Xander walked into the library, less than pleasantly surprised to find a tearful Willow in Angel's arms.
"Woke up, huh? Pity." Whatever reaction to his comment he had expected, he got something quite different.
"Um, yeah, okay, and you are?"
Xander looked incredulously at the vampire. "What are you talking about? What are you trying to pull?"
Willow finally disentangled herself from Angel's embrace (a fact that left him feeling irrationally depressed) and turned to glower at her friend.
"Xander, shut up. You have no idea what's happened. Can you try, just this once, to be rational on a topic involving Angel?"
He shrugged abashedly, as Angel finally made the connection to who Xander was.
"Oh, so you're Xander! The one that Willow kept mentioning."
Xander looked at him with surprise. "Willow kept mentioning me?" Angel nodded.
"Yeah, you were one of the characters in my biography."
"Okay, I'm gonna have to go with 'huh'?" He looked to Willow for some sort of explanation, causing her to let out a weary sigh.
"Angel has amnesia, Xander. He doesn't remember any of us, he doesn't remember Buffy, and he doesn't remember coming to Sunnydale."
"Amnesia? Him? Geez, Angel, your life plays like a whacked out soap opera."
Angel looked at him curiously, then something clicked.
"Oh, I get it now. I was confused before, but now I understand."
"Understand what?"
"You don't like me." A sudden silence fell over the library. Xander's antagonistic attitude towards Angel had always been omnipresent and unmentioned. Angel discussing it so frankly was extremely uncomfortable at the very least.
"Xander, if you don't mind my asking, what is it about me that you don't like? Is it me, or is it something I've done to you?"
Xander stared at him, trapped and tongue-tied. His prejudices regarding Angel were the basis for their relationship, but he would never be able to explain them. They were fundamental, based on territorial posturing and jealousy. To put it in simpler terms, they were stupid. Therefore, Xander replied accordingly.
"Uhhhh..."
Willow sighed in exasperation. "Angel, Xander never liked you because Buffy was in love with you instead of him, and he feels threatened by the fact that women find you attractive. He also dislikes vampires quite intensely, and has never been able to tell the difference between you and Angelus."
"There is a difference between me and Angelus? I am Angelus."
Willow shook her head in disbelief. "See, you two agree on everything, which is why you should logically get along swimmingly. Angel, you blame yourself for everything, and so does Xander. You don't think you deserve Buffy, neither does Xander. You don't think you're any different from normal evil vampires, neither does Xander. For heaven's sake, you two are practically soulmates."
Her words confused both of them. Xander wasn't sure that Willow was wrong, but it disturbed him to think he might not have a basis for hating Angel. In Angel's case, getting yelled at for disliking a person he didn't remember was upsetting and bewildering. Of course, he was concentrating more on how cute Willow looked when she was on a tirade.
Her beautiful bright eyes were snapping with anger, her forehead wrinkled so adorably... oh, but she was still talking. He had to pay attention.
"...just try to get along! I'm tired of trying to smooth things out between you, when you're perfectly capable of doing it yourselves!"
Willow, like always, didn't feel better after ranting, and she definitely felt much worse when she saw the look on Angel's face.
"Angel, I'm sorry, I know you have no idea what I'm talking about. I have no right to reprimand you. But you-" she turned and poked her little finger in Xander's chest, "are going to have to try and humor me by doing your best to get along with him! He's an amnesiac, and he deserves your sympathy, not your jealousy!"
With that, she whirled around and headed for the doors.
"Um, Willow?" Giles called after her.
"I'm going to the bathroom," she answered shortly.
The three remaining occupants of the library stood in awkward silence for a moment.
"So, Angel," Xander said slowly. "How's the head?"