A/N thanks for the reviews, keep them coming.

Chapter 2

(July 18, 1999)

Willow woke up early that morning to the birds singing and a cool braes coming in her open window. She couldn't believe that she actually fell asleep with the window open but supposed that she was to absorbed in her phone conversation to think about it the night before. She had been spending a lot of time with Britney Walsh over the last two weeks. Until the woman had to go away for a couple of days for some required military training. They had gone shopping several times, lunch, dinner, out for early morning walks and long talks on the phone when they were to busy to meet up with each other. Willow enjoyed her time with Britney immensely and hadn't given a second thought about her sexual preference. To Willow, Britney was the woman who accepted her for who she was and not the things that she was good at doing, such as research.

The main thing that Britney had done for Willow, besides give her unconditional friendship, was to help her not grieve over Oz. He had phoned her a couple of times during the last couple of weeks to set up dates and Willow easily declined them both. She felt as though she was finally getting over him and maybe she could have something good with another person. What was shocking to Willow was the fact that the other person could be a woman. Willow had never seen herself as lesbian or bisexual but she knew that there was no denying her attraction to Britney.

Looking back on it, Willow realized how she used to watch the Cordettes at cheerleading functions and the like. She supposed that there was always a form of attraction to girls and she just chose to keep it hid. She never thought that a nice looking guy could have an interest in her and surely not a beautiful woman. As she got out of the shower, she wondered if she could be with a woman or was this just something going on because Britney was nice to her. She wondered how her friends would handle the fact that she was dating a woman and if she would have fewer friends then she had now. As she wondered all of these things, a knock at the door rushed her morning ritual of lazily freshening up her appearance.

"Hey Will," Buffy said with a smile etched on her face. "I got your message and thought that we could hang out this morning."

"I left that message a week ago Buffy." Willow said and forced a smile. "It's all right though because I've been having a good time with my new friend."

Buffy suppressed a guilty look on her face and too forced a smile. "I guess I've been a little preoccupied with Riley and work. His hours have changed somewhat and so I have more free time. We really need some bonding time Will. We've both had a lot going on."

Willow let out a long sigh and looked at her friend. "Buffy I understand that you need companionship to help you over the loss of Angel and all. I get that you like Riley and have a calling that takes a lot of your time. What I don't get is why we're supposed to be here every time you do get some free time. It's like you snap your fingers and we jump. Now I would like some bonding time with you also but I have plans this morning."

As Buffy looked at Willow with a stunned look on her face, another knock at the door broke the moment. "Hey there Willow," Britney said with a hug for her new friend. "I told you that I would be up this early." She smiled at Willow and then regarded Buffy with a casual glance. "Is she going to come with us?"

"No," Buffy said and turned towards the door with an obvious jealous look on her face. "I'll call you later Will. Maybe we can do dinner and I'm sorry. What you said," Buffy looked at her friend sympathetically and continued to speak. "You were totally right and not out of line at all." She smiled at Britney and walked out of the house.

"I guess you weren't kidding when you told me they were a little selfish natured." Britney said as she stepped into the living room behind Willow. "I ordered breakfast and it will be delivered soon. That's a pretty good restaurant downtown that you told me about."

"Yeah it is," Willow said with a smile directed towards her friend. She was glad that Britney was back because she wouldn't have to sit alone and sulk when her friends pushed her aside again. She wondered how long it would be before Britney found someone new and pushed her aside too. She knew that she was fooling herself by thinking that maybe she could have anything with someone other than Oz also.

"What's up Willow?" Britney asked as the doorbell rang. "That's probably the breakfast," she got up and collected the food and paid the young man. "So, what's up?" She asked and began to get the food out of the box.

"I just get in these moods whenever I see how my friends really think of me. I've had a lot going on in my head lately and I think that it's all jumbled up together." Willow said hurriedly and then got glasses for their juice.

"Well maybe if you talk it through and get it out of your head, it will ease up a bit." Britney replied as she began to eat her oatmeal and fruit.

"I doubt that," Willow said and munched on her eggs and bacon with buttered toast. "This stuff isn't bad but do you always eat so healthy?"

"Not always but for breakfast." Britney said and smiled at Willow. She knew that the girl was trying to avoid the subject at hand and planned to find out why. "Look, I don't know all of these people so you should be safe talking with me Willow. I'm not such a bad listener."

"It's not all about my friends." Willow said and sipped her fresh squeezed fruit juice. "I should have ordered myself a gallon of this stuff."

"I'm not going to pry Willow but if you want to talk to me, I'm game to listen." Britney said and refilled Willow's glass. "We've all got issues in our lives you know? It's just good to have a friend that you can depend on to listen."

"I thought that I had that with Buffy and I do most of the time. Just sometimes she gets a little self-centered and forgets that others need to talk on occasion minus her." Willow said and began to finish her breakfast. "I just wonder, how did you know that you were gay?"

Britney had been waiting for this question. She had grown to like Willow's company a great deal and wanted a sign to know if she should keep it at the friendship level or begin to pursue something more. "I just knew that watching Dana Scully rather than Fox Mulder on the X-files was different." Britney smiled and was glad to see that Willow was smiling too. "The hardest thing was coming out to my family and friends but I wouldn't do it any other way now.

Willow finished her second glass of juice quickly and then looked down at the floor. It was now or never, she was going to go for broke or stay silent forever here and now. "I think that I might be attracted to women but am afraid that I'm not. It could be just some weird phase that I'm going through or something. Not that being with women is weird, it's just how I word things that's weird I guess." Willow said and realized that she was babbling again. The one thing that she knew for sure was that if there were a babbling contest, she'd win it hands down.

"Well then, find a girl, see if she's interested and give it a whirl." Britney said and smiled at Willow's blushing face. "You have to take a gamble every now and again Willow or you will lose out on so much in life."

"I've never been big in the finding someone department." Willow said and lowered her face towards the floor. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not so big in the friend priority department either."

"I've been told that I have a good eye for situation deciphering Willow. I think part of the problem with the friends is that you are there in a split second if they need you and that is because you are afraid if you're not, they won't like you. So maybe they didn't do it on purpose but they came to expect you to be there subconsciously and now that you aren't, it's sort of like shell shock to them." Britney finished speaking and stood up to help Willow clear away the trash. "As for the finding someone department, you don't have to look very far Willow. I would be happy to take you on a date to see if you can handle this girl thing. If you can, that's great and maybe we could go out again. If you can't, no harm done and we're still friends."

Willow's face went from a big smile to a look of shock in a millisecond. "You really would like to take me on a date? I don't know much about dating because most of my dates ended up doing something with the Scoobies." She blushed instantly as the two headed for the kitchen.

"Scoobies?" Britney questioned with a smirk on her face. "Did your friend Xander come up with that name?" She stifled a chuckle so as not to offend Willow, as her pager went off.

"Yes he did," Willow said still blushing. "It's sort of corny but it fit at the time."

"I hate to do this Willow," Britney pocketed her pager. "I've got to run to work, um, 8ish tonight all right with you? I almost forgot to answer your other question Willow. I really would like to take you out. You are a really nice person and I love being around you." Britney smiled as they said good-bye.

- - - - - -

"Hey aunt Maggie," Britney said as she ran into the house. "What's up?"

"I have the plans for the set up of the compound. You and Graham will be in charge of wiring everything up, as the government doesn't want to hire any outside companies. We want to get this thing up and running by November if at all possible." Maggie moved her hand around the diagram in a rushed manner. "There can be no mistakes Brit. You will make a big climb in the ranks if this all goes off without a hitch, by the spring I'd guess."

"What's up with this mayor and how about this mystic super soldier, the slayer?" Britney asked, as she scrutinized the diagram with her eyes.

"The mayor has some crazy plan to destroy everything." Maggie said and poured them both a strong drink. "We will let this slayer take care of him, which will enable us to get our operation off the ground without outside interference. Riley is getting his assignments as we speak. These demons have got to be of some use in some way to our government and that is our main goal here." Maggie said with a sly smile on her face.

"Well being promoted early sounds great to me," Britney said and finished her drink. "I'll go check in with Graham and then I have a date." She smiled at her aunt and walked out of the room.

- - - -

Willow sat nervously and waited for her date. She and Oz had very few real dates in their relationship and she didn't really know what to expect. Most of their time was spent with the rest of the gang, which meant not much practice on how to go on a date. Oz wasn't your most talkative person in the world either, which meant conversation was limited. He was the opposite of Britney in that aspect and many others from what Willow could gather. She hoped that this date would go well and that Britney was understanding when it came to the not much make out experience on Willow's part. If things progressed to that level, which Willow grew more nervous about the more she thought of it.

As Willow was wondering if she should change her clothes for the umpteenth time, a knock at the door stalled her thoughts. She wondered if she should rush to the door or wait a few seconds. She thought that if she rushed, it would make her seem to eager and maybe give off a signal that she was an easy type of girl. If she was to slow at getting to the door, it could make her seem to be backing out of the date all together, thus making Britney to be overly cautious about how she handled the date.

As Willow opened the door, Britney smiled at her and handed her a rose that had the thorns plucked out of it. "Are you ready to go?" She asked and held out her hand for Willow to take hold of.

"I'm a little nervous," Willow confessed. "Even when Oz and I dated at full tilt, well the tilt wasn't very full and so I'm not really sure how this all works and I'm babbling again." Willow stopped her babble fest and looked at the ground.

"I like the babbling Willow." Britney replied and opened the truck door for her. "I hope that it's all right for me to have chosen a place just outside of town for this date. I thought it might help you relax more without the fear of running into your friends."

"I think that's a good idea." Willow said and smiled at the gorgeous woman. "Not that I want to hide anything from them forever or anything. I just think that I need to get used to this before I go spreading the word about my new dating style." Willow added quickly to explain her meaning more clearly. She didn't want Britney thinking that she wanted to remain closeted forever and back off for that reason.

"I understand Willow," Britney said and held her hand once more as they drove off into the night.