Friends. How many of us have them? Ones you can depend on. (Buffy/Will/Xander)

It was the night after her near-fatal vamp attack, and Bufy was dressing again for the patrol. Simple black jeans and a blue and white striped tank top, a light zip-up jacket with comfy sneakers. The bites on her neck were hardly noticeable now, and she decided against trying to awkwardly cover them with a scarf.

Still though, she felt a little nervous about going out solo again, foolishly, maybe. Getting hurt was in her job description, she shouldn't be making such a big deal.

She padded downstairs and into the kitchen where she grabbed a string cheese out of the fridge. She was delaying her departure for slayage a little longer than usual, but she had a good reason. Buffy was hoping Willow would get home soon, and that they could talk. Maybe she could even get her friend to come along with. She'd already called Xander earlier in a bout of anxiety to tell him about the attack. After the expected concern and worry, he'd promised to stop by later.

She now waited for her other friend, to see if the redhead would appear to save the day. Willow had been gone all day and Buffy desperately wanted to see her. She was sure Xander was caught up with something, maybe an Anya-type thing, and would be over soon. But where was Willow. She peeled the cheese slowly, glancing up at the clock.