Chapter 3: The Valentine's Ball
"Stand still Willow. I'll never be able to get that dress buttoned up if you don't stand still."
Willow sighed and tried to stand still. "I'm sorry," she apologized, "it's just so exiting! I can't believe I'm finally going to meet him tonight! I hope he recognizes me with my mask on. Oh my God, what if he can't find me? What if he doesn't recognize me? Then I still won't know who he is!" She turned around to Buffy. "He will know who I am right? Right?!"
" Of course he will recognize you," Buffy said as she fastened another button. "You're wearing his jewelry. I'm sure he'd recognize that anywhere."
"I really hope you're right. I set my heart on meeting him tonight. If something goes wrong tonight, I don't think I'll ever have the guts to ask for a meeting again" Willow wrung her hands nervously.
"Don't wring your hands! Think of your nailpolish! And don't worry about Mister X. He'll be there and he'll recognize you. There, all done." Buffy took a few steps back to check her work.
"How do I look?" Willow asked as she turned in front of her friend.
"You look perfect. This Juliet-thing was really a very good idea, if I may say so myself."
"I don't know. Don't you think it's a bit too... low cut? Everyone can see my breasts!" Willow noticed as she examined herself in the mirror.
"Let's make a deal. If Giles says 'wow', you won't talk about the dress being too low cut anymore, okay?"
"And if he doesn't?"
"If he doesn't you can wear my dress and I'll wear yours."
"Okay then."
"Let's go downstairs and see what he has to say."
***
"Oh wow. Willow, you look beautiful."
Willow smiled at Giles's compliment, not noticing how Buffy was giving him two thumbs up behind her back.
"Thank you Giles. It's not too... sexy?"
"No, not at all. It's very er..." He was at a loss for words.
"It's very wow," Xander helped him. He had his hand suspiciously close to Anya's mouth. She only nodded and mouthed "wow", then looked to Xander with a 'did I do a good job?' face. He winked and kissed her.
"I was looking for a different word, but yes," Giles nodded. "Well, shall we go?" He held out his arm for Willow.
"Thanks." She took his arm and walked with him to the car. "It's really nice of you to let me get dressed here and bring me to the Ball," she said as she waited while he opened the door for her.
"Ah well, it's no problem. I was very curious to know what Buffy had chosen for you, and I wanted to make sure you wouldn't feel uncomfortable in whatever it was she picked out. and now I'm going to get you safely to school. If you need me to take you back home, just phone and I will come and get you." Giles walked round the car and got behind the wheel.
***
"Do you see anyone who could be Mister X?" Willow said as she followed the other into the Hall." She quickly put on her mask and spied around.
"Nope. But don't worry Wills, I'm sure he'll show up. Give him some time."
"Yeah, the man probably needs time to put on his costume and get his mask and all that," Anya added. "Besides, he probably won't show if we stay too close to you. Too many people scares guys."
"In that case I will take this lovely lady away for a dance," a voice behind them said. Willow almost jumped and had difficulty hiding her disappointment when she recognised Riley.
"Well, I will see you al later. Will, if I don't see you anymore, I'll phone you tomorrow to ask all about Mister X."
"Okay, have fun!" Willow said as she smiled and hugged her friend.
"We'd better get going too. I want to check out the food table." Xander took Anya's hand and led her away.
Willow looked around, observing the Hall. It had been decorated with streamers that announced the them of the party in pink; red heart-shaped balloons were hanging from the ceiling, and the foodtable was decorated with pink paper roses.
Sighing, she walked to the food table. If Mister X didn't show up soon, it was going to be a long night.
***
Thank heavens this isn't everyday fashion anymore. He had just spent thirty minutes putting on his clothes and had had enough of it. Shoes, where are the shoes? He saw them under a chair. After he had put them on, he checked his clock. Shit! Nine thirthy already?! He ran outside, got into his car and was about to drive off when he realized he had forgotten something. Cursing under his breath he ran back, snatched the red box from the table and got back to his car. He let out a sigh. Okay, time to make an apology... if she's still there.
***
The moment he saw her his heart sank. She wasn't there anymore. He knew he couldn't really blame anyone but himself, and that didn't make him feel any better. If it would have been the other way around, he would have left an hour ago. Letting someone wait for over 2 hours was definately not according to etiquette. Suddenly his heart made a jump. There, next to the food table, he distinguished a red haired Juliet. He swallowed heavily and started to walk towards her.
***
Willow was bored. She was at the Valentine's Ball, dressed up as what still felt like a quite tacky Juliet, a Juliet with no Romeo. Mister X wasn't showing herself and that thought alone brought her close to tears. All around her, couples were dancing and having a good time, and there she was, Willow, the nerd, all alone again as usual. When she got another contemptuous look from Babette, the class vamp (who of course had managed to get the cutest guy of the school to ask her to the ball) she had had enough. That's it, I'm out of here. Just as she was going to turn around she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry I'm so incredibly late. I had trouble getting here." His voice sounded low and sexy, and she immediately recognized his accent.
"Mister X?" she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
"Well, I am to some, but you can call me William." He smiled at her, and a row of pearly white teeth sparkled in front of her. She could feel his gaze all over her body, going down and then back up, resting slowly on her chest before going back to her eyes. "You look marvelous."
Willow blushed deeply and replied with a hoarse "thank you."
She forced herself to look him straight into his iceblue eyes, not an easy task for someone who was used to looking down a lot.
"Let's dance," he simply said as he held out his hand. Without breaking the stare, she took his hand and let him lead her to the dancefloor. As he took her in his arms and started to dance a slow waltz, she finally had the guts to say: "I'm so glad you showed up. When you weren't here by 22.00, I thought you weren't going to come."
"I'm really sorry Willow. Like I said I had some trouble getting here. All the time I kept hoping you wouldn't have left yet, but I ad little hope. I would have understood if you would have gone home. But I'm glad you didn't. I'm very glad we finally meet."
"Yeah, me too," Willow sighed as she put her cheek against his and closed her eyes.
***
"It's almost midnight. Willow, I have something to ask of you." William suddenly sounded serious.
"What's wrong?" Willow asked with a hint of panic in her voice.
"Nothing is wrong," William hastily replied, "don't worry everything is fine. But er.." He suddenly seemed shy, which was very cute, Willow thought. She smiled encouragingly, trying to show him she wouldn't interrupt him anymore. "Ehm... do you think it would be possible for us to er... meet somewhere else? I don't want to be in this crowd when the masks go off. I'd rather be alone with you."
Willow smiled happily. "Sure, that's fine. But I'll have to tell Buffy, that's my best friend, where I am, or she'll get worried. Where should we meet?"
"Meet me in the graveyard a block away from here in ten minutes."
She startled and looked up in disbelief. "The... the graveyard? Are you sure? It'll be totally creepy there."
"I'm sure," William said with a reassuring smile. "That's the only place where we can be totally alone." He stroked her chin and bent down to kiss her. "Will you be there?"
Willow opened her eyes and smiled. "Yes, I'll be there."
"Good. See you there."
***
Ten minutes later, Willow was looking for William in the graveyard. "William? Are you there?"
"Yes, I'm over here," she heard a voice on her left. She turned and walked towards the sound. She could see a silhouette in the fog now. "Ah, there you are."
He held out his hand and she took it, allowing him to lead her further away from the path. When they reached a crypt, William stood still and pulled her close to him. "I believe it is time to show your beautiful face," he said.
Willow took off her mask and threw it aside. "Now you."
William smiled. "Before I take off my mask I would like to give you the third present." He took her hand, opened it and put a red box in the palm of her hand. "Open it," he said.
She did what he asked and gasped as she saw a necklace, silver with a ruby-red heart as a pendant. "It's beautiful!" she stammered, at a loss for words. She looked up. "Thank you."
"Let me put it on, I want to see how it looks on you." He took the box and took the necklace. As she turned around, he lifted the necklace over her head. She felt the sudden coolness of the pendant on her skin and her a soft click when he fastened the lock. She turned around and saw him smile approvingly.
"Now, take off your mask and show me who you are."
He slowly took off his mask, as he held her hand in a firm grip.
"You." It was all she could say.
"Me," he simply said. "Do you think you could get used to the idea that a vampire is in love with you?"
Willow swallowed heavily as she searched her heart for an answer. "I... I," she stammered.
"It's okay," he said in a sad tone. "I kind of expected this. Well, I guess I will see you around then." He turned around and began to walk away."
"Wait!" She took his hand and pulled him back. "Don't go."
He turned back and examined her face. "What are you saying Red?"
"I'm saying... I'm saying that I love you Spike."
He didn't believe his ears. "What?"
"I love you." She wrapped her arms around his neck as she kissed him on the mouth. The kiss seemed to last forever, but suddenly Willow heard Buffy's call.
"Willow! Where are you?"
She took a step back and whispered: "I'd better get back, before she finds you and stakes your cute butt."
Spike nodded and kissed her hand. "I'll come visit you tomorrow night, okay? I'll be in your room at ten."
"Okay." She gave him another kiss before she disappeared.
"Willow! Willow! Are you here?" Buffy's voice called again.
"I'm here!" he heard Willow say. "I'm coming! Stay there!"
The next thing he knew, he heard screetching tires and a loud bang. Oh no, Willow. He ran to the road and saw her kying on the street. A man was kneeling down. He could see Buffy running towards them from the other end of the street. The moment he was with her, he saw Willow didn't have a chance. Her breathing was shallow and he could hear the drum of her heart weaken.
"Spike," Willow whispered.
"Red, I'm here. Don't worry, I'm here love."
"Oh my God, what did I do! Is there something I can do? Oh my God, how did this happen? She jumped in front of the car all of a sudden!" the driver cried out.
"Call an ambulance!" Buffy yelled. She startled when she saw Spike. "You! Get out of here and leave her alone or I'll kill you!"
"Buffy, no" Willow said faintly. "He's Mister X. Don't hurt him Buffy."
She turned back to Spike. "I'm dying, aren't I?" It wasn't really a question, but still he forced himself to speak.
"Yes love, I'm afraid you are."
"Just when I found you. It's not fair."
"I know." Tears had started to form in his eyes. "I don't want to lose you."
"I don't want to lose you either."
She turned her eyes to Buffy. "Buffy, I'm sorry about what I'm going to do now, but there is no other way. Please tell Xander and Anya and Giles and Riley I love them. I love you Buffy, you're my best friend. But you have to turn and walk away now. Please. I don't want you to see this."
"But..." Buffy protested, sobbing.
"Please go."
Buffy let out another sob and whispered "I love you" before she turned and slowly walked away.
"Spike, there is only one way I can stay with you."
He nodded, wiping away some of his tears with the back of his hand.
"Do it."
"Are you sure?" He read the answer in her eyes.
She smiled and repeated: "Do it."
He bent forward and slowly sank his teeth into her neck.
~The End~