"Xander?" Willow called for her friend as she entered the library with Buffy at her side.
Xander stepped out of the stacks with his arms filled books. "Hey, guys," he greeted as he carefully desended the stairs.
Buffy approached Xander, taking a few books out of his hands and placing them on the research table. "Xand, we just heard a rumor in the hall."
"And this is new?" he questioned as he set down the books.
"Well, it was kind of about Cordelia," Buffy continued.
Xander rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Don't want to hear it."
Willow jumped in. "Well, it's sort of about you too." Xander dismissed her with a wave of his hand.
Buffy couldn't take it any longer, so she blurted out the question that had been running though her and Willow's minds since they heard the rumor. "Did you and Cordy have sex before..."
"Excuse me? What?" Xander's brow furrowed. "I don't think that... Why? Why'd you ask me that?"
"Well, because the rumor that we heard... Well, we kind of heard that Cordy was pregnant and then when she fell at the factory, she had a miscarriage."
Xander sat quietly for a moment. "Well, you know rumors." He paused, thinking again. "Who'd you hear it from?"
"Kimmy Williams," Willow answered.
"How would she know?"
Buffy spoke up. "She heard it from Blu who heard it from Aura who heard Cordy tell Harmony."
Xander shook his head. "Why would Cordelia tell Harmony something like that? She wouldn't."
"Maybe not," Willow agreed. "But usually there's a shred of truth in rumors, Xander. I mean, if you and Cordelia did...well, you know, maybe..." she trailed off as Xander stood up.
"Xander?" Buffy called as her friend headed for the door. When he didn't turn around and just continued through the double doors, Buffy turned to Willow. "I guess they did...you know...have sex." Willow shook her head slightly. "Will, they had been going out for a year. What did you expect?"
The red head just shrugged.
**
"Cor? Can I talk to you?"
"No." Cordelia rolled her eyes at Xander then turned back to her friends.
"I really think we have talk."
Cordelia stood up and her friends followed suit. "I really think we don't." Cordelia turned on her heel and began to walk away; her friends following close behind.
"Cordy, wait," Xander said as his hand latched on to her arm. She spun around, her eyes going from his face to the offending hand, then back to his face.
"Listen, *loser*," Harmony began, her hand prying his off Cordelia's arm. "Oh, ick," she said as she wiped the hand that touch Xander's off on her skirt. "Cordy's back with us now. So go run along and play with...whatever it is that geeks play with."
"This is between Cordelia and me," Xander challenged, his eyes never leaving his former girlfriend's.
"Wrong. Like I said before, Cordelia's with us. She made a mistake, but she's better now. I have no idea what it was she was doing with you, but now, she's not doing *anything* with you."
"Cordelia, I really need to talk to you," he pleaded, putting a lot of emotion into the words.
Cordelia's eyes moved from Xander to Harmony then back again. He saw her expression soften. "Five minutes, that's all." She turned back to Harmony. "I'll be fine. Closure, right? I'm meet you in the quad later."
**
Cordelia found herself in the last place that she wanted to be with the last person she wanted to be with. She was in the utility closet with Xander. "So talk," she ordered, her arms folding over her chest.
"They forgave you, I see," Xander commented about Cordelia's friends.
"Yeah." There was silence until Cordelia got annoyed. "The clock's running, Xander."
"Well, it's just that Buffy and Willow heard a rumor about you today."
"Oh God. What is it this week? That I'm dating a loser with absolutely no fashion sense?" she mused. "Nope, that one seems to have gone away. That I was temporarily insane and I missed school for a week because of electro-shock therapy?"
Xander sighed. He was not going to get annoyed with her little games today. "No. They heard that you were pregnant and had a miscarriage when you fell. Is it true?" Cordelia turned away from him, but said nothing. "Is it?" he asked again as his hand gently took a hold of her arm and turned her so she was once again facing him. The answer was clear in her sad eyes. "Was it mine?"
Cordelia retook her arm and took a step back, her eyes narrowing at Xander. "No. Oz and I found out long before that night that you and Willow were screwing around, so he and I fucked like bunnies." She sighed angrily. "Of course it was yours." She turned back around, her eyes fixing on the chemical cleaners on the shelf.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Gee, I don't know, Xander."
"How long..."
"The doctor told me that I was about a month and half a long."
Xander swallowed, then spoke, his voice quiet. "We could've had a kid."
Cordelia turned around, a look of distaste on her face. "No, we would never have had a kid, Xander."
"What? Why?"
"Yeah, I could see me going to my father now. 'Hey Daddy, feel like supporting my unborn child and me? Who's the father? Why, Xander Harris, Daddy, you know, the guy you can't stand?' Yeah, Xander, I could see him being real sympathetic. I would've had an abortion. My dad wouldn't have had it any other way."
"Would you have told me?" She shrugged. "No, I guess not, since you didn't tell me that you had been pregnant."
"Oh, shut up, Xander. Why do you care? If I recall correctly, it was your lips and hands all over Willow, while I remained faithful to you. I didn't tell you because I didn't think you would care or would want to know, Xander."
"I think I had a right to know, Cordy."
"Why?"
"Because I helped make that baby."
She shook her head. "It wasn't a baby. It was a fetus."
"What?" Xander asked shocked.
"It wasn't a baby yet." Tears sprang up in her eyes. "It's not like I killed it when I fell. It was just a fetus."
That was when Xander understood. "You feel guilty? You think *you* killed it?"
"No," she denied defiantly as she shook her head, even as the tears ran down her cheeks. "It wasn't my fault that I fell."
"No, it wasn't. It was an accident," Xander reassured as he moved closer to her.
Cordelia nodded. "It was an accident and it wasn't even a baby yet."
Xander could see her trembling. He wrapped his arms around her and was surprised when she let him. "It's not your fault."
"Sometimes I can imagine what it'd be like. Dark hair and dark eyes and long eyelashes and your sense of humor and my sense of fashion. If it was a boy, he could have your goofy ears. If it was a girl she could have my brilliant smile."
"Cordy." He drew out her name soothingly as his arms tightened around her.
"I always thought you'd look good holding a baby. Can't you see us taking our baby to the park and being a family?"
"Cordelia."
Her hands came up to wipe her eyes and she moved out of his arms. "I hate you, Xander."
"What?" Xander shook his head and held out his hands in confusion.
"I have to go. Your five minutes have been up for a while now. You asked about the rumor, and you got your answer. I'm leaving now."
"But, but, where does that leave us?"
"No where," Cordelia said as she opened the door. She walked out, leaving Xander standing there in shock.
End.