Later that day Willow went red and smiling once again, as she was checking her e-mail. She got a message from secret-admirer@guesswho.com and was intrigued. It read "Meet me at the Bronze tonight at 7. Don't worry; I promise I'm not a demon!" She laughed, wondering who it was. The phone rang at that moment: Xander.
"Hey, Willow! What'ya doing tonight?"
"Actually... I think I have a date." There was silence on the other end of the phone. "Xander? Are you there?"
"Um, yeah. Yeah, I'm here. I, uh, wanted to see you today sometime, to talk."
Willow suggested he come over after her date ended; she would call him. He agreed, and she went and turned on the shower to start getting ready. At seven o'clock, Willow appeared in the doorway of the Bronze wearing an outfit that showed off her good mood about the ritual's success, her newfound confidence, and her legs.
She scanned the crowd for familiar faces and found none. Then she heard a dark, sexy voice from behind her say, "Glad you could make it!"
She whirled around to see - "Adam?" Leaning against the wall smiling at her.
"Hi, Willow. I take it you got my message."
She nodded dumbly. She hadn't known whom to expect, but it sure hadn't been him! "Um. Hi," she managed to say.
Adam's eyes searched her face and mistook surprise for dismay. Disappointed, he said, "I'm sorry. You must have been expecting someone else. I'll take you home now, if you'd like."
"Well." Willow said. "To be honest, I was expecting someone else. More accurately, I was expecting ANYone else. I never expected you to be, uh, interested in me. I mean, you're way out of my league. And what about Buffy?"
"About Buffy. Well, she loves Spike now, for one thing. For another, she's changed a lot. I mean, she loves Spike now, for heaven's sake!" He gave an ironic smile. "But I've always liked you too. I just had an obligation to Buffy that sort of took over my life. And that thing about being out of your league is pure bull. If anything it's the other way around."
Willow smiled into his eyes, grateful for the explanation. "Thank you, Adam. And I know exactly what you mean." Since she'd become a "Slayerette" her own obligation to help Buffy had taken over her free time, attention, and even career goals. She continued, "Well, you should know that I'm sorta rebounding from Oz. But we've always been friends, haven't we? And there's no reason why we shouldn't ... have coffee sometime." She blushed, suddenly remembering the time she'd blown up at him for not having coffee with Buffy.
Adam smiled brilliantly. "Or a dance?" he suggested as he led her to the floor.
Xander was waiting on Willow's porch when Adam walked Willow home. He sat on the porch swing absently whittling stakes - more out of habit than because he thought they'd be needed - when he saw them approach in the darkness: Willow and - ? Who was she with? That guy's way too tall to be Oz, he thought. As he watched, the man bent down and kissed Willow on the cheek and went away. She came up the path alone.
"Xander!" she exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming over until I called." She leaned against the column at the edge of the steps.
Xander's tone was caustic, edgy. "Well, gee, Will, it got to be 10: 30 and I got worried. I wondered 'What was Oz thinking, to keep you out so late?' But now I see you're all over Oz and ready to move on to someone ELSE who's not me!"
Willow gave him her own special brand of the usual "Xander-what-are-you-talking-about?" look and asked him, "Xander, what are you talking about?"
As sometimes happened... occasionally... not often at all... Xander's mouth got going before his brain clicked into gear. "I'm talking about you, with guys. First there was cyber-sleaze, then Bobo the dog-faced boy, now this new guy who's probably a giant shape-shifting frog. How long do I have to wait to catch you between mutants and ask you out?"
Willow slapped him with all her strength. He fell backwards against the porch steps and looked up at her in disbelief. In a towering rage she approached him, step by ominous step. He was first relieved, then uncomfortable, when she decided to lay into him verbally instead of with her fists.
"How dare you?" She cried through gritted teeth. "Do you mean to tell me that now, after I've watched you run after every other girl in school, and I've finally decided to move on with my life, that NOW you notice me? Let's see, first there was Praying Mantis Natalie, who wanted to violate and decapitate you. You'd rather have been with her than with me. Then just for a change from bug to mammal, there's Hyena Jane..."
Xander looked away. He hadn't known anyone else knew about the hyena incident. True, he had been alpha male and Jane had just been coming into season, but... somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered if his experience with her constituted his bug insurance. He shook his head and focused back on Willow, who was still screaming at him.
"... you'd rather have been with an animal than with me, and oh, let's not forget Mummy Dearest. You'd rather have been with a decaying corpse that time, than be with me. And Cordelia! She's almost the worst of all! She's hated us both since before we even started school! She's a lot closer to normal now, thank God, but still - ! And so now you notice me." In a sudden change of energy, she sat down beside him on the steps. "Xander, I've loved you since before we could walk, and you've had chance after chance to ask me out. You wasted them, though. You took too long, and my feelings for you have changed. You're still my best friend, and I hope you always will be, but I don't love you like than anymore. I've moved on. Past you!"
Xander hung his head. She was right; even he couldn't deny it. He'd always known, in the back of his head, how she felt about him, but he'd deluded himself into thinking of her as his best bud instead of actual romance material. He'd taken her for granted, and her diatribe had made him heartily ashamed. "Willow, please," he said. "Please, listen to me. I'm sorry I said those things just now, but I'll explain if you just listen!" Gently, he took her hand in his and just held it loosely. In a calmer voice, he began.
"Will, we've always been friends, and I've loved you as a friend for as long as I can remember; but it wasn't until I almost lost you that I realized I love you as more than that. Now you and Oz broke up, and I broke up with Cordelia because I wanted to see you tonight, to see if we had a chance."
Willow smoothed his hair, not angry anymore. "I'm afraid not, Xander. What I told you is true: I love you very much as a friend, but any feelings other than that are gone now. I'm sorry."
Xander tried to hide his disappointment. "Oh, hey, that's okay... I'll take what I can get. And you might change your mind sometime; after all, this is the hellmouth. Stranger things have happened. So who's the guy you were with tonight? 'Cause, if he's not good enough for my Willow, I'll have to kill him." He tried to joke.
"It was Adam." Willow said quietly.
"Adam? Adam Who? You don't mean -"
"Angel. Yes."
"Willow, are you crazy?" Xander demanded. "That guy's -"
"Xander, I don't want to hear it." Willow said tiredly. "Please, just drop it."
In an uncharacteristic concession, Xander relented. He gave her a brief, hard hug and took his leave. As he started his walk home, he mentally tallied up his country music CDs; for some odd reason, he was definitely in the mood for some painful music.
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