Disclaimer: I own nothing…all belongs to Joss Whedon, etc.
Chapter 3
'I've got to stop looking at her, Anya's starting to notice,' Xander thought to himself, amazed at the sight of Willow who was leaning back against the counter in one of her new outfits. She was talking to Buffy and she looked happier than he'd seen her look in a long time. Unfortunately all the new clothes she now wore were making him notice her in ways he never had before, not even when they had that…thing…in high school. Today she was probably wearing the most daring outfit he'd ever seen her in. She had on a pair of black leather shorts that zipped up the front, hugged her hips, and were so tight they molded to her body. Her entire stomach was exposed because she had on a blood red tube top and when she moved light glinted off the silver ring that now adorned her bellybutton. A thin silver chain wrapped around her stomach linked through the ring. She was also getting a nice light tan. Buffy had mentioned that Willow was going to a tanning salon. Blonde highlights weaved through her hair which was cut into a short bob that only reached her earlobes. The Willow that had been his best friend for so long was completely obliterated.
The bigger change, which he didn't like so much, was in her attitude. She was more outgoing and laughed a lot more than she used to. She refused to be relegated to the role of Research Girl anymore. She would help, but only if everyone pitched in and didn't leave it to her and Giles to do it. She never showed up for nighttime Scooby meetings…ever. She even insisted that Buffy begin training her to defend herself. She made jokes and comments that never would have escaped her lips before the change. Whatever was responsible for this new person, he didn't like it. Yet everyone else actually seemed to like her better. He just wanted the old Willow back.
"So Xan Man," Willow said. "What's on the agenda for today? Why'd Giles call this impromtu Scooby meeting? I have plans in about forty-five minutes," she said, glancing outside at the ever-fading evening sun.
"Where do you go every night?" he demanded. "None of ever see you anymore. You never come to the Bronze or go patrolling with us. What do you do that takes all night?" He paused to take a breath. "You're not doing drugs are you?
"No! God Xander!" Willow cried, horrified at the thought.
"Well the only other explanation that I can come up with is that you're dating a vamp," he said, not noticing the anxious looks Buffy and Willow cast at each other. Anya wasn't blind though and caught them. She smirked at the thought of Little Miss Innocent hooking up with a vampire. She was going to speak up, but Xander kept going. "But that's impossible. I know you'd never…not after what happened with Buffy and…" he trailed off when he received a scathing look from Buffy. "Anyway, I know that you'd never date a vampire, but come on Wills, you're never around anymore."
Willow sighed. For weeks he'd been saying the same thing. 'We never see you anymore Willow?' or 'Where did you go last night?' and now it was 'You're not doing drugs are you?'. It was getting old. "Xander, what bothers you more, my new look or the fact that I might have a life outside of you and these meetings?" she snapped. Her anger was short lived though, when Anya started clapping.
Xander looked at her, horrified. "Why are you clapping?"
"Because Willow stood up for herself and I'm all for women sticking up for themselves. I was the vengance demon of scorned women for over a thousand years Xander. Women need to be more forceful and aggressive in situations where men think they should remain shy and meek." She smiled at Willow. "You go, girl."
Willow gave Anya a weird look and small smile. "Thanks, Anya."
"No problem. I'm always happy to support a woman standing up for who she is."
"Anyways," Willow said, trying to get the conversation back on track, "it's none of your business what I do with my time. If I choose to spend it with you, that's great. You're my best friend, but it doesn't give you the right to run interference in my life or judge how I live it. If I want to go out and choose not to tell you what I'm doing, that's my decision."
From the doorway to the training room, Giles watched the scene in silence. Willow was changing and much of it was for the better. He was however concerned that her new ways would eventually result in tearing the group apart. He knew Anya would side with Willow if it came down to it. She still thought like a vengance demon and so would automatically be inclined to feel more loyalty to the fairer sex. Buffy would also side with Willow, having already accepted this new side of her. It looked as if it came down to Xander or Willow, Xander might find himself out in the cold. He noticed that the discussion was becoming heated and decided to intervene before anyone got hurt.
He stepped into the room and began to speak. "I must say that I do agree with Willow on this. What she does with her time is her business. We do not have the right to interfere unless we believe she is doing something that is dangerous to herself or others. Now may we start this meeting. I would very much like to go home for the night and as you can see it is already quite late."
Willow turned to look outside. Bollocks! The sun had set. She looked at the clock and saw that she only had twenty minutes until she was supposed to meet Spike.
Buffy nudged Willow glancing around the room. "Tell them," she hissed. "They're all here. It's the perfect opportunity."
Giles sat down at the table. "Shall we get started?"
Willow hesitated then spoke up. "Can I say something first?"
"Of course, Willow. What is it?"
"Well, since we were discussing my choices and recent absence from most things Scooby, and since all of you are here, I thought it would be the perfect time to tell you what I've been doing with my time."
"Finally," Xander said sarcastically.
She glared at him before continuing, taking comfort in the fact that Buffy was by her side supporting her. "I've been seeing someone."
"Good for you! Are you having lots of orgasms?" Anya said.
"Congratulations," Giles mumbled unsure of how to respond.
Xander just glared at her.
"That's not all. He's…well…he's…" she stammered, trying to spit it out.
"Oh just say it Willow," Anya snapped.
Willow flushed slightly. "He's a vampire." She watched at Giles turned pale while Xander turned beet red. "And not just any vampire. It's Spike."
Xander shot out of his seat, and roared, "What?!" causing Willow to step back from the anger upon his face. Giles took off his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose, quickly coming to the realization that nothing would be accomplished during this meeting. Willow could practically hear the thought 'Why Me?' running through his head over and over.
Buffy jumped in. "Sit down Xander!" she ordered, surprised that he actually followed the command. He glared at her sullenly, but didn't speak.
"How long Willow?" Giles asked.
"Six weeks."
"And how long have you known, Buffy?"
"Four weeks," she said meekly.
"He hasn't tried to hurt you, Willow?"
'Only in the most wonderful ways,' she thought, before saying, "No."
"And he hasn't tried to come after Buffy, obviously, seeing as she is still standing right in front of us. Is he feeding off humans? I can't see either of you allowing that."
"He's not feeding. I told him that I would dust him if he did," Buffy replied.
Giles sighed. "Seeing as how he has not threatened any of us so far and has managed to keep out of trouble, I see no harm in letting the matter drop. It is none of our concern who Willow dates as long as he is not a threat." He looked at Willow. "I would, however, like to speak to him in private and the both of you together as well. I'll leave it to you to make the arrangements."
Willow nodded, glad that Giles had remained so calm. It was Xander she really had to worry about.
"Now that Giles has finished giving his consent," Xander snapped, angry that Giles wasn't overly upset, "I have some questions of my own. How long have you been screwing the undead?"
Willow's temper flared up. It was time to show them just how much she changed. No more Miss Innocent. She opened her mouth and let him have it. "It's none of your business really. But if you're that interested in my sex life, I've been having the most wonderful orgasms imaginable for four weeks. There's nothing like his cool hands touching me everywhere or the feeling of his muscular chest pinning me to the mattress as we both come down from heaven." She ran her hands down her sides and licked her lips. "He knows how to do things to me that I never could have imagined. I've gotta tell ya, Xan Man, there's nothing better than a man with experience. He makes me feel things that you never did. And Oz never came close to making me feel like I'm on a three day high. He's like an electric current. Every time he touches me I light up. He's the most amazing lover, but just kissing him is enough to get me off." She smirked when she saw that Anya was practically salivating. She was kind of sorry to put Giles through that but the end result was to give as good as she got to Xander.
"Thank you Willow, for that detailed insight to your…romantic life," Giles said, polishing his glasses again.
"What the hell has he done to you, Willow? You wouldn't be acting like this if it wasn't for him!"
"I hate to break it to you Xander, but he hasn't done anything to me except treat me well…and give me plenty of orgasms," she said, smiling at Anya, who was still in drool mode. "I met him after I started dressing like this. I wasn't having any fun. All of you were all too eager to relegate me to the role of Research Girl or Little Miss Innocent. I'm not either of those people! You and Buffy ignored me for weeks, too busy with Riley and Anya to notice I was upset about Oz leaving or that I was bored and depressed. I was actually contemplating transferring to a different school away from Sunnydale just to get a life. You should thank your lucky stars I met him because he's the only reason I stayed in this town. Do you think I really planned to spend my life fighting the good fight? I want to travel and see the world. But there are demons to slay and apocalypses to avert. I don't regret that I get to help Buffy because it's a good cause and I like knowing that I help protect the world from evil, even if no one else knows. But I do get a life Xander. If Buffy can have one while being the Chosen One then I can damn well have one as a Scooby!"
"Would you listen to yourself? He has totally destroyed my best friend!"
"He didn't destroy me Xander. I destroyed your perception of me. I destroyed the mold that you were all to ready to shove me into. If you can't handle that it's not my problem. You can't stop me from seeing him and believe me you don't want to try." Her eyes seemed to light with an inner fire, darkening to an emerald green, and they could see a faint glow surround her body. Giles just stared at her, Buffy and Anya mimicking his look of stunned awe. "I will not let you ruin this for me. You don't want to cross me Xander. And if you try to hurt him I will come after you." She stopped and slowly the light around her faded and her eyes lightened back to their normal shade of green.
"Willow?" Giles asked.
"I've been training."
"I can see that. With who?"
"Morrigan Adaire."
"The Morrigan Adaire?"
"Yes."
"Oh my."
"Don't worry, Giles. She's only been teaching me for a few weeks."
"Yes, well she's obviously very good and you've learned quite a lot of control in a short time. She's one of the most powerful witches on the west coast. I wasn't aware she was even in Sunnydale. Do you think…Would it be possible…" he began, but Willow cut him off.
"I'll arrange a meeting."
"Thank you, that would be quite lovely."
"Hello to the weirdness! Did everyone go completely nuts? Willow just threatened me! And she was GLOWING!"
Giles had had enough. "Xander! Do shut your gob and sit down before you lose your best friend!"
"Don't bother Giles," Willow said sadly. "He already has. I've got to go. I'm running late."
"Going to screw your murdering lover?" Xander snapped.
Willow didn't say anything, just looked at him and shook her head sadly.
Buffy reached over and touched her arm, trying to comfort her but knew it wouldn't do much. "I'll come over tomorrow morning. We'll ditch classes and have a girls day, okay?" She looked over at Anya, knowing that the ex-vengance demon was left out a lot. "Anya will come too. We'll veg out and eat ice cream and do each others' hair. You can tell us all about Spike. I want details, especially about what he was like before he was turned."
Willow nodded and walked out the door. When the bell clanged behind her Xander stood up. "I can't believe you are all so accepting of this." He turned on Buffy. "Especially you. You're supposed to be the Slayer. So slay him already!"
"And loose my best friend? I don't think so Xander. He hasn't done anything to warrant being dusted. I've been keeping an eye on him. He buys his blood at the butcher like a good little vampire instead of going out and feeding on innocents. And until he does something completely evil I'm not going to hurt Willow. He loves her. She loves him. I've seen it. Deal with it."
"You're her watcher! Order her to dust him."
"You seem to be forgetting that she has never taken orders from me or the Council. Why on earth would she start now?"
"I can't believe you are just going to keep letting her date Spike! This is Spike we're talking about!"
Anya spoke up. "Stop it, Xander! She's happy. Stop acting like a jealous idiot and accept it. I respect her more for what she did here today that I have since I met her. She's strong and capable and stood up to people she knew would be upset about who she was in love with. But she never faltered once. Be proud that she's not meek little Willow. Be happy that she found out who she is and what she wants."
Buffy and Giles looked at Anya like they'd never seen her before. She actually said a whole little speech without once mentioning orgasms or sex. And it was an amazing speech. Who knew she was so…insightful? Giles gazed at her with a whole new appreciation and she glanced right back at him while Xander was fuming. 'Older men are always the way to go. I just have to get rid of Xander first,' she thought, checking Giles out.
Buffy saw the look that Anya and Giles shared and tried not to burst out laughing. 'Way to go, Giles!' she yelled silently.
"I'm leaving. I can't sit here and do nothing. If you guys won't do something about her and Spike then I will."
"Xander!" Buffy cried, grabbing his arm. "Don't do anything you'll regret. If you do you'll lose Willow forever."
"I'm sorry, Buffy, but I just can't sit here and let her become like him. You saw her tonight! That wasn't Willow. That was a female version of Spike in Willow's body. I'm going to make her come to her senses, even if it takes dusting him to do it."
She let go of his arm. "He'll kill you if you try."
"I'm not going to try. Someone else is." He turned and walked out the door not hearing Buffy shout, "What are you going to do?"
Giles was the first to speak after Xander stormed out. "I highly suggest that you tell Willow of this development tomorrow. And make sure that Spike stays at her house during the day. We can't have him staying at the mansion or warehouse. Xander would look there first."
"I'll make sure." She sighed. "Is it just me or does it feel weird to be talking about protecting Spike from Xander?"
Anya began to giggle at the thought and soon all of them were laughing loudly at the idea.
Spike could tell something was wrong. Willow was seriously late which was unusual. He glanced at his watch for the fifth time in ten minutes. "Where are you?" he mumbled, pacing the sidewalk in front of her house.
"I'm right here," she whispered coming up the walk.
Before she could take another step she was pulled into his strong arms. His mouth crushed hers, stealing her breath and causing her heart to pound. She could feel the desperation and worry in his kiss. Closing her eyes, she lost herself in him, feeling the soft brush of his leather pants against her legs and the smell of cigarette smoke lingering around him. She pressed herself against him, moving her hips in small circles against him letting him know that she wanted him.
He pulled away from her and gazed down into her face, his blue eyes dark as cobalt. "Willow?" he asked, knowing something was wrong. He could feel the tension in the muscles of her back as he stroked it lightly.
"I told the rest of them tonight."
Seven little words and yet they made such a huge impact. He stiffened and pulled away, afraid that they had changed her mind even after that kiss. "And?"
"It didn't go exactly like I hoped."
He didn't say anything, just waited for her to continue. He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, removing one and lighting up, hands shaking slightly.
"Buffy stood by my side supporting me. Anya took it well, but that doesn't count. She used to be a vengence demon so of course it didn't bother her. Giles was way calm. He reacted well, but he does want to speak to you in private and then both of us together. I'm sure that it'll be fine though."
"And the whelp?" he asked, sitting down on the top step of the porch.
"Xander didn't react well. He asked me how long I'd been screwing the undead." Spike growled low in his throat, every impulse inside him demanding that he drain the boy. "Stop growling. I stood up for myself just fine, in a way that had Anya drooling, Giles cleaning his glasses, and Xander steaming at the ears."
Spike could practically read her mind and had a pretty good idea of what she said. He smiled. "You didn't?"
"Oh, I did.
He jumped up and stomped out the cigarette before grabbing her up in his arms and swinging her around. "Did I ever tell you that you're a bold little chit?"
"No."
He kissed her softly, his eyes sparkling. "Did I ever tell you that I love you?" Willow's breath caught in her throat. He set her on the ground. "I do love you, you know. No matter what that boy or anyone else says." He looked down, fumbling slightly to get something out of the pocket of his pants. When he pulled out a small black box, Willow couldn't help but gasp. "Don't get too bloody excited." He opened the box. Inside sat a small white gold ring, inlaid with emeralds all the way around. "It's just something for you to tell everyone that you're mine." He took it out and showed her the inscription on the inside. It said, 'My Soul. W.N.J.'. Slowly he took her left hand and slid it on the appropriate finger. "I thought putting My Love on it would be too common. And you are anything but common, luv. You're precious and unique. You're my soul, Red. You make me complete." He laughed slightly. "Bloody hell, you seem to be the only one who can reduce me to sounding like William Nickelby. I hate that you know."
"I love it. I love you, every part of you. Whether you sound like William or Spike doesn't matter. You're both. You're the man I love." She threw her arms around his neck. "Let me show you how much I love you," she whispered in his ear. He growled softly before grabbing her around the waist and tossing her over his shoulder.
"Spiiikkkeeee!" she screeched, giggling at the same time.
He just smiled and carried her inside the house where they proceeded to spend the night wrapped in a cocoon of adoration and love. And for those short nighttime hours they were able to forget the trouble that lay in wait for them in the outside world.