Loved this!

...Damn.
Intellectually, I actually kinda prefer BX - the whole romance-from-friendshtp thing, minus a decade-plus of siblings-at-proxy aka Willow - but this is a pretty damn good shot at realistic BX here. Definitely something I could see Xander doing.(And, notwithstanding a certain review, something I could see Buffy doing too - she's human, and therefore can chew over only so many heartrending topics at once before being overwhelmed in subjectivity once more.)
As for the pro-Buffy theme...well. ...Sad(?) to say, you've provoked a response - the 'hero' addition was just too much of a trigger for me to ignore. Give me a couple of weeks...

I really enjoyed reading this and it was refreshing to see an understanding, rational, and mature side to Xander. This was a very touching moment between friends.

Kind of hard to read the last part. I sort of had something in my eye. *sniff*

Buffy could allways count on xander far more then spike.

wouldn't it be nice if the series character had felt that way?

Thank you for this fic. I was furious with the original Scoobies during season 7 and it's nice to see Xander, often the most judgmental of the bunch, realize how poorly he was treating Buffy and apologize.

An interesting and well written story. The character interactions felt true and their voices were clear and distinct. The issue that I do have with this story is your attitude towards Spike, which I suspect is quite different from my own. I actually felt that Buffy's constant leaning on Spike and her belief that he was the only one that truly cared about her was proof positive of a serious mental disorder. I thought that Spike was a wonderfully drawn character until the last two seasons when the writers tried to make him an Angel clone. As far as your story goes, I can actually see Xander agreeing to ease up on Buffy's relationship with Mr. Bathroom rapist until after everything is done, simply to make things easier on her. Anyway, I beleive that you did an excellent job of portraying just what it was to be the slayer, boyfriend choices aside.

That was sweet. Yay for Xander.

I like Buffy and Xander friendship fics - I'm not a fan of them romantically, but him being supportive of her always makes me smile. I hate that so many authors either feel the need to turn him into a complete jerk, or make him a Gary Stu. Keep up the good work!

A mature and understanding Xander? WOW! Too bad it took him so long to realize this. But I am so glad he did. This was wonderful.