"Hi."

"Hello, Kid…"

"What…the hell…is going…on!" Xander repeated. Then he looked to Ash, and asked in a more gentle tone, "You all right?"

Ash nodded, then indicated with a shake of the head that he had better ask the same of Buffy.

"You?" Xander asked.

"I'm fine, Xander…" Buffy said as Willow helped her to her feet, "And we just had a little…discussion."

"I'm guessing that the words "fist" and "face" were the most commonly used words in
that discussion…" Xander said with biting sarcasm, "Now would someone please tell me what is going on!?"

"I was walking to the car" Ash started, his voice perfectly pleasant, "When these two
bothersome creatures began pestering me!"

"Is that right?" the young man asked the two girls, his voice deadly quiet.

"Yeah, I followed him. But I wasn't annoying! I just wanted him to answer a question
for me!"

"Is that so?" Xander turned to Ash.

"Yeah…" Ash admitted, "But, you know the sale started today, and Tim had that thing
with the plastic turkeys that I told you about at lunch, and then all I wanted was to get
home in bed and maybe get up later to share that lovely bucket of chicken I see you got."

Xander seemed to think for a moment, going over each person's story. Then he turned to Willow.

"Well, Buffy was being a bit forward…" the girl said without him even asking.

"Willow!" Buffy muttered, casting the redheaded witch a dirty look.

"But he was kinda rude…" she continued.

Xander just looked at Ash with a raised eyebrow. His scarred friend gave him a sheepish look.

"And then he tried to leave, so Buffy attacked him."

"I see…" Xander said calmly, rubbing his chin, "Ash tried to leave, so you attacked him…Is that right, Buffy?"

"Yeah…basically…" the Slayer admitted.

"And you, being the Slayer, attacked him with all you had?"

"Yeah, pretty much…"

"Oh…" Xander concluded, looking her up and down in a way that had nothing to do with
admiring her figure.

"And Ash…Buffy attacked you?"

"Yeah."

"And you fought back?"

"Yeah…"

"And you eventually threw her into the dumpster?"

"Actually, I kicked her, but pretty much, yeah…"

Xander looked at Ash, then at Buffy. He seemed to ponder something for a moment, and then began to pace around the parking lot like some kind of detective figuring out a crime scene. After a minute or two, he turned around and faced his three best friends.

"So, you're saying that my roommate and the Slayer decided to rumble because Ash
wanted to go to sleep?"

The Slayer and the S-Mart employee looked at each other for a moment, then nodded at Xander. Suddenly, something computed in the blonde girl's head, because her
expression changed from guilt to shock.

"Xander! How do you know this guy!?"

Xander looked at Ash and smiled. Ash grinned back. "As I said, he's my roommate."

"Your roommate?" Willow asked, completely confused, "But when did you move into a
roommate situation?"

"Today." Xander replied, digging into the KFC basket and pulling out a drumstick,
which he tossed to Ash, "Ash knew I didn't like going home, so he told me that as long
as I keep the place decently clean, I can stay at his place."

"What do you mean, 'stay at his place'?" Willow cried, "How long have you known this
guy?"

"A few months…" Xander answered, pulling out a piece of chicken for himself, "Besides, I was bunking at his place most of the time anyway, so now it's just official."

"Bunking at his place? Moving in with him?" Buffy asked in astonishment, "Xander,
why would you leave home to go with some psycho you barely know?"

"Firstly, Ash is not a psycho," Xander said angrily, upset that Buffy would insult his
mentor like that, "and if he was, it would be completely understandable considering what he's been through. Secondly, I've known him since he moved here a few months ago, and during that time, I've spent more time with him than anywhere else. Anywhere else. Thirdly, if you don't know why I would want to leave home, you had better ask Willow cause I sure as hell won't tell you…"

The tone in the parking lot changed from good-natured disagreement (which it had just barely reached) to uncomfortable anger.

Buffy turned to her friend, who was looking very troubled at the moment. "Willow?"

"I don't want to talk about it…"

Ash, who had been watching for the most part, couldn't take it anymore. "Well,
somebody better talk about it, because I for one can't stand the fact that you didn't take
the time to find out before this, when you could have helped…"

The remark stung Buffy, not to mention Willow. "Xander…please tell us what he's
talking about…"

"My dad…" Xander winced as he said the hateful words.

There was silence in the parking lot as they waited for Xander to explain, but he didn't.
Finally, when she realized that he simply couldn't, willow spoke up.

"Mr. And Mrs. Harris have always had a…a problem w-with drinking…"

The silence came back the second that she stopped. She didn't want to be the one to tell Buffy this, and she hated thinking about it herself, but she knew it had to be said, and if this was what she could do to help her friend, this is what she would do for him.

"And when Mr. Harris got drunk, sometimes h-he lost it…Like flipped out…and
sometimes h-he would bring out this old br-broom and…"

"And?"

"And hit Xander with it…"

The Slayer's eyes turned to her friend. She couldn't believe it. How could this have been going on all along without her knowing? Why hadn't he told her?

But as the thought crossed her mind, she realized that he had. He had told her in a million little ways because he wouldn't allow himself to ask upfront. The sad glint in his eyes as he made non-stop jokes about his own stupidity and uselessness. The mysterious bruises and black-eyes from vampires he would describe, but she could never find. He had told her. She just hadn't listened.

The next question in her mind was why he hadn't just asked for help upfront, but she knew the answer to that too. He didn't want to distract her. He thought so little of his own concerns and so much about hers that he didn't want to get in her way, even when he
was being put through pain because of it. So he'd created a joking mask, a smiling facade which none of them, esecially she, had ever tried to look behind, while he got more damaged.

And then she had attacked the one person who had been willing to look behind the mask, to help him out of the living hell that was his home life. The Slayer, defender of the weak, had attacked Xander's lifeline, a good, if rude, man who, from the look in his eyes, cared for Xander like a son. Buffy looked to Willow, letting her see just what she was feeling, then got up. She felt dirty just then.

Willow looked back at her, realizing everything just as Buffy had. Then the two looked at Xander. In his eyes was all the raw pain he had kept from them over the years, all the horrible agony he had hidden. And they took it. They took it because it was the least
they could do for the one who had always been the shoulder to cry on but had never been offered one.

Finally, Xander broke the contact, and his eyes turned to something that resembled those of the old Xander, but more mature now.

"Well, guess we should just put everything behind us then, shall we? And begin introductions..." the boy said at last, putting down the KFC bag.

"Ashley J. Williams, meet Buffy Summers and Willow Rosenberg." Xander said, gesturing wildly, "Willow, Buffy, meet Ash..."

"Pleased to meet you..." Willow said quietly. 

"Yeah..."

"Same here, ladies." Ash responded with a grin and a salute. The S-Mart employee then looked around for a minute. "Uh, folks? Why don't we get out of here? It's getting real dark and we all know that being out at night is bad in this little town..."

"Good idea..." Buffy replied, "Let's head to the library. We have a brand new problem, by the way."

"What is it this time?" Xander asked, groaning at the prospect of research.

"A book arrived in Giles' office the other day, and we need to find it's owner and get it off the Hellmouth..."

Ash and Xander exchanged a look. They obviously wanted to ask something, but no one wanted to voice the question. Finally, Xander asked, "What's the name of the book?"

The two girls exchanged glances as well. Xander was usually not into books, but they might as well tell him if he was going to be researching it for the rest of the night.

"It's this old book with a weird cover called the Necro-something or ot-"

"GOD DAMN IT!" Ash shouted out, cutting her off, "NOT AGAIN! NOT AGAIN FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!"

"What's up with him?" Buffy asked, pointed at the distressed S-Mart employee.

"Remember that experience that I said would justify insanity?" Xander replied, obviously upset as well, "That was his experience with the Necronomicon..."

Part 7