A/N here's the next chapter, I hope you all like this one. It's setting things up to move along.

Chapter 6

Britney sat on the sofa with a sobbing Willow in her arms. She hated seeing what the girl was going through but knew all to well the sacrifices that had to be made in such a case as coming out. The pain was evident on Willow's face and expounded further with her many tears but Britney knew that all she could do was be there for her. She couldn't take the pain away nor minimize it by any means but hoped that having her there for support would help Willow in some way. At least Willow had someone there for her unlike Britney, who had to face the human monsters on her own. She didn't have a steady girlfriend when she came out, thus didn't have the shoulder of an experienced lesbian to lean on.

"I'm so sorry Willow," Britney said ever so softly and stroked her fingers through the redhead's hair. "If I could have stopped you from having to go through this I would have." She continued and placed a gentle kiss on Willow's lips. "Maybe he'll come around and just isn't handling the shock of it in a good way." Britney further spoke to try to ease her lover's anguish.

"I love you Britney," Willow said in her classic high-pitched voice that was tinged with sorrow. "I can't believe that he did this to me though. I understand if he can't accept me for being a lesbian but to cause others to hurt me mentally, that's just not like Xander." Willow said and buried her face in the woman's shoulder. "I feel like I lost the only real family that I ever had." Willow said as Britney held her more tightly.

"I know exactly how you feel Willow." Britney said, lifted Willow's chin up to meet hers and kissed her lovingly. "I love you too Willow," the woman spoke in a soft soothing voice, as she placed gentle kisses on Willow's neck. "I'm so happy that you are in my life but sad that it has caused you such pain." The words continued to be spoken just above a whisper, as the kissing became more passionate. "You are such a beautiful person on the inside and out and don't deserve the treatment that you have been subjected to." Britney pulled the redhead as close as she could get her and deepened the kisses. "Are you up for this Willow?" She asked and pulled back slightly.

"I think that's your favorite pastime," Willow said and allowed a small smile to appear on her tired face. "I feel safe and loved when your holding me and kissing me Britney. I'm so glad that you came to my table that night." Willow said and kissed her girlfriend.

"I think it's my second favorite pastime Willow." Britney said as she stood up and gathered the redhead in her arms. "My all time favorite pastime is spending every second that I can with you."

- - - - -

Buffy stood outside the coffee shop with a dazed look on her face. Her plan was to find a way to fix Willow and Xander's friendship but those heartbreaking words that Xander forced Willow to say ended all prospect of that. She knew that Willow was put on the spot by Xander and he was in the wrong for doing that but she couldn't help but wonder what more could have been done. She wished that Riley was there to comfort her and make her feel better about the situation but he wasn't. In fact, he was often times absent when Buffy truly needed a shoulder.

"Are you all right?" Harmony asked as she walked out of the coffee shop. The look on Buffy's face was one of utter devastation, so much that it actually made Harmony feel concerned for the broken slayer.

Buffy looked at the blonde who, oddly enough, had supported Willow during her crushing meeting with Xander. "I will be," Buffy added somberly. "I just don't like seeing my friends hurting like that."

Harmony was never one to care about how others felt or the extent of their personal problems but she felt bad for Buffy. "Well, maybe they'll work it out. I mean, how many people does Xander truly have to choose between for a best friend?" Her words came out in true Cordette style but she meant well.

Buffy looked thoughtfully at the blonde and shook her head. On any other day, she would have been ready to pummel the snob for saying such things about one of her friends. Today however, she didn't care how badly Xander Harris was bashed. "I just need a shower and a long nap." Buffy replied in a tired voice.

"Would you like a ride?" Harmony asked and pointed to a snazzy sports car.

"Thanks," Buffy said and followed the cheerleader to her car. "Thanks for giving me a little moral support back there also. You would have been the last person that I would have thought would have done that." Buffy said with a tight smile on her face.

"Stranger things have happened I guess." Harmony said as she pulled into Buffy's drive.

"I don't think that I will need that nap if you wanna wait a few minutes?" Buffy asked with an idea forming. Riley's absence was ever growing of late and she wanted to find out why. She knew that Joyce wouldn't let her take the car and he would never suspect that she was in Harmony's car, if the cheerleader would give her a ride.

"Sure," Harmony said and got out of the car.

"Hey mom," Buffy said and waved Harmony to take a seat while she showered. "This is Harmony Kendall and I need a quick shower."

Joyce smiled at the teenager and offered her a glass of ice tea. "I think your mother has shopped at my art gallery." Joyce said in an effort to make small talk.

"She loves art so I'm sure that she does." Harmony said and accepted the tea that Joyce offered her. "My dad says that she will have to get a second job because she buys so much of it." Harmony added, as Joyce sat down next to her.

- - - -

Xander meandered through the streets of Sunnydale later that night. He was reflecting on the day's events in which he had thrown away his friendship with Willow, his best friend ever since he could remember. Even the shallow snark princess, Harmony Kendall, didn't badger Willow on her revelation but Xander did. He had never thought of himself as a prejudice person in any sense of the word but now was forced to re-examine that idea. He knew that Larry was gay and that didn't bother him, nor the other few people that he had met during his short life. He deduced that it bothered him because this was his best friend and he didn't want her to be, what was highly perceived to be, abnormal.

He also knew a few things about Britney Walsh via his friend and thought that this was possibly the reason for his strong reaction. He wondered that if Willow had found a girl with not such a shady reputation, if he could better accept the fact that she was a lesbian. He shook his head and turned up another alley where his friend was waiting. "Xander," the unseen man said. "Dude I'm really sorry about what happened today. I heard about it from Cordelia. She told me that Harmony was trying to find out my identity but she didn't budge as I instructed. You realize that I'm only trying to help you out here but if Buffy found me out, I'd be in some hot water."

"I understand totally Dude," Xander said with a thin smile. "Willow will come around, I'm sure of it. She values our friendship above all."

"I hope you're right because my boss is very concerned about her niece hurting another woman." Riley said, as Harmony Kendall's car drove slowly up the street past them.

"I was thinking," Xander said aloud, as Buffy crept up behind the trashcan. "If we got a nicer woman, maybe I could accept Willow's insane behavior. I don't know for sure because I just can't see her in that light."

"It's insane behavior for sure," Riley said with a small chuckle. "Like I said, Britney has some funked up hold over Willow is all. We've got to break it and Willow will be free for the boys to do whatever with."

"Hey," Xander said a little defensively. "Look, I don't know what it is that Britney is into but…"

"Chill out Xander, it's all under control. I will get a nice woman to help get Willow away from Britney if you think that you can handle this sicko lesbo stuff." Riley grimaced as he spoke.

Xander cringed, "I would rather see her with a guy. Maybe if we aloud Britney to break her heart she'd come back around. At least if we made it look like Britney did something."

"That wouldn't be hard to do if I get Maggie's permission to use this hot chick we know." Riley chucked and the men pulled away.

Buffy stood frozen behind the can when Harmony got to her. "Are you all right?" The cheerleader asked with a slight amount of concern in her voice.

"Riley is the other guy," the tears flooded down Buffy's cheeks uncontrollably. "He's one of these lesbian haters I think and Xander is stupidly following after him for some idiotic reason."

"Wow," the cheerleader said in a half-uninterested tone of voice. "So you are going to split with the guy right?"

"Technically he's a goner in my book but I can't let him know that yet." Buffy said with a gleam in her eye. "I think there is more to this and I've got to keep him close so that I can snoop. I need to find out who Maggie is, what Britney is up to and how Riley fits into all of this. I'm not sure how to go about doing it yet though."

Harmony didn't really know why she was allowing the geek squad to drag her into this but she smiled at the slayer. "That's easy," the cheerleader said with a smirk. "Hook me up with Riley's pal and we're in."

- - - - -

Britney walked into her aunt Maggie's office that next morning. After spending the night comforting Willow, she was awakened by an urgent message on her phone from the woman. "What's up Maggie?" Britney addressed her aunt in a casual tone but knew by the look on Maggie's face that something major was up.

"Riley is getting sloppy in his work at getting me info on the slayer. I need you to find out something through that girl of yours." Maggie spoke in a rushed tone and waved her hands to indicate the importance of this mission.

Britney thought about what her aunt was saying and connected the dots. She knew that Willow and her friends knew of demons and such but had no idea Buffy was the slayer. "You have one slayer aunt Maggie," Britney questioned her aunt with her eyes and began to get the feeling that something was off.

"Yes and having her as an asset may move up the project quickly. We need to get rid of that pesky Mayor first though." Maggie again spoke in a rushed tone, which left Britney with a worried feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Britney please don't question me at this time. First of all, I need you to go into the Mayor's office and drop what the slayer will need to get rid of him in their laps. I have arranged a special awards dinner for the Mayor to keep him busy. This will need done tonight and there is no room for errors!" Maggie's voice was filled with authority as she spoke and Britney knew that she meant business. What she didn't like was the idea of Riley sleeping with Buffy for information on the slayer. She also began to wonder where Maggie had placed the other slayer and if she was in some sort of danger. She had always looked up to her aunt Maggie but the wild look in her eyes troubled Britney tremendously. "Why isn't Riley getting this job if it's so important?" The officer questioned in an effort to gauge the situation better.

"Riley has another job concerning the security of the lab." Maggie said in a dismissive tone. "The new codes must be put in right away and preparations to move up the project completed. That is the single most important task at hand." Having said that, Maggie stood and left her niece in the room alone.

AS Britney was about to leave the room, her hand accidentally hit a button that was next to the light switch. This action turned a monitor on and what she saw caused a look of shock and horror to spread across her face. "God no, what are they doing to you Faith?"