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There was homework to do. There really was. Lots of it. Normally, Willow would have been deep into it by now, or she would have been researching things for Giles, or studying spells, or … but she couldn't concentrate. Instead of doing any of those things, she was flipping through pictures of cats. Cute, adorable cats. She'd always wanted a kitten.

She hit the mouse button and another picture came up. It was the cutest thing ever, a wee little kitten, claws out, pretending to be fierce. Willow skipped past it.

Someone tapped on her door, and Willow wasn't sure if she was relieved or not. Did she really want to be disturbed? On the other hand, any distraction sounded better than more pictures of cats.

She got up and opened the door and found Buffy standing there.

"Hey."

"Hey."

They stood there in awkward, very un-best-friend-like silence until Buffy said, "I need to talk to you."

"Good." Willow stepped back, gesturing for Buffy to come into the room. It was time to clear the air; she didn't want to be someone who didn't deal with her issues. Not anymore. "'Cause I've been letting things fester, and … I don't like it. I want to be fester-free." She sat down on the bed as Buffy closed the door.

Buffy paused, as if she wasn't sure what to say. "Yeah," she said at last. "Me, too."

"I mean …" Willow got up, the flow of words too much to sit still through. "Don't get me wrong, I—I completely understand why you and Faith have been doing the bonding thing. You guys work together, you … you should get along."

As she spoke, Buffy's face crumpled, as if she was about to cry. "It's more complicated than that."

Those words, those dismissive words, set a match to Willow's temper. "But see, it's that exact thing that's ticking me off! It's this whole 'Slayers only' attitude. Since when wouldn't I understand?" she added more softly. "You talk to me about everything. It—it's like, all of a sudden, I'm not cool enough for you because I can't kill things with my bare hands."

Buffy put a hand over her mouth and dissolved in tears, and Willow felt as bad as if she had just kicked one of those adorable kittens in the pictures.

"Oh! Oh, Buffy. Don't cry! I—I'm sorry." She put her arms around Buffy, holding her close, feeling her best friend shake in her arms as she wept. "I was too hard on you. Sometimes I unleash—I don't know my own strength. I—it—it's bad. I'm bad!" She was babbling now, but all she wanted was for Buffy to stop crying and to make it all right between them again. "I'm a bad, bad, bad person!"

She and Buffy were staring at each other now, Buffy's face still in pain and wet with tears, as if she hadn't even heard any of Willow's apologies. At last she said, "Will, I'm in trouble."

"Trouble? What kind of trouble?"

"Do you—" Buffy's lip trembled as if she was about to cry again. "Did you hear about the deputy mayor?"

"Yes! I was worried about you. Were you—were you there?"

"I was. I—"

Then Willow knew. "Faith. Faith killed him."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you wouldn't have. And if you had, you would have gone to Giles," Willow said, sure of it. She knew her friend.

"You're right. It was Faith. And now she won't even—it's like she doesn't even understand what she did. And the police, and … and my mom, you could tell she wasn't sure what to think. Will, what if she thinks I'm a killer?"

Buffy dissolved in tears again, and Willow held her for a long time, until they dried up. She led Buffy to the bed and gave her tissues to dry her tears and blow her nose, and waited until Buffy was calm again before asking any questions.

"Thanks, Will. I'm so sorry things have been weird between us. It shouldn't have happened—it was my fault, and I won't let it happen again."

"No, it was my fault, too. I didn't speak up, or stand up for myself, and I—I need to learn how to do that." They hugged again, a friendship-affirming hug that made Willow feel better, until she remembered the deputy mayor and didn't feel any better at all. "So you and Faith lied to the police?" No real surprise there, she thought.

"And to Wesley and Giles. Oh, God, Willow, how do I look Giles in the face again? You know he'll know. He can read me like a book. And then Faith—she acts like she doesn't even care. The way she talks, it's like she didn't even make a mistake."

Willow wanted to ask Buffy what she had expected. Faith, admit she had done something wrong? Hardly. But this wasn't the time—Buffy was too upset for Willow's bitterness about Faith. She searched for a charitable reason for Faith's reaction. "Do you think she's … in shock?"

She could tell Buffy wanted to think so, or to think anything that would make Faith a better person. "I—I don't know. And I think that detective knows more than he's saying. I think he knew that I was lying."

There was really nothing left. Willow couldn't help with this, and Buffy couldn't manage it on her own. "You have to go to Giles, Buffy. He'll know what to do."

"But I already lied to him, this morning."

"You can tell him you were waiting to see what Faith would say. Or that you were scared, or … just tell him that you didn't know what to do, so you followed Faith's lead."

"I don't know why."

"I do. You were trying to give her the chance to solve the problem herself. You were believing in her. It's what you do." Willow reached for Buffy, hugging her.

"I love you, Will."

"Me, too."