"No way!" Xander shouted, putting his hands up in the air. "We've already been through this, Buff, remember? 'Human juice box' ringing any bells for you?"

Angel put his head down in shame, and Buffy put a hand on his shoulder as she tried to comfort him. She was sorry Xander was making such a big deal out of this. All she was trying to do was help her friend.

"Xander, calm down," Willow asked him quietly, trying not to make a scene.

"Will, can't you see that Buffy's already been through so much? She can't keep acting as Angel's blood bank."

"It wouldn't be a very large amount-" Giles began, trying to make him understand, but Xander wouldn't hear any of it.

"Why do you want this so much?" he asked curiously. "Angel's the one that killed Ms. Calendar. He doesn't deserve a second chance."

The pair began arguing over the late teacher's death and who was to blame, Angelus or Angel, with Willow acting as an innocent bystander, trying to break up the two. Finally, Buffy had had enough.

"Quiet!" she yelled, standing up. "Xander, I appreciate your concern, but I want to do this. Nothing you can say is going to change my mind."

"But, Buffy-" he objected.

"No! Xander, this is important to me. I need to do this. Now you can either respect my decision, or you can go."

Xander was amazed by this and, although he may not have shown it, so was Angel. Was all this for him?

"Fine," the boy said, getting up. "I'll go." And with that, he walked out the door.

Buffy sighed and dropped back down into her seat while Willow went to chase after him, calling out, "Xander, wait!"

"I'm sorry," Angel whispered. Buffy sat beside him, head in hands, as she tried to collect her thoughts, and he put his hands over hers sympathetically.

"It's not your fault," she told him, sitting up and shaking her head. "Xander can be pigheaded well, all the time. He'll get over it."

"Ahem," Giles cleared his throat to let them know he was still in the room. "Are we still planning on finishing this ritual?" Angel looked at Buffy - It was her decision, no matter how badly he wanted it - and she nodded. "Very well. Buffy, you're still a little weak so I'll come back tomorrow morning, and I'll try to bring Willow. Hopefully, this situation with Xander will have improved."

She nodded again and stood with him, helping him to the door. "Thanks."

The librarian/watcher nodded and patted her on the shoulder as he left the apartment. The two of them were left alone once again...

He finally heard her calling his name and stopped, turning around to face her. "Willow, what? What do you want to tell me?"

The wind blew around them gently, and pieces of auburn hair flew into her face and eyes as she spoke. "I want you to understand why we're doing this."

"Oh, I know why," Xander told her dryly. "She loves him." He shrugged nonchalantly as if saying those words didn't matter to him, but it did. "She always has. Even when he was torturing her, deep down somewhere she still did. And now, according to Giles, they can be together again."

"You love her, too," Willow realized. She had always known Xander had a physical attraction to the slayer and that they shared a friendly bond, but she never fully understood the depth of his emotions.

Laughing bitterly, Xander nodded. "Yeah, I do. She's told me over and over again that we can never be anything more than friends, and she's right. We can't. But that doesn't mean I have to help bring Angel back. You can do that without me."

Turning around again, he jogged down the street and around the corner, leaving her staring there behind him...