Life is Short
by TheBear
Chapter 4
[reviews]
Part 4
========== BtVS ==========
"Well, I have to say, this is unexpected!" Joyce Summers said as she came downstairs into the kitchen. She looked at her watch and noted that it was almost a full hour earlier than Buffy's normal wakeup time, and yet; here she was, showered, dressed and rapidly consuming a bowl of cornflakes.
Buffy finished her mouthful and couldn't help smiling at her mother as she said, "Morning, mom!" She figured that her mom would start with the questioning, but she couldn't keep the silly grin off of her face.
Buffy felt absolutely giddy this morning, even though she hadn't gotten a lot of sleep. She'd had the most wonderful dreams last night. The vampire nightmare that had been waking her up every night for a week was blissfully absent. All of her dreams had been about a certain redhead. Some had been sexual, but not all. Some had just been sweet and romantic.
Joyce echoed her daughter's smile. "I haven't seen that smile in a while!" she said.
Buffy shrugged her shoulders, "I'm happy today!"
Joyce just knew there was more that to it. "And happiness made you wake up over an hour early?" she asked, smirking at her daughter, but glad to have Happy-Buffy for once rather than the Sulky-Buffy.
"I'm walking to school with somebody this morning. We're supposed to get there a little early and meet someone in the library." She explained.
"Ah ha!" Joyce thought. "Oh?" she asked nonchalantly. "And this 'somebody' you're walking to school with... Does he have a name?"
Buffy grinned even harder at her mother's assumption, "No, and yes," she answered cryptically.
Joyce put her hands on her hips an raised a single eyebrow. "Buffy..." she mock-growled.
Buffy laughed and got up to rinse our her bowl. "No, it's not a he, and yes, she has a name." She paused for a moment until she though her mom was just about to growl again and then continued, "Her name is Willow Rosenberg."
Joyce was surprised. "Hmm, I could have sworn that was a 'new boyfriend' smile," she thought. "So," she said. "You don't need a ride to school then?"
Buffy'd already decided that walking would give them more 'together' time than a ride, plus she wanted a good-morning kiss in the worst way, and she didn't think either Willow or her mom would be too comfortable with that just yet. "Nope. We're good with the walking. Thanks anyway!" she said as she grabbed her bag and headed for the door.
========== BtVS ==========
Willow was fluttering about like a butterfly on crystal meth. She'd been showered and dressed for well over an hour. She had already eaten breakfast, washed and dried the bowl and spoon and put them away. She'd done all the homework that was due for the next several days, and was seriously considering breaking out the vacuum and starting on the living room carpet when she finally heard the knock on the door she'd been waiting for.
She tried to calm herself before opening the door- she didn't want to spaz out in front of Buffy. "I did enough of that last night!" she thought.
Willow could feel her pulse pounding in her throat as she opened up the door to see her... "Girlfriend?" she thought. Again. She'd been thinking about what they were to each other, and what happens next, pretty much since she'd made it in the house the previous night. She'd managed to sleep for about four hours total the whole night.
She kept waking up from sexy dreams, though they were all kinda vague, since she didn't really have any frame of reference for sex with a girl. "How come they didn't cover that in Human Development?!" she thought in annoyance. As a result she was filled with unspent energy.
Willow realized she was standing there, lost in thought as she stared at Buffy. "So much for not being a spaz!" she thought.
Buffy hardly noticed, as she too stood and stared. Willow's hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, emphasizing her widow's peak, and leaving her delicate ears exposed. Buffy shivered as she had a sudden mental image of nibbling on one of those earlobes, hearing the sound of Willow whimpering in pleasure. "God, it's gonna be a long day," she thought.
Willow saw the look in Buffy's eyes and thought, "Gosh, she looks hungry!" She gave herself a little shake and said, "Uh, good morning! Hi! Uh, you... wanna come in?" The last was delivered with a gulp, as she saw Buffy lick her lips. Her voice was a little unsteady as Buffy entered the house and she asked, "Uh are ya hungry?"
Buffy, her eyes focused on Willow's pink lips, just nodded her head as she turned toward the girl.
Willow closed the door behind her and said, "Uh, I've got raisin bran..." trailing off when Buffy shook her head and stepped closer to her.
Buffy backed the redhead up against the door- from the inside this time, unlike last night- and said, "I had something else in mind."
Willow got out, "Oh!" before Buffy's lips were on hers, her tongue seeking entrance to her mouth.
Buffy barely noticed Willow's hands twining in her hair, her attention was focused on devouring the girl's mouth. She savored the minty taste of her mouthwash and the underlying essence of Willow, as she playfully wrestled with her tongue.
After several moments Buffy broke the kiss, pulling back just far enough to focus on Willow's eyes, saying, "Now *that's* 'good morning'!"
Willow smiled, still a little breathless and nodded her head, saying, "Oh yes! Very, very good morning that was."
Buffy giggled as she stepped back, letting Willow move.
Willow pushed away from the door, then half turned, looked at the door, looked back at Buffy and said, "I'm sensing a pattern..."
Buffy blushed when she realized what Willow was referring too.
Willow giggled, "You like doors... or is it just this door?"
Buffy laughed out loud at that. "I'm not prejudiced, Willow. I'd like you up against walls, doors, counters..."
Willow blushed furiously, but also smiled, very much liking that idea. Suddenly, some of her nervousness came back as the questions revolving in her head made themselves known again. "Uh, Buffy? C- can I, uh, ask you something?" she stuttered.
Buffy frowned at the hesitancy in Willow's voice. She realized that it was going to take some time before Willow was comfortable with this thing between them. "Makes sense," Buffy thought. "We've only known each other for like, a day!" Strangely, Buffy already felt completely comfortable with it. She took Willow's hand in hers and pulled her over to a couch in what was obviously their living room. Sitting down, and pulling the redhead down next to her, she said, "Willow, you can ask me anything you want, any time you want."
"What are we?" she blurted out, instantly wishing she could retract it when she saw Buffy's frown. "I mean... I've never... I don't know... We..." Willow's free hand was gesturing wildly as she tried to explain what she was thinking.
Buffy smiled at her, realizing that babbling was going to be a big part of the Willow-experience. "That's ok," she thought. "It's cute!"
Willow stopped and tried again, frustrated with her inability to communicate when it counted. "I don't know how this works," she said. "Us, I mean. Together."
"You mean, because we're both girls?" Buffy asked, still not certain she knew what Willow was asking of her.
"That too, but I mean... I've never been an 'Us' before. With anybody," Willow admitted sheepishly.
"Oh!" Buffy got it. "You've never dated a boy either?" she asked, still shocked that no-one had been able to see what she saw in this vivacious, delightful girl.
Willow hung her head, wishing for just a moment she hadn't pulled her hair back so she could hide behind it now. "Uh, no..."
Buffy cupped Willow's face in her palms and tilted it up till she could meet her eyes. She saw that Willow was ashamed of her innocence and tried to comfort her. "Willow, I don't understand how the boys in that school could have missed you. I knew from the second I saw you at that water fountain that I wanted you." She leaned forward and softly kissed her. "Willow, you have nothing to be ashamed of."
"Oh, ok... good... what happens now?" Willow asked- the smile back on her face at Buffy's reassuring words.
Buffy said, "Well, some of this is new to me too, Willow. I've always liked girls, but I've never officially dated a girl before."
"Are we dating?" Willow asked, liking the sound of that.
"Well," Buffy began. "I'd like to think we'll go on some more regular dates, but we could consider last night at the ice cream shop a first date?" She laughed and said, "We kinda skipped the dating step and went right for emotional trauma, followed by smoochies."
Willow blushed again, remembering with embarrassment her behavior the night before.
Buffy caught the look and said, "Hey now! It ended good, that's what matters! Anyway, I was kinda thinking we could skip the 'just dating' part and move to... girlfriends?" She quickly continued before Willow had a chance to say anything, "I know we both have a bunch of 'getting to know you' stuff to get to, and I want to... but if it's ok... I wanna be able to tell people... that you're my..."
"Girlfriend?" Willow whispered.
Buffy nodded her head slowly, looking for a response.
Willow's face lit up, "Wow! Buffy Summers is my girlfriend," she said, as though trying it on for size.
Buffy's smile lit up the room, "Willow Rosenberg is my girlfriend!" she said happily.
Both girls instinctively knew such a pronouncement could not go uncelebrated. They kissed for several minutes before Willow broke it off, saying, "We have to go, Buffy."
Buffy pouted, "Don't wanna!"
Willow smiled indulgently, "I know, but you told Xander we'd meet him at the..."
Buffy stiffened at the look in Willow's eyes. "What?" she asked, alarmed.
Willow's look of shock morphed into humor and she began laughing as she stood up and gathered her bag. "Oh, man, is Xander gonna be surprised!" she smirked.
Buffy felt a cool shiver or relief pour through her. She leapt to her feet and grabbed her bag. "You scared me!" she said.
"I scared you?" Willow said, not understanding.
"I... well, I kinda got the impression that you had a crush on Xander and... I thought you might be... having... second thoughts... or something," Buffy said, her eyes down and her hands twisting the straps of her bag back and forth.
It was Willow's turn to be the reassuring one. "Buffy, Xander doesn't want me..." before Buffy could protest, she added, "And, even if he did... it's too late for him." She sided up to Buffy and put her free arm around the blonde's back, saying, "I am officially off the market."
Buffy grinned, "You saying you're mine, Red?"
Willow grinned back, "You'd better believe it, Blondie!"
Buffy raised a brow, "Blondie?"
Willow copied her, "Red?"
Buffy managed to keep a straight face as she said, "I guess I could just call you 'my little lust bunny'..."
Willow's eyes bugged out comically and Buffy couldn't help but laugh.
Willow dropped her arm from Buffy's back and put her hands on her hips. "Grrr! You... You... Well, I can't think of anything suitably mean, but I will, and that's what you are!" she said, pointing her finger at her.
Buffy grabbed her finger and laced her own fingers with the redhead's, saying "We'd better not make Xander wait too long."
Willow followed, locking the door behind her. "I can't wait to see his face..."
"Uh, Will? You remember when he wanted to talk to me last night..." Buffy asked.
Willow re-laced their fingers and started walking toward school. "Yeah, I remember. I got jealous, but I couldn't figure out which one of you I was jealous of."
Buffy smiled at that. "Well, anyway... Xander figured out that I was crushing on you, so..."
"You mean he won't be surprised?" Willow asked, disappointment in her voice.
"Well, he seemed to think you were pretty straight..." she consoled. "He might still be surprised..."
"What else did he say?" Willow asked, curious now that she was remembering it.
"Well," Buffy began. "Oh! He threatened me," she said.
Willow's eyes widened in shock, "Xander Harris threatened you? Why?" Willow asked, thrown by that. "And why'd you hug him if he threatened you?" she asked, even more confused as she remembered that part.
"Well..." she started off, remembering the brief conversation. "He told me he thought you were straight, then he said that he loved you and you were his best friend and whatever happened between you and me, if I hurt you, he'd kill me."
Willow stopped walking and turned to face her girlfriend. "That is so..."
Buffy interjected, "Sweet?"
Willow nodded her head vigorously, "Yeah! Gosh, I didn't know he had it in him!"
Buffy nodded as they started walking again. "Yeah, he seems like a really good friend."
"Yeah, he is!" Willow said.
The rest of the walk to school was filled with Xander stories. Buffy didn't even mind, because most of them were so funny she couldn't stop laughing.
========== BtVS ==========
"This world is older than any of you know. Contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons demons walked the Earth. They made it their home, their... their Hell. But in time they lost their purchase on this reality. The way was made for mortal animals, for, for man. All that remains of the old ones are vestiges, certain magicks, certain creatures..." Giles said,
"And vampires," Buffy added.
They'd arrived at the library and Buffy told Giles everything that happened, vampire-wise anyway. He had expressed surprise at her revelation of the informant- 'tall, dark and annoying' she'd called him. Xander had come in just at the end of it, and in time for Giles little speech.
Xander said, "Okay, this is where I have a problem. See, because we're talking about vampires. We're having a *talk* with vampires in it."
Willow said, "Isn't that what we saw last night?"
Buffy said, "No. No, th-that wasn't a vampire, that was just a guy in dire need of a facial. Or maybe he had rabies. It could have been rabies. A-and when he turned to dust? Just a trick of light.
Xander gave her a dirty look.
"That's exactly what I said the first time I saw a vampire," she explained. "Well, after I was done with the screaming part..."
Xander asked, "So vampires are demons?"
Giles said, "The books tell that the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human... mixed their blood; he was a human form possessed or, or infected, by the demon's soul. He bit another, and another, and so they walk the Earth, feeding... killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out, and the old ones to return."
"And Buffy's the Slayer," Willow said.
Giles nodded his head.
"And that means... what exactly?" Xander asked.
"As long as there have been vampires, there's been the Slayer," Giles explained. "The chosen one..."
Buffy leaned over to Willow and stage whispered, "He loves this part."
Giles frowned at Buffy's impertinence and abbreviated his rendition. "Right. She's the Slayer, it's a secret. Don't tell anyone."
"So, What can we do?" Xander asked.
Giles was taken aback. "Do?" he asked.
Xander could tell that the guy was going to blow him off and he got upset. "Hey! You can't come in to our town, our school, and tell us the town's full of vampires... and then just say 'ok, have a nice life'!"
Willow squeezed Buffy's hand and added, "Xander's right. We have to help somehow. I can't know that this stuff is going on, that you're risking your life, and just not do anything."
Buffy smiled at her girlfriend and turned back to Giles, "Ok."
Giles was, again, taken aback. "Um, yes, well... The Slayer works alone. That is the way it has always been..." he began.
Before Xander or Willow could interject, Buffy interrupted. "Not anymore." Though she was looking at Giles, she squeezed Willow's hand as she said it.
Willow's face broke out in a proud smile. She felt warm and fuzzy all over that Buffy would stick up for her. She glanced over at Xander and saw the confused look on his face, and knew it wouldn't be long before he would be interrogating her.
Giles floundered for a moment, and then said, "Um, well, I suppose you could help me with research, on, on this 'Harvest' event."
========== BtVS ==========
Willow and Xander were walking down a hall. Xander practically had to drag Willow out of the library, or more specifically- away from Buffy. It hadn't been until he'd complained, "Jeeze, Will. You'll see her right after computer lab!" that he'd managed to pry her away.
Willow was listing the things she was supposed to look for on the computer, she'd been 'assigned' to looking up the local history in an effort to find out if there was anything that might shed light on this Mysterious 'Harvest' that was supposed to be taking place. "Murder, death, disaster. What else?"
Xander said, "Paranormal, unexplained, did you get natural disasters?"
Willow nodded, adding, "Earthquake, flood..."
Xander interjected, "Rain of Toads..."
Willow just said, "Right."
Xander exclaimed, "Rain of Toads! Do you think they'd have anything like that in the paper?"
Willow said, "I'll put it on the computer search. If it's in there, it'll turn up. Anything that'll lead us to vampires."
"And I, in the meantime, will help by standing around like an idiot," Xander lamented.
Willow said, "Not like an idiot, just... standing."
They stopped in front of Willow's next class.
Xander said, "This is just too much. I mean, yesterday my life's like, 'Uh-oh, pop quiz.' Today it's 'Rain of Toads'."
"I know. And everyone else thinks it's just a normal day." Willow commiserated.
Xander nodded his head, "Nobody knows. It's like we've got this big secret..."
Willow said, "We do. That's what a secret is, when you know something other guys don't."
Xander said, "Right. So, speaking of secrets, what's up with you and Buffy?"
Willow's eyes got wide and she said, "Oh, look at the time, maybe, maybe you should get to class."
Xander laughed, "You know you're going to tell me all about it, Will. You never could keep a secret from me."
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Xander Harris." Before he could say anything more, a giant smile broke out on her face and she said, "You can talk to me and Buffy at lunch. Now, go," she made little 'shoo' gestures with her hand as she entered the computer lab."
========== BtVS ==========
As Willow was looking up stuff in the computer lab, she could hear Cordelia and Harmony struggling with their computer programming assignment, which was so simple a monkey could have done it. "Explains why Cordelia is having such a hard time," she thought cattily.
Cordelia whined, "No! It's supposed to find the syntax and match it. Or wait..."
Harmony asked, "Are we going to the Bronze tonight?"
"No, we're going to the other cool place in Sunnydale," Cordelia said, rolling her eyes at the dumb blond.
Harmony sat there with a confused look on her face, obviously having missed the last call for boarding the clue-train.
Cordelia said, "Of course we're going to the Bronze. Friday night? No cover? But you should have been there last night. 'Cause I ran into Buffy..."
Willow frowned, thinking, "Buffy didn't mention..."
Cordelia continued, "...and can she be any weirder? She was in the bathroom, Talking to herself about hitting on some *Girl!* Do you believe it?"
Harmony sighed, "I think we did this part wrong."
Cordelia complained, "Why do we have to devise these programs, isn't that what nerds are for?" She nodded toward Willow and whispered, "What'd she do?"
Harmony looked at Willow's screen where she was running a search on a newspaper archive website.
Harmony turned back to Cordelia, again clueless, and said, "Uh, she's doing something else."
Cordelia turned back to her screen and said, "Okay, and then pattern run, right? Or go to end? That's it!"
Harmony, trying for 'helpfully supportive' said, "Maybe!"
Cordelia said, "So anyway, I walk into the bathroom, and she's all 'ok just go talk to her, she doesn't need to know you're a sex maniac...' I swear!"
Some long-haired surfer-dude who was sitting in front of Cordelia slid back alongside her and asked "Who?"
Cordelia said, "Buffy!"
"The new girl..." Harmony explained in her best 'duh' voice.
Long-hair asked, "What's her deal?"
Cordelia said, "Well, she's a crazed lezbo."
Harmony asked, "Did you hear about her old school?"
Cordelia and the long-hair both shook their heads.
"Booted," Harmony snipped.
Cordelia haughtily raised one eyebrow and stated, "Well, I exhibit *no* surprise."
Long-hair asked, "Why was she kicked out?"
Cordelia said, "Uh, because she's a psycho loony!"
Willow couldn't take it anymore. Even if this weren't her girlfriend they were talking about, she would have had enough by now. She jumped in after Cordelia's comment, "No, she's not!"
Cordelia said, "What?"
Willow finished printing out what she was working on and turned, saying, "She's not a psycho. You don't even know her."
Cordelia said, "Excuse me? Who gave you permission to exist?"
Willow dropped her eyes, cursing herself for her shyness.
Cordelia said, "Do I horn in on your private discussions? No. Why? Because you're boring."
Willow got up and walked over to get her printouts.
Harmony ignored Willow, saying, "Okay, I think the program's done."
Cordelia melodramatically looked up to the ceiling and said, "Finally the nightmare ends! Okay, so how do we save it?"
As she was about to leave, Willow said, "Deliver."
Cordelia looked around the keyboard, "Deliver? Where's that?" She saw the "Del" key and exclaimed "Oh!"
She smiled as she hit the "Del" key, and then her program disappeared. She stared at the screen for a moment before it registered, then her jaw dropped and her eyes widened in horror.
========== BtVS ==========
Willow was in the bathroom washing her hands, thinking about Cordelia in the computer lab. She couldn't believe what an žber-megabitch that girl was. She tried not to let it get to her, but she'd spent too many nights crying herself to sleep thanks to Cordelia to be able to dismiss her so easily. That girl knew just how to push Willow's buttons.
Willow skipping out of computer lab early was a common occurrence- after all, she had completed the entire course syllabus in the first two weeks of class that semester. She spent most of her time in the lab working on personal research or programming projects, or helping design projects for the teacher to use with the fourth year students. However, it was unheard of for Cordelia Chase to leave the class before the bell, simply because she wasted too much time gossiping to ever finish even the easiest assignments ahead of time. Therefore, Willow reasonably had no expectation that she'd see Cordelia in the bathroom when she opened her eyes from wiping her face with a damp paper towel
It was understandable then that she squeaked out a startled "Eeep!" when that's who walked in.
Cordelia wasted no time and immediately began to lay into the redhead. "Ha ha! Very funny. Look, loser, a social retard such as yourself might have so much free time on their hands that they could spend a Friday night making up a computer project. Those of us who matter, who have, oh, say... *A Life* have better things to do with their time. And where do you get off even speaking to us? You are a computer geek. You exist to do school work and stuff, not mix with your betters, and certainly not to rudely sabotage my hard work."
Willow had initially wanted to stand up to her, or at least to maintain eye contact, but she soon bowed her head beneath the withering invective the tall brunette was hurling at her. Again she wished she had not worn her hair up, as it was impossible to hide behind it while it was in a pony tail.
Cordelia kept on, relishing the shameful blush spreading over the girl's face and neck as she tore into her. She was wasn't going to quit until she had the little geek in tears. "Who told you to defend little lesbo Buffy anyway? What's the matter Willow? Got tired of being rejected by every guy in the school, so now you thought you'd try your luck with the girls?"
Suddenly both Willow and Cordelia jumped when a loud "Hey!" sounded out.
Cordelia wheeled around to see none other than Buffy Summers standing there, figurative steam coming out of her ears. "Well if it isn't little miss dyke herself."
Buffy had heard raised voices coming from the bathroom, and had seen Cordelia's little posse standing guard outside, keeping anyone from entering. She didn't know it was Willow in there, or she'd have done more than just push her way through. When she saw Cordelia lambasting her girlfriend, who was standing with her arms tightly hugging her slender body, and her chin down on her chest, she became enraged. She shouted to shut Cordelia up, then looked at Willow and- ignoring Cordelia's dyke comment- asked, "Are you ok, Will?" her soft voice belying the angry look on her face.
Willow was infuriated with herself as she felt hot, bitter tears of humiliation slipping down her face. She didn't want to give Cordelia the satisfaction, and she didn't want Buffy to think she couldn't handle herself over a few putdowns, but she couldn't hold them back. She barely nodded her head, to Buffy's question- not looking up.
Buffy continued to ignore Cordelia as she walked to her girlfriend. "Willow, look at me," she said.
Hearing the sensitivity in Buffy's voice, Cordelia put two and two together and resumed the digging of her grave. "Why Buffy, that's so sweet! Did you make the little nerd-girl your puppy?"
Buffy's rage threatened to flare out of control at Cordelia's taunt, but when Willow finally looked up, and Buffy saw the hot tears running down her face, and the look of shame in her eyes, that burning ball of fury collapsed in on itself and shrank down to a leaden ball of icy wrath- sunk deep into her stomach.
"That is just *soo* cute..." Cordelia said.
It was the last thing she would say for several minutes.
The sound of Buffy's hand against Cordelia's cheek was like the crack of a gunshot. Her head whipped around so hard that she actually blacked out for a second.
When she came to, she found herself suspended several inches above the ground as Buffy held her aloft against the masonry wall with one hand. She was still dazed, and her only thought was, "Well, this blouse is ruined!" Her attention was snapped back into focus when she heard Willow pleading, "Don't kill her Buffy! Please, she's not worth it!"
Cordelia's eyes moved back from the crying redhead to the little blond that was somehow doing this to her. The look of cold steel in Buffy's eyes sent as lightning bolt of fear through her and almost made her lose control of her bladder.
It was all Buffy could do to keep from driving her fist through the brunette's face and clear through the back of her head. The abject fear she saw was the only thing that saved her.
Cordelia didn't even see Buffy's fist move. One moment it was cocked back by the blonde's multipierced ear, the next there was a loud crashing sound right next to Cordelia's head, and a ringing sound in her left ear. She slowly turned her head to the left and saw Buffy's arm. She couldn't see her fist, because Buffy's hand was buried to the wrist in the cement block.
That did it. Cordelia's bladder let go and her white pants suddenly had a huge yellow stain in the crotch.
Buffy didn't notice it. Her eyes were locked onto Cordelia's. She pulled her hand out of the wall and absent mindedly dusted it off on Cordelia's blouse as she spoke in a quiet, steady voice, "You, Cordelia are a real bitch. I probably can't change that, short of killing you. However; if you ever say anything mean to my girlfriend? If you are even less than polite to her..." Buffy looked back up at the hole in the wall for a moment.
Cordelia's eyes were involuntarily drawn back to the hole in the wall as well.
"I figure your head is at least as hard as a cement block, even if it's not as much use as one. But, I'd bet I could probably do the same thing to it if I really tried..."
Cordelia actually managed to pee just a little more.
"I'd make you apologize, but Willow's right. You aren't worth it." Buffy contemptuously dropped Cordelia, causing her to stumble and nearly fall. If she hadn't been braced against the wall, she would have.
Buffy turned her back on the brunette bitch and walked over to Willow, wrapping her in her strong arms. "I'm sorry Willow, she cried, neither of them certain what she was apologizing for. She just knew this girl who she was rapidly developing intense feelings for was hurt and Buffy wanted to make it all better. She started to kiss her when she felt Willow stiffen.
"Willow? What's wrong?" she asked, looking into her girl's eyes.
Willow wanted nothing more than to surrender herself to her beautiful rescuer, but Cordelia was staring at them and it was creeping her out.
Buffy saw Willow looking over her shoulder, and whispered, "Is she still here?"
Willow nodded, not trusting her voice yet.
"When I turn around, the only people in this room had better be me and Willow!" Buffy said loud enough for Cordelia to hear. She smiled when she was rewarded by the sound of scrambling feet.
"Now, where were we?" Buffy asked as Willow pulled her tight and moved in for a kiss.
========== BtVS ==========