Worth Waiting For
By Misha

Disclaimer- I do not own the characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They belong to 20th Century Fox, Joss Whedon, and Mutant Enemy. I am using them without permission, however I am not making any money off them so please do not sue me. I don't own the song "I'll Be", either. It belongs to Edwin McCain and I am just borrowing it for this story and am not making money off of it, so please don't sue me.

Author's Notes- Fellow Buffy/Angel fans beware! While this does hold a little bit of B/A angst, it's mostly Buffy/Xander. I've always thought that "I'll Be" is the perfect B/X song, so I couldn't resist writing story with it. I'm not a huge B/X fan, I'm too much of a B/A shipper for that, but I don't mind them. I like him better than Riley. Anyway, if the thought of a B/X pairing sickens you, don't read. Thanks.

Feedback- Please, but no flames. I know a lot of B/A Shippers aren't going to like this, and as a B/A fan I don't either, but I just decided to write it. So please no flames for the B/X concept.

Distribution- Buffy's Passion, Daydreams of BtVS, and Slay This! have permission, everyone else just ask me first. I'll almost always say yes.

Rating- PG-13

Classification- Buffy/Xander, minor Buffy/Angel, angst.

Spoilers- Graduation Day Pt2 and back.

The strands in your eyes that colour them wonderful
Stop me and steal my breath
Emeralds from mountains thrust toward the sky
Never revealing their depth

He had loved her from the moment he had set eyes on her.

He had known even then that he would love Buffy Summers for the rest of his life.

Now he was finally getting the chance to make that vow under God and his witnesses. After all those years of waiting, she was finally his.

He felt his heart turn over as he watched her walk up the aisle to him, finally to him.

Not to Angel or any of the other men she had dated over the years. But to him.

To Alexander LaVelle Harris.

Tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I'll be captivated
I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above

Her green eyes sparkled like emeralds as they met his.

She was his.

After a decade of waiting she was finally his.

Giles kissed her cheek and then slipped her hand into his.

"Take care of her." Giles whispered to which Xander could only not silently, not even tearing his eyes off his bride.

She smiled tenderly, as if to reassure him that this was real. That he wasn't dreaming this moment.

After years he of just being 'Good old Xander', he had finally become more. He had become the man that she loved, the man that she had chosen to spend the rest of her life with.

I'll be your crying shoulder
I'll be love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

He remembered the moment he had begun to realise there might be some hope for him.

Angel had just been killed battling a demon and Buffy had collapsed upon hearing it.

"Angel." She had cried into Xander's shoulder. "Oh, why did you have to leave me?"

It had been then that she had raised her grief-stricken eyes to him. "He left me again, he always leaves me. He left me." She repeated. "I keep trying to make excuses, but I can't anymore. He left me. You'd never leave me, would you Xander?"

And he wouldn't. He'd stand by her side for as long as she needed him. He wouldn't break her heart like Angel had. He knew Angel had done what he believed was best for her, but it was still a mistake.

Xander thought he was a fool. Thought that any man that would willing leave her was a fool.

Rain falls angry on the tin roof
As we lie awake in my bed
You're my survival, you're my living proof
My love is alive not dead

It had been six months after Angel's death that they had made love for the first time.

Afterwards, while he held her in his arms, it had begun to rain.

She had started to sob and had pulled away from him.

He had been hurt and confused until he realised that he was her first lover since Angel and that night. And that it had rained that night.

Suddenly he heard her stop crying and then she sat up.

"I love you Angel." She had whispered. "I always will, but I'm not 17 anymore. I'm 24. You've been out of my life for six years, I have to let you go. You're gone now and I'm finally ready to let you go. Goodbye my love, I'll always love you."

Xander had waited a minute before reaching over for her.

"Buffy?" He had whispered.

She had turned to him and smiled. "It's alright Xander. I've finally let go."

Then she had wrapped her arms around him and looked into his eyes.

"I love you." She whispered.

"I love you too." He whispered back, kissing her gently.

As he held her in his arms he realised that this is what Angel have wanted. For her to love someone who was alive, who could love her fully.

He also realised that while he would never replace her first love, he now had this woman's heart and that he would never let it go.

I'll be your crying shoulder
I'll be love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

It was the minister addressing him that made Xander snap back to this moment.

"Do you Alexander LaVelle Harris take this woman, Elizabeth Anne Summers, to be your lawful wedded wife for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, 'til death to you part?"

"I do." He said softly, meaning it with every thing in him.

"Do you Elizabeth Anne Summers take this man, Alexander LaVelle Harris, to be your lawful wedded husband for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, 'til death to you part?"

He looked into her eyes and saw a hint of regret, for a tiny bit of her was thinking about what might have been, but then she pushed it away and smiled. "I do."

I've been dropped out, burned up,
Fought my way back from the dead
Tuned in, turned on,
Remembered the things that you said

"You may kiss the bride." The minister told him.

He wasted no time and gently captured her lips.

This was it. It was real. She was his.

He had fallen in love with her at almost-16, he would be 27 next week. He had known this woman for eleven years and had loved for every day of those years. But it had taken her eight of them to love him back.

Still, it was worth it. She was worth it.

I'll be your crying shoulder
I'll be love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

"I love you Xander." She whispered when the kiss broke. "And I always will."

"I know." He told her softly, taking her hand in his. "I'll always love you too."

She smiled and he knew that even though she had loved another man first and that a part of her would always belong to him, it didn't matter.

It didn't matter what had happened in their lives before this moment. All that mattered was that they were together. And that they would be spending the rest of their lives together.

She was his at last.

After years of fighting for it he had won the greatest prize.

Her love.

The End