Thoughts

Author: Dayna

Rating: PG - Percy's POV

Disclaimers: Characters don't belong to me. They belong to Joss Whedon and
Mutant Enemy. No copyright infringement intended.

Author's Note: This story takes place in the current timeline, but Angelus
is still around. And he has established a relationship with Willow, after
she saved his life. The relationship has alienated the others. Simple,
right? :-)) Well, it's the result of being sleep-deprived. So take it for
what it's worth! :-)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
 
 

~Part: 1~
 

Percy sat with his jock buddies, but wasn't paying much attention to what
they were saying. Instead his gaze, as well as his thoughts, were on the
redhead sitting in a corner booth. When they were in high school, he'd
barely even noticed she was around. Then Principal Snyder had recruited
Willow to tutor him. Of course, Percy had figured she should just do the
work for him. He didn't have time to bother with homework. But, then
he'd run into her at the Bronze....and she'd kicked his ass! After that,
he'd made quick work of getting the paper written. It wasn't that he was
stupid, he just wasn't interested in school.

As Percy watched her, his mind wondered about the girl. That was the only
time he'd ever seen her act that way, and she didn't look strong enough to
have sent him flying, but he wasn't about to test that. After that night,
he'd started watching her and found that she was quite a mystery. She
hung out with people who also had secrets, but them he didn't care about
one way or another. It seemed that the more he learned about her, the
less he knew.

In high school, she'd been tight with her group of friends. But now, he'd
seen a seperation between them. He knew Cordelia had left town, Buffy was
hanging around with that geek Riley, Xander was dating some chick who'd
just kind of shown up in their senior class, and Oz had up and left town.
Whenever he saw Willow around campus, she was by herself. He'd seen her
start keeping to herself, and this was the first time he'd even seen her
out at night for months. Whatever had caused the split must have been
pretty bad

Percy didn't know what it was about her, or why he was so interested in
her life. She wasn't exactly his type, but she fascinated him. Percy was
so busy watching Willow, that he didn't notice when his buddies started
talking to him. He reluctantly turned his attention back to them.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Take a picture, man. It lasts longer." Said one guy.

"And it would be a hell of a lot safer, buddy." Another jock added.

Percy looked at his friend. "What do you mean by that?"

"Her boyfriend doesn't look to be someone you want to piss off. And I
don't think he'd take too kindly to you staring at her."

"Willow's boyfriend left town months ago. And even if he hadn't, I
certainly wouldn't be scared of him." Percy said.

"Not the guy in the band. This is some other dude."

Percy hadn't seen Willow with anyone lately, but maybe she and Xander had
mended their friendship. But when he asked for a description of the guy,
he knew it wasn't Xander.

"I don't care who he is." Percy said.

"What is with you and this chick? You've been eyeing her for months, and
I don't see why. Of course, don't see what the other guy sees in her
either. He could have any one of these women, but he doesn't even seem to
notice anyone else."

Percy knew he could never explain to his buddies what drew him to Willow.
He didn't understand it himself. Percy turned back to Willow just as he
saw a man approach her.

"That's him, West. Why don't you go and make a move? Bet you could take
him." One of his buddies said sarcastically.

Percy didn't acknowledge anyone as he watched the man sit down next to
Willow. He saw her look up at the man and smile shyly. There was
something familiar about the man, and Percy realized that he'd seen the
guy at the Bronze quite a bit when they were in school. But at the time,
the guy seemed to always be with Buffy.

As he watched the couple, Percy glared at the man. He watched as the man
put his arm around Willow. Percy didn't understand the jealousy he felt
watching his rival touch Willow. {My rival? Rival for what?} But even as
his mind was asking the question, Percy knew the answer. This mystery man
was a rival for Willow.

Having decided he wanted Willow, Percy decided he'd pursue her regardless
of whether the man liked it or not. And when he saw the man glance across
the club at him, Percy could see the man didn't like it. A chill ran down
Percy's back at the look the man gave him, but he wasn't about to
backdown.
 
 

~Part: 2~
 
 

Angelus glared at the young man. From the time he'd walked in, he'd seen
the punk watching Willow. And he didn't like it. After all this time, he
finally had Willow away from the Slayer and her little friends, and he
wasn't about to have some punk kid get in his way. The sooner the kid
learned that Willow was off limits, the longer he'd live.

Willow was talking to him about school, but Angelus' attention was on the
man who still hadn't taken his eyes off of the redhead. Angelus slid his
arm around Willow's shoulders in a purely possessive manner, and smiled as
he felt Willow snuggle into his hold. In the months since Willow had gone
against the Watcher's orders, and performed the spell to save him, Angelus
had found himself growing fond of the young woman. He'd always thought
she was weak and easily manipulated, but she'd proven him wrong. Willow
had made her own decision, even though she knew what the consequences
could be. And that had earned his respect.....well, that and saving him
from an extremely painful death.

Angelus had made sure he was there for Willow when the others turned away
from her. He had worked hard to earn her trust, and to isolate her from
the others at the same time. Wanting Willow in his life was a new feeling
for Angelus, and he didn't want it complicated by people who'd just as
soon stick a stake in his heart. The relationship he'd built with Willow
had become important to him, and he'd found himself doing things he'd
never would've thought he'd do....such as agreeing not to kill the
innocent. Willow had been adamant about walking out of his life if she
found out he was still murdering innocent people. He still fed from
humans, but stopped before he killed them.

Angelus still had trouble believing that he'd agreed to her demands. No
one had ever told Angelus what to do and what not to do.....or at least no
one who lived to tell about it. But here was this little bit of a girl, a
mortal, telling him not to kill anymore....and he was doing as she asked.
Oh, he'd roared and yelled about it, trying to scare her, but she'd simply
looked at him. Angelus could still feel the panic he'd felt when she'd
responded.

"Fine, keep killing. But I won't stay around and watch you."

Angelus had watched as she turned and walked away from him. He'd told
himself it didn't matter, that he didn't need or want her in his life.
She was nothing more then the Slayer's little sidekick. But, hours later,
he knew he was lying to himself. He'd gone to her and promised her what
she wanted to hear. And he hadn't broken that promise yet.

But as Angelus glared back at the young man, he considered making an
exception. Angelus recognized the look in the boy's eyes, and knew that
Willow had found another admirer. The boy's expression made it clear that
he considered Angelus an obstacle in getting to Willow, but an obstacle he
fully intended to bypass.

Well, if he thought he had a chance with Willow, the boy was seriously
deluded. There was no way in hell that Angelus was going to let go of
Willow. He'd gone through too much to get her. Willow belonged to
him.....and Angelus had no intention of sharing.
 

Angelus helped Willow with her jacket, and pulled it tightly together in
front of her. He pulled her against him, and kissed her. The kiss was
possessive, and he knew the boy was watching. Angelus had effectively
staked his claim. Willow wrapped her arms around Angelus' waist, never
once aware of the eyes watching them from across the room.

As they were leaving, Angelus turned back to the boy, aware that his eyes
had never left Willow. The two locked gazes, and both recognized each
other for what they were.......enemies. Both wanted the same thing, and
neither was willing to back down.

Angelus wrapped his arm around Willow, and led her out into the night.
The young woman had no idea that a war had just been declared, and she
would be the ultimate prize.

THE END!!

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