Ficlet - Hero
Title: Hero
Author: Lisa druinsanity
Characters/Pairing: Xander POV
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Joss is boss and I am… me. I so don’t own them.
Summary: Written for moviequoteminis Around S3-4 of Btvs
Prompt: Don’t think you are. Know you are.
It’s funny how when you’re told your entire life that you’re nothing, whether it’s true or not, it’s so easy to believe. It’s like someone stating a fact. Hey, you’ve won the spelling bee. Hey, you have brown hair. Hey, you’re nothing, worthless, stupid, and in the overall scheme of things, the world would be better off if you weren’t in it.
I can’t count how many times I’ve been told that last bit. My parents were never big on the love, for me or for each other. Sometimes I wonder why they even got together… why they had me. Every now and then, my father likes to punctuate the compliments to my existence with his fist or a belt. What’s a kid to do, you know? Especially when that’s all said kid has ever known.
Sure, you see other kids with their parents and wonder if there are bruises underneath their clothing like there are on you. You have a best friend whose parents are absentee and decide that they have the better deal. But in the end, you always have to go home… always.
Maybe my home life is why I was so eager to befriend Buffy. I mean yeah at first I was like woah! Pretty girl. But enter the vampires, demons, general forces of darkness, and the slayer? Any guy would run the other way. Me? I needed to be someone besides that kid who cowered in his bedroom, praying that if he were just quiet enough, his presence would be forgotten.
And now? Maybe I am all the things my parents say I am. Maybe I still huddle in a corner trying to be the invisible man. But out here with Buffy, I’m also a hero… only without the tight spandex clothing and billowy cape. Just a hero. And for small moments, I know that the world is better off with me in it than the alternative.
Author: Lisa druinsanity
Characters/Pairing: Xander POV
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Joss is boss and I am… me. I so don’t own them.
Summary: Written for moviequoteminis Around S3-4 of Btvs
Prompt: Don’t think you are. Know you are.
It’s funny how when you’re told your entire life that you’re nothing, whether it’s true or not, it’s so easy to believe. It’s like someone stating a fact. Hey, you’ve won the spelling bee. Hey, you have brown hair. Hey, you’re nothing, worthless, stupid, and in the overall scheme of things, the world would be better off if you weren’t in it.
I can’t count how many times I’ve been told that last bit. My parents were never big on the love, for me or for each other. Sometimes I wonder why they even got together… why they had me. Every now and then, my father likes to punctuate the compliments to my existence with his fist or a belt. What’s a kid to do, you know? Especially when that’s all said kid has ever known.
Sure, you see other kids with their parents and wonder if there are bruises underneath their clothing like there are on you. You have a best friend whose parents are absentee and decide that they have the better deal. But in the end, you always have to go home… always.
Maybe my home life is why I was so eager to befriend Buffy. I mean yeah at first I was like woah! Pretty girl. But enter the vampires, demons, general forces of darkness, and the slayer? Any guy would run the other way. Me? I needed to be someone besides that kid who cowered in his bedroom, praying that if he were just quiet enough, his presence would be forgotten.
And now? Maybe I am all the things my parents say I am. Maybe I still huddle in a corner trying to be the invisible man. But out here with Buffy, I’m also a hero… only without the tight spandex clothing and billowy cape. Just a hero. And for small moments, I know that the world is better off with me in it than the alternative.