BTVS Multi: The Jesse, Willow, and Xander Chronicles of Denial: Night Out on the Town

[jesterladyfic]

Night Out on the Town

“What do you think high school will be like?” Xander asked, kicking at a can on the road.

“Xander, you should throw that in the trash,” Willow admonished.

“Will, he’s asking a totally legit question,” Jesse told her. “Stop worrying about the environment for a second. Do you think Cordelia got any hot-meaner over the summer?”

Xander and Willow exchanged glances. They were very worried about their friend. Once the most vehement against Cordelia, Jesse’s hormones had appeared during the summer and a chance encounter at the mall had sent him mooning over her till they wanted to scream.

“We need to have an intervention,” Xander whispered softly in Willow’s ear and she blushed.

“R-right,” she whispered back. “Definitely.”

“But tonight we party,” Xander said, throwing his head back. “Tomorrow we start high school.”

“I hope the classes are okay. What if the teachers are mean?” Willow said, her worried face on.

“Relax, Will,” Jesse said, slinging an arm around her shoulders. “You’re smarter than all of the teachers anyway.”

“That’s not even close to true,” Willow said reproachfully.

The two boys exchanged glances over her head and sighed.

“Still with the partying,” Xander reminded everyone. “Jesse, what did your mom say about us hanging out?”

“Shook her head and told me to be careful and to make sure I had my rosary with me,” Jesse said, sounding confused. “Don’t know why she’s always so concerned about it, it’s not like we’re that religious a family.”

“Your mom’s got pretty unique habits,” Willow said. “But she’s really nice.”

“Don’t forget the cookies,” Xander said.

Willow laughed at him.

“ ‘Just be safe, Jesse, or I won’t ever make you cookies again,' " Jesse said in a high voice.

“There have been all those rumors about kids disappearing,” Willow said nervously, glancing around them.

“Not three all together and not when two of the three are very macho guys,” Xander said.

Willow raised her eyebrow at this but didn’t say anything.

“Are we going to the Bronze?” Jesse asked.

“Yup,” Xander said. “We’re gonna get our Bronze on first, then ice cream, then the traditional We-Hate-Cordelia egging of her house.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t do that this year?” Jesse said.

“You’re the president, man,” Xander said. “You’re not allowed to not. It’s like in those special rules.”

“The bylaws,” Willow said helpfully.

“Fine, but we cannot get caught,” Jesse said firmly.

The three friends entered the Bronze and began to dance.

“Is it just me or is the Bronze cooler now that we’re in high school?” Xander asked.

“Probably just you,” Willow said sympathetically. “It’s still too crowded.”

“I’ll get you a drink,” Jesse said, eying the counter where Cordelia and her entourage could be seen lounging.

Xander and Willow rolled their eyes as Jesse meandered over to Cordelia and returned moments later, looking like a kicked puppy.

“Shot you down, huh?” Xander asked.

“Like a dog,” Jesse answered. “Maybe a little egging wouldn’t hurt.”

“That’s my boy,” Xander said.

Willow nudged them and pointed across the dance floor.

“Check out the moves on that guy.”

“Slut-o-rama,” Jesse said, mouth hanging open.

Across the room some guy had his hands and other body parts all over one of the girls from their school.

“Her mom would be so mad,” Willow said, eyes wide.

They danced some more and Willow enjoyed her drink and then they decided they needed to get going. Kelsey and her new dance partner were just ahead of them as they walked out the door and the trio lingered at the door to dispose of their trash and get coats on, at least in Willow’s case.

There was a scream ahead of them and a loud banging and they looked at each other and then ran as one toward the sound.

“Was that Kelsey?” Willow asked, panting as she ran.

They rounded the corner and there was nothing there, just a trashcan that had been knocked over.

“We didn’t imagine the screaming,” Jesse said softly, looking around.

“What should we do? Call the cops?” Xander asked. “We could get on tv with our eye witness report!”

“We didn’t witness anything, Xander,” Willow said practically. “There’s no crime to report. But maybe we should tell someone at the Bronze.”

They did, walking back and telling the bartender who wrote it down and stuck it next to a lot of similarly looking reports on a bulletin board behind him.

“Ice cream next,” Jesse said.

“Lead the way,” Xander said eagerly. They walked closely together as if in unspoken agreement to not separate. “We should cut through here,” Xander said, pointing to Restfield cemetery.

“No way, man,” Jesse said. “My mom would literally kill me. She doesn’t do cemeteries and she doesn’t let me.”

“Your mom’s not here,” Xander said.

“No, I don’t want to,” Willow said, looking scared.

Xander put his arm around her and she relaxed.

“Will knows best. Come on.”

They made it to the ice cream shop and everyone got their usual and split the bill three ways.

They made their way outside in the cool air. The owner of the shop closed down behind them and they ate their ice cream on the wall outside of the shop.

“I hope this doesn’t change tomorrow,” Willow said.

“What doesn’t change?” Jesse asked, wordlessly holding out his hand for her leftover cone and absently crunching on it when she handed it to him with the air of one doing something so familiar they don't even have to think about it anymore.

“Us, hanging out, eating ice cream,” Willow said. “People always say high school changes things.”

“Not us,” Xander said, hopping off the wall and automatically helping her down.

“Not ever,” Jesse said, mouth full of cone.

“But you don’t know that,” Willow said in a low voice. “You can’t know the future.”

“We lasted this long,” Jesse said, smiling at her. “We can take a little high school.”

“Even if Cordelia suddenly decided to date you?” Xander asked in a teasing voice.

Jesse looked up sharply at that, spitting out some of his food.

“Uh, not happening. Not ever. She’s bad – we hate her.”

“Just making sure,” Xander said, laughing.

Willow hid her smile behind her hands.

There was a loud banging noise from behind the ice cream shop and their heads snapped toward the noise.

“It’s one of those nights,” Jesse said, going around to investigate.

There was glass broken in the back windows of the shop, but otherwise nothing else was out of order.

They found a pay phone and Xander left an anonymous tip for the police.

“My mom ever found out I’d witnessed so many crimes tonight, she’d never let me out again,” Jesse said.

“There weren’t any crimes witnessed,” Willow reminded him.

They went to the store and purchased some eggs, not enough to cause suspicion, they were good at it after all these years, and they always bought from different stores and did it on different nights so they wouldn’t get caught, under Willow’s instructions.

Tonight was no different, a complete success, and they paid special attention to the car they knew Cordelia’s father had gotten for her when she wasn’t even supposed to be driving yet.

“Success,” Jesse said, laughing as they ran away.

“We have the best club ever,” Xander said.

“Aren’t we too old for clubs?” Willow asked.

“You’re joining the computer club at school, aren’t you?” Jesse asked.

“Yeah.”

“Then we’re not.”

“Your logic is impeccable, sir,” Xander said, slapping him a high five.

They were nearing the cemetery again and suddenly heard screaming.

“This is one crazy night,” Jesse said and raced into the cemetery without any further thought.

“Your mom’s gonna kill you,” Willow said, panting behind him.

“Somebody else sounds like they’re getting killed,” Jesse said.

They ran toward the sound of the screaming but couldn’t find it.

“Over there!” Xander shouted, pointing.

A shadow raced along behind a mausoleum and seemed to be dragging something.

“There’s fresh dirt here,” Willow said. “Like someone disturbed a grave.”

“This is weird,” Jesse said.

“I’m scared,” Willow said. “We should go.”

The screaming had stopped and though Xander went behind the mausoleum, he couldn’t find anything.

“I know for a fact that the SunnyD PD won’t investigate any more strange things happening in the cemetery,” Xander said. “It was on the news and everything.”

“Yeah, I remember that report,” Jesse said. “Well, we better vamoose before my mom somehow clairvoyantly knows I was in here.”

“Yes,” Willow said, voice trembling.

They each grabbed her one of hands as they hurried out.

Willow’s house was first on their way home.

“Tomorrow morning is gonna be the best,” Xander said, hugging her.

She smiled wanly.

“You promise?”

“We promise,” Jesse said. “You have to help us pass all our classes anyway.”

“We’d be lost without the Willow knowledge,” Xander agreed.

“You could just study more,” Willow mumbled.

“And miss the one on one tutelage?” Xander asked incredulously.

She smiled at them both.

“Goodnight. Thanks for everything.”

“Best night ever,” Jesse said.

He and Xander walked toward Jesse’s house where they had an annual day-before-school-starts sleepover.

It was a typical night for the three Sunnydale teenagers.

Comments

[jesterladyfic.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this and your other lovely comments. I always thought they must have had a bad case of SunnyDenial before Buffy. :)