All those thoughts had been banished to the back of her mind by the time Friday evening finally had come; to the delight of Buffy, Xander and Anya, she had agreed to come to the Bronze with them again, silently hoping that Pat would be there too and that they'd have a chance to talk – even if it probably would mean that her friends would notice and that they would ask questions at the first chance given, especially Anya, the ex-demon still having problems with tact every now and then.

Without even noticing it fully herself, she kept looking at the crowd at the club, trying to spot the black haired woman; she kept doing so until Xander noticed and asked her if she was expecting someone else, making her blush and clear her throat while she shook her head, the others immediately seeing through her lie, not inquiring about it though, making the witch wonder momentarily if Buffy had told them not to ask her any awkward questions. If the Slayer had done so, she was thankful for it; she was keen on meeting the black haired woman out of lecture halls for once, but still didn't feel like talking about her, telling herself that she still could let her friends know once she had figured out if there actually was a chance for anything romantic to develop between her and the other woman.

Moments later, she got distracted from those thoughts when she spotted familiar black and red hair, moving through the crowd and towards the bar; quickly, she excused herself from her friends and hurried to catch up with the black haired woman, her heart beating faster in her chest when she got a proper look at her and recognized her as the one she had been looking out for.

"Hey!" she called out, raising her voice so she'd be heard over the music playing just a bit too loud, "hey, Pat!"

To her relief, the other woman obviously had heard her, since she stopped and turned to look; a smile formed on her face when her gaze met Willow's, the witch automatically smiling back, her heart speeding up slightly in her chest while she pushed herself through the crowd until she stood right in front of the slightly taller woman.

"Hey", she greeted, suddenly feeling awkward and shy while she moved a strand of hair behind her ear, "it's nice to see you here… I was hoping you'd be here tonight…"

The words were out before she could stop herself, and she nearly bit her tongue, asking herself if she'd said too much – after all, she still wasn't sure if the interest she had in Pat was returned, and the last thing she wanted was to freak the other woman out.

"To be honest, I was hoping the same", the black haired woman now stated, distracting her once more from her thoughts, making her giggle when she spoke on. "That you'd be here, I mean, not that I'd be here…"

"I figured that out, but thanks for clarifying it", Willow smirked, giggling again at the slightly sheepish smile the other woman gave her in response; for a few seconds, the two just stood there smiling at each other, then Pat gestured at the bar, asking the witch if she was up to have a beer or two.

"Or three", Willow agreed, making her way to the bar with the black haired woman afterwards, "but I won't you let you pay for all of those…"

"I hope you'll accept my invitation for the first one, though", Pat gave back, already reaching for the back pocket of her pants, where she kept her wallet; with her smile widening, Willow nodded, sneaking a glance at the backside of the black haired woman when she turned towards the barkeep, admitting to herself that she liked what she was seeing. Quickly, she moved her gaze back up when Pat received the drinks and turned back to her, not wanting to get caught staring at her behinds; she thanked the taller woman when she was handed the beer and took a rather long sip of it afterwards, racking her brain for a topic they could talk about while she did so, not wanting to just stand there and look at the other woman like some dimwit.

"That beer's really good", she finally said – only to mentally slap herself a second later, not believing that she actually had said such a dumb thing. Yeah, keep going like that and you'll surely impress her with your eloquence and poetic choice of words…

"It is", Pat now agreed, not letting it show if she thought that this had been a dumb thing to say, "but it's a pity I can't smoke in here… Beer tastes the best when it's accompanied by a cigarette…"

"That's an unhealthy habit", Willow pointed out, smiling to make sure she wouldn't sound belittling or too harsh, "but if you want to, we can go outside, then you can have a smoke…"

"Gladly", the other woman immediately agreed, to the happiness of the redhead; the two smiled at each other, then started making their way outside, neither Willow nor Pat noticing how Buffy watched them leave with a slight smile on her face, a knowing expression in her eyes.


Outside, the two weren't alone this time, several couples standing at the wall and exchanging saliva; Willow looked at them briefly, wondering what it would be like to do the same with the taller woman in front of her, if she'd kiss good and how her lips would taste – before she pushed those thoughts aside quickly, telling herself that now, she really was putting her hopes too high if she already thought about kissing Pat.

"Can you hold this for a minute?" the black haired woman now inquired, holding her beer out to the redhead; hoping that none of her thoughts showed on her face, Willow smiled and nodded, taking a hold of the cup so the other woman could dig out her cigarettes, get one out of the pack and light it up, a content sigh escaping her when she took the first drag of it.

"The first drag's always the best", she let Willow know afterwards, taking back her beer; the redhead smiled and shrugged, taking a sip of her own drink before she replied. "I wouldn't know… I've never smoked…"

"I guess that's a good thing", Pat had to admit after a moment or two of thinking about it, "it saves you a lot of money, and you were right when you said it's unhealthy… But I guess everyone needs a vice, huh?"

"I guess so", Willow smiled in reply, the next words leaving her mouth before she had a chance to stop herself. "It might be nasty though if I want to kiss someone who smokes… I'm not sure if that'd taste so good then…"

"Well, there's always chewing gum, or mouth spray", the black haired woman immediately gave back, with a tone in her voice and an expression in her eyes that clearly was flirtatious, causing Willow's heart to flutter and her knees to weaken; all she could do was smile knowingly, at a loss for words, winning some time by taking another long sip of her beer. Usually, she wasn't so daring when it came to flirting, and she wasn't sure why she found herself able to say such things to the taller woman; when she had met Tara and had realized that the interest she had in her was mutual, she had tried to flirt, but it had been awkward and difficult, the witch never finding enough courage to show her interest as obviously as she just had done with Pat.

On the other hand, when she had met Tara, she still had been insecure about this whole thing, not sure how to handle her sudden interest in a woman; by now though, she knew that this was what she wanted, and figured that thus, it was easier for her to show it, the knowledge that she also had the support of her friends making it much less difficult to show her interests in other women as well.

"You know, there's something I've been wondering about", Pat now spoke up, distracting her from her ponderings once more and making her give her a curious look. "If that's your real hair colour", the taller woman clarified at the question glance, reaching out and briefly touching one of the red strands; even though there hadn't been skin contact, it sent tingles up and down Willow's spine, and she had to clear her throat before she could respond. "Actually, it is, I hated it pretty much when I was a kid, but I guess got used to it by now…"

She smirked, then gestured at the hair of the other woman, a slight sparkle in her eyes again as she spoke on. "I guess I don't need to ask you if yours is natural…"

"Actually, the black is", Pat smirked in response, finishing her cigarette before she spoke on. "The red's not, of course… Should we get back inside?"

Nodding her agreement, Willow held back the urge to reach up and ruffle that hair, once more wondering how it'd feel to run both hands through it, preferably while kissing the taller woman; quickly, she forced those thoughts aside though as they made their way back inside, even though by now, she was quite sure that if she'd make a pass at the other woman, she wouldn't end up being rejected, the mere thought putting a happy smile on her face.