"Angel?" Willow pulled up the covers over her chest. "Angel, what
are you
doing in here?"
"Giles called. He was worried when you didn't come home."
"Well, here. Give me the phone." She reached for it.
"You'll call him back. We need to talk." He moved it out of her
reach. "You
just said no." He paused. "To Angelus."
"I know." She sat up. "I know! And I don't understand it. First
I'm fighting
in an ally. Then I'm kissing him. Then he's..." She trailed off,
not sure how
to say something so embarrassing.
"Intimately touching you? Angel finished.
"How did you know?" She asked.
"And then you wake up changed and try to escape a room," he continued.
"Angel, you're scaring me." She sat a little back. "How di you know all this?"
"I've been having the same dreams." He sat away a bit. "Now the
question is,
why?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's just one of those strange things people
experience." She looked at the ceiling for a minute. "Maybe it's
just a
coincidence. Whatever it is it's scaring me."
"Just remember it's dreams and they can't hurt you."
"Okay, dad." Willow smiled, playfully swiping Angel's hand.
"I did feel like I was talking to a child just then." He made a
face like
he'd just come to a realization. "Oh, wait. I was." He smirked.
Willow pushed
him over on the bed and caught him off guard by sitting on him
and playfully
hitting him.
Angel took hold of her wrists and pushed her hands away. Finally,
she
stopped. Angel let go of her wrists and picked her up by the waist
and sat
her back down on the bed.
"Call Giles." He got up. "I'll see you in the morning." And he left,
shutting
the door.
* * *
"I hate Sunnydale University." Cordelia declared, dropping a bag
at Willow's
feet where she lay on the guest bed, curled in the cloths she had
came in.
"Clean cloths," she practically whispered in relief. "Why?" Willow
asked as
she pulled cloths out to change into.
"Everyone knows who lives where and one person in general had a
hissy that I
was going into your dorm."
"Who?" Willow asked, moving behind an old Chinese screen decorated
with
flowers and birds and started to change.
"I don't remember his name." She looked up, thinking. "Rally Pinch.
Something
like that. I don't know."
"Riley Finn. What was he doing there? Buffy went home for the summer."
"Picking up cloths. Some things for Buffy. Scaring the crap out
of me." She
grabbed the cloths Willow hung over the screen and rolled them
in a ball in
her arms.
"I hate that he has a key. I swear, if he walks in on me changing
I'm gonna
... do something nasty that I can't think of right now." Cordelia
snickered.
"So *that* was the lap dog, boy-toy Buffy got to replace Angel?
Her taste
went from salty-goodness to fallen off the ugly tree hitting every
branch on
the way down. What does she really see in him?"
"I guess because he's sweet."
"Sweet hearts don't try to damage the uninterested ex. Sweet hearts
ask the
ex why they're there before throwing blows. There is a difference."
"He's your typical egotistical male. Too worried that he's gonna
loose the
one he loves and while he's busy worrying, forgets the fact that
the two ex
can't be together. Ah, how love is crooked." Willow sighed, coming
out from
behind the screen. "Better." She sighed, coming out in a comfortable,
slim-cut light magnolia dress.
"I like that." Cordelia commented on Willow's dress, changing the
subject.
Willow looked herself over.
"Not bad for two years of work." She commented.
"What do yea mean?" Cordelia asked, coming over to stand next to her.
"I worked for two years to change myself. I didn't want to be the
timid
little nerd in the front of the class anymore. And look at me.
I'm still shy
a bit but I'm more comfortable with my body and I have more confidence.
I've
come a long way in two years.
"What brought this on?" Cordelia asked. Willow shook her head out of it.
"Just something I thought of last night." She replied, moving away
from the
mirror. "What yea say, we go help Angel and Welsey on the research?"
"They're already working on that? Cordelia asked, tossing Willow's
dirty
cloths in the basket by the closet while Willow opened the door.
"Of course," She answered, pulling the door shut as they exited.
* * * * *