author: Lucinda

rating: pg 13, about like the show

pairing: Willow/David

sequel to Lost Family, Lost Hopes

disclaimer: I do not own anyone from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or anyone from Lost Boys. no profit is being made.

distribution: Charity's site, others please ask.

Buffy had been thinking about the matter for far too long. She had to talk to someone about it, and she had decided that Xander would be the best choice. He was the other person that knew the most about Willow, maybe he could help figure out why she had been acting all strange. Giles hadn't been any help. All he'd said was that since none of them had been really talking to Willow, it was only reasonable for her to seek someone that would have time to spend with her.

Xander would be able to help decipher the rumors. After all, if Willow really did have a new boyfriend, wouldn't she have introduced him to them by now? Wouldn't she have asked Buffy to make sure he wasn't some sort of demon or monster in disguise? She also wondered why Willow hadn't made more of an effort to get them to talk to her more. She almost never went to the Bronze with them now, and they hardly talked in school except during research sessions...

Buffy went searching for Xander, and found him and Cordelia kissing in the audio-visual room, between a pair of overhead projectors. It wasn't really a surprise, but she almost hated to interrupt them. They had had a rough time lately, considering the impalement issue.

"Xander, Cordy? I know you're having a lot of fun, but let me interrupt a bit. Something's up with Willow." At the sound of Buffy's voice, Xander and Cordy separated, blushing and not quite looking at Buffy.

"You mean the part where she's started insulting me? Or the part where she's suddenly got this hot blond boyfriend?" Cordelia was the first to recover her voice.

"She doesn't spend any time with us anymore. Hey... what's this about a boyfriend?" Xander hadn't wanted to believe the rumors. Willow had Oz, and then she blew that relationship. He refused to let himself think about the fact that he had held some responsibility for that. Or for the fact that he wasn't making any efforts to spend time with the girl that had been his best friend since kindergarten.

"Get a clue, Harris. Everyone knows that Willow's been spending a lot of time with this blond guy. He's new in town, got sort of a hot bad boy look going. He seems completely devoted to Willow from what Harmony said. Although what he sees in her..." Cordelia shrugged, dismissing Willow's appeal as a girlfriend.

"I'm worried. She's been acting different since she started spending time with this guy that she hasn't even told us about. She's dressing different, she's insulting Cordy... I say we should check this guy out." Buffy decided to interrupt before Cordelia could go on her usual rant about how terrible Willow was. She was still bitter about her impalement.

They had decided to investigate, and so Xander and Cordelia joined Buffy for a 'patrol' and decided to check the various areas that this guy could be. Cordelia had actually seen Willow and this guy together, so she knew what he looked like. Xander didn't want to let Cordy go off alone with Buffy, knowing how the two had occasionally clashed. Besides, what teenage male would pass up the opportunity to spend the evening with two lovely women?

They searched the town, actually finding and staking a few minions near the Bronze. They were actually on the edge of the warehouse section, favored lair area of evil bad guys, when Cordelia whispered to Buffy.

"Hey! That's the guy that's been hanging out with Wilow."

The three trailed after him. Buffy had to admit that he was definitely a hottie, pale blond hair, leather jacket, and was that an earring? How did Willow ever manage to get the nerve to talk to this guy? The blond guy was following someone, a very average looking guy, probably somebody working second shift. He trailed the guy into an alley. Buffy's slayer sense was prickling her, something was not all right here. She edged closer, peeking around the corner of the alley.

The blond had grabbed the other man, and had his face buried in his throat. After a few moments, he let the man's body drop into a crumple on the ground. There was a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were golden.

Buffy grabbed her stake and charged at him, ready to kill. There was a blur of motion, and Buffy had the impossible impression that he had simply gone straight up, and he was gone. She stood there in confusion for a few moments, trying to find where the vampire had gone. In the end, she slid the stake back up her sleeve, and left the alley. There was a definite problem with Willow's new boyfriend.

The trio completely missed the soft whimper from the man that had fallen in the alley. He was left lying amidst the scattered papers and wrappers.

end part 1.



Buffy, Xander and Cordelia rushed to the school, hoping to find Giles still in the library. He was forever telling Buffy that she should inform him of anything unusual that she encountered on her patrols, flying vampire, something she had been assured by both her watchers was not possible, definitely qualified. Cordelia had paused to pull out her cell phone and place an anonymous tip to the police that there had been a body in an alley, no she hadn't taken a closer look, do something about it.

They found the side door to the school unlocked, and made their way into the building. The lights were mostly out, giving the whole place a really creepy feel. They went into the library, nervous and staying close together.

"Giles? You still in here? I ran into something majorly wiggy out there and....." Buffy called into the library, oddly nervous to see it bathed in shadows.

"Ah, Buffy. I am in my office. There was a crate that just arrived from London, and I wanted to inspect the contents." Giles answer was a little distracted.

They crowded into his office, feeling uneasy about the nights discovery. He was the watcher, the man with the answers, or at least, the man with the books that had the answers. There had to be a logical explanation.

"Giles, we were on patrol and there was this vampire in the warehouses and I swear to you he just flew away. Whoosh, right up into the air like a fanged superman." Buffy was worried, and it showed.

Now Giles was concerned. "Are you certain that this vampire didn't simply leap up and catch something?"

"NO, Giles, there was nothing there to have caught! He either flew away or became invisible. I think this is a big problem. Flying vampires would be rather bad, invisible ones would be much worse. We have to look in your dusty old books for answers, 'cause this is really wierd." Buffy was most insistent. She was even volunteering to do research.

Giles considered that for a moment. All three of them, the ones that tried the hardest to get out of research, were standing before him, insisting that this be looked into, demanding to consult the books. Either he was asleep and having a most bizarre dream, or something had disturbed them a great deal. He'd better start research on the assumption that he was awake.

Meanwhile, David was meeting Willow for coffee before they went ice skating. Neither of them were particularly talented at it, but they always had fun. After Willow had learned that he was a vampire, they had talked about the matter. He had promised her that he wouldn't kill random people, and he would try not to kill at all. But... the Slayer had seen him feeding. That had to be trouble, even if he had left the guy alive.

Maybe Willow would have a suggestion. The slayer had looked about the same age as Willow, maybe she would know who the girl was and how to deal with her. David had no desire to be impaled again.

"Willow?" David looked around the shop a bit, finally seeing Willow in the corner, looking at something in an old leather bound book. Hearing his voice, she looked up, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, smiling at him. He walked towards her, glad as always to see her.

"Willow, I think we have a problem."

end part 2.

Willow had found a book about Vampire history. It talked about different bloodlines, and how some had become renowned for certain things. It also went into detail about some incredibly vicious clan fighing, between some of the different bloodlines. She had borrowed it from the library, and was reading it in the coffee shop. Hearing David call her name, she looked up, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Willow, I think we have a problem." David looked worried.

"What's wrong?" Willow couldn't think of any reason for David to be this worried unless something had happened. Had some of the local vampires decided he was a rival, or those horrible Froggs come looking for him?

"I was followed tonight, when I went out for a quick bite. The Slayer. She saw me, and tried to come after me with a stake." David paused, thinking thing over. " I didn't do any permanent harm to the guy, but... I don't think she stopped to check on him. Any advice on this?"

"Oh, this is bad. Remember how I told you about my friend Buffy that's been all wrapped up in trying to fix things with her boyfriend? I sort of didn't tell you quite all about her. She's the Slayer. It probably wouldn't do much good to try to talk to her right now..." Willow's voice trailed off as she thought frantically about what they could do. "I think our best chance would be to talk to Angel. He's the guy Buffy's all hung up over, and he's actually also a vampire. Mmmm, more the local sort once, but he's better now, and that's a long story. He will probably still think this is a bad idea, but he'll probably at least listen to us."

Now that they had the beginnings of a plan, they had a cup of coffee, and went out to fall down at the ice skating rink. They intended to have an enjoyable evening together regardless of anyone else's opinion.

The next evening, Willow went towards the woods, intending to meet David in their clearing and then take a nice moonlight walk together. She didn't notice the fact that she had someone following her.

Buffy and Xander had decided to follow Willow, to see if she knew anything about what her boyfriend was up to when she wasn't there. Cordelia was not following, her parents were hosting a dinner party, and she was expected to be there. Buffy was trying to figure out where Willow could possibly be going, and when had she started to wear mostly backless halter tops anyhow? After a bit, Xander recognized the path.

"There's a clearing up along the path. Willow used to go there a lot to look at the stars." He shared the information with Buffy.

They watched in dismay and shock as Willow met the blond vampire from the night before. Willow gave him a big hug, and they kissed before walking off into the woods, hand in hand.

"How could she... what could she possibly see in him? He's a vampire! Shouldn't Wills be a bit suspicious of a boyfriend that only comes out after dark? And eeeewww, he's probably got blood-breath, how sick." Xander could not believe what he had seen. How could Willow do this? Didn't she know that vampires were bad? They killed people, and you couldn't trust them.

"Well, he is rather a hottie. Besides, if he brushes then there won't be any...umm never mind. Wrong page, Willow should not be seeing a vampire. It isn't safe." Buffy was rather shocked herself. She was also worried.

What did this vampire want with Willow?

end part 3.

Xander was muttering about Willow and her new boyfriend the lord of the undead, and what was it about vampires anyhow? He couldn't figure it out. He continued to rant about this until Cordelia smacked him in the back of the head. He looked at her, open mouthed with surprise.

"Why is it bothering you so much that her guy is a vampire? You haven't been worrying about Willow's boyfriend eating us as his late-night snacks. You haven't been saying 'oh, I hope her vampire isn't trying to open the hellmouth' or 'please no army of minions and hostile take-overs'." She was glaring at Xander, her eyes slightly narrowed.

"But... vampires are bad." Xander faltered a bit under Cordelia's glare, certain that she was very mad at him, but not certain as to why.

"You aren't focusing on the vampire, you're focusing on Willow. I think you're still hung up over Willow. You aren't sorry for kissing her at all! I can't believe I spent so much time with you!" Having worked herself up into a furious state of indignation, Cordelia left Xander standing there. She stormed off, driving away with a squeal of tires

Having witnessed this interesting scene from the shadows, Angel decided to go speak to Rupert Giles. Maybe he could help explain this about Willow having a vampire boyfriend. It sounded a bit... unexpected. Willow was to smart to get involved with the type of vampire that frequented the hellmouth. He nodded slightly, and headed into the library.

Giles was sitting at the large wooden desk, with books piled around him. Some sat separate, opened to sections. Giles was currently turning the pages of yet another book, his sleeves rolled up, collar unbuttoned. His hair was in disarray, and a cup of tea sat cold on the table.

"Some new evil afoot at the hellmouth?" Angel's voice startled the Watcher, causing him to jump slightly.

"Ah, Angel. New evil... well, it seems that Buffy encountered a vampire on patrol that could fly. I am at a bit of a loss to explain how that was possible, so I'm looking in the books. The closest I've found are some hints that different bloodlines occasionally possessed special abilities." Giles tried to calm himself. Angel was not evil anymore, there was no cause for alarm.

"So this doesn't have anything to do with Willow having a vampire for a boyfriend?" Angel was trying to get some answers. He assumed that Giles had them. In this case, he was proven wrong.

"WHAT!! Willow dating a.... Nobody had told me anything about this. What makes you suggest the idea?" Giles was shocked, dismayed and concerned.

"Xander and Cordelia. They were having an... encounter. Seems that Xander was going on about how could Willow be dating a vampire, and Cordelia yelled at him about it. I was hoping you could fill me in on that." Angel was clearly puzzled.

"There was something said about Willow not spending her time with the others, quite sensible considering the incident at the factory. Buffy was speculating about some rumors that Willow has a boyfriend, and if that is the case, she has not introduced him to her friends. That is the extent on my knowledge of the matter." Giles didn't like being left out of the information loop.

"There are some differences between bloodlines, if the bloodline goes back far enough. Let me help you look through some of these. I've heard rumors that some of the old vampires in the Carpathians can shape change." Angel was worried. If there were new vampires in Sunnydale, it could have dire implications.

end part 4.

Xander was determined to find the vampire that was playing with his Willow. She had been his friend forever, and even if it seemed she wasn't talking to him because of the factory, he didn't want her the pawn in some evil vampire's plot for something terrible. After all of this was over, he was certain that Wills would thank him.

He began searching the warehouse areas, considering that since they had seen the vampire here before he would probably return. He had his cross, and a stake, so he wasn't too worried. What could this vampire do to him anyhow?

He turned a corner, and there he was. The vampire was sitting on an empty shipping crate, a watchful look on his face. His dark clothing made him blend with the shadows, his face and pale hair showing as a sharp contrast.

"You're the monster playing games with Willow's heart! I've had just about enough of this, and I'm not going to take it anymore. You can't play with Wills like that!" Xander was angry.

David looked at the mortal. This had to be Xander, the one that had ignored Willow for years before she got involved with the musician. He had kissed Willow behind the backs of the others they were dating, and had effectively abandoned her after their kiss while trapped in a factory had caused Xander's girlfriend to fall and impale herself. Now, he was accusing David of toying with Willow's heart. The sheer audacity and arrogance of it made David angry. He decided to play just a little with this annoying boy.

He might still be weaker than he was used to being, but he could deal with Xander easily enough. "What makes you think I'm playing with Willow? More importantly, what makes you think you even have any say in the matter? Willow's perfectly capable of making up her mind on her own. Since you aren't talking to her anymore after that factory incident which I believe you were actively participating in, what makes you think your opinion counts with anyone involved? I don't care what you think, and why should Willow care?"

David grinned at him, his expression feral and predatory, showing far too many teeth for Xander's peace of mind. "I have plans for the future, and you can't stop them. Willow will be mine, and I'm not going to let her go. Been thinking maybe Red and I can usher in the new millennium together... Spend the next century seeing all the places she's never been but always wanted to see."

Xander glanced down, and there were dozens of writhing things on the ground, drawing closer to him, glistening with slime and with little sharp teeth... He yelped in fright, and jumped up onto a smaller crate, trying to find a way to get out of this situation without being gnawed to death by those things.

"Pitiful. I really don't think you'll be any trouble for me, boy. Just remember, the fact that I'm a monster means I have fewer rules that I have to follow. Nobody expects me to fight fair." With that parting shot, the vampire had vanished into the night.

David was airborne, thinking that things could have been much more unpleasant if the boy or the Slayer had any idea where he was staying. He would definitely have to talk to Willow, and perhaps they could find that Angel and have him call off the Slayer.

Before her former friends decided that they wanted Willow back, and convinced her to leave him. That would not be acceptable, not after he'd convinced Willow to give him a chance, not after he had suffered so much to bring this opportunity for happiness. He hoped they wouldn't try, it would probably upset Willow if he had to kill them.

end part 5.

David was a bit worried about the whole thing, so he went to try to talk to Willow. He started with her house, and made the discovery that she was already peacefully asleep. That ruled out the idea of talking to her about things tonight. He found a piece of paper, and hastily scrawled out a note

Willow -

Ran into Xander.

Had words, need to talk to you about it.

David.

He left the note on the inside of her window.

He got up the next evening having slept terribly. His day had been full of bad dreams. He had dreamed that Willow had decided her happiness wasn't worth her friends disapproval, and she had left him weeping at the ice skating rink. There had been one where the Slayer had found them, and when Willow refused to leave him, she had pierced them both with a single stake while Willow hugged him, causing the two of them to die in each others arms. Another featured Michael and the Froggs tracking him to Sunnydale, and killing him as Willow watched in horror and grief.

He left the hotel a bit early, willing to risk a bit of a sunburn to get to Willow. David wanted very much to reassure himself that she wasn't angry with him that she was still safe. There were enough clouds that he didn't burn with flames, only a painful reddening of his flesh. Willow pulled him into her house, fussing over his burns. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close, breathing in her scent as reassurance of her safety.

"I may have caused us another problem." Eventually, David had felt the need to explain why he had risked the sunlight. He brushed his fingers over her cheek, wanting to remember everything about her. "There was someone following me last night. As it turned out, it was Xander. He accused me of being a monster playing with your heart. I got angry, and well... " David shifted a bit, feeling oddly guilty. "I sort of played a little mind game with him. I made him see things that weren't there. Gave him the impression that I planned to turn you into a vampire and tour the world together. Called him a pathetic coward."

Willow paused, thinking over what David had just said. "Xander was following you? He thinks you're.... oh....David. We already talked about the whole vampire thing, but I've always wanted to see Venice. Wait... first, stop calling yourself a monster, it'll just get you all depressed. What did you mean, made him see things that weren't there? How?"

David smirked, feeling superior to the local vampires. "It isn't that hard. Max taught me how. All I need is something.. ha!" He reached over, and picked up a butter knife from the table. Concentrating slightly, he held it up in front of Willow. "Have something, and focus on it, and then, build a picture in your mind."

Willow looked at his outstretched hand and gasped in surprise. Instead of a butter knife, David held a lovely red rose. Then, Willow started to think. If it was because of his will...could her will let her see the reality? She focused, and the rose went a bit translucent, revealing the shape of the butter knife like a shadow inside of it.

"That's way cool. umm Somehow, I don't think you showed Xander roses." Willow smiled at David.

"Willow, sometimes I think you forget that I'm not exactly human. There's reasons why he called me a monster." David placed the knife back on the table and shrugged out of his jacket. He paused a moment before pulling his white tee shirt over his head, revealing his chest. Two marks, the bright purple pink of new healed scars dimpled his chest, about the size of half dollars. "They go all the way through and out the other side. I was impaled on a set of antelope horns, and tossed into the ocean. No human would have survived that, Willow."

David reached out, catching her hand. He looked right into her eyes, his expression intense. "I love you. I will always love you, but I'm not human. I will make people see horrible things to stop bothering you, I would kill to defend you or to get to you when I want to see you. My heart may not beat anymore, but it's yours."

Willow smiled, rubbing her thumb over David's hand. "You don't have to be so afraid. You've managed to seep into my heart. I was afraid to let someone in again, afraid that I'd get hurt but here you are, in my heart. I love you, and it doesn't matter to me if you're human or a vampire."

She moved closer, her other hand lightly brushing over his scars. "Nobody will be able to make me stop loving you. Not Xander, not Buffy. I'd like it if you didn't just go out killing people, but we've had that discussion. Same goes for the whole Willow vampire thing that we talked about. Now, I think you need a bit of rest to let those sunburns heal, so how about we go watch a movie on the couch?"

David could only feel astonished. "Willow, you are a marvel."

end part 6.



Willow and David had ended up talking more about half vampires, staying up most of the night. They both knew that Willow had decided that it might be good to get a bit older before not aging, but David thought it would be good to give her the information now. He told her about the advantages, not aging, stronger, healing faster than a human, the ability to fly. He mentioned the disadvantages, a shaky reflection, feeling weaker and more tired in the daylight, the increased sensitivity of the eyes, and there would be a craving for blood. He had never been a half vampire himself, but one of his friends, Marco had been. If your will was strong, a half could resist the blood cravings.

David had also given her the names of a few half vampires that he knew about. Some of them lived in the area. He figured that Willow would probably want to investigate the matter some herself, in case he missed a few important points.

The next afternoon, while David was sleeping in her basement, Willow went to the school library. She did leave David a note, so he wouldn't worry too much. She intended to do a little bit of research about half vampires. If there was anywhere in Sunnydale that would have information about half-vampires, Giles was a good bet. Any other books would probably be in the possession of vampires anyhow. She did find a book about different means of vampiric turning, and it mentioned half vampires.

The passage read 'If a mortal drinks of the blood of a vampire, without having first been drained of their blood, it begins a change inside them. The mortal begins to take on characteristics of a vampire. Over the passing of several days, they become stronger, reluctant to enter the sunlight, and begin to crave the blood of the living. Should this unfortunate kill another living soul and drink their blood, the transformation to vampire is complete, and they are lost. Unless this happens, they can be saved by the destruction of the group of vampires that contains the one that has initiated their transformation. If they can manage to resist the blood craving, they can become powerful warriors, and there have been several such individuals that have worked for the Council of Watchers.'

That did give Willow reason to think. David hadn't mentioned the part about becoming a full vampire, or the part about being made human again. However, if there had been half vampires working for the Council, they must not be as violent as the Sunnydale vampires. She was still thinking about that when she heard a floorboard creak slightly, informing her that she was not alone in the library. Glancing up, she saw that Angel was in the library.

"Hi Angel. What's up?" Willow wanted him to support her relationship with David. She would have to talk to him about it for that to happen.

"Willow. I heard the oddest thing, Xander thinks you have a vampire boyfriend." Angel was looking intently at Willow. She seemed to be alive and healthy.

"When did you hear that? How did Xander find out in the first place ... umm." Willow fidgeted with her pencil, before putting it down and looking up at Angel, with her mild Resolve Face firmly in place.

"Yes, I do have a new boyfriend. His name is David, and yes, he is a vampire. He's not from Sunnydale, he isn't quite the same as the local vampires, and no, he hasn't hurt me or tried to." Willow looked Angel in the eye.

Angel sighed. Willow was not going to just walk away from this guy. "Willow, how much do you know about this David? How do you know that you will continue to be safe with him? Is he out killing people? This may sound odd coming from me, but vampires are dangerous."

Willow smiled, pleased that Angel was actually being reasonable about this. "We had a talk about his feeding habits, and he's agreed not to feed on innocent people, although someone trying to mug him is fair game, and he doesn't kill when he feeds. He isn't going to turn me against my will unless I'm dying right on the spot. David has been honest with me about his past. As for how do I know I will stay safe, when you love someone, you trust them."

Since Angel still looked doubtful, she sighed. "Angel, I'm not asking you to say 'What a great idea, dating a vampire'. What I want is for you to have faith that I can live my life, and try to find happiness. I'd really like it if you told Buffy that she shouldn't throw a hissy fit about me and David. It's kind of hypocritical of her to tell someone else that they shouldn't date a vampire."

Angel had to smile at her comment. "I want to meet David before I think you're safe with him. Yes, you have the right to lead your life without needing their approval of your boyfriend, but... I would feel better if I had met him. How else will I know that you'll be safe with him."

Willow beamed at him, making Angel briefly jealous of this other vampire. Willow's smiles were dazzling, like sunshine. "Since it's dark out, we can go see him now. He's at my house."

They walked to the Rosenberg house, Angel brooding the whole trip. The door was opened by David, who simply arched an eyebrow at the taller vampire.

"You must be Angel. Willow wanted us to talk to you."

end part 7.

Xander decided to confront Willow after school. Someone had to explain to her just how bad her boyfriend really was. As the person he had tormented and manipulated, Xander felt he was a good person to explain to Willow all the reasons that she shouldn't date a vampire. He spotted her headed towards the door, wearing close fitting jeans and a tee shirt that actually exposed a hint of her stomach. She never dressed like that before.

"Hey! Wills, I need to talk to you about that Social. Can I get a few moments in the library?" Xander called, trying to get Willow's attention.

She frowned a bit, and headed towards the library. She was sitting on the table, her feet kicking slowly up and down, looking unreadable when Xander arrived a moment later. Xander walked towards her, shutting the door behind him. This would not be a discussion for the general student body. Willow was watching him, her expression closed to him.

That stung. He had been her friend since forever, why was she hiding things from him?

"So, why in god's name are you dating one of the undead, Wills? I thought you were smarter than that! He's an evil, dangerous bloodthirsty vampire and you have no reason to date him. How long were you going to keep it a secret? Or did you plan to feed us to him for dinner? I can't believe you would keep something like this from us!"

"You can't believe I would keep who I'm dating a secret? You, of all people are angry that I didn't announce my date to the world? You were sucking face with Cordelia behind everyone's backs. I only learned about that because I walked in on you! I haven't tried to keep my boyfriend a secret. We've gone places together, in public. I just didn't walk up and say 'Xander, I have a boyfriend, he's a vampire, is that okay?' Do you know why that is?" Willow wasn't shouting. Her expression was fierce, and her voice was quiet, but intense.

"You haven't been speaking to me beyond 'I need your homework' and 'pass the big book of demons' since Cordelia fell at the factory. I remember what happened there, and you were kissing me every bit as much as I was kissing you! Now, you seem to have decided that it's more important to go out with Cordelia than to talk to me. Your girlfriend has been insulting me since kindergarten, and it's been a lot worse lately. Did you ask her to stop? NO! Did you once say, 'gee, Willow, I'm sorry my girlfriend hates you.' again no."

Willow hopped down from the table, pacing across the open area that Buffy used for training. "You never defended me, or offered any sign that you cared if I lived or died. You ignored me, entirely and gave no sign that you didn't share her opinion that I was scum. Why should I tell you anything? Then, when you heard something you didn't like, did you ask me about it? NO! You decided to spy on my boyfriend and try to threaten him. You think that I'm so undesirable that the only reason someone would want to go out with me is to play with my heart. That tells me a lot about how you feel, Alexander Harris."

"How did you know about that?" Xander's voice was a bit weak in reaction to Willow's ranting.

"He told me all about you following him. How you said he could only be toying with me. He talks to me, tells me what's going on. You can't stand the thought of being civil to me around your girlfriend. You act like I'm a complete idiot until you need someone to help with your homework!" Willow was practically growling at Xander.

She paused, looking thoughtful. "You haven't been acting very much like a friend to me, Xander Harris. Until you remember how to be a friend, I have no reason to speak to you at all. One last warning. Stalk my boyfriend again, and I'll tell him he can rip your head off."

As Willow stormed out of the library, Xander felt like something inside of him was breaking into jagged pieces. He hadn't thought about how alone she would be with him ignoring her like he had. Oz had left her, he had turned his back on her, and Buffy wasn't always good at helping others with their problems.

He had never expected her to walk away from him, no matter how much of an idiot he could be at times.

Willow had left him to his own foolishness. She had decided that if he wasn't going to act like her friend, she wouldn't treat him like one. The idea of what life without Willow would be like opened like a huge chasm, drowning his future in misery. She had walked away, leaving it up to him to prove that he could be her friend again.

"What have I done?" Xander's whisper barely carried in the library.

end part 8.

Buffy had known that Xander planned to talk to Willow about her boyfriend. She had decided to give them some private time to talk before he went to the library. She was expecting Willow to be there, probably upset about the news that her boyfriend was a vampire, maybe asking for help dealing with the situation. She wasn't expecting to enter a library that was utterly silent. Xander was sitting on the table, an odd expression on is face. He looked somewhere between brooding and in complete pain.

"Xander? What happened? Did you and Willow, y'know, talk?" Buffy was worried. Xander had never looked so upset before.

"We've lost her. We didn't care enough, didn't show it. She was right, I turned my back on her when she needed me... You probably won't have much luck either." Xander sounded lost. He was just sitting there, staring at his feet.

"Well, if she won't listen to you, maybe she'll listen to me. I think I'll go have a talk with Willow." Buffy sounded confident. She had never failed to rise to the challenge. How much harder could this be than killing demons?

Buffy left the library, determined to find Willow and straighten out this whole mess.

It was another half hour before Giles was finished with the faculty meeting, and entered the library. He found Xander, still sitting on the table, looking as if his world were crumbling beneath him and it was all his fault. It was not a pleasant sight, as Giles had come to feel almost fatherly towards the boy.

"Xander? Would you like to talk? Perhaps a cup of tea?" Giles wasn't certain that Xander would want to talk, but he could think of no other way to learn what was wrong. Besides, if he was forced to answer, he might decide to stop sitting on the table like that.

"It's Willow. She's gone." Xander's voice was barely more than a whisper, and full of pain.

"What! What do you mean Willow's gone? What could have... no, what happened?" Giles was stunned. He had seen Willow at lunch. She had looked rather quiet, but she had seemed to be healthy.

"We ignored her when she needed her friends the most, and now, we've lost her. She said that I hadn't been acting like a friend lately... thing is, she was right. She won't be there for me anymore. We've lost her to her vampire, because when she needed someone, he was the only one there for her." Xander felt numbed by pain. Willow had walked out of his life. How could he have let this happen?

Giles was somewhere between stunned and relieved. Willow was still alive, that was good. The vampire boyfriend was bad, so was walking away from her friends. Then, Giles thought about the past few weeks. Xander hadn't been there for Willow. Oz had broken up with her, and now had a new girlfriend. Buffy was to worried about her own life to have time for Willow's problems. Indeed, she had needed a friend.

"Perhaps you need to remember that a friend isn't just someone that's there for you when you need help. You also need to be there for your friends. You also need to remember that even your friends will live their lives different than you lead yours." Giles sighed, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I fear we have all been somewhat negligent towards Willow. She has been there for all of us, and we have grown used to leaning on her."

Xander looked at Giles, thinking about his words. "Yeah. It's because she's really good at being dependable. Gotta go think now. Thanks G-Man."

Buffy was most unhappy. She had looked at Willow's house, but she hadn't been there. She hadn't been at the school library or the public one. She had looked, and finally decided to get herself a mocha to think over. Willow was sitting in the coffee-shop.

"Hey, Willow. Just the person I was looking for." Buffy smiled as she sat down with Willow. They drank their coffee, and spoke about school. Finished with her drink, Willow got up from the table and started out the door.

Buffy followed her. "Willow, about that new boyfriend of yours. He's trouble. Quite the studly, but trouble. He's.. umm did you know he's a vampire?" Buffy was concerned. How had Willow found herself involved with a vampire?

"I know that. He is gorgeous though. As for his diet, we've had a talk about that." Willow paused, glancing at the nearby people. "I know he's on a high protein diet, and I accept that. We just talked about some of the particulars. Some of the places you can get a protein drink use really bad methods."

"Willow, you can't just ignore something like that! He isn't safe. You have no idea how dangerous this is for you." Buffy had to make Willow understand.

"What, you mean I can't ignore his " again glancing at the people around them, Willow rephrased her arguement for public. "heart condition the way you ignore Angel's? It's pretty much the same thing. As for the risks, I've watched you and your issues, so I think I've got my advance warning. This is my chance to be happy, my chance to have a guy that loves me with all his heart. I'm not going to miss out because you don't like him, or because Xander thinks he's scary."

"It's not the same thing with Angel!" Buffy was defensive now. "How could you compare Angel and..."

"His name is David." Willow's voice was cool, conveying slight irritation. "They both have a lot of things in common. They don't tan, high protein diets, wild pasts. They've also both grown past who they used to be. If you had asked me about my new boyfriend instead of stalking him, I would have told you."

As Buffy stood there, trying to figure out when Willow had developed a taste for vampires, the redhead walked away. Buffy realized that she hadn't been there for Willow, hadn't tried to learn what she was up to until she heard the rumors. She should have asked Willow when she heard the rumors. Actually, if she was as good a friend to Willow as she should have been, she would have known before the rumors were circulating the school. Xander was right. They hadn't been very good friends to Willow lately.

Now, she just had to hope they still had a chance to fix things.

end part 9.



Giles had decided that he would have to speak to Willow about things. He had heard that she had a vampire boyfriend now, and had turned her back on Xander and Buffy. This sounded most alarming, and he wanted to talk to Willow, make certain that he had accurate information. She would be in during the second period to help him shelve the returned library books, he could talk to her then.

As he had hoped, she did arrive just as she normally did. She began to help him put away the books. Giles thought that she looked a bit sad and stressed. He would have to try to be careful with his questions.

"Hey, Giles? Does the Pizzoli's book of demons go with general demons or water things due to the fact that all the demons in it either live in or near water?" Willow's question interrupted Giles thoughts.

"Water demons, the second shelf." Giles poured two cups of tea, deciding to just simply ask Willow when she came back out. "Ahh, Willow? I've heard some odd things, and I wanted to ask you about them. There was something about you being involved with a vampire?"

Willow looked slightly startled, but resigned as she accepted the cup of tea. "I'm not certain what you heard, or where it came from. I guess you knew that Oz broke up with me after... well, after? Nobody was really talking to me after that, unless it was to insult me, so I was pretty much avoiding everyone. I was out star-gazing one night, and I met David."

She looked up as Giles made a little noise. "I was being careful, mostly. I had a stake and a bottle of holy water with me. We talked, and he said he was new in town, so I offered to show him around some. He's actually a lot nicer than he looks, and we started to spend more time together. I found out about him being a vampire when I was walking in the park and saw him being attacked by two minions."

Willow smiled in remembrance. "He found me later, and we had a talk about how long he'd been a vampire, and did he really care, which I knew some vampires did on account of reading in the watcher's diaries that I'm not supposed to be reading, and umm, point was, we talked, and he really liked me, and I really liked him, so we wanted to get to know more about each other. He's promised not to go killing people unless they're trying to kill him or me first, and he's been sticking to that."

"Are you certain? Not that I'm trying to argue, but are you certain that he is?" Giles wanted Willow to be safe. He had been trained for years not to trust vampires.

"Yes, I'm certain. He didn't even kill Xander when Xander tried to chase him off." Willow looked at Giles, her expression pleading with him to understand. "He loves me Giles. I want to be happy, and if that means David, then so be it. We had several talks about the important things, like him not killing anymore, and not turning me into a vampire unless I agree or am dying right that minute. I wanted someone that could love me."

Giles sighed, pondering her words. "I suppose that you know I don't particularly approve of the idea of you dating a vampire. However, it is your choice, and as long as you are happy and safe, it's not my place to pass judgment on who or what you choose to see. I'm certain that you've heard the speech I keep giving Buffy about the dangers of being involved with a vampire, so I'll save us both the time of going through it again."

He looked at Willow, his expression suddenly serious. "If you wish to date this vampire, that is your choice. As long as you are safe and happy, I will not interfere. If he hurts you, I will hunt him down and make him beg for death."

Willow blinked a bit before suddenly smiling. "Giles, you've just given me the father talk. The one that goes 'no man is good enough for my baby girl, and if he hurts you, I'll kill him'. You really do try to watch out for me." She watched as Giles blushed profusely, and studied his tea.

"I did borrow one of your books." Willow grabbed her backpack and pulled out a thick book bound in dark reddish brown leather. "It's about vampire history and different bloodlines. I wanted to look up his family and see if there were any big surprises that I should know about. It says that that particular bloodline has interesting abilities - he can fly, and that they tend to remain more like their human selves than other bloodlines. They have a high percentage of members that maintain lives amidst mortal society. Giles, do people really still say amidst and amongst in normal conversations? Anyhow, point is, not so scary, normal lives, not a bad guy."

"Well, I am glad to see that you are still being careful about this. Please, be careful and stay safe. That's all I ask." Giles gave his final verdict on the matter.

Willow was feeling a bit better as she left school that day. Giles didn't hate her. Buffy and Xander wanted her to run her life according to them, which was driving her crazy. She really needed a break from it all. Maybe David would have somewhere in mind, they could have a weekend get-away.

end part 10.

Willow had wanted a vacation from Sunnydale. She wanted to go somewhere that nobody would recognize her, somewhere that she and David could have fun and relax without having to worry about demons and slayers. He had grinned at her and asked how she felt about amusement parks. Willow had smiled, and asked if that meant he had an idea in mind. She had packed a bag for the weekend, and they were on their way to Santa Carla.

Willow was looking forward to seeing David's home. He had told her that he had always lived here, both when he as mortal, and after Max had turned him. It had been his home through the good and the bad. Willow hoped it wouldn't bring to many unpleasant memories of his fallen family to mind. This was supposed to be a weekend of fun, not a weekend of trading her frustrations for his painful memories. She had asked him about it, and he had said that as long as he had her with him, the weekend would be great. They could watch the ocean crash into the cliffs.

They were here, finally. They had even found a hotel room, and got their things settled. He did assure her that there weren't the same levels of vampire population that Sunnydale had. David had decided to take her to the amusement park. He planned to take her on the roller coasters so that she would hold on to him, and he could feed her cotton candy so that he could kiss the sticky wisps off her face.

They were on the carousel, with David standing beside Willow, teasing her about being a lady in need of a knight in armor. She was laughing, this was more fun than she had had in a long time. Being here with David was more fun than she had expected an amusement park to be. His eyes were finally loosing some of the shadows of pain that he had carried, and Willow was remembering how to let herself have fun. Neither of them noticed the man with the dark hair and the earring watching them with an expression of horrified recognition.

Eventually, the park closed, and everyone had to leave. Willow and David were still talking about the closing fireworks as they walked towards the cliffs. David was remembering his brothers, Paul and Marco and Dwayne, wondering what they would think of Willow. Would they have liked her? Would they have understood how special she was, the way she lit up a room with her smile? He thought that Dwayne would have liked her depths, the way she could just grasp the meaning of something so easily, and her many layers and facets. Marco would have thought she was the sweetest, nicest person they had ever met. As for Max, he would have been delighted.

"I think my family would have liked you, Willow. Max always did say that I should find a nice girl and settle down." David's voice was full of wistful remembrance. He was hoping that he and Willow could have a long future ahead of them.

"You know, as long as you remember them, keep their memory alive in your heart, your friends are never really gone. That's how I keep the memory of my friend Jesse. Just because someone isn't here with us anymore doesn't mean that we can't remember them. Those we love don't really leave us as long as we keep the memories of them in our hearts. That's something I've had to learn, living in Sunnydale." Willow looked at David, her eyes full of love and compassion. "Feel free to talk to me about your family. They are a part of what made you who you are today."

"Willow, you are one of a kind. I'm a lucky guy to have found you." David smiled at her, enjoying the way she blushed at the least compliment. Maybe the people of Sunnydale hadn't appreciated her, but he would.

Willow fidgeted with her hair, blushing at his compliment. "I think I'm the lucky one. After all, I have you. You're smart, and thoughtful, and you say the sweetest things, and you're gorgeous, and you think I'm pretty, and I've never had anyone else want to spend very much time with me, let alone centuries." They sat on the edge of the cliffs, watching the waves come in, holding hands.

The next night, David took Willow to the cave that he and the others had stayed in, thinking that she'd find the collapsed hotel interesting. She had giggled a bit, and asked if there was a vampire handbook suggesting that vampires in California should find sunken buildings. That had lead to an explanation of the Master, and David had seen her point. Laughing, he just blamed the trend on all the fault lines in California, and asked what the vampires in Florida were supposed to do. As he had expected, Willow had found that funny, and asked if he thought they might ever try to bury themselves in that sand. They had both laughed about that mental image.

David had collected a few of his things from one of the rooms, some clothes, a few books. He also found a dark green glass bottle sitting near a bonfire ring, and had carefully packed that to go with them when they left.

end part 11.

In Sunnydale, Buffy was nearly panicking. Willow was gone. She couldn't find her anywhere, and neither could Xander. They had searched the town, eventually concluding that she was nowhere to be found. There was no sign of her vampire boyfriend either, which made them both even more concerned. Angel had found the two of them sitting in the playground of one of the parks, looking incredibly sad and worried.

"What's wrong? I thought I was the one who was supposed to brood and look tortured?" Angel had no idea what could have them so upset. Xander didn't even rise to the opportunity to insult him.

"Willow's gone. We've looked all over Sunnydale, and called her house, but she's just not here. She's nowhere to be found in Sunnydale. I need to find her so I can grovel."

Xander's answer did clear up a few things for Angel. He was starting to get a suspicion. "You both tried to tell her that she shouldn't date a vampire, and you didn't approve, and what was she thinking, didn't you?"

They both looked surprised and guilty, confirming Angel's guess about what had happened. He sighed, and took a seat. He figured it might take a bit to explain why Willow was probably avoiding them.

"Xander, did you tell Willow that you were dating Cordelia, or did she find out on her own? Was Cordelia Willow's idea of the sort of person that you should date?" Angel decided to start with Xander, it would be easier.

"Umm, no. I didn't really tell anyone, and Wills kinda walked in on us. Cordelia wasn't in my expectations, let alone Willow's, and I definitely remember that Willow wasn't exactly happy with me." Xander was feeling guilty now.

"Did she tell you that you couldn't date Cordelia, or whatever it is you do, because she didn't approve? Did she say, Xander, how could you? Don't you know that Cordelia is bad? I will bet that she didn't. You haven't been talking to her since the factory incident, and it would definitely make her feel left out when of the small circle of people that she used to have, her friend since kindergarten has deserted her for her enemy, her boyfriend has broke up with her, and her only other friend is busy with slaying."

Angel decided to give Xander a bit of time to digest that. "Buffy, how well did you think it would work to tell someone not to date a vampire when you are doing the same thing? I was worried when I heard Xander and Cordelia arguing about Willow's boyfriend, so I asked her about it. His name is David, and he seems to be an okay guy. He won't hurt Willow, and I think he really cares."

"Willow hasn't seen the two of you showing signs of caring what happens to her. That had to hurt, so she's avoiding you. Figure out if your unhappiness at her dating a vampire is worth loosing her friendship." Angel left them sitting there, feeling a bit odd about having to explain the matter to them.

Meanwhile, Willow and David were packing everything up for the trip back to Sunnydale. David seemed a bit more at peace with himself now that he'd had a chance to lay his memories at rest, to deal with his feelings about what had happened. He did seem to be worried about something though.

"David? What's bothering you" Willow figured the only way to find out would be to ask.

After a few minutes of fussing with the luggage, David gave in and told her. "Thinking about your friends in Sunnydale."

Willow kissed him, making sure she had his attention. Looking into his eyes, she spoke to him. "David, I love you. No matter how much they may not like it, that won't change. They aren't going to make me stop seeing you. If they are really my friends, they will adjust to the idea, and deal with it. If not, we can go see the world after I graduate. Either way, you are my future."

end part 12.

Willow and David returned to Sunnydale, both feeling much better after their weekend away. They knew that there would still be some difficulties ahead, but they could overcome them together. David had finally come to terms with his memories, letting some of the pain and grief of their loss fade. Willow was still nervous about what her friends would think, but knew that she could cope without them. Angel and Giles had agreed to let her live her life, not trying to convince her to leave David.

They had decided that it was worth all the challenges and trials to share their love, and to have each other. They had found in each other a balance, each offering the other something that helped them, strengthening and supporting each other. Together, they were more balanced, and stronger than they were apart. David helped Willow to be more confidant, to have faith in herself and her abilities, while she had helped him to become more compassionate, less violent.

Willow was less than attentive at school Monday. Fortunately, as it was nearly the end of the year, she didn't have to much to worry about with her classes. She was a bit concerned when Buffy asked to have a word with her in the library after school. What did she want? Could it be that she had decided not to try to run Willow's life? The only way to find out would be to go talk with her, and probably Xander.

Willow entered the library, uncertain what to expect. "Hello?"

Buffy and Xander were waiting in the library, looking tense and worried about something. Xander looked up from his search of the doughnut box, smiling hopefully when he saw Willow. He moved towards her, and seized her hand, leaving faint traces of powdered sugar on her fingers.

"Willow, I am so incredibly sorry that I haven't been a good friend to you lately. I should have told you about me and Cordelia from the beginning, you shouldn't have had to find out by seeing it. I was an idiot not to talk to you about my life, and an even bigger idiot to try to blame everything on you. We abandoned you and tried to blame you for everything, and it was as much or more my fault than yours, and I'm really, really sorry." Here Xander paused, mainly to try to catch his breath. He had just made a run on near babble statement, like Willow usually made.

"You were right, we, I shouldn't have spied on your boyfriend to find out what was going on, I should have talked to you, been there for you, and it was wrong and bad and untrusting of me. Did I mention that I'm sorry? I don't have the right to tell you that you can't date someone, but I was really, really worried that you'd get hurt, and I didn't know what I'd do if you were hurt. I'm groveling in abject misery here, trying to apologize for being a lame friend." Xander was looking at Willow with his best, most desperate Sad Puppy Look, hoping that she could forgive him.

Buffy took advantage of Xander's quiet to voice her own apology. "I guess I don't really have any room to tell you not to see a vampire, and you aren't answerable to me about who you date as long as he makes you happy and isn't killing people. I'm very sorry for being a bad friend, and I guess I shouldn't try to stake your boyfriend. Can you forgive us?"

Willow smiled through eyes gone misty with tears, trying unsuccessfully to keep them in her eyes. She failed, and a single tear trickled down her cheek. "You guys are my friends, practically my family. I can forgive you. Just, don't ignore me like that, please. Not staking my boyfriend is definitely a good friendly thing to do, Buffy. I know you aren't happy that I'm seeing David, but I love him. He makes me happy. I want you to know that he has a place in my heart and my future, and you have to be able to deal with that."

Xander hugged Willow, feeling almost dizzy with relief that she was willing to forgive him. He had his friend back, and she would give him another chance. All he had to do was get used to her having her very own deadboy, err let her have her own unexpected other, like he had Cordelia. It was worth it, he just hoped that now that Willow had forgiven him, her boyfriend wouldn't pull anymore freaky mind tricks on him.

Giles watched as the teens he had come to think of as his family hugged and smiled. They had managed to talk about things, and it seemed that their friendship had survived this latest development. He was glad that their family, odd as it might be, was whole again.



end part 13.

end Family Rebuilt.