Review @ Salix15

Summarize: Buffy's new to Sunnydale and meets a girl she would like to get to know a lot better. Very PG in the beginning, but the newer ones are going to be more M. Chapter Nine Finally Added!

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It was Buffy Summers' first day at her new high school. She was nervous, yes, but she wasn't too worried about fitting in. She fit in great at her old school. She had been the captain of the of cheerleading squad, and the May Queen, so it's safe to say that she was really popular. And that had been at a school in L.A., this was just a school in a small town called Sunnydale, so making friends here should be a piece of cake.

She had already met a girl named Cordelia. She was pretty, but a bitch. The kind of person who let the popularity go to her head. They had run into this redhead in the hall, at the drinking fountain. Willow? Buffy wasn't sure. She did know that the girl was cute, a little nerdy, but still cute.

She had watched her as she walked away from them while Cordelia took a drink of water, and Willow had looked back at her before walking into a room disappearing from view, and when she looked back, Buffy got all sorts of butterflies in her stomach.

Buffy has never been afraid to go after what she's wanted. And she definitely wanted Willow. But she didn't know how welcome she would be here if she came out right away. It wasn't that big of a deal in L.A. Being gay was pretty much the new fad there. But here, in a small town, she thought that she might be chased in the streets by an angry mod carrying pitch forks and fire lit torches. Ok, maybe a little over the top, but that's still what she imagined.

She was able to get away from Cordelia. Anymore of that girl and she might take her head off. It would be totally accidental, well not really, but oh well. She was walking around looking for a particular redhead, hoping to at least have a basic conversation, maybe even strike up some sort of friendship before the whole gay thing came up.

She went to the library to get some text books that she needed, and hoping that the red head would be there. She had talked to some other people in her classes and they informed her that Willow is the go to girl when it comes to studying because she'll do the work for you. But she wasn't at the library, and what was worst, the librarian was a total freak. Probably a watcher, because he was British it was a strong possibility, but Buffy is retired, or she likes to think she is.

She found Willow in the quad sitting at on a bench. She was eating her lunch, alone. If she was going to make her move it would be now or never. The girl had to have some friends, and Buffy didn't want to embarrass herself in front of them, or Willow for that matter.

"Uh, hi. Willow, right?" she asked and just stood there. The redhead looked up at her. Her eyes widened a little as she looked at the blonde, stunned for a moment before she gained some composure. She tried not to blush and hoped that this new girl, this very pretty new girl, didn't notice that she had been staring.

"Why? I-I mean, hi! Uh, did you want me to move?" she asked and prepared to gather up her stuff. If this blonde was hanging out with Cordelia then there was no way in hell she would ever want Willow as a friend, or anything more. Why do I keep thinking that about her? I like boys not girls, she thought.

"Why don't we just start with 'Hi, I'm Buffy' and, uh, then let's segue directly into me asking you for a favor," she said and sat down next to the redhead. She had heard about this girl from some of the other kids she had talked to at the school. And she was hoping to spend some time with her through what she had heard.

Buffy mentioned that it would mean hanging out with her, and Willow said that she wouldn't be able to legally hang out with her if Buffy was hanging out with Cordelia. Willow said that they could meet in the library and Buffy asked about meeting somewhere else because the library gives her the wiggins. Then Willow started to babble on about how the new librarian brought all of these old artifacts over with him, and historical volumes and biographies.

Buffy couldn't help but suppress a smile. Willow is just so cute when she babbles, she thought. But Willow stopped herself when she noticed that she was starting to babble, which is a really bad habit of hers, especially when she's nervous, and being around Buffy really makes her nervous.

"-and I am the single dullest person alive?" she asked, snapping Buffy back to reality. She had been watching Willow's lips during the babble fest, fighting every fiber in her body that was telling her to kiss Willow.

"Not at all," Buffy said with a smile. She was getting ready to make her move right then. To suggest that Willow come over to her house sometime to study.

She could just imagine it now: pizza, sodas, some old horror movie playing on the T.V., Willow getting scared and hiding her face in Buffy's shoulder, Buffy rubbing Willow's back to comfort her. Then the movie would end and it would be dark while the credits play, Willow would notice that she's in Buffy's arms and probably be a little embarrassed, but before she could pull away completely Buffy would lean in a plant a soft yet firm kiss on the redhead's yummy looking lips.

One of three things could happen after that. Willow would either freak out, tell Buffy that she hated her and never wanted to see her again, and then leave. Or she would reciprocate the kiss and they would have a heavy make out session on the living room couch. Or Willow could pull away, say that she isn't gay and they should just forget about the whole thing and just be friends.

But I want the second one to happen, Buffy whined her in her mind. She was just getting ready to open her mouth and ask if Willow would stop by tonight so they could "study" when two guys walked up and started talking to them. One of them even hitting on Buffy. Great, another guy hitting on me, just what I needed to make this day complete, she thought and tried not to roll her eyes.

Then Cordelia walked up and started talking to them, mostly to Buffy. She dissed on the other three a couple of times, and it really bothered Buffy. She didn't really care about Cordelia making fun of the guys, but she didn't want her saying anything bad about Willow.

Then Cordelia mentioned that a dead body was found in the girl's locker room. And Buffy had to go and check it out. Yeah, it sounds morbid, and it kinda is, but a slayer's gotta do what a slayer's gotta do. Even if it means looking at a dead body.

She did the whole snooping around thing for a while and then found the body, which had two little holes in the neck, meaning that a vampire was on the loose and she needed to kill it. And all of this happened before she got a chance to ask Willow to go to her house. It seemed like nothing was going to go as planned today. But tonight is a whole other story.

Buffy walked into the Bronze. She thought that maybe, just maybe, Willow would be there. Cordelia made it sound like it was the only cool place to hang out and she hoped that Willow would go. She needed to see her, needed to talk to her. She didn't know why her feelings were so strong for the redhead. Sure, she had dated before, her longest relationship lasting a good six months, but she never felt this strongly for the person.

She walked into the club. It seemed pretty cool for an all age bar. There were plenty of people on the dance floor, the music sounded good, and the people seemed to be having a good time. She looked around and let her eyes wonder to the bar. She saw her sitting there by herself so Buffy walked that way.

She said hi and sat down next to Willow. She asked if the redhead was there with someone else, thinking that maybe she had a date. She had to control her giddiness when Willow said that she was there alone. Willow told her how she doesn't date because whenever she's around a boy she can't really talk and then she has to go away.

Buffy was only half listening to what she was saying because her mind was drawn to those lips again. She wondered what they would feel like to kiss. How soft they would be, and what they might taste like. She had to be careful though, because if she let herself sink too deeply into this kind of thinking then she might end up doing something that she'll regret.

The night wore on. Buffy and Willow talked some more and Buffy gave Willow a little friendly advice. She shared her motto that life is short. But even as she muttered the words she felt like a hypocrite because the one thing that she wanted was sitting right in front of her and she was too scared to do anything about it.

The inevitable happened and the good night turned into a bad one when Willow ended up leaving the Bronze with a vampire. Buffy had to save her and she did, along with Xander. The two were totally freaked out once they learned that vampires are real and that Buffy is the slayer and that Mr. Giles, the librarian is really her watcher.

Buffy was upset but hiding it. She just knew that there was no way Willow would ever want her now. She blew it, why couldn't she have gotten to her sooner? All of those bad thoughts were running through her mind and all she wanted to do was go home and curl up under her covers and go to sleep.

To her surprise Willow and Xander didn't leave. They stuck by her, becoming her very close friends. She had been there for a month and was still avoiding telling them about the whole gay thing. In her eyes it wasn't a big deal, but she didn't know how they would feel, and until she knew their point of views on the subject in the closet she would remain.

Then it happened. This was the night that she was going to make her move, it just had to be. Her mother would be out of town for a night to pick something up for the gallery that for some reason couldn't be delivered. So Buffy invited Willow over for a sleep over. She just hoped that she didn't scare the redhead away.

She had rented the horror movie classic and made up the largest bowl of pop corn and set twelve sodas on the coffee table. She also had some candy, mostly chocolate, a couple of blankets folded up on the couch, in case they got cold, and a very large pillow sitting on the floor on the side of the couch that only Buffy knew was there, just in case everything went according to her plan and they didn't make it up to the bedroom.

She jumped in fright when she heard the doorbell ring. Get a grip Summers, you're the damn Slayer remember? She thought as she made her way to the door. She let Willow in and they exchanged their hellos, and Buffy showed Willow where she could put her stuff. Willow was surprised to see that most of the lights were already turned off and everything in the living room was set up.

"So, what movie did you get?" she asked and sat down on the couch. She took off her shoes, and set them aside. She made herself comfortable as she closely watched the slayer. She looked nervous, which just wasn't right. Buffy doesn't get nervous, at least she's never seen Buffy nervous.

"The Shining," she told the redhead. She smiled when she thought of Willow burying her face in Buffy's shoulder to shield herself from the horror. Willow smiled back and watched Buffy put the tape in. She couldn't help but steal a little glance down at the blonde's bottom. "Let the horror begin," she said and sat down next to Willow.

God, I think this was a bad idea. I don't now how much more of this I can take. I mean, this movie isn't that scary is it? Buffy thought. Willow's face was now permanently attached to Buffy's shoulder. The rest of her body pressed up against the blonde's, wanting to be comforted. Sure, she was exaggerating her fear. But how many opportunities is she going to get to be this close to her crush? Might was well take advantage of the situation.

Buffy then became too involved in the movie to really think about anything else. She did however feel the quick intake of breath and Willow stiffen up. But she didn't really think anything of it because the redhead was proving to be a wuss when it comes to scary movies. But she did pay attention when she heard the porcelain girl give out the tiniest little moan. A moan so quiet that only her slayer hearing could pick it up.

She stopped paying attention to what was happening on the T.V. screen and was suddenly aware that her hand was slowly but surely rubbing Willow's inner thigh, slowly making it's way up to her center. Buffy stiffened and pulled her hand away.

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking, I didn't notice, I'm so sorry," she babbled and looked at Willow's face. She noticed that the redhead frowned for just a fraction of a second at the loss of the contact, but then went back to normal.

"It's ok. I didn't really notice either, I was too busy watching the movie," she lied and Buffy could tell because the redhead wasn't looking her in the eye. Not only that but she had heard her moan, even if it was small it had still happened. She wasn't sure if tonight was going to go as she had planned, and the thought made her kind of sad. Willow noticed this and wasn't hesitant to question it.

"What's wrong Buffy?" she asked and sat up a little straighter. The slayer had moved away from her and there was a generous amount of space in between them, and Willow wanted the contact, she needed it but she was too afraid to speak up about it.

"Nothing, Will, nothing's wrong. I'm sorry for what happened, I didn't mean anything by it," she answered and smiled. It was Willow's turn to frown now. So she really didn't mean it, and it meant nothing to her. Willow looked over at the clock, it was still kind of early, but she wanted to go to bed, she didn't want to talk anymore.

"Can we go to bed now? I'm getting kind of tired," she said, not looking at the slayer. Buffy looked over at Willow, confused. She had had a couple of sleep overs with the redhead and she never went to bed this early. She didn't know what was up with her and she wanted to know really bad, but she also wanted to respect Willow's wishes.

"Sure. Hey, Will, what's wrong?" she asked when she thought she saw tears in Willow's eyes. Now she was really concerned and curious to find out what was going on in that redhead's head. Willow shook her head no and then stood up from the couch.

"Na-nothing's wrong. I...I just want to go to bed now, that's all," she said and looked at Buffy's face, but avoided her eyes. And then she looked down at the floor. Buffy let the thought cross her mind, the thought that maybe Willow was upset because she had been touching her was still there, but then another crept in for only a second, that maybe Willow was sad because Buffy had stopped touching her.

She wasn't sure, and she was not about to get her hopes up but she had to let Willow somehow know that she wanted her. Even if it was some small way, some tiny little gesture that let her friend know that she didn't need to be scared because Buffy wouldn't hurt her, wouldn't be mad at her if she was feeling those kinds of feelings too.

They went up to the bedroom and changed into their pajamas. They would be sleeping the same bed, like they always did whenever they slept over at each other's houses. It wasn't a big deal, but something seemed off for Buffy as she crawled under the covers and turned out the light.

"Willow, what's wrong?" she asked when she thought she saw a tear or two sneak it's way out of the girl's eyes. Willow had her back to Buffy and she didn't move. She tensed up and held her breath, but she didn't move, didn't say a word. Buffy became concerned and sat up in the bed, putting her back against the head board.

"Willow, please talk to me," she whispered. She had Willow had become really close friends for the short time that Buffy had been here in Sunnydale. They could talk about anything, well almost anything, so the fact that Willow was suddenly clamming up was a little unnerving.

"It's nothing Buffy. Let's just go to sleep," she said and held back a sob. She didn't know why she was getting so upset. She hadn't known Buffy that long, and she was pretty suspicious that the slayer was gay, and the thought of her rejecting her like that, the way she just brushed off that touch on the couch, it was upsetting. She wasn't wanted, not by the guys at school, and not by Buffy, she felt like she would never be wanted.

"Willow, if I tell you something will you promise me not to freak out?" she asked and turned the light on. She waited for some type of response, but then figured that the bed was not the best place to have this conversation. "Umm, Willow? Can we go back downstairs before I tell you this, 'cause I don't want you to freak out or anything." Willow tensed again but then nodded her head.

Buffy got out of bed and watched as Willow wiped her eyes before she turned around to face her friend. No, she wasn't just a friend, she was the person that Willow wanted and in more then a sexual way. She wanted Buffy to be hers, she wanted to date her, and she wanted to be Buffy's.

They walked down the stairs in silence and went into the living room. They sat back down on the couch. There was a lot of space in between them. Willow grabbed one of the blankets and unfolded it. She was so cold, oh so cold. She had felt that way for a while now and no matter what she did she couldn't make the feeling go away.

"Ok, I don't really know how to prepare you for this so I'm just going to come out and say it," Buffy said and inwardly kicked herself for the little pun. "I'm gay Willow, have been since, like, eighth grade."

Willow didn't tense when Buffy said that and Buffy thought it was a little strange, most people did. And what was even stranger was when Willow seemed to let out a sigh of relief. Now that struck her curiosity and there was no letting go of it now.

"Are you?" Buffy asked and she watched as Willow's eyes widened. She was caught off guard with the question and she didn't know how to reply. So she sat there, her mouth opening and closing with no sound coming out, as she tried to think of some type of answer. To be honest, she wasn't sure what she was.

She watched as Buffy leaned in really close, chasing away the space that separated them. She closed her eyes and then she felt the softness of the slayer's lips on hers. She was stunned for a second, not too sure what she was going to do, but she didn't think about it as she leaned into the kiss.

Oh my God, I'm kissing Willow and she's kissing me back! Buffy thought. She leaned out of the kiss, taking a much needed breath of air. She and Willow were practically panting and she noticed that Willow still hadn't opened her eyes. Which was fine with her once she saw the little smile that came across the other girl's face.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to do that," Willow whispered not too sure if she had said that in her head or out loud, or both. She didn't really care because right now she was happy, and she was in a daze, and she wanted to stay in it for as long as possible.

Buffy smiled, pleased with herself. The night wasn't going exactly as planned but it was good enough. So Willow had feelings for her, huh? Willow had been wanting Buffy to kiss her for a while now it seems. She was glad that she didn't hesitate to kiss her because if she had both of their hearts might have been broken that night.

"Willow," Buffy said sheepishly. Willow opened her eyes, and looked a little surprised, like she had forgotten that Buffy was in the room. She looked into the eyes of the slayer, and shyness was in them, along with the rest of her face. She just looks so damn cute when she gets all shy, she thought.

"Yeah Buffy?" she asked. She was slightly aware of the fact that they were holding hands, but she didn't want to draw attention to it for the fear that Buffy might let go. So she just kept looking into the hazel eyes of the first girl she's ever had deep romantic feelings for, not scared for a second to what might happen if anyone else found out about them.

"Will you go out with me?" she asked and looked away from Willow, as if she were afraid of what the answer may be. Willow was a little confused at first, but then she caught on and she couldn't help but smile.

"You mean like, will I be your girlfriend?" she asked and the smile grew when Buffy nodded her head yes. She leaned in and planted a small yet sweet kiss on Buffy's lips. She knew that everything from now on would work out and that they would be happy, together.

"I'll take that as a yes," Buffy said and smiled. She looked into Willow's eyes glad to be right were she was, in Willow's arms. Neither of them had realized when it happened but somehow Buffy had ended up sitting in Willow's lap with the redhead's arms wrapped around the blonde, soft hands rubbing the length of her back.

Buffy then sat up straight, a new light shining her eyes, and a sudden giddiness taking her over. She put her hands on Willow's shoulders as she beamed with happiness and almost shook with joy at the thought that was running in her mind.

"So, where do you want to go for our first date?" she asked sounding very enthusiastic. Willow just laughed and slightly shook her head at the way Buffy was acting. Now that all of this had happened, this wonderful thing, she seemed so hyper.

"Wherever you wanna take me," she told her. Buffy smiled a new type of calm taking over her senses as she leaned in a kissed Willow again.

The kisses were very chaste, no tongue involved, but that could come with time, for now they wanted to take things slow, although Buffy had been hoping that the night would be a little more eventful, but she wasn't going to rush Willow especially now that she had a date to plan.

"So, tell me again where you're going Buffy," Joyce Summers said to her daughter on that Friday night. She was watching as her teenager got ready in the mirror in her bedroom. She was all dressed up like she were going out on a date or something, she was also acting pretty nervous, so there was definitely more then just going out with her friend Willow.

"Willow and I are going to the movies, and then afterwards we're hitting the Bronze. She might spend the night tonight, and if she does we'll be here by eleven, otherwise it'll just be little ol' me," she said and fussed over her hair again. Joyce wanted to believe her daughter, she really did, all parents want to believe their children, but she knew that Buffy was keeping something from her, she just didn't know what.

The doorbell sounded, announcing someone's arrival and Buffy squealed, yes squealed, with excitement. She dashed down the stairs and threw the front door open and had to contain herself from jumping with excitement when she saw the redhead. She gave Willow a big hug and had to restrain herself from giving her a kiss on the lips because her mom was watching them.

They still weren't out to their parents yet. Everyone at school knew, they were big on the public displays of affection, but they still weren't sure how their parents would handle the news, so they decided to keep it a secret. It was hard for Buffy, but if she can keep being the slayer a secret from her mother then she should have no problem hiding the fact that she's in a relationship. Her mother knows about her sexuality, she was the first one Buffy told, but Willow is still nervous about Joyce knowing, so Buffy is respecting her wishes of keeping it from the parental units.

"Bye Mom, love you, see you at eleven," she said as they rushed out the door. She didn't wait for a response before the door was shut and they were walking towards the town's main square that held the movie theater. They held hands and talked and giggled on the way there. They would occasionally stop and kiss for a few minutes (no tongues involved they were still waiting for the right moment to have their first 'real kiss') and then they would continue on their way.

They were a few minutes away from reaching their destination, they just needed to walk down a very dark street to get there. It made Willow a little nervous, having learned not too long ago that vampires are real, but she was with the slayer, her slayer, so she was able to relax, keeping the funny feeling in her stomach to a minimum. My slayer, I like the sound of that, she thought and squeezed Buffy's hand a little tighter.

They were half way down the street when the five vampires jumped out at them. They were taken by total surprise and it made Willow scream like a ten-year-old girl. The vamps circled the two girls, stalking them the way a large cat would its pray. They smiled really wide and watched the slayer get defensive.

Buffy knew that she could take on two, maybe even three, but not five vampires at once. She was very out numbered and Willow was with her, which made her even more scared. She pulled out the stake she had hidden in her purse, preparing for the fight that she knew she had to win. If she didn't not only would she die, but Willow as well.

"Well, well, well what do we have here?" the vampire wearing a very cheap looking suit asked. He must be the leader, leaders always seem to wear cheap suits, Buffy thought and gripped the stake even tighter. "Looks like the slayer is a dyke. Isn't that nice boys?"

She watched as they circled, she let go of Willow's hand, but stayed close. There was no way in hell she was going to let them hurt Willow, she would die before she let that happen. She waited for them to make a move, which they did, of course. And because they're vampires and lack intelligence, they attacked one by one making the job a lot easier for the slayer.

"Sorry about that Will. I just wish they would take this one night off," she said as she dusted herself off. If only dust busters were small enough to be portable, she would carry one with her at night. She took Willow's hand and they started towards the movie again.

"It's ok. Thanks for protecting me," she said and gave Buffy a quick kiss on the cheek. She blushed after she did it though, still not used to their public affection. Buffy was always all over her at school, even if it was just holding her from behind while they sat in the library. The blonde liked to put on a show for Xander, teasing him and loving it more then she'll admit to.

They reached the theater and Buffy talked to the guy behind the glass booth. He kept looking at her and then at Willow and he would smile this really silly looking smirk. The two girls decided to ignore it though, not wanting to cause a scene or anything.

"Two tickets will be ten dollars please," he said. Buffy opened up her purse and started the search for her wallet. It usually takes her a few minutes to find it what with all of the useless stuff that she keeps in there, but after five minutes of looking she still couldn't fine it.

"Oh my God, I forgot my wallet at home," she said, her searching becoming more and more frantic. She was about to dump all of the contents of her purse out on the sidewalk when Willow stepped forward and put a reassuring hand on Buffy's arm.

"It's ok Buffy, I'll pay for it," she said and pulled a ten dollar bill out of her purse and then handed it to the guy, who then handed her the tickets. Buffy looked a little disappointed with herself as they walked into the lobby of the theater. How could she forget her wallet? She had saved up her allowance for this date. Not only for the movie but also for the drinks at the Bronze, not to mention the entry fee.

She kept her frustrations to herself though, because she wanted Willow to have a good time. But that was pretty close to impossible. The movie that they saw was a total bust, the seats where dirty and uncomfortable, the floor was sticky, and these guys sitting behind them would not stop talking. The only good thing about the whole movie theater experience was that it was a horror movie so it gave Willow the excuse to be as close to Buffy as humanly possible without actually sitting on her lap.

"God that movie sucked," Buffy said as they exited the theater two hours later. She and Willow were holding hands as she walked the way back towards her house. She was hoping Willow wouldn't notice because she really wanted to run home to get her wallet so that the redhead wouldn't have to pay for anything else that night. Her plan however, failed big time.

"Why are we going this way? The quicker way to the Bronze is that way," she said and pointed in the opposite direction. Buffy thought about playing dumb but she knew it wouldn't work, there was no fooling Willow.

"I'm sorry Will, it's just that, I wanna go home and get my wallet before we go to the Bronze," she told her and they continued to walk down the dark street before Willow stopped short, causing Buffy to be jerked back. She gave Willow a confused look while she waited for the redhead to explain her actions.

"You don't have to pay for anything Buffy, it's fine, really," she said in a soft voice. But to Buffy it wasn't fine. She was the one taking Willow out on a date. She had everything planned out and she wanted to show Willow a good time, and therefore she should have to pay for everything, at least that's Buffy's way of thinking.

"No Willow, it's not fine. I'm the one treating you tonight, so please can we just go back and get my wallet?" she asked and then pouted the little pout she knew no one could resist. She watched as Willow dramatically rolled her eyes, and gave a little smirk.

"Fine, if it's that important to you, we'll go back and get your wallet," she said, animating with her arms to emphasize the exaggerate drama. Buffy giggled and gave Willow a little kiss on the cheek. She took the redhead by the hand and they started to walk towards Buffy's house.

After the wallet was retrieved, they headed to the Bronze. They were halfway there when a pink demon, about the size of Buffy, jumped out of no where. He was acting tough and trying to be scary, though it wasn't working. Just the fact that he was pink was bad, but the fact that he wasn't tough or scary at all threw the slayer into a fit of giggles as the demon paced in front of them and said his monologue.

"Buffy, he's getting kind of mad, shouldn't you just fight him now?" Willow asked when she noticed that the demon was looking a little irritated. She agreed with Willow and the two started fighting. It was a very one sided match, though, because this demon was just so weak and unskilled. She was wondering what type of demon this was and where it came from when something unexpected happened.

She heard a scream and she looked back to see that a vampire had a hold of Willow. She ended the fight by snapping the demon's neck, putting an end to his miserable life, and quickly began to chase down the vampire. He was fast, she had to admit, even if he was carrying a screaming, kicking redhead. She grabbed the stake from inside of her purse and tried to aim as best she could. She was aware that Willow might get hurt by doing this, but this vamp seemed faster then others and Buffy didn't want to loose sight of him.

She threw the stake and it made a perfect landing in his cold, un-beating heart. He turned to dust and Willow went flying forward, landing on her stomach and sliding on the grass, luckily part of their short cut was through a cemetery. She just laid there, unmoving, while she tried to breath. She tried not to concentrate on the pain that was coming from her stomach, her thighs, and her hands.

She felt someone next to her, but she couldn't really pay attention to what the person was saying, she was still fazed and in shock. When she felt a warm trembling hand on her back she looked up and saw that Buffy was looking at her with concern and worry and she had tears in her eyes.

"Buffy, don't cry, I'm fine, really," she said and tried to sit up. She winced in pain and allowed herself to remain on the ground. There was no way she was going to be able to get up on her own, at least not tonight. She felt strong, yet gentle hands wrap around her and carefully lift her up off of the ground. She looked up at Buffy as the blonde slayer cradled the redhead in her arms and started to walk back towards Rivelo Drive.

She unlocked the front door with her key and opened it, being careful not to do anything that could possible hurt the girl in her arms anymore then she already is. She entered the house and shut the door, and instantly headed for the stairs. She took Willow into the bathroom and helped her clean up the scrapes that she had on her stomach. She left the room when Willow asked her to because the redhead would need to take off her skirt to clean her thighs and with Buffy being her girlfriend and Willow being a little shy, I would have been embarrassing.

With the wounds clean and the bandages placed, the two got ready for bed. Willow was still limping a little and Buffy was watching over her like a mother hen, and although it was a little annoying, Willow found it kind of cute and couldn't stop herself from smiling.

"What are you smirking at?" Buffy asked in a playful way as she pulled the covers back and helped Willow sit down on the bed, and then covered up the injured girl when she was lying down on her back. She then walked around to the other side of the bed and got under the blankets.

"Oh nothing, just the fact that you won't let me take more then two steps without holding onto me, that's all," she said and her smile grew bigger. But it quickly faded when she saw the look of guilt that crossed the slayer's face. She rolled over onto her side so she could face the blonde.

"Buffy, what happened wasn't your fault. You were fighting a demon, you didn't know that the vampire was there. And I'm alright, a little damaged, but I'll get better. So please, stop with the guilt," she said and leaned down to place a small kiss on her girlfriend's lips. When she leaned back, Buffy still had that same guilty look on her face.

"I should have sensed him, Will. I should've just killed that demon instead of beating him up. I'm so sorry Willow," she said but Willow put a finger to Buffy's lips to silence her. She had on her determined face, she wasn't going to let Buffy take the blame for this.

"It is not your fault, so please let it go," she said and then waited. Buffy noticed the stern tone of her voice, and who would not see that stubborn glare Willow was showing at the moment? So, she nodded her head, smiling weakly, and then she leaned up and planted a sweet kiss on Willow's lips.

"Ok, I'll just blame the vampire. I'm glad I got him. If he had laid one fang I you I would have-" she was cut off by Willow's lips on hers. The kiss lingered there, until they both needed air. And when they pulled apart they came out lightly panting. Willow leaned back down and placed her lips over the slayer's again, and this time she opened her mouth just a little bit and lightly rubbed her tongue over Buffy's bottom lip, getting just a little taste of the strawberry flavored lip gloss.

Buffy opened her mouth, and lightly touched the tip of her tongue to Willow's. The sensation was new to the redhead, and it felt good, but also a little overwhelming. She pulled back, breathing heavy as she looked into the desire filled eyes of the slayer, her slayer. I'm never going to get sick of thinking that. She's my slayer, and I'm her girl, she thought.

She ever so slowly leaned back down again and kiss the blonde. Soon their tongues were swirling around together in a slow dance, and Buffy was taking as many mental notes as she could. The taste of Willow, the feel of her soft tongue on hers, the smell of Willow's lavender scented perfume, the smell of her shampoo, and then the soft hand that made its way under Buffy's shirt and rubbed the soft stomach below it.

Buffy pulled back, not sure how far she wanted this to go. Willow was injured, not only that but she was a virgin, and Buffy didn't want her to feel rushed at all. She wanted to take this as slow as possible because she didn't want Willow to regret anything.

"Willow," she breathed out more then she said it. She looked into emerald eyes there were glistening with desire, but also fear. Fear of what? Rejection? Buffy wasn't sure, but she knew that she didn't like the look and she wanted to make it go away.

"I want you Buffy," she heard the redhead say, and before she could say anything they were kissing again. She felt Willow's hand move to her back and she started to slowly massage the flesh underneath it. Buffy couldn't help but let out a little moan when Willow hit a particularly soft spot. But, she pulled back again, still uncertain.

"What's wrong Buffy?" Willow asked, her voice a little deeper then normal, and also a little shaky. She had this look in her eyes, half of it was fear, the other half was like unpalatable sadness, like if she were to be rejected it would just end her world completely.

"Do you not want me? You don't, how could you? I'm just not attractive enough for anyone," she said the last part in a whisper. Buffy quickly shook her head not and tried to come up with some way to explain how she was feeling, but it was tough because she's never really been one with words, she more of a take action kind of girl.

"No, Willow, I want you. God, I want you so bad right now. It's just that, well, you're hurt, and I don't want you to get hurt even more. And are you sure that you want to do this? Because we've only been seeing each other for two weeks, and it just seems that we're going a little fast," she said and hoped that her words had a positive affect, and they must have because Willow's expression softened and she got a cute little smile on her face.

"So, you're just worried about me? And you really do want to, you know, with me?" she asked blushed. Buffy likes it when Willow blushes because she just looks so cute, and she tries to make her blush as often as she can. Buffy placed a soft kiss on her girlfriend's lips and pulled back to look into those lovely green eyes that she never wanted to look away from.

"Yes, I'm just worried. And I do want you, more then I've ever wanted anything in the whole world," she said softly and watched as the blush deepened. "It's getting kind of late. Maybe we should go to sleep." Willow looked over at the locked and noticed that it was almost eleven thirty. She wondered why Joyce hadn't been up here to see if they were home. And as if on cue, there was a soft knock on the door.

"Buffy, are you in there?" they heard the older Summers woman say. She opened the door before Buffy had a chance to response, and before Willow had a chance to take her hand out from under Buffy's shirt. It was only on her back, but under the shirt is under the shirt and a dead giveaway that anything naughty was going on in the room.

"Yeah Mom, we're in here. Willow's spending the night after all. We were just getting ready to go to sleep," she said and prayed that the blankets were pulled up high enough so her mom wouldn't see the Willow-hand that was currently trying to sneak its way out from under her shirt.

Joyce's brawl wrinkled and she suspected that there was more going on then they were letting on, but she didn't question them on it. She would save that until morning after Willow went home. She decided that it was time she have a little talk with her daughter, of the 'mother-setting-new-rules' type.

"Ok, well goodnight. I'll see you downstairs bright and early," she said and left after the two said their goodbyes. Willow let out the breath that she didn't know she was holding. She was afraid there for a second that Buffy's mom had noticed, but when she left it was a big relief.

"I'm glad she didn't notice anything. I don't know what I would do if she ever found out about us before I'm ready for her to know," Willow said and rested her head on the pillow. She looked over at Buffy and saw that the blonde was biting her bottom lip, and she only does that when there's something on her mind that she should say but doesn't want to.

"What?" Willow asked, her brawl wrinkling in concern. She didn't want to turn on her side again because any kind of movement seemed to hurt really bad. She watched as Buffy let out a sigh and then looked down, avoiding her eyes. That made her concern increase a lot.

"She already knows," she said in a whisper. She looked up at Willow, but didn't meet the shocked gaze. She saw that Willow had gone pale, and was struggling to form her words. She sat there, fished mouth for a few minutes before she was finally able to form a sentence.

"You told her?" she asked sounding angry and a little hurt. "Buffy, we talked about this, we had a long discussion, a very long discussion and we agreed that we wouldn't tell our parents because I'll still too scared. Don't you remember it at all?" she asked so quickly that she by the time she was done she was in desperate need for oxygen.

"I know Willow, I remember, and I didn't tell her. She must've noticed because of the way we were laying or something. And I think she suspected something when you first got here. When she said 'I'll see you downstairs bright and early' she really meant 'don't you dare do anything more then kiss Buffy or you're dead'. She came up with this whole code system after she caught me and my first girlfriend," the slayer confessed putting the redhead at ease. She was still worried that Joyce knew, but she was really glad that Buffy hadn't gone back on her word.

"You've had other girlfriends?" she asked, sounding curious. Buffy had never mentioned them before. A number one rule of dating, you never ever talk about your ex's with your current 'special someone', whether you be a gay or straight couple. It will lead to no good, and Buffy knows that very well.

"Yeah, three, well four including you," she said and gave Willow a little kiss. She was hoping and praying to any god out there that this discussion was dropped right here and now. Unfortunately the gods seemed to be against her tonight because Willow's curiosity was at an all time high.

"What were they like?" she asked and tried to turn over on her side, but winced when the shooting pain came. Buffy was instantly on her side, gently stroking Willow's hair until the pain subsided. She settled down next to the redhead and cuddled up as close as she could without hurting her. She rested her head on Willow's shoulder, wanting to use it as a pillow tonight.

"I'm beat, can we just go to sleep? It's been kind of a long night," Buffy said as she shut her eyes. She felt Willow tense for a second, and then she relaxed and there was a moment's silence that was filled with some tension.

"You're avoiding my question," she stated rather then asked. Buffy leaned up and rested her head on her hand so that she could look into Willow's eyes. They were full of anticipation and a little confusion.

"I'm not, really, I'm not. I-I just don't like to talk about them, that's all. They just ended really bad, and I don't want to open up healed wounds," she said and looked into Willow's eyes. There was understanding with just the tiniest bit of apprehension.

"But you're over them right? I mean, you only have romantic feelings for me?" she asked sounding a little nervous. Buffy smiled and then kissed the redhead on her lips. She pulled back and smiled a soft smile at her.

"Only for you," she said and then rested her head back on the redhead's shoulder. She felt Willow sigh and then tense up just a little bit. She wasn't sure why, she had seen the understanding in Willow's eyes and she reassured her that she was over her ex's, so what was the problem?

"What's wrong, Will?" she asked but didn't look up. She was just so comfortable right there, her head resting against Willow, and one of Willow's arms was wrapped around her back and softly rubbing in an up-down-left-right motion that was putting her to sleep.

"I don't know, I guess after everything that's happened tonight, do you think you could," she paused, afraid to ask because she didn't want the blonde to think she was silly, but she was still feeling vulnerable.

"Could what, Will? Don't be afraid to ask me anything, baby, ok?" she said and looked into Willow's eyes. She saw the redhead smile, her mood lightened a lot when she heard the word slip out of the slayer's lips.

"That's the first time you've called me that," she said and ran her fingers through Buffy's golden locks. Buffy thought back to what she had just said and she smiled when she remembered the little slip. It just seemed so right to call her that, and Willow didn't seem to mind at all, in fact it made her happy.

"And do you like that I call you that, baby?" she asked, a little bit of a teasing tone to her voice and she leaned down and exchanged a soft kiss with Willow, her Willow. I could get used to that idea, she thought as she pulled out of the little kiss.

"I love that you call me that," she said and before Buffy could lean down and rest her head on Willow's shoulder again, the redhead ignored the pain that it caused her, and scooted down a little bit so that she was eye level with Buffy's neck and then she cuddled up close. She wanted the other girl to hold her, to make her feel safe.

"Buffy, will you just...hold me?" she asked after a little pause in the sentence. Buffy more then willingly complied. She gently wrapped an around Willow, allowing the witch to lye on it so that the blonde could stroke the other girl's back. Willow had her head resting on Buffy's shoulder and her hand was placed on Buffy's stomach.

"Buffy," she said to get the other girl's attention. She could feel her breathing becoming a little more slowly and knew that Buffy was falling asleep. But there was just one more thing that she wanted to say before they went to sleep in each other's arms.

"Yeah Will," she said sounding a little more then tired. She wanted to stay awake and pay attention but it was hard. Her eyes wouldn't open, but she listened carefully for any sound, and the only thing that she could hear was the sound of Willow's soft breaths.

"Thank you for taking me out tonight. We ended up having a great time," she said, sounding just as tired as the other girl. She wiggled a little, getting a little more comfortable before she finally fell asleep, letting the exhaustion of her attack finally get to her.

"Your welcome Will," Buffy said so softly that the only way Willow could have heard it is if she were either a slayer or a vampire. Buffy was asleep before she could worry about getting a response and she was quickly off to dream land. She dreamt about the following Monday at school where she would tell Xander that she slept with Willow on their first date, and then just let his mind fly off and not bother to explain that they did nothing more then sleep, well, a little kissing, but certainly not what his imagination would be producing.

Buffy was standing in the foyer of her home. It was now almost noon, she had woken up only an hour ago, along with her girlfriend Willow. Last night was their very first date, and it could not have gone any worst. Ok, we're still alive so it could have gone worst, but whatever, she thought as she said goodbye to Willow who was going to walk home.

Buffy let out a happy sigh and closed the door when Willow was out of sight. Last night had gone ok, she decided. The movie was bad and Willow had to pay because Buffy had forgotten her wallet. They never made it to the Bronze, which was a drag, but at least she had some fun beating up a demon. And they had shared their first 'real kiss' and even had an unplanned make-out session. Yep, not too bad after all, she thought as she walked into the kitchen where her mom was sitting at the breakfast bar, drinking a cup of coffee.

"You're grounded for three weeks," was the first thing out of her mother's mouth, and she said it in a voice as if it were just a normal everything day to say. Buffy was surprised by it however, and stood stock-still. She looked over at her mom who was just staring right back with this look on her face that said 'don't you dare argue'.

"Why?" she asked sounding a little stunned. She hadn't done anything that she knew of. Sure she snuck out of the house but she never got caught and it was for a good cause, she had to patrol. She waited, trying to be patient for her mom to answer, but she was taking her sweet time.

"For not telling me Willow is your girlfriend and you two sleeping in the same bed, that's why. I've set rules, Buffy, and I expect you to follow them. If you can't you get punished, that's the way it works, always has," she told her and looked into Buffy's eyes with that superior mother stare. She wasn't about to go down without fight no matter how many death glares she got from her mother.

"I didn't tell you because she isn't ready yet. She's still scared of what you and her parents will think. We've slept in the same bed before, what's the difference now?" she asked and folded her arms across her chest in a defying manner. Joyce put her coffee mug down, using all self-control not to slam it.

"The difference is walking in your room and seeing her hand up your shirt that's the difference. I told you before, I don't have a problem with your girlfriends spending the night but they sleep on the couch when they do." She turned her attention back to the morning paper thinking that Buffy was going to let it go, but she still doesn't know how stubborn slayers can be.

"What's the big deal? It's not like we can get pregnant," she said a little loudly, tensing up ready for this to become a full-blown argument- no- a screaming match. Joyce looked back up at her anger in her eyes. Who does this kid think she is?

"You're a teenager Buffy, you shouldn't be having sex at all. I have no problem with your choice of dating girls, but I told you I was setting the same restrictions as if you were dating boys, if you can't follow them then you won't be dating anyone at all, you got that?" she yelled standing up as she talked walking closer to her daughter. Buffy was a little scared now, she had never seen her mom like this, ok maybe after that one time she got caught, but this is still scary.

"You can't tell me if I can date or not, I-" she said her voice angry and hateful as she tried to stand as tall as she could to make herself be eye level with her mother, but Joyce just stared her down and Buffy had to fight the feeling of fear that she was getting inside the pit of her stomach.

"I can and I will. I'm the mother, not you. Now go to your room and stay there until I say otherwise," she said and watched as Buffy turned around and stomped up the stairs to her bedroom and slammed the door. She sat back down at the breakfast bar and continued to drink her coffee. How could Buffy show such disrespect? She thought. She doesn't know what she's going to do with that daughter of hers, but there has to be some way to get her point across.

Why is mom being so stubborn about this? It's not like we did anything more then kiss. Ok, for a second there I thought it was going to turn into more, but it didn't! So why is she freaking out? Buffy thought as she paced in her bedroom. She's been up there for almost an hour now, still trying to think of why her mom would freak out like that. So far she hasn't really come up with an answer, not one that is goon enough for her.

Ok, the hand under the shirt thing I can understand, but it was only my back. It's not like Willow was groping me or anything! God, I need to get out of here, I need to think. I need to be with Willow, Willow makes everything better, she thought and she went over to her window and she slowly opened it up and crawled out. There was no way she was going to stay here, just no way.

She ran down the side walk towards Willow's house and even used her slayer speed to get there quicker. Breaking all world records for speed, she was there in less then five minutes. She knocked loudly on the front door and waited a little impatiently for an answer. Luckily it was Willow who answered the door.

"Buffy? Is everything ok? You look a little…upset," she said, her brawl wrinkling with concern. She took a step back and moved over to the side so that Buffy could enter her home but the slayer just stood her, picking nervously at her cuticles. She looked into Willow's eyes for a second and then down at the ground.

"Willow, will you go for a walk with me? I just need some air, and…you," she said and didn't look up for a few seconds until she heard Willow go back into the house. She thought that she had been rejected, until she saw that the redhead had simply gone back in to get her coat and house keys.

They walked down the sidewalk, both girls being unusually quiet. Buffy gently took Willow's hand in hers and laced their fingers together, the gesture becoming second nature already, and Willow couldn't help but smile a little. It didn't last long though, because there was something wrong with Buffy and her being all quiet like this was going to drive the redheaded hacker crazy.

"Ok, Buffy, what's going on? You haven't said a word since we left the house and you look all upset, like something bad happened," she said, stopping and turning to face the blonde. Buffy looked up at her and didn't say anything at first, but interrupted Willow when she was about to speak.

"Mom grounded me for three weeks because we slept in the same bed last night. She said that if anything like that happens again then I won't be able to date anyone. Well, I could, but I'd have to lie to her about it. I guess I'm just afraid that she won't let me see you anymore," she said, tears welling in her eyes.

Willow didn't know what to say. Would Buffy's mom really do something like that? Then again, Willow was sure her parents were going to freak out and never allow the redhead to see the blonde ever again, but they're hardly home so that won't be a problem.

"She wouldn't, would she? I mean, she wouldn't make you break up with me or anything, right? If she doesn't want me sleeping in your bed with you then I won't, but she wouldn't make us break up?" she was scared and wasn't too sure if she should be or not and the unknowing look in Buffy's eyes made her all the more fearful.

"I don't know. She's never freaked out like this before. Maybe it's because of what happened at my old school, with the burning of the gym and me getting expelled, I don't know. I just don't know Will," she said and a single tear escaped her left eye and rolled down her cheek. Willow reached up and wiped it away with her thumb, feeling the smooth skin under neither.

"Come on, let's keep walking. We could go sit on the swings at the playground. Do you wanna do that?" she asked and only got a nod from Buffy, and they continued walking. Willow took the longest way to get there, not wanting to end their walk. She now had her arm wrapped around Buffy's lower back, her hand resting on the blonde's hip. She held Buffy close, as she rested her head on Willow's shoulder.

They finally made it to the playground but they didn't go to the swings. They walked over to the large jungle gym and climbed up and sat down on the bridge and just held each other. Willow was doing the best she could to comfort Buffy, her Buffy, and it was starting to work.

She felt the blonde relax and gently pull back far enough so that she could look into Willow's eyes. She had her hands wrapped around Willow's lower back and she was gently massaging the body under neither her fingers. Willow was doing the same, only to Buffy's upper back, in between the shoulder blades. She closed her eyes when she saw Buffy lean forward and the two shared a soft, very loving kiss.

"We'll be ok. No matter what happens, I'm not going to leave you," Buffy said and kissed Willow again. This one was filled with a little more passion. She wasn't too sure when their tongues got involved on the action or when Willow had worked her way down to Buffy's neck but sure enough there was a hickie left there, and the only thought in her mind was: Mom's gonna kill me when she sees it.

"I need to get home," Buffy said as she pulled away from Willow's touches. She wanted the redhead to keep up with the gentle, comforting caresses but she knew that if she kept them up then she would never be able to leave, and that would be a very bad thing. Willow gave her a small understanding smile and they stood up and walked out of the playground hand in hand.

Buffy had dropped Willow off at her house before heading home. She saw that the Jeep was still in the driveway but she didn't really give it much thought as she climbed up to the roof and back in through her window.

She thought she was going to die right then and there when she saw that her mother was waiting for her, sitting on the edge of her bed with her arms folded across her chest. One of her feet was impatiently tapping the ground and Buffy could have sworn one of the veins in her forehead was throbbing.

She watched in horror as her mom stood up but didn't make any attempt to move closer. Which was good because Buffy thought that if her mom did walk closer then she would pee her pants from fear. They both just stood there, staring at each other for a few minutes before one of them finally broke the silence.

"Two months. No T.V., no phone, no friends. The only places you will be going for the next two months are school and this house. All of your homework will be done right when you get home, and you will do all of the dishes. Arguments and protests will only lengthen your groundation, and if I catch you sneaking out of this house again for any reason, especially to sneak off to see Willow you will not be dating anyone for a year, are we clear?" she asked, her voice had taken on this deep pitch that reminded Buffy of a demon she had slain just last week.

"Crystal," she managed to squeak out before her mother walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Buffy fell back onto her bed, letting out a sigh of relief. So her mom hadn't killed her, but she still wouldn't be able to go out on any dates with Willow, or go to the Bronze with Willow, or go over to Willow's house for a make out session, or have Willow come over for a make out session. This just sucked.

That Monday the slayer was feeling ok. She was actually happy to be going to school because now she would get to see Willow, her Willow. She couldn't believe how much she missed her and it had only been two day since she last saw her. Two days too many, she thought as she walked up to her locker and pulled out some of her books.

She smiled when she felt a pair of warm hands sneak their way around her waist and rest on her stomach. And her smile grew when she felt soft lips against the back of her neck. She leaned back against the person, happier now then she has been since Saturday morning. But she tried not to think about that, right now all was right with the world because she was wrapped in her Willow's arms.

"Hmm, I love it when you wear your hair up," she heard the redhead whisper into her ear. She shivered when she felt the warm breath on her ear and neck, but it was s good shiver. She felt the soft lips on the back of her neck again and couldn't help but lean her head to one side, a silent plead for Willow to move her soft touches to the side of her neck, to the one little sensitive spot that Willow doesn't yet know about, the little spot that drives Buffy insane when touched in a gentle way.

She groaned in frustration when she felt Willow pull away, leaving her cold and wanting more. She turned around to see why Willow had stopped and her eyes widened when she saw her English teacher glaring at them. He said something about proper conduct in the halls and if he sees anything like that again they'll be both suspended, and he walked off. Buffy was still a little surprised and scared by the encounter that she didn't really hear what he said, just that he sounded mad.

"We need to be more careful. I can't get in any more trouble I'm grounded for long enough as it is," Buffy said and closed her locker door and then leaned against it. Willow stood next to her and took a hold of Buffy's hand and laced their fingers together.

"It's only three weeks, I'm sure you'll manage," Willow said and smiled at her. She watched Buffy's brawl wrinkle and she gave Willow a weird look. Then her eyes lit up like she remembered something that she had forgotten to tell the redhead. Then she looked at Willow with a little bit of guilt.

"It's not three weeks, at least not anymore. She caught me sneaking back into my room, and so now it's two months. No T.V., no phone, no friends, and no you," she said sadly and watched the surprise cross Willow's face. She could tell that the redhead was sad and possibly a little angry. "And I have to do all the dishes, how lame is that?" She was trying to lighten the now tense mood, but it wasn't working too well.

"So for two months the only place I'm going to get to see you is here? That doesn't seem very fair," Willow said and pouted a little. Buffy found that look just irresistible and she couldn't help herself as she leaned over and took Willow's bottom lip between her own and gently sucked on it. She froze and her eyes shot open when she heard someone cough to get her attention.

"What did I just get through telling you two? Principal's office now," the teacher said with obvious disgust and walked behind the two teens as they made their way to the principal's office. Other kids were staring at them and giving them these looks that said 'dead teens walking'. Buffy couldn't help but feel as if she were in a bad prison movie or something.

The principal didn't go as far as suspend the two because this was their first trip to the office for this kind of behavior. The teacher argued with him, but he wasn't about to have a lawsuit placed against the school for bigotry, so the punishment was three weeks detention and they have to help out in the cafeteria at lunch. He threatened to call their parents and inform them of the incident when Buffy started to argue, and she quickly shut up.

"Jeez Buff, you must have some pretty bad karma. I mean, first you get grounded for two months by your mom, and now you have three week's detention?" Xander said as they walked to their history class together after the morning bell rang. It just didn't seem fair to Buffy. She works really hard keeping Sunnydale safe, the least she should be able to do is break the small rules and have a little fun with her girlfriend.

Luckily her mom works until five so she wouldn't notice that Buffy was getting home an hour later then normal. She had to work extra hard to get her school work done sooner so her mom wouldn't think that she was just ignoring it, ignoring her punishment. That's the last thing she needed at that moment in time.

Finally, after an hour and a half of confusion and concentration her finally got all of her homework done. She went downstairs to get a snack and as she passed the front door she heard someone walking up the pathway. Strange, she hadn't heard her mom's car out front, and those didn't sound like her mom's work shoes on the porch, and her mom never knocks on the door.

She opened the door and saw Willow standing there, tears in her eyes that were about to fall and by the red streaks down her face it looked like she had been crying for some time. She had her backpack and also her overnight bag that she takes whenever she spends the night at Buffy's house. Stranger and stranger.

"What's wrong Will?" Buffy asked as she stepped aside and let Willow in the house. The redhead was struggling to keep her composure as she set her bags down next to the door and hung her head low, letting her hair shield her face from the outside world. Buffy was very concerned at this point, she had never seen Willow so upset.

"My parents...they called the school...and asked why I...I have detention," she said in between gasps for air. It was hard to understand what she was saying, and all Buffy had understood from it was 'parents', 'school' and 'detention'. She knew this wasn't going to be good.

"They...they yelled...and told me to...to break up...with you...but I told them no...So they...they kicked me out...and said...said not to come back...until I do," she couldn't stand it anymore. She lost all of self-control that she had managed to maintain and she felt like she was going to fall. She felt Buffy's arms wrap tightly around her a few seconds before her knees finally buckled.

Buffy carried the other girl over to the couch and they sat there together, Buffy doing her best to comfort Willow as she cried on the blonde's shoulder. It took her almost half an hour to finally calm down but she did. And winning the 'worst timing of the year award' she heard her mother pull up in the driveway.

"Willow, I need you to wait here for a minute ok? I need to talk to my mom real quick," Buffy said and waited for any response before she left. Willow just gave a small nod and then Buffy gave her a small hug before she quickly left the house to meet her mother halfway up the walkway.

"Hi Buffy, wanna help me carry these?" Joyce asked and handed her daughter a bag of groceries and then walked back to the car to get another. Buffy was glad she had gone back, this would give her more time to explain. She was praying to any god or goddess who would listen that this went well and her mom didn't freak out.

"Look Mom, please let me explain everything before you say anything ok?" Buffy asked and with a somewhat timid look on her face. Joyce looked back at her, a little bit of hesitation and a tad of anger, knowing that Buffy only says that before starting a conversation when she might get into trouble.

"What did you break?" Joyce asked and that got an eye roll from Buffy. She watched as Buffy shook her head and attempted to explain what was going on.

"Willow's parents, they kind of found out about us being a couple, and they tried to make her end our relationship." She's using bigger words then normal, this can't be good, Joyce thought. "But she said that she wasn't going to so they kind of kicked her out, and she doesn't have anywhere else to go so she came here."

Joyce stood there, in a bit of a shock. She knew that Willow's parents were gone a lot on business and from what Buffy has told her about them they just seem to ignore Willow when they are home. She just couldn't understand how they could just kick her out of her home like that. She sighed, even though Buffy is grounded and it's because of what she and Willow did, she couldn't turn the girl away.

"Alright, but she has to sleep on the couch, and no funny business when I'm not home," she said in the 'this is only temporary so don't get too excited' type of voice. It was the same type of voice that she used when Buffy once found a little puppy that they kept until it animal shelter opened the next morning.

"Thanks Mom," Buffy said and pulled Joyce into the biggest hug she's ever received from her daughter. It made Joyce smile seeing her daughter this happy and she let go of the fact that Buffy's still grounded. Even if she did screw up she'll give her some time to be happy before enforcing the rules again.

After the groceries were unloaded Buffy and Willow sat on the couch in the living room. Her mom wouldn't let them go up to Buffy's room and it made Buffy a little mad but she decided to drop it, she was in enough trouble as it is. The two are watching T.V. and Willow is snuggled up to the blonde, her blonde, needing nothing at the moment but comfort and support.

"What am I gonna do, Buffy?" she asked and snuggled up closer to the other girl. She wanted to hide, to get away from everything bad that was happening. How could her parents do that to her? It was such an awful feeling that was in her stomach, and her chest, constricting and twisting, making it hard to breathe.

"I don't know, Will. Maybe if they just have some time to cool off they'll see what a big mistake they made," she whispered softly to her. She honestly didn't know what they were going to do. She liked to think that as long as they had each other then nothing else mattered, but she knew that wasn't true. They needed the love and support of their families just as much.

That night Buffy was tossing and turning in her bed. She couldn't get to sleep despite the fact that she had taken two Tylenol PM's. She just couldn't make herself fall asleep and the more she tried the more resistance she found. She stopped moving, deciding that maybe if she just stare at the ceiling for a while then she'll get bored enough to pass out.

When she was still and quiet her slayer senses started to roam free. She heard a little noise in the distance. It sounded like it was coming from downstairs, and she focused on it. She concentrated hard until she was one hundred percent sure what it was. She shook her head from side to side, knowing that this might have happened. She got up and slowly crept downstairs so she wouldn't wake her mom.

She walked into the living room and stood in the door jam for a few minutes. She watched as Willow lay on the couch, a blanket pulled over her head, covering her entire body, hiding her from the world. She was crying pretty hard and it ripped Buffy's heart in many pieces to see her like this. She knew that she would probably get into trouble with her mom, but she didn't care, Willow is more important then some stupid rule to try and prevent teenage naughtiness.

She slowly walked up to the couch and pulled the blanket back. She sight made her breathe leave her body and tears sprung to her eyes. Willow's face was buried in the pillow that her arms were tightly wrapped around. The sobs made her body tremble violently, and she didn't even bother to look up when she felt her covering being pulled back.

Buffy slowly slipped onto the couch next to her redhead and pulled the covers over them leaving only their heads exposed. She wrapped her arms around Willow and pulled her close, so that Willow's head was resting on the blonde's shoulder. She wrapped her arms around Buffy and held on tightly as if her very life depended on it.

She buried her face in the slayer's neck and cried harder then she's ever cried in her life. She felt Buffy's hands softly rubbing the length of her back, and she heard the other girl whispering reassurances into her ear until she finally cried herself to sleep, exhausted from the day's events and dreading the day to come.

Buffy Summers was in heaven. Ok, well not literally, but pretty damn close. In her opinion, things were finally starting to go her way. Well, there was just one thing that was still bothering her. Willow's parents still haven't made any attempt to apologize or take their daughter back and it has been a month and a half since they kicked her out. Maybe they were serious after all. The redhead has stopped by her house many times, but the locks have been changed, she's made many phone calls, but they just let the machine answer for them and they never call back. But other then that, things are starting to look up.

Willow and Buffy's mom are getting along great. Things were a little tense between them in the beginning but it didn't take too long for Joyce to see what a sweet kid Willow really is and after a long discussion the air cleared right up. Joyce is still very motherly, however, and doesn't allow the two girls to sleep in Buffy's bed together and when they are alone in there the door stays wide open.

They are sometimes allowed to sleep on the couch together, after hours of begging Joyce and saying that they're just going to watch a movie and talk for a while and then go to sleep. That does happen, but there are usually many kisses in between. Joyce understands that they're teenagers and they are going to find someplace to go to be close, even if it's in a back alley behind the school or something.

She has, however, made her point very clear that if she ever walks in on anything more then just kissing then Willow will just have to find another place to live because she isn't going to condone that kind of behavior. The two girls are very understanding, and agreed, not in front of Joyce, that it is too soon for them to be thinking about going that far. They've only been dating for a little over two months and they don't want to rush into anything.

Willow has moved into the spare room and she's slowly adjusting to living with the two Summers woman. It is really hard to deal with the fact that her parents just don't want her anymore, but she's getting there. She's hoping that someday soon they'll see their mistake and try to make things better. They may never have been around to begin with, but they're still her parents and she still loves them and does want their approval.

Joyce even went a little easier on Buffy, admitting that she did over react, so instead of a two-month's groundation it was a month. It would have been a little less but Joyce found out about the detentions and the fact that Buffy didn't tell her is what made her say one month.

So for a month the only places Buffy went was school, and at night she would sneak out only when she knew that her mom was asleep and she would patrol for no longer then three hours and then sneak back in. She couldn't ignore her duties as a slayer just because she got into some trouble.

Things weren't very fun for Buffy while she was grounded. She wasn't allowed to go anywhere with Willow and her mom made sure that they didn't spend a lot of time alone. They weren't even allowed to have movie nights on the weekends and Buffy had to sleep in her own bedroom. But all of that changed as soon as she served her punishment. From then on they had a movie night every Friday, and they went to the Bronze every Saturday, well so far, it's only been two weeks now.

Whenever they are allowed to sleep together, and by sleeping they do actually sleep, they have to sleep in the living room. Joyce made it very clear that she wasn't going to let them sleep in the same bed, unless it was in the daytime and the door stays wide open. It is becoming a ritual for them that every Friday they fall sleeping watching movies and then on Saturday they sleep on the couch after a night of Bronzing. It's only allowed on weekends, on school nights they have to sleep in their own beds.

Buffy wishes that it could be during the week as well. She never sleeps better then when it's in the arms of Willow. She just feels so calm and at peace, and it gives her the feeling that she's in heaven. In her mind, heaven is in Willow's arms and there's no place she would rather be. She loves spending time with the redhead during the day and they are not too shy when it comes to the PDA's, but she's happiest when they're all cuddled up under the covers, getting ready to fall asleep.

It's Sunday morning now. Buffy is the first one awake, surprisingly. That girl could sleep half the day away and wake up and act like it's no big deal. The Bronze had been fun last night. They spent most of the night dancing together, and the two couldn't help but notice that there were a lot more slow songs played then normal. They had danced to almost all of them, only stopping when they needed a refreshing drink or two.

One of her favorite things to do is watch Willow sleep. When the fascination first started she felt kind of weird by it, like a stalker or something. But now she doesn't really care. She just loves how peaceful the redhead looks when she's sleeping. It's almost like the sad reality and truths can't touch her in her dreams and to Buffy, she looks like an angel. She smiled when she saw Willow start to stir as she came back to consciousness.

"Morning," Buffy whispered and placed a quick kiss on the sleepy girl's lips. Willow smiled a small very happy smile and she snuggled in closer to the blonde beauty lying next to her. She loves the time she spends with Buffy, loves dancing with her at the Bronze, and making out with her on the living room couch, and in the stacks at the library and all of the other places they go, but the one thing she loves most is waking up in the blonde's arms. It makes her feel truly safe, and secure and happy.

"Good morning," Willow said into the slayer's neck. They just laid there for what seemed like hours, in each other's arms, loving the feelings that were invoked inside of them. The happiness they were feeling came to somewhat of an end when they had to get up and start the day. Breakfast was made and served and from there they went about their daily chores and Buffy was allowed to enjoy her freedom, and the two teens went shopping.

They still weren't used to the looks that they received when they were about in public together. People would watch them, holding hands or Buffy with her arm around Willow's lower back as they walked together in the crowded mall. They would get looks of disgust, lust or hatred, depending on who looked. Very rarely did they get a look of acceptance, a small smile from someone who thought it was nice they were happy together.

Far too often are the two picked on, and talked down to. Willow gets the worst of it. Anyone with eyesight can see that Buffy is the stronger of the two. Everywhere she goes she reeks of confidence and people can feel that. On some small level they can feel the power that she has, the power of the slayer, and they can see that Willow is shy and the more vulnerable of the two. And the bigots of the town use that to their advantage.

The two walked into the little clothing store, holding hands as they always did whenever they were together. They knew they weren't going to buy anything, but trying on clothes is most of the fun anyway. They separated for a few minutes, picking out skirts, jeans and tops that they would consider buying if they had the money. Then they met at the dressing rooms, each with a different room key, but Buffy had that little mischievous smile on her face that told Willow the blonde was up to no good.

Before Willow could close her dressing room door all the way, Buffy shoved her way in and closed and locked the door and then turned around to see a surprised Willow. She smiled and slowly made her way towards the babbling redhead. Willow was backing away until she was stopped by the wall. She watched as Buffy leaned in really close, their lips were mere centimeters from touching.

"Buffy, I don't think we should do this. I mean, this is a public place, and I don't think they would appreciate two girls making out in their dressing room. Not that there's anything wrong with two girls making out, it's just I don't think they're going to think so," she babbled at the speed of light, but Buffy was used to it so she understood what the redhead was saying. She decided to mess with Willow a little, and held back the smile.

"So, you're saying you like to watch other girls?" she asked with a mock-frown. At first she thought it was kind of mean to put her girlfriend on the spot like that, but it was all worth it when she saw Willow trying to back paddle as fast as she could. She wasn't making any sense at first, wasn't even saying words, just vowel sounds and Buffy was dying inside she wanted to laugh so badly.

"Um, no, no that's not what I'm saying. I just like to watch you, you're my favorite girl, and I don't mean watch you as in a creepy stalker way, but it does sound kind of creepy. But no, I don't like to watch other girls. Not that I've seen other girls, well I have but not in a sexy kind of way." She was going to continue with the babble but Buffy cut her off with a kiss. Willow babble is very cute and all, but back paddling like that probably felt like torture. Buffy pulled away from the kiss first, and she noticed that Willow had a little smile on her face.

"It's ok, I was just messing with you," she admitted and then leaned in and exchange another kiss with the redhead. It didn't take long before the two were in the middle of a make out session. Their current surroundings were forgotten and the only thing that existed was the two of them, and all of the feelings that they brought out in each other.

Buffy couldn't believe how good it felt to touch Willow in this intimate way. She never believed that she would actually be able to find a little piece of heaven here on earth, but here she was, kissing Buffy and sneaking a hand under the blonde's shirt. She smiled and she pulled back from the kiss and put hand over Willow's.

"Ah, ah, ah. That's what got us caught in the first place, remember?" she asked and couldn't help but giggle when Willow's blush matched her hair. They continued to kiss, and Buffy was very aware of the fact that Willow's hips were subconsciously grinding against hers. Ok, she needed to get out of there and now, because she did not want their first time to be in a dressing room in the mall, and if she didn't leave now then that would most likely happen.

She pulled back and placed a small kiss on Willow's cheek before picked up the dress she was supposed to be trying on and then went into her own stall. She gave herself a once over in the mirror. She liked the way the sky blue material brought out the color in her eyes. She was nervous as she opened the door to step out, she just hoped that Willow liked it.

When she stepped out of her room she spent five minutes coaxing Willow out. The dress Buffy had picked out for the redhead to try on was not something Willow would normally wear, which is exactly why Buffy had picked it out. Then Willow slowly opened the door and stood in the doorway, looking very apprehensive, and a little scared.

Buffy's jaw dropped. She did not expect the dress to look that good on Willow. It was a tight fitting, light green dress that stopped a little above Willow's knees, showing off her long creaming white legs. It was a spaghetti strap and low cut. It showed off Willow's cleavage very well, making her breasts look a little bigger then they really are. 'Gosh, look at those', Buffy thought practically drooling at the sight. Before Willow could say a word Buffy was kissing her with a ferociousness that has never been shown before.

She backed Willow into the dressing room and kicked the door closed. She pressed Willow up against the wall, exploring the hacker's mouth as if for the very first time. She was grinding her hips against Willow's wanting her more then she ever has before. She broke away from the kiss when they needed to breathe. She latched onto Willow's throat. Placing firm kisses before taking some of the warm flesh into her mouth and sucking strongly on it.

In response Willow was moaning, and softly grinding her hips against the blonde's. Her head was spinning, and she found that she couldn't really think. The things Buffy makes her feel she's never felt with anyone else. Never has she wanted anyone more then she wants the blonde, and right now she's wetter then she has been in her entire life. She wants Buffy, she really does, and she wants to give herself to her blonde but at the same time she's really scared. All of these feelings are just too much for her to comprehend, and she just needs some time to think. Plus, she doesn't want her first time to be in a mall.

"Buffy…" she whispered, trying to control her humming body. She gently pushed Buffy's shoulders back trying to get her attention. "Buffy please stop." Buffy backed up, still a little dazed. She looked at Willow with concern in her eyes. She thought that maybe she had done something wrong. Maybe she had hurt Willow somehow.

"What's wrong? Did I hurt you?" she asked and Willow shook her head no. She could tell that the redhead was having a hard time forming words. She saw Willow shake her head no, but Buffy still wasn't convinced. She pulled away even more, taken a couple of steps back, breaking all physical contact.

"You didn't hurt me, I promise. It's just...I'm finding it very hard to control myself at the moment, and we need to control ourselves, because I really don't want my first time to be in the dressing room at a store in the mall." Buffy nodded her head in understanding and then eyed Willow up and down really enjoying the view. Willow watched her and blushed at the attention she was receiving. "Like the dress?" she said in a teasing manner. Buffy nodded her head and looked into Willow's eyes.

"Like the dress, love the body it's wrapped around," she said and smiled, as she watched Willow turn even redder. Buffy bit down on her bottom lip in an attempt to keep the groan of want at bay when she saw that Willow's blush reached her chest. She knew she had to get out of there and now before she did something that she might regret later on. So, without another word she left the dressing room and went back into her own.

They changed back into their clothes and put the dresses back. Buffy checked the tag on Willow's dress before they left, checking to see what size it was. She decided that she would come back in a couple of day and buy the dress for Willow to wear at the Bronze. She wanted everyone from Sunnydale High to see what was there all along but they were too stupid to notice, and she wanted them all to know that she was Buffy's.

"Hey, how was class?" Willow asked as Buffy joined her and Xander at lunch on Monday. Buffy gave her a peck on the lips as she sat down and put her tray on the table. She shrugged her shoulders and looked over at Willow.

"Same as always, boredom mixed with confusion." She tried to ignore the disapproving look Willow was giving her. History class was something that Buffy was not doing so well in and Willow wanted her to take it a little more seriously. But Buffy's argument never changed: 'why do we have to learn about a bunch of dead people? It's just a waste of time.'

"Before I forget, I can't make it to the Bronze this weekend," Xander said and took a swig of his soda. Willow looked over at him a little surprised. Willow and Xander have been going to the Bronze almost every Saturday for over a year now. It's their tradition. She knew that if he couldn't make it then he had a really good reason.

"My parents going out of town this weekend, my dad has some kind of conference for his work and they want me to go with them or unknown reasons. We're leaving Friday night and we won't be back until Sunday," he said and took another drink of his coke. The two girls could tell by the sound of his voice that he didn't wan to go. Xander's parents aren't the best and he tries to spend as little time as possible with them. Willow just hoped that this weekend went ok for him.

"Well look who it is. The two sapphic freaks. Having fun together are you girls?" Cordelia asked as she stood at the foot of the table, smirking smugly. Buffy jumped to her feet and got right in Cordelia's face. She usually tries to ignore Cordelia or come back with her own witty retort, but whenever the brunette girl starts making fun of her and Willow's relationship, well, she tends to get a little hot headed.

"Fuck off Cordelia. Just because you can't find somebody who could love a cold-hearted bitch like you doesn't mean you have any right to take it out on us," her voice was like ice, her fists were flexing madly and she just wanted to hit this Queen Bitch so badly that it was slowly killing her inside. She felt Willow's hand wrap gently around her wrist in case things got too heated and she had to try to hold the blonde back, but Buffy ignored it. This was her 'guy side' after all, and it tends to act without thinking things through.

"Oh, I'm loved, trust me when I say that. I'm not the pathetic one who corrupted little Willow just because you couldn't do better." Willow knew what was coming and before things got violent, she grabbed onto Buffy's other wrist and pulled back, holding the blonde to her best ability, and Xander jumped up and stood in front of Cordelia to hopefully intercept any punches that might be thrown. Even thought Willow and Xander hate Cordelia with a fiery passion, they're not going to let Buffy get suspended, even if it is for a justifiable reason.

"Cordelia I think you should leave before you find out what pain really is," he said looking back over his shoulder. Apparently the brunette didn't need to be told twice. She left without saying another word. He sat back down and watched as Willow had to coax Buffy back into her seat, convincing her that Cordelia just isn't worth it.

"God, she just makes me so mad. Just because she can't find someone doesn't mean she has to be so bitter to us about it," she said and crossed her arms over her chest. She was too mad to eat or enjoy any conversation so she just sat there and sulked. As she did that Willow sat there quietly and processed everything that had gone down, everything that had been said. Her eyes widened as a thought crossed her mind and she thought that she might actually faint.

"Will, you ok? You look like you just saw a ghost. And, being a the hellmouth that isn't exactly impossible," Xander said, drawing Buffy's attention and she looked over at her girlfriend, worry creasing her brow when she saw how pail Willow was. She placed a comforting hand over Willow's to try and get her attention but Willow seemed to be looking everywhere but her.

"I'm-I'm-I'm fine. I...I just...I gotta go," she said and got up and left without saying another word. Buffy exchanged a confused and worried look with Xander before she got up to follow Willow. There were a lot of other kids walking around so she lost sight of the redhead and she looked all over the place but she couldn't find her. She wasn't in any of the expected places: the computer lad, the chemistry lab, the library, or any of the girls' bathrooms. Buffy looked in almost every classroom and then out in the quad but she couldn't find her anywhere and for the rest of the day she just felt this twinge of guilt, like she had done something really wrong, but she didn't know what it was.

Buffy waited outside of the school waiting for Willow in their usual spot but she never showed. Buffy waited for an hour and a half before she finally gave up and headed for home. She just had this sickening feeling down in the pit of her stomach and she couldn't figure out what it was. She knew that something wasn't right with Willow, that much was obvious, but she didn't know what it was and it was going to bother the hell outta her until she found out and made it all better.

She walked up the stairs to her bedroom and put her bag down. She walked towards the bathroom and when she passed Willow's door she thought she heard voices, well, a voice. She stopped and listened and became even more concerned. Willow only talks to herself when she's really upset, so what was bothering her. She thought about opening the door and talking to her, until her name was brought up in the one sided conversation.

"How could Buffy not tell me? Does she even feel that way or was she just caught up in the heat of the moment? What am I going to do? Do I even feel the same? Well, I guess I do. I've never felt this way before so I don't really have a basis for a comparison, but I think I do. What if I tell her and she freaks? What if she doesn't want to be with me anymore? We've only been dating for three months, well, in five days it'll be three months. Is it too soon to be feeling this?" she asked herself. Buffy decided that she would let Willow get out all of the babbles before she talked to her. She just hoped that the redhead was Willow to talk.

She was very glad she had listened in on Willow's little babble because she was reminded that in five days it would be their three month anniversary. A very good reason to celebrate, and go back to the mall and buy that fabulous blue dress that she had tried on yesterday. She figured that she would buy the green one as well. She just hoped Willow would be willing to wear it out in public. She couldn't help but smile a very large Cheshire cat like grin as she grabbed her wallet and made a mad dash for the mall.

Saturday night rolled around and it could not have come any sooner. All week Willow had been really withdrawn, and upset. She stayed in her room mostly and she didn't talk much. When she was questioned about it by both Buffy and Joyce she just told them that she was still upset about her parents and that she would be fine eventually. Buffy suspected that it was something else but she didn't want to say anything because she didn't want Willow to feel pushed.

Because this was a special night they wanted to do things a little different. Instead of going to the Bronze together, they were going to show up separately. Willow had agreed, after a lot of persuasion, to wear the green dress and to let Cordelia apply her make-up. Buffy had bullied the beauty queen into doing it, saying that if Willow was anything less then perfect she would tear the brunette's limbs off one by one. Buffy had talked to Xander about it and he gave her his house key so that she could change while Willow got ready back at their house. They were to meet at their usual spot at eight o' clock sharp.

Buffy showed up a little early. She wanted to see Willow first, and watch her as she walked across the room while everyone stared and watched. A couple of guys might even hit on her, who knew? At least that's what Buffy thought would happen as she sat there at their table, sipping at her coke, glancing down at her watch every thirteen and a half seconds. She looked up just in time to see Willow enter the little club. Buffy's jaw dropped. She'd never seen anything more beautiful in her life.

She had to admit, if only to herself, that Cordelia had done a great job. Willow's hair was down, but slightly curled, her eye make up was a little darker then she ever wears it, she lips were sporting a dark lipstick, a color in between red and purple, and then a gloss and been applied to make them shiny.

But her eyes was what had Buffy. The combination of the dress and the dark eye liner and mascara made Willow's eyes look a very bright green, and you were immediately drawn to them. 'Wow, I can't believe she's mine', Buffy thought and took a dip of her soda, her mouth went dry a minute ago, the moisture decided to take up residence in a lower part of her body.

"Hey Willow, you look...wow," she said at Willow sat down, fidgeting uncomfortably, not used to wearing something so revealing. She gave up after a few seconds deciding that this was a special occasion and it's ok to do something you wouldn't normally do when it's for a good reason. She leaned forward and placed a soft, wet kiss on Buffy's lips. When she pulled back she watched as Buffy slightly licked her lips.

"Mmm, strawberry, my favorite," she said and smiled. She couldn't look away from Willow, and she saw that the redhead was starting to blush. She looked down at Willow's chest, and caught a glimpse of just how far down that blush went, and she couldn't help but moan. She leaned back in for another kiss and they didn't pull back until oxygen was absolutely necessary. She smiled and looked into Willow's eyes, and she felt her heart skip a beat.

"I'll get you a drink, what would you like?" she asked and stood up from her seat. Willow said just to get her a coke and Buffy gave her one more kiss before heading over to the bar. She sat on the stool and waited for the bartender, which was taking forever because tonight it was pretty packed. She looked over at the table where her beloved redhead sat and she couldn't help but smile a shit-eating grin when she saw how many people where checking her out. She noticed that Willow was looking a little uncomfortable, not used to that kind of attention at all, and Buffy just hoped that the bartender would hurry up so she could get back over there.

She saw a guy start to walk over towards the table. She thought she recognized him, maybe he went to their school? But she wasn't sure. She let her slayer sense roam and he wasn't a vampire, which is good or bad depending on how you look at it. Good because Willow wasn't in any real danger and bad because Buffy can't kill him for hitting on her girlfriend. She tried to determine which was worst and then she noticed that things at the table were getting a little heated. The guy looked mad at Willow looked desperate for a way out of the situation, looks like he doesn't know how to take no for an answer. And then he did the thing that made Buffy see red. He grabbed onto Willow's upper arm very tightly and forcefully pulled her up to her feet.

Buffy leapt from the stool and made her way over to the table. There were a lot of people in her way and she tried not to use too much of her slayer strength but it was hard. As she got closer she could hear Willow's protests and pleas to be let go and the fact that she was practically begging this guy not to hurt her made Buffy's anger level grow to new heights. But just before she reached the table, just when she was getting ready to rip that guys arm off and force it down his throat some strange guy stepped forward and grabbed a hold of the offending person's wrist causing him to let go of Willow.

"You better back off. She said no way more then once. Now leave her alone or you're gonna loose some of the pretty pearly whites," he said and then pushed the guy back. The knight in shining armor (figurative, he's really dressed in a red t-shirt and dark blue jeans) then turned to Willow. "Are you alright?" She nodded her head and then looked down at her arm. There was a very large red hand print. She winced as she softly touched it.

"That's gonna leave a bruise," she said and then looked relieved when she saw Buffy rushed forward. She hugged the blonde tightly and had to hold back the tears. Willow's always been really sensitive when it comes to violence. Well, at least she has whenever it's directed at her. They ended the hug and Buffy gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Are you alright?" she asked and Willow nodded her head, afraid that if she spoke she would break down right there. "Hey, it's ok, you're safe now. That's guy's lucky I didn't get to him first, I would've ripped his throat out." She practically growled out. Then she remembered the guy who had saved her Willow and she turned to him. "Thank you so much for what you did."

"Yeah, thanks. You're a hero," Willow said and smiled. She made sure to say 'a' hero and not 'my' hero because otherwise Buffy's 'guy side' would have come out to play and she really didn't want this guy to meet that side. At least not after he helped her. If he turns out to be an ass who only helped her in hopes for some booty, then she doesn't really care.

"No problem. That was my step-brother, Scott, he's an ass. He's always harassing the girls in here," he said and shook his head. He then took a closer look at the two gorgeous girls in front of them, and took note of their closeness and how the blonde had her hand on the small of the redhead's back. He also remembered the kiss when the blonde first showed up. "I'm Quinn." He extended his hand to Willow who shook it lightly.

"Willow," she answered and then smiled. So far he's being the perfect gentleman. If I weren't dating Buffy I'd definitely be interested in him, she thought as she smiled a dazzling smile, forgetting all about the event that had taken place. The guy then turned to her date, who she had forgotten all about.

"I'm Buffy," she said and shook his hand, purposely applying a little more pressure then normal. To her surprise he didn't look challenged or try to add any more pressure. Well, so far so good. "Thanks again for doing what you did, but we're kinda on a date, so if you don't mind..." He nodded his head and bid his farewell and then he left, leaving a good impression.

"Well he was nice," Willow said and sat back down, forgetting all about the drink that Buffy had gone to get but didn't return with. Buffy agreed and then they fell into a comfortable silence, just looking into each other's eyes and smiling. Buffy wanted to bring up that incident in the beginning of the week, when Willow had freaked out at school and then was talking to herself, but she didn't want to ruin this night more then it already had been. A slow song came on and Buffy asked Willow if she wanted to dance, and she giddily accepted. (/these will indicate song lyrics/)

/I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh. I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away. I keep your photograph and I know it serves me well. I wanna hold you high and steal your pain./ Buffy wrapped her arms around Willow's waist and Willow wrapped hers around Buffy's neck. The blonde instantly recognized the song and she pulled Willow extra close and rested her cheek against the redhead's so that she could whisper along with the song into her girlfriend's ear.

/'Cause I'm broken when I'm open. And I don't feel like I am strong enough. 'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome. And I don't feel right when you're gone away./ Buffy placed a soft kiss on the redhead's ear before the second verse started. Holding Willow in her arms just felt so right, and loved it so much, she never wanted to let go, not ever. Willow felt the same and maybe more. Although she had been struggling with her feelings all week, she couldn't deny what it was and tonight she was going to confess it, maybe then she wouldn't be so stressed out. Hearing Buffy whisper the song to her was putting her at ease and doing some other crazy stuff to her body.

/The worst is over now and we can breathe again. I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away. There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight. I wanna hold you high and steal your pain./ They swayed to the music, completely lost in one another and in this moment. To them there were no other people in the room, and they where in a place of nonexistence, nothing was real, nothing had form, everything was just right, everything was only how they felt, nothing else mattered.

/'Cause I'm broken when I'm open. And I don't feel like I am strong enough. 'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome. And I don't feel right when you're gone away./ As the song ended many of the other couples part, but Buffy and Willow stayed right where they were, in each other's arms, and when the last cord was struck, Buffy leaned back and placed a soft kiss on Willow's lips.

"I love you Willow," she said and then her eyes shot open in surprise, and shock. She had not expected to say that. She didn't even know where it had come from. Sure she meant it, but she thought that it was too early in the relationship to be exchanging 'I love you's'. It just wasn't right, it wasn't supposed to be this way. She knew for sure that Willow was going to flip.

"I love you too," she heard her reply. She saw that Willow was smiling, and not freaking out and storming out of the place. Buffy smiled and she leaned down and they shared a passionate kiss. When they finally came up to breathe, they noticed that they had a lot of gawkers, just staring at them with their mouths hanging open.

"I've been wanting to tell you that all week. Ever since that fight you had with Cordelia on Monday. That's why I freaked and ran home. I've never been in love before and I just couldn't handle it. But then I went home and talked it out, and now I'm not freaked. And I'm so glad that you feel the same. You do feel the same right?" she asked, her insecurities rearing their ugly heads and Buffy wanted to beat Cordelia and her little gang up for putting them there in the first place.

"Of course I feel the same. Now, what do you say we leave a little early and go get some ice-cream and then go hang out at the playground for a while?" she asked and smiled when Willow nodded her head very enthusiastically. They got home a few minutes before their curfew and they changed into their pajamas before heading back downstairs to cuddle on the couch. They waited for Joyce to go to bed before they started to heavily make-out. In the middle of a particularly passionate kiss Buffy pulled back and rested her forehead against Willow's.

"I love you, so much. You have no idea how much I love you," she said and then smile when she saw Willow smile. They looked into each other's eyes, a new type of desire in both of them. They knew that this relationship went way beyond a physical connection, they were in love and they were loving every second of it.

"I love you too. And I love this new side of you. It's like you're a whole new Buffy. A sappy Buffy," she said and couldn't help but giggle. She kissed away Buffy's pout and the two grabbed the big comforter and snuggled underneath. They fell asleep in each other's arms, only thoughts of each other on their minds as they slipped into unconsciousness, and just before Buffy was completely out she thought to herself: 'Yep, I have a heaven right here.'

Buffy walked into school that morning in a very great mood. She was almost bouncing she was so happy and excited. Today was just a great day, and she was anticipating it to be just that. Today was a special day for her, and she wasn't going to let anyone put a damper on it. As she walked by the other students in the hall they all looked at her kind of funny. Buffy was never happy on a Monday morning. Grouchy and mean, yes, but never so happy that she was…skipping? What the hell was up?

She made her way out to the quad, in search of Willow. For the last three weeks the redhead had been going to school early so that she can help Ms. Calendar in the computer lab. So they didn't walk to school together, or get in any good morning kisses before they left the house. But that wasn't going to put Buffy in a bad mood. Nope, nothing could ruin this day. She walked out onto the quad and have Willow a quick kiss before she sat down on the bench next to her.

"You seem giddy this morning. Something happen last night that I should know about?" Xander asked and wiggled his eyebrows at her and Willow. Buffy just rolled her eyes and shook her head no, but Willow glared at her childhood friend and then smacked him on the arm. "Ouch! Ok, jeez. So, Buffy why are you so happy?" He looked over at her and rubbed his arm. Willow always got a little mad whenever he teased them about being physical, although he suspected that they still haven't slept with each other, he was sure Willow would tell him about that.

Buffy pulled Willow into her lap and wrapped her arms around her waist. She gave a quick kiss on her neck before she nuzzled the soft flesh. She felt Willow's breathing quicken and she could feel her own burning need start to grow. She had a feeling that if she and Willow didn't go farther into the relationship and soon she would go insane. Having Willow but never really having her was starting to drive her crazy.

"Do you know what today is?" she asked Willow but loud enough for Xander to hear. She waited a little impatiently while her redhead thought about it. She looked around at all of the other people in the quad. The guys were looking at them with lust, while most of the girls looked disgusted. There were a few who just didn't care, and paid them no attention. And then Buffy saw a very familiar face and she couldn't help but smile as she locked eyes with him for a second and he smiled too.

It had been over a month since that Saturday night when Quinn saved Willow from that really rude guy, Scott. They haven't really talked much since, but Buffy suspected that the handsome teen had a thing for Willow. When they passed in the hall she couldn't help but notice that his eyes never left Willow's body. It made her mad, and protective, but she tried to play it cool because Willow just loves to tease her when she gets really jealous of the boys, and that vise is plenty versa.

"Um, March twentieth," Willow said and her brow furrowed with confusion when Buffy shook her head no. "But it is the twentieth, I checked the calendar before I left the house this morning." Buffy thought about that and then nodded her head.

"Well, it is March twentieth, but 'what' day is it?" she asked and then the two became even more confused. She waited for an answer but they didn't give her one. They had no idea what she was talking about. She let out a dramatic sigh and subconsciously started to rub soft circles on Willow's stomach with her thumb and Xander had to fight like hell not to look.

"It's the first day of spring. I thought that maybe we could go out and celebrate tonight or something. It's like a tradition of mine. Every year on the first day of spring I go to a nursery and pick out a type of flower and plant it in the backyard. Well, I'm going to start planting them in the yard. At my house in L.A. I had to just leave them in the flower pots." Willow smiled at the cuteness of her girlfriend. Buffy was such a sap at heart and she was finally discovering that side of her. Ever since the admission of their love for each other the blonde has been a lot more romantic about things, and the things she says could put a B list romance movie to shame.

"So I was thinking," the blonde continued. "That maybe we could go pick out some flowers together and plant them out back." Then she put her lips to Willow's ear so only the redhead could hear. "And if we get a little dirty in the process and have to shower together to save on water, so be it." Willow blushed deeply, her face turning the same color as her hair, and she couldn't help but tense up. She almost felt bad denying Buffy but she just wasn't ready, and she wasn't going to do something she wasn't ready for just because she felt guilty.

She knew that Buffy was ready to go farther, but she didn't know if she was ready or not. She's never given herself to somebody before and she was afraid. She was scared that she wouldn't be any good and then Buffy would leave her, or that maybe sleeping with her was the real reason why Buffy was in the relationship, maybe the blonde only saw her as a conquest. She tried not to believe that but years of being told that she's worthless by Cordelia has really gotten her, and she can't help but think little of herself. Also, she's heard from the other girls talking the locker room that losing your virginity is a painful experience and she's not sure if she's ready to go through that or not.

She was about to say something, anything that would steer the conversation into another direction, when the perfect distraction came along. A guy that they had seen around, talked to a couple of times because he was in their biology class, David, stood in front of them, holding a pile light blue flyers and sporting a happy grin. He handed Willow the flyer and nodded his head in a hello, and offered a wiggle of his eyebrows at the way the two were sitting, and the flushed look on Willow's face.

"Party at Quinn's house this Saturday, you three in?" he asked and handed another flyer to Xander and then one to Buffy. "It just won't the same without you if you don't show, hope to see you there," he said in a friendly way and then walked off, and up to another small group of friends and passed out more flyers. The three spent a couple of minutes examining the papers they were given. In large bold letters said PARTY OF THE YEAR and then in smaller print under that it were the words 'free alcohol' and then it gave an address and said that the party would be starting at around nine.

"Well, what do you think, wanna go get a little tipsy and dance like we've never danced before?" Buffy asked, her voice oozing of sexual desire. Again Willow's face flushed and she was a little uncomfortable. She got up from Buffy's lap and avoided eye contact. She folded her flyer up and put it in her backpack and started to fidget a little. The two sitting down noticed that she was acting nervous, and the sudden mood change confused both of them.

"Um, I-I don't know. I mean, we usually go to the Bronze on Saturday. We wouldn't want to break tradition would we?" she asked and started to rub her hands together nervously. Before she could get an answer the bell rang and she looked back at her girlfriend and her childhood friend and forced a smile and tried not to show the relief she was feeling. "Well, we better get to class, wouldn't want to be late." She ran away from them, leaving them even more confused then before. It left them both thinking: 'what was that all about?'

Willow sat through her class, not really paying attention to what the teacher was saying. That struck everyone as odd, and to her surprise everyone in the room was worried about her. Mostly because the teacher was actually calling on them randomly because Willow wasn't raising her hand to answer the question. But there were a couple that were genuinely concerned for her well-being. One of them surprised the hell outta her after class when they questioned her gloomy state.

"Ok, what is the matter with you? I don't think I've ever seen you this sad before and I've been cruel to you for years," Cordelia said and leaned against the wall. Willow looked at her with surprise, and shock. She never thought in a million years that Cordelia would actually care about her in anyway. So why was she showing concern, even if it was being verbally projected in a mean voice.

"Nothing's wrong. And why do you care?" she asked, hoping that the ice queen would take offense and then say something about her being a humanitarian at heart and then stomping off. She just couldn't deal with fake compassion and then be used for her book smarts like so many people have done in the past. Nope, not this time. She wasn't going to help Cordelia no matter how concerned she acted. "What do you want? Because I'm not going to help you with the essay that's due on Friday. We've all had a month to write it, that's plenty of time for you to get a pedicure and study and write 5,000 words on Roman history."

Cordelia looked a little...hurt by that statement, but she was going to keep her emotions under control. She could tell that something was wrong with the redhead, anyone with eyes could see it, and she knew that Willow was just trying to get her mad so that she would stomp off and completely forget about her worries. But Willow doesn't know how strong willed the brunette could be, at least not yet.

"You're not getting rid of me that easy. I don't want help with the paper. I already have it finished and ready to turn in. What's with the surprised look? Romans actually interest me. Anyways, enough about me. (Something Willow thought she would never hear her say) what's up with you? There's obviously something bothering you, and I want to know what." Willow just looked over at her, confusion and surprise written all over her face. Cordelia finished an essay early? She thought to herself before snapping out of her trance.

"But why? You're always mean to me. In fact the last time you were nice to me was in fourth grade when I fell down and scraped my knee and you helped Xander walk me to the bathroom so I could get cleaned up. Of course you demanded that I help you with your homework for the next month, but you haven't been nice since." They started walking, Willow needed to get some books for her next class. She was actually kind of glad right now that she and Buffy had classes on opposite ends of the school for their second period. It saddened her that she was actually glad she wouldn't see her girlfriend.

"Alright, look. Over the years I think we've formed this special thing, you and me. I make fun of you and make you feel insecure, you look all sad and feel bad about yourself, Xander makes you feel better and then I ruin that happiness again. This is going to sound possessive, but I've come to think of you as my freak and if anyone is going to make you feel bad and act all depressed it's going to be me. I think I've reserved that right, and I'm not going to let anyone else push you around.

"Now tell me, what happened. Is it Harmony? She's come to think that just because she hangs out with me that she can make fun of you when I'm not there, and I've talked to her about it and she said she was going to stop. So if she's bothering you just tell me and I'll put an end to it. I have dirt on that girl that would put her at the bottom of the popularity chain overnight." She folded her arms across her chest and waited. She watched as Willow slowly pulled out her books and put the unneeded ones away.

"It's not Harmony, but thanks for that, she was turning into quite the bitch. She definitely learned from the best," she said and looked over at Cordelia, hoping that she would just leave. But then she saw that Cordelia was wearing her resolve face she wasn't going to go away. She sighed deeply and tried to think of something to tell her, something that would sound believable. She didn't want to say anything that the other girl would spread around the school and get completely out of hand, but she had to tell her something to get her to go away.

"You promise not to tell anyone?" she asked and looked Cordelia in the eyes. She watched as the brunette rolled her eyes and then relaxed a little. Willow had to admit that she was impressed. Cordelia was showing concern, maybe there was hope for her after all and she wouldn't grow up to be in a loveless relationship and end up getting a divorce and move on to more loveless relationships and only marrying for the money.

"Willow, I may have been mean to you over the years but I've never spread lies, and I don't talk about you behind your back. I just make a mean comment when we pass in the halls and I move on. The others talk, but I either change the subject or tell them to shut up. Now, what's bothering you?" Willow was again surprised. She wondered if maybe she had fallen into some type of alternate universe where Cordelia has actual feelings and isn't shallow and mean.

"Well," she knew she wouldn't be able to come up with a believable so she decided to tell her something really was bothering her, even if it wasn't the thing that had her so down. "A while ago my parents found out about me and Buffy, being together, and so they kicked me out of the house and said that I couldn't go back until I broke up with Buffy. I've tried calling them, but they just let the machine get it and they won't call back. And they've changed all the locks so I can't even go there and get my stuff. I guess I'm still upset about it." She had some tears running down her face and that's when Xander decided to walk up to them, and he looked really pissed off when he saw Willow crying and Cordelia standing there.

"Cordelia, get the hell out of here. Can't you, for one day, go without hurting other people to make yourself feel better? Are you that insecure?" he asked and stepped in between the two girls. Now that people were actually paying attention to what was happening, she gave up all feelings of compassion and concern, she does have a reputation to uphold after all.

"Maybe if Willow would try not being a freak for a day then I wouldn't have to make fun of her," she said with false cruelty and then she locked eyes with Willow and the redhead saw the commiseration in them. "You're better then them, just give it up already." She made sure to look down at Willow's clothes so that Xander wouldn't suspect something else and then she walked off to go find her little group of yes-women.

Xander asked if she was ok and even ripped off his shirt pocket so that she could blow her nose on it. He softly rubbed her back, trying to make her feel better. There are some days, days like these, that he wants to forget all about being a gentleman and just hit Cordelia hard enough to make her cry. But he would never hurt a girl in physical way on purpose and with malicious intent, it's just not who he is.

Willow and Buffy walked into the little nursery, and started to browse the different plants for sale. They were holding hands and walking really close together, Willow even went as far as letting go of Buffy's hand and putting it in the blonde's back pocket when she saw that the teenager behind the counter would not stop staring at her girlfriend's ass. Her own 'guy side' was starting to come out, but Buffy was oblivious. She was too busy looking at the different types of flowers and talking on and on about them.

"Oh, these are pretty, what do you think, will they look good in the backyard next to the porch or should we go with the blue? I think the blue ones would look better in the front yard, by the tree. But the pink ones are so pretty…Oh, these, let's get these ones." She said and picked up a small plastic container that held a small light green plant that had very light red flowers that felt like silk. She pulled the little tag out of the soil and held it out for Willow to see.

"Red carnations? But those won't really match any of the other plants in your yard," she said and watched as Buffy got a little mischievous grin on her face. She leaned forward and placed a sweet kiss on Willow's lips and then pulled back and looked into the lovely green eyes that she would never get tired of getting lost in.

"I know, but they're almost the exact same color as the blush you get whenever I embarrass you in front of Xander," she said with a sly smile. Willow rolled her eyes and tried not to blush, but it didn't work. Buffy smiled and then held the flowers really close to Willow's face and gave a little whistle. "Yep, pretty damn close." Willow tried to act offended and playfully smacked Buffy's arm. "You know I'm just teasing. But I do think they would go great in the yard. They would stand out, and look beautiful, just like you." She leaned forward and gave Willow a lingering kiss on the lips, only to receive a wolf whistle from the boy behind the counter, and when they pulled apart Willow was blushing a very deep red.

After they paid for the flowers and planted them in the backyard next to some of the other plants they had taken separate showers and are now hanging out in Willow's bedroom. Willow had insisted that they try to finish all of their homework early, that way it won't build up during the week and Joyce will let them go to that party. Willow still wasn't too sure about going, but she knew that it would make Buffy happy, and Willow wanted to make Buffy happy. She just wasn't so if all they would be doing at the party is mingling and hanging out and meeting people and possibly even kissing. She was worried that more would happen, or that one of them would try to make more happen.

Friday rolled around very slowly. Willow had tried to act happy and upbeat, but she was really feeling bad inside. She felt pressured, and she felt bad for denying Buffy every time, but she just wasn't ready to go that far. She didn't want to make Buffy mad so she kept her feelings to herself, but she knew that her blonde was starting to catch on that something wasn't right. She had questioned Willow on it a couple of times but the redhead denied that anything was wrong. It seemed like the only person she couldn't convince otherwise, other then herself, was Cordelia.

The brunette made a habit of talking to her when they were alone, trying to figure out the real reason. She wasn't entirely convinced that it was just Willow's parents that had her so depressed. It couldn't be, because she was happy for a while, this sadness just came out of nowhere, so it was something a little more recent. The question is, what? She was determined to find out.

"Willow, you got me begging here. I know there's something else going on that's got you all droopy, just tell me what it is. Maybe I can help," she said and folded her arms across her chest and leaned up against Willow's locker. Their history class was over and they only had a couple of minutes to talk before the next period started. Willow sighed and pulled out her math book, and put her history book away.

She started to walk away, but she knew that it was useless because Cordelia was just going to follow. So, so led the brunette to the girls' bathroom that isn't used very often. She made sure that no one else was in there before she locked the door. She put her book down on the edge of the sink and took off her backpack. She sighed heavily, trying to relax but that was impossible that this point. She looked over at Cordelia and fought to put her feelings into words. She knew what she was feeling she just didn't know how to vocalize it.

"I can tell you're struggling, so why don't you just tell me who it's about and go from there?" she suggested and folded her arms over her chest. She really wanted to get to the bottom of this. She's never seen Willow this bad before. Sure, she acts like she's ok in front of the others but Cordelia could tell just by looking her in the eyes that she's battling herself inside. What she's fighting about is the unknown and it's what Cordelia plans on finding out.

"Buffy, it's about Buffy," Willow said and looked down at her hands. She was just so nervous that she was starting to shake. She had gone over this a million different times in her mind, but she had never talked about it out loud, not even to herself because she didn't want anyone to hear, especially Buffy. But now, here she was, trying to figure out how to put her feelings into words, while Cordelia looked at her with some confusion and also…a little anger?

"I knew that girl was no good. You can even ask Harmony, she'll tell you. When she first showed up here and was practically drooling at the very sight of you I told her that Buffy was up to no good. God, who does that dumb blonde think she is?" Cordelia ranted and raved and then finally snapped back to reality. "So, what did she do? She didn't hurt you did she? Because there is no way in hell I'm going to tolerate that." Willow tried really hard not to roll her eyes. She was surprised at how much Cordelia actually cared about her, but she tried not to read too much into it.

"No, she didn't hurt me, she would never hurt me. It's just…well we've been dating for a while now, and I think that we've reached that point when in a relationship certain things are expected, and I don't know if I'm ready to go that far or not," she said and looked down, embarrassed but Cordelia looked over at her, confused.

"What things?" she asked. She had an idea of what the redhead was talking about but she just wanted to be sure. She didn't want to jump to any conclusions because she didn't want to make an ass out of herself. She watched as Willow did not make eye contact again, but kept her gaze cast downward at her shoes.

"Sex," she simply said and blushed so deeply she was afraid that all of her blood was rushing too quickly to her face and she would pass out. She heard Cordelia sigh heavily but there was only silence. She was too nervous to just stand there like that. "And I don't think I'm ready to go that far. I mean, I've never done it before, what if I do something wrong? What if she laughs at me? I don't think I'd be able to handle that. And plus I just don't think that I'm ready yet, emotionally speaking. We're really close, I'm living with her because my parents kicked me out, but we have separate rooms and we're not really allowed to sleep together, I mean, in the same bed. On the weekends we sleep on the couch together, and we just sleep, because like I said we still haven't gotten very far, and wow I'm getting light headed, are you light headed? Because, wow," she said and had to force herself to take in a deep breath. When she looked up Cordelia was standing really close to her and had her hands on the redhead's shoulders, trying to help her calm down.

"Willow, it's ok if you're not ready. You're what, 15? That's a little soon to be getting that involved with someone, if you ask me. Have you talked to her about it? Has she been pressuring you for sex or something?" she asked and Willow looked down again, this is where it gets a little confusing. She sighed and then took a step back, needing to be in her own space.

"Well, no, not exactly. We haven't talked out it, but she's suggested it, at least I think she has. I know that she's ready to. She doesn't pull back like she used to, it's always me that stops before we go too far. And I can't help but think that maybe she's getting mad or frustrated, and I don't want her to be mad at me, but I'm not going to do something just because she's ready to. What should I do?" she asked, and couldn't believe that she was actually asking Cordelia for advice. She just prayed that this never got loose in the school. She was made fun of enough as it is, she doesn't want to be mocked for this too.

"I think you should talk to her," she said and Willow couldn't help but notice that anger in Cordelia's eyes. What was going on with her? "If you don't tell her that she's making you feel uncomfortable then she'll never know and she can't know that she's doing something wrong unless you tell her. And Willow, I know that we're not friends, and I'm always making fun of you, but if you ever need to talk about anything like this ever again just tell me, like, pass me note or something and I'll make sure to ditch the others and we'll go somewhere to talk, ok?" she asked and Willow was again surprised. She nodded her head and then they left the bathroom, just in time to hear the bell ring. At first they thought that they were going to be late for class. That is until they realized that they had missed that period and it was now time for lunch.

"Ok, so, how do I look?" Buffy asked as they stood on the doorstep of Quinn Morgan's house. Willow looked over at her and gave her body a once over. They were both dressed in jeans, Buffy's a darker blue then Willow's. Buffy was wearing a red blouse that had a few buttons on the front; three of them were left unbutton to show off the right amount of cleavage. Willow was wearing a light green top that Buffy had helped her pick out, saying that she looked great in it. It was really low cut and it made Willow feel a little uncomfortable, but she looked great, they both did.

"You look hot, what about me?" she asked and nervously fidgeted as Buffy scanned her body with her eyes and Willow couldn't help but feel like Buffy was undressing her in her mind. She took a deep breath and remembered what Cordelia had said, she was only fifteen, and it was too soon for them to get too physical. She still hadn't talked to the blonde yet, but she would soon, just not tonight. She didn't want anything to ruin tonight.

"I'll put it this way, I better not leave your side for too long or someone might try to steal you away from me," she said and smiled and they exchanged a quick kiss before Buffy rang the doorbell and they waited. Some unknown guy opened the door and let them in. So far the party was 'bumpin' in Buffy's words. There were bodies all over the place, grinding against each other to the fast paced music, there was normal party food: chips, three different dips, pretzels, and some Ritz crackers. And the drinks consisted of: Pepsi, Coke, Root Beer, beer, vodka, and rum.

Immediately Buffy led Willow towards the drink table and got two cups and then a can of Coke. She filled each cup half with soda and then the other half was a mix of vodka and rum. Willow was apprehensive, but she took the drink, and sipped at it. At first the alcohol tasted horrible and she thought she was going to choke or spit it out, but she was able to keep it down. She decided that she wasn't going to drink all of it, just sip at it so Buffy wouldn't ask her what was wrong.

They were soon dancing to the beat of the quick paced songs, Buffy was grinding up against Willow, and there was a small crowd gathered around them, but neither of them noticed. All that they paid attention to was the way their bodies moved together, and what their touches were doing to each other. When the song ended Buffy pulled Willow into a very passionate kiss that earned a lot of hoots and hollers from the boys standing around them. Buffy had a few more drinks and as a result was becoming more comfortable touching and kissing Willow in front of everyone, being a lot more…affectionate then normal.

Then Buffy led Willow upstairs and they watched the party from the balcony. Well, some of the time, they were mostly kissing and groping each other, making sure to keep their hands above their clothes. Willow could taste the alcohol on Buffy's breath and she didn't like it, but she didn't want to stop, at least not yet. Then Buffy pulled back and looked into Willow's green eyes.

"Why don't we go somewhere a little more private?" she asked and Willow just nodded. She knew that Buffy wouldn't do anything that Willow didn't want her to, so all she had to do was make sure to stop if things got too intense. She was led to a bedroom, and they both knew that it was the master bedroom, a.k.a Quinn's parents' bedroom.

Buffy shut the door and gently pressed Willow up against it as they continued to kiss. Then Buffy led her over to the bed and gently laid her down on her back. She was laying half on top of Willow, making sure most of her weight was on the bed so she didn't hurt the redhead. The kisses were becoming more and more intense. Then she pulled back so that they could breathe and then Buffy showered Willow's throat with soft kisses. Then she let her fingers trail down Willow's stomach and her hand rested at the waistband of other girl's jeans. She teased the skin of Willow's abdomen before she slowly unbuttoned the redhead's pants.

"Buffy," she heard Willow say, but she ignored it. She kept up her kissing and sucking on her girlfriend's neck and she unzipped her jeans and couldn't help but smile. She's been waiting a long time for this and it was finally going to happen. She'd wanted to on the night of their three-month anniversary. She thought that it would have been the perfect night because they had both admitted that they love each other, but Willow had pulled back, and for the next month she had tried to go further, only to have the other girl pull back before things became serious, but never once had she heard a protest or had Willow talked to her about it. So in her mind Willow wanted this, but she was just too shy about asking for it.

She slowly slipped her hand under the fabric of the jeans and cupped Willow's sex over the cotton underwear. She became wet just touching her like this, and she couldn't help the little moan that snuck its way out of her mouth and onto the redhead's very wet and hickey covered neck. She pulled back from the redhead's throat, slowly rubbing her fingers against the girl's panty clad sex as she leaned down to kiss her but Willow pulled her head to the side.

"Buffy, stop, please stop," she said and tried to sit up, but Buffy's weight held her down. She looked up into the hazel eyes that were confused and also a little unfocused from the obvious drunkenness. This is not what she wanted at all, it was just too cliché, and she wasn't ready for it.

She watched as Buffy pulled back a little further to look at her, but she didn't sit up all the way and Willow was trapped under her. She was glad when Buffy stopped her rubbing with the hand that had made its way into her jeans but she tensed when she felt that the blonde didn't remove the hand but just let it rest there.

"I thought you wanted this?" Buffy asked, sounding a little hurt. "I thought you wanted me." She added pressure to her hand and Willow's hips ground against her hand as if on their own free will. She smiled, thinking that Willow had done it herself and she started to stroke her again. Only this time she let her fingers push the underwear aside and she started to rub two fingers over the redhead's clit. She felt Willow tense, and she took that as a good sign and she kept up the stroking.

"Buffy please…" Willow said in a voice that the blonde mistook for pleasure. She felt Willow start to squirm and she couldn't help but smile as she leant down and started to suck on the redhead's neck again. But then she felt Willow pushing up roughly on her shoulders. "Buffy stop. Get off. Buffy please, get off of me." Willow was practically begging. Buffy sat up and looked down at her and the redhead grabbed onto her wrist and pulled it out of her jeans and she zipped up and re-buttoned them. They sat up and the redhead had tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you, I-" she stopped when she saw that Willow was fighting to keep her tears in. She reached over to place a comforting hand on Willow's shoulder but the redhead pulled away before she could be touched. Buffy was confused, and also a little angry. The alcohol coursing through her veins was clouding her judgment and making it really hard for her to control her emotions and her body's desires. "What's wrong?" Willow didn't look at her and Buffy got a little mad but she just sat there, working on controlling the anger that was starting to slowly build up.

"I asked you to stop, and you didn't, you just kept going. I need to go, I need to get out of here," she said and she stood up. She started to walk towards the door but she was stopped when Buffy grabbed onto her wrist and turned her around. She could tell that Buffy was mad, and for the very first time since meeting her she was afraid of the blonde girl. She was actually scared that she might be physically hurt by her.

"But I thought you wanted me, I thought you loved me," she said, sounding hurt and angry. Willow was shocked by what she had said. She couldn't believe that Buffy would use that against her. Of course she loved the blonde, there was no doubt about that, and that made all of this hurt even more. The fact that the person she loved with all her heart would violate her, and then use that love against her was going to make her sick.

"I do love you. You're the only person I've ever been in love with. But I'm just not ready to have sex with you, or anyone else for that matter. I asked you to stop but you just kept going, do you not realized how violated that makes me feel?" she asked and she pulled her wrist roughly out of Buffy's grasp. She saw the angry and hurt look on the blonde's face, but she wasn't going to back down, or cry in front of her. She already felt used, she wasn't about to be humiliated as well.

"That's how I make you feel? Violated? I've been nothing but understanding and loving for the past four months. After our first date you wanted to, so what's the problem now? Am I just not good enough for you? Is that it? I've seen you, talking with Cordelia and sneaking off with her, is there something going on that I should know about? Are you fucking her behind my back?" she couldn't keep her voice down and she was yelling at Willow. Her muscles were tense and her fists were clenching and unclenching and she just wanted to hit something, to get this anger out.

"I would never cheat on you. I love you. I would never do anything like that. I would never hurt you, especially with someone like Cordelia. If you can't trust me not to cheat then maybe we shouldn't be together anymore," she said and instantly she wanted to take it back. She didn't mean to say that, it had just slipped out. She turned to leave, she opened the door but Buffy was right behind her and she slammed it closed and turned Willow around, pressing her up against the door.

"No! We're not breaking up. You don't get to decide if this is over or not. I love you Willow, dammit, I just wanted to show you that. I just wanted to show you how much I love you. Why are you fighting me on this? Why do you not want to be with me?" she yelled, and punched her fist through the wall next to Willow's head. Willow flinched and pushed Buffy back and fled from the room, running down the stairs and out to the backyard of the house. She had nowhere else to go, and she didn't want to walk around risking a vampire attack. She saw the small pool house and she went in there since the door was unlocked. She kept the lights off and allowed her eyes to get used to the darkness before she sat down on the couch and cried.

She tried her best to stop her tears and make it appear like she wasn't crying when she heard the door open. She wiped her eyes and took in a deep calming breath before she looked up. She saw a figure standing in the doorway but the darkness wouldn't allow her to get a look at the person's face. Then she saw them reach over and flick on the lamp that was on the little side table up against the wall by the door. She blinked a couple of times and allowed her eyes to get used to the light.

"Are you ok? I sort of heard what happened upstairs, thought I'd check on you," she heard Quinn say and he shut the door and made his way into the little living room. She nodded her head yes; that everything was fine, and then she looked down at her lap. She felt embarrassed that other people had heard, but their voices had gotten pretty loud so she wasn't surprised. She heard him walking towards her and then she saw him hand appear a few inches below her face, holding a tissue.

"Thank you," she said and took the Kleenex and wiped off her eyes and then her nose. When she was done he took it back from her and threw it in the little trashcan before sitting down next to her on the couch. He sat a respectable distance from her and she was glad. She didn't know how much more she could take before just completely breaking down.

"I understand if you don't want to talk about it with me, we don't even know each other, and that's fine, but I'll stay if you don't want to be alone," he said and leaned forward, preparing to get up. She looked over at him, with a pleading expression in her eyes. She didn't want to be alone, and she wished that Xander had been able to come, but his parents had told him no. She just wanted to be hugged and told that everything would be ok. The last thing she wanted was to be alone, well that, and being in the same room with Buffy.

"Will you stay?" she asked and he nodded his head and sat back against the couch. He watched her closely, his soft brown eyes showing sympathy for the redhead sitting next to him. Willow was thankful that he was here, but it just wasn't the same as Xander. He would at least be able to comfort her more then anybody else would be able to at the moment. "You're right, we don't know each other, and I don't want to seem intrusive, but will you, I mean if it isn't asking too much and if you don't mind will you…" she couldn't make herself say it, but he seemed to have gotten the message. He scooted closer to her and gently wrapped his arms around her and held her in a comforting embrace and allowed her to cry on his chest.

They were like that for almost half an hour before she finally started to calm down. She felt horrible, the little alcohol that she had consumed was starting to give her a headache, not to mention all of the stress that she had endured tonight. Emotions were running high and she felt like an exposed nerve that was continuously being poked at with a cold object. She was surprised that she was finding comfort in a stranger's arms but at the moment she didn't care. He was able to calm her down, and tell her that everything was ok and for that she was grateful.

"I'm sorry," she said after she leaned back and noticed the small mess she had made on his shirt. She scooted away from him a little, putting some space in between them but not breaking all physical contact. He looked down and then he smiled and he looked into her eyes.

"It's alright, it's just a shirt. I'm worried about you, though. Are you going to be ok? Do you need a ride home?" he asked and she shook her head, not sure which question she was answering. She didn't want to leave this place because she only had two options: her parents' house or Buffy's place, and she didn't want to go to either of those places at the moment. He nodded his head in understanding and gently rubbed her back.

"If you don't want to leave you can stay here in the guest house. You could borrow some of my sister's pajamas if you want. And, don't worry Willow, everything will work itself out. Just give her some time. She had a lot to drink, and she's probably hurt from being rejected, but she still had no right to yell at you like that." He kept his voice low, soothing to her ears. She looked down at her lap again, a new set of tears forming in her eyes as she remembered the words that had come from her girlfriend's mouth, the person who was supposed to be in love with her, the person who had promised to take care of her and protect her no matter what.

"She thinks I cheated on her with Cordelia Chase," she said and her lips started to quiver as she held back the sobs. She just wanted to curl up in a ball and die. This felt so horrible, this pain, this heartache. She was just glad she had someone to talk to, even if she did feel a little uncomfortable because she doesn't know him very well. He just kept rubbing her back and he gently wiped her tears away with his free hand. She looked up at him and they locked eyes. She tensed up a little bit and she felt herself slowly leaning forward, and right before she closed her eyes to meet him halfway in a kiss she couldn't help but notice that his hand was currently working its way up the back of her shirt and unhooking her bra strap.

Buffy was pissed. How could Willow just run off like that? Ok, so maybe punching the wall that was right next to Willow's head was a little much, but she shouldn't've just taken off. But what made Buffy really mad, what was really eating her up inside, the thing that made her stay in the room while Willow ran off was the fear that had been in Willow's eyes. Her girlfriend had been afraid of her. She had been afraid that Buffy was going to do something that would physically harm her. And the blonde knew that it was all her fault.

She punched the wall a couple more times, putting a few more holes in it and then she left the room. Now that she was calmed down enough to think rationally she knew that she had to find Willow. They needed to talk, they needed to work through this, and hopefully they would still be a couple when it was all over with. She looked through all of the rooms upstairs before she went downstairs and started to look for the redhead. But she couldn't find her anywhere. She went into the kitchen last and asked the guy managing the drinks if he had seen the redhead. He pointed her to the backyard so that's where she went.

She stepped out onto the back porch and took a deep breath of the cool night air. She looked around and noticed a large swimming pool and also a little porch swing that was over by the rose bushes. She couldn't help but think how nice it would have been to sit out here with Willow, holding her hand and gently swinging back and forth. But now all of that is ruined and it's all her fault. She saw the pool house and noticed that a light was on. She stood there for a minute and wondered if Willow would really go into someone's pool house if she were upset.

The more she thought about it the more sense it made. Willow would never go anywhere by herself at night because of the dangers that Sunnydale has to offer, and she wouldn't let some drunken boy give her a ride home and she wouldn't call either of their parents because Joyce would flip out if she found out that they were not at the Bronze and her parents still aren't talking to her. So a little time to herself in a pool house made the most sense.

She thought she heard more then one voice as she got closer to the house. Maybe she was wrong, maybe Willow didn't come out here after all. It could be a couple of teens in there getting with the naughty. That was always a possibility. But she had to make sure. She walked to the front of the pool house, her palms actually sweating with nervousness. She hid behind the big bush by the front window and peeked inside. She actually thought her heart had stopped when she saw the sight before her. Her face was drained of all color. It was almost too much but she couldn't tear herself away.

She saw Willow straddling Quinn's lap, her shirt and bra where off and thrown on the empty couch cushion. Willow had her hands on Quinn's shoulders, his hands were holding her upper arms to help her balance. Her eyes were closed, her head thrown back in pleasure, her hair swaying from side to side from her body's movements while the boy that she barely knew was given free reign over her chest. Buffy watched as he licked and sucked on Willow's breasts, the exact same breasts that Buffy had been groping on an hour or so ago. Over her shirt and bra of course but she had still been groping.

She watched until she couldn't handle it. She couldn't hear the words that were being spoken but she could tell that Willow was saying 'don't stop'. She just couldn't handle this. Her head was spinning until she thought she was going to fall. She turned to her left and threw up all of the contents in her stomach. After a few good dry heaves she looked back into the pool house, and watched through teary eyes as a guy, a guy of all people, ravaged her girlfriend.

Or ex-friend because there was no way Buffy was going to stay with her after this, no matter how much Willow begged. If she even begged. She did break up with her up in that room, maybe Quinn was her post-breakup-comfort-sex. Buffy shook her head, the anger that she had felt earlier in that room tripled and she remembered that Willow had said she wasn't ready to sleep with her or anyone else.

Well, she wasn't about to let Willow do something she would only regret, what kind of ex-girlfriend would she be? Or at least that's what she thought. She was really pissed off and was going to stop Willow because Willow was still hers. She wasn't about to let anyone else have her no matter how possessive that sounds.

She kicked the front door in causing the two to jump off of the couch with surprise and fright. She saw Willow grab her discarded shirt and covered herself up with it. She saw the tears spring into Willow's eyes, but she ignored them. All she could feel was blind hatred, and all she wanted to do was smash Quinn's head against a wall until it turned to mush.

"Buffy, tha-" Willow started to say but Buffy cut her off. She was too pissed to try and hear any excuses. She wasn't about to stand there and have Willow try to justify this when they had been caught. If the wrong person had peeked in through that window this news would be all over Sunnydale High the following Monday. Luckily it had been Buffy and not one of the gossipers at school because if she was going to kill Quinn she didn't want a bunch of pesky witnesses.

"Don't Willow. I don't want to hear it right now," her voice was like fire and it burned the redhead, causing the tears to fall. Buffy slightly noticed the bruises on Willow's arms where Quinn had been holding onto her. She also noticed the bruise on Willow's wrist from where she had grabbed her and forced her to turn around earlier before the fight. The looked over at Quinn with pure hatred.

"Give me one good reason why I should let you keep your head," she said and slowly took three steps forward. He didn't back away, but he did look a little scared. He also didn't answer her. He was trying to speak, but it wasn't working so well at the moment. He was...flustered at the moment, so speech wasn't really his strong point. Buffy was vaguely aware of Willow looking over at Quinn, the same fear she had looked at Buffy with was now directed at the teenage boy. She then slowly backed away from him and stood a few feet behind Buffy.

"She was upset, I was just trying to help," he said, trying to vindicate his actions, but Buffy was having none of it. So he knew that Willow was upset and he persuaded her in a time of need. She was also aware that Willow is responsible for her own actions, but they would talk about that later. Right now she just wanted to kill this guy for touching what was hers.

"She was upset, and you took advantage," she said loudly and he tried to explain again but she cut him off, not willing to listen to anything that came out of his mouth. She took another intimidating step towards him. "Oh stop it. I know all about your way of thinking. You're nice to a girl, you do a couple of good deeds to get on their good side, get them to lower their guard around you. And then you wait for that perfect opportunity when they're drunk or when they're so upset that they'll do anything to feel comfort. I know because I used to think like that. I used to be like that, and I will not let you be Willow's mistake!"

Faster then a blink of an eye she was in his face and punched him so hard that he flew five feet back and landed hard against the wall, knocking the picture off of it. He clutched onto his broken, bleeding nose. She turned back to Willow and saw the redhead had already put her bra and shirt back on. They both had tears in their eyes as they stood in front of each other. Willow was about to say something when she saw Buffy being thrown across the room.

"You bitch! It's all your fault that she's so upset. You're the one that pushed her, tried to get her to do something that she didn't want to do, and you're blaming me because she wanted me instead of you!" he yelled and within two seconds Buffy was on her feet and standing in front of him, ready to attack. But then Willow got in between them, pushing Buffy back a little as she faced the guy.

"I never wanted you! You forced me to do those things. You said that you could make the hurt go away if I opened up to you," her voice was started to waver and then she turned around to face the blonde. Hopefully still my blonde, she thought as she looked deeply into the hazel eyes that now looked a little confused as well as pissed off. The look would have killed a lesser being. "Honest Buffy, I didn't want him to, he made me. He's so much stronger, and he wouldn't let go." She started to cry and Buffy was about to reach out and comfort her when Willow was pushed onto the couch by Quinn.

"Oh stop with the sob story, you wanted it you filthy-" he didn't get another word out because Buffy had hit him in the side of the head hard enough to knock him unconscious. She watched as his body hit the floor with a satisfying thud and then she looked over to her left. Willow was sitting on the couch, her face in her hands, crying really hard. Buffy sat down next to and tried her best to comfort her but the redhead wouldn't allow herself to be touched. This was all just too much, she needed to get out of here, and now. She stood up and wiped the tears away, still not looking at the blonde.

"Lets go," she said and started to walk towards the door. She knew that no matter how mad Buffy was she wouldn't let Willow walk around by herself at night. They walked in silence, keeping a little distance in between them. Willow was sniffling a lot and every few seconds she would wipe away the tears that were trying to run down her face, but she wouldn't allow Buffy to comfort her. Even though she wants to be comforted, she wants Buffy to wrap her up in her arms and tell her that everything is going to be ok, she isn't going to allow herself to give into that desire. She can't allow herself to receive any type of the blonde's affection before they have their big, very much needed, talk.

They walked into the house, both expecting to be yelled at by Joyce for being late, but they weren't. They had surprisingly made it back five minutes before their curfew, all of that drama had gone down in a span of only three hours. Buffy wanted to say something to Willow, say anything to try and defuse the situation but the redhead was up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door before she could get a word out of her mouth. Then Joyce walked in from the kitchen and saw Buffy's disordered state and became concerned.

"Buffy, what happened?" she asked and moved a little closer to her. Buffy wouldn't look at her, afraid that her mom would be able to see right through her, be able to see the shame for what she had done. She looked down at her shoes instead, and noticed that she would need to wash the mud and little bit of vomit off of them in morning.

"I pulled another Andrea," she said under her breath, remembering the bad parts of her past. She looked in Joyce's general direction but her eyes would not rest on her mother, still afraid of being found out. "Nothing, we had a fight, I really don't want to talk about it right now. I think I'm just gonna go to bed." She rushed up the stairs before her mom could question her even further. She washed out her mouth and brushed her teeth extra hard, drawing blood from her gums, before she changed for bed.

Sleep did not come easy for either girl that night, and they spent most of it tossing and turning, trying to find a comfortable position. Willow could not stop crying and it killed Buffy on the inside, her slayer hearing allowing her to hear every sob, every hiccup for breath, every word spoken. The guilt that she was feeling was astronomical, and she silently vowed to never drink again, and she vowed to not break this vow like she had broken the one she had made a year and a half before moving to Sunnydale.

She just couldn't handle it anymore. It was now almost five in the morning, and Willow was still awake, still crying. She refused to just lay there and listen to it while her girlfriend is in pain. Even though she's mostly the reason for that pain, she still had to do something. Even though she isn't sure that she and Willow are still together, she was going to leave it all up to the redhead and she would keep her emotions under control, not matter how difficult it becomes.

She got out of her bed and crept down the hall. She slowly opened the door and walked in, making sure not to make a sound. She quietly closed the door and stood there, watching the girl known as Willow as she cried, her face buried deeply in her pillow, her body shaking violently under the covers. Buffy couldn't help but tear up as she made her way over to the bed. She sat down on the edge and softly placed her hand on Willow's back, gently rubbing up and down. But the redhead flinched at the gentle touch and she didn't look up at the other girl, she only screamed into her pillow.

"Go away!" she yelled loudly. Buffy removed her hand but she didn't leave, she was too afraid of what might happen if she did. "Get out, get away from me!" Her words hurt but Buffy knew that she deserved them after what she had done tonight. She couldn't believe that she had allowed herself to drink as much as she had. But when she's having a good time she just gets caught up in the excitement of it all, and she gets carried away. At least that's the excuse that she uses, since she's still in denial that she has a potential (if not already) drinking problem.

"Will, please. I'm so sorry for what I did. I know that I can never make it up to you, there's nothing I can do that will ever make it ok, but I just want you to know that I really am sorry. I'm not saying that this is an excuse, but when I drink I just can't control myself and I get too carried away. But I promise that it will never happen again. I swear on my life that I will never do anything to hurt you ever again." By the time she was done talking Willow had grown silent. The anger was coming off of her in waves but she was too tired to really do anything about it. She sat up in her bed, her face tear-stained, and she clutched her pillow to her chest in a defensive manner.

"How could I ever forgive you? If I hadn't've stopped you when I did you...you almost raped me. How can I forgive you?" she said the last part as an after thought. Buffy felt even more guilt ridden by Willow's words. She hadn't even thought of that. How could she be so stupid? "And I would never cheat on you, not willingly, and especially not with Cordelia. We've been talking more lately, and sneaking off because she doesn't want her friends to see us being nice to each other but we're just, well I'm not too sure what we are, but if anything we're just friends. I was stressed out and she was helping me, as surprising as that may sound." Buffy looked into Willow's eyes wanting to hold her hand but not wanting to push her in any way possible. She had done enough to stress out the redhead for one night, and she didn't want to add to it.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I was just angry. I know that you would never cheat on me. What was stressing you out so badly that you talked to Cordelia about it?" she asked and then looked down at her hands for a few seconds before she looked back into Willow's eyes. She watched as Willow took a deep breath and let it out slowly and then dropped her gaze, and stared at her finger nails.

"You," she said and then paused. When she was met with silence she decided that it was now or never. "I was freaking out because I knew that you're ready to go further in our relationship and I'm not. I just...I didn't want you to be mad at me, and I didn't want you to break up with me just because I'm not ready to have sex with you. You're right, after our first date I thought I was ready because I was very...overwhelmed, and I just wanted to be closer to you. I realize now that I wanted to be closer emotionally not physically.

"I'm not sure when I'm going to be ready, and I'm not sure if it's going to be any time soon, and if you really do love me like you say you do then you'll be able to live with that because love isn't just about sex, and when I finally am ready I want to know one hundred percent that I am, because I don't want it to be a mistake or a regret. Even if we don't last as a couple I don't want to look back and say: 'I should have waited, I shouldn't have slept with her'. I want to be able to look back and say: 'I loved her with everything I had, and I'm glad she was my first'. I just-I just don't want you to be a mistake," she said and looked into Buffy's understanding eyes. Eyes that told Willow she knew exactly what the redhead was talking about.

Without thinking, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Willow. There was a moment's tension but then the redhead relaxed and allowed herself to hug Buffy back. The blonde started crying and Willow let go of her pillow and started to rub her back, trying to calm her down. She wasn't too sure what had brought on the sudden tears but she wanted to make them stop. She felt like she should be the one being comforted, as selfish as that may sound.

"I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. I love you so much, please don't leave me. I need you, Willow. Please, please take me back," she heard Buffy beg into her neck. The one that's still covered in all of the hickeys, a reminder of everything that had happened tonight. "I'll do anything, please don't leave me." They tightened their grip on each other and Willow couldn't help but start to cry as well. It was very disheartening to hear the blonde begging like this even though they both thought that she should be.

"I'm not going anywhere," Willow said, and then Buffy started to cry tears of relief. She was just so happy she could die. She felt herself becoming tired, as the night's events started to weigh her down. She guessed that Willow felt the same way because she complied when she felt herself being pulled under the covers. They fell asleep in each other's arms, snuggled under the warm blankets. They were both glad that this fight was now somewhat behind them, and Buffy was going to make sure that she works her ass off in sucking up to the redhead, trying to make everything ok again.

Surprisingly they both woke up before Joyce and Buffy was able to sneak back into her own bed before her mother woke up and found them like that. They would both be grounded for a long time if they ever got caught sleeping in the same bed, even if all they did was sleep. They both felt worn out and knew that it was going to take a couple a days to get over the physical exhaustion of their fight and then everything that had occurred after it.

She had fallen asleep five hours earlier, only to be woken up by the feeling of someone sneaking into her bed. She opened a groggy eye and saw Willow slowly making her way under the covers. Her face was still covered in tear-stains, and her hair was a rats nest from all the tossing and turning, but she needed to be close to Buffy, she needed to feel her body next to hers. She hadn't been able to fall asleep again after Buffy had left her room, and for five hours she had laid there, until noon rolled around and she figured that Joyce wouldn't be mad if they took a little nap together, as long as the door was left open, of course.

"Hey," Buffy said as Willow pulled the covers over her body and tired to get comfortable. Buffy rolled over onto her side and faced the other girl. They both smiled very small tired smiles and Willow allowed herself to be spooned in the warm embrace of her girlfriend. She was glad that they were girlfriends again, only being broken up for a couple of hours, but she was still upset with everything that had happened, the things that Buffy had done and said. There were still a couple of things that were bothering her and she knew that if this was going to work then they needed to be completely honest with each other.

"Buffy, when you were yelling at Quinn last night you said that you used to think like him, you used to take advantage of other girls, is that true, did you really do all of that stuff?" she asked and she felt Buffy tense. She knew that the blonde was going to withdraw just like she always did whenever Willow asked about her former girlfriends or any other people she might have gotten close with.

"Please, I need to know. If we're going to make this work then we need to be one hundred percent honest with each other. Just tell me, I promise I won't get mad, and I'll try as hard I can to understand." She felt Buffy let out a big sigh and she started to rub soft circles on the arm that was wrapped around her, hoping that small gesture would help coax the blonde into telling her what she wanted to know.

"I only did it once. There was this girl, Andrea, that I was interested in. She said that she was straight and that she would never want me. And we were at a party one night and we bumped into each other at the drink table. We were both drunk, but she was a lot drunker then I was. She didn't even remember who I was at the time. I led her upstairs into someone's bedroom. She said no at first but after a while she just gave in. In the morning I regretted it because I had taken advantage of her while she was drunk, and I wouldn't have done that if I hadn't been drunk at the time. It's just, when I drink it's like the better part of my mind gets shut off and I don't think with logic, I think with emotion and my body's desires.

"She never forgave me for what we did, what I did. I was her big mistake, even though she wasn't a virgin when we slept together, she still hated me for it. I can still see that shocked, and angry look on her face when we woke up the next morning. She threatened to kill me if I ever told anyone, and I still haven't forgiven myself. I practically raped her Willow, just like I almost did to you last night. I don't know what I would do if you weren't able to stop me. It makes me sick to think that I almost stole one of the most precious things about you." By now she was crying again, and Willow had turned around in her embrace and was cradling the other girl to her chest, and rubbing her back. She waited until Buffy was calm and the last of her tears and hiccups were gone before she started to talk.

"I need you to promise me something," she said and she continued when she felt Buffy nod her head. "Promise me that you won't drink anymore. I don't want you to end up doing something that you'll regret. Will you do that for me?" She felt Buffy nod her head again but it just wasn't enough. "Tell me, please, I need to hear it." She felt the other girl inhale deeply.

"I promise I won't drink ever again. For you, I won't do it anymore. And I also promise that I won't rush you at all, and the next time you feel like I'm pressuring you just tell me and I'll stop. I'll try my best to control myself but I need to know what's ok and what's not ok. Will you do that?" she asked and Willow nodded her head yes. Now that they had gotten the last part of their long talk over with the two girls were reclaimed by sleep, and they feel asleep in each other's arms again not too sure what the future would have in store for them but knowing that as long as they have each other everything will turn out ok.

Buffy was sitting in her boring history class, listening to her boring teacher talk about…something. She wasn't too sure what. She wasn't paying attention to what was going on around her. She was pretending to take notes, but she was really doodling. It was a Wednesday two weeks after the big bad party she and Willow had gone to. Buffy still hated herself for what had happened. But she hated herself even more for what she was feeling now. She still didn't trust Willow one hundred percent.

She had seen the bruises that Quinn had left but she saw what she saw and it was Willow sitting on his lap, and getting pleasure out of what he was doing to her. She can deny it all she wants, but Buffy had smelt it. She had smelt how Willow's body has responded to what he was doing. She tried not to blame Willow and told herself that it was all her fault because if she hadn't have done and said those horrible things to her love then the redhead wouldn't have gone to him. But everyone is responsible for their own actions. Willow didn't have to go to him, and it didn't look like she was putting up much of a fight either. As much as the blond would like to forget her suspicions she just can't.

She was also still kind of worried about Cordelia. Well, not Cordelia herself, but worried that there might be something going on between Willow and the bitch. She had planned on confronting Cordelia the following Monday after the party but her parents had taken her out of town for a couple of weeks, and she wouldn't be back until that coming Monday. Buffy couldn't wait to pull Cordelia into an empty classroom and tell her to back the hell off. It was one thing she had been looking forward to all week.

Things were no longer peaceful in the land of Buffy and Willow. The two teens were tense around each other, and it was clear that there was more that needed to be said, but on the night after the party they both decided that since they had said their apologies and forgave each other that they would just leave the past in the past and move forward. But they were stuck. Willow couldn't get over the fact that Buffy had actually left bruises on her and came pretty damn close to smashing her head into a wall.

Being physically dominated like that was not something she was going to easily get over, she needed time and she was just glad that Buffy was respecting her space and even asked permission before she touched her, even if it was in a small way. The after affects of that one night had Willow skittish and nervous around the blonde. But there was a lot more that they had to deal with, things that they weren't expecting.

Apparently their voices had gotten pretty loud at that party and so the whole school had a good idea of what had happened. There were a lot of rumors, and most of them were complete lies, but a couple of them were pretty accurate. They had to deal with the stares from the other kids and people constantly asking Willow if she was ok, and if she ever needed to talk she could just go to them. It had her thinking that maybe she should have been assaulted years ago then maybe she would have more friends.

There is one person who had been forgotten in this whole ordeal. Someone who almost gets sick to their stomach at the thought of what happened. Xander was pissed off at the blonde. When he found out from the other kids what had happened he immediately found Willow and pulled her out of her class. They had a long argument, mostly it was Xander telling Willow to leave Buffy, and Willow convincing Xander not to try to hurt her. Xander would never hurt a girl out of anger, but what Buffy had done to Willow he felt like she deserved to feel some type of physical pain. It had him wishing that he were a girl so that he could kick her ass.

He's slowly starting to not hate the blonde, but he's going to be keeping a closer eye on her. He still doesn't trust her and he thinks that Willow shouldn't either. He knows that Willow is still a little timid around her, and he knows that in time that guard will go down and that Willow could get hurt again. He cringes at the thought of someone hurting Willow like that, and he knows that if Buffy ever did anything like that again then he'll show her what happens when you hurt Willow, and it isn't pretty.

Finally the stupid lunch bell rang and she was let out of class. She perked up at the thought of seeing Willow again. She had missed her this morning before school because Ms. Calendar wanted some extra help in the computer lab and Willow was the one who she called upon. Buffy felt proud that her little redhead was so smart that the computer teacher wanted only her help, but it was also a little irritating because she missed their good-morning-kiss. Now it was lunch and they would get a glorious forty-five minutes before their next class.

She was walking down the hallway, smiling to herself, when she felt someone grab onto her arm and pull her into an empty classroom and slam the door shut. She turned around and saw Cordelia standing there, looking very pissed off. Her arms were folded across her chest, she was breathing hard and a vein in her neck was starting to stick out pretty far. It looked like it would burst at any minute. Buffy had no idea why the brunette was looking so pissed. And so pissed at her, no less.

"Cordelia, I thought you weren't getting back until Monday?" Buffy asked, her voice angry but she tried to remain calm. She couldn't use her slayer strength of humans unless they were committing a crime that she was stopping or something. But she just wanted to hit Cordelia so hard in the face that you wouldn't be able to recognize her for months. She wanted to beat the truth out of her, she wanted to know if Cordelia had done anything with Willow that she should have done, at least not while the redhead is in a relationship.

"Well things change. Listen bitch, I heard what you did to Willow at Quinn's party. And I'm warning you now that if you ever do anything like that again I will kill you myself. I've known Willow too long to let some skank from L.A. come in here and ruin her," she said and stepped closer to Buffy. To any other girl it would have looked intimidating but Buffy's the slayer so humans don't really scare her a whole lot. Especially when she knows she could win in a fight with one hand tied behind her back.

"What is going on between you and Willow? Do you have a thing for her or something? Are you two fooling around behind my back?" she asked and Cordelia couldn't help but snort at what she had said. She rolled her eyes and she tried to keep her voice low in case a teacher walked by or something, but she did not try to keep her anger or disgust at bay.

"Yeah right. Just because I'm concerned about her doesn't make me gay. I'm into boys, all right? And Willow would never do anything like that to you. You don't deserve her, she is better then you by far and the fact that you even think she would do something like that proves my point. You don't' trust her, but you're the one who shouldn't be trusted.

"I'm only going to say this once so listen up. I learned a little something on my trip to New York. Turns out that in the late seventies there was a slayer there, killed by a vampire on a subway in 1977 but that's not the point. The important thing is that someone found a way to suppress her slayer side. Turns out that your precious Watcher's Council has some magic drug that will get rid of your slayer abilities for a couple of days. But the person that I talked to stole some in the seventies and modified it so instead of being normal for a week or so, you would be normal forever. He was going to use it on the slayer and kill her while she was weak but the vampire got to her first.

"The most important thing about this little explanation is that everyone has a price, and I figured his out, so now I have the magic drug. If you think that you can just show up in my town, at my school and think that I'm going to let you get away the kind of shit that you've been pulling then you've got another thing coming. Because if I find out that you hurt not only Willow but any person like you did at that party I'll use my little drug on you, make you a normal girl, and you know what that means don't you? No super slayer strength to help defend you. You'll be as strong as the average girl, which means I'll be able to take you in a fight. Watch your back Buffy." With that Cordelia turned on her heel and left the room, leaving a very stunned Buffy just standing there.

She shrugged off the stunned feeling and then made her way to the cafeteria. She quickly found Willow and Xander and sat down next to Willow. She ignored the glare that Xander sent her way. She pulled her lunch out of her backpack and started to munch on the apple she had packed. She thought about the things that Cordelia had said, the 'magic drug' she had bought from a demon no doubt. The drug could make Buffy a normal girl. She could finally be normal. She thought that it would be great, to get rid of this big burden of being a slayer, but then she thought: 'who'll keep Willow safe from the demons and vampires? No, normal's not good because then I won't be able to protect her.'

"Hey, what took you so long to get here?" Willow asked and held her hand under the table. She laced their fingers together and smiled. She was starting to become more relaxed around Buffy, even though she still has a way to go before she would be completely comfortable with her again. But they were getting there. It was a slow process but it was happening.

"Had a little chat with Cordelia," Buffy said and took another bite of her apple, not looking at either Xander or Willow. It made Willow very nervous. She knew that Buffy still thought something was going on between her and Cordelia, and she didn't blame the blonde. If she saw Buffy sneaking off with someone she would probably be suspicious too. That's why she had decided to stop talking to Cordelia in private unless it was something neither of them wanted others to hear.

"I thought she wasn't coming back until Monday?" she asked and looked over at Buffy, trying to catch the other girl's eyes but the blonde refused to look. She knew something was bothering her, something big because she never purposely avoids Willow's eyes like she is now. It made Willow's thoughts go to some bad places. She thought that maybe Buffy had hurt the brunette girl, maybe she had done something really bad and that's why she was fifteen minutes late.

"Things change. At least that's what she said. Look, nothing happened, not really. She pulled me into an empty classroom and told me that if I ever hurt you or anyone else ever again she'll kill me. Not that big of a deal, nothing to worry about. It wasn't anything I haven't already heard," she said and cast a guilty glance over at Xander. She looked down before he could catch her gaze and she continued to eat her food, needing a distraction from everything that was going on.

"Can't blame her for it, I'm just surprised that she threatened you. It's not like she and Willow are friends. They never even talk to each other, except for when Cordelia's ragging on us," Xander said, a little surprised that Cordelia had actually threatened the blonde. It just wasn't normal and the thought of it would take some getting used to. Buffy remained quiet, however. If Xander doesn't know that Willow and the brunette are talking buddies now it's not her place to say otherwise. She will admit, if only to herself, that it makes her feel a little better knowing that she wasn't the only one kept in the dark about Willow and Cordelia's new found friendship or whatever the hell it is.

"Are you staying after school today?" Buffy asked Willow. She finally looked over at the redhead, looking into her eyes for the first time that day. Willow nodded her head yes and continued to look into the deep hazel eyes that she loved to get lost in. "What time are you getting home?" Willow thought about it for a minute. She was supposed to help Ms. Calendar in the computer lab after school, last time she did that she didn't get home until six.

"Not sure, maybe around six. I don't really know what she wants me to do, so it depends on that. I'll call if I'm going to be any later then six though, ok?" she said and Buffy nodded her head. Then she saw the blonde girl get this little grin on her face, like she's planning something. Willow was confused at first, and her brows furrowed at the sudden mood change.

"Mom's going out of town, she won't be back until tomorrow night. I thought I'd plan a little surprise for you, since I know how you like them so much," she said and Willow just smiled. She does like surprises, but she couldn't help but get this tiny little twinge of nervousness at the thought of her and Buffy being all alone in the house for an entire night. But she chased it away because Buffy wouldn't hurt her, not again, not like that.

"Oh really, and what are you planning?" Xander asked, sounding defensive and suspicious. Buffy had to force herself not to roll her eyes. She knew that Xander didn't trust her very much, if at all, and she couldn't blame him for it. Even though he doesn't trust her she isn't going to ruin Willow's surprise. Even if it is just a quiet, somewhat romantic dinner and a present that she bought last week with her allowance, and most of the money she had saved in the bank.

"It's a surprise Xander, I can't tell you in front of Willow. I don't want to ruin it for her," she said and turned to face Willow. She noticed that their bodies had moved so that they were a lot closer together then they had been. She looked down at her body and then over at Willow's and waited for the redhead to notice as well. She got the reaction she thought she was going to get, Willow scooted away, only an inch or two, but she still distanced herself. Buffy knows that it's her fault and just three weeks ago they used to sit in each other's laps and be all touchy feely with each other during lunch and on their breaks, but not anymore because of what she did.

"So, I'll make sure to have it ready by six, will you call if you're going to be earlier then that?" she asked and Willow nodded her head. They continued to eat their lunches and talk some more. The tension between them started to go away, and they slipped into a nice, easy going conversation about their plans for the weekend. They agreed that they would meet at the Bronze on Saturday like normal, but then go to the park for a little picnic on Sunday.

Throughout the entire conversation, Willow and Buffy kept scooting closer and closer together, until the redhead was pretty much pressed against the blonde. Neither of them noticed, it just seemed natural for them to be like that, and it felt good to feel the other's body heat up against the their own. When the lunch bell rang, telling all of the kids to go back to class, they noticed that their closeness but neither of them got uncomfortable about it. They looked over at each other, completely ignoring whatever it was that Xander was saying, and they smiled. Willow leaned in and surprised Buffy by placing a quick kiss on her lips.

"See you at home," she said and then left for class. Buffy licked her lips, tasting Willow's lip gloss and she smiled before she stood up from her seat and gathered her garbage. But before she could walk off Xander was standing in front of her, blocking her way. He was giving her a suspicious look, and she knew what was about to happen, but she tried to avoid. She stepped around him, and started to walk towards a trash can and he followed her.

"What are you planning tonight, Buffy?" he asked and continued to follow her as they started to walk out of the cafeteria. She tried not to roll her eyes or get mad. She should be able to plan a nice evening with her girlfriend without having to answer twenty questions. You wouldn't be in this position if you had kept yourself under control, she told herself. She took a deep breath, hoping that Xander would just go away. She really didn't want to put up with this. Not after that little chat with Cordelia.

"I'm going to order some take out from her favorite Chinese place and just spend time with her. I'm not going to try and seduce her, if that's what your thinking. She said she isn't ready and I'm not going to push her. Everything will be fine, ok? So please, don't worry," she said and walked into her English class before he could comment. He had his own class to go to so she should be safe from him in here. She forgot that she had this class with Cordelia, and she groaned because she knew that the entire time the brunette was going to be glaring at her.

Since she had the last class period free today, this would be her last class, and she was anxious to leave. She wasn't just going to order out, she was going to make sure that everything was on a plate or a platter and out of the containers, try to make things look nice. Then she was going to wait until they were done eating and then give Willow the present. She knew that the gift wasn't going to make everything ok, but she hoped that it helped get her point across: that she was sorry and she loved Willow more then anything.

She acted like she was paying attention to the teacher, she even turned the page of her book whenever she saw the kid sitting next to her do it, but she just couldn't concentrate on the reading. Her grades were starting to slip, she knew this, but she just couldn't make herself care. She just wanted to get this thing between her and Willow resolved and then she can focus on her schoolwork. Willow was more important, more important than anything, she knows that now, she understands it, and she's determined to fix the problems between them.

Finally the bell rang and she walked out of the classroom, almost being smashed by all of the other students. Sometimes she hates being short, but what can she do? She stopped by the library and told Giles that she would be too busy tonight to patrol, and when he asked why she answered: homework. Needless to say the watcher was very unconvinced. He tried to get her to tell the real reason, but after about fifteen minutes arguing he finally gave up and told her to take the night off, but that they would double their training session tomorrow. She agreed and then ran home.

She breezed through her homework. She knew that she wasn't going to get a very good grade on any of it, but she didn't care. This was going to be a special night and she wasn't going to let something as stupid as grades get in the way of it. When she finished her homework she went downstairs and did all of her chores. She ran back upstairs and grabbed her money out of the small side table by her bed and then headed out the door for the Chinese restaurant. Once she ordered the food she sat at the counter and waited for what seemed like forever until the man handed her the bag full of delicious smelling food, she smiled and thanked him, paid him and then ran home. By the time she got there it was almost five forty-five. She quickly set the table, placed the food out, got out a couple of candles, ran upstairs and changed into the dress that she wore on her and Willow's third anniversary. She picked up the rectangular shaped box and stuff it in between the couch cushions and then stood by the door for Willow to get home. She couldn't stop smiling, and couldn't wait to see Willow's reaction to all of this. She was hoping that it would be a good one, but she knew that it could go either way.

She glanced out the front window and saw Willow walking down the sidewalk. She quickly lit the candles and then flipped off all of the lights. She was standing at the door when the redhead turned her key in the lock and then opened the door. The first thing she saw was a smiling Buffy, and she couldn't help but smile too. Then Buffy stepped forward before Willow could walk in the house and she covered the redhead's eyes with one of her hands and gently pulled her into the house. Willow smiled nervously, and Buffy picked up on her apprehension. She placed a small kiss on the redhead's cheek before speaking.

"Don't worry, nothing bad is going to happen. I just want you to get ready before you see the surprise," she told her, keeping her voice low. She moved around and held Willow from behind. Her hand never left the redhead's eyes as the other wrapped itself around the hacker's waist to rest on her stomach. She led the younger girl over to the stairs and carefully helped her walk up them. She didn't take her hand off of Willow's face until they were standing in front of Willow's bedroom door. She looked at Buffy with a little bit of confusion. She was starting to feel a little uneasy about this whole surprise thing. "I laid out a couple of things for you to pick from. But, just a suggestion, pick the green." She smiled and then leaned in a placed a gentle kiss on Willow's lips. When they pulled back they looked into each other's eyes and smile before Buffy went back downstairs.

Buffy watched as Willow rounded the corner and walked into the dining room. She was dressed in the green dress that she had worn on their three month anniversary, and her hair was pulled back exposing her yummy looking neck. She smiled when she saw the set up and she sat down in her chair and leaned over and placed a sweet kiss on Buffy's lips. Buffy's stomach was doing summersaults Willow looked so beautiful. The way the candlelight made her hair shine and her eyes glow. Buffy had to take a small sip of water just to cool herself down.

"So, do you like your surprise?" she asked and started to place the different types of food on Willow's plate. She knows exactly what the redhead likes. Memorizing Willow's favorite foods and how much of said foods she likes at one time was one of the first things Buffy did when they got together. She doesn't like to think about it because it sounds a little stalker-ish but at least this way Willow will never be disappointed when it's Buffy's turn to pick the restaurant when they go out on a date.

"I love the surprise. You look so amazing. This is just what we needed," she said and perked up a little more. She started to eat her food while she watched Buffy's reaction. The blonde seemed thrilled, and was smiling a very cheeky grin. They spent most of the time looking into each other's eyes while they ate the delicious food. They talked a little but not too much. They didn't want to ruin the atmosphere with talk of school and other non-important things. They would make a comment here and there about how beautiful the other is, and Willow kept telling Buffy that the dinner was great, and that Buffy should surprise her more often. The mood was very romantic, but also a little easygoing. Both of them were feeling very comfortable, and for once they were able to forget about the bad times and just spend quality time together.

When they finished eating they made their way into the living room. They decided to leave the dishes for later. They sat down on the couch, both of them nursing at the apple cider that Buffy had poured into the champagne flutes. Willow thought that it was a nice gesture, if only a little corny. They set their drinks down on the coffee table and enjoyed some snuggles on the couch. Willow was the one who initiated the kiss that led to the very heavy make-out session. But then Buffy remembered the best part of the surprise and she tried to talk around the Willow kisses.

"Willow." Kiss. "There's." Kiss. "Something else." Three more kisses. Buffy knew that if she didn't stop now she would never get what she needed to say out because Willow-kisses are just so distracting. Even if it is one of her favorite activities, she has to draw a line somewhere. She pulled back, and rested her hands on Willow's shoulders to help prevent the other girl from leaning forward and distracting her again with her lips. "There's something else, another part of the surprise." Willow smiled and got a little giddy. She waited with anticipation as Buffy reached in between the couch cushions and pulled out the gray box. The blonde smiled wide as she handed the box over to Willow. The redhead was a little stunned at first, not really knowing what to do. "Open it." So she did. She gasped when she saw the bracelet. It looked like a long vine of diamonds, linked together with platinum silver.

"Oh my God. Buffy…this…wow," she said and Buffy took pride in the fact that she had rendered the redhead, queen of the babble, speechless. She picked up the bracelet and took the box away from Willow, closing it with a loud snap. Willow smiled, the smile where the tip of her tongue sticks out between her teeth. She held out her right wrist and watched as Buffy carefully put the bracelet on her. When it was clasped, she held out her wrist and took a look at it. It was just so pretty, and it contrasted with her skin very well. Then Buffy turned serious. She took Willow by the hand, her thumb was resting on top of Willow's hand, her fingers on the redhead's palm, and she used her free hand to gently trace unseen lines around the hacker's knuckles.

"I don't want to put a damper on things, tonight has been wonderful. But I just want you to know how truly sorry I am. I never meant for any of that to happen. I know that you're still not one hundred percent comfortable around me, and I understand. I want you to know that I'm deeply, head over heels in love with you. If you'll let me I want to spend the rest of my life showing you just how happy you make me feel. You were right, when you said that love isn't just about sex, and I know that when we're both ready it'll happen. I don't want you to feel pressured or rushed. I just want you to feel loved and like you're the happiest person in the world, because that's how you make me feel everyday. So Willow, can you forgive me? Can we finally put all of that behind us? Can you trust me again?"

They had tears in both of their eyes and Willow sucked in a deep breath and held it for a minute or two. She needed to think about this for a second. Buffy was asking her to do something that she hasn't really been able to do, not since that night. She loves Buffy, with all of her heart, but she hasn't said the words since that night, she hasn't fully trusted the blonde. She looked down and watched as the blonde continued to draw invisible circles around her knuckles, and how her thumb was softly rubbing back and forth. She looked into the eyes of a very nervous slayer, and she knew the answer right then and there. She leaned forward, and pulled Buffy into a lip-bruising kiss. When they parted for air, they noticed that Willow had pulled Buffy into her lap, and she had her arms around the blonde, gently rubbing her back. They rested their foreheads together as they caught their breath.

"I love you. I love you so much that it hurts sometimes. I know you're sorry for what you did and I know that you'll never do it again. These things take time. It's going to take me a little while longer to get over this completely. But I'm going to try harder, a lot harder. But we've got to trust each other. What you said, it works both ways. I know you still suspect that there's something going on between Cordelia and me, but there's nothing. And you have to believe that I would never ever, ever do anything like that with anybody. I love you, and I'm not going to do anything to jeopardize that."

She waited for a few minutes as Buffy digested her words. Then the blonde opened her eyes and smiled. She nodded her head, agreeing that they would both work on their issues, and try a lot harder at it. Then Willow pulled her into a soft, gentle kiss that seemed to last forever. It felt like their first kiss, they took things slow, testing the waters a little bit, trying to think of what the other would want. When they parted for air, they looked deeply into each other's eyes and smiled.

"I love you," they said at the same time, and then giggled. Willow leaned forward and placed a little peck on Buffy's lips and then she turned half way around, and picked up the T.V. remote. The atmosphere was a lot less romantic, but it was still nice. They felt like they could finally breathe around each other again, like the eggshells had finally been cleaned up. "How does snuggling with the occasion kiss while we watch some sappy romantic comedy sound?" she asked and flipped the channel over to the movie channel and saw that the perfect movie was on.

"That sounds perfect," Buffy said and nuzzled Willow's neck. Right now she felt like skipping the T.V. part and just snuggle and kiss a little. Willow-snuggles is just one of the many fun activities she likes to do with the redhead but right now in this very moment it was her favorite. She felt Willow tighten her hold on her and she nuzzled the redhead's neck. She didn't want to leave this spot. She was in heaven right now and she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Instead of saying how she was feeling and possibly ruining the moment, she snuggled in closer to Willow, bringing her feet up and bending her legs so that she was laying against the other girl as they watched the sappy romantic movie playing on the T.V. in front of them. She watched as the blushing bride walked down the isle, her father leading the way, and then there was a shot of the groom, looking very glowy, and she thought to herself: 'I want that. Someday I'm going to marry Willow and she'll be the most beautiful bride that ever existed.'

Buffy woke up and headed downstairs. It was a nice lazy Monday morning. They didn't have school today. Because they just finished with the state testing, the teachers and principal decided that the students needed a bit of a break so they get this one Monday off. And in a couple of weeks it'll be Spring Break, and Buffy just can't wait. Ever since that one romantic night that she had with Willow the two were getting along a whole lot better. The blonde avoided Cordelia at all costs, she knows that Willow would never cheat on her and she was stupid to think that Willow would, but the brunette girl won't let her forget about it.

Willow was now completely comfortable around Buffy. The two got back into the habit of their old routine, the one they had before the party. At school they sit in each other's laps, and will sneak the occasional kiss when the teacher's aren't looking. After school in the library they hold hands and pretend to listen to Giles while Willow teases Buffy by rubbing her foot against the blonde's leg just to see how much of it the blonde can take. After school they do their homework in Willow's bedroom, lying on the bed together but with the door open. Willow being the brain that she is won't stop for a make-out session until all of their homework is done.

After their chores are done they sit on the couch and watch T.V. while they snuggle. At night Buffy patrols and then sneaks into Willow's bedroom for a couple of last minute cuddles and kisses before she has to go back to her own bedroom. On Fridays Willow patrols with her but she has proven to be a very big distraction as they often stop in the middle of patrol to make-out up against the side of a crypt. Then on Saturday they go to the Bronze with Xander, go home and watch movies and then fall asleep on the couch together. They spend as much time as they can just being in each other's arms, relishing in the presence of the other girl.

When Buffy walked into the kitchen she saw Willow, standing over the stove making what smelt like pancakes. Buffy walked up behind her and wrapped her arms around the redhead. She kissed Willow's neck before resting her chin on Willow's shoulder. Willow smiled and rubbed her cheek against the side of Buffy's head. She kind of likes it when Buffy sneaks up on her like this. It's nice being held like this in the morning, and in the afternoon, and at night...pretty much any time.

"Good morning," she said and flipped the pancake over. She listened to Buffy's incoherent mumble and she smiled. It was almost ten in the morning and sleeping beauty herself is still too tired to form words. "I made you a plate, it's in the microwave. You might need to heat it up for a few seconds." She felt Buffy's soft lips against her neck again and she giggled when the blonde hit the little ticklish spot. Buffy smiled and playfully kissed the spot a couple of more times, causing Willow to squirm, but then she stopped when Willow almost burnt herself on the stove.

They ate breakfast together in the living room while they watched something on T.V. Neither of them was paying attention to it though. Buffy was still too tired to concentrate on eating and watching what was on the television, and Willow couldn't stop her eyes from wondering, and she kept sneaking little glances at Buffy's bare legs. The blonde girl was still in her pajamas, which consisted of a little spaghetti strap shirt and a hair of Sunnydale High gym shorts that were almost too small. They gave Willow a great view of the toned legs, and she had the biggest urge to reach out and touch the silky looking skin. She started to eat a little faster and was finished with her food before the tired Buffy.

"Well, I'm going to go get a shower. And I was thinking that maybe we could do a little bit of gardening. The weeds are starting to take over the flowerbeds and you can barely see the carnations that we planted. Well, I'm going to do that even if you don't want to. But it would be nice to have some company. Ok, so I'm going to go get that shower now," she said so quickly that Buffy hadn't understood a single word the redhead had spoken. She was left sitting there in confusion while Willow ran into the kitchen, placed her plate in the sink and then ran upstairs.

Willow's been acting a little weird lately, and Buffy really wants to know what's up. She finished her breakfast and then put the plate in the sink. They could do the dishes later. Then she went upstairs and got dressed and waited for Willow in the redhead's bedroom. She sat down on the edge of the bed, and leaned back on her hands. She looked up at the ceiling as she listened to the water running. Then she heard it stop and she looked over at the door.

She thought that Willow had taken some clothes into the bathroom with her so that she could change in there because a couple of the dresser drawers were still open, so Buffy was a little surprised when Willow walked into the bedroom wearing nothing but a towel. And not one of the big fluffy towels that her mom had just bought the other day, no, this was one of the older towels that was just long enough to cover Willow's private parts and nothing else. Buffy's mouth hung open as she eyed the wet glistening legs of her redheaded girlfriend. She felt her mouth go dry as other parts of her became very wet.

"Hey…" she tried to say, but it squeaked out and the redhead couldn't understand. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Hey Will. Um, I was waiting for you, 'cause we were gonna go garden so I thought that I would wait in here for you because I thought you were gonna change in the bathroom, but you didn't and I…um…wow," she breathed out the last part as her eyes slowly moved up and down the length of the long creamy white legs. She always thought that Willow would have great legs, but she never gets to see them because the redhead never wears anything revealing. Well, the green dress a couple of months ago, but Buffy was too busy noticing other parts of Willow that are usually covered up.

She looked into Willow's eyes and saw that the redhead was blushing. She smiled at her and then stood up. She noticed when Willow took in a deep breath and tensed a little bit. She had to fight the urge not to shake her head. She mistook Willow's actions, and thought that they were negative. She thought that Willow felt like she was going to do something that the redhead wouldn't want, try to seduce her or whatever. But she was only getting up to leave so that the redhead can change in privacy. She didn't say anything for fear of what might come out of her mouth, and when she walked by the redhead in the direction of the door she felt Willow grab onto her arm and pull her back.

Her lips were on Buffy's in a crushing kiss. Her tongue didn't ask for entrance it just took it as the two stood there for what seemed like forever, wrapped up in the sensations of one another. As soon as they pulled apart for air Willow was kissing down Buffy's jaw line and then started to suck on the very sensitive spot on the blonde's neck. Buffy gave out a little moan and she felt herself getting wetter. A very cold shower would be in order if she's going to garden with Willow and not jump the girl in the flowerbed. She tried to pull back away from Willow, she knew that if she didn't leave the room and soon then she would do something that she would definitely regret. But the redhead had a firm hold on her arms, and she wasn't letting the blonde go anywhere.

"Willow. Will, you gotta stop. If you keep that up then I won't be able to stop, and I don't want to do anything to hurt you," she said and then moaned again as Willow flicked the tip of her tongue over that soft spot on her neck. She felt herself being pushed backwards and she started to panic on the inside. She knew what was behind her, and she knew what would happen if she did sit down on the bed. She needed to get control of the situation and fast because she didn't want to do anything to hurt the redhead. She had made a promise to herself that if she ever did anything that stupid again then she would run away so she wouldn't be a danger to the girl she loves.

"Sit and wait here, I'll explain when I get back. And close your eyes, no peeking," Willow said in a seductive tone. Oh my God! Willow has a seductive tone! Buffy thought as she felt herself being pushed onto the bed. She sat on the edge of it and closed her eyes like she was told. She kind of liked this side of Willow. She was bossy and in control and Buffy found herself becoming surprisingly wetter at the dirty thoughts that started to play through her mind about a bossy, dominating Willow. Then she heard the sounds of drawers being opened and closed and she wondered what the redhead was doing, but she didn't open her eyes. Then she heard footsteps walking towards her and then the shift in weight on the bed as Willow sat down next to her. "Ok, open your eyes," the redhead practically purred in her ear.

When she opened her eyes she saw that Willow had changed into nothing more then a baggy t-shirt. She wasn't even sure if Willow was wearing any underwear or not. She certainly wasn't wearing a bra, Buffy could tell. She licked her lips and looked into Willow's eyes. They were a little darker then normal, and sparkling with mischief. She wondered for a second what she had gotten herself into as she waited for the redhead to explain her actions. She watched as Willow shifted nervously on the bed and she thought that it was kind of cute. Ok, very cute. But she was also a little annoyed because Willow was taking a long time to start talking. And she certainly didn't have the brainpower to speak.

"Ok, I hope this doesn't come out as weird or anything like that, because I think it is and I don't know if you are going to think that it is, but I think you are, but since I don't know for sure I'm going to just go ahead and say it. So here it is, this is me going ahead and saying it. Um, you know that I'm very reluctant to sleep with you, obviously since we still haven't. And it's mostly because I'm a little afraid. I'm afraid that it's going to hurt, or that things will get weird between us or something," she said and took a deep breath. She was able to keep the babble at minimum speed and Buffy was able to keep up.

"But nobody's ever looked at me the way you just did. It was like, and for a lack of better comparison, you wanted to eat me up. I just…stop smiling like that, that's really what you looked like. Anyway, I know that I'm not ready for you to do anything to me, but I want to make you feel good. I wanna do stuff to you. Is that ok? That isn't weird is it?" She watched as Buffy thought about it and the smirk went away and it was replaced with a small, sweet smile.

"If you think you're ready to do this. I don't want you to feel like you have to. And, no pressure or anything, but are you close to feeling like you're ready for me to do stuff to you? Because I sort of thought that when we did more then just kiss we would…explore each other. That we would take turns getting to know each other's bodies," she stopped, wanting to see Willow's reaction to that. She waited and watched as the redhead digested her words. She was fidgeting and had to fight like hell to keep her eyes on Willow's face. She wanted to take Willow up on her offer, but at the same time she wanted to wait, she wanted their first time to be special, just like she had talked about. But at the same time she just wanted to rip off her clothes and let Willow ravish her.

"Soon, real soon I'll be ready. But right now I just wanna make you happy. I want to do this Buffy, if you'll let me," she said and mock pouted. She stuck out her bottom lip and made it quiver a little, stealing the move from Buffy, the queen of the pout. Buffy couldn't stand it. She leaned forward and took Willow's bottom lip in between her own and started to gently suck on it. She heard Willow moan and she started to kiss the redhead. It was a desperate, almost violent display of lips, tongue and teeth. Willow took charge again and she gently laid Buffy down on her back. Then she kissed her way down the blonde's jaw line and left a fairly large hickey on Buffy's neck. She felt Buffy's hips start to slowly grind against her.

She smiled and she got off of the bed and dropped to her knees. Never thought I'd have to get on my knees with a girl, she thought as she smiled to herself. She reached forward and undid Buffy's jeans and the blonde lifted her hips up as Willow pulled them down. She took off the blonde's shoes and then pulled the jeans completely off. She watched as Buffy scooted forward and spread her legs as Willow stared at the very dark spot on Buffy's underwear. Buffy lifted herself up onto her elbows and she looked at Willow, the room was thick with the smell of her arousal.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" she asked. She needed to be sure. She didn't want Willow to regret anything, and she didn't want things to get weird between them when they just got back to normal. She watched as the redhead nodded her head yes and then gently grabbed onto the waistband of her pink panties with the little yellow ducky on the front. She lifted her hips up so that Willow could pull them off and they were tossed down on top of her jeans. She watched as Willow studied her for a few minutes. The redhead was almost panting, and she rested her hands on top of Buffy's thighs and started to gently rub them. She started to move closer to the blonde, trying to get comfortable on the floor.

"Do you think…" she started to say but she trailed off as she looked into Buffy's eyes. She blushed a little before she continued. "Could you lie back and close your eyes? I'll get too nervous if you watch." Buffy smiled and nodded her head. But before she did as Willow asked she sat up and leaned forward to place a fiery kiss on the redhead's lips. Then she laid down on her back and stared up at the ceiling as she waited with anticipation. "Tell me if I do something wrong, ok?" But before Buffy could answer she felt her outer lips being gently spread apart by the redhead's fingers. She gasped and forgot what she was going to say. All thought was hurled out of her mind when she felt Willow's hot breath against her throbbing sex.

"The door was unlocked, I hope you guys don't – OH MY GOD!" they heard Xander scream. They both jumped up to their feet. Willow jumped halfway across the room she had been so startled. Buffy grabbed her pants and tried to desperately pull them on but they weren't cooperating with her and she ended up falling to the ground with her pants around her ankles. "I'm so sorry, I'll leave. I'll see you guys later." And before they could say anything Xander was charging down the stairs and out the door. Buffy stood up and calming put her jeans back on and she noticed that Willow looked like she was about to faint.

"You ok?" she asked and she walked closer to her. She started to rub Willow's back, trying to calm her down. She looked like she was having a hard time breathing, and there was sweat sneaking its way down her forehead. She shook her head back and forth, her long red hair hit Buffy in the face. Buffy helped her over to the bed and they sat down. She started to stroke Willow's hair, and then rubbed her back again.

"I'm never going to be able to look at him the same," she said and looked into Buffy's confused eyes. Before the blonde could say anything she started to talk again, blushing while she did. "He's a guy Buffy, and he just saw two girls about to, ya know. What do you think he's going to be doing when he's alone?" Understanding hit Buffy like a ton of bricks. She had to bite down on her lips to keep herself from laughing. She noticed that Willow looked a little annoyed with her. "It's not funny. I don't want him fantasizing about us, about you. He was bad enough when you first moved here. Now he's seen you half naked. God, this is bad."

Buffy couldn't hold back the laughter and she fell onto her side and rolled around on the bed. It took about ten maybe fifteen minutes for the laughter to stop. Willow just sat there and watched her, thinking that maybe her girlfriend has taken one too many hits to the head. Then she saw Buffy smile at her, and she smiled back. She watched as Buffy reached for her and Willow was more then willing to comply, and she snuggled down in Buffy's warm embrace. They laid there like that for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. Then Willow sat up and got off of the bed. She remembered that she had planned on going downstairs to garden and she thought that it was the perfect thing to take her mind off of Xander.

She kept her back to Buffy as she got dressed. She still isn't completely comfortable with showing off her body to anyone, let alone her girlfriend. She made sure to dress in some wore out clothes, some faded jeans, a torn t-shirt and then some old dirty sneakers. She combed her hair and then applied some light makeup. All the while she could feel Buffy's intense gaze on her but it didn't make her feel uncomfortable in any way. It actually made her feel kind of good. The fact that Buffy couldn't seem to take her eyes off of Willow made the redhead feel a little more confident about herself.

"Well, I'm going to go garden. Those weeds aren't going to pull themselves," she said and watched as Buffy jumped off of the bed and slipped her shoes on. They made their way downstairs and out to the backyard. They talked about unimportant things while they were outside. Willow mostly talked, filling the silence with words about what she does whenever she helps Ms. Calendar in the computer lab. Buffy wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying though. She was too busy remembering what it was like feeling Willow's fingers, and her breath touching her needy sex, and the thoughts were getting her wet again. She excused herself from pulling the weeds, feeling bad for leaving it up to Willow but she needed to get out there before she jumped the redhead. She and the new detachable showerhead were about to become very acquainted.

Saturday night could not have come any sooner. Buffy wasn't even going to patrol tonight before the Bronze. She just wanted to relax and have a great time. Things were still very awkward between the two teenage girls and Xander. He had pulled Buffy aside at school that Tuesday and threatened her some more. He told her that if she did anything to hurt Willow, not only physically but also emotionally, that if Buffy were only in the relationship for sex, then Xander would tear her apart. She tried to convince the boy that it had been completely Willow's idea, but he didn't believe her. She quickly gave up, not wanting to put herself through all of the stress and she forgot about the incident, although she did notice whenever Xander would glare at her from across the table whenever Willow would touch Buffy, even if it was something as simple as holding hands.

Buffy sat at their usual table and nursed her drink while Xander was out on the dance floor and Willow was in the bathroom. She smiled to herself when she thought about how the redhead had been acting all night. Buffy had worn a short skirt and tight top, the outfit was a lot sluttier then she normally wears, but it had the desired affect. Willow could not keep her eyes off of the blonde. Buffy had a feeling that Willow was undressing her with her eyes and she liked that feeling very much. Ever since their little incident on Monday the redhead has been trying to take things a little further, but they've never had the opportunity to do anything about the pent up sexual energy that the redhead was carrying around. Someone would either walk in on them, or Giles would call and tell her about some demon that she needed to slay.

Willow walked out of the bathroom feeling a little better then before. She decided that she had enough soda for one night and didn't think that her bladder would be able to handle any more. She saw that Buffy was sitting alone at the table and she was glad for that. She had a little plan brewing in the back of her mind, and she smiled a very wicked smile, as she got closer to the table. She sat down next to Buffy and kissed her on the cheek. Buffy asked her if she wanted to go back out on the dance floor, but the redhead said that she was still a little tired and needed to relax before they started up again. Buffy complied and sat at the table with the redhead and watched the other while she nursed her drink.

She almost choked when she felt Willow's hand on her thigh. It wasn't like Willow never touched her thigh. Whenever they were sitting next to each other the redhead's hand was usually on her knee, or somewhere on the girl's leg, but this time it was different. This time the hand was going where it hadn't gone before. It was slipping its way up Buffy's skirt. She looked over at Willow, but she was playing dumb. The redhead was looking out into the crowd and was acting like nothing was going on, like her hand was rubbing against the inner thigh of the blonde, and her fingertips weren't brushing against Buffy's panty clad sex.

Buffy gasped as Willow gently pushed the underwear aside. She was starting to pant a little, her face was flushed, and she was gripping onto the glass almost hard enough to break it. She put the soda down before she did break it and then gripped onto the table. She left finger impressions, but it didn't break. She gasped again, when she felt Willow's fingertips start to leave feather soft touches on her outer lips. She bit her bottom lips to hold back the moan, but she didn't know how long she could keep it up. Then she saw Xander walking towards them when the song ended and to her horror Willow didn't pull away.

"Hey Buffy, you ok? You need me to freshen up your drink or something?" he asked as she sat down across from the two teens. Willow smiled at him and then looked over at the blonde. She was looking like she wanted to kill Willow, but at the same time she didn't want the redhead to stop. Willow just smiled this innocent little smile like she had no idea why the blonde would be glaring at her.

"No Xander, I'm ok. It's just a little hot in here," she told him and then she stopped and listen to what song was coming out through the large speakers. It was the slow song that she and Willow had danced to right before they confessed their love for each other. She smiled and looked over at the redhead who had stopped her hand movements when she recognized the song as well. They smiled at each other and after Willow took her hand out of Buffy's skirt they walked out onto the dance floor. Buffy wrapped her arms around Willow's waist while the redhead had her hands wrapped around Buffy's neck. Buffy leaned forward and placed a small kiss on Willow's lips.

"No that I'm complaining, but what got into you earlier?" she asked and watched as Willow blushed, turning a very interesting shade of red. "Were you trying to seduce me or just drive me crazy?" Willow's face went even redder and she rested her head on Buffy's shoulder, hiding her face from view. But then she started to softly kiss the delicate skin in front of her and got a little moan for her efforts. They continued to sway gently as they listened to the song, and then Willow started to kiss and suck on Buffy's earlobe. She pulled back a few centimeters and blew some warm air on the little wet spot. She felt Buffy shudder and she couldn't help but smile to herself. She could only imagine how wet the blonde must be and she really wanted to find out.

"When is your mom getting back from San Diego?" she asked and pulled back far enough to look into Buffy's eyes. The blonde had to think for a few seconds. Her mother had gone out of town to attend some type of conference for her work, but Buffy wasn't sure what it was about because she hadn't been paying attention at the time. She did remember the dates though. Her mom left two days ago, and would be back very early tomorrow morning.

"Tomorrow. Her plane lands in L.A. at five and she's taking a cab back to the house. Why? Did you wanna get out of here?" she asked and smiled when she saw Willow nod her head and then gulped when she saw Willow smile a sexy little seductive smile. In just the last couple of days Buffy has seen a side of the redhead she never knew existed. They waited until the song ended and then they kissed slowly for a couple of seconds and then walked back over to the table. They grabbed their coast and told Xander goodbye and they made their way out of the club.

They were walking down the street, enjoying the cool night air thinking that nothing could be any more perfect. They had each other, and they were happy again as a couple. They had gotten over their first fight that was about something huge, and they survived. So maybe if they fight over something small, the fight won't last very long, and there will lots and lots of 'I'm sorry' kisses. But they would think about that later because right now Buffy's house was coming into view and they were both feeling a little nervous. Willow waited patiently while Buffy unlocked the door and was let in first because Buffy is quite the...um...gentlewoman? Willow isn't quite sure on the exact word for it. Willow decided to be very un-lady like and when Buffy closed the front door and relocked the dead bolt she pressed the blonde up against the door and started to kiss her wildly there in the foyer.

"Have I told you how amazingly great you look tonight?" Willow asked and watched as Buffy smiled a little playful smile. She wrapped her arms around Willow and let her hands rest on the small of the redhead's back. Willow leaned in a tried to kiss the smile away but the blonde wouldn't give. "What?" she asked as the smile grew a little. Buffy had some mischief in her eyes and the redhead started to feel butterflies fluttering around her stomach.

"You trying to sweet talk your way into my pants Ms. Rosenberg?" she asked and chuckled a little when Willow blushed. But then the redhead turned serious and the blonde became a little nervous. Had she said something wrong? She wasn't so sure and she was almost afraid to ask. "What?" She brows furrowed a little, she was starting to become a little worried.

"I would never try to sweet talk my way into your pants when you're wearing a skirt," she told her and Buffy started to laugh. She rested her head on Willow's shoulder and the laughed rumbled through her body. Willow's seriousness faltered and she started to laugh as well. Now that the mood wasn't so tense they weren't as nervous as they had been when they walked into the house. "Wanna go upstairs?" she asked and watched as Buffy's head shot up and she looked deeply into the green orbs staring back at her.

"Only if you want to," she said and Willow backed up and took Buffy by the hand and the two made their way up the stairs to the second floor of the home. With each step they took the blonde was becoming increasingly nervous. She wasn't so sure what Willow wanted right now. Did she want to be touched, or did she still want to wait and only touch the blonde? Buffy didn't know, but she knew she would have to ask if Willow didn't say anything. She wasn't going to do anything to violate the redhead again.

Willow led her into her bedroom and then closed the door. She immediately went over to the bed and sat down. She gently pulled on Buffy's arm and the blonde sat down next to her. They looked into each other's eyes. They were both nervous, a little scared, but they both wanted this. The timing just seemed so perfect. They both leaned in and met each other halfway for a slow sensual kiss that quickly burned with passion. The redhead was nervous and a little unsure of what to do, but she had some idea so she just went with it. She leaned back from the kiss and pulled off her shirt, exposing herself to the blonde. She almost laughed out loud when she saw Buffy's eyes widen in surprise when she saw that the redhead wasn't wearing a bra.

She leaned back in and they started to kiss again. It was intense, and passionate and it left both girls panting and wanting so much more. When they pulled apart again, Willow's hands were on the hem of Buffy's shirt and she looked into the blonde's hazel eyes, her own asking the silent question. In response the blonde lifted her arms above her head and within seconds her blouse was on the ground with Willow's. They leaned back in for another lip-bruising kiss and then Buffy pulled away and started to place soft but heated kisses down Willow's jaw line until she was sucking on the soft creamy skin of the redhead's neck. Her hands were on Willow's back, softly rubbing little circles around the girl's spine causing all sorts of moaning noises. But then she pulled back from her kissing and she looked into Willow's eyes.

"I need to know what you want. How far do you want to take this? I don't want to rush you or violate you again, so please tell me," she said and searched the redhead's eyes for the answer, hoping that it would be there. She watched as Willow smiled and then leaned in a place a soft kiss on her lips. And then she pulled back and looked deeply into Buffy's eyes. She held onto one of Buffy's hands with both of her own and then she opened her mouth to speak.

"Buffy! Willow! Is anybody home?" they jumped off of the bed when they heard Joyce yell. WHAT? She wasn't supposed to be back until tomorrow. They looked at each other, panicked and unsure of what to do. Well, one thing was for sure, Buffy had to get the hell outta Willow's room before Joyce came upstairs. She placed a quick kiss on Willow's cheek before she grabbed onto her shirt and silently ran into her bedroom and quietly closed the door. She rushed over to the dresser and changed into some pajamas. She let her hair down and ruffled it up a little to help make it look like it'd been down for a couple of hours. And then she slowly walked out of her room and down the stairs and went into the kitchen were her mom was rummaging through the fridge.

"Hi Mom," she said and gave Joyce a hug, but she felt a little weird doing it since she was still so worked up from Willow. "What are you doing back, I thought you weren't coming home until tomorrow?" She pulled back and grabbed the carton of milk and poured herself a glass. She watched as her mom started to look through the fridge again. She hoped that she didn't sound suspicious because the last thing she wanted was for her mom to interrogate her, and then go upstairs and bother Willow until the redhead gets so flustered that she finally admits to something.

"The conference had to end early because of some bad weather, so they let us go home early. How was your night at the Bronze? You did go to the Bronze, didn't you?" she asked and pulled out the container of left over chicken chow-main from that night's dinner. She put it in the microwave and then set the timer. She leaned against the center island and then watched as Buffy downed the glass of milk and then wiped away the milk mustache. She set the glass on the counter and then looked over at her mom.

"Yeah we went to the Bronze. Xander got a drink thrown in his face. It was so funny. He tried to hit on this one girl who doesn't speak English and when he tried to speak French he said something insulting on accident and so she threw her coke in face," she said and started to laugh as she remembered the look on the young boy's face. It had been a sight to see, and she was glad that she hadn't warned Xander that the girl was a foreign exchange student. Then she calmed down and put her empty glass in the sink and ran some water to rinse it out. "So, how was your conference? Anything interesting happen?"

"No, it was the same old boring conference as always. A couple of new faces, but mostly just the same people. I'm glad it only comes once a year, I don't think I'd be able to stand going away for four days on a semi-regular basis." There was a little pause and Joyce looked into the living room and her brow furrowed and she looked over at Buffy. "How come you and Willow aren't watching videos? Did you two have another fight?" Buffy shook her head and tried to come up with something. She searched the back of her mind for some type of believable lie.

"We're sort of tired, we're just going to go to sleep. She's upstairs changing right now. I'm going to get the blankets could of the closet in a minute," she said and then Joyce smiled. She smiled back and then her mom embraced her in a big motherly hug. Buffy couldn't help but feel like a little kid again when her mom would hug her to protect her from the imaginary monsters under the bed and in the closet. She wished that her mother's hug could protect her from the real life monsters that she fights on almost a nightly basis.

"Good night sweetheart, I'll see you in the morning," Joyce said and placed a kiss on Buffy's forehead before she started to walk out of the kitchen. Buffy smiled and said a 'G'night, I love you,' and then she went into the basement to get the extra blankets. She turned out the kitchen light and when she went into the living room Willow was sitting on the couch waiting for her. She smiled and sat down on the couch next to the redhead and they started to kiss a little. But they both pulled back before things got too heated. Without saying a word Buffy laid down with her back leaning against the back of the couch, and Willow laid down next to her and Buffy pulled the blankets over them. She spooned the redhead from behind and smelled the lovely fragrance of the redhead's shampoo.

"Even though we can't right now because your mom is home, what I was going to say earlier was: I'm ready for us to be together. I mean, I know we're together, but I'm ready to go further, as in you touching me and me touching you. Not that we don't touch now but– you know what I mean, right?" she asked and Buffy smiled and kissed the back of Willow's neck. She started to draw lazy circles around the redhead's bellybutton, and the redhead giggled a little.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Now all we have to do is find a place to be together," she said, keeping her tone light as she kissed the side of Willow's neck. She was groaning on the inside though. Why did Willow have to tell her that when she was starting to feel sexually frustrated and couldn't work off the tension? Don't get her wrong, she loves the redhead and loves just snuggling her like this, but with two close encounters but no release in the same week, that combination is starting to result in a very cranky Buffy. Oh well, she thought to herself. I'll just have to reintroduce myself with Mister Showerhead.

Buffy fluttered her eyes open very slowly on that beautiful Saturday morning. Ok, well, it was technically noon, but it was morning to her. She can't remember the last time she's slept in so late. Usually she's up and ready to go by seven thirty on the weekdays, and up by nine on the weekends. But she had stayed up pretty late last night. It was four in the morning before she snuck back into her bedroom to get some shuteye. Since her mom was sick with a cold and taking medicine to help with the symptoms she isn't as alert as normal, and sleeping although the night, so Buffy has been able to sneak into Willow's room for a late-night-make-out-session.

She stretched her arms above her head and rolled over onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. Things with Willow have been a little tense lately. Not because the two are fighting or anything but because they want to take their relationship to the next level, but they can't. They can't find a place where they can be together. They knew that if they were 'together' after school then they would most likely fall asleep afterwards and Joyce would catch them and Willow would be forced to move out. Her mom had picked up on the fact that the two teens have been a lot closer lately and so she started taking the weekends off from work, not willing to take the chance in leaving them home alone all day long.

But their passion for each other is starting to grow. They've had one really embarrassing incident about two weeks after Willow told Buffy she was ready to go further. They were at the library in a late night study session. Giles left to go get some food and Xander had to go home early because he wasn't feeling well. Willow leaned over and placed a quick kiss on Buffy's lips and before they knew what was happening the blonde was bent over the table, Willow lying on top of her, their hands were roaming all over the other's body and their hips were grinding together. Luckily it was only Cordelia who walked in and not Giles. They knew they'd never be able to look him in the eyes again if he were to walk in on them in that type of position.

Buffy looked over towards her door when she heard running in the hallway. She smiled when she saw Willow throw her door open and practically bounce into the room. The redhead jumped up on her bed and bounced a couple of times and then landed on her knees, laughing the entire time. Buffy giggled a little, still too tired to fully laugh at the moment. She watched as Willow walked up to her, still on her knees, and she laid down next to her, lying on her side so she could look at the blonde.

"Morning baby," she said and leaned in for a kiss. Buffy pulled her head away and covered her mouth with one of her hands. She instantly regretted doing it however, when she saw the look hurt on Willow's face. "What? Why don't you wanna kiss me?" She sounded as hurt as she looked and Buffy felt like such an ass. But still, she was self-conscious and she couldn't help but scoot away from the redhead a little bit before she uncovered her mouth.

"It's not you, it's me. Well, my bad morning breath at least," she said and smiled. Willow got an 'oh, ok' look on her face and then reached into her pants pocket. She pulled out a small tin container of Altoids and took one out and handed it to the blonde. Buffy smiled a small 'thank you' and then popped the mint into her mouth. Her eyes watered at the strong flavor as she sucked on it, making her bad breath disappear. "Now you can have a kiss." She leaned over and placed a sweet kiss on Willow's lips. It soon deepened and when the two pulled back for air Willow was sucking on Buffy's mint. "Hey, that was mine," she whined and started to pout, making Willow giggle.

"Want it back?" she asked, her voice teasing. Buffy pouted some more and nodded her head yes. Willow got this mischievous smile on her face. "Then come and get it," she taunted and then jumped off of the bed and ran for the door. Buffy threw the blankets off of her and rushed after the other girl. She ran down the stairs and started to search the bottom floor of the house, but she couldn't find Willow anywhere. She was sure she had come down here. At least she was halfway sure. She could still be upstairs. She slowly walked back up the stairs, using her slayer stealthiness to be quieter then any mouse that's ever lived. She let her slayer senses roam as she searched for the other girl.

"Boo!" Willow yelled as she jumped out of the bathroom and right in Buffy's face. Buffy had to fight like hell to suppress her slayer instincts because she really doesn't think that accidentally hitting your girlfriend in a game of hide and seek is a relationship builder. She smiled as Willow started to slowly back away from her. "I accidentally swallowed your mint, but I replaced it with another, and it's just as yummy." As if to prove her point she stuck out her tongue, the mint resting on the tip of it. She was forced to stand still when her back made contact with the wall.

"Well, I guess it's time for me to claim my prize," the slayer said before pressing herself up against the other girl. She slowly started to kiss Willow, doing her best to get the mint back but Willow kept stealing it away from her. That made the game a little more interesting but when they pulled back for air Buffy smiled proudly and stuck out her tongue to show the redhead that she had indeed captured the mint. "So, Willow, how are you going to get me to let you go, seeing how I got the mint back, you have no leverage." She smiled an evil smile and Willow just stood there, looking innocent.

"Maybe I don't want you to let me go," she said and batted her eyelashes. Buffy's expression turned serious and she closed her eyes when she felt Willow's soft lips brush against hers. She deepened the kiss and she felt Willow's hands rest on her hips. She felt herself being gently pushed backwards and she offered no resistance. She was slowly led down the hall and then to her bedroom doorway. She did stop there, however. She doesn't want Willow to feel rushed. Even if the redhead has told her many times that she's ready, she just wants to make sure. She's nervous about being Willow's first because she doesn't want the redhead to regret it, and she doesn't want to do anything wrong.

"Are you absolutely, positively, one-hundred percent sure you're ready for this?" she asked and Willow cocked her head to the side and sort rolled her eyes up towards the ceiling as if she were thinking about it. She smiled and then looked into Buffy's worried hazel eyes. She leaned in and placed a quick kiss on her soft lips before giggling a little bit.

"Cross my heart,

hope to cry, stick a poodle in my eye," she said and Buffy couldn't help but laugh. Willow is just so damn cute when she wants to be. They started to kiss again, slow at first but it soon heated up with passion. Buffy was backed up into the room and sat down on the edge of her bed. She felt Willow's demeanor completely change, and instead of being that self-confident little vixen she was out in the hall, she was now a nervous little girl. They pulled back from the kiss at the same time and Buffy ran her fingers through Willow's long hair, attempting to calm her nerves.

"I know you're nervous, I know you're afraid that it's going to hurt really bad. Don't worry about it. It doesn't hurt that much. There's a slight sting and then it's mostly just a dull soreness. I'll be extra gentle with you, don't worry." Willow nodded her head and they started to kiss again, but it wasn't very pleasant, Willow was still so damn nervous that she accidentally bit Buffy's tongue pretty hard. "Ok. Don't think of it as us about to have sex. Just think of it as us about to…explore each other's bodies. There doesn't have to be any penetration if you don't want there to be. We'll go slow, get a lay of the land so to speak so when you are ready we'll already know each other a little better. That sound ok?" Willow smiled and the two kissed. It was much more relaxed then before. She scooted up on the bed, dragging Buffy with her, and she laid down in the middle of it.

It only took a couple of minutes and Willow's shirt was lying on the floor. Another couple of minutes passed and so was Buffy's. The redhead pulled back from the kiss and studied the blonde above her. She started to gently rub the soft skin starting at the collarbone and working her way down towards the slayer's breasts. She drew invisible patterns on the other girl and she looked up at Buffy's face when she noticed that she was breathing harder. She smiled when she saw that Buffy's eyes were closed, and her mouth was hanging open a little.

"You said explore, right? That we're going to explore each other?" she asked almost timidly. Buffy quickly nodded her head yes and her breath caught in her throat when she felt Willow unclasp her bra and slowly start to pull it off. She used the strength in her legs to hold herself up while she lifted her arms off of the bed so that Willow could take the bra off completely. "So we can just look, right? Almost like studying each other?" Again it was said with the very timid sounding voice. Buffy just nodded her head and she gasped when she felt Willow's index finger start to hesitantly draw circles around her right breast. She hissed in a breath and then the finger stopped moving. "Did I do something wrong?" Buffy's eyes opened and she shook her head no.

Willow reached up and took both of Buffy's pert breasts in her hands, feeling their weight, studying their soft texture. Her eyes widened a little when she felt Buffy's nipples harden against her palms, and Buffy's hissed in another breath. I guess that means I'm doing something right, she thought as she gave them a gentle squeeze. She decided to go back to those later, she had some more exploring that she wanted to get done right now. She started to stroke Buffy's ribs with the back of her fingernails, slowly making her way down to the blonde's stomach. She noticed that Buffy's skin started to get Goosebumps, and she looked up at the blonde's face to make sure she wasn't doing anything wrong. But Buffy looked content so she kept going.

"Will," Buffy breathed out more then she said. She opened her desire filled eyes and looked into the redhead's questioning ones. She could tell that there was still some small amount of fear in them and she was quick to assure her that everything was fine. "This might be a little easier if I'm on the bottom." Willow nodded her head and watched as Buffy got off of her. She sat on her knees and waited for her to move. Once Willow was off of the bed Buffy laid down where Willow had been. Then the redhead slowly climbed on top, resting most of her weight on her knees and elbows. She decided that lying next to Buffy and perching on her side would be a little more comfortable, so that's what she did.

She kept up her slow exploration of the blonde's body and continued to take mental notes. She paid attention to a certain area whenever Buffy reacted strongly to it being touched. When she was done with Buffy's upper body she thought that it was time for her girlfriend to lose the rest of her clothes, so to speak. She sat up on the bed and gently pulled at the waistband of Buffy's pajama bottoms and Buffy lifted her hips up and Willow pulled them off of her. She dropped them to the floor and sat at the foot of the bed. She closely eyed the smooth skin of Buffy's legs and she slowly reached out and started to run the tips of her fingers on the tops of Buffy's thighs.

She looked up at Buffy when she heard the blonde's breathing become a little more labored. She saw a thin sheen of sweat start to cover the blonde's torso. Buffy's face was also starting to turn a little red. Willow inhaled deeply and she noticed a musky smell started to take over the room. She looked down and saw a dampness start to darken her girlfriend's panties. I'm making her wet, she thought to herself and suppressed the little smirk. She continued her stroking of the blonde's thighs and noted that she liked it when she scraped her fingernails along the skin. Little white marks would appear but almost instantly go away. Probably her slayer healing, she thought.

"Is it ok if I take these off?" she asked and smiled a little at how fast Buffy nodded her head yes. She waited for the blonde to lift up her hips and she slid the white cotton underwear off when she did. She gasped herself when she saw Buffy's trimmed pubic hair. Definitely not a natural blonde, she thought. She was still too nervous to just 'dive in' so she started to scrape her fingernails along the tops of Buffy's thighs getting closer and closer to the brown hair with each stroke.

She noticed that the closer she got the heavier Buffy's breathing became. She looked up at Buffy's face and smiled at how beautiful she looked with her eyes closed and her head rolled back against the bed. She looked down when she felt a pressure against her legs and she saw that Buffy was spreading her legs apart, subconsciously or a silent plea for more she wasn't sure which but she knew that she had to continue. She couldn't just leave Buffy like this, it would be cruel and inhumane. She still wanted to go slow, though. She had no idea of what to do so she was going to let Buffy couch her through it, even if the blonde didn't know she would be couching.

She started to scrape her nails against the inside of Buffy's thighs and got a very loud hiss for that. She smiled and continued to gently scratch the smooth silky skin. She was busy paying attention to Buffy's breathing and the look on the older girl's face so she didn't see how high her hand had gone until she felt the moisture and hear Buffy wince, as if in pain, when her thumb made contact with the swallow nether lips. She looked down quickly and saw that Buffy was spreading her legs farther apart. She gently eased herself up and sat down on the other side of Buffy's leg, so that she was in between the slender limbs.

She gently spread the pink lips apart with her thumb and she noticed a part of the blonde, above her entrance that was practically gushing out the musky juices, was throbbing. She reached over with her index finger and started to gently rub the throbbing body part. Buffy arched her back off of the bed and a low moan gurgled in her throat. She applied some more pressure and started to draw a small circle. Buffy's hips started to grind against her hand and she smiled when she saw Buffy grip onto the sheets so hard that her knuckles turned white. She added another finger and the muscle twitched uncontrollably. She started to move her fingers lower until they were teasing Buffy's entrance. The blonde's hips arched up as if on their own accord, and suddenly Willow filled her.

Willow gasped out at the feeling of the blonde's wet, hot cavern. It was so strange, she's never felt anything like it before, but it was a good kind of strange. She started to move her fingers around a little, she was supposed to be exploring after all. She hit a particularly squishy spot and Buffy's back arched up and she moaned loudly.

"Oh God, Willow, right there, please. Oh God." Willow was starting to sweat and the throbbing in between her legs was almost unbearable. She continued to stroke over that spot and it was driving Buffy crazy. She was pumping her hips against her hand, her back was arching up higher and higher, her breathing was very erratic and she was staring to drip beads of sweat off of her forehead and chest area. She noticed that Buffy's legs were bent at the knees, her heels were digging into the bed and the muscles were tense. "A little faster, please." She begged, and Willow actually found that hot. She started to move her fingers a little faster over that spot, and Buffy's breaths started to come in shorter gasps. She didn't know how, but Willow knew that Buffy was close. She could just feel it. A couple more strokes and the blonde would be calling out her name at the top of her lungs. So it was at that moment someone decided to ring the doorbell.

"No. Fucking. Way," Buffy said in a deep growl. Willow decided to ignore the door, thinking that it was probably just Xander, and she started to stroke Buffy a little faster and a little harder. The blonde forgot all about the door and she threw her head back as she arched off of the bed. But the person outside was persistent and the ringing kept coming. The mood was ruined now, they both felt it and Buffy relaxed as best she could as Willow pulled her fingers out of her. She sat up in the bed and gave Willow a quick kiss on the lips and smiled at her. She got off of the bed and put her pajamas back on, purposely leaving her panties and bra off. She made her way downstairs and unlocked the door. She counted to twenty before she opened it in hopes it would help calm her down a little. Then she opened it and she wanted to murder.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" she spat and thought about slamming the door in their face, but she knew that that would be a very rude thing to do. Not that she cared at this point. But she knew that they would never give up if they wanted to talk to her, so she might as well get it over with.

"Rude much?" Cordelia asked in her usual tone. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she looked Buffy over, observing her messy hair and sweaty skin. She mouth curled into a very self-satisfied smile. "You were just having sex with Willow weren't you?" She didn't need anything more then Buffy's irritated expression to know that she was right. "Well, I am so glad that I was able to stop that." Buffy closed her eyes and counted to ten, praying that she wouldn't kill this bitch right there.

"Is there something that you needed, or did you just come over here to piss me off?" she asked, her voice strained as she tried to keep the volume under control. She didn't want Willow to have to come down here and try to get her off of Cordelia because the redhead would be really embarrassed to face the person that had caught them. Well, not so much as caught, but interrupted and was able to guess what they were doing. Not that it wasn't obvious.

"Please, get over yourself. I just wanted to warn you to watch your back." And again with this crap? Cordelia has been threatening Buffy ever since she found out about that very unfortunate incident at the party at Quinn's house. Buffy's tried to avoid her, but the queen of Sunnydale just won't back off. It's really starting to piss Buffy off, especially when she's gone out of her way to evade the other girl, going as far as taking different routes in the school so they wouldn't pass in the hallways.

"I've heard it all before Cordelia. Did you come by here to tell me that if I hurt Willow you'll slip me your little wonder drug and make me a normal girl? Or did you come here to threaten to kick my ass? Like it's possible. Or are you gonna tell me that you and your gang are gonna jump me in the school parking lot?" she sounded a little sarcastic, but those were just some of the things that Cordelia had threatened to her. But Queenie just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest as if Buffy was the one who wasn't supposed to be here.

"Like I'd come all the way to your house to make idol threats. I just wanted to warn you that the little 'wonder drug' was stolen from my purse at the store this morning. I don't know who did it or if they even know what it is, but I thought you should know. So don't accept any food if you don't know who made it and make sure all of your drinks are in cans or reseal-able bottles just in case someone tries to slip it to you. I can't believe this happened. I paid good money for that stuff and now I'm not even going to get the satisfaction of knowing that it's me who's the cause of your loss of power. See you around." And she left, her hair blowing gracefully in the wind as she walked that superior walk. Well that certainly was unexpected.

Buffy shut the door, feeling a little numb. She knew that Cordelia could slip her that stuff, but she never thought that she would. Even Cordelia isn't that cruel. But this other person, or whatever it is, could slip it to her when she isn't paying attention. They could show up at the Bronze and distract her and then put it in her drink, like those boys to with the date rape drug. What is she going to do now? It's not like she can just stop going out because of this threat. She'll just have to be more careful. She'll pack all of her lunches and she won't drink anything but bottled water. But what if someone sees her buying her food at the store and then uses a syringe to put it in her food! Oh, now she can't breathe.

She went back upstairs and saw that Willow had put her shirt back on and was sitting on the bed, waiting for her to come back. Her mood changed from an annoyed one to a very concerned one when she saw the look on Buffy's face. She was pale, and seemed a little zoned out, like someone told her they ran over her puppy or something. If she had a puppy, that is. She sat down at the foot of the bed and held her face in her hands, her elbows rested on her knees as she slouched over. Willow slowly crawled up behind her and started to rub her back.

"Who was at the door, baby?" she asked and Buffy looked up and stared at the wall in front of her. This was bad. This was very, very bad. She could become a normal girl, defenseless, helpless. She wouldn't be able to protect Willow and it's all because Cordelia has some strange need to try and protect the redhead herself. And why is that anyway? It's not like the two are friends in any way shape or form.

"Cordelia. She…a while ago, the Monday after the party when she threatened me, she told me she had some type of drug, she bought it from a demon when she was in New York. She said that it would get rid of the slayer side of me. Everything about it, the power, the strength, the night vision, everything. I would be a normal teenage girl. I didn't think much of it or else I would have taken it from her. And downstairs, she said," she had to stop. Her eyes were starting to water up and there was lump in her throat. "She said that someone stole it from her purse, and she doesn't know who. What if it was some kind of demon? What if it puts that stuff in my food or a drink and I become just a normal girl? I can't be normal Willow, that's not good enough. Then who'll keep you safe?" She was sobbing now and Willow continued to rub her back. She wrapped her arms around her and gentle led her up to the head of the bed. She pulled the covers down and encouraged Buffy to crawl under them. She held Buffy as she wept on her chest, and she stroked her hair and her back, trying her best to calm her down.

"Shh, baby. It's going to be ok. Nothing bad is going to happen to you, I promise. We'll just be extra careful, ok? Shh, try to get some sleep." Her voice was low and soothing and Buffy couldn't help but give into it. She closed her eyes and tried her best to get her breathing under control. She felt herself start to drift off as she cried herself to sleep, the entire time she was thinking about all of the bad things that could happen to Willow if she does become nothing more then a normal girl. But she was able to find comfort in the redhead's arms, and the way she was caressing her. It was so gentle, so loving, she couldn't help but actually believe that everything would work out in her favor.

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