Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or places of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". The television show and all things related are the express legal property of Joss Whedon, the WB, Mutant Enemy, and a lot of other people who aren't me. Please don't sue.
Riley Finn turned around with a faint smile tugging at his lips. He’d placed the voice before he even caught sight of the redhead jogging to catch up with him.
“Willow, hi!” he greeted her warmly as she tossed him a sunny grin and caught her breath.
“Hi!” she chirped, accompanied by a small wave. Riley’s smile faltered a bit. He never quite knew what to say to his girlfriend’s best friend, and he was never sure what would come out of her mouth next. It always made him a teeny bit uncomfortable.
“Uh, hi, “ he countered and immediately wanted to smack himself. Already covered that part, Finn.
“Hi,” Willow giggled. A drawn-out pause ensued, during which time Riley wondered if there was something she wanted to say to him or if he was supposed to say something in particular.
“So, uh. . .”
“Oh! Sorry, heh, don’t know where my brain went. Well, you know, metaphorically. ‘Cuz it’s still in my head. Like brains tend to be.” Willow grinned again while Riley digested that.
“Right, um, was there something…”
“Oh!!!” Willow smacked a hand to her forehead. “No! I mean, yes. Yes, yes there is something I wanted to tell you. Or, well, ask you, really.” She exhaled forcefully, and a relieved look passed over her face. Riley waited patiently.
And then he began to get impatient.
“Ummm, so you wanted to ask me… what, exactly?”
“Oh! Ummm…” Willow suddenly pulled her backpack around to the front and began rifling through it. “Aha! Here it is!” she exclaimed and triumphantly produced something from her sack.
“What’s that?” Riley asked, befuddled, as he peered at it. It looked like a burned piece of paper.
“It’s a burned piece of paper,” Willow explained helpfully. Riley raised an eyebrow at her. “Well, it’s not just a burned piece of paper… why would I come all the way over here just to show you that?”
Good question, Riley thought.
“No, it’s a burned syllabus. A burned Psych 1 syllabus, to be precise. To be even more precise, I should tell you that it’s Buffy’s,” the redhead babbled. Riley chuckled.
“So… this is Buffy’s burned Psych 1 syllabus,” Riley repeated slowly.
“Mmmm-hmmm,” Willow nodded mournfully. “I was borrowing it for the questions we’re supposed to do for chapter 12, and Kitty kicked over a candle onto it.”
“Aha…” Riley decided not to ask who Kitty was. “So… you want a new syllabus?”
“Precisely. You’re good with the guessing, Riley,” she commented lightly.
“Well, I had a hint or two,” he teased, pulling out his copy of the course syllabus from his own backpack. “Here, take this one. I can swipe another one from Professor Walsh’s office later.”
“Really? Oh, great, thanks!! I guess I’ll catch you later, huh?” Willow looked up at him expectantly.
“Yeah, probably,” Riley replied. Willow waved shyly and had turned to leave when Riley stopped her. “Hey, Willow?”
“Yeah?” she queried a little worriedly, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
“Out of curiosity… what happened to your syllabus?” Willow grinned mischievously.
“Casualty of magick,” she returned cryptically, then giggled at Riley’s puzzled look. “Tara and I sent it to a pocket dimension. Just to see if we could really do something like that.” Riley laughed out loud at that.
“Do you really hate Psych that much?” he asked, still laughing.
“No,” Willow giggled, “but it was better than banishing my textbook from this world. It was close by and I figured I could get a new one…” she brandished the syllabus in the air. “I was right.”
Riley smiled, waved, and turned to walk away.
“Um, Riley?”
“Yeah?” he answered as he turned back to look at Willow. She was the picture of anxiety, worrying her lower lip with her front teeth, hugging the syllabus to her chest, and looking up at him through her lashes.
“I, um… just wanted to say that… I’m happy. You know… that you’re with Buffy,” she proclaimed hesitantly. Riley couldn’t stop the grin that graced his features. Willow’s lips quirked upward in a smile as well.
“I don’t think I’ll need to use that shovel after all.”