The Male Slayer - A Buffy The Vampire Slayer Fanfiction

IV. Xander's Bodyguard (Chapter 3)

Xander took another swig of beer, wiping his mouth with his hand while he sat on the floor. A sad song was blasting from his speakers as he thought about his life, his regrets and mistakes causing anger to flow through him although he didn't feel like doing anything about it due to his depressive state. 

"Knock, knock." James said, entering his apartment. "Morning, Xander. Everything alright?" 

"Mm." Xander grunted in response, barely even looking at James. 

"You've got work, y'know." James reminded him, glancing at the clock on the wall. Xander finally moved, grabbing a remote and pressing a button to turn the music off. He picked himself up off the floor and walked over to a chair where his jacket was laying. "You're wearing the same clothes as yesterday." 

Xander ignored James and picked up his jacket, walking past him and leaving, shutting the door behind him firmly. James watched the door for several seconds, pondering on what to do for the next few hours until Xander returned. The two had reached an agreement that Xander could go to work on his own, without James' supervision, although it did take a lot of convincing for James to agree. 

James walked over to the refrigerator and opened it, looking at the almost empty stock of food. "Great." James mumbled to himself, picking up a nearly empty box of eggs. "This'll have to do." 

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James spent the entire day in Xander's apartment, watching TV and relaxing, which he hadn't had a chance to do in a very long time. It wasn't until it was dark outside that James realised how late it actually was. He looked at the clock on the wall, realising that Xander would be home any minute now, so he stood up and began to clean the mess of empty wrappers and dishes. 

He placed the wrappers in the bin, and the dishes in the sink. James turned the faucets on, deciding that he would wash them as he was Xander's guest. Just as the sink filled up, a knock came at the door. James slowly turned the faucets off and creeped over to the door, looking through the peephole cautiously. Standing there, looking rather impatient, was Anya. James swung the door open, "Anya!" 

"Oh...hi. I'm sorry but through all the mess of my wedding happening and then not happening, I've forgotten your name." Anya said, twiddling her thumbs while she stood there. 

"It's James, and I don't blame you for one second for not inviting me to the wedding, in fact, I won't even bring it up once." James replied with a smile, opening the door for her to enter. 

"Thanks, is Xander around?" she asked, looking around in case he was in one of the other rooms. 

"He's been at work all day but he should be back in the next few minutes." James said, leaning with his back against the kitchen counter, his arms folded in awkwardness. Anya nodded her head in response, walking over to the kitchen table to sit down. "So, are you doing well?" James asked, immediately rolling his eyes and facepalming, "No, of course you're not, sorry for asking." 

"It's quite alright, and no, I am not doing well at all." Anya responded, avoiding James' eye contact. 

"Look, I know I wasn't there to know what happened exactly, and even though I'm staying at Xander's place and all, I won't be taking sides on this. I just hope you two find a way through it." James told her, trying to find some words of comfort that fit for the situation.

"Why are you staying here anyway?" Anya questioned, ignoring James' comment. 

James considered his options, remembering that Anya was an ex-demon, meaning she probably knew or had heard about the Powers That Be. He couldn't quite explain why, but he decided not to tell her the truth, "I've been slaying around the world for a long time so I'm just on a break and Xander offered his place."