"Is Oz going to be there?" Willow asked from her bed.
"Yes," Buffy answered.
"Then I'm not," the redhead declared.
"Oh, come on, Will. Pigging out on ice cream. Lots of
soda. Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The gang hasn't
gotten together for a movie-fest in ages," the slayer
pleaded. "And Mom's gone for the weekend. We'll have
the house to ourselves."
"No," she refused.
"Don't let him stop you! He's been much better,
lately. You have to admit it."
She raised an eyebrow, "Did he tell you his version of
our little conversation the other day?"
"On campus," Buffy nodded. "He felt really bad
afterward. You should have seen him. He said he was
sorry that he'd upset you."
"He said that?" she asked.
"Yup. I didn't trust him, either, at first. But I
think he's really trying."
"Unless it's all just an act," Willow said.
"Look, just come spend the evening with us. We'll all
run interference for you, and you know Spike isn't
going to let him within three feet of you."
"It does sound like fun."
"But it won't be--not as much--if you aren't there,
too," Buffy insisted. "So, please?"
"Okay," she capitulated.
***
Spike stood beside the open refrigerator as Anya
shoved can after can of soda into his arms.
"Oh, hell, Spike! What are we going to do?" she asked,
keeping her voice low.
"What? The wolf's little secret is pulling into
Sunnyhell tonight, isn't she?" he responded.
"Yes," she nodded. "But I gave her the address to Oz's
apartment! He won't be there. What if she decides to
turn around and go back to--"
"I phoned and left this address at the desk of her
hotel," he told her.
"Oh," she sighed in relief, then immediately looked
puzzled. "How do you know where she's staying?"
"She's a waitress in a seedy little restaurant. She
can't make much money. I called all the flea-bag
hotels in town. There's only one Ivy with a
reservation in any of them."
She grinned as he mimicked the words she had spoken a
few days ago, "You're pretty smart, for a kid."
He groaned as she shoved the refrigerator door shut
and followed him back to the living room. Before they
stepped through, Spike shook one of the cans of soda
a
few times, then handed it to Anya and shot a quick
glance over at Oz, who was sitting on the floor.
"Kid," she repeated playfully under her breath and
went to the wolf, offering him the soda.
Spike plopped down on the sofa, as close to Willow as
he could get without actually sitting on her. He
handed her one of the cans and dumped the rest of them
unceremoniously onto the coffee table.
"Gee, thanks Spike," Buffy said sarcastically.
"Anytime," he shot back and settled back against the
cushions to wrap an arm snuggly around the redhead.
She smiled and raised her head to look at him, and he
took the opportunity to place a soft kiss on her lips.
From his seat on the floor, Oz glared over at them and
flipped open the top on the can of soda. The throughly
shaken carbonated beverage spurted out of the can,
spraying all over the wolf's face and trickling down
his chin and onto his pant legs.
An indelicate snort seeped around the hand Buffy
clapped over her mouth, and she buried her face in
Riley's chest in an attempt to stifle her laughter.
Oz's expression shifted from embarrassment to
annoyance as the room burst into uncontrolled howls of
amusement.
"Oh, Oz," Anya managed to speak around a giggle. "I'm
so sorry! I can't imagine how that could have
happened."
"It's all right," he told her, though his tone of
voice said otherwise.
"I'll get you a towel," Buffy offered and vaulted up
the stairs, her laughter drifting back down to the
living room.
***
Buffy handed Oz one bag of popped popcorn and shoved
a
second into the microwave.
"You doing okay?" she asked.
"I'd be doing a lot better if HE weren't out there,"
the wolf answered.
"I don't think you scored any points with Willow after
that talk you had with her on campus," she told him.
He shook his head, "I shouldn't have let her walk
away. I should have made her listen to me. You guys
have gotten past it. Why can't Willow?"
"You didn't break our hearts," she reminded him.
"Besides, you've had time to start winning us
over--except for that chat. Which I still think was a
really bad idea."
"How can I win her over when she'll barely even look
at me? I just want her to understand how much I missed
her. I tried to tell her that I'd never hurt her again
the way I did with--well, you know."
"Listen, Oz. You can't force her to take you back. If
it's going to happen, it'll happen. You told her how
you feel. That's all you can do. Just ease off a
little, you know?"
Buffy grabbed the other bag of popcorn out of the
microwave and led the way to the living room. The
doorbell rang, and she handed the bag to Riley before
going to the door.
"Hi?" the slayer spoke questioningly to the stranger
on the other side.
The trim brunette peered nervously back at her, "Hi.
My name's Ivy. I'm looking for Oz. Is he here?"
The wolf's eyes snapped open and flew to the door as
Buffy nodded and stepped aside to let the young woman
in.
End.