Buffy was now officially worried and more than a little
scared.
The feeling of unease had first started the night before when she had returned from a rather hectic night of slaying to find that the dorm room she shared with Willow was empty and that Willows' bed had not been sat on, let alone slept in, since that morning. Her tired brain had brushed away these first worries, informing her that Willow had done this a few times before, especially since Oz's things had been sent for. She was no doubt in the now empty flat remembering the times she had spent there with him, torturing herself with those happy memories. Through her own experience with Angel she knew how much it had to hurt her friend but knew that all she could really do to help would be to lend a shoulder and her support. There was no such thing as a quick fix. Willow would be back by first light and in need of a friend who could stay awake and help keep her thoughts from straying towards any boyfriend related memories. Her thoughts had then gone the way of her tired body and had allowed themselves to succumb to the siren call of sleep.
Upon waking and finding her friends bed still remained as untouched as it had the night before Buffy had almost panicked, but saw the clock as she reached for the phone to call the police, Xander, Giles and everyone else who might have an idea as where Willow might be. The clock that clearly showed she had ten minutes before the start of her first lecture that day: Psychology 101, a lecture series that both she and Willow went to. Willow, with her fear of academic failure, was always at the required lecture halls early so she didn't miss anything and could get a better seat. Obviously Willow had come back and finding her friend still asleep and not having the heart to awaken her, even with her own distress, had already left to get to the lecture. Alternatively kicking herself for being a lousy oversleeper who was not there for her friend and thanking slayer speed she hurriedly washed, dressed and ran to the lecture arriving just in time to catch the door as it swung closed behind professor Walsh.
By the time that she had looked over the gathered students and realized that Willow was not among them the lecture had started and Buffy was forced to throw herself down in the first available chair and pretend to take an interest in the lecture while her mind thought up reasons why her friend was not present. Even when Oz left she hadn't missed one lecture, though it was clear to everyone present at the time that her thoughts were not really on the speakers words as she sat unusually quiet and unresponsive during the talks. The reasons the slayers mind came up with for her absence started becoming more and more horrific and terrifying.
That had been five, she again glanced at her watch, no six minutes ago and she was now so worried that she was more than willing to risk Walsh's wrath, and already low opinion of her grades, to walk out of the lecture and start a search party. The sound of the door being pushed open caused her to snap her head round to the door; her hair, flying out at the sudden movement, almost hit the girl she had ended up sitting next to. The cry of 'Hey!' this near-miss produced was completely ignored by the fearful blond as she looked at the small group of late students that hurried in apologizing and trying not to get caught in Walsh's glare of annoyance at being interrupted. Willow was not amongst them.
Sighing in a mixture of disappointment and growing concern Buffy began to slump back into her seat when the door slamming back on its' hinges caused her to whip round to face the door again. Her hair caused another slightly more annoyed 'Hey!' from her neighbour: who was wishing that the blond would sit anywhere else as long as it was far, far away from her, while her eyes fixed to the panting figure who had just burst through the doors. The girl who had just entered was wearing tight black leggings that had scrunched up so they only came to just below her knees, white trainers, and an oversized pink jumper, which, in its ruffled state, almost seemed to want to bury her in its' fluffy depths. Her short, crimson-bronze hair, a rather striking feature against the girls pale skin, stuck out at odd angles that told of a lot of time styling or a lot of running, Buffy suspected the latter, as the newcomer seemed to be flushed and short of breath, and wondered who this could be. When the girl got her breath back enough to look up properly, and gasp a small 'sorry.' in the direction of the irritate professor, Buffy almost fell of her chair in shock as she realized that the late arrival was in fact Willow. Yep. That creeping blush as she saw everyone staring at her confirmed it, that was indeed Willow.
Willow felt herself growing suddenly hotter as she noticed everyone staring at her and knew that she was beginning to blush.
You are an idiot, Rosenberg. What were you thinking charging in like that? I mean destructo girl entrances are so, so not the way avoid bring attention to yourself. From the look on Buffy's face she is totally wigging out over. Hey! She didn't save me a seat. I would have saved one for her. Oh, she probably overslept and . Oh, I bet she total freaked when she saw I hadn't gotten back this morning. Guilt. I'll have.
"Miss Rosenberg, if you would kindly take a seat so we can continue."
Brought back to reality by Professor Walsh's politely phrased command Willow blushed again thinking what she must look like standing there in the miss-matched clothing doing nothing while her internal babble had been run it's course.
"Miss Rosenberg."
With a small 'eep' of embarrassment she felt herself blush even redder than before and quickly ran up the stairs to a seat at the back of the room away from the staring faces of her obviously amused classmates giving Buffy what she hoped was a reassuring smile as she hurried past and clearly noting the look Buffy gave her in return. Willow slid quickly into a vacant chair at the back trying to think of what to tell her friend about the previous nights events when Buffy got her alone later. That thought also reminded her that she had better see about getting a cleaning company round to her house before her parents arrived back and totally flipped over the wreck she had created out of her once orderly room. Better make it a discrete cleaning service, and, all things considered, she didn't think Buffy would react well to that small detail. Better to leave the part about the spell out altogether, too many complications all-round as it was.
The feeling of unease had first started the night before when she had returned from a rather hectic night of slaying to find that the dorm room she shared with Willow was empty and that Willows' bed had not been sat on, let alone slept in, since that morning. Her tired brain had brushed away these first worries, informing her that Willow had done this a few times before, especially since Oz's things had been sent for. She was no doubt in the now empty flat remembering the times she had spent there with him, torturing herself with those happy memories. Through her own experience with Angel she knew how much it had to hurt her friend but knew that all she could really do to help would be to lend a shoulder and her support. There was no such thing as a quick fix. Willow would be back by first light and in need of a friend who could stay awake and help keep her thoughts from straying towards any boyfriend related memories. Her thoughts had then gone the way of her tired body and had allowed themselves to succumb to the siren call of sleep.
Upon waking and finding her friends bed still remained as untouched as it had the night before Buffy had almost panicked, but saw the clock as she reached for the phone to call the police, Xander, Giles and everyone else who might have an idea as where Willow might be. The clock that clearly showed she had ten minutes before the start of her first lecture that day: Psychology 101, a lecture series that both she and Willow went to. Willow, with her fear of academic failure, was always at the required lecture halls early so she didn't miss anything and could get a better seat. Obviously Willow had come back and finding her friend still asleep and not having the heart to awaken her, even with her own distress, had already left to get to the lecture. Alternatively kicking herself for being a lousy oversleeper who was not there for her friend and thanking slayer speed she hurriedly washed, dressed and ran to the lecture arriving just in time to catch the door as it swung closed behind professor Walsh.
By the time that she had looked over the gathered students and realized that Willow was not among them the lecture had started and Buffy was forced to throw herself down in the first available chair and pretend to take an interest in the lecture while her mind thought up reasons why her friend was not present. Even when Oz left she hadn't missed one lecture, though it was clear to everyone present at the time that her thoughts were not really on the speakers words as she sat unusually quiet and unresponsive during the talks. The reasons the slayers mind came up with for her absence started becoming more and more horrific and terrifying.
That had been five, she again glanced at her watch, no six minutes ago and she was now so worried that she was more than willing to risk Walsh's wrath, and already low opinion of her grades, to walk out of the lecture and start a search party. The sound of the door being pushed open caused her to snap her head round to the door; her hair, flying out at the sudden movement, almost hit the girl she had ended up sitting next to. The cry of 'Hey!' this near-miss produced was completely ignored by the fearful blond as she looked at the small group of late students that hurried in apologizing and trying not to get caught in Walsh's glare of annoyance at being interrupted. Willow was not amongst them.
Sighing in a mixture of disappointment and growing concern Buffy began to slump back into her seat when the door slamming back on its' hinges caused her to whip round to face the door again. Her hair caused another slightly more annoyed 'Hey!' from her neighbour: who was wishing that the blond would sit anywhere else as long as it was far, far away from her, while her eyes fixed to the panting figure who had just burst through the doors. The girl who had just entered was wearing tight black leggings that had scrunched up so they only came to just below her knees, white trainers, and an oversized pink jumper, which, in its ruffled state, almost seemed to want to bury her in its' fluffy depths. Her short, crimson-bronze hair, a rather striking feature against the girls pale skin, stuck out at odd angles that told of a lot of time styling or a lot of running, Buffy suspected the latter, as the newcomer seemed to be flushed and short of breath, and wondered who this could be. When the girl got her breath back enough to look up properly, and gasp a small 'sorry.' in the direction of the irritate professor, Buffy almost fell of her chair in shock as she realized that the late arrival was in fact Willow. Yep. That creeping blush as she saw everyone staring at her confirmed it, that was indeed Willow.
Willow felt herself growing suddenly hotter as she noticed everyone staring at her and knew that she was beginning to blush.
You are an idiot, Rosenberg. What were you thinking charging in like that? I mean destructo girl entrances are so, so not the way avoid bring attention to yourself. From the look on Buffy's face she is totally wigging out over. Hey! She didn't save me a seat. I would have saved one for her. Oh, she probably overslept and . Oh, I bet she total freaked when she saw I hadn't gotten back this morning. Guilt. I'll have.
"Miss Rosenberg, if you would kindly take a seat so we can continue."
Brought back to reality by Professor Walsh's politely phrased command Willow blushed again thinking what she must look like standing there in the miss-matched clothing doing nothing while her internal babble had been run it's course.
"Miss Rosenberg."
With a small 'eep' of embarrassment she felt herself blush even redder than before and quickly ran up the stairs to a seat at the back of the room away from the staring faces of her obviously amused classmates giving Buffy what she hoped was a reassuring smile as she hurried past and clearly noting the look Buffy gave her in return. Willow slid quickly into a vacant chair at the back trying to think of what to tell her friend about the previous nights events when Buffy got her alone later. That thought also reminded her that she had better see about getting a cleaning company round to her house before her parents arrived back and totally flipped over the wreck she had created out of her once orderly room. Better make it a discrete cleaning service, and, all things considered, she didn't think Buffy would react well to that small detail. Better to leave the part about the spell out altogether, too many complications all-round as it was.