11: Pine Grove Cemetery, Eastside, Sunnydale
Munching on a handful of potato chips, Willow offered the bag to Buffy. She took a few and passed it down to Xander. They all sat side-by-side on the top of the Roberson family memorial stone, their legs hanging just above the ground. Night birds chirped in the neatly tended trees shadowing the path leading toward the columbarium.
Xander shoveled a few chips into his mouth and commented through the noise of his munching, “Maybe this dead guy is just dead.”
There was a fresh grave in the Roberson plot and they were sticking around to see what would happen. None of the other cemeteries on their route produced anything unexpected. A vamp here or there made it pretty standard fare for the slayer. They had certainly not found anything that resembled a bone relic.
“Could be,” Buffy shrugged while tapping her stake against her leg in a musical rhythm. She would so much rather be at the Bronze.
The club was less than a block away and if she concentrated really hard, Buffy could pick up the beat of the music. That was how quiet it was here at Pine Grove Cemetery.
They continued to stare at the grave, hoping something would happen to make their patrol a little more exciting, but the quiet worked against them. Once the crunch of the potato chips was no longer an issue, they all fell silent, focusing on their own thoughts.
Finally, Xander turned to Buffy and asked, “So what’s up with this new boyfriend? Where did she meet this guy?”
Buffy’s thoughts had not been that far off: Cordelia and her own boyfriend out on patrol. She had been having fun picturing those two at each other’s throats. Well, not literally in Angel’s case. They were probably already back at the library, or with a little luck, maybe Cordelia had already given up and gone home.
Knowing that it was a sore subject, she answered him honestly. “I don’t know. Willow is the one with the 411.”
“No I’m not,” Willow denied quickly while dramatically shaking her head to make her point. “I-I don’t know anything about him.”
Xander knew her far too well not to see right through her denial. “Spill it, Will. I need to know.”
There really was not that much to say. Willow repeated what she told Buffy at school. The news that Cordelia’s mystery guy was in college made any thought of reconciliation seem hopeless. Willow and Oz had managed to get back together, but Xander knew that Cordelia was not that forgiving. He would be happy just to win back her friendship much less anything more.
“I feel bad about it,” he shared his guilt. “We screwed up and Cordelia got hurt. I just want her to be safe and happy.”
Frowning, Buffy said nothing. Sure Cordelia could be happy— elsewhere. Yup, she was all for the happiness. Just imagine all the extra time Cor would have to spend with her new hottie when she quit.
Offering Xander a smile, Buffy assured him, “I’m sure she will be.”
