"Are you feeling ok?" she asked carefully.

He immediately mellowed upon seeing her. "Sure, now that you're here," he said.

"So that thing about playing polo with Giles' head was a joke," she half-asked, half-stated.

"No," he said. Xander looked completely serious. Totally unlike his former self.

"Maybe you should step _over_here_, Giles," said Buffy, vigorously indicating a spot away from Xander.

"Buffy, I really don't think -- " Giles began.

Buffy yanked him out of Xander's reach. They began to talk.

"Xander?" Willow asked. "Promise me you won't hurt anybody because of me?"

"Will -- "

"Just promise! Ok?"

"I promise. But you gotta promise me something too," he added.

Willow tried to hide the fear from her face. Xander reached out to touch her, and she involuntarily shied away. He pulled back, discouraged.

"Promise me that no matter what -- promise me you'll still be my friend, now matter how this turns out. I'm not asking for love, 'cause I know that's too much. But promise -- "

"Oh Xander." Willow hugged him. "You don't have to keep beating yourself up for getting us into this mess." She pulled out of the hug a bit to look at him encouragingly. "I mean, sure, you made a love potion, and sure, you took it, but after that, everything was out of your hands." She managed a smile at him. "We didn't have a choice in this. Maybe we never did."

He looked sadder than ever. "I, I...I don't deserve somebody like you, Will."

"But you've got me, nonetheless."

"You're a princess, Will. A quirky, loving, brilliant, beautiful princess. You deserve a prince, not a slimy frog like me," he said.

"You. Are not. A frog. I loathe frogs," she said. "You...I feel the exact opposite of 'loathe' for you." She kissed him. "Be happy, huh? Like old, unromantic, happy-go-lucky, and totally not doomed Xander?" She smiled, and he was happy.

"Giles?" Willow asked. "Do you have any idea why Xander's acting so wacky? I mean, he's actually kinda moody."

"Love makes you do the wacky," quipped Xander.

"Yes, well, love spells are rather unpredictable in that regard," Giles said.

"Giles thinks he can cure me," Buffy interjected.

"But Xander said -- " Willow interrupted.

"It's got something to do with the dosage," Buffy explained. "Permanent for you two, removable for me. I don't claim to understand this logarithm thing, but Giles insists it works like that."

< Makes sense, > thought Willow. < Logarithmic progression based on dosage, probably due to some self-catalyzing effect. Small amount has a small effect, but a larger amount has a disproportionately huge effect. >

"So why the big fuss over Giles removing the spell?" Willow asked.

"Oh no reason," added Xander hastily. "You know me, couldn't bear to lose the girl of my dreams." He looked nervous.

"But it can't be dispelled, not for us," Willow reasoned. "Unless..." She turned to directly face Xander. "You've been lying to me the whole time and had the cure all along!"

"Will, it's not like that!" Xander protested.

"Oh? Oh yeah? Well did it ever occur to you, Alexander Harris, that maybe I didn't want to be part of a doomed romance? That maybe I would have liked for things to work out on their own? That maybe I would have liked to have some semblance of a normal love life, instead of some magical compulsion?" She glared at Xander. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you haven't had the cure all along."

He looked at her feet.

"That's what I thought," she said in a mixture of smugness, anger, and disappointment.

"I'll bring the cure over to your place tonight," he said, still looking at the floor.

"Yeah, well, you better, or, or....else!" She stalked out of the library.

Alexander Harris, still looking at the floor, sat down in one of the big fluffy chairs of the library. Buffy walked over to him.

"Want to talk about it?" she asked.

"No," he said. "Later, maybe. When everything's back to normal and Will doesn't want to set me on fire or anything like that."

"You're joking, right?" Buffy asked. "She wouldn't -- I mean, even enchanted, she wouldn't --"

Giles laid a hand on Buffy's shoulder. "Perhaps we should leave him to himself for awhile," Giles suggested.

Buffy appeared skeptical.

"Don't worry about me, pretty lady," Xa