((Soo... I lied. This isn't going to be two parts. It's going to be three because I have gotten hit so hard with work hours that I have no reliable writing time. So here's part two. A little longer, I think, and I like it. And no, I am not making Oz a villian by any means. That would just be wrong, especially since I never had a single thing against the guy. Except in New Moon Rising when he interfered, but even then he served a purpose.))

"I have to do this," Tara told herself firmly, taking a very deep, though shaky, breath as she raised her hand to knock on Willow's door. It was a simple enough action, something she had done plenty of times before without even thinking about it, but this time was different. Willow had spent the previous night with Oz, her ex-boyfriend, and what if he had stayed? Tara didn't want to know if he had, she didn't want to see... but she did need to talk to Willow, to know what was happening. She hadn't been able to sleep at all for wondering what was going to happen. And all of it, the life that had been looking so bright and beautiful and new, was perched on a ledge that could crumble away if Willow said the wrong words.

Shaking her head to clear away the conflict that was there, Tara knocked on the door. It opened quickly and her heart fell into her stomach so fast it left her head spinning.

Oz was standing in the door.

"Oh..." Tara said, the lump in her throat threatening to erupt into full-bodied sobs right there on the spot. "S-sorry. I'll come... come back later." She lowered her head and turned away before he could see the tears that were already starting to form. It looked like Willow had made her choice after all.

"Hold up," Oz said in a voice that was far too kind. His touch on her shoulder was gentle, but firm enough to keep her from leaving. "She's just down in the bathroom, I'm sure she'll be right back if you need her."

Tara shook her head, eyes locked on the floor. "N-no," she stammered. "That's ok-kay."

"I saw you at Giles' yesterday," Oz added. "You a new member of the gang?"

"Not exa-actly. Willow just takes me to the Sc-coobies sometimes. I-I'm new." Why was she still talking to him? A hot tear had escaped from behind her eyelashes to trickle down her cheek, burning out a trail for the rest and she couldn't hold back a small sob.

"Hey, you okay?" His voice was suddenly concerned, his hand back on her shoulder. It felt like a lead weight.

"I've got to go," Tara said, her voice choked. She looked up for a moment, the tears in her eyes glistening, to see that this short young man even looked concerned. He shouldn't do that, be concerned for her, he didn't even know her! And she wanted so badly to have a reason to hate him... why wouldn't he give her one?!

She shook her head and turned quickly, only to find herself face-to-face with a surprised looking Willow. "Tara!" she exclaimed. Then, no doubt taking in the tears that were starting to flow freely, her hands were on Tara's shoulders, her green eyes concerned. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" Her hands were comforting, warm, familiar and all Tara wanted to do was collapse against her, begging for her to not be with Oz. But she couldn't do that. "Sweetie, did something happen?"

Yes, Tara wanted to say. Oz came back to you, and you're going to go back to him. All that you've said, all the you've done, all that's been happening... it means nothing at all because he came back. And I can't even dislike him for it! But instead she shook her head, tried a smile, and managed to say, "Y-you two have a lot of c-c-catching up to do," before she all but ran for the door.

Anyone who saw Tara on her way back to her room would have thought that she had just been told that her mother had died. Buffy, seeing her run, even called out for her, but Tara couldn't stop. Her heart was starting to shatter into a million pieces and the last thing she needed was for Buffy to see and ask why.

She wanted Willow, but it was starting to look like she couldn't have her after all.

----

Oz scratched his head, a confused look on his face that he didn't even try to hide. That blonde girl, Tara, had been crying and Willow had been about to comfort her. The smell that had been coming off of the two of them... it was one of the most confusing mixes that he had ever come across. Tara had smelled like a wounded animal and Willow had been some mix of concerned, worried and he wasn't sure.

"She gonna be alright?" he asked, seeing that Willow hadn't moved from where Tara had almost run her over. "Seemed kinda flustered."

Willow shook herself and squeezed her eyes shut. What must Tara have thought, seeing Oz in her room so early in the morning? Especially when she knew that they had seen each other the night before. I wish I would've had the time to call her...

"Will?" Oz repeated, touching her hand. He couldn't imagine what was going through her head and, if he had been able to, then he wouldn't have been near as calm as he was. But he couldn't, all he could see was a distressed Willow, and he wanted to make it better. "Do you want to go eat now? Maybe it'll help."

"Sure," Willow said quietly, opening her eyes and forcing a smile. The smile that lit his face in reply, one that she had missed terribly for so long, only made the awful churning of her stomach worse.

Oz couldn't believe his luck; Willow was still available and willing to spend time with him. He wouldn't press her, of course, but he couldn't help but start to imagine what it would be like to be back in Sunnydale with everyone. But mostly with Willow.

How could she even begin to think of a way to tell him that Tara, the girl he dismissed as nothing more than an important friend, meant the world to her?

-----

The canvas was an absolute mess, paint splattered all over the main subject in a way that would have seemed like absolute chaos to almost everyone who saw it.

Except the artist. To her eyes it was one of her best works ever, full of meaning and charged with emotion. It was raw, painful emotion, but still.

It was a painting of a short man with spiky brown hair, his arm around the shoulder of a grinning red-headed girl with emerald green eyes that sparkled. But the happy picture was marred by dark red splotches, spots where the colors seemed to blur and bleed together, and swirls of gray, black and even more red.

The only thing untouched were the emerald eyes. Reflected in their depths was another face, the face of the artist. In the left eye she was weeping and in the right she was screaming.

Tara wiped a bit of green paint off of her face, but it only smeared because of the tears trailing down her cheeks. She had finished that painting in record time and it truly was her most moving yet, but no one would ever see it. Especially not Willow. Willow would never know just how much this was hurting her. The next time she saw Willow, with or without Oz, she would smile and be one of her best friends.

But never anything more.

---

Buffy did not want to come back to her room to find Willow cuddled up with Oz, reminding her forcefully of the time in high school when the entire gang had been with someone, been happy. Willow had had Oz, Xander had had Cordelia and she had had Faith. Now everything was different and Faith, at least, was gone forever. That was yet another tally to be made on the list of things Buffy had done wrong since coming to Sunnydale. A big, bolded one. Not the loving Faith part, the letting her go part.

Luckily when she walked into her room she found Willow in her bed, very much alone. Unluckily, her best friend had a look on her face that said something wasn't right. "Willow?" she asked carefully, letting her purse slip off of her shoulder. "Is everything okay?"

Willow shrugged, clutching her giant pillow close. The redness around her eyes that Buffy hadn't seen from the door made it obvious that she had been crying. Always a sure sign that she was upset.

"Did you hang out with Oz?" Buffy asked carefully, settling down onto the bed. If he hadn't shown then that would be a really good reason for crying. And an even better one for her to go werewolf hunting.

Willow nodded, squeezing the pillow tighter. "We were together all night," she replied, her voice a little muffled.

"All night?" Buffy repeated. "That's - wait..." Her eyes widened. "Last night was a wolf moon. Either you're going to tell me something full of kink or..."

"No," Willow said quickly, loosening her grip on her pillow in order to wave her hands. "No, no. No kink. He didn't change, Buffy. He stayed Oz the entire time. He found the cure in Tibet that he had always been looking for. I don't know if it's all whee never going to change again thing, but... he stays Oz."

"Oh my god," Buffy said, the words escaping before it had even fully sank in. Then it sank in all the way, her thoughts of Faith completed vanquished by this news. "Again, oh my god, Willow! I can't believe that this is happening!" She grinned, excited, only to find that Willow still had that bland, yet confused, look on her face. "Okay, I just noticed that I'm all with the woo! here, and you're not. This isn't quite right."

"Oh no," Willow said, though she didn't sound all that reassuring. "There's woo and hoo... but there's also uh-oh and why now? And... it's complicated." She hugged her pillow even tighter, burrowing her face into it until only her eyes were showing. And the last time that Buffy had seen those green eyes look like that had been a few days after Oz had left. But she couldn't understand why on earth Willow should look like that. Surely she wouldn't if Faith ever came back... without the intent of gutting her.

"Why complicated?" she asked, tilting her head a little. "You got your boyfriend back, and he can control his transformation! I can't think of anything that would possible make you happier. You should be dancing and throwing off little sparks of glee... or something like that."

Willow didn't answer, just looked at her with that look on her face. What's going on with her? Buffy asked herself silently and, finding no answer, she voiced aloud, "What?"

Willow took a very deep breath and her voice was shaky when she at last said, "It's complicated - because of Tara."

Nothing could have confused Buffy more than that simple statement. "How could Tara make it complicated? Does she have a sudden, mad crush on Oz or something like..." But the look on Willow's face spoke volumes, as did the tone that Buffy had completely missed. Her eyes widened and it was all she could do to not let her hands fly to her mouth. "Oh... Ohh." Was there a prescribed way to react to this? Sure, she had a thing for Faith, a major one, but she had never thought for more than the briefest of moments that her best friend would turn out to like girls too! "Well, that's... great too, isn't it? I mean, Tara's a great girl, Will, she really is. At least, from the little that I've managed to glimpse of her in these past few months she seems to be like cool or something, Will."

"She is." And, for a moment, a light infused Willow's face and the small smile that flitted across her lips was more genuine than any of her smiles had been for a long time. "And there's something between us.. I wasn't looking for it, you know." I hadn't been looking for it with Faith, either Buffy thought to herself. "It's just totally powerful. And totally different than what Oz and I had."

"Well, there you go then," Buffy said, standing up and pacing a few steps. This all sounded very similar to what had gone through her own head when she had realized how hard she was falling for her fellow Slayer several years back. "You have to follow your heart, Will. I mean that's what's important, Will." If only she could hear all of the gears grinding inside of my head then she would call me such a hypocrite!

The pillow lowered away from Willow's body and she leaned forward, a concerned and slightly ill look on her face. "Why do you keep saying my name like that?"

"Like what, Will?" Buffy asked, only just hearing the edge of false happiness and excitement that had slipped in without her knowledge. Probably to cover all of the confusion inside her own head.

"Are you freaked?" And just the way she said it, the hurt look in her green eyes, made Buffy want to crawl under the bed. She would never be unsupportive of her friends, or let them think that she was, just because her relationships were always messed up. Willow deserved to be happy. And Tara had the potential to make that happen... if the red head did indeed decide to go with her.

"No," Buffy said firmly, sitting back onto the bed and reaching out to take Willow's hands in her own. "Absolutely no to that question. I'm very glad, and flattered, that you decided to tell me." She paused for a moment, a new thought penetrating the rest. "What did you say to Oz? Because I saw the look in his eyes, and I'm pretty sure that he had more than friendship on his mind when he came back here. He still wants to be with you."

Willow shook her head and looked down at the bed. "I was going to tell him, I really was! But then we started talking... and I just couldn't. I don't know how, or even what to say. 'Oh, sorry Oz, you're a little too late. I've gone all lezzie and have a huge crush on the girl who I've been learning magic with.' That doesn't sound right... and I don't want to hurt anyone."

"Does Tara know that you..." Buffy paused, waving one hand a little as she tried to find the right words. "That you like her?"

"She does," Willow responded, biting her lip. "That's part of what makes all of this so hard. Did you see her face yesterday when Oz walked in?"

Buffy thought back, trying to clear away her own reaction and Willow's enough to remember what the quiet blonde girl had looked like. "She... she wouldn't look at anyone, and she bailed pretty fast. Almost like she had seen a ghost... oh."

Willow nodded, a wry smile twisting her lips for a moment before a more melancholy one settled again. "Then she stopped by this morning and Oz was here and I just know what she thought. She's probably in her room, trying to come up with some way to tell me that all that's happened... between us..." Here the slightest hint of a blush crossed Willow's cheeks, causing Buffy to briefly wonder what had happened. "Wasn't really anything. Or that she wants me to be with him because she thinks it's what I want. That's how she is, all with the sacrificing." She tried to laugh but a tear slipped down her cheek. "I don't want to hurt anyone, Buffy, but I can't bear the thought of breaking her heart."

Buffy reached out and took Willow into her arms, cradling her best friend as she had so many times in the past. "Someone's going to be hurt, Will," she said gently, knowing that Willow needed to hear it no matter how much she didn't want to. "But you have to be true to whatever it is that you want the most. Otherwise more than one person is going to get hurt, and it'll be even worse when the truth comes crashing down." She had been there and she didn't think that Willow needed to go through that.

"I know..." Willow whimpered, the sound of her quiet sobs breaking Buffy's heart.