Title: Second Life

Author: Nodakskip

Beta: Theo

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I own nothing here but the story line.

Setting: AU at the end of season 3. Mostly Buffy/Charmed

Summary: Xander and Cordelia find out that life after high school is not going to be easy sans the Hellmouth.

Chapter One

Hammersmith Park. Sunnydale, California.

Friday, May 14th 1999 4 p.m.

Xander Harris sat alone at a picnic table, wondering what in the name of the almighty Twinkie was going on.

He'd found a note in his locker today, which had told him to be here alone at this time. The young man didn't know why the hell Buffy Summers, the vampire Slayer and Chosen One, would want to meet him here in the park rather than in the library...

But if he was going to be honest with himself, the so-called Zeppo figured this would most likely be a new round of the "please stay out of the fighting, we just don't want you to get hurt..." routine.

It had lessened for a short while lately, as taking care of Faith had been the bigger problem; but now that she had openly gone fully rogue, the main topic of interest had gotten back to him and his lack of usefulness.

(Yeah, right.) Sometimes, whenever they pissed him off with that kind of talk the boy wondered if he should have just left town after his former girlfriend Cordelia Chase had dumped him, and let all his so-called friends get killed by that bomb the asshole called Jack O'Toole had set up the night of the Apocalypse...

Xander sighed to himself, fully expecting Buffy and Willow to show up any moment and tell him to stay out of the Slayage from now on. That they didn't want him getting seriously wounded, or maybe something even worse.

And bottom line, the guy didn't know whether or not he should care anymore.

His buds hadn't even trusted him enough to tell him about that sting operation, that Buffy and Angel had planned to entrap Faith with. The way the ensouled vampire had knocked him out on the street as part of the charade had hurt - and no one seemed to care that he would have been vamp chowder, if some fang face had come along? So why should he care about their feelings now?

Young Mr. Harris stroked his chin. Graduation was coming up; he was going on his road trip after that, assuming he survived till the ceremony, and by the time he got back he was sure Buffy, Angel, Oz and Willow would be...

"I wasn't sure that you'd show."

Xander's eyes went huge, as he spun around. "Cordelia?" he asked in surprise. "YOU were the one who left me that note?"

The statuesque brunette beauty sat across from him. "You don't have to look so surprised! I can copy anyone's handwriting, easy. All I needed was Buffy's notes from chemistry, an hour to practice - and hey presto, here we are."

"I, uh, I..." Xander started searching for something to say. "I never knew that about you."

She sighed sadly. "Yeah. It's obvious now there's a lot of stuff you don't know about me."

"Look, Cordy, I..."

"No, Xander. I requested this private gathering, so let me start off - okay?"

He nodded, slowly. "Sure. Fire away."

The male teen could tell the female one was still gathering her thoughts as she said, "First, I want you to promise me that we won't start into our typical war of insults, during this little summit meeting."

Still not sure what was going on, but happy that she was talking civilly to him again, Xander said simply, "Okay, done."

She took a deep breath. "I just wanted to ask you one question, then you can go already. So, here it is. How many times did you and Willow have sex?"

Okay, now THAT was the last thing Xander thought she'd ever ask. "Sex? Willow and me? Uh, you're asking about Wills and myself? Definitely me and our red-haired acquai-"

"Yes, already!! There's no need to babble, I just wanted to know how often you and her...you know, while we were together. Ballpark figure, if necessary," she said seriously.

"Cordy, we never had sex."

The girl looked at her ex strangely, as if she didn't believe him. "Are you honestly telling me that you and Willow never did it?" And at his headshake, Cordelia leaned in across the table. "Xander - I dare you to look me in the eyes, and tell me that you never fucked Willow Rosenberg."

Somewhat surprised by her language, Xander leaned closer. "I. Have. Never. Had. Sex. With. Willow."

The former May Queen stared into his eyes for a bit, before she looked completely shocked. "Oh my God. Never?" she asked quietly.

"No. Never," Xander told her, as he leaned back. "Faith was my first, my one and only. Which only goes to prove that I may be an asshole, Cordy, but I'm not a complete asshole."

She didn't say anything for a few minutes, so Harris asked, "So, you're sure that's all you wanted to ask me?"

"Huh, what?" Cordy demanded, as if suddenly coming out of some deep trance.

"Is that all you wanted to ask me?" he repeated.

Another, deeper sigh. "Actually, no. I wasn't expecting you to say - look, I've been thinking a lot over the last week or so..."

"About what?" Xander asked with a frown.

"About how our little group, your so-called Scooby gang, were never really my friends." She held up her hand to silence his denial. "Look, as I said I've had a lot of time alone to think about this. And the truth of it all is, that the only reason I got completely sucked into all that craziness - I got involved with you tweakos, up close and personal - was because I cared about you."

Cordelia looked down, trying to fight the tears that threatened to ruin her makeup. "And you hurt me, Xander. Like no one ever hurt me before. With you, I felt real love for the first time in my life; and then you tore out my heart, stomped all over it and broke it into a million pieces..."

She looked up to see a lone tear falling down Xander's cheek. She went on, "These past few months, it's been so hard. My life has been utter crap - trying to find new friends, trying to figure out how to live poor...but that doesn't even compare to trying to get over what you did to me."

Another sigh. "I know it started out for us being just like dogs in heat, but for me it grew into something more than that. I...really did love you, dorkhead. Looking back on it, I know now I should have told you how I felt, instead of telling Buffy and then swearing her to silence after Slayerfest '98. I guess I'm partly to blame..."

"No, Cordy!" Xander shouted, startling her. "You did nothing wrong! I was the complete idiot here. Please - never, and I mean never, blame yourself for my screw-up!"

The cheerleader looked at him, a little surprised. "What are you saying?"

"It's all my fault what happened to you! Don't think you're to blame in any way, not for one second. I mean Willow and I knew it was wrong, but we - we just couldn't stop! And I didn't see that you cared about me like that, till it was way too late. It's all my fault you got impaled by that rebar..."

"No, Xander!" she interrupted him this time. "True, you are completely responsible for the vast majority of that suck-fest. But one thing you're not responsible for, is me falling through that stairwell. I didn't have to rush off like that; and besides, it was Spike who kidnapped you and Willow in the first place. It's only because of him that all of us were ever there that night..."

By the look on his face, Cordy could tell her ex didn't really accept that. "Look, here's the deal. I know you're sorry for what happened, and I also know that you would do anything to fix it or undo it. But you can't, and thinking about it now - maybe, it was all for the best..."

"What?!?"

"Calm down! I'm just saying it could have ended a lot better, but at least we split up before things got even worse than what they were. I mean, how bad would it have gotten in the end, do you think? How many times did we fight to the point of not speaking to one another, even on a good day? I just think we both need to grow up a bit first, before anything happens...and..."

"And what?" Xander asked. His voice tiny, and almost inaudible.

Cordelia looked straight into his eyes. "As I said, Xander, you hurt me more than I ever thought anyone could. Make no mistake; it will take me a long time to heal from that. But I'm sick of being the cold bitch, with no real friends..."

The girl went on determinedly, "We may have fought like cats and dogs, but the truth is the only real friend I ever had - was you. And even now, you're my best friend more than Harmony ever was."

"I am?"

"You bet your ass, mister! She would have instantly blabbed my family's money troubles to everyone in school, with a huge smile all over her face, but you didn't. You covered for me, and you paid for the rest of my prom dress three days ago. Even with all the crap that's happened between us, you still came through for me. And that means a lot to me, Harris."

Not taking his eyes off the peeling red paint of the table Xander then said, "I wish I could have been there for you with regards to that, Cor. I know how hard losing the money and social position like that must have been - it hurt you, and you had to face it alone. If only I coulda controlled my damn hormones...damn it, I should have been there for you-!"

"Look, Xander, get over the whole white knight thing - Buffy may need it from you, but I never did. And what the hell, you tried; don't forget that I was the one who dumped your ass months ago..."

She reached over, and took one of his hands in hers. He looked up, surprised by the contact. "You should know I won't get over the pain in my heart for a long time. Not tomorrow, and not next week either. But this isn't the end, pal..."

Cordelia paused, then said quietly, "I talked to Oz yesterday, you know."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. He told me about the de-lusting spell Willow said you two were trying to do, that day Spike kidnapped you guys. I know you'd decided you wanted to be with me, that you wanted to stop the fluke thing and be my boyfriend again. It doesn't mean all that much now, but it helps a little. And so does this..." She reached into her Prada purse, pulling out a pamphlet and a piece of paper.

Xander's eyes went wide at this. "Oh, man! How did...how did you get those?" he asked, more than a little defensively.

"I was curious about what had gotten you oh-so-busy, the last few days." The Chase girl held up the piece of notebook paper. "You were really planning on doing this?" He could only nod his head. "You don't have to, Xander, it's really not necessary."

"Yes it is," he said firmly.

"No it isn't, mister!" she said. Then Cordelia looked to make sure no one was around, before she pulled up her shirt to just under her bra. Xander flinched, when he saw the large white bandage taped to her side. "Because I've already had the surgery done."

"How??"

She lowered her shirt. "Funny enough, Angel. He came to me in the hospital; he figured that since Spike was the one who was responsible for what happened to me when I fell, that the darn vamp should be the one to pay for it too."

"And again I say, how?"

"Easy, Spike had a whole bunch of blood money saved up from before him and the nut skipped town last year. Angelus knew the access codes to it, so as soon as I healed from the operation Buffy's ex sent me to LA." Cordy sported a tiny smile. "Hollywood doctors? They've had lots of practice with plastic surgery down there. They even used a computer to give me a preview of what my chest would look like, with some implants..."

"You don't need breast implants, Cordy," Xander told her at once, as his eyes traveled involuntary towards her magnificent bosom. "And I know whereof I speak..."

"Oh, I know I don't need them. So you don't have to worry when I'm out there, about me getting anything like that done! Because I don't want to get parts based on my bra size..."

"Parts?"

The girl looked trapped for a moment; she hadn't been planning to mention that yet. Still, now that he knew... "I...I'm leaving town after Graduation. I'm moving to LA, to try my hand at being an actress. Model. Whatever..."

He looked down again for a moment. "Right after we graduate?"

"I don't know," she told him honestly. "When are you leaving for your road trip?"

"What does it matter?"

Cordy squeezed his hand. "It matters - because frankly, Xander, I want some good memories of high school to look back on."

He looked at her, now more confused than ever. The young woman clarified, "I meant what I said; it will be a long time before I'm fully over what you did to me. But I want us to stop being like we've been, these last few months. We can't go back to like how it was, true, but I would like my friend and old sparring partner back. Even if it is only for the last few weeks of school."

Xander searched his ex's face to see if she meant it, then said hollowly, "Cordy, I don't deserve..."

"Xander, stop," the former ruler of the elite told him. "Let's just set it all aside till we're out in the real world, okay? The fluke, our constant fighting, all of it. I just want to smile again. Even if it's just for a little while." She took his other hand. "Please."

The man mulled it over. "Where would we even start?"

"Well..." Cordelia began. "I have this great prom dress to wear tonight, but no date."

"You're not going with Wesley?" Xander asked, shocked.

"No."

"What time should I pick you up?"

"Be at my place before seven," Cordy handed him a slip of paper. "This is where our new apartment is; and before you ask, I want to leave before my mom gets home. If my mother sees me dressing up, God - she'll think I'm about to snare a rich guy so she can mooch off of him, or something..."

"I'll be there," Xander promised, checking his watch.

"Good," Cordelia said, as she stood up. "Well, I guess I have a hair appointment I have to keep, if I'm going to be ready..."

When Xander stood up as well, the woman once considered the nastiest girl in Sunnydale history surprised the guy by giving him a small kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you in a few hours. And, Xander? Even though we won't be okay with regards to that sort of thing for a long time, you never know. Maybe someday..."

And with that, Cordelia Chase silently walked away.

Xander Harris watched her back - an old euphemism for staring at her butt, in happier days - for a minute, and then he ran to his car. Before roaring off to fish out his cousin's tux, from the back of his closet.

After all, it was Friday night and he had a date with a beautiful woman to look forward to.

Three weeks later

Xander pulled his car up to the curb, at what was the front of Sunnydale High School. He saw Cordelia get up from one of the stone benches, from an area that hadn't been cordoned off with police tape.

"Why did you want to meet so early?" the male teen asked Cordy, when he met up with her. "You didn't decide to leave town today, or something?"

She waved off his concerned face. "No, still going tomorrow. But there is one thing I wanted to do, before all the police guys came back."

"What's that?" Xander asked her.

She reached behind the bench, to pull out their graduation caps and gowns. "You forgot yours at Giles' place the other night."

As he took it from her, Ms. Chase grabbed something else. A camera on a tripod. "We didn't have time for the senior tradition, either. We were kind of busy that night..."

He got what she was getting at. "Okay, but you do realize the school has kind of lost its photogenic qualities?" the Xandman told her, while looking at and gesturing towards the bombed-out ruins.

"Yeah," she told him pointedly. "But the stone sign on the front lawn is still intact, and as a plus - no wreckage in the background."

Five minutes later they were standing in front of the old Sunnydale High marker stone, getting ready. "So, you set the timer?"

"Yeah," Cordy told him, as she adjusted her gown. "We should have about a minute before it clicks..." she trailed off as she looked at him. She reached over to fix his tassel, blocking his view of the camera when they both heard a click and saw the flash.

Cordy groaned in dismay, as she went over to the camera. "Not one word, Xander!" the former cheerleader warned him, as she reset it.

He grinned. "Not saying a thing, Cor."

"Yes, but I know that smile. No teasing!"

Xander looked up to hide his grin. "Still not going to say a thing."

"Good!" She came back holding a small silver device. "Maybe the remote will be better, but I'm not really sure how this..."

"Ah, the big button marked Shutter might be it Cordy..." Harris teased, earning a dirty look and a teasing, "Oh, shut up and get over here!"

Both quickly put one arm around the other's shoulders, and smiled for the camera.

CLICK, FLASH

"Okay," Cordelia started to say. "You're supposed to be the funny one. Do you have any idea for good poses...hey!" she squealed in surprise, as her ex picked her up around her back and knees - as if to carry her across the threshold.

Xander lifted her up and told her, "How's this?"

"Huh?" Cordelia asked, before she broke out her thoughts of being in his arms again. "Oh, right! Yeah, it'll do. Now smile!" the girl ordered, as she twisted her face towards the camera. While she tried to hide the remote in her hand, the photographer then hit the button.

CLICK, FLASH

When Xander set her down, Cordy grabbed and leaned him up against the stone. "Okay, don't move..." she told him, before she quickly climbed onto the stone and lay across the top of it. "Move closer," the young woman ordered him, "But don't block the name on this thing."

Looking down at the sign to make sure he wasn't in the way of anything Xander said, "Ready."

"And smile!" Cordelia said, before she hit the button hidden in her hand yet again.

Many hours later...

"Oh, you so cheated!"

Xander looked at her innocently. "Please, Cordy! You really think I would be so petty, as to cheat during a go-cart race?"

"Hell, yes!" Cordelia said, as she removed her helmet. "Xander, you cut off a 12-year-old girl, for crying out loud!"

"I'm telling you, she swerved in front of me first!" Xander told his friend, before he felt a tap on his arm. Turning around, he found the 12- year-old girl in question behind him. "Ah..." the Zeppo started to say.

The girl just kicked him, damned hard, in his shin.

"Ow!" the X-man yelled, as the little girl gave him a nasty look before turning and walking away.

Cordelia came up behind him laughing, as she let him lean on her as he rubbed the wounded leg. "She has got to be soccer player!"

Xander just hopped around, looking ridiculous. (This is über- humiliating...)

"Come on Dweeb Boy," Cordelia said between giggles. "I'll buy you an ice cream. Will that make you feel better, ya big baby?"

"Oh sure, go ahead and yak it up," he said, annoyed.

"Oh, I intend to!" she responded amusingly.

Cordy then set him down at a nearby empty table. "Just look at me. I can already see a bruise forming here!" Xander told her, as he extended his bare leg - since he was wearing a pair of shorts.

Cordelia sighed in exasperation as she grabbed his calf, raised his leg, bent down and gave the bruise a small kiss. "That better?" she asked. "Or do you want a Big Bird Band-Aid, too?"

Xander shook his head. "Now don't go insulting my manliness, Cor."

The woman snorted in laughter again, as she got up. "What manliness?" she asked derisively, as she went over to the counter to get them each an ice cream cone.

The outside lobby of the apartment building of Rupert Giles.

11:43 PM

"Do you really think we should disturb them like this?" Willow asked her best friend, as they walked in via the main entrance fence.

"Well, I don't think there's any chance we're going to walk in on them doing the nasty, Willow," Buffy Summers said.

"I know," Willow said, with an involuntary shudder at the visual. "But this is going to be hard enough, as it is. Why do we have to do this tonight?"

"Because!" Buffy told her. "They're both leaving tomorrow. I'd rather do it now, than worry about how he'll react all summer."

"I know, Buffy, but..."

"No buts, Willow!" Buffy told her. "We both agreed. It's for the best."

They knocked on the door but heard no response, so they slowly opened it up and sneaked in quietly. Both girls came over to the main living room area, to find the small TV set showing just a blue screen, the rented VHS movie long since over.

And on the couch was a rare sight. One that neither the blond or the redheaded girl thought they would ever see again, after the events of a few months ago.

Both of the people on the couch were sound asleep. Xander was sitting at one end, while Cordelia was stretched out the length of the couch - with her head resting on her former boyfriend's lap. His left hand was on her shoulder, as if he had been stroking it.

"Oh my God, they look so cute!" Willow whispered with a big smile.

"It's almost a shame to wake them up," Buffy agreed, as she moved to do just that.

"Wait," Willow suddenly said.

"Why?" Buffy asked back.

Willow grabbed Cordelia's camera, that she had left sitting on the table behind the couch. Buffy backed away from the sleeping couple, to give Willow a clear shot. After the flash and a nod from the witch, Buffy went back over to them.

"Xander!" the Slayer called lightly, shaking him.

"Hmmm...what?" Cordelia mumbled, as she woke up first. Looking up, she saw both the other women looking at her. "What time is it?" Cordy asked, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.

"Almost midnight," Buffy told her. "What time did you guys put the movie in?"

"I think it was nine-ish..." the former cheerleader shrugged, before she shook Xander herself. "Xander, get up!"

The man only mumbled softly in his sleep, obviously in the middle of a dream. "He always was darn hard to wake up," Willow commented fondly.

Cordelia grinned. "Trust me. You just need to know the tricks of the trade..." As both women watched, Cordelia leaned in and spoke in an airhead- like voice, "Xander! Oh my God, my negligee is all wet, I need to get changed..."

Xander instantly opened his eyes. "Huh? What? But you don't wear..." the teenager stopped, when he saw Buffy and Willow fighting not to laugh in his face. (Well, that's great!)

"Yeah, never mind!" he snapped, with an annoyed look to Cordelia. "I've gotta go use the bathroom..." the lone male then mumbled, as he walked out of the room.

The girls looked questioningly to the smiling Cordelia, who just waved it off. "It's an inside joke of ours." As their looks continued the girl added, "Fine, it was a line in a very bad porno movie that we watched last year, when we were...you know."

That did nothing to end the looks.

"Oh, forget it!" the dark-haired girl said finally, as she got up and grabbed her jacket.

"Going home already, Cor?" Xander asked, coming back into the room.

"Yeah. I hafta finish packing and shove everything into my car," she told him. "So, Denny's at eight tomorrow?"

Xander thought for a moment. "Better make it seven-thirty. I want to get out of that house, as fast as I can."

"Okay," Cordelia shrugged, zipping up her jacket. She walked over to him, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Good night, Zeppo Boy."

"Oh, look Will," Buffy said in a singsong voice. "He's blushing!"

The other two ignored the comment. "Night, Cor!" Xander said, as he gave her a quick hug. "See you in the morning."

Cordelia nodded, and tossed out a "Night, guys!" then she was out the door.

Xander reached for his coat a moment later, as Willow fiddled with the camera that Cordelia had forgotten. An act that in another world would have far-reaching consequences, where the brunette had remembered to grab it...

"Well, I should be getting back home to my bed. I've got a lot of driving tomorrow..." the Xandman was about to go.

Willow dropped the camera, and Xander stopped on his way out the door - as the wheels of destiny changed direction, and Buffy put her hand on his arm. "Ah, Xan? We need to talk about something first."

Xander turned around and sighed in despair, when he saw the look on Willow's face. It was her 'I really hate to do this but it's for your own good' face. He had seen it a lot, in the last six months or so.

Sunnydale Denny's restaurant.

7:42 am, the next day

Xander munched on the food of his Lumberjack Slam breakfast, as Cordelia started in on her large helping of French toast. (Damn, this tastes good...) the male eating machine mused.

"I, I still can't believe this is it, Xander," Cordelia suddenly told him, with a sad look on her face. "I mean two months ago, I would have loved nothing more than to leave this fleapit town behind and never look back. But now..."

"But now that the day is actually here, it's a little hard, huh?" Xander finished for her.

"Yeah," Cordy responded with a shrug. "I'm going to miss so much..."

She then waved her hand around the window, that showed the town street beyond. "I know what's here, I know what's around the corner. But in LA, I'll just be one of a gazillion other teenage girls with good looks and no money." She shook her head. "Do you honestly think that by this time next year, I'll be on movie posters making out with Matt Damon?"

"Don't do that," Xander told her, sounding annoyed as he ate a bit of scrambled eggs.

"Don't do what?"

"Sell yourself short that way!"

At her look, the youth sighed. "Look, Cor. You always have this like split personality, when it comes to your self-esteem. One minute you're ready to take on the world, and then the next minute - you're so damn unsure whether you're anything more than some useless airhead..."

She just stared at him as Xander continued, "The Cordelia Chase that I know has had her share of setbacks and pain, myself being the cause of a good portion of it, but I know one thing for sure about her."

"And what's that?" Cordelia asked softly.

"That she's not a quitter. Sure, she might stumble a bit, but then she picks herself up and keeps right on going."

"I'll have to take acting lessons. And they cost money," she mused.

"So then you'll take them, make do somehow and amaze your acting coaches!" He looked her in the eyes. "Since your dad got caught for his IRS thing, you've had to cope with an entirely new life. And the career path you picked won't be easy, but you will make it. That, I'm sure of."

Cordy gave him one of her rare smiles, that he loved so much. "Thanks. But that sounded more than a little rehearsed."

Xander nodded, not ashamed to admit it. "Yeah, that's 'cause it was. I wanted to leave you with some good old Harris wisdom, before you left. I could do it over in my Yoda voice, if that helps?" His voice changed into a bad attempt at imitating George Lucas's animated creation, "A big star you will be. For strong you are with the Force, young one. And please buy my action figure."

"God, you are such a complete and utter dork!" Cordelia exploded in laughter.

"If you give me a minute, I think I can also do the Mr. Spock eyebrow thing..." Harris told his laughing companion, as he tried several times to make his right eyebrow go up unnaturally high.

"God, Dweeb Boy, don't ever change," Ms. Chase eventually told him as she settled down.

"Is that an order, oh Queen C?" her companion asked, finally doing the eyebrow trick.

"Yes it is," she told him. "When I come back here one day all rich and famous, I want to see my former boyfriend as still the biggest dork ever!"

He gave her a military-style salute and snapped off, "Yes, your Highness!"

But soon a sad look came over Xander's face. "But the only thing is - I don't think I'll still be in Sunnydale, when you become all famous like that."

Cordy looked up from her food in surprise. "What the hell are you talking about?" she asked him. "You're coming back here after your road trip to fight the good fight and all that. You know, the saving the world thing, watching Buffy's back-?"

Xander sighed, as he leaned back into the booth's seat. "Nope, 'fraid not. I've been giving an honorable Slayerette discharge from President Buffy."

"Say what?" Cordy asked, confused.

"After you left last night..." Xander started. "They sat me down and told me that when I get back from my road trip, that I am benched. As in for good. Almost didn't happen; if you hadn't left that camera there...but still. There you have it; no more patrolling. No more research with Giles, even."

"You can't be serious!" she said in amazement. "I thought they got over this crap already!"

"Oh, they told me I can still hang out with them if I wanted. Well...I get the feeling that means, when they have the time. Seems that they think college life is going to be very busy..." Xander told her with a sigh, as he scratched his cheek.

"What the hell brought this on again?"

"Ah, well. It seems that they can't trust me right now," the young man said with a touch of anger.

"Wait a damn minute!" Cordy demanded. "They can't trust you? Since when?"

"Buffy knows about the big Lie," he said simply.

As soon as Cordelia heard that, she stammered, "Xander, I swear I didn't tell any of them anything about what you confided..."

"I know you didn't, Cor," Harris interrupted her. "They put two and two together a while ago. Remember last Monday, when everyone - even G-man - was completely pissed at me?"

She nodded, remembering. "And they wouldn't tell us why..." Cordy then looked panicked again. "Xander, Buffy didn't take out her anger on you, did she?"

His head shook slowly. "No. She said I'm not a demon; and the Ted thing taught her the error of her ways about that sorta thing. It seems that she was going to though, when they first figured it out..."

"So what stopped her?" Cordelia wondered.

Xander just snorted. "Angel."

"What!?" she asked back, shocked. "But he - you - I would've thought he would have helped her by holding you down, or something!"

"From what I was told, Angel said he figured it out that I lied, a long time ago." A shrug. "One hundred years in Hell will do that for you. But he also came to the conclusion I didn't do it out of jealousy, for which my ass is kinda grateful. And Deadboy told her flat-out if she'd have tried to stall for the spell to kick in, Angelus would have killed her and destroyed the world. So it all worked out okay in the end. And basically Buff calmed down enough to be happy with just the discharge."

"So you're not coming back here - after?" Cordy asked speculatively.

"Oh, I will to grab the rest of my stuff. My parents? They won't care. But with my luck, I'll probably get stuck in the first town I go to..." He thought about it for a few moments. "Still, whatever happens - I don't think I'll be around for long after Buffy, Will, and Oz start college."

"Tell you what," Cordy suddenly told him. "When I make it big and get my fame, money and mansion, you can come out to LA and be my official boy toy."

"Ah, I see. The Hellmouth's making you channel Faith now?"

"What?" Cordelia asked, as she got a horrified look. "God, no!" She then lowered her voice, "But I mean it. After a casting agent or someone discovers me, if you ever come to LA - I want you to look me up. Join me for however long you like."

"You sure about that?" he asked, surprised. "I mean, you said you wanted to have some time to yourself..."

"Yeah, I did and I still do," the young starlet-wannabe told him truthfully. "But I've seen too many movies, where this is just the start of it all."

"Start of what all?"

"I don't want today to be the last time I ever see you, when you go on this road trip without any intention of coming back...I mean God, you could end up living in Atlanta or something!"

"Maybe," Xander said with a frown. "Maybe not. What? You think you can get rid of me that easily?" he asked her with a laugh, but stopped as her face got serious.

"Don't joke about this, Harris," she said softly.

The man looked at her, confused, as she looked sad again all of a sudden. "Cor?"

She kept her eyes down at the table. "Xander...I've lost so damn much already this year. The money, the position, my dad in jail, my mom leaving town, the rest of the family shunning poor little old me, hell - even Harmony was killed..."

Cordy then looked up right at him, "I don't want to lose you too. I...I don't want to be alone like that."

Xander reached out, and took her hand. "You won't be. We'll be by ourselves for a while, sure, at least for this summer; but it won't change anything. I'll still be your friend. You ain't gonna lose me."

She looked at him, appearing as scared as he had ever seen her. "You promise?"

"I promise," the would-have-been carpenter stated firmly.

"Thank you," Cordy whispered. She was silent for a few minutes before she said, "There's something else I should tell you."

"Oh? What?"

Cordelia Chase hesitated. "Remember I told you a few weeks ago, that Harmony would have blabbed to everyone about my money troubles?"

"Yeah?" Xander answered, not sure what she was getting at.

"Well, she would have also told everyone the other big secret that I have. The one that, outside of the Chase family, only you know. And if my dad had known that you knew...oh, boy," she told him with a sigh.

Xander looked around, to make sure no one was within earshot. "You mean about the adoption thing, right?"

"Yeah, the adoption thing." Cordy said somberly. "Back when the Chase name meant anything around here, if it had gotten out that I was not their natural-born daughter...that I was some poor little girl found on the steps of a church? I don't even want to guess what would happened."

"Cor..." Xander started. "I honestly don't see how you could have lived in that life of perfect appearances for so long, and still have any sanity left."

"It was all I knew," the woman told him. "At least, until I got to really know you," she added with a sad smile. "I was terrified."

"Of what?" he asked her, not liking his ex's downcast face.

"Xander, after I..." she stopped to collect herself. "Back when we were fighting, and I told the others about your dad in study hall that day..." Cordy took another deep breath before continuing, "When I was walking away I was patting myself on the back about it, but then halfway to biology class - I stopped cold."

She continued before he asked the question, "I was scared shitless that you would retaliate by telling everyone about the adoption."

"But I gave you my word when you told me, that I would never tell anyone!"

"I'm sorry, Xander," she said simply. "But face it - at the time, your word didn't mean squat to me."

"Point taken," the boy shrugged before asking, "Okay, I gotta ask - what brought this subject up, after all this time?"

"I said just now, the rest of the family is shunning me. The Chase's, as well as my mother's relatives," she told him, with tears in her eyes. "They all know. I don't know how they know, but they do. My cousin Tim - the same one that taught me how to ride my horse, Keanu? He called me a gold- digger right to my face, and that I wasn't going to get one red cent out of him!"

Xander's hand shot across the table to re-clasp hers. "I'm so sorry, Cor. Like I said that day, I should have been there to help you through all that...and I wish I knew what to say now, to make it all better. But I wasn't. And I don't."

A few tears fell from her face, as the former spoiled princess wrapped his hand in both of hers. They stared at each other in silence for a while, before she let go to take something out of her purse.

"I..." Cordy started, before she wiped a tear away. "I got a letter a few days ago. From my birth family."

"Oh! Well, that's good. Isn't it?" he inquired.

"I think so, but I don't know if I can handle it if they don't like me," the brunette girl told him, as she unfolded the letter. "You know what? You've convinced me of something. Before I head to LA, I'm going to go see them. They live out in San Francisco."

"You want me to tag along with you?" Xander asked, full of concern.

"No," she told him. "But thanks for asking. I just feel that...I need to do this on my own. I'll email you..." she stopped. "Oh, you've still got your Yahoo email account, don't you?"

"Yeah," the boy told her with a shrug. "I figure I can stop at public libraries here and there to check it, during my trip."

"Okay then," she continued. "I'll email you on how it goes." Then Cordelia slid him a picture. "God, Xander, to think I have sisters now!"

Xander looked over the picture at the two thin, young, brunette women in the picture; they were not as curvaceous as Cordy was, but he could see the resemblance somewhat. "Yeah, about that..."

"I have no idea how it'll all go, but at least I'll be away from all the Hellmouth garbage!" Cordy made a tiny smile. "No more vampires, witches, demons, or Slayers..."

"Not to spoil your happy thought there, Cor," Xander said with a shrug. "But vamps and demons don't just exist here in Sunnydale."

"I know," she said with a shrug of her own. "But it's nice to be delusional sometimes. At least, for a little while."

Harris looked at the picture again and asked, "One thing that's bothering me. After all this time, how is it they find you now?"

"DNA, or so I'm told," Cordelia mentioned, as she picked up the photo to look at the two women. "They've been looking for me for a long time, I guess."

"Riiiiight. And when and where would someone have gotten ahold of your DNA to test it?" Xander asked, completely confused.

"The night when I fell through those stairs and onto that rebar," she answered matter-of-factly, causing him to look away. "Xander, I told you before! I don't blame you for that part of it, okay?"

He just nodded half-heartedly after a few moments. "But still, how do you go from that to DNA tests?"

"After the...incident," Cordy said hesitantly, "The hospital had the piece of metal that they pulled out of me..."

Xander winced.

"They pulled it out and they ran some tests, to make sure there was nothing gross enough present that might cause any infections. After all, the darn thing was down in that place for years, getting God knows what all over it. Anyway, at some point my DNA was entered into the database and months later, my possible sisters got a phone call about a possible match."

"Uh, wait up - they're not rich assholes like the Chase's, are they?" Harris suddenly wondered.

"No," she responded. "I'm guessing, they're middle- or upper middle-class. And, Xander? There is one other thing."

"Lemme guess. Good or bad?" he wondered.

"It depends," she told him with a shrug. "Obviously Chase is my adopted parents' name, but I guess they picked out Cordelia as well."

"Oh, wait! Are you sayin' what I think you're saying, Cordy?" Xander asked in shocked understanding.

"Yeah. My real birth name is actually Phoebe...Halliwell."