Authors note: Erana and I are going to try something new. Not with the following story, but the next few... During the confessions, from now on there will be questions that are asked. Instead of confessions just being a recap of the day's events, now the cast must answer questions. So we're asking you guys for the questions. Is there something you want to know? Something you would have liked to ask the cast about? If so, let us know and we'll add it in the next confession of that character! Thanks again, and now on with the story...
Whenever I'm weary
from the battles that rage in my head
you make sense of madness
when my sanity hangs by a thread
I lose my way but still you
seem to understand
now and forever
I will be your man
Sometimes I just hold you
to caught up in me to see
I'm holding a fortune
that heaven has given to me
I'll try to show you each and every
way I can, now and forever
I will be your man
~~~Now And Forever, Richard Marx
“Hey, what the hell was that about?” Xander shouted, grabbing Cordelia’s arm before she could continue her attack on Joey.
“Excuse me if I have a problem with your little mistress,” Cordelia retorted angrily, pulling her arm away from Xander’s grasp.
“That’s NOT Jen!” Xander informed her hotly.
“Oh, so you’re screwing around with her, too, huh?”
“No, he’s not,” Joey said quietly from the floor, slowly rising to her feet and rubbing her jaw ruefully. “It was totally innocent.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Cordelia retorted, rolling her eyes.
“Cordy, I’m sure it was,” Buffy said calmly, speaking up. “Joey’s not the type.”
“Okay, so fine, where’s Jen?” Cordy asked, her eyes narrowed dangerously.
“She’s out,” Xander lied. “We need to talk,” he said to his girlfriend.
“Oh, we need to talk, huh?” she replied angrily. “I only have one thing to say to you, Xander, and that’s a resounding we are SO over. I can’t believe I gave up my friends for you, my life, all for you, loser boy. How many times have we had sex, huh? Um, never, ringing any bells?”
“Calm down, Cordy,” Buffy said quietly.
“I AM calm!”
Joey walked over to Cordelia. “By the way, I’m Joey, nice to meet you.”
Angel managed a small laugh and Cordelia shot him a nasty look. He walked over to Joey. “You okay?”
“I’ll live. Just keep Miss Boxer away from me.”
Angel smiled again as Joey went upstairs. She heard Jen in her bedroom and Joey knocked on the door. There was no answer, so Joey walked in. “Jen, you okay in here?”
Jen nodded, wiping the tears away.
“Look, I know we’re not all buds and everything, but that’s no reason for you to be hiding up here for the next few months.”
“It’s not you Joey. You hated me from day one. At least you were honest about that. I just don’t understand Dawson.”
“Well you have bigger problems than Dawson right now. Xander’s girlfriend’s here, and she’s pissed.”
“Oh, great,” Jen said, burying her head in a pillow. “She gonna kill me or something?”
“Probably. She just landed a mean punch on my jaw.”
“You? Why?”
“She thought I was you.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
Dawson sat in the confession room. He looked around, as if searching for the words. “Okay, let’s see. I wont bother recapping the miserable events of the past few days. What I can tell you is that this place is turning into a mad house. I don’t know how much longer I can take the tension. This entire house has gone completely insane. Besides that, I miss my parents, miss Capeside. Can’t wait for this whole thing to be over.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
Xander had managed to drag Cordelia away for a private conversation, and the others were preparing to go to sleep for the night. Angel was watching ‘Real World’ repeats on the television, and waiting for it to be morning so he too could go to sleep. He looked up when he heard Xander and Cordelia’s argument echoing through the house.
“You son of a bitch!” Cordelia shouted in the other room. “I hate you!”
“Cordelia, I’m sorry,” Xander said quietly, but not so quietly that his words escaped Angel’s heightened sense of hearing. He had to admit he was getting a sadistic pleasure from seeing Xander squirm. “Look, it just sorta happened, I never meant to hurt you, and I don’t care about Jen.”
“You think that’s supposed to make everything better?” Cordelia retorted. “That’s even worse! You care about me, so you don’t sleep with me, you don’t give a damn about Jen and you sleep with her?”
Angel rolled his eyes and shut off the television then headed downstairs, knowing he’d be unable to hear a word of the TV over the angry shouts from the other room.
~*~*~*~*~*~
“Cordy, it’s not like that,” Xander said defensively with a quiet sigh. “I swear it’s not, I was drunk, she was drunk, otherwise it never would have happened.”
Cordelia groaned in exasperation. “Yeah, blame it on alcohol. You so much sound like a self help book Xander. You know I almost decided to cut you a break on the way out here, but no, I walk in the door and your in the arms of someone else. Is that your goal here Xander? Every female that lives in this house? Who’s next? Willow? Buffy?”
“You are blowing this way out of proportion. Could you just stop the Xander bashing for one minute and listen to me?”
“I am going to sleep in the living room. And when I wake up, just maybe you’ll be lucky enough to kiss me goodbye.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
Dawson came up the stairs later that morning. Cordelia was sitting in the kitchen pushing soggy cereal around a bowl of milk. She looked up as she heard the basement door closed. “Thought you were Angel.”
“Nope. Dawson. And you are?”
“Cordelia. One of the many victims of Xander.”
“I heard about that.” Dawson got himself some cereal and sat down with her. “Staying long?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what I thought I could possibly gain from coming out here. The satisfaction of punching Jen’s lights out, turns out I hit the wrong girl.”
“Who’d you hit?”
Cordy thought for a moment. “Joey?”
“You hit Joey?”
“I didn’t mean to. I thought she was Jen. Besides, she was good about it.”
“Guess you got her on a good day. So what are you going to do now?”
“I haven’t decided yet. All I know is Xander is one major dork.”
“You know I wasn’t too happy either when I found out. Jen and I, well we were together once. And she was so into the ‘good girl’ act that we never did anything.”
“And you forgave her?”
“Not really. I haven’t really talked to her. I’ve been avoiding her I guess.”
“I just don’t know what he thought he would gain by doing it. I mean come on, what’s so great about this girl anyway?”
“Jen? She’s pretty, she’s nice, she’s trying to change the wrong things she’s done.”
“You sound like you love her or something.”
Dawson tried not to choke on Cordy’s last comment. “I don’t know. But I guess we better figure out how to deal with it, huh?”
“You can deal with it however you want. I’ll be happy with Xander hanging from a tree.”
“You’re just angry right now. You’ll calm down soon enough. You guys can’t talk when you’re still upset. I know you don’t know me, and I don’t know Xander too well, but he’d be stupid to give you up without a fight. Jen doesn’t even compare to you.”
Cordelia, now hearing what she’s used to from her friends, enjoyed the compliment. “I hope some of your charm rubs off on Xander.”
There was a knock at the front door and Dawson got up to answer it. “It’s okay,” Cordy yelled from the kitchen. “Dawson, this is Oz, Willow’s man.”
“Oh yeah, you don’t have to knock next time, just come in.”
“Thanks. Cordelia, I went and got two hotel rooms for us. I didn’t know how long you wanted to stay, but staying here seemed to be out of the question.”
“Thanks, you’re so smart sometimes.”
Oz gave her a strange look. “Okay, Willow and I are going out for the day, if you want to come...”
“Nah, I think Xander and me need to talk. But thanks anyway.”
Willow came down from upstairs and hugged Oz. “I heard you come in. Are you ready to go?”
“I’m ready, if you’re ready.”
“I’m ready, so lets go!”
“See you guys later,” Oz said as the couple left.
Joey slowly came down the stairs a few minutes later. Dawson looked at her. “Morning Jo,” he said while checking out the bruise on her jaw.
“Uhm,” she managed to mumble as she reached for the coffee pot.
Cordelia looked at her and apologized. “I’m really sorry about before. I mean I thought you were her, and you weren’t, and God I hate apologizing.”
“It’s okay. Looks worse than it feels.” Joey grabbed her cup and sat down at the table. “Did you find the intended target yet?”
“Joey,” Dawson warned.
“What? If I get punched, she should too.”
Cordelia smiled. “I don’t think I’ve met her yet. I’m sure she’s hiding from me.”
“Okay, maybe a punch isn’t a good thing,” Joey began. “But I’m sure a good screaming match wouldn’t hurt.” The phone rang and Joey jumped to answer it before it woke the house. “Hello?.....yeah.....good idea....okay....I’ll tell them....bye!”
“Who was that,” Dawson asked.
“David, the producers assistant. He wants us to know about a new thing they’re doing.”
“What’s that?”
“Confessions. Since we have a hard time with it, they’re gonna ask questions now. I think it’s mostly for Angel’s benefit, since he’s not really the talkative type.”
“What exactly is a confession,” Cordelia asked curiously.
“Confessions,” Dawson explained, “is when we individually go into this room and talk about everything that’s going on. What we think. But when you get in there, it’s kinda hard to start cause it’s just you and this camera. So I mostly ramble on about everything that’s already happened, kidna repeatative I guess.”
“Where do you do them?”
“The room down the hall. You want to try it?”
“Am I allowed?”
Dawson looked at the camera man, who nodded in agreement. Cordelia then asked Dawson, “where’s the bathroom? I gotta look good for the camera.”
“You’ve been on camera since you’ve been here.”
“Oh my God,” she said as she ran in the direction Dawson pointed to.
Joey shook her head and laughed. “This place is getting a little crowded.”
Dawson agreed. “So tell me Joey, anything knew from that Spike guy?”
“Not yet, or his sicko girlfriend. I hope it stays that way.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Drusilla walked around the chair Spike was sitting in. “Spike,” she said seductively.
“Yes my pet?”
“When can I play my game with her?”
“Which one precious? Joey or the Slayer?”
“Both of them of course.”
“In time my pet. Just be patient. Our plan is working out better than we hoped.”
“But I want to play with them. Oh please Spike? Can I send them one more present?”
“Not yet. Soon enough Dru, we’ll have our fun.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
When Dawson heard Buffy sneak downstairs to see Angel, he decided it was time to speak to Jen. He went up to her bedroom and knocked on the door. “Go away,” came Jen’s voice.
Dawson opened the door anyway. Jen sat up in the bed when she saw him. “Dawson, what’s up?”
“I just thought maybe we should talk. About everything.”
“I’m glad. This has been killing me Dawson. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was hurt you. I mean I thought I could handle us being in this house, and you and Joey, but things just got so confusing.”
“There is no me and Joey,” he corrected. “I just need time to sort things out. First you tell me that we can’t be together. Then you’re with Cliff. Then things happened between Joey and I and you wanted to get back together. And now Xander? I don’t understand what’s going on.”
“I wish I could explain it Dawson, but I can’t. I don’t know anymore. Maybe we both just need time to figure things out.”
“Well then let’s make a deal. From this point on, anything you do and anything I do, we can’t hold it against each other. Since there’s nothing going on between us anyway...”
“Okay, sounds good. Guess I should talk to Xander’s girlfriend, huh?”
“Believe it or not, she’s not too bad. She’s actually really sweet. But she’s making a confession right now.”
“Can she do that? She doesn’t even live here!”
“Checked with the crew, they said it was okay. That’s another thing. Since we never talk during confession, they’re gonna ask us questions now.”
“That’s better than talking to yourself. When she’s done, I guess you could send her up here. Buffy went to sleep with Angel, so she wont be back for a while.”
“Yeah I saw her. Are you sure you want to be alone with her?”
“If Joey can take it, I guess I can too.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
Pacey and Xander were talking in their room when Dawson walked in. “Hey guys, what’s going on?”
“Nothing, the usual,” Pacey began. “Getting the latest relationship gossip from Xander here.”
“Oh,” Dawson said as he sat on Pacey’s bed. “I spoke with Cordelia this morning.”
“Really,” Xander said surprised. “So she’s talking? What did she say? She still hate my guts?”
“I think she’s calming down. She’s confessing right now.”
“That’s Cordelia, always searching for the attention. Did she mention me?”
“We talked about it. I think she’ll calm down in a while.”
“Thanks Dawson. I mean I know this is a weird situation for you, especially talking to me.”
“Yeah,” Pacey said, “Xander here won’t even say if Jen was any good or not.”
“Pacey,” Dawson warned.
“What? I know you’re curious Dawson. I know I am. So about those details Xander...”
“I honestly don’t remember guys. Sorry.”
Dawson stood up. “Well, I got things to do. See you guys later. Good luck Xander, let me know what happens.”
“Sure. See you later.”
“Hey Dawson, wait up,” Pacey said as he stood. “Let’s find something to do in this miserable town together.”
Dawson sighed as they left Xander alone.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Willow held Oz’s hand as the couple walked through the park. “I’m really glad you came here Oz.”
“I’m really glad that your glad. But you still haven’t told me what’s wrong? I mean I can sense something is wrong, so tell me.”
Willow shrugged. “Nothing’s wrong. You’re here, so everything is okay.”
“I’m not believing you Will. But if you don’t want to talk to me about it, I’ll understand, really.”
Willow sighed. “It’s just a little harder than I thought it would be.”
“What’s that,” he asked as they sat on one of the benches.
“I know you probably don’t want to hear about Xander, but I’d like to talk about it, if it’s okay with you.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“I just didn’t think that it would be this hard, Xander I mean. I know he has Cordelia, and I have you. And it’s been great, I’m not complaining. But Xander actually having sex? I mean I guess it’s just kinda weird.”
“I don’t want to overstep the listening boyfriend thing or anything, but did you think you two would....eventually...well did you think you would always be virgins?”
“Well no, I didn’t think that. I just, I don’t know. I guess I didn’t think, I guess you’re right. I thought we would always be virgins.”
“Yeah, but did you think that, eventually one day, you and him...”
“Oh,” Willow said slightly embaressed. “Well, no. I mean maybe. I mean I have known him forever.”
“Hey, that’s cool with me. I totally understand.”
“Really?”
“Really,” Oz said reassuringly. “It’s okay.”
“Oz, did I tell you how cool you are?”
“No, I don’t think you did.”
“I thought I just did.”
“Oh yeah, well then, I guess you did.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
Cordelia walked into the confessional, dressed in a stunning red dress she'd brought with her and her hair done to perfection. Her make-up and nails had also been touched up, and she smiled sweetly into the camera, then waited. A moment later a camera-man walked in, not holding a camera, and nodded towards her. "Looks like you're the first one to use our new technique," he said with a smile. "It's okay, we wanted you to do one anyway, if you'd agree to it."
"Well, why wouldn't I agree to being on camera, center of attention, after all, I'm a natural."
He smiled slightly. "Okay, then let's start this. Please, sit down," he gestured and she sat down. "Now look directly into the camera, even though I'm the one asking the questions." She nodded, and cocked her head to the one side thoughtfully for a moment, then leaned forward, looking at her face reflecting off the camera.
"Okay, go ahead," she said, leaning back and crossing her legs before fluffing her hair slightly.
The camera-man smiled indulgently and pulled out a small white card. "How do you feel about Xander now, after what he's done?"
Cordelia stared into the camera, her eyes watering slightly as she pouted softly. "I'm really hurt," she said quietly. "We never exactly had this amazingly deep relationship or anything, but I thought he at least cared . . . a little. Obviously he doesn't, though, or he wouldn't treat me like this." Then she turned around, her depressed look disappearing. "How was that?" she asked.
The cameraman grinned and shook his head. "We're not finished."
"Ohhh," Cordelia bit her lip sheepishly and turned back to face the camera.
"Do you think you and him will ever get back together? Oh, and please re-state the question in your answer, by the way, when we put this together for filming we'd rather leave out the fact that we're asking you questions in the confessional, it's not exactly the norm."
"It is not on the likely that Xander and I will *ever* be a couple again," Cordelia obediently said, some passion in her voice. "Right now I absolutely despise him. I never cheated on him, and I am a thousand times more desirable than he is. And I do mean a thousand. No, I actually mean a million. Tons of guys hit on me constantly, and besides that I gave up my life in the popular circle for him, I mean, he's a loser, but he's my loser. I don't see how we can ever go back to being together after what he did to me." She stared at the camera quietly for a moment, sniffing and trying desperately not to cry as she stood and angrily stalked out of the confessional, overwhelmed by the depth of feeling she'd been trying desperately to hide.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Buffy smiled as she crept towards the bed and breathed gently into Angel's ear, then waited. As usual he didn't stir, instead remaining deep in slumber, the sleep of the dead, literally and figuratively. "Angel, honey, it's time to wake up and face the beautiful morning. Er, night. And you can watch Jen and Cordelia fight, and everything else, I mean . . . " She stopped when she realized he wasn't stirring and sighed in exasperation. "WAKE UP!" she shouted into his ear.
"Mhmm," Angel murmured as he buried his head underneath the pillow.
"Angel, the sun has set, it's time to rise! Be social."
"This was so much better when it was just cryptic messages," Angel muttered, yawning.
"Angel," Buffy hissed, warningly, and he finally emerged from the pillow, jumping slightly when he saw the camera-man in the corner. "Morning," Buffy said with a grin.
"Mmmm," Angel grunted.
"Come on, let's go, get dressed," Buffy said, slidding off his bed and onto the bed across it.
Angel finally stood up, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he looked around for a shirt. "Why can't you just let me sleep?" he asked, looking at her pitifully.
"Because, I'm bored, and when I'm bored you make me un-bored. Okay, that so made no sense. Because I feel like it, how's that?"
"Your sadistic," Angel said, finding a shirt and slipping it on over his head before sitting back down on the bed.
"And you love me anyway," Buffy replied.
"Yeah, I do," he admitted. "God help me."
Buffy grinned. "Your other woman's still around, by the way," she informed him.
"What other woman?" he asked.
"Oh, that's right, you do have more than one. Cordelia and the cat. They're both still here."
"Great, Cordelia's here still?" Angel whined slightly.
"Oh, come on, you know you love the attention. Seriously, though, the cat's been outside the door all damn day. She just loves you so."
"It's too early for this, Buffy," Angel complained.
"It's seven at night, oh Angel dearest," Buffy informed him. "And the entire house is on your schedule now, Cordy just woke up, so did Dawson. It's truly sad, we all sleep all day and stay up all night just for you." Angel smirked. "Now come on, let's go, upstairs. Ohhh . . . unless you need to do something . . . " she trailed off and raised an eyebrow.
"No, I'm fine," he replied.
"Good, then, come on," she informed him, grabbing his hand and leading him upstairs. The cameraman followed behind them as they entered the main level.
They spotted Cordelia coming down the stairs, and Jen in the kitchen. The couple exchanged looks, then Buffy dragged Angel along with her to the counter, wanting front row seats.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Cordelia stopped as she saw Jen in the kitchen and she raised an eyebrow, looking towards Buffy, who was sitting at the counter next to Angel. The Slayer nodded imperceptably. "Well . . . you must be Jen," Cordelia said softly as she walked into the kitchen.
Jen whirled around to face her. "Yeah, I guess you're Cordelia . . . I told Dawson I wanted to talk to you."
"Well, that's nice," Cordelia said with a half smile. "You wanted to talk to little old me, how sweet. You screwed my boyfriend, now you want to talk to me."
"Look, I'm sorry," Jen began apologetically, "I was really drunk and I . . . if I'd been thinking straight I . . . "
"Right, the alcohol defense. Xander used that, too. Look, I don't know you, and I don't care what your trauma is. You keep your . . . " Her eyes widened in horror. "My God, do you even use a hand cream?" she questioned as she stared at Jen's hands, then she shook her head and returned to glaring at Jen. "Whatever. Just stay away from him."
"I was planning on it," Jen replied. "I never wanted to do anything to hurt his relationship with you."
Cordelia laughed dryly. "So you slept with him? I don't do woman scorned well, get it? It's just not my style. And at least I have one, unlike SOME people here," she looked at Jen's clothing with her expert expression of disgust. "And I thought Willow's choice of fashion was bad . . . geez, compared to you she's a walking fashion queen. You're just a walking fashion disaster."
"I can't believe Dawson said you were sweet," Jen said, her eyes widening.
Cordelia rolled her eyes heavenward. "And just how sweet, warm, kind and loving would you be if your boyfriend decided to screw around with some woman behind your back, and on television to boot! Now all of my friends are going to watch this and see just how pathetically in love with Xander I really am . . . did you expect me to be all warm and fuzzy towards you?"
Jen sighed. "I know this means nothing at all, but I'm really sorry."
"Whatever," Cordelia retorted. "Just try to keep this one little thought in your punny little brain -- 'Stay away from Xander'. And be glad I'm in a better mood then I was when I first came here, or you and Joey would have matching bruises." With those words Cordelia whirled around and left Jen staring after her.
"She's kinda defensive," Buffy said quietly, trying to be comforting. "She didn't even realize she said she's in love with Xander, and she's been denying that she is forever."
Jen sighed and looked at Buffy. "She has every right to hate me," she said softly, turning to go back upstairs.
Buffy and Angel looked at one another for a moment, then Joey came out of the living room. "That was a little intense," she commented.
"No kidding," Buffy agreed.
"Angel," Joey said, "The producer called, they changed the confessionals around some, when you're ready a camera man comes in and asks questions, it's the new format, since apparently our confessions suck. And the producer also said that you absolutely had to go do one tonight, or else."
"Or else what?" Buffy queried.
Joey shrugged. "He didn't say, but I'd suggest making a confession."
Angel groaned. "I guess I better go, then," he muttered.
"Good luck!" Buffy called as he went up the stairs, still rubbing his eyes sleepily and trying to wake up.
"Is Cordelia going to be okay?" Joey asked, unconsciously touching the bruise on her jaw.
Buffy nodded. "Cordy's not exactly the type to be broken-hearted over a guy, and I really don't think this break-up between her and Xander is going to last, anyway. She'll be fine. I'm not so sure about Jen, though."
Joey rolled her eyes. "Believe me, Jen doesn't feel bad about this at all. Shes just hiding out and hoping that it will either all go away or everyone will magically forgive her. That's just Jen."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Angel waited in the confessional for a moment, then the door opened and a camera man walked in. "Can you just wait a couple more seconds?" he asked of Angel. "I need to get your questions from my car." Angel nodded. Five minutes later the camera-man returned with a briefcase and motioned for Angel to sit. "Just look at the camera while you're answering my questions, and please try to make it clear what you're talking about, anyway, since we're not going to show the questions." Angel nodded once more and sat down, then looked behind him when he saw the cameraman kneeling on the floor.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
The cameraman looked through several index cards, then suddenly looked up and groaned. "Right," he murmured, and opened the larger part of the briefcase, pulling out several sheets of paper.
"What is all that?" Angel queried.
"You've made one confession since you got here," the camera man said with a sigh. "I'm afraid this is going to take awhile." Angel swallowed tightly as the camera man sat down on the floor, the papers in his lap. "Okay, face the camera. Your first question -- Spike. How did he try to kill you and why?"
Angel's eyes widened and he resisted the urge to look backwards as he tried to remember what Buffy had used as a cover story. "Spike's rather sadistic, there was really no reason as to why he tried to kill me," he lied
"Okay, that's why. Where's the how?"
"He tried to kill me with a gun," he lied worriedly.
"And what was your prior relationship with Drusilla?"
"Drusilla and I were involved for awhile," Angel murmured.
The cameraman groaned. "Look, we're probably going to be here the entire night as it is, this will go a lot faster if you just volunteer some info." He reached for a pen and crossed off the first questions. "A few days ago you and Dawson had a private conversation in the bathroom, can you tell us what that was about?"
"Dawson and I discussed . . . woman. And we didn't want them to hear about it, so we went to the bathroom so that it wouldn't be shown on air."
"You mentioned that your parents were dead. How long ago did they die?"
"My parents died a few ce . . . years ago," Angel replied, staring into the camera with a rather miserable expression on his face, obviously not enjoying the interrogation. A few minutes passed, and Angel looked behind him to see the camera man looking through the sheets of paper with questions written on the front and back.
"Can you wait a few more minutes? I have to tell my replacement that he needs to film the entire night."
Angel watched as the camera man left and then proceeded to bang his head back against the chair twice in frustration while mentally cursing Buffy for dragging him along on this nightmare.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Cordy?" Xander asked, coming into the living room where she was sitting reading a magazine. "Can we talk, I mean, calmly?"
Cordelia looked up at him and sighed. "Fine, I guess so," she replied, putting her magazine down.
"I just wanted to say one last time I'm sorry," Xander told her. "I never meant to hurt you, I really didn't . . . "
"Well, you did," Cordelia retorted. "More than I thought you even could. I can't just forget that, Xander, no matter how much you want me to."
"I know," Xander admitted, closing his eyes for a moment.
Cordelia suddenly stood angrily and faced him, her eyes narrowing. "Look, Xander," she said heatedly, "You betrayed me. I never did that to you. I never would do that to you. Okay, so yeah, we're not exactly the honeymooners, but you know what, I care about you. God help me I even think I might be in love with you. And I can't believe you'd do this to me."
"We had this conversation yesterday, Cordelia," Xander said darkly. "I'm not doing it again." He turned to leave and Cordelia grabbed his arm, stopping him.
"Don't walk away from me!" she yelled. "It's bad enough you cheated on me! I'm surprised you didn't just hope I wouldn't watch the show!"
"Well, excuse me for not being Mr. Perfect," Xander retorted.
"You are so far from it it's not even funny! You know what, forget I ever said I cared about you, I hope you die!"
"Believe me, the feeling's mutual!"
They stared at each other for along moment, then in the tradition that their relationship started in the first place moved forward and began kissing passionately. For a few moments neither one of them moved away, then they both pulled back as one. "Just like old times," Cordelia murmured.
"Cordy," Xander said in a sigh.
"I'm not breaking up with you, Xander," Cordelia said softly. "Though I certainly have every reason in the world to."
"I know you do," Xander answered.
"If you EVER cheat on me again though, and especially with some fashion disaster like Jen, I will not only break up with you I will turn into a Lorraina Bobbit copy-cat. You get it?"
Xander winced and nodded. "Yup," he murmured, blushing slightly at the thought of her threat. The two of them looked away from one another as there was a knock on the door, and as one they walked towards it. Xander opened the door, and Cordelia let out a shocked gasp and took two steps backwards, her hand grasping Xander's in horror.
"Joey," Xander called, calmly, "It's for you!"