Part 3

      "Hey Giles, open up," Buffy shouted.  "She and Xander figured that the
Watcher had to be home, since he hadn't been at the library when they went
to look for him there.  They had searched for Willow again, still with no
luck.  The two teenagers felt bad for their friend.  They hadn't meant to
hurt her, but that's exactly what they had done by not telling her about the
changes that had taken place in their relationship.  Buffy pounded on Giles'
door again.  "Come on, Giles, you car's here, so we know you're home."
Buffy and Xander jumped back, as the front door was yanked open.

    "What is it Buffy?" Giles said as he opened the door wearing a bathrobe.
"What is so important that you felt that you had to practically break down
my door for?"

"Willow's missing," she stated, brushing past Giles and entering his home.
Her eyes widened at what she saw around the living room.  Candles that had
burned until they snuffed themselves out.  Dinner plates that held the
remains of their last meal.  And two glasses of wine, one of which had
lipstick on it.  Buffy turned to her Watcher, a grin on her face.  "We
didn't interrupt anything, did we?"

      "As a matter of fact, you did," he huffed.  "But what is this about Willow
missing?"

      "She came over earlier.  Apparently her folks are going to be out of town
and she was going to stay with us," Buffy explained.  "She walked in on me
and Xander."

      "You and Xander doing what?" Giles was almost afraid to ask.

      "Nothing," Buffy stated.  At Giles' glare, she added.  "Well, we were just
kissing.  Then Willow took off and we haven't been able to find her.  We
though she might have come here."

      "Well, as you can see, she hasn't been here.  Have you checked all of her
friends," Giles inquired.  "Have they seen her?"

      "Her only other friend is Amy and she's out of town for Spring Break,"
Xander told him.  "Willow isn't exactly Miss Popularity at school.  None of
us are."

      "Well, did you ever think that maybe she just needed some time to deal with
the fact that her two best friends, who have been ignoring her for the last
month, were together, " a female voice said from the top of the stairs.
Xander and buffy smiled at the woman and grinned slyly at the Watcher.

      "We haven't exactly been ignoring her, Miss Calendar," Buffy said.  Jenny
just stared at the blonde as she walked down the stairs to join the
threesome.

      "Really?"  Then what would you call it?  You avoid her at school.  Don't
ask her to join you patrolling or at the Bronze.  Barely speak to her at the
library and neglect to tell her that the two of you are an item.  If that's
not ignoring her, what do you call it?"  Buffy and Xander look down at
something interesting on the floor.

      "We were ignoring her," Xander mumbled.    "But we just didn't want her to
feel like a third wheel when we were together.  We care about her and didn't
want to make her feel left out."

      "But that's exactly what you did do," Giles pointed out.  "By not informing
her of your relationship, or including her in your lives, you left her
alone.  You might not have meant to, but you did.  You'll have to give her
time to adjust to the new parameters within the group."

      "But what should we do now?"  Buffy questioned, knowing that Giles and
Jenny were right.  "Willow is still missing."

      "Maybe she went home," Jenny suggested.  "Even with her parents away.
She's used to being by herself."

      "No," Buffy shook her head.  "That's why she was going to stay with us.
Apparently they decided to have the house painted while they were gone.  It
was a last minute decision.  Mom hadn't even had time to tell me that Willow
was coming over, that's why I wasn't expecting her."

      "Well, I'm sure Willow will be fine," Giles assured his young charges.
"She has a good head on her should, she won't do anything foolish.  Just
give her a few days and I'm sure things will be fine.  Or, at least, better
than they are now."

      "But, what about until then.  It's almost night."

      "Willow is probably just staying at another friends.  Maybe one you don't
know about.  Or maybe she went to join Amy," Jenny said, then she had an
idea.  "What about Angel?  Maybe she went there."  Buffy shook her head.

      "No way.  Angel and I haven't even said two words to each other for over a
week. Not since he helped us kill that demon.  Besides, him and Willow were
never that close.  She wouldn't go to him.  They have nothing in common."
 
 

      "Come on, Angel, just try it.  Not like its gonna kill you or anything,"
Willow laughed as she tried to encourage Angel to try her computer.  The two
of them had been laughing a lot that afternoon, both surprised to find that
their senses of humor were very similar.  Angel and Willow rolling on the
floor with stories about his life with Spike and Willow could tell by the
way he was talking that he missed his oldest childe and the relationship
that they had.

      "It just might," he grumbled as he reluctantly took the seat that she
offered.  "How did I let myself get talked into this?"

      "Easy.  You're a sucker for a damsel in distress," Willow batted her
eyelashes and made a pouty face, causing the vampire to chuckle.

      "Yeah, that must be it.  Always have been way too soft when it came to a
beautiful woman and their power over me."  Willow blushed at Angel's
comment.  "Okay, so tell me exactly what you want me to do."

      "Okay, if you click her," Willow placed her hand on the mouse, covering
Angel's, "and pull this down, all you have to do is start typing.  You said
that you wanted to write down your experiences in a journal and this is a
great way to do it."

      "And what do I do to save what I have written?"

      "You click here."  Willow manipulated the mouse under Angel's hand,
demonstrating to him.  "See," she said, turning her head to face him at the
same time that he turned to face her.  The teenager gulped at the proximity
to him.  They stared at each other, both having thoughts fly through their
heads of other things they could be doing.  Finally Angel looked back at the
computer screen, taking in an unneeded breath.

      "And that's all I have to do?" He asked, his gaze fixed on the monitor.
Willow shook her head to clear away her lingering thoughts.

      "Yup, that's it.  Welcome to the twenty first century."

      "And I thought the seventies were bad with disco," Angel muttered.

      "Yeah, but the fashion was so great.  I bet you looked fantastic in a lime
green leisure suit," Willow joked.  "Not to mention bell bottoms and side
burns."

      "Bite your tongue," Angel growled.

      "You're the vampire, you do it for me," Willow threw back at him.  She then
stood up and stuck said tongue out at him.

      "You are so asking for it, little one," Angel said, standing up.  He slowly
stalked towards Willow, who grinned as she backed away from him.

      "Oh, does the big bad vampire think he can take me?" The witch taunted.
She made a break to run past Angel, but he grabbed her and threw her to the
bed, quickly joining her.  Willow screeched as Angel began to tickle her
mercilessly.  "Angel, stop," She said in between laughs.  "Breath Angel,
Need to breathe."  She paused. "Angel please."  Angel finally stopped,
allowing Willow to get some air into her burning lungs.  "No fair, you're
stronger than me and you don't need to breathe."

      "That's what you get for challenging me," Angel countered, moving to lie
beside Willow.  The hacker, once her breathing returned to normal, rested
her head on his chest.   The pair lay in comfortable silence, relishing the
presence of the other.  Angel wrapped his arms around Willow, drawing her
closer to him.

      "Angel."

      "Hmmmm."

      "I like this," Willow said, resting her hand on his chest.  "It's nice."

      "Very nice," the souled vampire agreed.  "I'm glad you came here."

      "So am I."  Willow was silent for a moment before she spoke again.  "You
know, I still don't like the idea of you sleeping on the couch."

      "Willow," Angel growled.

      "No, hear me out," the witch interrupted.  "What I was going to say was,
that I don't see why you should sleep on the couch.  The bed is more than
big enough for the both of us, so we can both sleep here."  Angel looked
down in surprise at Willow.

      "Are you sure?"

      "Yup, and resolve face is one."  Angel laughed.  "So is it a deal?"

      "Deal."  Willow snuggled closer to Angel, both holding each other.  And
that's how they fell asleep.
 

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