CHAPTER TWENTY

Several moments after she delivered her hopeful question and no reply was given, Willow sighed loudly and shook her head unhappily. "Jeff, you really weren't meant to see that. Couldn't you just...forget about it? Please?" Her hopeful expression almost made him want to give in to her request but he knew that even if he told her what she wanted to hear, it would only be a lie. Regretfully he shook his head and watched her face fall in disappointment. Almost immediately he wanted to do something to cheer the brunette up but he didn't know her well enough to think of anything that could work. Finally he shrugged to himself and decided to bite the bullet by asking her a question. "You hungry? We could grab something to eat."

At first she was going to refuse his invitation but before she could open her mouth to say no, her stomach let loose with a traitorous growl that only indicated one thing...that she was hungry. The man across from her couldn't help but smirk at her unconscious reply and although the situation was still tense Willow couldn't help but smile herself. "I guess we both know the answer to that! There's a Perkins down the street from my hotel." Without waiting to ask if that was alright like she usually would, the former redhead simply turned and began walking in the direction of the restaurant she had just named. There was nothing for him to do but follow her and thankfully the walk filled with awkward silence didn't last too long.

Ten minutes later they were being seated and after the overexcited waitress asked for an autograph from the well-known wrestler they were once again left with nothing to say to each other. Thankfully they had their menus to occupy themselves with but each of them deciding what they wanted didn't take much time. One thing they had in common was being slightly annoyed by their server who seemed to have come to the conclusion that she needed to check on their table every two minutes to see if they had decided. Willow finally ordered a chicken sandwich with a chocolate shake and Jeff chose a glass of Coke with a bacon cheeseburger. The girl took their orders and scampered away to drop their ticket off to the cook.

Slowly the silence began to drive her insane and Willow couldn't keep herself quiet any longer. "I guess you want to know what that was...back in the alley?" "Yeah, that would be nice but first I want to apologize for earlier." She tried to stop him by raising her hand but he ignored the motion and continued. "Honestly I was just being impulsive and never thought about how that would sound. For the record though, I never believed it." It was the way he delivered the words that made her want to believe him and there was no good reason not to. After all, it wasn't as though he had made any indication that he found her stuck up or bitchy even after their first meeting when she had been less than kind to him.

Remembering that night made her face color slightly in embarrassment and she ducked her head in hopes that he wouldn't notice. Unfortunately it seemed like he had but Jeff decided to be a gentleman and let it slide. When she finally managed to force a cool expression on her face and raise her eyes back up to meet his, she was surprised to note that he was now smiling at her. The grin was slightly infectious and she couldn't help but return one of her own before she decided it was her turn to apologize. "That wasn't necessary, I just overreacted. I do that a lot, y'know? Oh, I guess you really don't. Well no, I've really only spoken with you twice and both times I was kind of a spaz. I do that a lot too. Oh god, please let me shut up."

Once again her face turned red but this time she made no move to hide it and instead dropped her eyes from his and focused them on her tablecloth which she idly began to play with as she continued. "I should be the one saying sorry for both times. Can we call it even?" For the second time her expression turned hopeful and this time Jeff was able to nod at her request. Without explaining his actions he extended a hand across the table and waited for her to shake it. She raised an eyebrow but gave in and wrapped her own hand in his which resulted in a slight spark of electricity that both of them noticed. Mentally shaking off the feeling, Jeff got to the point that he was trying to make with the gesture. "I'm Jeff Hardy, and you are?"

Her eyes lit up in recognition and she gave him a friendly smile. "Willow Rosenberg. I could swear I know you from somewhere, maybe work?" "I work as a wrestler for the WWE." "Small world. I'm a valet for..." Her voice trailed off and she tightened her hold on his hand that she just now realized she had never dropped. She broke the hold and pulled away as though their hands had been set on fire and Jeff couldn't help but be surprised at her sudden reaction. Not taking a moment to explain Willow quickly rose to her feet. "I'll be right back. Bathroom break." She took off across the room, berating herself the entire way for not being able to make it through a simple conversation without being reminded of the very reason she had stormed off earlier.

When she reached the bathroom she headed straight for the sink and turned on the water so she could splash some on her face. It was time for her to relax and try to figure out what exactly she was doing here, eating supper at Perkins with Jeff and acting like they were friends. Willow stood there for a moment and after awhile decided that she would just go out there, explain the situation about the vampires as easily as she could, eat, and forget that any of this had happened. She looked up and met her reflection in the mirror, almost surprised at what she saw. A stranger with hair that was almost black and too much makeup was staring back at her. With a start she remembered that the Willow Rosenberg of old was gone forever and the new one wouldn't run from an uncomfortable situation.

There was a decision that she had to make right then and now. She could follow the plan she had just created and walk away from this or go back out there and just do what felt natural. Always thinking and second guessing herself was much too tiring and if she continued the follow the path she had created at least one reason she came up with for leaving Sunnydale would be made pointless. Willow had left so she could learn more about herself and that would never happen if she always ran from uncomfortable situations. Being reminded of her earlier humiliation was no reason to suddenly leave Jeff sitting there by himself wondering if he had done something to upset her again. Again she met her reflection in the mirror and this time she stuck her tongue out at it before walking out of the bathroom.