Headers in part one

August 5, 2001

Giles and Xander hoisted the box carrying Melanie's crib onto the top of 
Katherine's black Lexus GS 400. Finally getting it secured down, they took a 
moment to rest. 

"Is that, uh, everything, then?" Giles asked, his accent more clipped from 
the exertion. 

"Yep, think so," Xander nodded, wiping his forehead off. This was the second 
and final trip with his and Melanie's belongings from Giles' to Willow's. 
Melanie had been delivered on the first trip.

"Well, um, it was nice having you stay with me, even for a short time," Giles 
offered, not sure of what to say. He and Xander still had a hard time looking 
each other in the eye after last week's debacle, although they were able to 
work together again. "I'm sorry about,"

Xander quickly shook his head. "Oh, no. It's okay. Really. Let's not bring 
that up again. Ever. Okay?"

"Yes, yes, that would probably be best," Giles agreed, relieved. 

Katherine walked out of Giles' apartment and approached the men by her car. 
"Are you ready to leave, Xander?" she asked. 

Xander was once again amazed at how this little woman managed to wear a heavy 
denim skirt with a long sleeved blouse during August in California, and not 
combust. "Um, yeah. Ready. Thanks again for letting me use your car to move 
things. It's just amazing how Melanie's things seemed to have multiplied 
since she met Willow," he grinned.

Katherine snorted. "As if what Rupert terms his car would get your belongings 
half way down the block."

Xander grinned, despite his slight discomfort. "She's got you there, G-man."

Giles winced at the use of the hated nickname. "Yes, well, it has gotten me 
through many years, and I see no reason to get rid of it now," he responded, 
shooting a look towards his assistant. "I'll see you at work on Monday, 
Xander."

"Yep. Bye, Giles. Thanks for everything," Xander said, reaching out to shake 
his friend's hand. "It really meant a lot to me that you offered your place."

"You're more than welcome here anytime, Xander," Giles said warmly as the 
young man went to sit in the passenger side of the car. "Bye, Kate."

She smiled at him. "Bye, Rupert. I'll see you later."

She got into the driver's seat and they drove off.

~*~

An hour later, Xander and Melanie were completely moved in. Buffy and Xander 
had unloaded all of the boxes and brought them upstairs to his new room while 
Willow took care of Melanie. Now, a few hours later, Willow and Xander stood 
in the doorway of the bedroom, surveying the mess.

"This room is really small, isn't it?" Xander said, more as a statement than 
a question. Boxes were piled everywhere. Buffy had left her bed, so that and 
Melanie's crib and changing table were the only things ready to go. The 
problem was trying to get to the bed, crib, and changing table.

"It would seem so," Willow agreed. "It never seemed this small when Buffy 
lived here. She did aerobics and everything. Maybe it'll be better when 
you're all unpacked," she offered.

"I hope so. Or maybe it's because two people are trying to fit all of their 
stuff into one room," he sighed. 

"Don't worry. We'll get it all sorted out eventually," Willow promised. "For 
now, though, let's just forget about it and relax. We can watch some movies 
and stuff. Buffy and I have a great collection, and she let me keep it. I 
don't think Spike has a VCR."

Xander smiled. "Sounds like a plan. I guess Melanie can sleep in her stroller 
for tonight."

"If we had thought about it, we could have set her crib up in my room or 
something, but I'm sure she'll be fine there for tonight," she reassured him. 
"We can lock the wheels and put it next to your bed. Now I'll make the 
popcorn; you pick some movies, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed, smiling at her.  "Let's go."

He followed her down the stairs. She turned to enter the kitchen as he went 
to check on Melanie. He had the monitor and could hear her, he just needed to 
see her sometimes. He smiled at the sight of her on her tummy, with her thumb 
hanging loosely by her mouth. With one last look, he headed towards the 
living room. A banging on the front door forced him to make another detour. 
"I'll get it," he called to Willow. He opened the door, careful to stay 
inside the threshold. He opened the door wider when he saw it was Spike. 
"What do you want?" he asked brusquely. 

Spike rushed in, pushing past him. Willow poked her head out of the kitchen. 
"Spike? What's wrong?"

"Sorry, love, we need Buffy's bed." He raced up the stairs. Willow and Xander 
exchanged a look and followed him. 

"What happened to yours?" Willow asked, amazed, as Spike kicked boxes to the 
side to get to the bed.

"Long story, no time to tell." He grabbed one end of the bed and effortlessly 
turned it on the side, half dragging and half carrying it down the stairs and 
out the door. "The slayer will be over tomorrow. Bye, now."

Xander and Willow stood at the foot of the staircase, watching the blond 
vampire carry the bed down the street. "Uh, Will? Where did he take my bed? 
Why did he take my bed?"

Willow just stared out the door. "I don't think I want to know."

"You don't think. . ." his voice trailed off. "Oh, I don't want to go there. 
Quick. Movie. Now." 

Willow grinned and went to go get the popcorn.

~*~

It was two o'clock in the morning. Melanie had woken briefly around  ten pm, 
but had quickly gone back to sleep, so that Willow and Xander had had most of 
the night quiet and to themselves. They had watched Key Largo first, followed 
by His Girl Friday, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and finally Psycho. Through the 
first two movies, they had sat side by side with the popcorn bowl between 
them. This had led to their hands brushing in the bowl, and both had felt the 
electricity charge with each touch. After four hours of movies, though, they 
were getting tired, so they stretched out on opposite ends of the couch, 
giving up completely on the popcorn. 

During Psycho, however, Willow started getting very scared. She knew what was 
going to happen. She had seen this movie before. That didn't stop her from 
sitting straight up and scrambling to sit closer to Xander, clutching his 
arm. By then, he wasn't even paying attention to the movie. All of his energy 
was focused on Willow and her hands wrapped around his arm. He was about to 
open his mouth and make a smart-aleck comment when she made an "eep!" noise 
and dove towards him, burying her face in his shoulder. He couldn't stop the 
slow grin that spread across his face, but was definitely unable to say 
anything. Blushing, Willow had sat back up and apologized. An hour later, 
that brief moment was still on his mind, but now he had a more pressing 
concern.

Willow had just stood up to rewind the video. "Um, Willow?"

She turned to face him. "Yeah?"

"Uh, Spike took my bed."

She stared at him for a moment before realization dawned. "Oh."

He laughed. "Yes. Oh. Where should I sleep? Is this a pull-out bed?"

Willow mentally ran through her options. There weren't many. He could sleep 
on the couch. He should sleep on the couch. Yes, that's it. Couch. "You can 
sleep with me," she blurted, immediately turning crimson. Where had that come 
from? Xander's mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound came out. 
Her words kept floating through his mind. 

"Not like that," she hastened to add. "I mean, no, this couch doesn't fold 
out. And I know you. You'll roll off in the middle of the night and hit your 
head. And I have a big bed. We can share."

Xander finally found his voice. "Are you sure?"

Willow nodded. "Yes. Fine. It's okay by me. Really." 

Just then, Melanie let out a piercing wail. Xander closed his eyes briefly. 
"Mel's hungry," he said. 

"Okay. Feed her and then bring her up," Willow instructed. "Since Spike 
cleared that path, I can push the crib into a better place. Then she'll be 
closer to us."

"Okay," he said, heading towards the kitchen. "Coming, sweetheart," he called.

Willow stood there, frozen, for a minute. What was she thinking? Xander in 
her bed? With her? Could she handle it? Mentally promising to strangle Buffy 
in the morning, she went upstairs to move the crib.

When Xander came up twenty minutes later, he found Willow already changed 
into a t-shirt and boxers and dragging the crib out to the hallway. "This way 
we can hear her," she explained. "And we can access her diaper stuff. With 
the boxes, it wouldn't fit any other way. The path wasn't so big, after all."

"It's fine, Will." He laid the dozing baby in the crib and backed away, 
hoping she wouldn't awaken. When she didn't stir, he let out the breath he 
had been holding. "Okay, good." He looked at Willow, suddenly feeling 
uncomfortable. "Um, I guess I should get changed," he said, pointing towards 
the bathroom.

She smiled and nodded. "Probably a helpful thing." He gave her a weak smile 
and went to grab something to sleep in from his suitcase. She hurried back 
into her bedroom, and quickly glanced around. Okay. Nothing horribly 
embarrassing was sticking out. Bras were nicely tucked away. Everything was 
good. Her eyes strayed to the bed. Suddenly, it looked so much smaller than 
the queen size she had known it to be. What had she gotten herself into, she 
moaned silently. With a sigh, she turned the covers down and slid between the 
sheets. 

Just a minute later, he walked in, humming a song under his breath. He found 
Willow already curled up under the sheets. When she heard him put the monitor 
down on her bedside table, she turned to face him, head propped up on her 
elbow. "Um, Will. Thanks for," he indicated her bed. 

"Oh, it's, um, fine. Really." It is fine, she told herself, but her heart was 
still pounding. 

"Um, I'm going to, you know," he pointed towards the empty side of the bed.

"Get in bed?" she asked, a ghost of a smile on her face.

"Yes. That." He quickly laid down, and she turned back so that they laid side 
by side, both facing forward. "This isn't bad," he said, as if to himself. 

"No. It's not," she agreed, almost surprised. "Well. I'll see you in the 
morning."

"Yep. Night, Willow," he yawned.

"Good night." She turned over, facing away from him, and closed her eyes, 
hoping he couldn't hear her heart still pounding away in her chest.

He did the same, and soon they were both asleep.

~*~
End part five