The next day, I walked into school with Xander and Willow, who were arguing about why Willow wouldn't let Xander have her answers for our history homework. From his perspective, she always had given her answers, and so she should continue the tradition, while Willow was of the mindset that Xander had known about the assignment for over a week, and so had no one to be angry with but himself for not getting it done sooner.

I was staying out of it, and thankfully we found Buffy before Xander could start asking me for answers. I didn't even know what the homework was but…let's face it, I had probably been around at the time of whatever time period they were studying.

Buffy looked distracted, as usual. And sad.

"Good morning, Buffy." I greeted her. She looked up, blinked as though having been woken up, then quickly smiled when she saw who it was.

"Hey, guys!" she said, sounding a little too cheerful, I thought.

"Hey Buff," Xander grinned, immediately forgetting about his history problem, "how's it going?"

"Not bad." she said, turning away to open her locker. She cleared her throat while she put away some of her books and retrieved the ones she needed.

"Angel came by last night." She said.

I raised an eyebrow in surprise while Xander's smile slipped.

"Angel stopped by?" Willow repeated excitedly, grinning, "Wow! Was there-I mean, was it having to do with kissing?" she winced as she said it and flushed crimson. I couldn't help but smile at how awkwardly she'd phrased the question, and had to fight not to chuckle.

Buffy turned around to roll her eyes at Willow.

"Willow, grow up," she said, "not everything is about kissing."

"Yeah," Xander agreed, "some stuff's about groping."

I shook my head in bewilderment.

"Try as I might," I said, "I can't figure out exactly when little boys stopped even trying to hide what was really on their minds. It's not that women ever didn't know, really, it's just it was a bit less…obvious."

I frowned, scratching my head.

"I'm not sure if that was a bad thing or not." I finished.

Xander shrugged.

"Guys have pretty much always been the same as far as I can tell," he grinned, "even way back…"he trailed off, frowned, and looked at Buffy, "it wasn't about groping, was it?"

I sighed in exasperation.

Lord give me strength.

"Okay, hormones on parade, here?" Buffy demanded. "It was pure shop-talk."

"He wanted to go shopping?" I asked in surprise. That didn't seem a very 'Angel' thing to do.

"She means trade-talk," Willow explained, "or, uh, you know, how coworkers talk about work together."

"Ah." I said, ducking my head in embarrassment.

"Yeah, you know, Marge," Buffy smirked, "vampires, pointy-teeth, they walk by night, ring any bells?"

"Quite loudly." I answered.

"What'd he say?" Willow asked.

Buffy shrugged and sighed.

"Something's up. Nothing I can't handle."

Xander chose this point to change the subject, fortunately. Instead he started talking about some band that was playing at the Bronze that night, which apparently Willow was very happy about, but I was too distracted by a familiar scent heading in our direction.

I groaned and Buffy glanced at me.

"Incoming unpleasantness." I muttered to her, just as Cordelia rounded the corner and marched up to us.

"Well look who it is," she said, "the three musketeers," she looked at me, "and the albino."

We stared at her for a moment and Xander glanced around at us.

"Was that meant to be an insult?" Buddy asked in bewilderment.

"It kind of lacked punch." Xander agreed.

"The three musketeers were cool." Willow explained to Cordelia.

"And albinos have pale skin, white hair and pink eyes," I joined in, "I only have one out of three common traits so…" I shrugged sadly at her.

Cordelia actually looked disappointed and actually seemed to be looking around for something else biting to say.

"I see your point." She said.

"I would have gone with Stooges." Xander offered.

"Well, I just meant that you guys always hang out together." Cordelia continued, "So, fight any demons this summer?"

I felt all of us immediately go rigid.

Of course, she had been at the library when it was being attacked by vampires, but for some reason I hadn't expected that to stay with her. After all, she had nearly been fed on at the Bronze that night and hadn't even acted as though it had happened. I had just assumed the library would be the same thing.

Then again, there had been a lot more of them…and giant worms…and me, covered in black blood.

"Uh, yes!" Willow said loudly, "Our own personal demons."

"Such as lust!" Xander continued, "And, uh, thrift!"

Buffy frowned and looked me, while I just shrugged and shook my head. A master of deceit, Xander was not.

"I would have to go with Stooges also." She said.

"You could have gone with gluttony." I said, poking Xander. He looked offended.

"A glutton, me?!" he said in over-exaggerated shock.

"You're the one who ate an entire bag of candy in one sitting." I reminded him.

"Hey, I paid for that later." He pointed out.

"But you would do it again."

I had him there. He opened his mouth to answer, closed it, thought about my statement, then shrugged and nodded in agreement.

"Probably, yeah." He admitted.

Cordelia threw up her hands.

"What are you guys talking about?" she demanded. "I'm talking about big, squiggly demons that came from the ground, remember?" and she looked at me then, "And with your face all-" I can't even begin to accurately describe the face she made, so don't expect me to.

"Come on," she continued, "prom night? All the vampires?"

"Cordelia," Buffy sighed, "Your mouth is open, sound is coming from it, this is never good."

Xander stepped up to her and pulled her away from the passersby and dropped his voice.

"See, we can't mention that stuff in front of other people." He explained. I stared at him. Were we actually doing this? Letting her in on everything?

Well, then again it wasn't exactly like she didn't know. There probably wasn't an alternative was there?

Could just kill her

'Thank you o wise voice of reason.'

"About Buffy being the Slayer and all." he continued. Willow joined the conversation.

"You haven't been talking about our little adventure all summer, have you?" she asked worriedly. Cordelia rolled her eyes.

"Are you nuts?" she said, "You think I would tell people I spent the whole evening with you?"

She had a point.

"Besides," she continued, "it was all so creepy. That Master guy, all the screaming, all the blood. I don't like to even think about it."

She frowned at a sudden thought and turned to look at me.

"Hey," she said, "who are you, anyway?"

It occurred to me that we'd never really spoken to each other. As a natural order of things we'd always just kept away from each other. Come to think of it, I really couldn't remember ever telling her my name.

"Margery." I answered.

"So…what was up with you?" she continued coming closer. "Your face looked really weird. Almost like…" her voice trailed off and her eyes got bigger. "Oh my God!" she said, taking a step back. "Are you one of those things?"

I shook my head.

"Not exactly." I explained.

"She's half-human." Willow joined in. "You don't need to be afraid of her, she's really nice. She's helped us out a lot."

Her words spread a warmth through me and I smiled at her gratefully.

"Well," Cordelia said, "you did save the librarian, even if you did look really gross while you were doing it." I dipped my head in thanks of the…very backhanded compliment.

"So," Cordelia continued, looking around at our group, but especially at Buffy and me, "your secret's safe with me." She finished. And she actually sounded sincere.

My God, maybe pigs would start flying now.

"Well that works out great," Buffy said, "you don't tell anyone I'm the Slayer, and I won't tell anyone you're a moron." And with that she marched off.

I frowned and looked after her.

"Now that was an insult." Xander pointed out.

"And a bit unnecessary." I murmured.

"Most insults are." Willow pointed out. I nodded, but Buffy had been rather rude when Cordelia was showing actual sincerity for once. That wasn't right.

"What's up with her?" Cordelia asked quietly.

"Buffy's been through a lot." I said. "I'll tell you about it later. When we're in a bit more of a private setting, all right?"

Cordelia looked at me for a moment, surveying me critically. Then her face relaxed and she nodded.

"I think I'd like that." She said. "See you later." She started to march away but turned just as we started to follow Buffy and called after me.

"Hey!" she said, and I strode back to her, "Just out of curiosity, how old are you?"

I smirked at her. Always the same question.

"Sixteen." I answered. She rolled her eyes at me, but didn't say anything biting or sarcastic, so I decided I might as well tell her if I was supposed to give her an explanation of everything anyway.

"Six hundred and thirty-seven." I answered. Her big brown eyes got even bigger as her jaw dropped open, but before she could ask any more questions, I went to catch up with Willow and Xander. Xander was grinning, and Willow looked sheepishly amused.

"What?" I asked.

"The look on her face," Xander giggled.

"That was the most priceless thing I've ever seen!" Willow whispered, joining in his laughter. I couldn't help but break into a grin myself.

After all, it's not often Cordelia is struck speechless.

That night at the Bronze, as we sat sipping our drinks (or rather, Willow and Xander were sipping, I was keeping watch. Call me paranoid if you must, it's what I do, especially after the time Willow was lured out by a vampire) our conversation eventually turned to the subject of Buffy.

Willow and Xander were catching more to how her behavior had changed. Not just towards Cordelia, but since she came back.

"I just think something's up is all." Willow said with a shrug. Xander wasn't exactly convinced, but judging by the crease between his eyebrows, he felt there was something at least slightly amiss, as well.

"Well, I think you're both being paranoid." Xander said.

"Buffy's never acted this way before," Willow argued softly, "ever since she got back she's different."

"Buffy's always been different." Xander pointed out, which was true enough.

"She's never been mean." Willow countered.

"Have you noticed anything up, Marge?" Xander asked me. I frowned, thinking about our sparring session.

"Yes." I said. "I think something's wrong. She either doesn't want to talk about it, or she does but doesn't know how. But something is wrong. She's not herself."

Xander frowned, but didn't answer. Instead he turned and looked around the crowded room.

"Speaking of Buffy, have you seen her yet?" he said, "She said she'd come."

"No," Willow and I both said at once. "The band's cool though." Willow pointed out. She was obviously hinting for a dance.

"Yeah, cool." Xander repeated absently, still scanning the crowd. Willow looked at me with an exasperated frown, then reached for the little bowl of ice cream she'd ordered earlier. It was nearly all gone but there was still a little on the sides of the bowl.

She winked at me, then picked up the bowl and tilted so she could just brush the tip of her nose into the ice cream, like she had the night Buffy came back.

Willow put the bowl down and waited, smiling at Xander.

When he did notice, all he did was say: "You've got something on your nose."

Willow looked hurt, but of course, Xander didn't notice and went back to looking for Buffy. I rolled my eyes at him and picked up a napkin from off the table.

"I'll get it." I murmured. Willow smiled weakly at me as I touched her chin to get her to turn her head towards me. I dabbed the napkin on the tip of her nose.

"Courage, dear heart." I murmured to her, planting a consoling kiss on her forehead, "Boys are idiots."

"Ya think?" Willow murmured back.

"Did you want to dance?" I asked. Willow smiled and shook her head.

"Thanks though."

I nodded to her, then straightened when a break in the crowd allowed me to sense a new scent: Angel was here.

I frowned and raised myself up in my seat a little and scanned the room until I spotted him close by the entrance. He was watching the band, but he must have felt my gaze upon him, for he turned and looked back at me.

We exchanged polite nods of greeting, and I tried to not remember how I'd slammed him into a pole last time we'd met. Of course, that had been a highly emotional time. So he probably didn't resent that. Hopefully.

He frowned slightly and mouthed the word: Buffy?

I started to shake my head, but we both froze as I saw Buffy come through the door, and he either smelled her or saw my reaction because he immediately turned to intercept her as she came towards us.

The music kept me from overhearing everything they were saying, but I did hear "-mad at me." From Angel, and "-moved on." From Buffy. It was a short-lived conversation, and when it was over, Angel watched Buffy approach us and he looked…well, he looked hurt.

I wasn't the only one who noticed. Cordelia was watching, too.

For some reason I had assumed Cordelia would join us, but of course that wasn't going to happen. Her reputation would be ruined if she were seen in public with our group, but that all right with me. I didn't really feel like putting up with her tonight, anyway.

"Hey!" Buffy greeted as she swept up to our table. Xander all but jumped out of his seat as he enthusiastically returned the greeting.

"What's wrong with Angel?" Willow asked, spotting him behind Buffy.

"Beats me." Buffy shrugged carelessly. I frowned at her and tapped the tips of my fingers on the table. This was not right.

She glanced lazily back at him, then suddenly smiled and slid closer to Xander and gazed up at him with half-closed eyes.

"Let's dance." She murmured seductively. Xander's eyes glazed over as he looked at her and I felt Willow fidget beside me.

"Ooookay." Xander droned, following her as she grabbed his hand and his shirt and pulled him onto the dance floor. Willow stared after, confused and hurt, and I felt a hot flush of anger spread through me.

What was Buffy doing? She knew that Willow was in love with Xander, and she had never shown a romantic interest in Xander, in fact she had turned him down before, so why the sudden change? Was she trying to make Angel jealous?

I clenched my hands into fists and felt my teeth grind.

We watched them take to the dance floor, and…well, suffice it to say Buffy danced a little too well. She all but wound herself around Xander, touching him just lightly enough to be teasing. A kiss of a touch each time.

When I looked at Willow, she looked on the verge of tears.

I swallowed, then stood up and discarded my coat on the seat, then grabbed Willow's small, cold hands. She looked at me in surprise and I smiled as best I could.

"I don't know how to dance to modern songs," I confessed, "last time I danced, Doo-wop was still in style, but I'll try if you will." She hesitated, her eyes going up to look at Buffy and Xander, but I tugged insistently on her hands, pulling her attention back to me.

"O-Okay." She said weakly, coming down from her perch, her hands trembling in my grasp, from nervousness or from how upset she was, I couldn't be sure.

I backed onto the dance floor, holding her gaze and smiling encouragingly.

Willow's big brown eyes were still watery, but her lips managed to quaver into an answering smile.

I wasn't really sure how to hold her, and wanted to assume a waltz position, since a ballad was playing. Willow knew what position to assume, thankfully. She put her hands on my shoulders and slid them around so that she had her fingers clasped behind my head, while I put my hands on her waist.

I wouldn't say we exactly moved in time to the rhythm, but we gave a good effort, in any case.

"Don't pay attention to them." I told her when she tried looking over my shoulder at Buffy and Xander. I turned us around slowly so that she faced the bar, not our friends.

She chewed on her lip, and looked down at her feet.

"Why is she doing that?" she asked weakly. Had I not had better hearing than humans, I wouldn't have heard her at all.

"I wish I knew." I answered with a frown. There was a pause as I tried to sort it out in my head, and Willow tried to not get too emotional.

"Maybe," I said finally, "maybe she feels…out of control. What happened to her with the Master was beyond her control, and I don't think she's ever felt that way before. As a result, she's looking to control what she can, even if that means the emotions of her friends."

Willow sighed, a heart breaking sound.

"But why does she have to do that me?" she whispered, "To Xander, to Angel?"

I thought about that for a long moment.

"Maybe…"I sighed, "Maybe because she's been hurt and scared, and her way of coping is to hurt others, even if she doesn't mean it intentionally." I shook my head. "I don't know for certain, child. Humans are so difficult to understand. Emotions are hard to understand. Why does anyone do the things they do? We can guess, but we may never know for sure."

Willow sighed again, and this time her lip quivered. I couldn't stand to see her cry, especially since I couldn't fix what it was that was bothering her.

I pulled her into a hug, and she laid her head on my shoulder, I could feel her trembling as she tried to stifle her tears.

"It's all right, sweetling." I soothed, stroking her long auburn hair. "It'll be all right in the end, I promise."

"I don't understand." She said, her voice choked and thick sounding, "I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. Why won't he love me?"

"He does, sweetling, just not in the way you want." I responded.

"But why doesn't he love me that way?" she demanded, shaking harder now, "What am I doing wrong?"

"Nothing." I assured her, "Willow, there's nothing wrong with you. Love is very strange thing. It very seldom happens in the way you want it to. He does love you, just not in that way. I can't promise that he will one day, he may never love you that way. Then again, he might."

I gave her a squeeze, then pulled away from her and held her at arm-length.

"Promise me this, Willow," I said, she looked at me, her face splotchy from crying, "promise me that whatever happens between the two of you, don't let it change you. If it happens the way you want, that's wonderful, but if it doesn't, then don't let disappointment or bitterness take hold of you. Bitterness is an ugly thing and hurts no one but yourself."

I rubbed her arms as she nodded slowly.

"I wish I could protect you from being hurt by anyone, even inadvertently. But I can't. I can't even pretend you won't be hurt, but when you are, just promise me you won't let it change who you are deep down inside. Pain always changes people, but don't let it change who you are."

"I-I'll try." Willow sniffled.

I nodded and smiled.

"That's all we can do." I answered.

Movement from where Buffy and Xander were caught my attention and I saw Buffy moving away from Xander, who stood as though he was in a trance. She picked up her sweater from our table and marched towards the exit, past Angel, not even glancing at him.

That anger burned through me again.

She'd hurt Willow, she was hurting Angel, and she would end up hurting Xander.

This I could not allow.

Cordelia followed Buffy out, and I decided I needed to do the same.

"Will you be all right?" I asked Willow. She wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve and smiled bravely.

"Thank you." She murmured. I smiled gently and planted another kiss on her forehead before giving her another consoling hug.

"If ever you need me," I told her, "I'm here. Always."

"Thank you." She said again.

"I'm going to have a word with Buffy," I told her, "are you sure you'll be all right?"

She nodded, going back to her old self. I nodded, satisfied, gave her hands a squeeze, then made my way out of the Bronze, grabbing my coat on the way out.