SILENCE IS EASY

A/N: I read somewhere, that a there was supposed to be a scene in Selfless that flashbacked to the episode 'Hush'. This was just my take on it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, I just got bored and wrote a story for no profits at all.

It was ridiculous.

She turned the page of the ancient book and rolled her eyes. Research, why did they even need to research, it was just a big waste of time anyways. And they had that computer, Willow seemed pretty adept at it, couldn’t she just press some keys and get the answers?

It was excruciating.

Her fingers moved to the cover of the page and flipped it again. Why had they given her a book on nocturnal demons? She used to be a demon; she knew over half of the species in the book. She even had some contact information for some, and romantic links with others.

Glancing sideways over the cover of the book she saw Xander. She was mad at him. No, she was furious with him.

She wondered if he knew.

Without being able to say a word for the last little while she’d just been sending him little glares here and there. He said they’d talk about their relationship later, he promised they would, and now he had a reason not to follow through.

Her eyes narrowed as she lowered the book to get a better look at him. He sat in a natural state beside her, his hair falling over his eyes as he read the writing in the demon book as quickly as his mind could register.

Why were they even reading demon books anyways? They already knew who the Gentlemen were. They were fairytale monsters, like the Giant up the beanstalk, and Briar Rabbit. They were supposed to be fake.

Suddenly a thought hit her. If these Gentlemen were, in fact, real, then that horrible rabbit could be real too. He could break into her house and eat all the vegetation in her fridge and bounce all over the place, destroying her priceless furniture.

She swallowed harshly, she’d seen rabbit teeth before, they looked like they could break flesh. It could guzzle her blood like a vampire, and Xander wouldn’t even care.

This morning when they met up, he hugged her and went right into the research, he didn’t even gesticulate as to how she was doing, he barely cared about anybody until Buffy and Willow arrived and he got all twitchy. He bounded over to the like a big loveable, dope of a Labrador.

Something pressed into her shoulder and she gave a small jump. Looking over she saw Xander watching her closely. His eyebrows furrowed and he mouthed the words, “Are you okay.”

Sure now he asked, more then a day later when they’d all grown accustom to the hurried scribbles on paper and the sometimes inappropriate gestures. Her eyes narrowed again and she sent him a stiff nod.

He didn’t need her; he didn’t need her at all. None of them did. And on that subject, where was everybody else anyways? Buffy was out patrolling, but Willow got to go home. Spike went to watch Passions in the bathroom where the television was still stationed for some reason, and Giles was off with his orgasm friend. She and Xander were the only ones working and why were they?

The frustration got the better of her and she slammed down the book against the table, the loud noise cutting through the silence. A breathless sigh escaped her as she leaned back against the couch, her arms crossed defensively.

Xander stared at her, a mild expression of shock across his face. She pursed her lips, and shifted her eyes else where.

She felt the couch move as he leaned forward and put his book next to hers and the growing pile on the table. He shuffled closer to her and slid an arm around her shoulders.

If she could’ve spoken she probably would’ve yelled at him, hit him in the chest and stormed out of Giles’ house, but that wasn’t an option. She couldn’t yell now, if she hit him he would just be even more confused, and running outside with the strange floating men who had an affinity for human hearts when no one could hear you scream wasn’t the highest thing on her list to do right now.

He pulled her closer to him, so her head fell against his chest. In the still silence she could hear his heart beat and wondered why these guys wanted human hearts. Sure there was a lot of blood in them. Vampire’s and other demons loved them, but these guys didn’t eat them. They just collected them.

Xander’s hand rubbed up and down her back with affection, as he rested his chin atop her head. She sighed, it wasn’t quite content, but it was close enough to relax her for the moment.

They would have the much needed talk when their voices were returned, she would see to it. Sure, she would probably overreact because of the insecure feelings that burrowed deep inside her, but for the next few minutes, she could forget about the unbridled rage that she held against Xander, and just enjoy the silence.

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