A/N: From now on, when I'm talking about young Willow I'll call her Will, when it's older Willow I'll just call her Willow. That's for me, for the text, not for dialogue. The characters will of course call them different things. I'm just doing this so I won't have to go young Willow and Willow. Too confusing. So it's Will and Willow. Aaand the language part of the rating for this fic comes in here. I know the past few chapters haven't even been PG-13, but it'll come in more throughout the fic.
The first week Willow lived in the past was incredibly lonely. Sure, she had Xander, Cordelia, herself (though that was still taking an extreme amount of time to get used to), and Angel, but it wasn't the same. She missed her life, Dawn, older Giles and Xander, and, good god, she even missed Spike. No, not even missed Spike, especially missed Spike. She hadn't realized how close they had grown in those few months, but they really had. Her only comfort was she'd see Spike soon enough, on the night of St. Vigeous. Unfortunately, for the most part that wasn't a comfort, seeing as he would be evil, not recognize her, and try to kill her.
After the first week of feeling absolutely miserable for herself, Willow gained a new outlook on things. Sure, she was living in a twisted past that was not like she remembered at all, but she could change things. Already Angel losing his soul was changed, after all, there was no one for him to experience perfect happiness with. Along with that, Jenny and Kendra's lives would be saved. There were so many other things, though, that she could change, such as stopping young Willow from making the mistake of kissing Xander, stopping Spike from kidnapping her, on and on the list went.
Her new plan of changing everything made Willow a lot more positive. Giles hired Willow as his assistant, and even though Snyder refused at first—"A librarian needing an assistant? For what, helping you sit and relax all day, watching the dust pile on the books?"—Giles eventually made Snyder see his ways. Along with a little bit of money from Angel, just for starters, she was able to move into a small apartment. Angel offered to buy her necessary objects (kitchen appliances, television, bookshelves, bed, etc.) and some new clothes, and Willow grudgingly accepted, even though she hated borrowing money from Angel. Willow knew, however, that her brief period of happiness would not last long. Sooner or later, the next baddie would come, and she would be expected to take care of it.
"So, are we Bronze-ing it tonight?" Xander asked one day a few weeks after Willow had arrived.
"Yeah, of course, what kind of day would it be without the Bronze?" Cordelia asked, flipping through the pages of a book.
"Oh… I can't," Will said, frowning.
"Why not, Will?" Willow asked. "It wouldn't be the same if you weren't there."
Will smiled but still looked incredibly unhappy. "I volunteered to help out with the Parent-Teacher Night," she explained. "So I have to work on it tonight."
"That's our Will, doing work when she doesn't have to," Xander said, but Willow barely heard him.
No, oh no, the night of St. Vigeous!
"Fuck," she whispered.
"The Night of St. Vigeous," Giles announced as he and Jenny entered the room.
"It's this Saturday," Jenny added.
No it's not, Willow remembered. Spike got impatient. Moved it up to Parent-Teacher night. Well, she began to think hopefully, maybe Spike is different this time! She sighed, knowing it was futile. Spike would come and ruin Parent-Teacher night completely and try to kill her.
"Vigeous led crusades of vampires through…everywhere and no one survived," Willow finished. "I know." At Giles odd look, she added, "I read a lot. Found it when researching Wicca. So," she continued. "someone's going to be leading vampires through Sunnydale and destroying everything in their path."
Giles nodded, affirming her sum of the situation.
"So what do we do? W-what can we do?" Will asked, biting her lip nervously.
"Prepare," Willow answered simply. "Research, whittle stakes, you know, the basics."
Yet inside Willow secretly knew that more research and stakes would not be enough to stop Spike.
Willow tossed her keys on the small end table and shut her door. She draped her coat over the couch and turned to the kitchen to find a vampire standing right next to her.
"Angel!" she scolded, backing away. "You startled me."
He shrugged and gave a half-smile to her. "What took you so long at the library? Is there any new thing we have to fight?"
"Why are you here anyways?" Willow frowned.
Angel blushed slightly and looked away. "I was… worried about you. You've been avoiding me."
Willow furrowed her brow. "I have not! And anyways," Willow continued, before Angel could say anything, "the night of St. Vigeous is coming this Saturday."
Angel stared at her in shock. "You're sure?"
Willow nodded her confirmation and added nonchalantly, "And guess who's leading it?"
Angel looked blankly at her.
"Spike."
The mere word sent a shiver through Willow. "Spike. How do you know?"
"Trust me," Willow chuckled, "when I say that I know."
"Rose… Spike is going to be hard to go against—"
"Yeah, he's almost as bad as Angelus," Willow informed Angel who raised his eyebrows at his demon half's mention. "And Angelus never defeated a slayer. Spike killed the 2 that he's encountered."
"You never cease to amaze me with you knowledge," Angel commented.
Willow flushed. "Yeah, well, I read a lot." Willow headed over to her bedroom.
"Where are you going?" Angel called after her.
"My room, I need to get changed. We're going to the Bronze tonight," Willow answered. "You can come if you want."
Bodies pressed up against each other, music pounding away, the feeling as if he was being suffocated? "I'll pass."
Willow smiled, knowing that would be his answer. "All right, I'll see you tomorrow then."
And with that, she shut her door, leaving Angel alone with his thoughts.