He leaned down to rest his forehead against mine. "It was pretty wow on this side, too, Buff."

I just smiled up at him. I had no idea what to say, where to go after that. I think he felt the same, because he stepped back a few feet and clapped his hands together.

"Well! I think it's time for me to be going. Rory told me to end on a high note, and I don't think we'll be beating that tonight, do you?"

I shook my head. "Rory gave you advice?" Cool.

He snorted. "Buff, EVERYBODY gave me advice. Rory told me to end on a high note and to treat you like a lady. Willow told me to make sure you laughed a lot, 'cause you've got a pretty laugh. She also said that if I hurt you, she'll kill me."

I laughed at that, and Xander stopped and looked at me questioningly.

"She told me the same thing," I said. "Good to know I'm not the only one."

Xander chuckled. "Yeah, for me, too, I guess."

"Did you get any more advice?" I asked. I really wanted to hear more.

"Sure did," Xander answered. "Where was I?"

"Willow said she'd kill you, and to make sure I laughed a lot," I prompted.

"Right!" he said. "Who else? Okay. Dawn told me to make sure I also laughed a lot, 'cause I've got a pretty laugh, too. I'm not sure how I feel about that, actually. Your mom just told me to be myself, and Giles agreed with her. That was nice. Bob told me to keep my hands to myself. Bernie told me to get you drunk, which you will notice I have not done. Tori at the daycare, she's the little blond girl you met the other day, she told me to open doors for you. Heather at the daycare, Tori's friend, told me to hold your hand. Manuel at the daycare, the two year old, he told me to talk about Blues Clues, which you will notice I also have not done..."

"Until now," I broke in.

He laughed. "Until now, yeah." His eyes sparkled. "Hey, maybe I should get you drunk, like Bernie said. That'd give us a clean sweep."

I smiled at him and reached up to bring his head down for another kiss. I stopped him when he was an inch away and looked straight into his eyes as I said "I am drunk, Xander. Drunk on 220 proof Xanderificness." Then I kissed him. We both laughed into the kiss again. I was thinking that a girl could get used to that real quick when I heard the door to the house open.

I opened my eyes, and in my peripheral vision I saw my mother, Dawn, Will and Tara. Of course. Mom had her camera. Of course. I debated killing her, but then Xander did this thing with his tongue, and I said to hell with it and closed my eyes and went back to what I decided was my favorite hobby ever.

Xander flinched and opened his eyes when the flash went off. He broke off the kiss and pulled his head back when Mom slammed the door. He looked down at me and pointed a finger at the door. "The ladies, I presume?"

"The ladies," I verified. "Now can I kill them?"

He laughed. "Yeah, okay. But save the negatives. I want a copy of that picture."

I smiled and pulled him down for a quick peck on the lips. "Deal." Then I decided a peck wasn't enough and we sort of lost track of time for awhile there. A long while. Sue me.

Finally, we broke off, and Xander laughed again. "Y'know, Buff, as much as I hate, and I mean absolutely loathe, to say it, we're really going to have to stop kissing at some point tonight."

I pouted. "You don't love me anymore." I meant it as a joke, but his eyes became serious.

He put his hand to my cheek and kissed me tenderly. "Please don't say that. Not even as a joke, okay? Don't even think it."

I smiled up at him through the tears in my eyes. "Okay.
I promise."

He nodded. "Good. Now, what say we call this high point numero two-o, and I get out of here before I do something stupid that would make Rory, Will, your mom and everyone else mad at me?"

I sighed. "If you must."

"I'm afraid I must." He swallowed. "So, um, can I call you tomorrow?" I couldn't believe it. He actually looked nervous. It was absolutely adorable.

"Yes, Xander, you can call me." I thought for a moment. "Let me put that another way - if you don't call me, you can add me to the list of people who are going to be mad at you. You can call me and we'll decide to have lunch tomorrow, how's that?"

That brought the smile back to his face. "That sounds good. Better than good, that sounds swell." He paused. "Okay then, I guess it's time for me to go." But he just stood there. We looked into each other's eyes for a while. Then he smiled. "Okay, then." He kissed me on the forehead, then walked to his car and drove away.

He took my heart with him. Shut up. I don't care how corny that sounds. He did. But that was okay. I knew I'd see it again when we had lunch. And then when we had dinner, and when we kissed goodnight again, and...

Well, you get the idea.

I waited until he was out of sight, then went inside to let Mom, Dawn, Will and Tara know that Xander said it was okay to kill them.

Don't you just love a happy ending?

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END 9/9 - FINALLY!
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