"Pizza man's here..." Xander called as he carried two large boxes from the local delivery place into Buffy's bedroom. The slayer followed with plates, napkins and other eating utensils. Willow and Oz, who were studiously discussing which movie to watch first, both lit up slightly when they saw the food. As soon as the first box was set down and opened, the three slayerettes attacked.

"Plates! Napkins!" Buffy cried, distributing the items as quickly as she could. "My God, I'm turning into my mother..." She parked it next to Xander on one side of her bed, and took a piece herself. "Mm... there's something about grease that's--"

"Insanely delicious?" Xander mumbled, his mouth full.

Buffy grinned, and nodded in agreement. "That about sums it up." The four friends were silent for a moment as they devoured the food. Xander and Oz finished theirs first, and simultaneously reached for a second piece. Buffy finished second, Willow was close behind. Within minutes, they'd emptied the first box. "We're setting a record time, I swear..." Xander mumbled as he inhaled his third piece. This seemed to spark conversation.

"Now that we have the sappy part of the evening more or less done... what's next?"

"Movies..." Buffy said, in between bites. "That was the whole purpose, right?"

Xander nodded. "Yep. And it was my idea." He said proudly.

Oz finished off the last piece that his stomach would take, and leaned back against Buffy's dresser. "So, does Xander get first movie rights since it's his party?"

Buffy grabbed the videos to look at their selections. "Depends on what he picked."

Xander grinned shamelessly. "Jawbreaker. Hot girls, hot girls and... oh, yeah, there are a couple of pretty hot girls."

Buffy made a face, but didn't argue. "Fine. But if there's any unneccesary nudity we're turning it off." She grabbed her last piece of pizza, and then set the boxes aside when she saw that her friends were done. "But first... sleeping arangements."

The three slayerettes groaned, and reluctantly stood up. They all knew the drill, either from first-hand experience, or from hearing about it. They all stood at the door, Buffy counted to three, and the first two to land on the bed got the rights. The other two had to take the floor.

"Can't I get the bed? After all, it could be my last night in a civilized sleeping place for quite some tim--" Xander was cut off by a playful shove from the slayer.

"Quit whining." She held her hand up in the air. Willow grabbed Oz's hand and raised her eyebrow at him. He squeezed back, and winked at her. All four had their eyes on the prize. "One, two..." Buffy glanced at all of her friends, a slow grin spreading across her face. "Three!"

For five seconds, there was pandemonium. Xander emitted a sound that would usually only be heard during battle. Buffy did her best to hold him back as he lunged towards the bed. Willow lept over her two battling friends, dragging Oz along for the ride. They landed on the bed in a heap of red hair and limbs, and Buffy landed on top of them only milliseconds later. Xander was holding onto her feet, however, and dragged her to the ground a second later. Willow let out a triumphant squeal, pumping her fist in the air.

"Yes!!!!" She bounced on the bed once or twice, throwing her arm around Oz and smiling proudly. "We got the bed." She stated simply, after calming down.

Buffy and Xander, who were still laying tangled up on the floor, glared half-heartedly at her. Oz was just trying to keep the smug smile off his face.

"Okay, okay." Buffy groaned, disentangling her feet from Xander's clutches. "But if there's any funny business, I'm separating you two." She grabbed one of her pillows off the bed and tossed it onto the futon at the foot of the bed.

"We'll be good." Willow promised, settling back onto the bed and into Oz's arms.

Xander once again refrained from comment, but seemed to be handling it pretty well. He just grabbed his video, stuck it into Buffy's VCR, and then grabbed the slayer around the waist and pulled her onto the futon. Buffy shrieked, laughing. "You're all mine." He joked, releasing the slayer and leaning back onto the bed.

"We'll see about that." Buffy retorted, ruffling his hair. The group settled in quickly, to watching the movie. The girls both decided halfway through that they liked Rebecca Gayheart's character best, while Xander liked Courtney, and Oz had an affinity for the character Fern.

"She's cool... especially before she goes Violette." Oz commented, as they rewound the video at the end. "Besides, I have a thing for girls with nature-themed names."

Willow smiled softly at that comment. "Just as long as you didn't like her more than you like me."

Oz shook his head solemnly. "Not possible."

"Yeah, Fern was cool." Xander agreed. "But... I mean, it's not everyday you get to see Rose McGowan in dominatrix mode... I have to come down on the pyscho bitca's side for this one."

Buffy just laughed. "It wasn't a bad movie. And, hey, no nudity."

"Always a plus." Willow agreed. She then grabbed the remaining three videos. "What's next?"

The slayer shrugged "You guys pick one. Buffy goes last 'cause it's her house."

Oz nodded to Willow. "We'll watch yours. What'd you get again?"

Willow grinned, tossing the movie to Buffy. "'The Last Unicorn'."

Xander groaned. "Oh God, not again."

Willow shot him an attempted resolve face, but it was lost on him. "It's a good movie!! And, I mean... unicorns." She finished, with a happy smile.

Buffy shot Oz a confused glance. He just shrugged. "Well, I've never seen it." Buffy announced. "So I'll reserve judgement. Though I'll admit that if it's about unicorns, it automatically gets points in my book."

Willow continued to smile happily, once again relaxing into Oz's embrace. He stroked her hair back from her face and dropped a kiss on to the top of her head. The gang sat back and watched the animated film. Willow sang along softly with all of the songs, which kept a smile on Oz's face. Xander had to laugh at Schmendrick , the magician, and Buffy liked the unicorn's attitude. After the movie was finished, the gang took a vote.

"Thumbs up from me." Xander replied. "Even though I've seen it a million times." He grinned over at Willow.

"I liked it." Buffy concurred. "It gave me a warm fuzzy."

"Me too." Oz agreed. "Plus, bonus points for the singing butterfly at the beginning. He was cool."

"And you all know I like it," Willow finished off the voting. "So, now it's Oz's movie. What'd you get again?"

"Labyrinth." Oz tossed the video over to Buffy as he spoke. "It's cool 'cause it's got David Bowie"

"Ooh, the guy who's afraid of Americans?" Xander was suddenly interested.

"The very one." Oz nodded. "The movie's very 80's. But it's still cool."

After the movie was over, the gang had to agree. Xander and Buffy had both dug Hoggle, and Willow had held a soft spot for Ludo. Everyone had liked the soundtrack, and despite the sometimes cheesy special effects, they had all agreed that it was cool.

By the time the third film was done rewinding, everyone was getting tired, and it was just past midnight. Willow and Oz crawled under their covers, and Xander had crawled into the sleeping bag the slayer had loaned him while Buffy put the last movie, her pick, in the VCR.

"What'd you choose?" Xander asked, yawning slightly, as Buffy plopped back down onto the floor.

"'Enemy of the State'." She stated. "Action galore, for the slayer in me, and hotties galore, for the female in me."

"Hey, isn't that guy in it?" Willow asked, from the bed. "You know, the cute redheaded one? Who's in, like, everything?"

"What cute redheaded guy?" Oz asked. Willow smiled at the jealous tone his normally nuetral voice picked up.

"You know... The one who was in that movie about the clown that we saw."

Oz nodded. "Oh. Him." He tightened his arms around Willow. "He's okay."

Willow and Buffy exchanged a knowing smile, and then focused their concentration on the movie. It was the longest of all of the films, but certainly managed to keep them all awake. By the end, Xander had knawed down his fingernails, Buffy had become slightly hoarse from growling, "Run, run run...", Willow's jaw had cramped up from clenching it so much, and even Oz had been shifting nervously, awaiting the big climactic ending. When it was finally over, the gang all breathed a sigh of relief.

"I knew he'd be okay." Xander managed to mumble out.

"Then why did you almost break my hand squeezing it when you were babbling, 'Please don't let him die'?" Buffy teased, getting up to turn off the TV. Xander couldn't come up with a good answer, so he just turned to look at the couple that was curled up in bed.

"What'd you guys think?"

"Action... scary chase scenes." Willow mumbled. "But it was cool."

"Intense." Oz agreed, stifling a yawn. Which was apparently contagious, since the rest of the gang all yawned within seconds of eachother. They all laughed, and then Buffy stretched, slightly, crawling into her sleeping bag.

"I think it's safe to say that we're about to depart from the land of the living." She commented. Everyone else agreed, as they began to settle in for the night.

"Goodnight, guys." Willow whispered, giving her boyfriend a soft kiss and then cuddling up against him, with her head on his shoulder.

Oz slid his arm around her waist. "G'night." He echoed.

Xander watched the couple for a moment. They looked some comfortable and content, laying there together... < No, > He shook his head, slightly, pushing away any resentful feelings. < It's right. > "Goodnight all." He replied. "Don't let the bed bugs bite."

"Or the vampires." Buffy called out, before pressing her face into her pillow. "And if they do..." Her voice came out muffled. "There's some holy water in my desk drawer, but don't even *think* about waking me up..."

Oz leaned over to turn out Buffy's dresser light, and the room was as dark as it was quiet.

After a few moments, Xander sighed loudly. "Dammit." Another moment of silence.

"What?" Buffy finally replied.

"I gotta pee." Xander whined.

*************

Joyce Summers sighed to herself as she padded down the hallway. It was 10:30, and she was about to do her motherly duty. She somehow knew that Buffy and her friends wouldn't be happy with a wakeup call, but her daughter had specifically told her to wake them up with any means neccesary. She knocked softly on the door, but no reply came. She opened the door slowly, and smiled at the sight as the room came into view.

Xander and Buffy were curled up in their sleeping bags on the futon. Xander was drooling into his pillow, and Buffy's hair looked like it had been through a windstorm. In the bed, Willow and Oz were curled up together, both snoring lightly.

She couldn't help it. She darted into her room, grabbed her camera, and came back. After the camera had flashed a couple of times, Buffy began to stir. She opened her eyes slowly, and then glared at her mother when she saw what she was doing.

"Mom!!!" She cried, rubbing her eyes and sitting up, causing the others to stir. "No pictures!!!" She threw her pillow at Joyce, who dodged it expertly. Three other pillows followed, and Joyce retreated, smiling to herself.

****************

An hour later, the gang was more or less awake, and had assembled downstairs in Buffy's living room. Xander was doing a last minute check for all his road trip neccesities, with Oz's help, and the girls were packing Xander a lunch.

"Drive safely." Joyce was intructing the brunette male, as Willow and Buffy walked into the late morning sunshine. "And remember, if you get lost, forget you're a male, and ask for directions."

"I will, Mrs. Summers." Xander promised, as he took the lunch from Buffy and put it in the car. He then turned to face his friends. "Well... I guess this is it." He stared at them for a moment. "Uh, thanks for... the presents and stuff. I'll find a way to use them all, I promise."

Buffy moved to hug him, and held on for a moment. "Be careful." She told him. "We'll miss you."

He hugged her back. "Don't worry, Buff. I've taken out my share of vamps, I can hold my own."

Willow was next. She hugged her oldest friend tightly. "Write and call. A lot." She whispered. "Don't forget us."

"How could I?" He replied. He kissed her cheek. "Will... and Oz..." He glanced at the older boy. "I'm ... really sorry. About everything."

The couple exchanged a look. "Forgiven." Oz finally said. He and Xander shook hands, opting for a less emotional goodbye than the slayer and the hacker had given.

"Take care of her." Xander said, glancing over at Willow, who was currently looking through Xander's backpack and making sure he had enough toothpaste.

"I will." Oz promised. "Take care of yourself."

Xander nodded. He was enveloped in a hug from Joyce before he could reply, though.

"Oh, Xander." Joyce sniffed. "I can't believe how much you've grown..."

"Gee, mom," Xander smiled, hugging her back. "Baby bird's have to leave the nest eventually."

Joyce stepped back, wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry, I just can't help..." She turned to her daughter. "You're all so big now. Before I know it you'll be getting married--"

"Whoa!" Buffy cut her mother off. "No 'M' word, mom. Remember, we talked about this." She patted her mom on the back. "Let us get through college first."

Joyce nodded. "Yeah, sorry." Everyone stood back, as Xander got in the car.

"Have fun!" Buffy called, as he started up the car.

"We'll miss you!" Willow exclaimed, squeezing Oz's hand.

"Don't forget to change your underwear!" Joyce reminded him, earning her a look from the slayer and her slayerettes. They all watched as Xander waved, and then pulled out of the driveway.

"I hope he doesn't get himself into too much trouble." Buffy murmered, as they watched his car disapeer as it went farther down the road.

"Buffy, he's Xander." Willow reminded her friend, as the remainder of the Scooby Gang walked back into the house. "I won't be suprised if we have to bail him out of a jail in Utah."

---

The End.
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