Xander sat on the edge of his bed, running his hand through his hair. The past few hours had been chaotic, and he was surprised to be alive. In fact, he looked back on the last three years with amazement, considering his brushes with death on so many occasions. Now, as his high school career was over, Xander was left with a strange, empty feeling.

If the truth was told, Xander Harris was exhausted, physically and emotionally. The past three years had done a number on the young man. Never having the stable home life he'd craved had long been resolved in his heart, but the fact of the matter was that Xander was, for the most part, alone in life. In spite of his parents, Xander had managed to grow up reasonably well-adjusted. His best friend, Jesse, had been one of the few links to a normal life, but his relationship with his bud had ended badly, one could say.

Add to that the Buffy and Willow situation. Sure, they shared much in common, over and above the fight they fought "together," but of late they'd distanced themselves from him. Giles had never really warmed up to him, and so Xander found himself adrift in a sea of dysfunction.

Then there was Faith. He didn't even want to think about his failure where Faith was concerned. It haunted him whenever he entertained the thought, so he tried his best not to think about it. Try as he might, Xander simply could not seem to find a healthy relationship in his world. He hoped that his cross-country odyssey would help give him some focus and perspective on his life; specifically, what he should do with it.

"Man, I need a shower!" He said out loud as he began peeling off his grimy clothes. "I'll pack and get out of here in the morning." Xander's road trip was the topic of conversation for the past three weeks, and he was looking forward to getting away for a while.

As he removed his t-shirt, Xander noticed the envelope taped to his mirror for the first time. The envelope had his name written on it in simple, block letters. Xander reached for the envelope, plucking it from the mirror.

"What's this, a belated graduation present? Yeah, right," Xander joked to himself as he opened the envelope. Scanning the brief note, Xander read:

Xander:

Meet me at the Espresso Pump at 10:00. Please come alone.

Xander glanced at the note a second time before returning it to its envelope. Standing in his room shirtless, Xander reached for his shirt and sighed. "Well, the shower can wait. This is just too 'cloak and daggery' to pass up." Putting his shirt back on, he walked out of his room and left his house casually. Tony and Jessica had been rendered comatose long before he had even returned from graduation, so he knew he wouldn't be missed.

The man and woman sat towards the back of the coffee shop. The pair was casually dressed, in the way that would insure that each would go unremembered by an observer. Each had their own reasons for wanting to remain inconspicuous, and one of them was having more success than the other. The woman was jittery as she sat in her chair.

"This is killin' me. He's not gonna show. I should've just waited for him there."

The man tried his best to calm his companion. He placed his hand on her forearm, which got her attention, and spoke calmly. "Settle down. Remember your history together. It's best to ease him into this, not drop it on him. Relax, he'll be here, if for no other reason than to satisfy his own curiosity. Also, you don't want to draw attention to yourself."

This seemed to have the intended effect, and the woman calmed down. So much had gone on over the past year, things for which she owed an explanation. She really hoped that she would have a chance to do that, but she was losing the battle with her anxiety.

People came and went through the coffee shop, not sticking around to enjoy their beverages. Apparently, word had spread regarding the events of earlier in the evening, and no one was taking any chances. As 10:00 approached, the woman began fidgeting again, and spoke to her friend.

"I'm tellin' ya, he's not coming."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," the man said, raising his hand to get someone's attention at the front of the shop. The woman's back was towards the front of the shop, so she hadn't seen the person walking in. She read the eyes of the man she was with, and she felt the presence of someone standing near her. She heard his voice as Xander talked to her associate as he approached the table.

"Hello again, Xander."

"Wow, Wesley, don't you look… normal. Now that I think about it, shouldn't you be at the hospital, half-conscious and whimpering? What's with the clothes, did that knock on your head jar…"

Xander stopped mocking the man as he saw the person at the table with Wesley Wyndham-Price.

"Faith."

Author's note: Not every chapter will end this abruptly. I'm working out how I want to upload them versus how I've written the story.