Willow's Rescue
by willow
Chapter 3
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Chapter 3...
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It was 7:56. Willow was counting down the minutes until they got there.
She was wearing skinny jeans and a hoody, both items of clothing too big and baggy for her tiny little figure. She thought these clothes would be best for covering up the bumps and bruises left by Kennedy.
She was waiting anxiously on the couch, head down, hands in her lap and fidgeting. She was nervous.
She was excited about seeing her only true family. She couldn't wait for the hugs or the catching up. But she was frightened, too. If the evidence of Kennedy's abusive ways were uncovered there would be Hell to pay.
"Don't look so fucking nervous," Kennedy's irritated voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked up at her, "you don't want them to think there's something wrong, do you?!"
Just then there was a knock at the door. Willow jumped up from the couch and flashed a small smile at the slayer. She made her way to the front door and went to open it but was stopped by Kennedy who stepped in front of her and mouthed "act normal" before opening the door. She plastered a huge, fake smile on her face as she greeted the scoobies, "Hey guys, welcome to England!"
Dawn was the first to come bouncing through the door. She gave Kennedy a brief hug and a "hey" so as not to make things awkward before moving towards Willow and envoloping her in the biggest bear hug while the rest of the scoobies greeted Kennedy. Willow winced slightly from the pain but quickly relaxed into the hug.
"Oh my God, Wills, I missed you so much, we have so much to catch up on, how've you been? Anything new? This place looks even bigger than when we came last time, have you redecorated? OH MY GOD, your hair is adorable! What happened to your lip? Was it a demon?"
Willow stood stunned for a moment that Dawn was able to get all that out in one breath. "Yeah, demon thing, we'll go into details later, right now I need to do some catching up" she smiled.
"Woah, Dawn, you found your own version of Willow babble" Xander commented. Willow smiled at him and walked into a tight embrace from her one-eyed best friend. She let out a small "eep" when Xander lifted her off the floor and hugged her whilst she was in mid-air and kissed her cheek. "It's good to see you old buddy, I was beginning to think you were avoiding me" he joked.
Willow smiled and hugged back tightly, "It's good to see you, too, Xand, but dya think you could put me down now, maybe?"
He grinned sheepishly back, "Sorry"
As soon as Willow's feet were back down on the ground, she found herself being knocked back a few feet by Faith practically running into a hug. Willow was shocked. Not by the hug itself, the months they spent together after The First was defeated, before her and Kennedy moved to England, they became good pals. She was suprised by the fact that other people were witnessing the hug. Faith was never big on public display's of affection.
"I missed you too, Faith" Willow broke the hug and smiled at the once rogue slayer.
"Hey, Red, what's the big idea?" Willow looked at her confused, "I can't call you Red no more" she explained as she picked up a couple of locks of Willow's hair and ran her hand down them.
Willow smiled before recieving a hug from Giles and a fartherly kiss on her forehead. For the first time, he noticed the mark on her head, she'd tried to cover up with her hair. He decided to discuss it later, "It's good to see you again, dear."
"You, too, Giles," they shared a smile before Willow asked, "where's Buffy?"
At that moment she heard a familiar voice shout: "Oh, FINE, leave me with all the baggage, then!"
She turned around and smiled at her best friend, who was doing her best to cart all five suitcases up to the house. Buffy smiled back and looked at Willow. Really looked at Willow. She was thin, thinner than she was before, she could tell even through the baggy clothes. Her once magical, sparkling eyes were no longer alive with happiness and laughter. They'd be taken over by sadness and exhaustion. Buffy could see past her fake smile.
After each scoobie had taken their suitcase and Buffy's hands were free, she wrapped her arms around the witches waist and held her close, never wanting to let go again. Willow's arms went around her neck and held on tight.
"I missed you, so much" Willow said barely above a whisper before burrying her face in the blonde's neck taking in her scent.
"Missed you, more!" Buffy replied with a smile.
Willow broke off the hug sooner than she'd wanted to. She knew Kennedy was watching. She smiled at Buffy then ushered everyone into the living room, except Buffy who stayed. She took a tiny hand in her own and asked, "Is everything OK?"
Willow thought about it. No, everything wasn't OK. She hated her life, she hated living with that woman. But she couldn't tell Buffy, she was too scared of the consequences. So she simply replied: "Yeah, everythings great" and used her big, fake smile again.