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Shanna
shannalynn9064@yahoo.com
It was several hours later when Willow finally made her way downstairs to the library. She had showered and was now dressed in a comfortable long flowing purple skirt and a lilac T that proclaimed her to be a member of the Wiccan Union, Group 333. Knocking lightly on the door frame, the witch popped her head in to smile shyly at the tense vampire sitting at one of the research tables.
"Hey, Angel."
"Willow, hi. So, did you and Spike get things sorted out?" He gripped the book he was holding tightly. He had told the redhead that whatever her decision was, he would abide by it, and he meant that, but he closed his eyes and said a quick prayer to the Powers that she would agree to secure his soul.
"Uh-huh. We, uh, talked things out." The redhead blushed, remembering that there had been very little talking involved in her time spent with the blond vampire. She pictured him as she had left him. Hair was tousled, a sheet pulled over his middle, muscled chest and legs bare to her gaze. Those full lips were parted slightly in sleep. Mmm, those wonderful talented lips.
Angel raised an eyebrow at the redhead. Her eyes had glazed over and he could scent her arousal mixing with the smell of Spike that was ingrained on her skin. "Talked, huh?"
Willow shook herself out of her naughty wandering thoughts at Angels teasing words and blushed quite prettily, lowering her eyes to the table. "Um, yeah. He's ok with it, sort of. He just wants a little more time before we, uh. . ." The witch's eyes looked everywhere but at the vampire sitting before her. "Well, before we secure your soul."
The vampire frowned, noticing how uncomfortable she was with the subject, not that he could blame her. "Willow, I know this will be awkward, with the past we've shared, the connection we have with others, but I just want you to know how much this means to me. I never thought I'd ever have a friend who would be willing to do something like this for me."
The redhead's lips twitched at his words. She tried to keep it in, she really did, but the mental pictures she was getting forced her giggles to escape. Angel looked at her in surprise. He was being very serious, trying to thank her for helping him on such a serious matter and here she was, laughing at him. He bristled a little under her amused gaze.
Seeing the offended look on his face, Willow tried to control her laughter long enough to explain. "I'm. . .I'm sorry, Angel. It's just. . .well, it's not like you're unattractive. I'm sure you would have no problem finding, ehrm, 'friends' who would be willing to help you out like this."
A smile teased the edges of the vampire's own mouth at her words. "But none of them could help me the way you can. And I just want you to know how much I appreciate it. I mean it Willow. I know this can't be easy for you. I mean, you're Buffy's best friend. You and Spike are just starting something new, and can I just say I'm still a little unsure about that whole thing. My grand-childe can be a little. . .unrestrained. I never pictured you with that type before." He looked at her, curious now. "Are you sure about this? We haven't really had a chance to speak about what's been going on since you got here."
Willow sat down in the chair facing the vampire and traced the grain of the wood with a fingertip, avoiding his gaze while she composed her thoughts. She wanted to get this right, make sure there were no misunderstandings. Finally she took a deep breath then hesitantly made the plunge.
"Angel, did you know what happened with Oz? Why he left Sunnydale? Why he left me?" Green eyes raised to meet brown.
The brunette reached across the table, covering her small hand gently. "Spike gave me the Cliffs notes version."
Willow nodded, turning her hand to grip his fingers lightly, her eyes locked on their joined hands. "When Oz left, when I caught him with that other wolf, it felt as though my world shattered. All the self-confidence I'd built up in my time with him, poof! Gone. I wasn't enough for him. I had a million things running through my head, none of them good. Why wasn't I enough for him? Wasn't I a good girlfriend? Didn't I support him enough? Had I smothered him? Hadn't I paid him enough attention? Was I not good enough in bed? Was the sex not animalistic enough for his wolf? And I know, my brain knows, that it was the wolf attracted to its own species, but in my heart, I questioned everything I was."
The witch looked over at the vampire with sad eyes. "I sunk into this big old black hole of self-pity. I moped and moaned and sighed and cried. I felt like a big blob of ickiness wrapped around a fat ball of despair. Buffy and the others, they tried at first to understand. But she was just getting involved with Riley, Xander had Anya demanding orgasms 24/7 and Giles was seeing someone of his own. I was the only one not getting spanked."
She giggled as coffee brown eyes about popped out of his head at her last words. "You know what I mean. I was the single one in a group of couples, kinda the seventh wheel. Buffy kept trying to get Riley to set me up with friends of his, but I wasn't ready for that. She was only trying to help get my mind off of Oz, I know, but it wasn't helping. It just made me feel like a desperate loser. They all either tiptoed around the fact that he had left me or tried to push me back into the dating scene and encourage me to be happy dating Willow again. Spike was the only one that didn't treat me differently."
A soft smile curved her lips as her mind drifted back to the memories. "You're right about him. He can be rude, crude, abrupt, obnoxious, snippy, sarcastic and mean. But he also held me when I cried one night while I was vamp sitting. He did this awkward patting my shoulder thing and told me everything would be all right and that I was wrong thinking I didn't deserve Oz, that it was he who didn't deserve me. He said I had too big a heart to waste it on some fur ball musician who wasn't willing to hang around and fight for what was his." She giggled at the memory.
"I think that was the night I started thinking of him as more than just a vampire that would try to kill me if he didn't have the chip in his head. That's the night I started thinking of him as a person, as a potential friend."
"As a potential lover?" Angel asked quietly.
Willow bit her lower lip and looked at the vampire sheepishly. "Maybe. You have to admit, Angel, Spike's not hard on the eyes at all. And those tight jeans and T-shirt he wears, oh and the duster! Makes him very dark and sexy, mysterious even."
"Cordy called him tall, blond and homicidal yesterday," the brunette laughed softly.
"Well, he can be that too. I'm not living in Denial Land here, Angel. I know what he is. I don't have any romantic idealism where Spike's concerned. He's a demon, I'm aware of that. But you have to admit, he's not like others. He has the capacity for love. Look at how he was head over heels for Dru for over a century, for the Goddess' sake."
Angel nodded thoughtfully. He knew Spike had it in him to love. Willow was right. He had doted and pampered his Princess for decades. He'd taken care of her after he was souled and abandoned them.
"The last couple of days he's made me feel wanted again. Pretty, even." The redhead blushed at her confession. "He's made me feel desirable and I haven't felt that in a very long time."
Angel squeezed her hand, drawing her attention to him. "You are desirable, Willow. You've grown into a beautiful young woman. You've come quite a way from the shy young girl I first met in Sunnydale. And Spike was right. You have the biggest heart of anyone I know, a beauty that glows from the inside out. You, Willow Rosenburg, are one of the brightest souls I've ever known and I'm proud to call you my friend."
The young witch smiled brightly at his sincere compliments. She hopped up and hurried around the table to engulf the surprised vampire in a warm hug. "I'm proud you're my friend too, Angel."
Their moment was interrupted by the sound of breaking glass, followed by Cordelia's loud "Oh, damn!", then there was a thump, like something falling to the floor.
Angel was out of the library and had his shaking seer in his arms by the time Willow made her way to the lobby. "Is she ok?" The redhead looked on at the convulsing brunette, worry in her eyes.
"She's having a vision," the vampire explained.
Finally the former cheerleader's eyes stopped fluttering and they opened slowly, the girl moaning in pain. "Willow, there's some bottled water in the mini-fridge in my office and a bottle of aspirin in the top right drawer. Could you get them for her?"
"Sure, Angel." The witch hurried off to help in whatever small way she could. Cordy looked like hell and if she felt half as bad as she looked, many aspirin would be required. Maybe she could try to look up a healing spell for her old nemesis.
"Delia, what did you see," Angel asked the girl quietly, aware of the migraine pulsing through her head.
"Lots of little yellow demons, about munchkin size, a white horn in the middle of their foreheads, scaly legs and arms, uh, anatomically correct naked little yellow demons. Warehouse down on the pier. Pier 12, building number 603. Tonight. They're trying to raise something, some bigger demon, but I don't know what."
Willow knelt down and offered Cordy the water and aspirin, which the girl took gratefully. She had caught the tail end of the seer's description of things to come. "Research mode?"
Angel nodded, lifting the weakened woman into his arms, carrying her to one of the couches. "I'll call Wesley. Care to try your hand at the computer?"
"Sure. It'll be just like old times at the library, only no Giles and Buffy. Oh, and no Xander to bring the donuts."
"Wesley brings the donuts now," Cordelia whispered weakly from her position on the couch, arm flung over her eyes to shield them from the damn sunlight trying to crack through her skull.
"I hope he brings jellies. I could really go for a jelly," the Wiccan murmured as she booted up the computer.
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