E-mail: Pilamsega@tir.com
Episode of "Working Class Hero"
Disclaimer: Once upon a time there was a guy he wrote a story with characters and settings he didn't own, but he put a disclaimer on his story and that made it a little less illegal. BTVS and Angel are owned by Joss, Fox, Mutant Enemy, and the WB. I don't own anything except the situation characters are in. "Hello Goodbye" Was written by Paul McCartney, performed by the Beatles and is property of Apple Records under Capitol EMI.
Category: Willow/Xander
Spoilers: Some for the season three Willow/Xander arc. Some for season five.
Summary: Willow and Xander have never been on the same page.
Rating: Rated PG.
Distribution: Ask First.
Notes: Anya's a demon, Tara's just left.
Dedication: Dedicated to Bri, Mary, Duchess, Dale, Nate, Stone Cold, Aslan, Vega, Jen Zimmer, Louise, Sairs, and Goddess who have allowed me to bounce my ideas off them, and Krac, cause she has the evil bunny slippers. All stories in this series are dedicated to the memory of the true "Working Class Hero" John Winston Ono Lennon (1940-1980) because he's imagined a world I want to live in.
******
You say yes, I say no.
You say stop and I say go go go, oh no.
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello.
I say high, you say low.
You say why and I say I don't know, oh no.
You say goodbye and I say hello
(Hello goodbye hello goodbye) hello hello
(Hello goodbye) I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello
(Hello goodbye hello goodbye) hello hello
(Hello goodbye) I don't know why you say goodbye
(Hello goodbye) I say goodbye.
Why do you say goodbye goodbye, oh no?
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello.
You say yes (I say yes) I say no (But I may mean no).
You say stop (I can stay) and I say go go go (Till it's time to go oh), oh no.
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say goodbye
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello hello.
*********
Xander paced his apartment nervously, "Willow…" He laughed nervously, "How about dinner? No, that's stupid. So, um Willow, you look really good today. No, too rehearsed. Yo Willow, whassup? No. No! NO! Jesus Christ! She's Willow, why can't I think of anything to say to her?" Xander flopped down on his couch with a tired sigh. "Because dumbass, you want her again." He covered his face with his hands.
He'd been working up the courage to ask Willow for a little more than a week now. When he'd first noticed his feelings for his best friend since Play Doh resurfacing. They'd been doing their imitation of playing basketball on the court outside his complex.
Which mostly consisted of Xander bricking shots and Willow running around holding the ball. Truth be told, considering their relative inability to handle themselves well in a fight, they were remarkably and surprisingly inathletic when it came to sports as well.
Actually Xander had no idea why they played, they only accomplished embarrassing themselves. But they had a good time anyway, so they continued the farce. Anyway, Xander had gone up to attempt a spectacular jump shot which sailed casually and gracefully over the backboard, so Willow to the opportunity to yank his sweatpants down.
After pulling his sweatpants up, Xander chased after her. He caught up to her and scooped her up. Then he carried the laughing redhead over to the pool and without a thought of mercy, Xander dropped her in. Then ran like the devil was chasing him as the dripping Wiccan chased him…
***A Week Earlier***
He ran inside his apartment and locked the door. "XANDER HARRIS! OPEN THIS DOOR!"
Xander smirked to himself, "No, sorry Wills, I don't think I can do that."
Willow pounded on the door. "Xander, c'mon, let me in."
Xander replied, "Sorry Wills. The prospect of dying isn't high on my list of priorities."
Willow growled and yelled. "XANDER! OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!"
Xander laughed, "Not until you promise no violence AND no magic."
Willow huffed, "Fine. I promise no violence or magic."
Xander unlocked the door and fought the urge to laugh at his sopping friend. "C'mon Wills. I'll get you some clothes to wear while I put your stuff in the dryer." Willow fixed him with a glare while he led her into the bathroom.
******
Xander came back into his apartment from the laundry room. The now empty laundry basket Willow's clothes had been in his hand. "Clothes all well on their way to b…" Xander's voice stopped in his throat at the site before him.
Willow sat on his couch, wearing his Playboy Rabbit T-shirt and a pair of shorts. Her legs folded beneath her on the couch as she thumbed through a magazine. What stopped Xander was the very nearly unobstructed view of her thigh he had. The only thing stopping him from seeing more were the shorts. Willow looked up, "What?"
Xander reddened, "Duh-huh… I mean… Clothes… Dryer. Yeah, clothes, your clothes that is, I mean, your clothes are in the dryer."
Willow shrugged off his strange behavior, then sat down the magazine. She smiled and patted the couch. Xander shuffled, suddenly uncomfortable in his own skin, at his hesitation Willow smiled and said, "C'mon Xander. I won't bite or anything."
Xander smiled and laughed nervously. "Okay." He sat down on the couch with her and Willow picked up the remote and started flipping channels.
******
Xander's eyes snapped open at the sound of a car crash on the TV. He looked at the TV in confusion, he didn't remember a car chase in the movie they were watching. "Wills, I don't remember a car chase in American Pie." He looked around and realized, it was well after sundown, he'd fallen asleep. He looked around and found Willow curled up next to him. Her head resting on his chest, the top of her head tucked under his chin.
Xander reached back and found the blanket he kept for guests behind the couch and wrapped it around them. He then pressed a kiss into her locks before he fell back to sleep.
******
After that day, Xander hadn't been able to stop thinking about Willow long enough to concentrate on even the tiniest thing, like tying his shoes for example.
He sighed, why was it he and Willow were never on the same page? Why was it always; "I love you and you don't see" or "Why do we want each other when we're single?" It was as if he was always coming into a room when she was leaving or vice versa. He was perpetually saying "Hello" to her "Good-bye."
It was a damned nightmare.
A nightmare which he would no longer stand around waiting for it to end. He was going to figure something out by God. He continued to pace until he tripped… over his untied shoelaces. With an angry sigh he proceeded to kick his twenty dollar Adidases off into the corner. He then jumped to his feet when he heard the door knob turning. Willow emerged from around the door. "Hey Willow… What's up?" He winced at the lame greeting.
Willow looked at him oddly. "I'm okay. Why did you ask me to come over?"
Xander was genuinely confused, "I asked…" He frantically searched his brain to recall why. His mind then replied, 'Dumbass! You called her over to ask her out!' "Oh yeah I forgot…. I mean, I wanted to see you. You know, hang out, cause we don't do that much anymore."
Willow laughed as she sat down on his couch, "Xander, I'm over here everyday, in fact I'm here so much, I may as well be subleasing on your apartment."
"Oh yeah." Xander laughed uncomfortably as he tried to regain his composure.
Meanwhile, Willow watched him with a growing sense of concern. "Xander, are you okay?"
Xander smiled and nodded. He sat down on the couch next to her. He was having a lot of trouble thinking. Even more so than usual. Finally, Xander's impatience got the better of his fear and nervousness, and he suddenly blurted out. "Youwanttohavedinnerwithme?"
Willow looked up at the unexpected question. "Xander… Um… W-what?"
With the wall down, Xander was finally able to speak to her, he took her hand and began. "It's just that, well, we've been spending so much time together lately, well I've been having all these thoughts about you, and I'd really like to give us a try. You know without the whole infidelity angle floating around us. So what do you say? Wanna go out on a date?"
Willow looked at him like he'd spoke in some strange language instead of English. Which was not entirely out of the realm of possibility. She blinked and then said, "Okay, can we back up to the part about you thinking about me? When exactly did that happen?"
Xander rang his hands nervously, "About a week ago, when we were watching movies while your clothes dried."
Willow smiled slightly, "Okay, let's move on to you wanting to give us a try. Are you sure?"
Xander nodded and slid closer, "Willow, all these years, we've been on different pages. Either, you've had feelings for me and I didn't know… Or I've had feelings for you and you didn't know, or we're with other people, or you're experimenting with other women, or I'm dating psycho ex-demons. But right now, I'm single, you're single, so I thought, we could try for the couple thing. You know, hand-holding, kissing, hugging, obnoxiously cute pet names that annoy all our friends, your icy-cold feet freezing me out of bed… The usual stuff." He smiled at her, "What do you think?"
"I think," Willow smiled and slid into Xander's lap and placed a chaste kiss on Xander's lips, "That we could give it a try… Schmoopy."
Xander laughed, "Okay, Sugar Pie."
Willow laughed, "Okay, so we've officially eliminated that one." Willow stood up.
Xander followed her to his feet, "Where are you going, my little Love Tulip?"
Willow walked towards the door, "Well, Puddin'. You owe me a dinner of some sort. Before I even think of putting out."
Xander stepped into his shoes, "You're thinking of putting out?"
"No I said…"
Xander held the door open for her, "You said you were thinking of putting out." Willow just rolled her eyes before walking out of the apartment. Xander called after her as he closed the door, "Wait, Wills, let's talk some more about this 'putting out' stuff…"