BUFFY: You can't spend the rest of your life waiting for Xander to wake up and smell the hottie. Make a move. Do the talking thing.
WILLOW: What if the talking thing becomes the awkward silence thing?
BUFFY: Well, you won't know unless you try.
[Willow walks over to Oz]
WILLOW: Hey.
OZ: Hey.
WILLOW: Do you guys, uh, have a gig tonight?
OZ: No. Practice. See, you band's kind of moving toward this new sound... where we suck. So, practice.
WILLOW: I think you guys sound good.
OZ: Thanks.
WILLOW: I bet you have a lot of groupies.
OZ: It happens. But I'm living groupie-free nowadays. I'm clean.
WILLOW: Oh.
OZ: I'm going to ask you to go out with me tomorrow night, and I'm kind of nervous about it, actually. It's interesting.
WILLOW: Well, if it helps at all, I'm going to say yes.
OZ: Yeah, it helps. It creates a comfort zone. Do you want to go out with me tomorrow night?
WILLOW: [slaps her head] Oh, I can't!
OZ: Oh, see, I like that you're unpredictable.
WILLOW: It's just that it's Buffy's birthday and we're throwing her a surprize party.
OZ: It's okay.
WILLOW: But you could come, if you wanted.
OZ: Well, I don't want to crash.
WILLOW: No, it's fine. You could be my... date.
OZ: All right. I'm in.
[Willow walks away]
WILLOW: I said 'date'.
[Sunnydale High hallway]
XANDER: So. Buffy's party. Manana.
CORDELIA: Well, just because she's Miss 'Save the World' we have to make a big deal. I have to cook. And everything.
XANDER: You're cooking?
CORDELIA: Well, I'm chips and dip girl.
XANDER: Horrors. All that opening and stirring.
CORDELIA: And shopping and carrying.
XANDER: Well, you should have a person who does such things for you.
CORDELIA: That's what I've been saying to my father. But does he listen?
XANDER: So. You're going. And I'm going. Should we - maybe - go?
CORDELIA: Why?
XANDER: I don't know. This thing with us? Despite our better judgement, it keeps happening. Maybe we should just admit that we're dating -
CORDELIA: Groping in a broom closet is not dating. You don't call it a date until the guy spends money.
XANDER: Fine. I'll spend. Then we'll grope. Whatever. I just think it's just some kind of a whack that we have to hide it from all our friends.
CORDELIA: Well, of course you want to tell everybody. You have nothing to be ashamed of. I, on the other hand, have everything to be ashamed of.
XANDER: You know what? 'Nuff said. Forget it. It must have been my multiple personality guy talking. I call him idiot Jed, glutton for punishment.
[Sunnydale High library. Xander walks in.]
GILES: Good morning. Everything in order for the party?
XANDER: Absolutely. Ready to get down, you funky party weasel?
[Buffy and Jenny Calendar enter]
GILES: Ah. Here comes Buffy. Remember - discretion is the better part of valor.
XANDER: You could have just gone ssh. God, are all you Brits such drama queens? Buffy, I feel a pre-birthday spanking coming on.
JENNY: I'd curb that impulse if I were you, Xander.
XANDER: Check. Cancel spanking.
[Buffy, Jenny, Giles and Xander sit down]
GILES: Are you alright, Buffy? You seem a little fatigued.
BUFFY: Rough night. I had a dream that Drusilla was alive. And she killed Angel. It just really freaked me out.
GILES: So you feel it was more of a portent.
BUFFY: See, I don't know. I don't want to start a big freak-out over nothing -
GILES: Still. Best to be on the alert. If Drusilla is alive, it could be fairly cataclysmic.
XANDER: Again, so many words. Couldn't you just say we'd be in trouble?
GILES: Go to class, Xander.
XANDER: Gone. [stands up] Notice the economy of phrasing. 'Gone'. Simple. Direct. [leaves]
BUFFY: [rises] Maybe I should get gone, too.
GILES: Don't worry yourself unduly, Buffy. I'm sure it's nothing.
BUFFY: I know. I should keep my Slayer cool. But it's Angel, which automatically equals maxi-wig. [leaves]
[The Factory]
DALTON: I have your package.
SPIKE: Just put it on the table. Near the other gifts. Are you dead set on this, pet? Wouldn't you rather have your party in Vienna?
DRUSILLA: But the invitations are sent.
SPIKE: Yeah, but, it's just, I've have it with this place. Nothing ever comes off the way it's supposed to.
DRUSILLA: My gatherings are always perfect. Remember Spain, Spike? The bulls?
SPIKE: I remember, sweet. But Sunnydale is cursed for us. Angel and the Slayer see to that.
DRUSILLA: Ssh. I've got good games for everyone. You'll see. These flowers are wrong. They're all wrong. I can't abide them! [moans and screams as she rips flowers out. Stops and covers her face]
SPIKE: Let's try something different with the flowers, then.
[Drusilla walks to the table of presents]
DRUSILLA: Can I open one? Can I? Can I?
SPIKE: Just a peek, love. They're for the party.
NEXT