Part of the Near Wild Heaven sub-series of the REM Song Title Series
Author: Malana
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Joss, ME, ect own Willow. I think Warner Brothers owns The West Wing, and they can force Sorkin out of his job, but everything wonderful about TWW will always be his.
Spoilers: Assume up to the end of season 3 for TWW and through season 6 with BtVS. Tara was murdered, Willow went evil, went to England and recovered.
Distribution: Want it, take it, just tell me
Feedback: Please!
Note: I'm not sure who's POV I'm going to do in the future If you have any requests please e-mail me. Malana@mac.com
I'm not pleased.
I'm *really* not pleased.
It started out as a good day. I actually had a goodnight's sleep. I woke up refreshed, I had a good breakfast. For almost an entire hour everything was going well.
Then pretty much everything went to hell.
When I walked into my office in the morning, CJ was there. CJ sitting, unannounced, in my office first thing in the morning is never a good sign. Usually it means that she's going to yell at me about something. Previously I held the opinion that having CJ yell at you was the worst way to start a day.
It turns out I was wrong. The worst way to start a day is by yelling at CJ. I don't yell at CJ a lot. She's my friend, and also she, you know, scares the yell out of me. So, yes it wasn't the first times I've been pissed at CJ, but I have to say, I've never been quite this angry.
I guess I should explain that while the first thing I say when I walked into my office was CJ, the second thing was Willow. My baby cousin, Willow. Sure, maybe she's an adult now, but I'll always think of her as being like a kid sister to me.
I could tell Willow was nervous, and CJ seemed nervous too, which is never a good sign. CJ is one of the most level-headed women I've never met, so when she gets shaken, I get worried.
The first words out of CJ's mouth were "We want to tell you this before the press gets a hold of it."
That was pretty much the next sign that I was in for a bad day.
So, they told me they had been seeing each other for the past few months. Honest to God, I thought they were joking. I soon learned that they were being quite serious.
I'll admit it; I kind of flipped out. I started yelling. Then Willow started to cry, which caused CJ to start to yell. Which made me yell some more. It was a fun morning for me. Because, on the list of things I love to do, getting yelled at and making people cry are both right up there.
After a little while Willow couldn't handle it anymore and left the room. After that things just got worse. At the height of the argument CJ actually accused me of being homophobic. I don't think she really meant it, but it hurt. She knows me better than that. I don't care if she dates a woman, I don't care if Willow is gay. Hell, I was thrilled for her when she told me about Tara a few years ago. Just by talking to her on the phone, I could tell she was in love. Was I surprised when she told me she was gay? Sure, but I didn't care.
If CJ wants to date a woman, I'm fine with that. I just don't want her dating my cousin. I love CJ, I do. But first there's the age difference, then there's the press then, then there's the fact that my friend and co-worker is dating a girl I've always been protective of. Between the lesbian thing, the age thing, and the fact that Willow's my cousin, this is going to be in the press. It won't be terrible; it's not that big of a scandal, most people won't give a damn for more than a few days. But it's still going to be a thing. And I don't want Willow going through that.
Willow is stronger than she looks; I know that. But I also know that there is still a lot of vulnerability in her. Tara died less than a year ago, part of her is still dealing with that, part of her will always be dealing with that. She should have to deal with the press. The tabloids will dig into her past; it's not going to be fun. I don't want to see her getting hurt.
I guess that's what it really comes down to. I know what happens to relationships involving White House staffers, especially when it comes to the Senior Staff. I mean look at us, none of us are in a solid relationship for long. Leo lost his wife to his job; Toby's still in love with Andi, but she's never going to take him back; Josh's relationship with Amy failed more than once, most likely because he's in love with Donna, but can't do anything about it, or even acknowledge it; CJ could never work things out with Danny, and just when things were about to happen with Simon, he was killed. My own love life is nothing to look up to, first my failed engagement with Lisa, than the disaster that was my relationship with Laurie, than there was the thing with Mallory that never really managed to get off the ground.
I don't' want Willow to get hurt. And I don't want to see CJ get hurt either. But there's nothing I can really do about it. So, upset as I may be, I told CJ and Willow that I would support there relationship. Seeing Willow's eyes light up at that moment almost made up for it all. She so desperately wanted me to be okay with it.
And honestly, part of me is. I've seen that way they look at each other, and there's magic there. Even I can tell that they have something that's going to be really special. But I'm still pissed off. I'm still worried.
And to top it all off?
I agreed to tell Toby for them.
END
Next Part: Toby?
