Disclaimer: Not mine

Somehow, and I have no idea how this happened, there was a scene in Installment 1 that basically hit all the same narrative beats as the one last chapter, with Amy and Tara, regarding Willow. I don't know how that ended up there, as every note and plan I had had the scene happening later, and I don't know how I forgot about it entirely. Thanks to an astute reader asking about it, I have removed that scene from every version of Installment 1, and it never happened - Tara doesn't talk to Amy about the prospect of Willow liking girls until the scene she does so in Installment 5.

Assuming things go as planned, this should be the penultimate installment of Silver Summer

Thanks to Dieticlast and Starway Man for beta-reading.

Iron Coin Chronicles: The Silver Summer

By Kylia

Installment 6

June 25th, 2000

Lowell House, UC Sunnydale

Though the Initiative was shut down, and pretty much all the survivors had left Sunnydale, Riley was still living at Lowell House. Of course, he was the only person doing so, which made for a good thing when her boyfriend and her wanted privacy.

Like this afternoon.

All afternoon.

Riley lay asleep next to her, one arm thrown over her side, snoring ever so lightly - more just loud breathing than anything, really - as Buffy lay next to him, satisfied, but not tired. Buffy had expected Riley to be worn out when she was done with him. He always was, if she really went as far as she sometimes wanted.

Buffy turned around in the bed carefully, facing Riley, tracing a hand lightly over his bare chest under the sheets that covered them both.

She liked sleeping next to her boyfriend, and when they did fall asleep together at night - which was far from every night - she liked waking up next to him.

He was comfortable to sleep next to. And wake up next to.

But, it was still early in the evening, and she wasn't tired right now. So...

After a few more minutes laying there, listening to Riley's breathing, smiling softly at how surprisingly adorable he looked while asleep - when he actually let himself relax, which wasn't something he let happen often, when awake - Buffy slowly and carefully, without trying to disturb him, slipped out of the bed, getting up and looking for her clothes. She flushed a little, remembering how they'd both carelessly tossed each other's clothes all over the room, but she found them and started to redress.

Buffy was just putting her shoes back on when she heard Riley stir on the bed. She turned and saw him slowly sitting up, eyes open, rubbing sleep from them with one hand.

"...time is it?" Riley mumbled, looking for a clock. He blinked at seeing his girlfriend fully dressed. "You're leaving?"

Buffy smiled and moved back to the bed, sitting on it and leaning forward to give him a light kiss on the lips. "You seemed pretty dead to the world, and I wasn't feeling that tired," Buffy explained. "Figured I'd get up and do something."

Like getting in some more practice with that magic silver-sword thing.

"Well, not all of us have superpowers, you know," Riley countered with a soft smile. He reached out and ran his hand over her arm. "Anyway, I'm awake now," he added, sitting up straight. "Why don't I make us some dinner, then we can watch a movie, before patrol?" He quickly went on, "If you don't have other plans for patrol tonight, anyway."

Buffy smiled, chuckling, giving him another kiss. "Have I mentioned that you're practically perfect?" she asked, pulling back. Riley raised an eyebrow, and Buffy humored him, saying, "You're sexy, cute, smart, devoted, and you cook for me. Like I said - practically perfect!"

Buffy said all that with complete honesty - sometimes, Riley did feel practically perfect. Like everything she wanted in a boyfriend.

Everything she should want, too.

He was fun, and comfortable, and she liked spending time with him. This was college - or at least the summer break after a year of it, so close enough - and she was enjoying her life, including the really great guy in it.

And Riley really was devoted to her. She watched him get dressed and helped out with preparing dinner - a simple chicken and pasta dish, but tasty. They ate, then moved to the couch and Riley put in a rented video, a movie she'd mentioned liking when she saw it in theaters last year.

"I thought you didn't like rom-coms," Buffy teased.

"I said most of them were pretty predictable, but that doesn't mean they're bad," Riley disagreed. "And at least this one sounded pretty funny, when you told me about it."

Buffy smiled and half-cuddled against her boyfriend as the movie started. Predictable wasn't bad, that much was true. Riley was predictable, and that's one of the things she liked about him. Buffy knew where they stood, where they were, and it was in a normal, happy, entirely human relationship.

She liked that. She liked the normality of it. Riley wasn't boring, but he was steady. Stable. Reliable.

Buffy wasn't swept off her feet by Riley, but that wasn't what she wanted, not really. And Riley understood that - really, he had never seemed to have an issue with her being the Slayer, being so much stronger than he was, or even that he couldn't keep up with her.

Though he does make a pretty valiant effort to do just that, Buffy thought to herself with a slight smirk.

But Buffy soon stopped letting her thoughts wander too much as the movie got really going, laughing at the antics onscreen as she enjoyed her time with her boyfriend.

July 4th, 2000

17619 White Oak Drive, Sunnydale

Sunnydale, being Sunnydale, did not have an after-dark fireworks display.

That was something Cordelia Chase had once been puzzled by, but not anymore - not since her junior year of high school, actually. It wouldn't exactly have been safe for people to be outside their homes in large numbers, while loud explosions covered up the sounds of screams from being attacked by demons or vampires.

I suppose even the late Mayor Wilkins I, II and III knew that would have been too much death at once for his needs. Couldn't be Mayor of a town of corpses, after all. At least not before becoming an invulnerable. oversized pure demon.

Of course, in years past, Cordelia was usually out of town during July 4th with her extended family - at an aunt or uncle's house, or one of her grandparents' places, or something like that. So she'd usually get to see a big outdoors fireworks display.

Last year, that hadn't been an option - and not this year, either. So she was left watching a fireworks display on TV instead. Not the same thing at all, but it would have to do.

"Pass the popcorn?" Xander's mom Jessica asked, and Cordelia grabbed the bowl her boyfriend had been hogging and passed it over, ignoring Xander's indignant 'hey!', which wasn't a serious complaint either.

"So, how's the search for a new place going?" Jessica asked, and Cordelia shrugged.

"Even with Sunnydale's low real estate prices, it's easier said than done," Cordelia sighed. "I've found a few possibilities, but the security deposits they want are a little much just yet."

"Nothing we couldn't cover out of what we've got saved up so far," Xander countered.

"True, but then we'd have virtually no safety buffer left for a rainy day," Cordelia pointed out. "If we're going to do this, we're going to do it by making smart financial decisions, with long term viability in mind."

"Oh, talk money to me," Xander joked, smiling and Cordelia rolled her eyes, hitting his shoulder lightly.

"Dork," Cordelia grinned. Then she got serious again, "Besides, Xander, given the... everything that is Sunnydale, do you really think the odds are we'll ever get the deposit back?"

Xander considered her question for all of a second, before he had to nod, "Okay, you're right there."

"As I always am," Cordelia countered, eliciting an affectionate eye-roll from her boyfriend in turn. She looked back over to Mrs. Harris, "I think in a few months, by the time the fall comes we'll be situated better. There's a few places I'm eying that just might drop the price of rent or the size of the deposit in a few months, plus we'll have more saved." She didn't get paid a lot at her just above minimum wage name-tag job at April Fool, but with Xander generously covering all their expenses right now - such as the pretty small rent his mom was charging them - their savings did add up over time.

But any place they got would need to be affordable, after she cut back her hours once she was at school. Or possibly quit altogether, depending on the college workload.

"There's no rush," Jessica said, waving her hand a little. "A financial cushion is a good idea, if you ask me. And as I've told you both before, you don't have to move out before Cordelia graduates."

"Yeah, but you'd prefer it," Xander pointed out, then he laughed briefly. "Mom, it's fine. I don't want to still be living with my parents years after high school, and it's not like we're moving all the way across the country."

Not yet, anyway. Cordelia considered. The more distance she put between her and the Hellmouth once it came time for them to move out of Sunnydale, the better. Granted, it probably wouldn't be until she'd graduated college, since she was taking advantage of in-state tuition - but the second she could afford to, she was dragging Xander out of this town by his ear if she had to.

But, of course, there were limits to how quickly she'd be able to convince her boyfriend to move away from his friends and his mom. And while Cordelia couldn't imagine ever coming back to Sunnyhell for even a day visit with Buffy, Willow and the others - who she did count as friends, if not as much as Xander did, obviously - being close enough to meet up somewhere nearby once in a while wouldn't be terrible.

Just have to ask Giles what's the biggest city in California with the least vampires running around. L.A. was out, of course, since Angel was there - not to mention the demon lawyers and their tendency of leaving bombs around, from the story Faith had told about her trip down there.

Maybe San Francisco? It would depend on cost and job availability, of course. Cordelia wasn't going to be reckless in her moves across the country, or even the state.

"I know, I know. And I do admit I'm looking forward to having the space for myself when you two do move, but I don't want you to feel rushed on my account," Jessica responded to her son's previous remark.

"It's not you that's the reason we want to move out, Mrs. Harris, I promise," Cordelia assured her. "I really, really appreciate you letting me move in here when I did, after... dad skipped town, and even since. Don't ever think I'm not appreciative, please. You didn't have to just... let me live here, without any real warning."

"What else would I have done? Let you just... live on the streets? Or in a hotel room?" Jessica shook her head. "Besides, dear… you're the best thing that's ever happened to my son, and head and shoulders - and then some - over any other girl he's had a crush on, or 'dated'."

"Mom!" Xander protested, flushing a little in embarrassment, and Cordelia looked over to him, raising an eyebrow. She pushed a hand against his chest playfully,

"What, you're going to disagree with her that I'm the best thing to ever happen to you?" Though she had a dangerous edge to her voice, as if she was threatening him if he gave the 'wrong' answer, she really wasn't. By this point

"Of course not!" Xander shook his head. "I thank sweet baby Jesus every day that you picked me over popularity in junior year," he added. "But, for the record... I don't remember telling you about that many previous crushes," he said to his mother.

Jessica shook her head, chuckling, "Xander, sweetie, you didn't need to say you were crushing on some girl for me to know. There was your friend Buffy, during your 10th and 11th grade, before you finally stopped mooning over her-"

"I didn't moon over Buffy!"

"Oh, puh-lease, Xander," Cordelia laughed, "You really did. I didn't even pay that close attention to you three then, and even I could tell you were totally into her!" She and her fellow Cordettes had even made bets - not with money, of course, but with some of their various jewelry or more expensive clothes or makeup products - on if 'Crazy Buffy Summers' would take pity on him or if 'Harris' would start stalking her or like... sniffing at her.

She'd never mentioned that specific detail to Xander, though - it was not something she was proud of.

"Both of you are picking on me now," Xander mock-sulked. "Where's the love?"

"Newsflash, Doofus! Picking on you is how I show that I love you," Cordelia teased and then leaned over to give him a light kiss, before pulling back.

"And it's every parent's God-given right to embarrass their child in front of their significant other, once in a while. You know, I could break out the baby pictures -" Jessica started to say

"No! No, no need to go there," Xander quickly said, and Cordelia raised an eyebrow, wondering if there was a specific picture of 'baby Xander' he didn't want her to see.

Xander's mom chuckled again, "Anyway, as I was saying? There was that Ampata girl I heard about, the exchange student before she left town, back then. And before your friend Buffy, there was that girl named Shannon..." Jessica resumed her tale, before continuing on.

The fireworks continued on the screen for a good while, and they all paid half-attention to it, but Cordelia was more enjoying watching Xander squirm - she could tell he was embarrassed by his mom's stories about the days of yore, but not upset, so she could have her fun being regaled about some of younger Xander's antics, the ones she'd never really noticed or even heard of.

The conclusion Cordelia ended up drawing, as she had before, was that she wished she'd given Xander a real look years before she had finally done so - sure, he'd been an even bigger dork in freshman year, but deep down he'd always been the good guy she had fallen in love with.

And apparently absolutely adorable back in middle school, at least the way his mom told the story.

July 17th, 2000

Madison Residence, Sunnydale

When Amy opened the door and saw Willow standing there nervously, biting her lip and looking aside hesitantly, she had a sudden flashback to Tara's visit at the end of May.

It really is a shame that Willow's not into girls, or she and Tara might just be great for each other. Or, maybe too much of the same thing. Though Willow usually wasn't as anxious and nervous as she had been during high school. Freshman year of college had been good for her, Oz's death notwithstanding.

"Willow," Amy stepped aside and let the redhead come in. "Did you want a brownie? I just finished baking some, though they're still cooling," she offered.

"I - uh... no, thank you," Willow said softly.

Okay, something's definitely up. Amy sat down on the couch and gestured for Willow to sit down on the other end of the couch, turning a bit as she sat to look at the redhead. She looked... conflicted. Hesitant. Nervous and anxious and unsure in a way Amy hadn't seen the other girl be in a long while.

"I... Uh..." Willow licked her lips, and once more Amy was reminded of Tara's visit. The blonde girl's question - was there any chance Willow could be gay or bi or anything else but straight - was one that Amy had unwillingly turned over in her head a few times, the whole thing refusing to leave her brain.

Amy's conclusion continued to be that she'd never seen any evidence of Willow being into girls - but the way Tara had been so... crushed at the final confirmation that her feelings for Willow couldn't be returned - not in the same way, anyway - still stuck in Amy's mind.

"It's just..." Willow started again, clearly having trouble trying to word whatever it was she wanted to ask. She could feel, across their bond, a sensation of being all tied up in knots, confused, unsure, and yet... she felt a weird sense of certainty. It was hard to put into words, all impressions and feelings, sensations and... vague concepts.

"Willow, I haven't seen you this nervous in... like, forever," Amy pointed out. She leaned forward, reaching over and putting a hand on Willow's shoulder for a moment, squeezing. "Look, whatever it is? You can just go ahead and ask, Willow."

"Whenddidyourealizeyoulikedgirls?" Willow's words babbled out of her like water bursting from a dam. Still, Amy didn't have any difficulty separating the words out.

Shit.

There was really only one reason why Willow would be so nervous about asking that question.

Namely... if she was questioning, or had already questioned, her orientation.

And the reality was, based on what she'd learned from reading about the topic, thinking on her own experiences... 100% completely straight people rarely questioned their orientation. Not like this, anyway.

So. Again...

Shit.

Damn it, Willow! Why couldn't you have come to me about this before Tara came by?

Realizing she hadn't answered Willow's question, Amy took a breath and did so. "Well... the final confirmation? Having dreams about having sex with Faith." She felt her cheeks heat a little as she admitted that, but her flushing was nothing compared to how bright red Willow's cheeks got. The werewolf opened her mouth to reply, but only a small squeak escaped.

So Amy bit the bullet before Willow could say anything.

"Willow... are you - are you asking because -"

"Ilikegirls," Willow said, babbling still. She screwed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, then went on. "I... it's - I, I've... I figured out... weeks ago - more, actually - I just - I..." Willow swallowed and took another breath.

"I like girls," Willow said firmly, this time - and Amy could feel a sense of confidence in her friend, as if saying it aloud to someone else made it feel even more real to the redhead than it already was.

"Okay," Amy squeezed Willow's hand for a moment, "I'm proud of you being able to accept it to yourself, you know. It's not always easy," Amy chuckled, "For a long while, even after I started dreaming about her... like that, I tried to convince myself I was just 'Faith-sexual'."

Willow smiled, laughing a little at Amy's admission, "I - I don't think that's how it works," Willow murmured, and Amy nodded, agreeing with her.

"No, it's not. But you know what they say about denial," Amy shrugged. "And I do appreciate you telling me, trusting me enough to tell me."

"It's not - I mean, it's not like you were going to say I'm going to Hell or anything, because I'm not completely straight," Willow pointed out. "Not that I think anyone else would... okay, Xander might make a slightly crude comment because he's Xander, and then Cordelia would slap him over the head for it, but that's it."

Yeah, sounds about right. Amy couldn't disagree with Willow there. None of the other Scoobies had treated her any differently, since they found out she was dating Faith.

"Part of the reason I came... I..." Willow swallowed. "You and Faith are both bisexual, and... I..." Willow looked away, swallowing. "I'm, I'm not sure I am, Amy."

Amy felt her eyes go wide. "You mean-?"

"I don't know," Willow said helplessly, the knot of confusion Amy had felt earlier coming across the link again. Unease at not having an answer. In all the years Amy had known Willow, the redhead had always tried to have an answer to everything - answers made life easier to understand, easier to control.

"I... I loved Oz. I still love him. I don't - that's never going to change," Willow said, her voice barely above a whisper, eyes watering a little. "But... when I think about - when I think about... kissing Tara. Or more... I... it feels different than when I... thought about doing that with Oz, before I..."

Kissing Tara.

Shit.

Amy bit her tongue, hard enough to make herself wince.

Tara is crushing on Willow and thinks Willow is straight, and not only is Willow not straight, but she's been fantasizing about kissing Tara as well?! Oh, Hecate, if only I'd known this sooner!

"Kissing Tara? Does that mean you... Willow, do you... do you like Tara?" she asked. Willow nodded slowly, and Amy silently cursed her situation yet again.

I could just tell Tara about this as soon as Willow leaves. But Amy knew she couldn't. Willow had come to talk to her about this, and that was a confidence she couldn't just betray, even with the best of intentions. Not any of it - not Willow liking girls, and not Willow liking Tara.

Shit.

"I... when I first started to think I might... like Tara I felt... I felt like I was betraying Oz," Willow admitted. "In addition to the whole 'wait, do I like girls?' part of it, I mean." She laughed for a moment, but it was obviously forced, and she fell silent almost at once, eyes downcast. "Eventually... eventually, I went to Oz's grave. I talked to him. About Tara. I already knew Oz wasn't the sort of person to never want me to move on... to want me to never find anyone ever again, but..." Willow trailed off for a moment before resuming.

"I didn't talk to Oz... but I did talk to him, at his grave." Amy watched a few tears fall from Willow's eyes. She was feeling sadness from the other witch, grief, but that wasn't really all of it. She was just... feeling. Everything. Feeling everything intensely, and it was overwhelming her. Amy felt her own eyes begin to water a bit as Willow's feelings across the link threatened to overwhelm her for a moment, and Amy blinked repeatedly.

"It wasn't really him, and I know that... but... I did feel like... after I talked to him... it felt like Oz... like he gave me permission," Willow said softly. "I still... I still feel bad for... for feeling like this about Tara so soon, but-"

Amy cut Willow off by pulling her in for a tight hug, rubbing her back gently for a moment as she held onto her friend.

"I'm not going to tell you how to feel - I'm not in your position, I've never lost anyone the way you lost Oz. And you knew him a lot better than I did," Amy said quietly, swallowing a bit as she tried to separate her own state of mind from Willow's. After a minute of silence, she pulled back from Willow, who was no longer crying, wiping the last of the wetness away from her eyes.

"Thank you," Willow swallowed, voice thick. She cleared her throat, closing her eyes a moment and taking a deep breath, swallowing again.

"That's... that's what I came to tell you. All of it," Willow said softly. "Especially about Tara... I..." She flushed slightly. "I like her. A lot. I don't - I don't know if I'm ready to... to actually do anything about it, even if -"

"Even if?" Amy gently prodded her again.

"Even if she might like me back, which, I mean..." Willow let out a slightly hollow single laugh, "which isn't a given..."

"Well, I mean, you do have a point there. Just because Tara's gay doesn't necessarily mean she likes you that way," Amy agreed, which was technically true. It was also true that Tara had it bad for Willow, but Amy could no more say that to the redhead at this point than she could tell Tara that Willow liked girls in general and liked her in particular. "And... goddess knows you have every right to wait until you feel ready to... have a relationship again, or make a try for one. But..." She hesitated, trying to find the right words to say it right, without betraying Tara's confidence.

"Okay, let's pretend, for the sake of argument, that Tara does like you the same way, or at least might... you do get that you're going to have to be the one to tell her, right?" Amy couldn't help but laugh a bit again, a sort of... awkward, but freeing one, as the weight of everything they'd just talked about started to relax off her shoulders a little, and as Willow seemed to relax herself. "I mean... Tara's about as shy and private about her feelings as you were back in high school, and maybe then some." It actually was interesting, how much like past Willow present Tara was, in that sense.

"Well, I..." Willow flushed, and Amy felt a small sense of embarrassment from her. "I didn't think about that," she admitted.

"You've had a lot to work through, so it's not surprising," Amy pointed out soothingly, "But... it is probably the case. Plus - I mean, Tara still has every reason to assume you're completely straight, unless - you've said something to her?"

"No!" Willow's face flushed a deep red hue. "I haven't - I mean... I didn't want her to think I was... coming onto her, assuming she had to like me just because she was gay or anything!" She looked away and took a deep breath. "But... you're right. If... when I feel ready..."

You'll tell Tara you've developed feelings for her. Amy felt another touch of anxiety and nervousness from the redhead, but it was a lot less messy than Willow had felt when she'd first arrived. Okay, good. Just don't leave it too late, Willow, or assume that Tara couldn't possibly find someone else in the meantime...

"Well, that's for the future," Willow said after a long moment, taking one last deep breath. "I... you're not busy? Or have plans for later? I... I'd like to do something... distracting? Watch a movie or something? You mentioned brownies?"

Amy nodded, smiling, "I did. And yeah, I'm not busy right now. I don't have any plans until after sunset. Gonna patrol with Faith and then go back to her place," Her smile transformed to a smirk at the way Willow flushed a little again at the implications. "But yeah, we can watch a movie. Go ahead and pick one, I'll go get the brownies." She gave Willow another quick hug then got up, walking into the kitchen.

Willow will - and should - take as much time as she needs, but still...

Amy hoped it didn't take her friend too long to feel ready to admit her feelings to Tara.