my new job has me working irregular hours (at least where nine to five is concerned) which has left Xander with a lot of time on his hands. during the first two weeks i received a nightly phone call, email, text message, or any combination thereof , all telling me how bored and lonely he was. i tried to give him multiple suggestions as to what he could do with his free time. i bought him new books to read, suggested movies he could see, and even tried to get his friends to drag him out of the house but nothing seemed to satiate Xander. he didn't want to read books, and he'd look like a loser if he went to the movies alone (no one said he had to go alone...), and all he seemed to want to do was sit at home and wait for me.
while that may seem sweet at first thought, trust me when i say it's not. because i would get home it's not like he would be happy to see me, or want to eat dinner with me. he would simply bitch and moan about the fact he was "forced" to eat alone, and that my job was really putting a strain on our relationship.
last night was the first night i didn't receive a distress call from my sweetie. i hoped that meant he was out with Buffy or Willow, but he didn't answer his phone when i called him on my way home. i began calling him over and over like a crazy stalker, but he still refused to pick up my call. unpleasant thoughts began running through my head. had he really had enough? was he out with another girl? i pulled into the driveway and saw that his Schwinn was still chained outside to the stairwell, so if he went anywhere some one picked him up. my heart was racing by this point and i was so nervous and upset i could barely get the key in the lock of the front door.
i finally managed to get it open, proceeded to drop everything in my hands on the floor, and was heading straight for the phone when i heard, "oh... hey babe!" from the bedroom. what? he was home the whole time?
"why didn't you answer any of my calls," was all i could manage to say.
"umm, hi to you, too," Xander chuckled. "come in the room, i want to show you something."
still a bit bewildered, i followed Xander into our room and upon first glance it all made perfect sense. there, in the middle of the room right in front of the tv was the makeshift drum kit from the video game Rock Band. "isn't it cool?!! you told me i should find something to do so i did," he grinned. he was so focused on the game he hadn't even heard his phone ring. i was relieved and a little weirded out, but mostly relieved. i proceeded to watch Xander play song after song after song after song until i could barely keep my eyes open. i kissed him on the top of his head (heaven forbid i mess up his high score) and crawled into bed while Weezer's "Say It Ain't So" and Xander's mediocre drumming sent me to sleep.
