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It had been three weeks, six days, 17 hours, and 23 minutes since his beloved Anya had walked out of his life. Three weeks of pain, misery, suffering, unhappiness, loneliness, and tears that he had shed because he was now alone. He had never given his heart to anyone and the one person whom he did, had ripped it out of his chest and stomped on it. She had destroyed him the day she left. For three weeks, his friends had tried to reach him, but they couldn't. He wouldn't accept their phone calls, ignored them when they came by to see him, nor would he accept their invitations to go out at night. The more they offered their friendship, the more he would push them all away. Willow's face held a mask of sympathy as she stood in front of his apartment door. Her heart went out to him, having some sort of understanding how he was feeling. She knew that he was shutting down because she had left, but she also understood that you had to move on. Even if you no longer believe in love, there is someone out there who will help you start believing again. She shut her eyes briefly and raised her hand to knock. She started going over his previous rejections to see anyone in her mind and the more she thought, the more she understood this was a bad idea right now. She lowered her hand back to her side and shook her head sadly, leaving the premises of the apartment. She wasn't exactly sure of who she could confide in, but she knew of only one person who had been through this as bad as Xander. Spike. ~*~ As she walked down the street to Spike's crypt, she started to go over all the reasons he would give on why he couldn't help him out. She knew that Spike didn't really care a lot about Xander, but she knew there was something about the pair that was strong. She wasn't sure what it was, but she knew it was something they were both denying. Spike was the one who would sit and listen to each of the Scooby's bitched and whined about their love lives, never turning any of them away. To Willow and to the others, Spike had a heart of gold, even if he didn't want to admit it. Willow smiled softly as she remembered that Spike was the one who had gotten Oz to admit his feelings to Dawn and now the two were taking things slow since she was so young. Spike, to Willow, worked in mysterious ways, but she knew that if he understood how much pain Xander was going through, she knew he would help. And if he didn't, she would just make him marry Buffy again. She approached his crypt and opened the door, being one of only three Scooby's allowed to enter without knocking. She came in quietly and shut the door behind her, setting her bag by the door. She walked more into the crypt and looked around. "Spike?" she called out softly, wondering where the blonde vampire was. Once she figured out that he wasn't there, she walked casually to a chair and sat down, waiting patiently for Spike's return. ~*~ Spike looked up from his position on the floor down in the cellar and wiped his face. He had been secretly training down there for several months, trying his hardest to get back into shape. He stood up slowly and grabbed his shirt, putting it on quickly than leaving the cellar. He reached the top and shut the cellar lid, walking into the main room of the crypt. He stretched and smiled when he saw the young witch, but frowned when he noticed how tense and worried she looked. "You ok, luv?" Willow jumped at the voice and turned to look at him. He moved passed her and sat in the other chair, his blue eyes staring at her. "What do you need, Red?" She turned and looked at him calmly, whispering "I need your help with Xander." ~*~ Spike looked at her closely and blinked. "Xander?" Willow nodded slowly, keeping her eyes on him. "Why? What's wrong with him?" She looked at him and lowered her eyes to the ground, wondering how she was going to tell him about Xander and Anya. Spike, who had been in LA when the incident happened, had just returned a few days before. He didn't tell anyone why he had left, just that he would be gone for awhile. Willow suspected it had something to do with Angelus' return after he had been with Darla, but no one questioned him about it. He wasn't there to witness Xander's shutting down, but she knew he needed to know. She lifted her eyes and looked at him calmly, watching the various expressions that worked their way through his eyes and on his face. She took a deep breath and decided that it was now or never. "Three weeks ago, a few days after you left for L.A, Anya got the opportunity to receive her powers back. Well, ever since, you know, Joyce died, she had been struggling with trying to understand morality and humanity," she said as she hoped she was staying calm. "Well," she swallowed hard and spoke softly. "She accepted them and now she's...demon...again..." Spike looked at her with curiosity. His eyes moved from her to the wall, then back to her, watching the change of expression on her face as she continued. "We have tried everything, Spike, but he just won't open up to us. He ignores our phone calls, he won't go out with us at night, he snaps or ignores us whenever we go to him and try to talk...he's shutting down, Spike," she looked at him with pleading eyes, "and I don't want to lose my best friend." Spike looked at her closely as silent tears fell from her eyes. He had known that her and the boy were close, but he never understood how deep it had been, until now. His mind began to wander as he remembered his conversation that he had the previous week with his grand-sire. It seemed as if they both held feelings for the boy that neither of them understood. Angelus had known that the relationship with the ex-demon wouldn't work out, but neither of them would have thought that he would be so distraught over it. His only reason for even returning to Sunnydale was because it was his grande-sire's wishes. Angelus had wanted him to stay there and watch over Xander until he was able to come there himself, so Spike had agreed. And now as he looked into the eyes of the green-eyed witch, his heart was going out to the boy just a tad bit more. Willow looked at him with hopeful eyes, wondering what was going on his mind. She had seen the worry fill his eyes the moment she said she needed to talk about Xander, but she didn't know just how worried Spike was starting to feel. He looked up at her and their eyes met, and she finally understood. She hid her smile as she continued to beg him for help, and smiled weakly when all he did was nod in agreement. She nodded and stood from the chair, giving him a kiss on the forehead. She walked to the door and turned back to look at him. "Thanks, Spike. You're a true friend," she said softly, then left an utterly confused Spike sitting there in shock.
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