Buffy the Vampire Slayer Preferences + imagines/one shots

Xander - Hanging Up

Pretend smartphones existed in the 90s :)

"My phone's about to die. I've got to go. See you tomorrow?"

"Urm - yeah! Of course."

She hangs up the phone and Xander sighs to himself. He stares at the charger plugged into his phone, wondering why Y/N wouldn't do the same. She didn't want to talk to him, did she? 

He left his phone and walked over to his bed. He flopped down onto the soft mattress, looking up at the ceiling. Maybe one day she'd feel the same way he did. 

---------

"Hey Xander!" 

"Hi Y/N, how was French?" 

"Like fun, only boring," she sighs, sitting next to him in the cafeteria. "Missed you," she adds, chucking a plastic-wrapped waffle at her best friend. She smiles at Willow who is sitting across from Xander, engrossed in a book. 

"Merci," he grins, immediately taking a giant bite of the sugary snack. "Hey, Y/N, I was just wondering... urm..." he second-guesses himself briefly, but Willow always encourages him to be honest about his feelings so maybe he should listen. 

"You know, yesterday. Did you not want to talk to me or something?"

Y/N quirks an eyebrow up in confusion. "No?" 

"It's just like -" Xander starts, "I was charging my phone and you can't - like you - I felt like you just wanted to get away."

Y/N gazes down and a blush burns her cheeks. "Xander..." she says quietly, and Xander fights the urge to cut in. He lets her take her time. "It's not that. Socialising gets a bit too much sometimes and I need time to recharge and spend time alone."

"But I'm your best friend." Xander looks like a hurt puppy and Y/N can't meet his eyes.

"Yes, you are. It's nothing personal. I just need time alone, especially after a full day of school and stuff."

"Oh," Xander replies, "But you've never been like this before."

Y/N sinks down further into her seat and Willow looks up from her book. She watches the exchange silently. "I've just been better at hiding it. Staying up late to spend time by myself and being exhausted the next day."

Willow purses her lips - she wants to comfort her friend, but this moment is between Xander and Y/N. She hopes Xander can understand. 

"I get it." Xander says finally. "Sorry."

"It's okay. You know I love you. If I didn't, I'd never share my snacks with you," she looks at the waffle and Xander passes it back to her with a small smile. She rips the corner off and stuffs it into her mouth. "Am I still coming round yours tonight?"

"Yep," Xander replies, "I picked up Scream from Block Buster yesterday."

"Cool!"

---------------that evening ---------------

"Yo!" Y/N calls as she runs down the steps that lead to Xander's basement. He's already chilling on his bed, fiddling with the tv remote. 

"Hey!" he greets, smiling as Y/N jumps onto his bed, chucking various sweets and crisps at him. 

She gets into the bed beside him and looks at the tv, biting her lip. "This better not be too scary."

"Yeah..." Xander says quietly, "Y/N... I'm really sorry about earlier. I was being insensitive."

"Xander, please, it's fine. Forget about it and put the movie on." She smiles and Xander nods, pressing play.

"I don't think I like this..." Y/N whispers, around three minutes into the film. Xander feels her move closer, and he wraps his arms around her shoulder. To his surprise, she snuggles closer to him, making his heart pick up.

"Yeah, I think we may be way out of our depth..."

"AHHHHHH!" they both scream and panic in unison as the first kill happens, until their shouts turn to giggles and the giggles into tears of laughter.

"We're such babies!" Y/N wipes her eyes, stopping the movie and turning to Xander. "Can we watch Back to the Future or something?"

"I thought you'd never ask."