Part 13
"Hey Wills, wait for us," Willow turned to see Xander and Buffy heading her way down the hall. She could tell by the look on their faces that they were surprised to see that she was dressed similarly to the night before. She had on a red slip dress and a pair of high heel sandals. Her hair was done up in a French braid and she had on perfectly applied make-up. She saw Buffy give her the once over, not liking what she was seeing. (Weren’t expecting me to not listen to you guys, did you? Thought I would just go back to being meek little Willow.)
"Willow," Buffy said, concerned, "what happened over break?"
"What do you mean, Buffy?" Willow asked innocently.
"I mean, why are you suddenly dressing so differently," Buffy said, as she waved her hands over Willow as if emphasizing her point. "You’re not dressing like Willow anymore." Willow let out an exasperated sigh.
"Well, since I am Willow and these are my clothes, I would say that I am dressing like Willow." Willow jumped when she felt someone come from behind her and wrap their arms around her waist, kissing her neck.
"Hey babe," Willow turned to see Oz standing there. He took in her clothes and frowned. "I thought we decided that you were going to dress like normal today." Willow couldn’t help the sneer that crossed her face.
"No, you decided that I was going to dress like the old Willow," she pointed out. "I never agreed." She saw Buffy give her the once over, not liking what she was seeing. "What, Buffy? Is it so wrong that I want to try something different?" Buffy was surprised at the anger in Willow’s voice and decided to try and placate her friend.
"I’m sorry Will. It’s just that I’m more used to the fuzzy sweater look. I didn’t mean anything by it." Willow snorted her disbelief. "Come on, Willow. You have to admit that this isn’t the real you."
"Really, Wills. I can’t imagine you as the sex kitten type," Xander added. "You’re the best friend quiet type."
"Which is why I love you," Oz finished, giving her a hug. Willow had it with her friends attitudes. She removed herself from Oz’s hold and turned so that she faced all three people.
"You have no idea who the real me is," she said quietly, seething. "You don’t want to know the real me. You just want me to stay in this little box that you have created for me and only want me to come out when it is convenient for you." Willow’s voice started to grow louder, drawing stares from the other students, including Cordelia who was enjoying the looks of discomfort on Buffy’s, Xander’s and Oz’s faces. (Look out, Willow’s on a rampage. This is fun.)
"Well I’m sorry, I won’t let you cage me up," Willow continued. "I’m not a little doll that you can play dress up with. This is me," Willow waved her hands over her body. "This is who I am and if you can’t accept that, then you aren’t really my friends." Willow turned away from the shocked expressions worn by the people that had just endured her tirade. She saw Cordelia watching her and allowed a smile to cross her face. She walked over to the brunette.
"Comments," she said, grinning. Cordelia returned the smile with one of her own.
"Only one. Way to go," Cordelia looped her arm with Willow’s and the two girls walked to class, giggling all the way.
Willow had avoided Buffy and the others successfully for the next two days. They had tried to talk to her, but she always found a way of getting away from them. She had stopped going to the library at night, instead choosing to spend her time with Angel, the two of them still exploring the feelings that were between the two of them. They enjoyed spending the time together, often sitting by the fire talking and holding each other. That’s what they were doing when Cordelia came into the house, loudly announcing her presence to the others by her talking to herself.
"I can not believe the nerve of those people, " she nearly screamed. "Something doesn’t go the way that they want it and they think that gives them the right to bother everyone else. Gods, I just want to kill them all with a nice, slow, painful death."
"Cordelia," Willow asked from the couch, "what happened?" Cordelia shrugged off her coat, hanging it on the hook that was in the front hallway. She saw Spike join the others in the living room, having heard her car pull up. He looked over at his girlfriend, concerned at her mood. He walked over to her, taking her into his arms.
"What happened, luv?" he asked. "Who got you so worked up?"
"I’ll give you three guesses, and five to one says you’ll only need one," she replied, giving Spike a kiss.
"Buffy," he stated flatly, cursing the slayer under his breath.
"Bingo," Cordelia smiled as she broke from Spike’s embrace and went to sit over by Willow and Angel. Spike followed her, holding her hand the entire time.
"Why?" Willow wondered. She knew that the others didn’t really like Cordelia and was curious as to what they could say that would upset her.
"They saw me in the mall and decided to come and bother me," Cordelia explained. "They wanted to know what I had done to you," Cordelia pointed to Willow, who looked shocked.
"What do you mean, what you did to me?" Cordelia took a deep breathe before telling everyone what was said to her.
"They wanted to know how come you wigged on them the other day and have been avoiding them all week. They thought that maybe I had brainwashed you or something." Spike couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of Cordelia having to brainwash anyone.
"You’ve got to be kidding pet."
"I wish, " Cordelia sighed. "It was so annoying, having to listen to them go on about how Willow must have been possessed or something because she wasn’t acting like the normal Willow. They told me they thought it would be best if I stayed away from Willow."
Angel felt Willow tense as soon as Cordelia said how the others had treated her. He remembered how upset she was on Monday when she came home and told him what the others had said to her about the changes they had seen and he was angry at how they felt the need to control her. Especially after everything that they did to her.
"Would be best for me?" Willow exploded, surprising the others. "How the hell do they know what is best for me? Was it best for me that my boyfriend and my best friend decided to start screwing around my back?" Willow was pacing back and forth, waving her hands in front of her, her face a mask of pure rage. Angel went over to her, grabbing her and enveloping her into his arms. "Damn them. I think that they can cheat on me and still have the right to tell me how to live my life."
"I know, sweetheart," Angel ran his hand over Willow’s hair. "They just don’t understand how much you may not need them anymore. That you aren’t someone that they can just walk all over and still expect you to do whatever they say." Angel felt Willow collapse in his arms as her anger gave way to her pain.
"I just want the hurt to stop Angel," she cried as he carried her back over to the couch, setting her in his lap. "I just want the pain to go away."
"I know, baby, I know." Angel placed a kiss on her lips. "And it will, I promise. The hurt over what they have done will go away and then we can concentrate on us."
Willow gave Angel a small smile and returned his kiss with one of her own. "I can’t wait. I just want this whole thing over and done with." She snuggled into Angel’s lap. Spike and Cordelia looked over at the pair, glad to see that they had finally decided to tell each other how they were feeling.
"So we are still on for Friday night then," Cordelia finally said, gaining the attention of Angel and Willow. "I mean, it is still full steam ahead, right?"
Willow nodded her head. "Oh yeah, we are so still on for Friday night. I can’t wait to finally show those bastards what Willow is really like." The others all laughed as they thought of what was going to happen on Friday night.
"Well, the plans have all been made," Angel explained. "We just have to make sure that Buffy and the others show up."
"They’ll be there," Cordelia said. "Me and Willow will make sure of that."
"Good, then we’re all set," Angel stated. "Willow, we’ll have you and Cordy go in first. It’s up to you whether you want to sit with the others or go off on your on."
Willow looked over at Cordelia. "What do you think?" she asked the brunette. Cordelia thought about it for a minute.
"I think we should stay away from the others. I don’t really want to deal with them." Willow nodded her head.
"Makes sense to me," Willow agreed.
"Good, then Peaches and I will show ourselves at just the right moment," Spike finally joined in. "Then the fun begins." Cordelia wrapped her arms around the blonde vampire.
"This is going to be way too much fun," she said. "I can’t wait for Friday night."
"Neither can I," Willow said. "Neither can I."