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They met after school, unusually shy, both of them, and trying to pretend they weren't.

"Did you … want to go somewhere?" Willow asked. Her hand hovered in midair, uncertain whether it was okay to reach for his or not, and then fell to her side.

Oz hadn't thought that far ahead. "We could take a walk."

"Okay. A walk sounds nice." She wasn't sure where they were going to walk to, though. Should she keep pace with him? Walk a little slower and let him figure out where they were going? Walk a little faster and choose which way to go herself? But she didn't know which way to go, so how could she lead?

"Hey." Oz caught her by the hand and pulled her close to him.

"Hey," Willow repeated breathlessly.

They weren't going to get anywhere until someone took a step forward, Oz could tell, so he did, stepping in, his hand closing on the back of her head, his mouth finding hers. The touch of her lips nearly melted him completely, so familiar and so much like home.

Willow gasped softly in surprise, but she didn't pull away.

Oz wanted to take the invitation of her parted lips, to deepen the kiss, but they were still standing on a sidewalk in the middle of the day; and he could still remember seeing her with Xander. So after a sweet moment, he stepped back from her. "Hey," he said again, shaking their joined hands just a little and smiling at her.

"Hey," she repeated, but this time she was smiling, too, and the glow of his Willow was back around her.

"Better?"

Her smile widened. "Much."

"Good." He tugged on her hand. "Walk with me."

They ambled down the sidewalks contentedly, not talking, letting the clasp of their hands communicate for them. Oz had never met anyone else who was so good at being silent. His Willow talked a lot, she thought a lot, but if you could catch her in that moment when she was sure of herself, she was devastatingly good at owning a silence.

He could feel her grip shift and tighten on his hand, and he could tell the moment was passing.

"So … do you want … I mean, we had talked about spending Christmas together. I don't know if you still want to?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I definitely do." Oz's own family wasn't much for Christmas. His parents usually went to visit his father's stuffy relatives overnight, and they had stopped requiring Oz to go along years ago. About the time he had discovered the guitar and horrified his paternal grandmother by announcing he intended to start a band. A few presents exchanged around lunchtime on Christmas eve before they got in the car and drove to Utah were about the extent of it.

He'd never minded being alone on Christmas—it was a thoughtful time, good for writing music, and there were always plenty of gigs available around the holidays. But spending that night with Willow … His heart beat faster at the thought.

"Oh. Good." Willow smiled. "I do, too."

"Good." Oz squeezed her hand again. "You have big family plans, or …?"

"Not really. Or … at all. My parents are out of town, so … I guess, you could come over?"

Go to her house, while her parents were out of town. Be alone with her, in her house.

"Yeah. Sounds like a plan." Oz was having some trouble breathing, just thinking of it, and he knew he would have to think carefully about how far he was willing to go. He knew his Willow, and she would fly away if he pushed her too fast, and he knew himself—he had to exorcise the image of Xander in her arms before he could really let himself feel everything he wanted to feel.

Willow was biting her lip, looking down at her tennis shoes, and he was sure she was thinking about the same thing. He wished they could talk about this stuff, but he didn't think he could. Not now.

"We should talk more," he said abruptly.

She looked up at him, frowning. "You want to talk more?"

"Seems like a wise idea."

"I suppose. Is there … anything special you want to talk about?"

But she looked so uncertain that he couldn't bring it up. Not right now. "Not at the moment."

Willow smiled. "That's more like my Oz."

Her Oz. He was back where he belonged. For now, that was enough. He squeezed her hand once more and they started walking again, aimlessly, just happy to be together.