By Anya
Authors note: sorry it took so long for this part...i've been super busy so...send me some feedback...tell me what you think...
Part Three Buffy frowned as she read the paragraph over. She knew she wasn't dumb but she had read the same three lines over and over and she still couldn't understand it. She had tried to convince herself that the book was to old and full of crazy worded sonnets, but inside she knew. She had read the book Angel gave her from cover to cover several times, but lately it seemed more distant. As if everything that happened with Angel were a dream. That she had never fallen in love with him and Ms. Calendar had never died. But then she would feel the soft weight of the book in her hands and snap back to reality, and feel the painful sting of knowing that he had left. She sighed and closed the book. This was just way too much to deal with right now. She felt fairly content to wallow in her own misery for a while when she felt a light touch on her shoulder.
"Hey Buff," Xander said, a little too cheerful. "What'cha reading." Buffy looked him over. He was giddy all right, he had his goofy grin plastered on his face and his body was loose. Which indicated to Buffy that snack food was somehow involved.
"Hey," Buffy said sullenly. Not lifting her eyes from the book in her lap.
"I was thinking, since we survived the whole 'certain death' thing, how about we throw a graduation party. And invite the remaining graduated class of Sunnydale 1999. I mean it's probably the last time were all gonna get to hang out before we all leave." He took a deep breath and looked at her expectantly.
"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea Xand."
"A great idea huh?" he paused looking at her. "Alright what is it?"
"What are you talking about?" Buffy retorted quickly.
"There's no point in trying to hide it. If your gonna bring me down you better tell me why. It's a requirement with friends. We share things, such as our pain and sorrow and…"
"I miss Angel," Buffy cut him off.
"Oh," Xander said suddenly serious. "Well, that's natural. You just gotta keep telling yourself that it's for the best." She looked at him cautiously. "I know. It's not as easy as it sounds. Just try to hang on. I'm not really smart when it comes to matters of the heart and such, so I really cant say much to help." He paused and looked around. "But I can help you have fun." Buffy smiled.
"What did you have in mind?" She sighed setting the book on the table.
"I was thinking along the lines of go cart racing." Buffy smiled.
"Sounds like a plan," she stood up and linked arms with Xander. "A day with my bestest buds in the world is exactly what I need." They turned and walked out of the room, the small book tossed carelessly on the table.
********************************** She smiled as she filpped through the yearbook. It had been so long since she had been in this sort of environment. Friends. She had friends again. For a short amount of time she was sure, but the longer she could stay here the better. It was so strange, starting over. But it felt exciting. She didn't feel lucky; she had felt that when she first found out. But now it was more excitement than anything. She flipped to he back of the book and to the index. She ran her fingers through the list of names. "Michael…Mindy….Mork…Oz…" she smiled triumphantly and flipped to the page. It was a picture of Oz playing with Dingoes on the night of the Homecoming dance. She looked at the two Homecoming queens smiling and holding hands and laughed. She turned the page again and spotted a picture of a pretty blonde girl holding a toy umbrella, with the caption 'Buffy Summers, Class Protector' under it. "This is her," she looked around the empty room. "She's beautiful." She looked at the other page and found another picture of Oz in a tux. This time he was standing with a beautiful red haired girl. She read the caption below the picture, 'Willow and Oz, Class Couple.' She felt a smile rise on the corners of her lips. "Is everyone in California beautiful?" she questioned the silent room. She closed the book. "Enough research," she stood up and stretched. "I should get involved, be social."
"I somehow doubt
we'll ever be the same
there's to much poison
and confusion on your face"****************************
Willow grinned as she watched Oz strumming his guitar. * He's never gonna give up on that e-flat. I love when he's being persistent. * Oz slammed the guitar down on the table.
"God…I hate be persistent."
"I love it," Willow replied coolly. Oz looked at her for a few moments, studying her. She was so incredible. She was smart and she challenged him. And she looked at things different than other people, and she was kind. Sometimes you find yourself attracted to the wrong types of people. And you can't really understand it, it's just there. When Oz had first seen Willow it was like a punch in the gut. He had always figured that nothing was perfect, that his girl would be bits and pieces of what he wanted, but not everything. But when he saw Willow it was like he knew that everything he ever wanted in a girl was real. He had gotten used to the idea after a while of the two of them dating. It had shocked him at first, the idea of angle wanting to be with him, but he just went with it. He had come to the conclusion that thinking only led to trouble and that no good could come of it. So he just tried to deal. He asked Willow once how she dealt with everything that she did and still managed to be one of the kindest people ever. She told him, "You do what you have to do." Ever since then he had felt so much better about everything. Not just their relationship, but life in general. It had made him stop thinking so much.
"What are you thinking about?" Willow's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"You."
"What about me?" Willow asked adjusting herself so that she was on her knees.
"How special you are."
"Oh," her eyes lit up. "Well that's good. I like it that you think I'm special."
"Me too," he smiled flawlessly.
"Hmm," Willow giggled as she jumped into his lap. "You think your so suave don't you." She wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Well, yes, don't you."
"Ha!"
"You don't think I'm suave? I'm so offended, I can't believe," he was cut of by Willow's lips on his and instinctively closed his eyes. After a few moments of just sitting with there lips lightly touching, she pulled away and looked him in the eyes. He smiled, not the flawless smile, a more relaxed one.
"You wanna watch a movie," Willow said finally.
*******************************
Xander and Buffy laughed as they walked up the steps to Willow's front door. Without hesitating Xander leaned in and casualy opened the door.
"After you," Xander extended his arm out in front of him. They walked inside and stopped short in front of the stairs. "Willllow," he yelled up. Buffy shrugged and they walked up to the top. "Willow," Xander said knocking softly on her door. "Will," he opened the door carefully. "Will, it's Xander and Bu…" he stopped short when he saw Willow wrapped in Oz's arms lying her bed. They were both asleep and Xander could feel the anger rising up inside of him. * What's wrong with this picture. * He stormed over to the bed. "Willow!" Willow shot up and looked around.
"Wha, Xander, what. What happened?"
"I'll tell you what happened," he looked around the room searching for some excuse for his behavior. "You and Oz were…you…"he looked at the blank screen. "Fell asleep watching t.v. and I overreacted."
"That's the understatement of the year," Buffy piped up.
"We came over to see if you wanted to go hang out or something."
"Yeah, were bored. And who better to find when your bored than Willow "raise some hell" Rosenburg." The gang laughed and Willow smiled at Buffy.
"Ok give me a few minutes," everyone walked out and she opened a drawer looking for some clean shorts when something out her window caught her eye. She turned quickly but nothing was there. She felt a cold breeze blow over her shoulders and shivered. "Maybe I should bring a sweater," she muttered to herself.
Continues
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