A/N 1 : So glad everyone seemed to approve of my big Spuffy chapter! I really enjoyed writing it and I'm really pleased that you all enjoyed reading it. Here is a shorter chapter to get Willow and Xander together because I think that they belong with each other...what do you think?
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 22 - Finally... (2)
"So..." Xander drew out the word, glancing between the red-head beside him and the table he was sitting at.
"So..." Willow said in a similar way, looking more at the table than the guy she was talking to.
"You wanted to talk to me Will" Xander prompted "and now you're all like 'quiet-as-a-mouse girl'. What's the deal?" he asked, trying to see her face as she kept her head down.
"Well..." she began, unsure how to say all that she wanted too.
"Come on Will, 'fess up" Xander urged "You know you can tell me anything, we're best buds" he grinned, giving her a friendly shove with his elbow.
"Well maybe I'm tired of being your 'best bud' Xander" she suddenly snapped, and her friend looked quite taken aback as she pulled herself up in her seat and looked straight at him "I'm a gir...a woman, God dammit" she amended "and I wanna be treated like one! I want you to notice me and I want.."
"I do notice you Will and I think you're incredible" Xander told her honestly, but now in full flow Willow barely heard him.
"No, let me finish, I want..." she continued before his words finally sunk in "hold on, what did you just say?"
"I said I do notice you, and you're incredible" he repeated, smiling warmly at her and making her face heat up.
"Oh" was all she could manage to say as she went red as her hair, her focus going straight back to the table top where she considered it safest to look. Her hands fidgeted on the table in front of her until another hand came across and landed on top of them.
"Willow" Xander gained her attention again "we've been best friends since kindergarten, so, when we got older, well, it took me a while to notice that, hey, you're a girl" he laughed at himself more than anything else, at just how blind he'd really been.
"Why?" Willow asked in earnest "You always seemed to notice Buffy was a girl"
"No, no, now you see you have it all wrong!" the brunette shook his head in protest "I hung around Buffy when we were kids cos she was tough, the makings of a little Slayer and all, I guess, she was good for protection" he admitted "not that I didn't like her as a person too, cos I did" he defended himself "I did and I do..okay, I'm babbling again" he inwardly cursed himself for being his usual idiot self but Willow, as usual, just thought it was cute.
"Yes, you are babbling" she agreed with a smile "like a brook, actually...but Buffy" she said seriously "you look at her, I've seen you, y'know that way that guys look at girls...y'know, and you seem really jealous of Spike" she looked like she might cry and Xander hated to see it, hated to know he'd caused her to feel so bad when he cared for her so much.
"Okay, I'm not jealous of Spike" he assured her "not that way, I just want to protect my friend from a potential heart-breaker and the guy is just annoying" Xander sneered a little before getting back to the point "And the other stuff is just a physical thing, Will. I don't know how, but Buffy came back from visiting her Dad in LA one summer and she was just like totally babealicious..." he closed his eyes in horror "and please don't ever let me use that hideous word again" Willow nodded, assuring him she wouldn't let him and he continued "but I was never 'in love' with Buffy, she's just fun to drool on" he grinned in the way that only he could.
"And I'm not?" Willow looked a little hurt, and pulled her hand from his.
"Yes, no, I mean..." Xander sighed on frustration "y'know I'm pretty sure this is a trick question cos whichever way I answer it's gonna come out offensive and you're gonna get mad at me"
"I can't ever get really mad at you Xander..." she told him and off the face he made she amended "okay so maybe occasionally, but...I still love you, I..I'm in love with you" she finally said it out loud and then looked away immediately "and I know you'll never feel that kind of love for me but..."
The red-heads possible ramble was abruptly cut off as her lips were no longer free to move. Xander's own lips were upon hers and he was kissing her in a way she couldn't have dreamt of if she'd tried - it was simply incredible. When they finally came up for air the girl that usually had all the vocabulary on the tip of her tongue could only find one fairly unintelligent word.
"Wow"
"Yeah" Xander breathed.
Finally feeling she had her bearings back and both enough oxygen and words to form a sentence, Willow opened her mouth to speak.
"Why did you...?" she began before shaking her head "Actually, I don't think I care" she decided, before putting her hand up behind Xander's head and pulling him into another passionate kiss.
A while later when more oxygen was needed on both sides, Xander had a chance to answer the question he knew was in Willow's head, even if she said she didn't care about the answer.
"Because you gave me the courage, like you always do" he told her "I've wanted to do that for sooo long"
"Me too" she giggled.
"Truth is" Xander said, picking Willow's hand up from the table once again "I'm in love with you too, Will" he looked into her eyes as he continued "I think I have been for a long time now, and I know I always will be"
The smile on the witch's face couldn't have got any wider if she'd have tried to make it so, those words were all she ever wanted to hear and now she'd heard them.
"Enough words now" she said with a shy smile.
"Yeah" her 'boyfriend' agreed with a nod, before the kissing resumed once again.
To Be Continued...
A/N2: Everyone seems happy now, but will it last? Few more chapters yet, including much W/X and Spuffy! Hope you continue to enjoy the story and don't forget to review please ;-)
