Prompt Two: Mens Rea HOMECOMING

[sunnyd-lite.livejournal.com]

Here is the story for prompt two!

Title: Homecoming
Author: Sunnyd_lite
Fandom: Buffy Season 3
Pairing: Xander/Cordelia Xander/Willow
Rating: G
Words: 1,016
A/N: Thank you to my beta desoto_hai873 for editing this AT Writercon.And TO liz_marcs for on the fly comments.


He left Willow's place with swollen lips and a confused mind.

This was Willow, his bestest bud in female form. She was dating Oz. Hell, he was dating Cordelia, one of the seven signs of the apocalypse if there ever was one--and after a few years with the Buff-miester, he knew his apocalypse.

And walking out of Willow's house to Cordy's car, well, that felt like an apocalypse.

In his rush to vacate the scene of the crime, he'd torn off the tux and left it in a heap on Willow's floor. Part of him knew that two days from now, she'd give him a suit bag thingy with it all dry cleaned. Before the kiss, she would have teased him. Now he wasn't sure and that confused him even more than the kiss.

He always knew what Willow would do, like she mostly knew what he would do. They'd grown up together, from crayons to the We-Hate-Cordelia-Chase club to vamp slaying. She'd taught him math and how to braid hair. He'd make sure to keep her in touch with the pop side of culture. She was a sister.

Cordy was checking her lip gloss in the rear view mirror as he opened the passenger door. "Get in, you. I'll drop you off. Tonight's the monthly dinner with the parents. They need to update the brag intel, and I'm giving them my latest wish list. Time to be on display."

And he'd just kissed her, and she had kissed him back. And it wasn't icky like the love spell gone bad. It was...

No way was he thinking those thoughts about his Will. She was forever virginal; he refused to think about the Oz half-monty comments, she must have been joking. He respected Willow. Sure she'd liked him; that was just as much a part of Willow as her liking computers. But...

Oblivious, Cordy continued her commentary. "I know it sounds a little mercenary, but it's kind of a deal between us. They give me stuff, as long as I don't betray their need for a model daughter."

Betray.

For all the bluster and locker-room talk about Cordy, she'd chosen to stand up to the Cordettes and date him anyway. She'd committed to him, on a social scale. Sure, he'd had to face some razing from the Scoobies, but she wasn't used to social stigma.

She'd done it for them. And he'd kissed Willow. And he wanted to again.

"So I'll be cheering during the game--and you better be there to watch buddy--and then home to get ready. Luckily, I've already booked my pre-game spa appointment and Antoine's coming by the house to do my hair afterward. You do have your tux, right?"

Cordelia punctuated this comment by taking the Queen C through a squealing turn around a corner. Not that there was a rush and not that there was any other traffic, but it did cause him to sway into her.

"And it's not that baby blue thing, is it? I mean, despite what she wears, I trust Willow not to steer you wrong on that front and...Xander Harris, are you even listening to me? I bet you haven't even ordered my corsage. Xander!"

Holding himself stiffly, he pulled away from her. Okay, he hadn't been "active listening". The words he had caught were sending his heart into flight mode-maybe fight would be a better option? Against Cordy? What was he thinking? What had he been thinking?

"Yup, the Willster okayed the tux." Boy, had she okayed the tux; his lips still tasted of her. Taking a breath, he continued, "What time do you want us to come by with the limo? Only the finest our pooled money can rent for my girl!"

"Well, it's not like yours alone would cover the Rent-a-Wreck deposit."

She was pulling into his street; only a few more minutes and he could panic in privacy--okay, not privacy, but not with Cordy and he'd take whatever he could get at this point.

"I'm glad that finally someone in your group got hit with a style stick! I guess I'm rubbing off on you guys." She spun into his driveway. Her voice dropped into the Kathleen Turner zone "'Course, I could rub off on just you."

And he was about to lose his membership in the guy club because out of his mouth came, "Not right now, my mom might be watching, and what time's your dinner?"

With a quick glance at the car clock she responded, "Oh god, that's right!" Normalcy had resumed. "Catch you tonight?" With that she tilted her head for a kiss to the cheek. He stared blankly at her for a second before her signal registered, then leaned in to provide the required offering, careful not to smug her foundation.

Sliding out of his side, he muttered something he hoped she took for agreement, barely closing the car door before she sped off to her part of town. He watched the tail lights, lightly glowing in the twilight, recede.

What had he done? And why now?

He stopped on his way to the front door. The tux was still at Willow's. This morning that wouldn't have been a problem. It wasn't this morning anymore.

He was dating a cheerleader. Hadn't he and Jesse listed that as a high school goal? Their eighth grade teacher had talked about life goals--those who failed to plan, planned to fail. So he and Jesse had spent the summer before their freshman year making a plan. Dating a cheerleader, making class clown, and in a burst of stupid optimism, joining a varsity team. Hey he'd already done that one. Swimming wasn't what his eighth grade self had been thinking, but he'd been on the team. Thinking...he wasn't sure if he should be doing more or less of that.

Homecoming was this weekend. It had been a fluke, must have been a fluke.

He'd better upgrade that order for the corsage. She'd mentioned orchids. Only the best for his girl.

Only the best.