"Riley? What are we going to do? Because we can't…right? Because of Buffy an-and Oz…right?" She kept trying to convince herself that it was wrong. Even if Buffy and Oz are screwing around back in Sunnydale? a small voice asked inside her head. She pushed it away.

He nodded and pulled off his 'new shirt', a shirt lent to him by one of the men. "Of, course," he said, his voice muffled by the cloth.

"What-what are you doing?" she almost yelled panicky.

"I always sleep in my boxers…" he replied. "Don't worry," he added quickly. "I'm sleeping on the floor."

She turned away as he pulled off his pants. "At least I still have my stuff but I feel dumb in this dress." She started to unbutton it then stopped. "What am I supposed to wear to bed? I can't sleep in my underwear. I never sleep in my underwear." She started towards the door.

"Willow. Where are you going?"

"To get clothes from one of the women to slee-oh. I get it. I can't ask for something to sleep in because I'm supposed to be having sex with you tonight, therefore I don't need anything to wear. Right."

He threw her his shirt that had been folded on the bed. "Here."

"Okay. But won't you be cold sleeping down on the floor?"

"I'll be fine," he said shortly, pulling down a couple of blankets off the bed to use, leaving enough to keep Willow warm.

"This is stupid. We're both adults so we should act like them. We can share the bed."

"Willow-"

"See my resolved face? Come on, Riley. What happened at my apartment won't happen here, right? So don't worry about it…" She grabbed the blankets out of his arms and plopped them back on the bed.

"Right," muttered Riley turning away so Willow could get changed.

"Okay," she said from the bed.

"Uh, do you want the wall or the edge?" he asked as they climbed in.

She gave him a scared look. "Whatever. It doesn't matter."

"Okay Willow. Stop it. You're weirding out on me. Just calm down and talk to me. Okay?" He leaned up against the wall and she sat down facing him.

"I think I am allowed to feel wigged, Riley. I am in Scotland in the year who-knows-what with my husband who is really my bestfriend's boyfriend and we're supposed to be sleeping together and last night we made out and I don't know how I feel about all of this! I think my head's going to explode. I don't want to hurt Buffy! I don't want to hurt myself by getting too close to you because if I do and I fall in love with you, I know it's not going to last because I have a guy waiting for me at home and you have a girl waiting for you and it wouldn't be fair for them and I know that we're in a strange place but that's everyone's excuse! I don't want to hurt anybody!" Her mouth opened in horror at what she had just said and she remembered about Oz and Buffy. She curled up on the bed, crying softly.

He reached out to touch her. "Willow?"

"No. Don't touch me. Stop it. You have no obligation to me…" She curled up tighter.

He rubbed her shoulders. "Willow, you're taking on more than you should be. I'm also to blame. It's not all your fault. Oz coming back shocked you and the things that Buffy said to you weren't exactly best-friend-of-the-year material…"

She relaxed slightly and rolled over to face him. "Riley. I-I'm so scared…how are we going to get home? What are we going to say tomorrow because we didn't… someone's bound to know…we didn't…?"

"Well," he stated slowly. "We could…if you wanted to…because if you don't we could just lie."

"No, I can't lie, Riley…because I don't know really anything about that stuff…"

"You've never…?"

"Nope. Who would have thunk it, huh? Losing my virginity before I was even born…" she laughed nervously.

He chuckled then grew serious. "Are you sure…because I don't want to force you into anything…"

"You're so sweet, Riley…anyone else would have just thrown me on the bed by now…I'm glad it's you though…" She settled back against the pillows. "Hurry up before I lose my nerve and run screaming from the building," she said, half-jokingly.

"Yeah…" he breathed lying down beside her.

"Riley?" she whispered as he leaned over her to blow out the candle.

He blew it out and lay back down. "Yeah?"

"I'm scared."

"Don't worry. Trust me…" Then his lips came down on hers.

¥ ¥ ¥

The next morning Willow woke up wrapped in Riley's arms. She shifted so she could look at his face. He looked so peaceful, so… 'Damn,' she thought. 'Mom, I've fallen and I can't get up…why me? Why Riley? This is so not fair 'cause I know that this won't last…he's going to go home and Buffy's going to realize her mistake with Oz and go back to him…'

His eyes twitched and opened.

She smiled a shy grin. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," he replied, holding her tighter.

"Was that…was I…? Nevermind. Don't answer that. Don't even think of answering that…what did I do? What have I done? Oh, Buffy, I'm so sorry!" She moved away from him and hugged herself.

"Willow…"

"No." She got up and grabbed her clothing, an attempt to cover herself up in front of him and listened to the sounds of people bustling around downstairs. "I can't do this…" She pulled her clothes on and rushed out of the room.

Riley moaned and fell back onto the bed. "Willow…oh, man Willow…"

Willow ran out of the manor, across the field and sat on the fence looking out over a deep blue lake. The lake itself reminded Willow of Riley's eyes. Both were so soft and blue and full of love. 'Yeah, love for Buffy…'

"Willow!"

Willow turned, forcing her Riley thoughts away as Calista climbed the hill towards her.

"I saw you come flying out and run up here. What's wrong? What did Riley do?" She pulled herself up on the fence beside Willow.

"I'm not really supposed to be with him…" she started.

"Nonsense…I see the way you two look at each other…it's normal to be overcome with love…"

"No, that's not the point. He was with someone else and something came up. I'm just the replacement." She shrugged sadly.

"Don't say that!" Calista said fiercely. "You two were destined to be together. I can feel it. You two-"

She was cut off as a cry went up from below. People were running around, lugging everything they could inside.

"What the-"

Calista gasped and pulled Willow off the fence. "Come on, we have to hide. We'll never make it down to the manor…" She pulled Willow's arm.

"What's going on?"

The English burst from the trees on the other side of the clearing. "Oh, my god," she breathed.

Calista's eyes were wide as she came into Willow's field of vision. "We have to go now! They'll take us!"

Willow saw a small figure running across the field. "Simon. That's Simon! He'll get killed! Calista! We have to save him!" She tore out of the other girl's grasp and sprinted down the field towards Simon. "Simon!" she screamed.

One of the horsemen turned. It was she. The one from the prophecy. He reined his horse around, yelling to his men as he started off towards her.

Riley watched from the window as Willow ran towards Simon and his eyes went wide with horror as the horsemen turned, as one, and galloped towards her. "Open the door!" he yelled, hoarsely. "Open it up!"

They looked at him in shock. 'Forget it,' a little voice in his head said. 'they won't be fast enough. The window. The window. The window…' it chanted.

Riley jumped out without fear or hesitation. He had to get to Willow. He owed her at least that. He was between the riders and Willow and the riders were closing fast. He closed his eyes and concentrated. If he grabbed a horse, he could make it there before them, maybe. The lead horseman was about a meter away and Riley threw himself at the man. Flinging him off, he mounted. Turning the horse around, he galloped towards Willow and Small Simon. When he reached them, he stuck his hand out. "Willow. Grab on!" She did and he swung the two up behind him. "Hold on," he said, kicking the horse in the ribs.

The horsemen howled in anger and took off after the three on the horse. Calista ran for the manor.

"What are we to do?" she asked as she was led inside.

"We wait," Old Simon said, sitting down in front of the fire. "And pray."

¥ ¥ ¥

The horse was exhausted. Riley felt it tremble under him as he urged it on. What were they going to do?

Willow could feel it too. The horse stumbled a few steps then stopped. She could hear the sounds of pursuit. Muttering a few words in Latin, she threw her hands up.

Riley felt the horse stumble then Willow yelling something then the air rushing as horses went by them on both sides. He recognized the cloaks of the men that had been chasing them. "What the…"

"Invisibility. Good for not being found when you don't want to be…" she smiled and he turned the tired horse back towards where he thought was 'home.'

¥ ¥ ¥

"They've come home! They've come home! Oh, Simon!" Mrs. Fraser rushed out into the growing darkness, taking Simon from Riley's grasp and rushing inside to scold him and take care of him. Riley vaulted off the horse and caught Willow as she slid off from exhaustion.

He carried her inside, up to their room, and laid her on the bed. He turned to go but her little hand latched onto his.

"Please stay, Riley. I'm afraid," she whispered.

He nodded absentmindedly. "You should get some sleep. You did a lot today."

"You should too."

"I didn't do anything…you did the whole spell thing…"

"You saved my life," she pointed out.

He nodded again, suddenly feeling too tired to argue with her. Striping down to his boxers, he handed her his t-shirt. It was normal for him now. Not one day and he already felt completely at ease to take off most of his clothing and slip into bed beside her.

She took off her pants and her t-shirt, replacing it with his as he picked up the blankets that were sliding to the floor.

He crawled over her on to the other side of the bed, careful not to touch her in case she was still angry. He settled on his side, facing her because no matter how much he denied it, he loved her. It was strange. Not twenty-four hours ago everything on his mind would have been Buffy, Buffy, Buffy…but now she didn't matter. All that mattered was that Willow was safe. He closed his eye but opened then almost immediately as he felt something press into his chest.

Willow. With her back pressed against his chest and her hand reach out to pull his arm over her. "Willow?" Maybe she was asleep. Maybe she was dreaming about Oz. Or Xander. Or-

"Mhmm?" She rolled over so she was face to face with the hollow of his neck and looked up into his face.

Damn. He almost wished that she had been dreaming about someone else. It would have made saying this easier. "This is wrong."

"I know." She sighed and moved away to the edge of the bed.

He cursed under his breath as her warmth moved away and rolled over to face the wall. This is your own fault, Finn… he thought to himself, You did this yourself…He wanted to either smash his head against the wall until he died or roll back over, and grab Willow and beg her forgiveness. Either would be fine. But he did neither, instead turning the other way, facing the wall.

Willow tossed and turned. This is dumb, she thought. We can't be together because of a girl not even born yet. Oh, my god, did I just say that. Bad Willow. How could I…I was mean. I'm never mean. Oh, Buffy. I'm so sorry but Riley just makes me feel so tingly all over. I know. I'll write it down. It always made me think better if it's on a screen or paper. In my head it's all jumbly. She got up and lit a few candles. Grabbing a piece of paper and a quill, she started scribbling.

Riley watched through slitted eyes. What was she writing? It better not be a note saying, I'm leaving, yada yada yada. I can't handle this so bye…Nah, she wouldn't do that…She sighed happily, got up, threw the page into the fire and slid back into bed. Weird…I'll ask her about it in the morning.

When he woke up, the sun was shining in and Willow was gone. He jumped out of bed, pulling on his pants and almost running out the door while pulling on his shirt. He almost ran into Calista who was coming up the stairs. "Where is she?" he asked.

"Who? Willow?"

"Yes," he said between clenched teeth. If they took her…

"Oh, she outside on the fence-"

He was off and running.

Willow was sitting peacefully, watching Young Simon throw a stick for a very shaggy dog. She laughed. The dog would bring the stick back but then he'd jump up on his master, forgetting the stick. They started rolling around on the ground.

"Willow."

She turned around slowly. "Yes…" Riley. Damn.

He stopped right in front of her. "I-"

She shook her head. "I know. It's wrong. We shouldn't even be in the same bed, Okay… I'll go get another room. Actually I'll do it now." She slid off the fence and started walking towards the manor.

"No. Willow…"

She was marching off down towards Old Simon. Riley ran. He caught up with her about halfway.

"You don't have to do this."

"Yes I do…" she trailed off uncertainly.

"Why?" he demanded.

"Because of Buffy and because of Oz."

"I don't love Buffy. She's a good girl, yeah, but you want to know who I noticed first in the library? You. You were smart. Funny. Beautiful. You stood out. I denied it because of Oz. But now you aren't with Oz."

"But you're with Buffy."

"Forget Buffy. She didn't make the cut."

"No, Riley."

"Willow…"

She said it more forcefully, "No. It's wrong. Now I'm going in there. I'm getting my own room and I'm going to find a way away from here. Okay. Riley. Don't make me go crazy on you in front of everyone. I don't want to do it but I will…" Tears welled up in her eyes. She loved him. It was shining out of her face, out of her every pore. But she couldn't do that to Buffy. No. Bad Willow. Because she knew that Buffy would dump Oz and go back with Riley… She turned and ran towards the manor.

He sank down in the grass and watched her go. This wasn't how it was supposed to end…closing his eyes for a moment; he willed his heart to keep beating, willed himself to be strong. It was a technique he had learned from the Initiative. Calm. He had to be calm if he was going to get through this.

¥ ¥ ¥

"A-and that is why I need my own room."

Old Simon looked up at her. "You two aren't getting along as much as you thought you were? Love each other so much it makes ye sick, does it?"

"No. No. We just need some resting time. It's moving too fast."

"Alright. I'll have someone make up the room for you and you can move in this afternoon."

"Thank you Simon," she said gratefully.

"Did he hurt you, child?" Old Simon asked, a dangerous glint coming to his eye.

"N-no," she stammered. "No," she repeated more forcefully.

"Alright then. Don't worry about it. Things have a funny way of working out."

"Thanks." She smiled as he left and she sank onto a bench. "I think I'm the first person in history to get a divorce," she moaned.

He saw her a few times over the next few days. It made his heart beat faster every time she looked up, thinking she was going to run over and throw herself into his arms and beg him to take her back into his room. Yeah, right…I don't think so, Finn…She was either curled up with a book, or with Calista and another guy, about her age. A new friend perhaps… Shut up…he told his brain. He was jealous of that guy. The one who could touch Willow on the arm and she didn't flinch from it or give him an evil stare.

"Love's tough, isn't it young man."

He turned. An old woman blocked his path. "Pardon me?"

"You love her, do you not, Riley Finn?"

He eyed her suspiciously.

"That is why you do not take the other beauties into your bed…" she cackled. "That young Bronwyn is very persistant. She's a little bitch, that what she is…takes any new pretty face that comes here then discards him for the next one. Beware, she will try and ruin that one…" she pointed to Willow and Riley looked over. Watching as her hair slid into her face. Watching as she brushed it back into place with one delicate hand. He turned back. "Wha-?" She was gone. In her place was James.

"C'mon, Finn! Let's go! Work t'do y'know!"

He shook himself and followed along.

Willow had met Xander. Well, not really Xander but a Scotland Xander. His name was Colin and he was sweet and funny and kind and cute. But she didn't like him. Because you love Riley… her mind whispered. Shut up… she said savagely. He's just like any other guy. She had seen him kissing Bronwyn in the hallway the day before.

"Bronwyn knew that you were coming around the corner and she grabbed Riley…you're thinking about them aren't you?" Calista said.

"Yes," said Willow miserably.

"It's true, the part about Bronwyn being evil," said Colin hugging Willow for a second, trying to cheer her up. "She has a way of twisting people around."

Willow stood up. She had to do something to calm herself down. "I don't feel so good. I'll see you guys later." She left with Calista calling indignantly after her, "I'm not a guy!"