"This is..." Willow trailed off uncertainly. "Good. No, not good. Good but not. Ack! What am I going to _do_?" She looked at Cordelia despairingly, nervously twining a lock of red hair between her fingers.
"Well..." Cordelia drawled out thoughtfully, her brow furrowing slightly as she considered the witch's options. "You can tell Buffy and get Spike staked, or you can not tell Buffy and get Spike staked. Or, the same thing, but having Buffy ending on the dead side of things."
Willow's eyes widened, and her lower lip trembled piteously. "Goddess! I do so miss the days when all I had to worry about was keeping my Barbies out of Xander's clutches."
Cordelia blinked. "Are you telling me that my boyfriend played with _Barbies_?"
Willow snorted. "I love your ability to prioritize, Cordelia." Her head dropped dejectedly, and she gathered Sir William the Bear into her arms.
Cordelia shrugged of the image of Xander gleefully manhandling the perfectly shaped plastic form of Willow's doll with just a bit of difficulty. "It's an acquired talent. I mean, _somebody_ has to worry about the normal stuff around here." She sighed, bronzed fingers drumming against her knee as she watched Willow.
"I mean, I missed Buffy. And I'm really glad that she's back--"
"You don't have to pull that with me, Willow. I know that you were pissed at Miss Freak. She left all of us alone to face all those creepy things, and now, she's back and may just end up scaring off the hottest man you've ever had hanging around you..." Cordelia paused momentarily. "Maybe we should make Buffy pay all of our dry cleaning bills! Do you have any idea of how many outfits I ruined while hanging out with you weirdos?"
Willow shook her head slowly, a small smile forcing its way to her lips despite her best efforts to stop it. Cordelia was the strangest blend of empty headed twit and insightful friend.
"You're right. I was angry... just a _bit_. But I am glad that she's back. Really. And yet, I'm afraid that she will end up ruining what I have with Spike..." Willow's arms tightened around the bear on her lap. "I mean, its her sacred duty and all..."
Cordelia shrugged. "That hasn't kept her from blowing it off before."
"Somehow I doubt that you can compare Angelus and Spike in regards to that no-staking thing Buffy had going on. Maybe... _maybe_, if I don't tell Buffy about Spike, and I tell him to keep out of Buffy's way..."
"If you haven't noticed, there are no secrets around here. Giles playing bad boy way back when, me and Xander... They just don't work around here. Buffy will find out sooner or later. And then..." Cordelia waved her hand airily, her eyes rolling. "Poof! Or whatever."
A hiss of air escaped Willow before she tumbled back onto her bed, slim arms flopping over her eyes. Sir William stared at her reproachfully from where he had landed.
"Makes me glad the worst I had to worry about was dating a looser."
"So..." Buffy drawled, idly plucking at a blade of grass at her side. A shimmering silver nail tore through it, and Buffy discarded the remains, steady fingers diving down towards another stubby piece of grass.
"So..." Willow responded, watching Buffy's restless fingers as they tore up the school's lawn piece by piece. 'Act casual. I have absolutely _nothing_ to hide. Nope. No Spike around here.'
Buffy looked up, a smile, fleeting smile crossing her face. "How have you been, Willow? Any trouble while I was... away?" Her eyes shifting downwards at her last word, missing the brief, panicky look that flashed through Willow's eyes.
"Trouble?" she squeaked. "Just regular old Hellmouth trouble... monsters, demons, the usual. But not any usual demons that _you_ know! Stranger vampires. Yup. Totally new to Sunnydale!" Willow smiled brightly. 'Smooth, Willow!'
"You guys managed okay?" Buffy asked, abandoning the restless grass pulling in order to wrap her arms around her knees and hug them to her chest. She dropped her chin to her knees and watched Willow through shadowed eyes.
'Oh boy. Big guilt potential here. Truth or spare her feelings? Let her know that I'm really angry that she ditched us, or make her feel welcomed?' Willow shrugged lightly. "Yeah. We actually managed to turn ourselves into a pretty decent Team Slayer. Half of them tended to get away... but the rest went poof!"
Buffy chuckled weakly. "They must have run when they saw you guys coming, huh?"
"Usually straight for us, actually. They seemed to think that we were an easy meal." Buffy's face darkened and Willow heaved a mental sigh. 'Topic change definitely in order about now.'
"So..." Willow said, her mind scrambling to latch onto a safe, neutral topic. She couldn't recall ever feeling quite so ill at ease around Buffy before. But then again, the Slayer had never run away from them before, and she'd never been harbouring a vampire. Both of them were feeling guilty, Willow was struggling with a touch of anger, and Buffy was halfway towards drowning in her heartbreak. Both girl's feelings were so volatile that Willow feared sparking something that would send all of their emotions spewing outwards before they'd had a chance to settle them within themselves first.
"So," Buffy echoed. They sat together, neither girl looking at the other, until the shrill bell rang out across the schoolyard.
~End~