Aislin1328: Sunnydale? You're kidding.

NoWhere_Man126: If I was gonna lie, I'd say some place exciting like Los Angeles or San Francisco.

Aislin1328: That's true. Sunnydale isn't exactly the hub of excitement.

NoWhere_Man126: Sounds like you've heard of it.

Aislin1328: I live here.

NoWhere_Man126: Really?

Buffy entered the room and spotted Willow at her usual place in front of her computer. "Hey, Wills," she said.

*He lives in Sunnydale? I wonder if I know him,* Willow thought. *But who could he be?*

Buffy sat on her bed and stared at her friend. Willow hadn't even realized she'd said anything. *What does she do on that thing all night?* she
wondered. The blonde walked over to stand behind her friend. *NoWhere_Man126?* Buffy watched Willow talk to him, totally absorbed in their
conversation. *She's net dating? Wait. Is there such a thing as net dating?* Buffy asked herself. Willow finally signed off. "Willow."

The red head jumped and clutched her heart. "Goddess! You scared me, Buffy!" she exclaimed.

"I've been standing here for like ten minutes, Will," the blonde said folding her arms over her chest.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. Who was that?" she asked, pointing at the computer.

Willow glanced at the laptop. "No one. Just someone I talk to on line," she said.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Buffy asked. She'd heard horror stories about psychos stalking the Internet.

"And walking the streets of Sunnydale, isn't?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, but you don't know anything about this guy. He could be a killer or something. He could be stalking you," Buffy exclaimed, letting her
imagination run away from her.

Willow stared at her friend in shock. "Okay, this isn't some movie of the week. Let's not go over board. Besides I can take care of myself."

Buffy threw Willow a look of disbelief. Picking up Willow's sneakers, she tossed them to the red head. "Put your shoes on. We're going to Giles'," She
said.

Willow just shook her head as she slipped her feet into the red canvas shoes. *Paranoid much, Buff,* she thought.

****

"Okay, Will, but how much do you really know about him?" Buffy asked for like the billionth time since leaving the dorms.

Willow released a strangled sigh as she leaned her head back against the Watcher's couch. "About as much as he knows about me," she said
between clenched teeth.

"And what kind of name is NoWhere Man?" Xander asked as he grabbed another Oreo out of the bag.

Her green eyes narrowed as she glared at her best friend since kindergarten. "It's a screen name," she growled. "I don't use my real name either."

Giles listened with half an ear to their conversation. "Willow?"

"Yes, Giles?" she asked, hoping against hope the Watcher would trust her judgment on this whole thing.

"Do you think it's wise to meet people on that contraption?" he asked.

"The Net, Giles! It's called the Internet!" she shouted as she jumped to her feet. "I have a lot of friends on the Net. Most of them I'll never meet cuz
they live on the other side of the planet! We exchange ideas and talk."

"Yes, well. Willow, he could be a demon trying to get to Buffy," Giles warned with a stern look.

*Buffy! Of course, everything comes back to Buffy.* Willow fumed.

Xander latched onto that idea. "Yeah. Remember Maloch," he said. He munched on his cookies.

Willow had had enough. She grabbed her jacket and headed for the door. "I'm going home. Alone," she added when Buffy stood up. She turned on
her heel and stormed out of the apartment.

Anya hit Xander in the shoulder.

"Ow!" he yelped. "What was that for?"

"You made her leave before I could ask her my question," Anya pouted.

"What did you want to ask her?" Giles asked. He wasn't sure he really wanted to hear her answer.

"I wanted to know if she did that cyber-sex thing yet," she said.

Giles shook his head in bemusement. *For an ex-vengance demon, that girl thinks entirely too much about sex.*

Anya stood and grabbed her jacket. "I'll go ask her," she said as she opened the door. "No one follow me," she said, looking directly at Buffy.

****

Willow spooned another glob of hot fudge into her mouth. She saw Anya enter the B&R. Pulling the spoon from her mouth, she watched her walk
over to Willow's table. "What do you want?"

Anya slid into the booth across from the red head. "I just wanted to ask you a question," she said as she stared at the sundae in front of Willow.
She noticed the green-eyed glare she received. "Hey, I'm not against you doing what ever you want on the Net or in the real world. It's your life,"
she said holding her hands up in surrender.

"Ah," Willow said quietly. "What was your question?"

"Have you had cyber-sex yet?" Anya asked. The girl behind the counter turned her attention to the only customers in the small store.

Willow flushed neon red and started to giggle. "Sorry to spoil your fun, Anya," she said with a lopsided grin.

"You're not," Anya said only slightly disappointed. "I just wanted to know if you were having fun," she said with a smirk.

Willow laughed.

"So you gonna spill about this guy anytime soon?" Anya asked. Her eyes were carefully trained on the red head. While Willow wasn't what she'd
consider a best friend, Anya liked the young witch and felt no one gave her credit for anything she did. Including her botched spells. *It takes a lot
of natural talent to perform any of the spells Willow tries. She just needs a teacher,* she thought. "You know, I'm gonna want details," Anya said.

Willow started telling Anya about NoWhere_Man, the things they talked about and more importantly the things they didn't. "You know it's nice to
have someone to talk about things that don't go bump in the night."

****

Anya and Willow laughed together as they entered the dorm room. Willow looked around and didn't see any sign of Buffy. "She's probably at Riley's,"
she said. "Make yourself," Willow started. Anya sat on Willow's bed and started flipping through one the text books she'd left out. "Home," Willow
finished lamely. *What is it about people just helping themselves to my room?* she pondered.

The red head opened her laptop and connected to the Internet. She pulled up her email account and ran through her messages. She smiled at
NoWhere's name. Clicking on his message, she began to read.

Anya watched the expressions fleet across Willow's face. A couple of times she even laughed out loud. At the end her jaw dropped. "What is it?"

"Oh, my goddess..."Willow murmured. She shut the laptop.

"What?" Anya asked again. She hated repeating herself.

Willow turned in her seat and looked at the ex-demon. "He wants to meet."

Part 5

Willow and Anya stared at each other. The ex-demon was the first one to put her thoughts into words. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” she
asked.

“Not sure,” Willow said looking slightly panicked. “What do you think?”

Anya thought for a moment as she looked at the ceiling tiles. “Do you want it to be a good thing?” she asked non-chalantly.

“I don’t know,” the red head sighed as she flopped onto Buffy’s bed.

“I think you should meet him,” Anya advised.

Willow wasn’t even listening. She began debating to herself the pros and cons of actually meeting someone she met on line. “Maybe the gang is
right. What if he _is_ some sicko serial killer who picks his victims from the Internet.”

Anya sat and watched the red head’s verbal thought process with fascination.

“Or maybe he is a demon who wants to get to Buffy...everyone wants to get to Buffy. Never me. Even Spike came here to kill Buffy and was going
to settle for me,” Willow whined. “But then he had that whole performance issue.”

Anya smiled and just shook her head. She knew Willow’s pity party wouldn’t last long. Bored, she stood up and walked over to Willow’s closet to find
something for the witch to wear on her date.

Willow’s delicate hands fluttered about as she found reasons to not meet NoWhere_Man. “But we do have a lot in common. We both live in
Sunnydale.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s a reason to go out with someone,” Anya muttered under her breath. She pulled one of Willow’s long “granny” skirts. With a look of
disgust, she tossed it on the closet floor.

“We both love Charmed. That’s how we met, in a Charmed chat room.”

“Uh huh.” Anya dug deeper into the closet. She felt something that might have possibilities and pulled out a pair of black leather pants. *Oh, Willow.
You have hidden depths,* she thought as she draped them over her shoulder. *Cuz I know that Buffy couldn’t fit her big butt into these.*

“We both love the Beatles. Although I think he likes them a little more than me.”

“Sure.” Anya moved onto Willow’s dresser to find a top.

“Oh, and we live for hot chocolate with those cute tiny marshmallows.”

“Yeah,” Anya replied as she searched the dresser drawers. She finally found a dark green baby tee shirt that would go perfectly with the leather
pants.

Willow finally finished her debate and sat up. “Okay. I’m gonna do it. I’ll meet him,” she said triumphantly.

“Good. Hopefully this will get you laid and you can stop mooning over Spike,” Anya said starting a search for shoes.

Willow felt the blood flood into her cheeks. “I don’t...I mean...You honestly think...Oh, hell!” she groaned. Defeated she flopped back onto the bed.

“What? It’s obvious you like him. To me, anyway. I don’t think the others realize it yet, if that’s what you’re worried about. Besides who can blame
you. Spike is beyond eye candy,” Anya said as she glanced at Willow. Looking at the sandal in her hand she scrunched up her nose and tossed it
back into the closet. *Buffy has no taste,* she thought to herself. “Let’s face it, Willow. Those cheekbones are killer. But if you tell Xander I said
so. I will hurt you.”

****

After Willow’s last class she returned to her dorm room and logged onto her computer. Clicking an icon, the red head quickly scanned her e-mails.
*Nothing from NoWhere_Man.* She sighed as she launched her Instant Messenger and glanced at her buddy list. When the familiar ding alerted her
to an incoming message, she felt a warm tingle run through her body.

NoWhere_Man126: Aislin? Did you get my e-mail?

Willow began to type with a silly grin plastered on her face.

Aislin1328: Yes, I did. Sorry I didn’t reply back.

NoWhere_Man126: That’s okay. You must think I’m a deranged lunatic.

Aislin1328: Not deranged. And I would like to meet you.

NoWhere_Man126: lol, How shocking...

Aislin1328: LOL

NoWhere_Man126: Well, where should we meet?

Aislin1328: Do you know the Bronze?

NoWhere_Man126: Been there a few times.

Aislin1328: We could meet there

NoWhere_Man126: Cool. How about Friday?

Aislin1328: No. Too busy. And my friends would definitely be hanging out there. How about Thursday?

NoWhere_Man126: Thursday works for me About 8:30pm?

Aislin1328: Sounds good.

NoWhere_Man126: It’s a date, then. How will we know each other?

Aislin1328: You like details, don’t you? Anyways. Uhm...Oh I’ll be wearing black pants and a green tee-shirt.

NoWhere_Man126: I’ll wear jeans and a tee shirt.

Aislin1328: And I’ll be able to tell you apart from the other 50 guys there, how?

NoWhere_Man126: I’ll be the good looking one.

Aislin1328: That should narrow it down to 40 guys.

NoWhere_Man126: Hey, now!

Aislin1328: LOL!

NoWhere_Man126: Black jeans, red shirt, and blonde hair.

Aislin1328: That’s better.

Aislin1328: Well, I’d better go. My roommate will be home soon. She’s not too enamored with my meeting people via the Internet.

NoWhere_Man126: Kay. I’ll see you Thursday, Aislin.

Aislin1328: Can’t wait. Good night. :)

Willow signed off and turned around.

“Boo!” Anya said with a grin. Willow jumped.

“Goddess! Don’t scare me like that!” Willow shriek=d with her hand over her pounding heart.

Anya just chuckled. “Saw you talking to NoWhere_Man,” she said grinning even wider.

“Yeah. We’re gonna meet Thursday at the Bronze,” Willow said, enthusiasm evident in her voice.

“Next Thursday?” Anya asked.

“No, this Thursday.” Willow tried to go through her schedule in her head to make sure she didn’t have prior plans.

“Willow?”

“What?”

“What day is today?”

Willow thought for a minute. “Today is...Oh, my Goddess! Thursday is tomorrow,” she said slowly.

Anya clapped proudly. “Xander always said you were bright. Did you tell him what you were wearing?”

“Yes,” she sighed. “I told him black pants and a green tee-shirt.”

Anya turned on her heel and opened the closet door. She pulled out the clothes she’d put together the night before. “Now you have no choice
except to wear this outfit,” she said as she laid out the black leather pants and dark green tee-shirt on Willow’s bed.

Willow’s eyes widened at the garments. “I can’t wea= that. I bought those pants during one of my insane moments,” Willow explained hoping Anya
would see reason. “And that shirt shrank the last time I washed it.”

“It’s black pants and a green tee shirt just like you told him you’d be wearing. Don’t worry, you’ll look great.”

Willow rubbed her temples and moaned. “Fine.”

*****

Thursday at 8:15 Willow headed towards the Bronze thinking about this NoWhere_Man she had grown to... “Love seems like such a strong word,”
she muttered to herself. “But I really like him. He makes me laugh. Like Spike does.” She felt a pang of guilt. *Spike.* “It’s not like you=99re
cheating on him, Wills. I mean he doesn t even like you.” She quickly shook the thoughts away. “NoWhere_Man likes you. He wanted to meet you.
Forget about bleach blonde hair and the way his tight jeans curve to his ass.” Willow groaned. “Damn you, Anya. Willow, quite talking to yourself.”
With determination she straightened her shoulders and pushed thoughts of Spike aside as she moved closer to the Bronze.

*****

Spike locked his apartment door and headed off to the Bronze. It was a little after eight. His thoughts revolved around Aislin. What did she look like?
Did she have dark hair like Dru? Or blonde like the Slayer? A shutter ran down his spine at that thought. “Please don’t look like Slutty,” he muttered.
As fate would have it, he ran into the bane of his existence.

“Hey, Blondie! Watch it!” Buffy said, obviously annoyed.

“Blondie? Isn’t that like the peroxide calling the bottle blonde?” he retorted. Buffy didn’t say anything as she tried to process the insult.
“Speechless, Slutty? Well, there’s a first time for everything,” Spike said with a smirk.

“Drop dead, Spike,” Buffy snapped. She was not in the mood to deal with the bleached wonder.

“Already there, pet. Maybe you are a natural blonde after all,” he said slightly bored. “As fun as this isn’t, I have other things to do.” He turned on
his heel and headed in the opposite direction.

Buffy stared after him. “That’s it?” she asked alou=. With a shake of her head she turned and continued her patrol.

*****

Willow sat at the table waiting. Looking around she tried to see if she could spot NoWhere_Man. A tall blonde in jeans and a red shirt walked
towards her. Willow sat up straighter and smiled. Dark eyes glanced at her before moving passed her table.

Willow tried to bury her disappointment. “He’s not gonna show. Or maybe he did and he saw me and thought yuck and turned around and left,” she
muttered to herself. Glancing at her watch she decided to wait until 9 before she went home.

****

Spike pushed open the door to the Bronze. *This is it,* he thought as he paused inside the door. He was about to meet the girl he had grown to
love. *At least, like a lot,* he amended silently. He hesitated. *What the hell am I doing? I’m a 126 years old and I’m meeting some mortal in a bar?
Spike, you have officially lost it.* With a shake of his head he turned around and walked out.
 

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