Willow Rosenberg watched from the window of the school bus as her best friend, Xander Harris, said a very long and non-verbal goodbye to his girlfriend Cordelia Chase. Willow did not want to watch – it caused her too much heartache – but she could not look away; she was too in love with Xander to stop watching him, no matter the hurt. Willow knew that her feelings were unrequited, but, still, she held a hope in her chest that Xander loved her back and was just too afraid to say so. Finally, Xander and Cordelia broke apart and Xander proceeded to board the school bus. He walked directly towards the seat where Willow was sitting and sat down.
"Hey," Willow said.
"Hey, Will. What's going on?"
"Nothing. How about with you?" Willow asked, though she already knew what the answer would be.
"Well, I'll tell you. Cordelia sure can kiss," Xander smirked. Willow smiled painfully and looked out of the window.
At that moment the doors closed, the bus lurched, and they began to move.
"I'll bet Oz is a good kisser," Xander said, poking Willow jestfully.
"What?" Willow said, startled out of his reverie.
"I said I'll bet Oz is a good kisser," Xander said, smiling.
"Yeah," Willow conceded and looked out of the window again. She was happy to be sitting next to Xander but the conversation was getting painful and Willow needed to get off of the bus as soon as possible.
After what seemed like an hour – though it was only twenty minutes – of pointless and hurtful chatter with Xander, the bus came to a stop outside of the Rosenberg house and Willow quickly stood up. She grabbed her backpack, said a rushed goodbye to Xander, departed the bus, and entered the house.
Nobody was home, so Willow went directly to her bedroom. She threw her book bag onto her bed and sat down at her desk. She opened her laptop and entered the password that was needed to log on. She began to type, words flowing from her fingers like water from a fountain:
On my own
Pretending he's beside me
All alone, I walk with him 'til morning
Without him I feel his arms around me
And when I lose my way I close my eyes
And he has found me
In the rain the pavement shines like silver
All the lights are misty in the river
In the darkness the trees are full of starlight
And all I see is him and me
Forever and forever
And I know it's only in my mind
That I'm talking to myself and not to him
And although I know that he is blind
Still I say there's a way for us
I love him
But when the night is over
He is gone; the river's just a river
Without him the world around me changes
The trees are bare
And everywhere the streets are full of strangers
I love him
But everyday I'm learning
All my life I've only been pretending
Without me his world will go on turning
A world that's full of happiness that I have never known
I love him
I love him
I love him
But only on my own
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