Loving Willow More
by Rin
10
[reviews]
A/N: Sorry about the late update. I'm trying!! I've just been busy trying to finish writing this novel for the publishers.
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The sun was almost completely blazing over the town of Sunnydale, and Buffy was still walking home to the dorms. All night, she'd had time to think everything through about her relationship with Willow, and there was only one constant: she was madly in love with the redhead. Nothing that she did, no matter how many demons she pummeled, no matter how many tears she let fly, and no matter how many punches she took, she felt that she wouldn't be prepared for a life without her girlfriend. It wouldn't take long to best the slayer if Willow broke up with her, and there was a large possibility that was about to happen. When she defeated those ugly giraffe demons, she didn't even pay attention to anything that was happening around her; she was just kill, or be killed. No questions asked; no holds barred. She needed time to cool off, so she went to Willy's, and actually had a decent conversation with Spike of all people. Without giving too much away, she explained the situation to him but he was quick on the uptake, and apologized numerous times for ever thinking that the spell would help him defeat her. He'd seen things in a new light, and was paying for it now. Once she cried her heart out to him (something she swore to never do), the chipped vampire explained that she should just talk to the girl. Loading up the book and artifacts from her earlier spoils of war, Buffy made a beeline for Giles's, and had no time to answer his questions. Enough was enough; it was time to face her destiny.
Walking into the dorm, she noticed that the early morning Sunday crowd was already making their way to their various religious meetings, something she envied them for having. Taking the stairs slowly, she had to breathe deeply a few times before having enough courage to face her worst demon ever. Inching in the room, she found tissues strewn about the place everywhere, and Willow leaning back with her knees against her chest, worried expression permanently plastered on her face. When she shut the door, Buffy immediately went to wrap Willow in a tight embrace, allowing the redhead time to vent. Her girlfriend just wrapped her own arms around the blonde, and released her frustration and fears. After several minutes of cooing quiet whispers, and smoothing matted red locks, Buffy kissed Willow's crown over and over again until the redhead bent back, and smashed their lips together violently in reassurance that she was really there. Their teeth cracked together, and lips were bruised and cut, as the two just kissed with fervor and fire.
"Where the hell have you been?! I've been worried sick! I called Giles, and he didn't know, then I called your mom and Faith, and they didn't know, so I called Xander, and he had no clue, and then I called the police and the hospital to make sure you weren't there, and I still couldn't find you, and I was so scared, and I didn't know what to do, so I just sat here, and waited but you still didn't come, and I just..." Willow was pulled into another tight embrace, and would not let go for anything.
"Shh, it's okay. I'm okay. See? I'm here now, Will. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere." Buffy cradled the redhead's body completely into hers, and kissed her crown several times again to calm her.
"Where did you go? What happened?" Willow leaned back again, staying in the embrace, and looked up at her girlfriend with worried, sad eyes that were swollen, pink, and puffy from hours of crying.
"I panicked." When Willow showed no signs of understanding why, Buffy elaborated. "I saw Fred leave, and I was already antsy because I thought you would want to be with her now that she's back, so I took off, and it wasn't until Spike told me that I was being daft, and bloody stupid that I..."
"Wait. Spike? Spike told you?" Willow was utterly confused. Of course, she loved Fred, always would but that didn't mean that she would break up with Buffy. That was just plain crazy talk.
"Yeah. Spike." Buffy had to hone in her emotions again, since she noticed that her girlfriend mentioned nothing about Fred, or that part of her confession.
"I don't understand, Buffy. Why would you think..." She couldn't even finish that thought because it was so ridiculous.
"Well, I mean...it's Fred, Will. Your Fred...I can't compete with her. You have history together that we don't, and you deserve so much that I can't promise you." She held the girl, not willing to let her go again. She'd messed up big time by taking off...again. 'Why do I run when things get hard? I mean...this is Will! I hurt her enough the first time this happened; this would be worse.'
"Buffy, Spike was right. You are bloody stupid, and just a bit daft." Willow looked at her with all the love and admonishment she could muster in a simple gaze. When Buffy looked at her in confusion, she explained. "First of all, we have history together that Fred doesn't, too. Second, I'm in love with you so much that I hurt when you hurt, I cry when you cry. This thing we have is real, Buffy. Nothing's going to change that, and I don't need promises from you. I know that you can't promise that you'll live tomorrow, and you had me scared to death that I wouldn't see you again. We're in a relationship here; it's not a competition. If I wanted out, you'd know, and I will never want out. That's something I 'can' promise you."
"Will...I..." Buffy was speechless. She knew she'd been stupid, and it sucked that it took a vampire (pun intended) to clear her head.
"You don't get to do this every time something happens that scares you. I love you, Buffy. Sure, Fred was my first but you're my first in so many other things. You're two completely different people, and I'm not comparing. I'm just loving, and hope that you're loving, too because if you're not, then tell me now because I don't think I can take much more of this emotional drama before I burst into a million little pieces." She kept her resolve firmly in place, and made sure that everything was said through her expression.
"I love you, Wills. I'm sorry I panicked. It's just hard for me because this is so new. I've never felt this strongly for anybody before, and every second I'm scared of losing you, or never seeing you again. I just...I shut off inside, and can't seem to get my brain to work." Buffy kissed Willow's puffy eyelids, and the tip of her little nose, which was still red from crying, too.
"I get that, Buffy. I do but you've gotta let me in if we're going to make this work, and I have every intention of doing just that, so no more funny business. You're not going to lose me; you're stuck with me for life now, whether that means tomorrow, or when we're older, well into little old lady hood, forgetting to take our pills, and cheating at bingo together." Willow took the blonde's face between her hands gently, and sealed the deal with a solid kiss. "I love you, Buffy Summers."
"I love you, Willow Rosenberg." Buffy brought her arms up to pull Willow's body more into her own, kissing her passionately and full of love and adoration. "Eww...I need to shower."
"I thought that was me that smelled but you're right. What the hell did you fight? It wasn't one of those poopy monsters that Faith keeps coming across, is it?" Willow helped Buffy pull her clothes off, enjoying every second, and noticed the plethora of new cuts, bruises, and blood spots. When she eyed a particular symbol burned into the blonde's torso, she went eerily quiet, and tried to recall where she saw the arcane mark before but came up empty, as Buffy donned her robe, and grabbed her shower caddy full of promises of cleanliness.
"You're too cute sometimes." Buffy came over, and planted a quick kiss on her girlfriend's pursed mouth, and went to the communal showers, ready to rid herself of all things gross. When she shut the door, Willow went into immediate research mode, and it only took her three minutes (which she thought was too long) to find where she'd seen the marking before; it ended up being a Celtic symbol in one of her history of witchcraft books, and it had vague details but the message was clear. The shit was about to hit the fan, and there was a possibility with these shit demons running around lately that the phrase could be literal this time. In a rush, she laid her book on their combined bed, open to the appropriate page, and hurried to the bathroom, not caring that there were others getting ready for their Sunday services, as she stepped into the shower fully clothed with a surprised Buffy. "What are you doing?!"
"The symbol...on your belly..." Willow's clothes were drenched, and heavy on her body but she moved her fingertips under the spraying water to study the marking on her girlfriend's torso. Sure enough, it was the same one, and her expression told Buffy all she needed to know, as she washed her body wash and shampoo from her hair, wrapped a towel around herself once she turned the shower off, and pulled an extremely wet Willow back to their room.
"Where did that come from? It wasn't there this morning." Buffy opened her towel, and let the cool morning breeze rush her exposed skin, as Willow went to work studying it again, while she dripped all over the floor. "We need to get you some dry clothes." Buffy left the soaked redhead to stand over her book, as the tips of her locks dripped little droplets of water on the pages. Willow was being uncharacteristically careless with the old tome, and that caused Buffy to worry even more. Pulling on some fresh underwear, jeans, and a simple tee, the blonde grabbed another pair of fresh clothes, and placed them beside the tome. Willow kept reading, as Buffy peeled each article from her body, only barely registering what was happening, as she read the pages over and over again, trying to find the hidden meaning.
"This isn't good, Buffy. Something's not making sense." Willow was bare, and blushed full-bodied when she realized that her girlfriend was smirking with lust.
"I'd say it makes perfect sense to me." Buffy went to wrap her naked girlfriend in a seductive embrace but Willow wiggled free.
"No. That symbol shouldn't be there. What all did you fight last night?" Willow started pulling on her clothes, and having to grab them from Buffy, as the blonde kept stealing them, not allowing her to dress. It was fun and all but they needed to fix things first before something utterly apocalyptic happened...again.
"There were these three giraffe demons that were trying to open the Hellmouth but nothing out of the ordinary really. Just your run of the mill vamps, and a Polgara demon. Other than the giraffe demons, nothing too fishy." Buffy sat down on the bed, pulling Willow to sit on her lap, as the redhead picked up the book to show the blonde.
"Well, it says here that there's a prophecy regarding the slayer and three long-necked Hell beasts, and this symbol is shown beside the artifacts they'd need to open the Hellmouth. We already have the word of Valios, so that's a plus. That means they can't do the sacrificial ritual but we have no idea where these four things are; to them, it's like a puzzle. A rather complicated puzzle because not all of these things can be found in Sunnydale. One's in Rome, and the others are scattered somewhere in Romania, particularly around Transylvania but we're not talking Dracula, we're talking something else." Willow bookmarks the page, and lays it on her desk before lifting Buffy's tee completely from her body again. "Lay down for me; let me see if I can get all the details clear." The blonde complies, now in serious slayer mode, too. Willow leans over her, only clad in her clean undies (she couldn't retrieve her other clothes from Buffy), and starts to trace the pattern with a light fingertip. She licks her fingers before rubbing them gently across the blonde's belly to make sure the symbols wouldn't rub off, then she blew cool air across it to dry her saliva.
"God...Wills..." The huskiness in Buffy's tone caused Willow to stop suddenly. Looking up, she noticed that her girlfriend's eyes were darker, full of lust, fully dilated, ready for some action. It was apparent she was in slayer mode, which meant her senses were on overload, and that only multiplied the lust that much more. The thought suddenly excited Willow, and her own eyes glossed over with lust.
"I guess this can wait a couple hours..." Willow didn't give Buffy time to respond, as she quickly threw the blonde's clothing from her body, and tore her own undies off, too. Moving back to straddle her girlfriend, the redhead wasted no time in completely clearing her mind from all the fears and doubts that ran through her mind the entire night, as she waited on her slayer to either return to her, or leave her for good. Now, they both had reassurance, and neither planned on going anywhere for at least another five hours, or until their passions were quelled long enough to take a break to contact Giles. In other words, the symbol was on hold, as the two lovers went about strengthening their own symbol of love and lust through a dance as old as time, maybe older than the new tattoo above Buffy's belly button. Ah, screw it; they just wanted some loving. After all, they deserve it after last night's big emotional outbreak. Let's let them have their fun, as we check in with somebody else...
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"So, I see Adam has gotten loose again." Looking up from her desk, arm in a sling, bandages across her midsection, and cuts across her face, Dr. Walsh raised an eyebrow at her fellow doctor. "Well, it was only a matter of time. Besides, I was ready to pit him against Ms. Summers, and now, he's just upped the time frame on his own. Looks like we'll get to see her in full action." Glancing back to the screen on her desk, Maggie noticed that Buffy was in full action already...just of the more sexual nature. "Let me know if our squads find anything. I'll be on post the rest of the night."
"Of course, doctor. We'll keep you updated to the second." The nervous young intern was shaking in his boots, internally yelling at himself for not keeping his guard duty perfect on the monstrous creature. Dr. Walsh pitted all of her research into this one being, and had been working on a way to study the slayer using it. Now, they had to find it first.
"On your way, then. I've much to do." Dr. Walsh turned back to the screen, as the young man left her office. Sighing, she rubbed her arm where Adam had attacked her only days before, cutting her in various places, and even sliced his new Polgara limb straight through her torso. She was paying for her miscalculation but soon, she hoped that the government would appreciate her mad scientist ways. Her superiors were driving her crazy with questions, and she couldn't give them any until the beast was taken care of by the slayer. If Buffy could do it...
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"I don't understand, Giles. How does that constitute a big...Buffy!" Xander jumped up from the couch, and embraced her fully. Willow released her hand to allow him the moment. She had called him last night in a panic, so he naturally started to panic himself.
"A big Buffy? Now, that I'd like to see." Faith hopped up from her position on the couch, and stretched her arms above her head. She wouldn't tell anybody that she was worried, too. When she and Ms. Summers got the phone call from Willow, Faith went out last night for a late patrol to try and find the blonde but to no such luck.
"Hey, guys. Sorry about the big worry last night; just had some things to work out." Buffy encased Willow's hand in her own again, and dragged her to sit beside Faith on the couch, keeping their hands together the whole time. Anya eyed them suspiciously, and almost commented but Faith gave the ex-demon the evil eye that stopped her.
"What?! Do I have to remind you that I'm not a threat anymore? This is truly one of the more silly things I've ever experienced in my 1000 years. You..." Anya was about to further comment, and make some nasty comments towards the dark slayer at that but Xander put his hand over her mouth before she could release them.
"An, what'd I tell you? Faith wants you to react like this. Don't give her that if it upsets you that much." Xander took back his hand, and she just eyed him admonishingly.
"Be that as it may, I'm afraid I have some disturbing news, Buffy." Giles tucked the book in his hand underneath his arm, and prepared to deliver the bad news.
"Let me guess...another apocalypse? Gotta say...already know about that one. I gotta tattoo." Buffy lifts her shirt a little, and showcases the burned skin.
"Buffy, how did this happen?" Giles lays his book on the desk, and walks over to take a better look, leaning over to
examine the symbol. "It's Celtic, that much is obvious but the exact origin is hard to..."
"It comes from the 10th century, somewhere around the time of the first slayer, I think. I'd seen this mark before but couldn't recall where when I saw Buffy naked earlier." Willow blushed, as she realized what she said, and hid behind her girlfriend's back. The blonde just smirked, and chuckled at the cuteness of the redhead.
"You saw Buffy naked? How come I can't see you naked?" Xander was glazed over with lust, picturing his wildest dreams, and Anya smacked him in the arm.
"Hey! There will be no Xander for you." Anya glared towards Buffy, who just shook her head in amusement.
"Back to the topic at hand...where did you find the information, Willow?" Giles finished cleaning his glasses before placing them back in place.
"Oh, well...in one of my history of witchcraft books. I remember reading something about a few months ago when Tara and I did a spell together but it didn't come to me until I looked it up. I had...um...I had Buffy let me examine the mark more carefully to double check." She averted her eyes, whole body flushed and a little excited from their previous activities.
"I'll bet you examined her top to bottom, Red." Faith smirked, and Buffy sent a warning glare her way. Anya eyed them all suspiciously again but chose not to comment...this time.
"Alright...again, we're steering off topic." Giles had to clean his glasses yet again, since he was fully aware of the truth in Faith's innuendoes.
"So...what's she look like naked, Wills? Care to share with your bestest bud?" Xander sent hopeful eyes towards the redhead but Buffy just looked at him in shock. Was he really saying all these things in front of his own girlfriend?
"Hey! There will be no sharing!" Buffy wrapped an arm around Willow's waist, and allowed the redhead to bury her embarrassment in her now warm shoulder. The heat coming off her girlfriend was intoxicating. "I fought some giraffe looking demons last night, Giles. That's where I found that book, and the artifacts that came with it. Willow found the information in her book at the dorm, and all we know is that I averted an apocalypse last night but we're still in major trouble because we have all of the artifacts needed to open the Hellmouth permanently right here in this flat. We need to find some way to ensure that they're all buried far away from each other, and I don't trust anybody else to do it for us."
"Certainly, that's excellent thinking, Buffy." Giles looked at his slayer, and beamed with pride. "I must say that Willow is ultimately a good influence on your rationality."
"I think so, too." Buffy, forgetting where she was for a moment when she looked into lustful green eyes, kissed Willow's forehead before moving her lips down to send a brief, gentle kiss on her lips, shocking the hell out of the redhead, and causing Xander to pass out on the floor. Hearing the thud, both their eyes open wide, as they realize what just happened, and where.
"I knew it!!!!" Anya clapped, and practically patted herself on the back, as she beamed with pride herself.
"Um...we should help him." Buffy moved from their embrace, and the two lovers helped their friend onto the couch. It took several seconds before he opened his eyes back to consciousness.
"Hey, guys. You'll never guess the dream I had." He leaned up a little, and felt the pain from the bump on his head, where he hit it on the way down. Looking into everybody's faces, and especially Willow and Buffy's beet red ones, he knew it wasn't a dream. "Wait...Buffy's your new girlfriend that you're not talking about?"
"Uh...yeah." Willow ducks her head, and grins sheepishly. Xander shakes his head to clear it.
"Let me think about this..." He narrows his eyes in thought before getting up, and leaving the place. Everybody else just looks at each other awkwardly.
"Xander, wait for me!" Anya rushes out the door after him, and the others still stand there awkwardly.
"Well, at least we have nobody else to tell." Buffy grins sheepishly towards her girlfriend, who looks forlorn about her dearest friend leaving like that. "It'll be okay, Wills. He just needs time to process this. You said so yourself..."
"Yeah. Boy's still got a big hankerin' here for B. Just give him time, Red. You have lots of history together; he's not gonna give that up over somethin' like this." Faith's eyes actually soften, as she says kind words to her friends. Giles looks at her in shock, having never experienced the softer side of his dark slayer. "And if he does, then I'll just knock some sense into 'im." She pummels her fist into her other hand, and demonstrates briefly that she's serious.
"Now, there's no need for violence, Faith. I'm sure that Xander will return, Willow. He always does." Giles put his two cents in, and the awkwardness just continued, as they stood around, and tried to think of something to say. They all came up blank.