Chapter 11

Two pizzas and a lot of soda later, Buffy got up to use the bathroom. Her nerves were going haywire, with Will just sitting down there, barely touching her skin with the lightest of touches. She shut the door behind her, and stared into the mirror. Her skin was flushed, as she knew it would be. Reaching into her makeup drawer, Buffy pulled out some powder, and quickly brushed it over her skin. Next, she put on some more deodorant, just to be safe, and then sprayed her self with Vanilla Bean body spray. Taking another minute to breath, she flushed the toilet, and left the room.

While she was in the bathroom, Will had slipped down to a laying position on the couch, and he smiled up at her in his natural cocky look. He slid over enough that she could squeeze onto the edge with his arm under her. Buffy tugged at her lip for a moment, then just overcame her nervousness, and slid onto the couch. Will's arms immediately surrounded her waist possessively.

Buffy stiffened for a brief moment, then relaxed against him. She felt his nose nuzzling against her hair, and could feel his warm breath against her skin. As the second movie of the night played on, Buffy let her eyes drift shut, so she could imagine what it would feel like to sleep with his arms snuggly tightened around her, as they were now. To feel his warm soothing breath against her ear like this, and to feel his body as he wiggled and moved behind her.

Will watched the movie for a moment, and then let his eyes shut as his hand rubbed warming circles on her belly. She felt like heaven in his arms, just as he knew she would. She was vanilla and warm cookies, sweet strawberries, and tart cherries all in one. And God help him, he wanted her like he had never wanted another person before. He wanted her to be his.

The movie ended all to soon, and Buffy found herself not wanting to budge at all, but she did sit up, and then forced her legs to stand. Willow was half asleep in the chair, and Xander was looking tired as well, on the floor in front of the chair. She walked over and flipped the TV off, and glanced back at the sleepy crew.

"Willow, you planning on going to your parents, or what?" Buffy asked softly as she looked on the sleepy girl.

Yawning, Willow sat up and glanced at the clock. It was already after midnight, and she was tired. "I didn't tell my parents I would be in town, and I'm kinda not wanting to drive home. Don't suppose you guys would let me crash here, would ya?"

Chuckling, Buffy nodded. "You can take my bed, I'll sleep down here." She started walking up the stairs, Willow right behind her, when Will spoke up.

"Buffy, I can take the couch, Willow, you can use my bed, it's clean, I promise. Besides, Buffy, you have to work tomorrow, and I don't. Wouldn't want your muscles all achy.

Buffy glanced at Willow, who just shrugged sleepily, and nodded. "Ok, then, come on, I got jammies for you." The two girls disappeared up the steps, leaving Xander and Will downstairs.

"So, what's the deal with you and Buffy?" Xander's voice was quiet as he spoke, so as not to let the girls over hear.

"I don't really know yet, whelp. I really don't know yet." Xander stood up and stretched before looking towards the blond, and nodding curtly.

"You hurt her, and…" He left the rest unsaid.

"I know, Xander. I can promise you, I'd never intentionally do anything to hurt her." Xander studied the young man in front of him for another moment, then nodded again, and left the room. William went into his room, and cleared off the bed for Willow, before grabbing a pair of thick black cotton boxers and a black tee shirt from his drawers. As he came out, Willow was walking down the stairs, clad in a pair of Buffy's flannel pajama bottoms and a tank top.

She passed Will and winked with an embarrassed laugh. "Buffy wanted to know if you guys could talk for a bit before you go to bed. She's upstairs waiting for you."

Willow disappeared into the bathroom, and shut the door with a soft click as Will watched her. He turned his head towards the loft, and stared up at the canvas wall she had created. Tossing the boxer shorts and a blanket onto the couch, he took a deep breath and calmed his nerves. After another moment, he started up the steps, and paused just before the top. It's now or never, he thought as he took in a deep breath, and crossed the threshold into her room.

She was lying on the bed, clad in a blue camisole top and matching baggy drawstring pants with small fish printed on them. Her hair was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail at the nape of her neck. When she heard him, Buffy looked up and smiled shyly to him.

"Hey," she said tenderly when he lingered near the stairs still. "I thought maybe we should talk, because… well, I just thought it would be best if we cleared up this thing." Buffy was nervously twisting her hands together in her lap as she talked in her gentle voice.

He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans, and watched her as he leaned his trim frame against the wall. "Yeah, I s'pose that's a good idea, pet." Will kept his eyes trained on her as she stood up from the bed to walk over to him. She was so tiny, he thought, barely comes up to my chin. All that feistiness and passion in one small body. Without realizing it, he had begun to grin at his thoughts, and at this girl standing before him.

Once she reached him, Buffy looked up, a twinkle in her eye as she regarded the grin on his face. "So? What is this thing?" She was hesitant to give it a label. Buffy knew all to well that he wasn't ready for a relationship with her yet, if their conversation the other night was any indication.

"Well, ducks, I guess it depends on you." His heart felt like it was going to burst through his chest it was beating so hard. He took in a slow deep breath in an attempt to calm the racing organ, but it was doing little good. Will felt the sweat pooling on his forehead as he waited on her.

"M- me?" She stuttered out quickly as her eyes opened wide. "What do you mean, on me? You mean I have to decide?" She knew she was rambling, as her nervous habit of pacing and rambling took over. Her hands were tossing in the air as she paced around in front of him, quietly going onto a litany of sentences, all of which were aimed at her self. "He expects me to tell him where he stands with me? What like I'm supposed to figure it all out? I mean, sure, I know how I feel, but-"

Will reached out and quickly put a stop to the pacing. Her eyes shot up to his as she recalled that he was in the room. Hot blood rushed to her cheeks as she replayed her 'thoughts' in her head. "Oh, god, I was talking out loud, wasn't I?" At his nod, she ducked her head, only to have his finger pull her chin back up until she was looking in his eyes.

"Buffy, would you like to go out with me tomorrow night, after work? Dinner and movie, and all that rot?" Will kept his voice low as he stared into her eyes, losing himself in the depths he found there. Slowly, the blush abated, and she was left with a shy smile on her lips.

"I think I would like that, Will." He smiled then, a relieved smile, and bent down to kiss her tenderly on the forehead.

"Right then. Off to bed with you, you need to get some sleep before work." Will said as he stepped back away from her, and without another word, slipped quickly down the steps, his steps light and bouncy. Will grabbed up his boxers and disappeared into the bathroom. From the top of the stairs, Buffy watched in bewilderment that he had left her.