CHAPTER 4

Later that night, or rather very early the next morning, Willow was staring up at the ceiling of her and Buffy's dorm room picturing kittens scrambling over a large white fence. Traditionally she knew that one was supposed to picture sheep, but sheep, being of the four legged barnyard animal family, where very similar to horses if one stopped to think about it. Not rest full at all. Of course, seeing as the digital red 1 had just become a 2, kittens weren't very restful either, cute and cuddly but not dreamland material.

Plaintively exhaling a large puff of air Willow yanked at the collar of her PJ top irritably. She was wearing a plain cotton t-shirt and it just didn't feel right; her oversized jersey was at Tara's dorm. It always felt silky and cool against her skin whereas the cotton just made her hotter.

Being away from Tara didn't feel right, period. The dark walls, the scent of candles blending with herbs, the twinkling lights… the tingle of magical energy, the warm burning she felt when she was even in the same room as Tara…. Ugh, Willow was never going to be able to get to sleep.

"I should just go over there," Willow muttered aloud. "I should just get up and go. Well maybe put some real clothes on first. Only a short walk and I'll be there. I mean it's not like I'm going to get to sleep here so staying would be totally unproductive. And I need rest; classes tomorrow. Classes taught by Mysteries Inc.! Well, class. But, wow! And I should be rested, so I should go to Tara. I can just tell Buffy about them tomorrow. She'll probably stay with Riley after patrol anyway. So nothing's stopping me from going. Just my two stupid feet which aren't walking. So, going now."

Knocking back the sheets Willow reluctantly slide her bare feet onto the chilly floor. She was about to stand up when the door swung open and Buffy flipped on the over head light.

"I'll just grab-" she was saying to Riley, who followed her in. "Willow! You're here. I didn't think you would be here, kinda figured you'd be at Tara's. I'm sooo sorry."

"I am, I mean, I was about to get dressed and go over there. I was planning to tell you about Mysteries Inc. but I didn't think you'd be back. And, well, I had trouble sleeping."

Buffy made an 'aww' face as Willow blushed and plowed on.

"So, you bring Riley here while I'm in my pajamas. Totally not embarrassing at all. Nope, very not embarrassed right here."

"I'll just wait outside then," Riley said. He shut the door gently behind him.

"So are you going back to his place?" Willow asked as she changed into jeans and a green top with quarter length flare sleeves.

"Nah, I was actually going to stop back home and sneak Dawn's present into the house."

Willow grinned and stuck her fingers through the wire cage so the present could inspect them. She giggled as the bunny's twitchy nose brushed against them. "I'm going to miss him," Willow said in half baby talk. She stroked the charcoal fur with her pointer finger and withdrew her hand. "But not too much, 'cause, y'know, wrath of the RA, if she finds him, might be considered apocalypse-y." She paused. "We're still having that Scooby meeting at your house tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Giles found this new demon thing."

"Cool. I hope you don't mind but when we walked Shaggy and Scooby Doo-"

"How did that go?" Buffy interjected.

"Great!" Willow's eyes lit up with her enthusiasm, causing the dark green to literally sparkle. "Well, maybe not 'great' 'cause, you know, vampire attack not really 'great.'" Seeing Buffy's look of confusion Willow started to launch into an explanation. "After Shaggy asked Tara out," Willow's lips twisted.

"WHAT? He asked her out! Oh Will', what did you do to him?"

"Nothing! Really. Well, I might have gotten a little possessive and large with the butch…. Anyway after that a vampire attacked Shaggy right outside the hotel. I knocked him off Shaggy. But then Daphne and Velma showed up and Tara froze the Vamp when he went after Daphne, who staked him. They where so cool! I invited them to the Scooby meeting. Is that okay?"

Buffy looked away. The look on Willow's face could have been described as puppy-dog eyes, except it wasn't deliberate. Internally, Buffy suppressed a sigh. It was just that adding others to the mix, like Faith or the Incentive, never worked out. With effort, Buffy pushed the territorial part of her nature in the background. "Yeah sure Will, its fine."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I know how enthusiastic you guys are about Mysteries Inc." Buffy tried to sound excited. "And I would kinda like to meet them too; compare notes."

"Thank you," Willow said, giving Buffy an excited hug.