3
Willow and Buffy went backstage to collect their men that they had won in the bidding. Jonathan walked shyly up to Buffy and he looked very scared. Xander immediately went up to Willow and gave her a great big hug.
"Willow! My hero!" He looked at her and smiled. "You have just saved me from a terrible fate."
"Uh, I-I did?"
"Yes! Did you see some of them women?" He shuddered. "Yeech! I would prefer the Preying Mantis She-Bitch to most of them." He clapped his hands together. "We should celebrate! Say 'goodnight, Jonathan' and let's all go to the Bronze!"
Willow nodded and smiled at him. "Well...th-that sounds like a--"
Buffy cleared her throat and looked at Willow sternly. She made a fist as if to tell her to be tough.
Willow danced nervously on her feet and tried to look mean. "Well...uh, no. No, Mr. Xander, 'cause I won you...and you, mister, now belong to me. So-so you'd better get used to that idea if you know what's good for you."
Buffy gave her a thumbs up. Jonathan watched in fascination.
Xander looked at Willow as if she had lost her mind. "Will...what's gotten into you? It's just a bidding thing. It...it doesn't mean anything."
Willow put her finger in his face. "Oh...oh, that's what you think, mister! Well...well, uh, you just let me tell you something. You just cost me $358.00, and you cost Buffy two dollars. So...you're not getting off that easy! I paid for you for the whole weekend and you belong to me..." She shrugged. "Er, uh, at least until Monday."
"Have you gotten all of that, Xander?" Buffy asked.
Xander was looking at Willow. And, God, help him, but those thoughts were returning. He found that he was liking the way she was standing there with her hands on her hips, and that look in her eyes.
Jonathan liked it, too.
Xander cleared his throat. "Okay...Will. What are you telling me? What do you want me to do?"
Willow glanced at Buffy.
Buffy waved her to go on. She made a fist again.
Willow looked at Xander. "Well...for starters...you will follow me to my house."
"Can't I walk beside you?" He grinned.
"Uh, no. You are only my s-servant, and you will follow me home." She tried to look stern. "N-now, er, do as I say!"
"Then what?"
Willow froze. She had no idea about a then what. "Uh...er..."
"Why don't you wait until you get there to find out?" Buffy asked helpfully. She turned to Jonathan. "And, you!"
Jonathan jumped.
"Come with me."
"Y-y-y-yes, ma'am!" he said meekly.
Buffy and Jonathan began to walk away. "Do you know how to use a rake?"
Jonathan nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I do."
"Are you good?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Jonathan?"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"Call me ma'am again and you'll be eating that rake."
There was a pause. "O-okay...Buffy."
When they were out of sight, Willow found herself alone with Xander. She turned to look at him and she found that he was watching her very closely. She had never seen him look at her like that before. There was curiosity, there was wonder. And there was something else. She stepped closer as if to look deeper.
"What now?" he asked.
She straightened. "J-just follow me like I told you." She turned and began to walk away. As she did, she tried not to look too panicky. She was so glad he was walking behind her and not beside her because then he would have been able to look at her face.
She was silently asking herself what in the world was she doing? But she kept walking. She heard Xander following behind and she was amazed that he hadn't said anything more. It was quiet as they walked.
Until he said, "Willow..."
She didn't say anything. She was still trying to think about what she was going to do. She had no ideas. She thought for certain that he would say enough was enough and then he would go to the Bronze.
"Willow?"
He must think I'm delirious! she thought to herself. Ohmigod, what am I doing? He isn't going to take me seriously. He'll never see me as something other than his friend. Or a guy friend!
"Willow!"
He had interrupted her thoughts. Because of her nerves, she spun around and pointed at him. "Did I give you permission to talk, mister?"
He looked at her. A grin was tugging at his face but he was trying to keep it back. "Will...I just wanted to ask you why we were passing your house?"
She looked behind him. Her house was a few houses back. They had passed it. She collected her composure. "Well...if I want to walk past my house...a-and then walk back, that's my business. You only have to follow."
He waited.
She looked at him. Then she abruptly walked past him and headed for her home. Xander followed and he realized that he was enjoying watching Willow walking along ahead of him. That girl really could sway. He shook his head and wondered for the first time in his life...Why was I so blind?
Willow fumbled with her keys at the door and she was having a very difficult time with it.
Xander stepped up and held out his hand. "Let me get that."
"I-I can get--" she began, but then she tripped over her words. Her breath was short and she really did feel tingly all over.
Xander spoke softly. "I only mean to say that as your servant, I want to please you by opening the door for you."
That just about floored Willow. She dropped the keys into his hand. "Uhm...okay. Sure."
He smiled and he opened the door. Willow went in before him and he followed. Then he closed the door. He watched Willow. She had her back to him and she was wringing her hands together nervously.
"Willow..."
She held up a hand. "Hush. I-I'm thinking." Then this crazy idea hit her. "Sit down on the couch...and-and wait for me."
Xander did as he was told. Willow ran into her room. A few minutes later, she came back out with her right hand behind her back.
"C-come over here, Xander." She stood in the doorway of the living room.
Curious and beguiled, Xander approached her. He stood in front of her as he looked at her face. "What is it you want me to do?"
"T-turn around."
"You want me to turn around?"
She tried her tough face look. "Just do it!"
Xander slowly turned around. He had never seen this side of Willow before and he was really starting to like it. "Okay. I'm turned around."
There was a pause. Willow took a deep breath. "P-put your hands behind your back."
Xander hesitated. But then he did as she asked.
Before Willow decided that she would back out and run for the hills, she slipped the handcuffs onto his wrists. Xander was stunned by this. He hadn't expected Willow to do such a thing. He turned around to look at her in wonder.
"Willow? Did you just...?" He stopped. Then he chuckled. "Oh, God! You little vixen! You did! You put me in handcuffs. You're a bad girl, Willow."
"Hush!" she exclaimed. Still trying to look tough, she guided him by the arm to the living room closet and then she opened the door. "Get in there!" she ordered.
Xander looked at her. "You're putting me in the closet?"
It was the only thing she could think of to do. She hadn't a clue as to what to do with him. She needed help. "Get in there!" she ordered again. "I-I have to do something and I don't want you trying to get away."
Xander got into the closet and with Willow to guide him, he sat down onto the floor. He looked up at her.
Willow hesitated. She was scared. "A-are you okay, Xander?"
Xander looked into her eyes. "Yes. I am."
She paused for a long time as she looked at his face. "I-if you want to...to go to the Bronze...I mean, this weekend--"
"This weekend belongs to you, Will. We'll go to the Bronze next weekend." He smiled and shrugged. "You did purchase me, so you might as well put me to work. Of course, I didn't think work and handcuffs fell into the same category, but what do I know?"
"Er, are they too tight?" she whispered.
He shook his head. "No." He paused. "Will...I have to tell you...You've really got me going. Buffy's told me that there's more to you than what's on the surface. I'm beginning to see that she was right." He hesitated. "I'd, uhm...I'd like to see more of what you have."
Willow looked at him. Then she put on her tough face. "Oh, would you now? Well...y-you just sit in here for awhile. And while you're in here, I want you to think of me. And only me. Think of nothing else. Do you understand?"
"I do." He smiled.
She then looked concerned. "Oh, but, uh...if the cuffs do start to pinch or-or hurt, just call me. Okay?"
He nodded.
She closed the door. Then she opened it and turned the closet light on so it wouldn't be dark for him. Then she closed it again. After a short pause, she opened it again and looked in as if she couldn't believe he was in there. She closed the door a final time.
Xander shook his head in wonder. Was this the Willow Rosenberg he had known all his life? He smiled. He really did like this Willow.
Willow ran into the bathroom and looked at her self in the mirror. "Ohmigod! Ohmigod!" She blinked. "Ohmigod!" She put her face in her hands. "What am I going to do? What am I going to do?" She looked at her reflection. "Call Buffy! I-I gotta call Buffy!"
She ran into her room and picked up the phone. She dialed, and then she waited until the phone was answered from the other end.
"H-hello...Buffy?"
"Hi, Will. Wha'sup?"
"Help."
There was a pause. "You okay, Will?"
Willow didn't know what to say, so she repeated herself twice more. "H- help, help!"
"Willow, is Xander there?"
"Uh, yes."
"What is he doing?"
"Uh, he's, uhm, kinda tied up right now. W-with steel wrists thingies."
"Huh?"
"I-I handcuffed him, Buffy!"
There was a pause. "Huh?"
"I-I handcuffed him a-and I put him in the closet."
There was another pause. "I think I've already said this, but...huh?" There was a crash. Buffy sounded as if she were talking to someone who was with her. "Jonathan, did you just knock down a lamp or something?"
There was a muffled response in the background.
"I didn't tell you to vacuum the couch! I told you to take out the trash!...What?...No, Jonathan, don't think about what I tell you to do. Just do it."
Willow waited. Then she said, "Buffy?"
"I'm here, Will. You really have Xander handcuffed and in your closet?"
"Y-yeah, I do. Buffy, what's wrong with me?"
"Nothing, Willow. Is Xander complaining?"
"Well, uh, no."
"Then keep doing what you're doing. Still...I'd like to know where you got those cuffs, girlfriend. Are you keeping secrets from me?"
Willow blushed. "No, Buffy. The cuffs came with that outfit I bought on Halloween. It also came with a riding crop."
"A what?"
"A-a spanking stick."
There was a pause.
"Buffy?"
Buffy burst out laughing. "Ohmigod! Ohmigod!! You've really got it bad!" She laughed some more. "Are-are-are you going to spank Xander, Will?"
"No, Buffy. I-I could never hurt Xander!"
Buffy managed to stop laughing. "Okay, Willow. Listen up, 'cause this is what you're going to do. You're going to dig out that outfit and you're going to put it on."
"Buffy, th-that was for Halloween."
"Willow. Show Xander you're serious about taking on a relationship with him. Show him that you're not just one of his friends, and that you have what it takes to be his girl friend." She paused. "You can do this, Will."
Willow paused. "Are-are you sure?"
"Yes...Now put on the outfit. Fix up your hair and keep that crop with you."
"But I don't want to hit him, Buffy. I-I can't."
"You don't have to hit him. The crop is just a prop." She giggled. "Hey, that's a good one. 'The crop is just a prop.' Anyway, Xander will see you in a whole new light, and I guarantee you, you'll have him eating out of the palms of your hands."
"Y-you think?"
"Trust me. I know."
"O-okay."
"Call me if you need me."
"I-I will."
Before she hung up, she heard Buffy say, "Where the hell did that cat come from, Jonathan? We don't own a cat!"
Willow dug out the riding crop and the outfit from her closet. Then she went to the closet in the living room and put her ear to the door. "Xander...are you okay in there?"
"Never better," came the response. "What'cha doing?"
"Uhm, give me a few minutes more. Okay?"
There was a pause. "Do you still want me to think about you?"
Willow looked stern, even though she knew he couldn't see her expression through the door. "You'd better be thinking about me, mister, 'cause if you're not, I'm gonna give you a spanking!" Her eyes widened, and she clamped her hand over her mouth in total shock.
Did I just say that? she asked herself. Ohmigod, I did!
There was a pause. "Uhh..." came Xander's voice. "I'm thinking about you, Will. Believe me...I am not able to get these thoughts of you out of my mind."
"Uhm, okay. I-I'll be right back."
She hurried back into her room and changed into her outfit. She went into the bathroom, and fixed up her hair. She was wearing the Halloween outfit and as she held the crop in her hands, she looked at herself in the mirror.
"Ohmigod," she said.
She took a deep breath. "Here goes."
She walked to the living room, went to the closet door and she opened the door.
Xander looked up. "Ohmigod."
She held the crop in her hands and she looked at him sternly. "Have you been thinking about me, mister?"
He swallowed hard. "Dear God in heaven, yes, I have." He looked at the crop. Then he looked at her legs, her belly button, and her...Wow. She really did have some of those, he thought, and swallowed again. He looked at her face. God, she's beautiful. Her hair was done up and she was looking at him with a look that told him he was hers.
"Were they good thoughts? Or bad thoughts?"
Xander hesitated. "Uhm, which would you prefer?"
"An honest answer."
"Oh..." He laughed nervously. He never thought he would laugh like that before Willow. It was the kind of laugh reserved for those women who didn't want to date him. Now he felt like he wanted to do nothing but please Willow, to make her want to be with him. "Well...they were very good thoughts about you."
She looked at him.
"But...in a bad way."
She frowned.
"Which was really in a good bad way, but not so bad."
"I want to know what you were thinking."
"Willow, I--"
She pointed the crop at him. "No. Not Willow."
He looked at her.
"You will call me Mistress Red."
Xander looked at her. "Mistress Red."
"Yes." I can't believe this is happening, she thought to herself. She was loosening up and having fun with this. Looking at Xander, she could see that he was, too. "Now...tell me what you were thinking about me."
Xander looked up at her. "Well...Mistress Red...the truth is...I was thinking of you and me."
"What about you and me?"
"I saw you taking my handcuffs off."
She looked at him. "Oh...r-really?"
He nodded.
"Oh...w-what else?"
"I saw myself taking you into my arms and kissing you."
She froze. "Y-you did?"
He smiled. "I did."
Willow knelt down beside him and looked into his eyes. She placed the crop on the floor beside them. "If I-I uncuffed you, would you want to kiss me?"
He settled back and gazed at her. "I've seen a side of you I've never seen before, Will, and it makes me want to know you more than I already do. To coin a phrase from eons ago...Willow, would you date me?"
Willow brushed a tear from her eye. "I-I've never been asked on a date before."
"You've never handcuffed a guy and put him in a closet before either." He looked at her. "Have you?"
"I-I don't know what came over me."
"You came over you. There's a lot you can do, and I can't wait to see what else you have."
She took his face in her hands and kissed him. As they kissed, Xander put his hands around her and held her. When Willow tilted her head back, she realized that his hands were around her.
She gasped in surprise. "How did you--?"
He grinned. "You dropped the key."
She laughed. Xander laughed with her. They both shared a good laugh in the closet and then their lips pressed each other's again.
Xander and Willow spent the whole weekend together. Not as friends. But as boyfriend and girlfriend. And Willow wanted to thank Principal Snyder for making her dream come true by sponsoring the bidding.
She had bid for Xander.
And she had won his heart.
xwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwx
END
Willow and Buffy went backstage to collect their men that they had won in the bidding. Jonathan walked shyly up to Buffy and he looked very scared. Xander immediately went up to Willow and gave her a great big hug.
"Willow! My hero!" He looked at her and smiled. "You have just saved me from a terrible fate."
"Uh, I-I did?"
"Yes! Did you see some of them women?" He shuddered. "Yeech! I would prefer the Preying Mantis She-Bitch to most of them." He clapped his hands together. "We should celebrate! Say 'goodnight, Jonathan' and let's all go to the Bronze!"
Willow nodded and smiled at him. "Well...th-that sounds like a--"
Buffy cleared her throat and looked at Willow sternly. She made a fist as if to tell her to be tough.
Willow danced nervously on her feet and tried to look mean. "Well...uh, no. No, Mr. Xander, 'cause I won you...and you, mister, now belong to me. So-so you'd better get used to that idea if you know what's good for you."
Buffy gave her a thumbs up. Jonathan watched in fascination.
Xander looked at Willow as if she had lost her mind. "Will...what's gotten into you? It's just a bidding thing. It...it doesn't mean anything."
Willow put her finger in his face. "Oh...oh, that's what you think, mister! Well...well, uh, you just let me tell you something. You just cost me $358.00, and you cost Buffy two dollars. So...you're not getting off that easy! I paid for you for the whole weekend and you belong to me..." She shrugged. "Er, uh, at least until Monday."
"Have you gotten all of that, Xander?" Buffy asked.
Xander was looking at Willow. And, God, help him, but those thoughts were returning. He found that he was liking the way she was standing there with her hands on her hips, and that look in her eyes.
Jonathan liked it, too.
Xander cleared his throat. "Okay...Will. What are you telling me? What do you want me to do?"
Willow glanced at Buffy.
Buffy waved her to go on. She made a fist again.
Willow looked at Xander. "Well...for starters...you will follow me to my house."
"Can't I walk beside you?" He grinned.
"Uh, no. You are only my s-servant, and you will follow me home." She tried to look stern. "N-now, er, do as I say!"
"Then what?"
Willow froze. She had no idea about a then what. "Uh...er..."
"Why don't you wait until you get there to find out?" Buffy asked helpfully. She turned to Jonathan. "And, you!"
Jonathan jumped.
"Come with me."
"Y-y-y-yes, ma'am!" he said meekly.
Buffy and Jonathan began to walk away. "Do you know how to use a rake?"
Jonathan nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I do."
"Are you good?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Jonathan?"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"Call me ma'am again and you'll be eating that rake."
There was a pause. "O-okay...Buffy."
When they were out of sight, Willow found herself alone with Xander. She turned to look at him and she found that he was watching her very closely. She had never seen him look at her like that before. There was curiosity, there was wonder. And there was something else. She stepped closer as if to look deeper.
"What now?" he asked.
She straightened. "J-just follow me like I told you." She turned and began to walk away. As she did, she tried not to look too panicky. She was so glad he was walking behind her and not beside her because then he would have been able to look at her face.
She was silently asking herself what in the world was she doing? But she kept walking. She heard Xander following behind and she was amazed that he hadn't said anything more. It was quiet as they walked.
Until he said, "Willow..."
She didn't say anything. She was still trying to think about what she was going to do. She had no ideas. She thought for certain that he would say enough was enough and then he would go to the Bronze.
"Willow?"
He must think I'm delirious! she thought to herself. Ohmigod, what am I doing? He isn't going to take me seriously. He'll never see me as something other than his friend. Or a guy friend!
"Willow!"
He had interrupted her thoughts. Because of her nerves, she spun around and pointed at him. "Did I give you permission to talk, mister?"
He looked at her. A grin was tugging at his face but he was trying to keep it back. "Will...I just wanted to ask you why we were passing your house?"
She looked behind him. Her house was a few houses back. They had passed it. She collected her composure. "Well...if I want to walk past my house...a-and then walk back, that's my business. You only have to follow."
He waited.
She looked at him. Then she abruptly walked past him and headed for her home. Xander followed and he realized that he was enjoying watching Willow walking along ahead of him. That girl really could sway. He shook his head and wondered for the first time in his life...Why was I so blind?
Willow fumbled with her keys at the door and she was having a very difficult time with it.
Xander stepped up and held out his hand. "Let me get that."
"I-I can get--" she began, but then she tripped over her words. Her breath was short and she really did feel tingly all over.
Xander spoke softly. "I only mean to say that as your servant, I want to please you by opening the door for you."
That just about floored Willow. She dropped the keys into his hand. "Uhm...okay. Sure."
He smiled and he opened the door. Willow went in before him and he followed. Then he closed the door. He watched Willow. She had her back to him and she was wringing her hands together nervously.
"Willow..."
She held up a hand. "Hush. I-I'm thinking." Then this crazy idea hit her. "Sit down on the couch...and-and wait for me."
Xander did as he was told. Willow ran into her room. A few minutes later, she came back out with her right hand behind her back.
"C-come over here, Xander." She stood in the doorway of the living room.
Curious and beguiled, Xander approached her. He stood in front of her as he looked at her face. "What is it you want me to do?"
"T-turn around."
"You want me to turn around?"
She tried her tough face look. "Just do it!"
Xander slowly turned around. He had never seen this side of Willow before and he was really starting to like it. "Okay. I'm turned around."
There was a pause. Willow took a deep breath. "P-put your hands behind your back."
Xander hesitated. But then he did as she asked.
Before Willow decided that she would back out and run for the hills, she slipped the handcuffs onto his wrists. Xander was stunned by this. He hadn't expected Willow to do such a thing. He turned around to look at her in wonder.
"Willow? Did you just...?" He stopped. Then he chuckled. "Oh, God! You little vixen! You did! You put me in handcuffs. You're a bad girl, Willow."
"Hush!" she exclaimed. Still trying to look tough, she guided him by the arm to the living room closet and then she opened the door. "Get in there!" she ordered.
Xander looked at her. "You're putting me in the closet?"
It was the only thing she could think of to do. She hadn't a clue as to what to do with him. She needed help. "Get in there!" she ordered again. "I-I have to do something and I don't want you trying to get away."
Xander got into the closet and with Willow to guide him, he sat down onto the floor. He looked up at her.
Willow hesitated. She was scared. "A-are you okay, Xander?"
Xander looked into her eyes. "Yes. I am."
She paused for a long time as she looked at his face. "I-if you want to...to go to the Bronze...I mean, this weekend--"
"This weekend belongs to you, Will. We'll go to the Bronze next weekend." He smiled and shrugged. "You did purchase me, so you might as well put me to work. Of course, I didn't think work and handcuffs fell into the same category, but what do I know?"
"Er, are they too tight?" she whispered.
He shook his head. "No." He paused. "Will...I have to tell you...You've really got me going. Buffy's told me that there's more to you than what's on the surface. I'm beginning to see that she was right." He hesitated. "I'd, uhm...I'd like to see more of what you have."
Willow looked at him. Then she put on her tough face. "Oh, would you now? Well...y-you just sit in here for awhile. And while you're in here, I want you to think of me. And only me. Think of nothing else. Do you understand?"
"I do." He smiled.
She then looked concerned. "Oh, but, uh...if the cuffs do start to pinch or-or hurt, just call me. Okay?"
He nodded.
She closed the door. Then she opened it and turned the closet light on so it wouldn't be dark for him. Then she closed it again. After a short pause, she opened it again and looked in as if she couldn't believe he was in there. She closed the door a final time.
Xander shook his head in wonder. Was this the Willow Rosenberg he had known all his life? He smiled. He really did like this Willow.
Willow ran into the bathroom and looked at her self in the mirror. "Ohmigod! Ohmigod!" She blinked. "Ohmigod!" She put her face in her hands. "What am I going to do? What am I going to do?" She looked at her reflection. "Call Buffy! I-I gotta call Buffy!"
She ran into her room and picked up the phone. She dialed, and then she waited until the phone was answered from the other end.
"H-hello...Buffy?"
"Hi, Will. Wha'sup?"
"Help."
There was a pause. "You okay, Will?"
Willow didn't know what to say, so she repeated herself twice more. "H- help, help!"
"Willow, is Xander there?"
"Uh, yes."
"What is he doing?"
"Uh, he's, uhm, kinda tied up right now. W-with steel wrists thingies."
"Huh?"
"I-I handcuffed him, Buffy!"
There was a pause. "Huh?"
"I-I handcuffed him a-and I put him in the closet."
There was another pause. "I think I've already said this, but...huh?" There was a crash. Buffy sounded as if she were talking to someone who was with her. "Jonathan, did you just knock down a lamp or something?"
There was a muffled response in the background.
"I didn't tell you to vacuum the couch! I told you to take out the trash!...What?...No, Jonathan, don't think about what I tell you to do. Just do it."
Willow waited. Then she said, "Buffy?"
"I'm here, Will. You really have Xander handcuffed and in your closet?"
"Y-yeah, I do. Buffy, what's wrong with me?"
"Nothing, Willow. Is Xander complaining?"
"Well, uh, no."
"Then keep doing what you're doing. Still...I'd like to know where you got those cuffs, girlfriend. Are you keeping secrets from me?"
Willow blushed. "No, Buffy. The cuffs came with that outfit I bought on Halloween. It also came with a riding crop."
"A what?"
"A-a spanking stick."
There was a pause.
"Buffy?"
Buffy burst out laughing. "Ohmigod! Ohmigod!! You've really got it bad!" She laughed some more. "Are-are-are you going to spank Xander, Will?"
"No, Buffy. I-I could never hurt Xander!"
Buffy managed to stop laughing. "Okay, Willow. Listen up, 'cause this is what you're going to do. You're going to dig out that outfit and you're going to put it on."
"Buffy, th-that was for Halloween."
"Willow. Show Xander you're serious about taking on a relationship with him. Show him that you're not just one of his friends, and that you have what it takes to be his girl friend." She paused. "You can do this, Will."
Willow paused. "Are-are you sure?"
"Yes...Now put on the outfit. Fix up your hair and keep that crop with you."
"But I don't want to hit him, Buffy. I-I can't."
"You don't have to hit him. The crop is just a prop." She giggled. "Hey, that's a good one. 'The crop is just a prop.' Anyway, Xander will see you in a whole new light, and I guarantee you, you'll have him eating out of the palms of your hands."
"Y-you think?"
"Trust me. I know."
"O-okay."
"Call me if you need me."
"I-I will."
Before she hung up, she heard Buffy say, "Where the hell did that cat come from, Jonathan? We don't own a cat!"
Willow dug out the riding crop and the outfit from her closet. Then she went to the closet in the living room and put her ear to the door. "Xander...are you okay in there?"
"Never better," came the response. "What'cha doing?"
"Uhm, give me a few minutes more. Okay?"
There was a pause. "Do you still want me to think about you?"
Willow looked stern, even though she knew he couldn't see her expression through the door. "You'd better be thinking about me, mister, 'cause if you're not, I'm gonna give you a spanking!" Her eyes widened, and she clamped her hand over her mouth in total shock.
Did I just say that? she asked herself. Ohmigod, I did!
There was a pause. "Uhh..." came Xander's voice. "I'm thinking about you, Will. Believe me...I am not able to get these thoughts of you out of my mind."
"Uhm, okay. I-I'll be right back."
She hurried back into her room and changed into her outfit. She went into the bathroom, and fixed up her hair. She was wearing the Halloween outfit and as she held the crop in her hands, she looked at herself in the mirror.
"Ohmigod," she said.
She took a deep breath. "Here goes."
She walked to the living room, went to the closet door and she opened the door.
Xander looked up. "Ohmigod."
She held the crop in her hands and she looked at him sternly. "Have you been thinking about me, mister?"
He swallowed hard. "Dear God in heaven, yes, I have." He looked at the crop. Then he looked at her legs, her belly button, and her...Wow. She really did have some of those, he thought, and swallowed again. He looked at her face. God, she's beautiful. Her hair was done up and she was looking at him with a look that told him he was hers.
"Were they good thoughts? Or bad thoughts?"
Xander hesitated. "Uhm, which would you prefer?"
"An honest answer."
"Oh..." He laughed nervously. He never thought he would laugh like that before Willow. It was the kind of laugh reserved for those women who didn't want to date him. Now he felt like he wanted to do nothing but please Willow, to make her want to be with him. "Well...they were very good thoughts about you."
She looked at him.
"But...in a bad way."
She frowned.
"Which was really in a good bad way, but not so bad."
"I want to know what you were thinking."
"Willow, I--"
She pointed the crop at him. "No. Not Willow."
He looked at her.
"You will call me Mistress Red."
Xander looked at her. "Mistress Red."
"Yes." I can't believe this is happening, she thought to herself. She was loosening up and having fun with this. Looking at Xander, she could see that he was, too. "Now...tell me what you were thinking about me."
Xander looked up at her. "Well...Mistress Red...the truth is...I was thinking of you and me."
"What about you and me?"
"I saw you taking my handcuffs off."
She looked at him. "Oh...r-really?"
He nodded.
"Oh...w-what else?"
"I saw myself taking you into my arms and kissing you."
She froze. "Y-you did?"
He smiled. "I did."
Willow knelt down beside him and looked into his eyes. She placed the crop on the floor beside them. "If I-I uncuffed you, would you want to kiss me?"
He settled back and gazed at her. "I've seen a side of you I've never seen before, Will, and it makes me want to know you more than I already do. To coin a phrase from eons ago...Willow, would you date me?"
Willow brushed a tear from her eye. "I-I've never been asked on a date before."
"You've never handcuffed a guy and put him in a closet before either." He looked at her. "Have you?"
"I-I don't know what came over me."
"You came over you. There's a lot you can do, and I can't wait to see what else you have."
She took his face in her hands and kissed him. As they kissed, Xander put his hands around her and held her. When Willow tilted her head back, she realized that his hands were around her.
She gasped in surprise. "How did you--?"
He grinned. "You dropped the key."
She laughed. Xander laughed with her. They both shared a good laugh in the closet and then their lips pressed each other's again.
Xander and Willow spent the whole weekend together. Not as friends. But as boyfriend and girlfriend. And Willow wanted to thank Principal Snyder for making her dream come true by sponsoring the bidding.
She had bid for Xander.
And she had won his heart.
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