Oz had telephoned Willow early the following afternoon
and asked to come over to her house to talk. She had
stubbornly refused, insisting instead on meeting with
him later at Giles' place. Although he hadn't liked
the arrangement, he hadn't pressed the matter,
satisfied that she had agreed to talk with him on any
terms, especially if he had hurt her as badly as Buffy
had said.
He took a deep breath and tried to steady his nerves
as the door opened. Giles watched as the redhead
entered and then quickly grabbed his tea cup and beat
a hasty retreat to the relative safety of the kitchen
as Spike stepped in behind her. Oz tensed as two more
figures came through the doorway behind the unlikely
couple.
"Looks more like a debate panel than a private
conversation," he said as Buffy and Riley took chairs
across from the sofa.
"I asked them to come," Willow told him.
"We need to talk alone," he replied.
"No," she shook her head. "That's what _you_ need. I
need the support of the friends who wielded dust pans
and helped me sweep my life back together after you
tore it to pieces."
"I didn't come back here to hurt you," he argued.
"You didn't leave to hurt me, either. But it did hurt,
and I really don't think you have any idea of just how
much."
"It wasn't exactly easy for me either, Willow," he
stated.
"I'm sure it wasn't. But Oz, I spent weeks crying
myself to sleep at night. Wondering where you were, if
you were all alone, if you were all right. You knew
where I was. And even though you chose not to, you
knew how to reach me. You knew you could come back
anytime, if you wanted to. I had no idea how you were.
No phone calls, not even a short note. All I had was
my fears, my nightmares, and my abysmal imagination."
"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I never meant to put you
through all of that. I just needed time, after
everything that happened."
"I'm not asking for your apology," she told him. "I'm
not even sure you owe me one. I don't know what you
expected to find when you came back here last night--"
"Certainly not--this," he answered, settling a dark
gaze on the blonde vampire beside her.
"I didn't want to move on," she said. "In fact, I
resisted it to the point that I nearly drove
myself--and everyone else--crazy in the process. But
you left me no choice. The world didn't stop spinning
when you pulled out of Sunnydale. It went cock-eyed,
for a very long time, but it kept right on moving.
And, eventually--with an awful lot of help--so did I."
"What you're saying is that you don't want me,
anymore," he concluded.
Willow sighed, "I don't know what I want. How can you
expect me to? You suddenly drop back in from out of
nowhere and expect everything to go on like nothing
ever happened? That's incredibly unfair, Oz. Right
now, the only thing I know for sure is that I don't
ever want to go back to that place you left me in when
you took off."
"I really am sorry, Will, for everything I put you
through. Just tell me what you need from me--whatever
it is--and you've got it."
"Time, I guess," she answered. "I'd just gotten used
to the fact that you were gone, and now you're
suddenly back again--"
"Then there's a chance that we could work this out?"
he asked. "If there isn't, tell me now, and I'll head
back the same way I came."
Spike tensed angrily at the quick flash of pain in the
redhead's eyes. The pain was quickly replaced by
outrage, and her hand found his and latched on,
pulling him back as he took a step toward the wolf.
"What the hell is that? Emotional blackmail?" she
snapped angrily.
The vampire arched an eyebrow and grinned at the fire
in the young woman's voice.
"No," Oz shook his head. "I just need--"
"You don't get to call the shots this time," she
informed him. "I couldn't stop you the last time you
ran off, and I can't stop you now. But if you leave
again, don't come back. Ever. I waited months for you.
I cried, and I ached, and I put myself and everyone I
care about through hell. I won't do that again, not to
myself and not to them. So stay, if you want, and
allow me all the time I need to figure out what I'm
feeling. Or run off if you want to play the
coward--again. But know this. Either way, I'm through
putting my life on hold for you. Got it?"
Buffy squeezed Riley's hand in a crushing grip. She
looked past the angry redhead, exchanged a beaming
smile of pride with the blonde vampire beside her, and
resisted the urge to envelope Willow in a smothering
hug of triumph.
Oz nodded and slumped back against the sofa, suddenly
feeling very tired, "I'll stay. And I'll give you all
the time you need. But I'd still like to talk to you
alone, sometime."
"Not bloody likely," Spike said coldly. "Where she
goes, I go."
Oz glared at him as the vampire wrapped an arm around
Willow's waist.
"Get used to it," Willow suggested in a tone that left
no room for argument.
End.