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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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2020-11-04
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2006-06-30
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Dedication

Summary:

Category: Xander/Willow, Buffy/New Guy/Cordelia, Oz/new girl, alternate history
Rating: PG
Summary: Xander and Willow start exploring a new relationship, while Buffy tries to find the Upriser before the Dedication.
Disclaimer: Okay, let's see. I didn't make up the characters of Buffy, Xander, Willow, Faith, etcetera and cannot call them my own. (I can't love them and hug them and call them George, either. :-D )
Distribution: Distribute anywhere you like
Feedback: Yes! Yes!! Feedback, any feedback!! Please? ;-)
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Chapter 1: Section One: Never been kissed like this

Chapter Text

Dedication
by Chris Kenworthy

Section One: Never been kissed like this.

 

 

Timeline: Saturday, December 12th, 1998. 6:48 pm.

Willow Rosenberg paced the length of her parents' living room, took a look out the front bay windows, and tried her very best not to panic.

She wasn't worried that Xander Harris wouldn't pick her up - she was ready ten minutes early, and even if Xander was running behind, he'd be here soon enough. It was what would happen after their second date began that worried Willow.

After all, there were basically just two ways that it could go, when you thought about it. Either it would be as much of a disaster as their first date, in which case she had no future with the guy she loved most in the world and had broken Oz's heart for no reason. Or, things could go well, in which case every bit of Willow's reality was about to completely and unpredictably shift.

Willow had gone up to Buffy at the end of the victory barbecue, completely consumed with apprehension. "You have to help me!" she had yelped. "What if things get tense again? What if I'm not attractive to him? Can I borrow some of your clothes..."

"Relax," Buffy had said. "It's all gonna be fine, Will. And you don't need my clothes. You've already demonstrated that you can be very attractive to our young Mister Harris." Willow had flushed at that, and Buffy had giggled. "New clothes are a good idea, but... well, why don't you get 'em yourself Will? It'll get you psyched up for the big date."

But Willow was in her brand new big date outfit, (a long-sleeved peach top, close about the neck, but made out of tight-fitting spandex, which she knew Xander liked, and close-fitting blue jeans,) and she was feeling not so much psyched up as psyched out. Psyched out enough, in fact, that Willow didn't even notice the car driving up in front of her house and was completely surprised by the doorbell.

"Uh, hi," Willow said nervously, as she opened the door to talk to Xander. "You look nice." He was dressed in a dressy-casual charcoal gray suit, and looked as handsome as Willow had ever seen him.

"You look, uh, what's better than great?" Xander replied, giving her a playful grin, and Willow smiled. "I'm sorry that I'm late," Xander continued.

"Uh, no," Willow said, checking her watch as she stepped out onto the porch and closed the door. "It's still a minute to seven."

"No," Xander contradicted her, looking her over warmly. "I think I'm almost two years late!"

Willow giggled at that. "We're right on time," she muttered quietly.

(On the State Street sidewalk.)

Leslie Decowski was still walking home after the Summers barbecue. Well, not exactly walking 'home' in that if she had been going straight home she'd have been there an hour ago, and she didn't mean to get there for a half an hour yet. Home was her eventual destination, but for now, well, she was just walking.

Walking down the other side of the street was a slightly short but very sophisticated-looking african-american man, wearing a bold burgundy suit. Leslie didn't think that she'd ever seen him before, but he seemed familiar.

They had left each other behind before Leslie realized what it was. That guy matched the description Buffy had given of Mister Trick, the vampire manager who was now apparently working for the mysterious magician, the Upriser. Leslie turned around to look for him again, but he had disappeared around a corner or behind other pedestrians.

Leslie smiled to herself and continued on her way. If she had found him once, she would find him again.

(At Emelio's Italian Restaurant.)

"Wow, Xander," Willow said as the maitre d' pushed her chair carefully to the proper distance from the table. "When you said Italian, I thought we'd just be picking up slices at the Pizza Parlor."

Xander tried to chuckle maturely, and ended up almost choking himself. "Would you rather we did?"

"Oh, no!" Willow replied quickly and with feeling. "This place is great - I always wondered what it would be like. But are you, uh, sure you can afford it?" When they negotiated this date in detail, last night on the phone, Xander had insisted on paying for dinner, with what money Willow didn't know, and agreed that they could go dutch on the movie bill.

"Hey," Xander replied, bringing Willow's private thoughts to a halt. "Nothing's too good for my Will."

The tuxedoed waiter must have been within earshot, because he stepped up to the table only a few seconds after Xander made that extravagant declaration. "Are Signore and Signorina ready to order?"

The two teenagers shared an uncertain look and quickly began scanning their menus, Willow for the cheapest entree, Xander for the one that would impress Willow the most. Veal parmigiana? No, the veal thing might upset Willow, with the cruelty rep and all. Willow was an animal lover, after all... and Xander cut off that train of thought since it led right back to Oz.

"Um, I'll have the, uh, Conchiglie Marinara Primavera," Willow said, pointing to various options on the menu in sequence, "and a caesar salad for starter. Okay, Xander?"

"Oh, sure Will," Xander said, still frowning at the menu. "I'll, um, have the Bolognese chicken on a bed of stellini, with, eh, the consomme soup. And, um, oh yeah, to drink. Um, the sparkling strawberry punch? You want some of that too, Willow?"

"Yeah, hit me," Willow laughed, handing back the menu. The waiter suppressed a chuckle, bowed just as Willow knew he had been taught to when he got this job, and backed away. Xander and Willow exploded into giggles once he was gone. There was no nervousness about it, though, Willow realized with satisfaction. Just she and Xander having a great time together.

Xander smiled over the table at her. "So, just a few more days of school until winter holidays, huh Will?"

"Yep!" Willow took a sip from the glass of water that had been on the table when she arrived. "Got any big plans?"

"Not yet!" Xander teased, winking at her, and laughing as Willow predictably blushed.

"Aren't you jumping the gun a bit?" Willow laughed back.

"How could I be?" Xander said. "I feel as if we're a year behind schedule." He stopped and considered that. "Uh-oh. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. Are things gonna get weird now?"

"No, they're not," Willow told him. "We're not gonna let any weirdness in."

 

 

Part 1B

Timeline: Saturday, December 12th, 1998. 9:07 pm.
"Well, we're more than a half an hour early," Xander said with a sigh as the approached the ticket cubicles for the Wilkins plaza theatre, the second biggest movie house in Sunnydale. (They hadn't gone near the largest, the Sunnydale Mall Multiplex, since the final battle with the unbeatable demon Judge a year ago.) "So much for taking a relaxed and slow walk over. And it's after nine, everything's closed."

"So?" Willow asked, smiling. "We can have a nice long talk while we wait. That's part of the point, isn't it?" She gestured toward a bench nestled up against the wall. "Care to join, me, sir?" She giggled cutely as she said that.

"After you," Xander replied gallantly, taking a the chance to give Willow a once-over as she walked over and turned around to sit down. Willow's shiny red hair bounced with every little motion she made. The peach spandex top and tight blue jeans, casual and demure though they were, showed off her slender and well-constructed figure in a way that took Xander's breath away.

Is this really the little Willow I grew up with? Xander asked himself rhetorically. All this time I've spent with her, hanging around with her every day, but it's like I only really started to see her... He broke off - the 'isn't it funny how you can see someone every day and not really see them?' riff still had traumatic associations for Xander. It was the marching call of every girl who had started to psychotically, jealously, pursue him after Valentine's day, hit by mistake with a love spell gone wrong. Every girl but Willow, Xander qualified him.

She hadn't have to - they both knew by then that Willow had had a crush on Xander for many long months. Disappointed by Xander's continual lack of interest, and the relations he had started with Cordelia, Willow had turned to soulful Oz.

And now, here they were, him Xander and her Willow, having broken the hearts of their respective significant others with a secret smoochie, (well, maybe not broken Cordelia's heart - it wasn't even agreed whether she had one.) And Xander and Willow were trying to figure out if they had something worth pursuing together.

Xander looked at Willow, only to find that she was staring back at him with concern in her dark green eyes. "Oops, sorry," Xander muttered, blushing. "Kinda zoned out there, didn't I?"

"Just a bit," Willow chuckled, nudging him playfully in the ribs. "What were you thinking about?"

"Mushy stuff," Xander said, smiling, "about our history together, and how much of a mess I've made of it. I probably shouldn't tell you more now, you'd get embarassed."

"Okay," Willow said, unable to hide her own grin. "Well then, what should we talk about?"

"Uh, I dunno..." Xander thought furiously. "Hacking?? Broke into any interesting websites lately??"

"Xander!" Willow elbowed him again. "You don't really want to hear me rattle on about government databases and TCP/IP codes, do you?"

"Well, now that you mention it," Xander began, then winked. "Oh, I could listen to you talk about anything, Willow. Or, better yet, just look at you." Willow blushed. "Have I mentioned yet how much I like that outfit?" He reached his hand out to touch her sleeve. "Spandex, isn't it?"

Willow's face seemed as red as flame now. "I, uh, I know how much you like it," she whispered.

"Okay, sorry," Xander said, patting her one the hand. "New topic. You pick one this time."

"Huh?" Willow said, her flush fading as she put her mind to something she and Xander could talk about without embarassment or trouble. "Uh... Dawson's Creek? I can't believe how stupid Joey's being. She breaks up with Dawson, she dumps on him every week even though she's really still in love with him..." Willow trailed off, uncertainly. "Wait a second, that sounds almost familiar."

"Don't talk to me about Dawson's creek," Xander sighed. "They've got that weird Chris guy on almost every week now. Is it just me, or does her look a whole lot like that wannabe vampire guy? Billy Fordham??" Xander paused a second, then added in the spirit of fairness. "Jen's hot, though."

Willow couldn't help laughing at that. "Jen? Jen?? Oh, that's just like you, Alexander Lavelle Harris! You would pick the slutty big-city tramp over sweet, sensitive Joey or smart, sassy Andie, wouldn't you??"

Xander knew that he'd put his foot in his mouth. "Uh... uh... no comment??"

"Okay," Willow said, smiling. "So much for television. Uh, em... Oh, hey!" Willow brightened, and started rummaging through her little purse. "I know what we can do to pass the time. I've got a pair of dice in here. They're used for certain warding rituals. We can play craps!"

"Craps??" Xander said, smiling. "Every time I think I have you figured, Willow Rosenberg, you surprise me again. So... how does this game go, anyways?"

"Just roll the dice," Willow said. "I'll explain as we go. It's more fun that way." Shrugging, Xander tossed the white cubes across the bench between them. "Okay, a five. That means if you hit a five, you win, if you hit a seven, you lose, and with anything else you keep rolling."

"I do?" Xander said, his face showing the intensity of his thoughts. "What about you?"

"Me?" Willow shrugged. "Well, I could bet against you, or for you, or just sit back and wait until you've done with your turn and I can play."

"This doesn't seem like a very interesting game," Xander admitted, tossing the dice and getting a two on one die and a five on the other. "Seven, so I lose. Your turn."

"You really need to be betting stuff, for it to be interesting," Willow thought aloud.

"Hmm... we could think of some interesting things to bet, I think," Xander started, chuckling nastily.

"Don't even!" Willow told him. "Maybe we could make our own game."

"Isn't that just what we're doing already, about you and me?" Xander asked her teasingly.

"Maybe," Willow admitted. "Hey, it's after nine-thirty already. Let's go and get our tickets now, that way we can have first pick of the seats. You wanna sit in the front or up back?"

"Definitely up back," Xander said with a wide smile. "I thought you knew that about me."

 

 

Part 1C

Timeline: Saturday, December 12th, 1998. 9:32 pm.
Buffy wandered lackadaisically through the few other brave souls who had come back to the Bronze the night after the Movie Masquerade Dance had turned into a hostage incident. Despite what Buffy assumed must have been a frenzied clean-up effort, there were still signs of disarray from the fighting and the extermination effort that must have been organized to eliminate the spiders. Still, the Bronze had come through remarkably well, and the die-hard partiers were back in force.

Buffy was definitely not feeling like a die-hard partier tonight, but neither had she felt like staying home. Not for the first time, she was getting an uncomfortable feeling about Xander and Willow's blossoming relationship. Not fearing that it wouldn't work out, but about her own situation if it did. Namely, third-wheel city. Buffy wished the two of them every happiness, but it would hurt to have to be without the company of her bestest two friends whenever Willow and Xander were spending time alone together. Oh, well, that's life for you.

Of course, the natural solution to that problem was for Buffy to get a sweetie of her own. Like that Cole Palmer... no! Buffy chastised herself mentally. Cole Palmer was Cordelia's boyfriend, and she wished them every happiness. Except... except that Cole didn't seem to be overly happy with Cordelia. In fact, Cole seemed to have quite a thing for Buffy, which was the whole problem.

Right on cue, Cole and Cordelia walked into Buffy's field of vision. "Hey, Buffy," Cole called, and Buffy turned around and walked the other way. She couldn't deal with Cole right now. Not after she had learned that he was more than just a lovestruck guy. Cole had apparently done someting, to save Buffy during the vampire attack the night before. Buffy had been stabbed with a knife, so badly that it might have endangered even the life of a Slayer. But when she woke up, half an hour later, there was absolutely no sign of the injury. Cole had admitted some involvement with that escapade, but exactly what he could have done, or how, Buffy still wasn't clear on.

"Hey, Buffy?" Cole called again, from right over her shoulder, and he reached out to to gently take Buffy's arm and swing her about to face him. "Are you okay??"

"Yeah, Cole," Buffy said quietly. "I'm fine. But you shouldn't be talking to me." She smiled sardonically. "Cordelia'll be mad with you." Indeed, looking past Cole, Buffy could see that Cordelia was already fuming at her date's eagerness to leave her and talk to another girl. A weirdo Buffy girl in particular.

"Why does it always have to be about Cordelia?" Cole asked her.

"Because it just is," Buffy explained, sighing. "You went to the dance with her, she likes you, and in Cordelia's mind that makes you her steady boyfriend. Under the circumstances, that makes you off-limits for me."

"Okay," Cole said, nodding solemnly. "Then how about if I disabuse her of that notion?"

"Cole, don't..." Buffy started, then caught herself. "It's your life, break up with her if you want to. But I'm not promising you anything, understand??"

Cole nodded again. "Okay. I'll have to think about it, in that case."

(At the theatre,)

"Ooh, it's starting," Willow said, smiling widely. There weren't very many people in the theatre for 'Pleasantville.' The film had been around for a few months, though neither Xander nor Willow had seen it, and a lot of kids had chosen something else to do this Saturday night.

She looks so sexy, Xander thought. You can't just be content to sit down and watch the movie, he told himself. She looks so hot, we're on a date, had the perfect evening so far. You've gotta go for the movie make-out.

Xander had never really made out during a movie before. He had never had much of a chance, before Cordelia, and Cordelia hated the movie make-out. She was the type who would rather tease him throughout the movie and kiss at make-out point once the movie ended. But now, with Willow, it was as if a holy grail shone before him, and Xander just had to give it a try.

Okay, so, how to begin? With the old standbys, Xander realized. In a classic, (and arguably flawless,) usage of the Brady maneuver, Xander stretched, affecting a small yawn, and draped his arm around Willow's shoulder. With a bit of a start, Willow looked up at him, smiling uncertainly. Her smile took Xander's breath away, and he grinned back at her. Willow giggled once, (how was it possible to giggle just once? Didn't giggles always come in groups?? Somehow Willow had managed it, though,) and she turned back to the movie.

A second later, Xander realized that he had missed an opportunity. The big problem with making out in this situation was that Willow was facing the screen instead of him. If Xander had realized that in time, he would have kissed Willow when she had turned to look at him. Idiot!!

Okay, no sense in beating yourself up about it, Xander told himself. What's your next move? Two moves - body contact and voice contact. Stifling his nervousness, Xander moved his left arm down, lightly rubbing the side of her torso. He crossed his right hand over to run it up and down Willow's own right arm, over the pink spandex. And, doing his best to contain his excitement, he leaned towards Willow's ear and whispered, "hello there."

"Huh?" Willow said, turning to face him again. Not letting himself hesitate for a moment, Xander bent down to kiss her softly on the lips, stretching his hands around to embrace her. The beautiful redheaded girl in his arms made one muffled squeak of surprise, and then she melted enthusiastically into the kiss, moving her hands to Xander's side and chest.

Xander responded just as eagerly, letting his tongue emerge gently from between his lips and be admitted through Willow's. He moved his own hands down, running the left ever so lightly over the vicinity of Willow's left breast, caressing the outside of her hip with his other hand. Moaning subvocally with his excitement, as Tobey and Reese got drawn into the black and white world, Xander moved said hand up to the bottom of Willow's spandex top, where it was tucked into her jeans, and pulled it out. Running his hand stimulatingly over her stomach, Xander could hear Willow making her own sounds of excitement.

Things continued on in pretty much the same vein for quite a few minutes. By the time Tobey was trying to convince Reese that she couldn't go out with the captain of the Pleasantville basketball team, Xander was kissing Willow's ivory neck, caressing her chest through spandex and her thigh through denim, while Willow ran one hand through Xander's hair and one over his own chest. "Hey, hssh," Willow whispered, starting to disengage. "I wanna see this, Xander."

Xander reluctantly went back to defcon 4, or something that was equivalent to having his arm around Willow's shoulders and his other hand on her arm again. But after a few moments he actually found himself getting interested in the movie too.

 

 

Part 1D

Timeline: Saturday, December 12th, 1998. 10:56 pm.
"Hey, there," Xander said, getting up the courage to speak on the drive home. "Well, I could take straight back to your place, Will, or we could, um," he chuckled self-consciously, "take a little side trip."

"Um, yeah, maybe we had better pull over," Willow said after a few seconds' consideration. "Park for a while. I don't have to be back home yet."

"Your wish is my command," Xander said, turning the car down a pretty road that led into the country. He turned halfway towards Willow and raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Hey, not like that," Willow said, swatting him on the shoulder. "Well, maybe we could do a little kissing," she allowed, blushing, "but I was thinking of talking. There are things we kinda need to settle out before we call it a night, aren't there?"

"Yeah," Xander whispered softly. Heaving a nervous sigh, he pulled his mother's car off onto the shoulder. "The big question, hanging over our heads. Do we or don't we? Are we, or are we not?" He threw the gearshift into park, turned off the ignition, and turned to face Willow. "So? You go first."

"What? Me??" Willow squeaked. "Why me first? I brought it up first, you should have to say it first."

"Hey, I was the one who actually asked," Xander protested. "And you're the one who has another guy waiting in the wings for you to say you've changed your mind."

"Hmmph," Willow breathed, providing Xander neither a counter-argument nor an answer.

To relieve the tension, Xander turned the radio on, and a funky alternative ballad came on. Willow reached forward to change the station, but Xander said "What? Leave it on."

"Oh, man, this song?" Willow complained. "It's too wild-eyed and whirly. Give me a nice, simple song that rhymes." She turned to look him in the eyes, and Xander shrugged, so Willow switched it over to a light-rock station.

(Across town, in a motel room.)

Faith paced restlessly around her bedroom. She had patrolled for several hours that night, but Sunnydale was dead as far as the undead tonight. Probably the Brotherhood of the Bat had chased away or recruited the more small-time vampires, and all of the Brotherhood had been killed or run out of town.

On the other hand, there was this 'Upriser' who was supposed to be in charge of this whole town. If he was, Faith couldn't tell. Obviously, if the Upriser existed, he was used to operating way underground and keeping his activities secret. Still, Faith and Buffy knew about the Upriser's existence, and somehow or other they would find him.

Sighing unhappily, the brunette Slayer paused near her dresser. A color photograph was sitting on top of it, showing a good-looking young man in leather. Jonny Hardcastle. They had picked up a disposable camera one night during a slow patrol, started fooling around with it.

Now Jonny had left town. Last time, Faith had been the one to leave Jonny, but that didn't make it any easier. With a subvocal growl of anger, Faith dashed away from the dresser, somersaulted over her bed, and started vigorously shadow-kick-boxing, striking out at an unseen enemy with her fists and feet.

(At Giles' apartment.)

"Mmm, this is delightful," Celia praised him, taking a wide sip from a cup of tea. "So, well, now that the hubbub about the Brotherhood of the Bat is done, we should probably talk about what we're to do next?"

"Um?" Giles said distractedly, arranging some scones on a small platter. "Get ready for the holidays??"

"I wasn't meaning that," Celia replied, shaking her head. "As far as training. So far, I haven't been interfering too much with the way you work, with Buffy and Faith. I felt like I should understand your procedures before I started changing them." She sighed. "But I'm here as your partner, and I think the time has come to start trying my own ideas."

"Oh, yes," Giles said, smiling at her. "Whenever you wish, of course."

"Okay," Celia replied.

"Just let me know when and where, and all four of us will get together," Giles said.

"Um, actually," Celia shot back, "I'm afraid you're not in the four that I'm thinking about. No offense, but I think I need to be spending time among the girls without you. Buffy, Faith, and probably Willow too. I'm supposed to be evaluating her as a potential Watcher, though Miss Rosenberg has been rather too busy for that lately." Giles looked back at her in surprise as he carried out the scones.

(Back on the country road.)

"Okay, let's try this," Xander said with a sigh. "We both say it at the same time. On the count of three, the question being 'are we ready to go through with this, become an official, exclusive, couple.' Okay?"

"Okay," Willow said, smiling. "Are you gonna count, or should I?'

"One, two, three," Xander rhymed off, and watched Willow's face as neither of them said anything. Willow smirked, then broke out laughing, and Xander joined her in helpless hysterics for a few moments.

"Okay, okay, 'yes,'" Xander said, once he had calmed down. "Yes, I'd love to be your boyfriend, if you'd have me. So, are you gonna be my girlfriend?" He winked. "Willow Deborah Rosenberg, may I have your hand in teenage romance?" He shook his head. "Oh, man, did I just say that?"

"Yes, you did," Willow said, grinning happily at him. "And yes, I would love to be your girlfriend, Xander Lavelle Harris." She giggled cutely. "Should we seal it with a kiss?"

"Definitely," Xander replied, bringing Willow's head to hers and enthusiastically Frenching her. The kiss went on for a few minutes, getting hotter and more passionate, as Xander slid out of his own seat to kneel on the edge of Willow's, hands rubbing over every part of their bodies. Suddenly, once again, Willow pushed Xander ever so gently away.

"Uh," she chuckled uncertainly, "hi there. Um, I'm kinda wondering if we need to be setting a few ground rules here. I mean, well, no matter how long you and me might have been in coming, I just feel like you're moving a lot too fast for me, here."

"Oh," Xander muttered, slithering back into place. "I'm sorry. It's just, well, kissing you, thinking of actually being with you, it kinda makes me want to lose control. Like I feel tipsy or someting." He took a double-take at that. "Oh, that's a great thing to say - being with you makes me blasted."

"It's not that bad," Willow assured him. "It actually felt kinda sweet."

"Okay," Xander said, taking a deep breath. "Well, anyways, I think I can muster up enough willpower to take things a little slower. We'd probably better get you home now, though." Her turned the car's ignition on again. "Do you want to do something tomorrow, or should we leave each other alone for then and not meet until school on Monday??"

Willow considered that. "You know, that's probably a good idea. Take a day to absorb all of this. I'll see you Monday."

"See you Monday," Xander said with a wry smile.

 

 

Part 1E

Timeline: Monday, December 14th, 1998. 8:54 am.
Willow strode confidently through the doors of the high school. She still didn't feel like she had come down from the high of her date with Xander, which made her sure that 'taking time out' on Sunday had been a good idea. She had spent some time hanging out with Buffy, but hadn't felt free to talk to much to her about Xander, as bummed as Buffy still was about Angel leaving, and Willow suspected the Slayer was worried about becoming a third wheel. But even those worries weren't enough to cut a notch out of Willow's happiness.

She was wearing an outfit that she wouldn't have had the nerve to even take to school before - a deep green miniskirt and green tank top, with a jade denim jacket overtop. What was more, she felt comfortable in these clothes, something Willow had never felt she would. Somehow, getting together with Xander had given Willow a confidence she had never had before. She was even walking without cursing the emerald leather heels.

Suddenly, something happened that completely broke Willow's contentment into pieces. "Well, if it isn't Sunnydale's newest manhunter, dressing the part," a catty voice rang out from the side of the corridor. Willow stopped short, almost stumbling. Slowly, smartingly, she turned to identify the speaker.

Harmony was leaning beside her open locker, looking at Willow caustically over the cover of her of her fasion magazine, surrounded by a crowd of Cordettes. (Were they really still Cordettes? Willow wondered. Somewhere along the way, Cordelia had fallen partly from grace, what with the whole Xander issue, and Harmony seemed to have been the one to move into the power vacuum. Did that mean they were Harmonettes now? That didn't have quite as much ring to it... but Willow was getting off on a tangent.)

"Now that she's finally got her claws into Cordelia Chase's freaky ex, she figures she can sashay through the school as if she owns it," a Harmonette taunted.

"Wonder what she's gonna try next?" another lauged. "Steal Cole Palmer?"

"Nope - her friend Buffy Summers has got that assignment," someone else mentioned, and all the Harmonettes laughed at that.

"Well, now, you never know," Harmony said, taking the lead and striding away from the wall. "Our little Willow might have been a wallflower geek before, but I think she has a potential. Nice figure, cute face... and somewhere along the way she's put that nerdy brain of hers to use learning a little about fashion, makeup, and hair. If she gets with the program, she might make a good lackey for me, don't you think?" Everyone laughed at that.

Her eyes filling with tears, Willow stormed away. Not looking where she was going, she collided into another student head-on and lost her balance, tumbling painfully onto the tile floor.

"Willow?"

Oh, no. Willow recognized that voice. How had she managed to crash, of all people in the school, into... "Oz??"

(Only a few corridor intersections away...)

"I'm gonna do it," Cole Palmer said as he came up behind Buffy Summers at her locker. "I'm gonna break up with Cordelia. As soon as I see her."

"Uh, good for you," Buffy replied, not looking at Cole.

"Don't you have anything more to say than that?" Cole pressed, catching Buffy's eyes through the mirror on her locker door.

Buffy sighed with annoyance. "I dunno, Cole. I like you, you know I do. But Cordelia... well, I think of her as a friend, however she might think of me, and I don't want to make her angry at me. Any more." She sighed at him. "So, I dunno what I'm saying here. If you really want to break up with Cordelia, by all means, break up with her. But I'm not saying that I'm gonna go out with you until the Cordelia thing finishes blowing over."

"Which it might never," Cole said, nodding his head. "Well, that's okay. I just wanted you to know."

Meanwhile, Cordelia peered at them from a window connecting the student lounge and the hallway. She wasn't upset that Cole was talking to Buffy. She had been counting on it. Cordelia was no idiot, and, contrary to what Buffy and her friends might think, she was really very observant. Cole's attention was straying, betraying some kind of an interest he had in Buffy, and Buffy seemed interested in return. Another girl might have been furious about that, but not Cordelia. 'Don't get mad - get what you want.' That was Cordy Chase's motto, and she had the ultimate plan for getting Cole Palmer back. And the chosen moment for putting her plan into action was, well, now.

Every male jaw dropped as Cordelia walked out into the hall. She was wearing a skimpy halter top of dark leather that showed off a lot of skin, lifted her chest up and pushed it together. That piece was matched with a dark brown lycra microskirt, dark pantyhose, and high heels. Her dark hair was swept back to fall across her shoulders, with just the tiniest hint of curl. Cordy knew she looked very sexy, rather extreme, and yet not without class and style. Every guy in sight wanted her - that was for sure. Including Cole Palmer.

Cordelia sauntered up to Cole, giggled a little at his bug-eyed stare, and smiled right into his warm brown eyes. "Hi there, honey," she told him with a smile. "How's it going?"

"Uhh..." Cole moaned. Buffy sighed, rolled her eyes, and nudged Cole in the side. "Great," he finally gushed, earning him even more contempt from Buffy. But Cole wasn't even paying Buffy any attention, of course.

"So, I was wondering if you wanted to do something together tonight," Cordelia cooed, reaching out to stroke Cole's cheek tenderly. "Say, dinner at Chez Louis?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, of c-course," Cole stammered.

"Great," Cordelia whispered, checked the hallway clock out of the corner of her eye, and leaned forward to kiss Cole passionately on the lips. She ran her hands around to his back and pulled him closer to her, giggling as Cole's own hands touched the bare skin along her sides. If her calculations were correct, then any moment now...

"Ahem!!" Cordelia broke off, keeping one hand around Cole, and turned to smile shamelessly at Principal Snyder.

"Do you have anything to say, or shall I just write out the detention slips?" Snyder asked caustically.

"D-detention?" Cole stammered, his brain still not working at full power, apparently.

"Two weeks," Snyder commented, "the mandatory for such a violation of the school decency guidelines. In light of that, Miss Chase, and considering your mostly good record, I'll waive the four days for wearing less than the school Dress code."

"Don't I feel special," Cordelia quipped, smiling. "Well, we had better head to class, right sir?" Snyder nodded, and Cordelia led Cole away from Buffy, cherishing the disgusted look on her face

 

 

Part 1F

Timeline: Monday, December 14th, 1998. 9:00 am.
"Rupert!" Celia almost collided with Giles three paces outside of the library doors. "Just who I was wanting to see - where are you going?"

"Uh," Giles stammered, feeling a foolish smile settle onto his face. "I, uh, was on my way to the teacher's lounge." He tapped his tea kettle. "In search of tea water. The taps in my office are discharging a fluid with a particularly vile aftertaste this morning."

Celia laughed. "Care for some company as you scavenge?"

"I'd be delighted," Giles told her with a smile, extending his arm, but Celia laughed, shaking her head, tapped him playfully, and started walking.

"So," Celia said once they were half the way to the lounge, "Now that the Brotherhood threat is over, and I feel that I've wetted my feet in the activities of your little team, I was thinking it was high time I take a more active role in the Watching."

Giles covered his surprise well. "Um, what, eh, exactly were you thinking of?"

"Oh, nothing particularly special just yet. I don't have any grand plan, at all, but I was thinking it was time I spent some time with the girls. Buffy, Faith, probably Willow too. Maybe a girl's night in, something like that. Once I get to know them better, I can figure out what I want to be doing."

Giles sighed loudly. "You still don't trust me?" Celia asked, somewhat hurt. "You know what I came here for. The Watcher's council wants me to be intoducing my own policy decisions into your operation here, not just working as your assistant. Especially when it comes to Faith."

Giles smiled at her with some embarassment. "Well, I'm sorry, but I don't completely trust you. Not when it comes to Buffy and Faith. As far as my own life, yes, I'd believe in anything you told me, but not when it comes down to them."

"They mean too much to you, don't they?" Celia asked with sudden feeling. Giles nodded. "That means more to me than you could know." Just as the passed into the teacher's lounge now empty, Celia pulled Giles to her and kissed him firmly on the mouth. After a dozen seconds, he pulled back from her, pleased surprise in his eyes.

"Well, looky here," Celia told him, reaching out onto the counter and picking up a four-liter bottle. "Pure spring water."

(In the hallway on the other side of the library.)

"Hey," Oz began, and Willow cut him off with a stifled cry.

"I can't take it!" she exploded. "Everyone's beating up on me today, I know that, but I just can't take it from you today, Oz. Could you just save whatever bitter comments you have for me, and tell me tomorrow?"

"Huh?" Oz breathed. "Oh, hey, you really are upset, aren't you?" He looked around. "Come here." Quickly he led her over to the library. "Relax, Will, I'm not gonna yell at you," he assured her soothingly.

"You're not?" she asked him somewhat dubiously. "Why not??"

"Uh, well," Oz took a few seconds on that one. "Um, well, because I'm doing my best to deal with the whole you/Xander thing, and I'd much rather have you as a friend than be mad at you?"

"You would??" Suddenly Willow flung herself into Oz's arms in an enthusiastic hug. "Oh, thank you. You - you don't know how much your friendship means to me."

"I think I do," Oz said, chuckling. "It means just as much to me."

"Hey, what's going on here?" Xander's voice rang out. Willow jumped away from Oz, embarassed.

"Uh, hey, well..." she muttered embarassed.

"I, uh, we were just..." Oz said, similarly at a loss.

Xander walked over and looked each of them in the faces. "Friendship hug?"

"More or less." "Something like that."

"All I needed to hear," Xander told them, and turned to focus on Willow. "So, Good morning my Billow Willow. It's so nice to see you, you look great, how's your day been so far?"

Willow laughed out loud. "Billow Willow??"

"It's a possible nickname," Xander told her. "Just trying it out, you don't have to keep it if you don't like it. I thought I'd start with the rhyming thing. You know, there aren't many other things that rhyme with 'Willow' except for 'pillow,' and that would very much send the wrong impression." He took a deep breath. "I think 'billow' is a nice rhyme, though. Your hair tends to billow sometimes."

"Uh, well I'll think about it," Willow told him, blushing slightly. "I've been doing, well, I was pretty shaky after a run-in with the Harmanettes, but I'm feeling much better now. How about you, Pander Xander??"

Now it was Xander's turn to laugh. "Not wild about the 'pander,' but I'm doing great." He stepped closer to Willow, put his arms around her, and gave her a warm and tender kiss on the lips.

"Hey, hey, break it up," another voice called out from the doors. "Some of us are upset by blatant displays of romance, don't you know?" Willow and Xander broke, and the three of them turned to look at Buffy.

She hadn't come in alone. Leslie Decowski was standing beside her. "Guess who followed me into the library," Buffy said with a wry smile.

"Hey, so I want into the club," Leslie said with an unapologetic smile. "You could do a lot worse. Hi Oz." She blew a teasing kiss over to the guitarist.

"Say, you know," Xander began in a mischeivous tone. "Oz may have told you a lot about the creepy stuff that goes on around here, but did he spill his own embarassing and spooky secret, Leslie??"

Willow poked Xander in the ribs with an elbow, furious. 'Don't,' Oz mouthed. "Hmm," Leslie made a show of considering and reviewing her memories. "No, I don't think he's told me anything at all like that. But don't tell me - I wanna figure it out myself!" She smiled slyly over at Oz.

"What on earth is going on in here?" Celia called from the door.

"It's a party!" Willow joked.

"Well, I believe the party is over," Giles announced solemnly, taking his tea kettle into the office. "Buffy, you have training here, and as for the rest of you, I imagine you have classes."

"It's the last day of term," Xander told Giles severely. "Chill out."

"Second last day," Willow corrected him.

"Last full day," Xander maintained.

"Now! Leave!!" Giles said firmly, and the four of them scattered quickly out of the library doors

 

end