Everyone Else Could See It

Part 1

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It was 6pm on a Friday night, and Buffy and Riley were sitting at the espresso pump waiting for her cousin Julie and her husband Jim to arrive. Buffy had been ‘officially’ seeing Riley for a couple weeks now and they were hooking up with Julie and Jim for a sort of dinner date.

She hadn’t seen Julie since she had moved to Sunnydale, but they kept in contact with frequent letters and phone calls. Julie didn’t know about the slaying, but she knew about pretty much everything else that had happened in Buffy’s life. She knew about her friends, boyfriends; even her watcher- though she didn’t know he was her watcher, of course. She just knew that Giles was like her surrogate father.

Buffy smiled at Riley, he, of course, stupidly smiled right back at her. Not that Buffy thought of it as stupid, more like… automatic. Anyone else would have described it as ‘stupidly’. (There was an unfortunate bovine similitude to Riley’s intellect and conversational ability.)

Though only ‘official’ for a couple of weeks now, they had spent a month getting to know one another and such, so really it was more like six weeks. Buffy thought he was a really great guy, well built, classic American good looks and totally devoted to her. She told anyone that would listen that he was pretty much the perfect boyfriend.

“So why don’t I love him?” she wondered, not for the first time.

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Willow Rosenberg was heading to the espresso pump for some much-needed caffeine. She’d had a long day of classes and homework and needed a pick-me-up. (Yes, she had her entire weekend’s homework done by 6pm Friday. She was Willow Rosenberg, after all.)

She noticed Buffy and Riley sitting at one of the tables and walked over to say hi. She didn’t particularly like her roommate’s boyfriend. It wasn’t really that she hated him… If he weren’t dating Buffy, she probably wouldn’t have any opinion about him at all.

Unfortunately, Willow was madly in love with her best friend. She was just too cowardly to admit it in the face of Buffy’s unrelenting heterosexuality. Thus, it was pretty much a guarantee that she was not going to like anyone Buffy chose as boyfriend.

“Hey you two! Friday evening Caffeine fix, huh? Great minds must think alike!” Willow said as she bounced over to the couple. Mentally she only included Buffy in the description, but Riley would never know that.

Buffy smiled that smile that sharp observers had come to think of as her Willow Smile. “Hey Will! What’s up?”

Willow grinned, “School hard, Need Caffeine.” She said in a mock-imitation of Buffy’s time as ‘cave slayer’- always guaranteed to get a blush out of Buffy. “What’s up with you guys,” she added, trying not to obviously cut Riley out of the conversation. She always supported Buffy, even if she was dating a cardboard cutout.

Riley said, “Hi, Willow . We were just waiting for Buffy’s cousin to get here. She and her husband are supposed to meet us for dinner.” He tried not to be obvious about wanting Willow to leave, but subtlety had never been one of his strong points.

Riley didn’t know why Willow bothered him. She was a nice girl, smart and a good student; she was Buffy’s best friend. Maybe he was just jealous of the time Buffy spent with her, or the way Buffy went on and on, Willow this and Willow that. If Willow had been a guy, Riley would have worried about the competition.

Willow was able to see the subtext of Riley's comment- after all, it was printed in big block-style letters, how could she miss it? “Oh, ok. I’ll leave you guys alone,” she said brightly, as though it was no problem what so ever.

Buffy frowned slightly at her boyfriend and caught Willow ’s hand before she could take off. “No Will. Stay and hang out, at least till they get here.”

Willow couldn’t resist a smile from Buffy, especially when she didn’t want to anyway. “Ok Buff.”

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Riley tried not to glower as Buffy and Willow chatted, ignoring him almost totally. Willow occasionally tried to draw him into the conversation, but Buffy had eyes for no one but Willow .

About 10 minutes later Buffy’s cousin showed up.

“Buffy! God, it’s been years! How are you?” Julie fairly shouted, running up and grabbing Buffy in a hug.

Willow had a momentary pang of jealousy seeing this lithe, 5’ 10” blonde running up and hugging her Buffy, more so even than she felt when she saw her and Riley together. “Probably ‘cause it’s another woman,” she thought. She realized that she was being silly. Buffy was into men, not women. And, even if she did like women, this was her cousin. Not a potential rival. “Rival?” Willow rolled her eyes at her own overactive imagination.

“God, it’s good to see you Julie!” Buffy said as she returned the hug. Breaking away, she looked at the handsome Man just over her shoulder. He was 6’ 1”, built like a swimmer- long and lean. Very masculine facial features and his chestnut locks were styled in a smart, short haircut.

Julie half turned and pulled the man to he side, “This is Jim!” she gushed.

Jim stuck his hand out, giving Buffy a firm shake. He didn’t even raise an eyebrow when Buffy matched his strength, nor did he try to squeeze harder. This earned him several brownie points in Buffy’s book- usually men were instantly threatened when she demonstrated a strong grip.

Buffy turned back to Julie and said, “Oh, this is Willow .” She was going to say more, when Julie interrupted.

“Willow Rosenberg?” she said, looking at the redhead. “God, I finally get to meet the legend…”

Willow ’s eyebrows climbed and she turned to look at Buffy, the question clearly showing on her face.

Buffy blushed fiercely, and avoided everyone’s gaze.

Willow turned back to Buffy’s cousin, trying to figure out what she was talking about. “Legend?”

“Oh my God! Are you kidding me? Buffy talks incessantly about you.” Julie pulled Willow into a startled hug.

“Uh, nice to meet you too?” Willow said hesitantly when Julie pulled away.

Julie laughed out loud, “She’s just like you described her, cuz!” she said to Buffy, who was still not meeting Willow ’s eyes.

“Ok, so Buffy’s cousin is a little… enthusiastic. That’s ok, I guess,” Willow thought.

Jim stuck his hand out to Willow and she tentatively shook it, “It’s good to meet you, Willow ,” he said. “I get the backlash from these two’s conversations as it is, are you joining us for dinner?”

Willow realized that no one had even spoken to Riley, yet. While she didn’t really like him, it was rather inconsiderate of Buffy not to even introduce her boyfriend. It was also rather inconsiderate of Willow to keep intruding, so she stopped. “No, no. I’ve got study group tonight. I just stopped in for coffee and saw Buffy and Riley and stopped to chat for a little bit. So, it was great meeting you guys, and I hope you have a good time.” Turning to Buffy, she ducked a bit, trying to catch her gaze and saying, “And when you get back to the dorm tonight, you can explain to me what your cousin was talking about!”

Buffy blushed again and said, “Uh, she’s exaggerating, Will.” Glancing up and seeing the clear disbelief in Willow ’s expression, she added, “Really!”

Willow just shook her head and, saying her goodbye’s once again, bounced off to get her caffeine fix.

Jim, confused, asked, “Who’s Riley?”

Buffy grabbed the aforementioned automaton, er… person and said brightly, “Oh, this is Riley. My boyfriend.”

Greetings were more subdued this go-around.

As Riley was trying, and failing, to assert his Alpha status via the traditional male handshaking ritual, Julie saw Buffy watching Willow walk away. The look on her face was a combination of pleasure, desire, longing, and excitement.

“Oh girl, you’ve got it bad…” Julie thought.

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By the time they got through dinner, Riley was thoroughly pissed off. He’d been humiliated by everyone fawning over Willow and completely ignoring him when Buffy’s cousin first got there. Add to that the fact that Buffy and Julie spent most of the evening sharing and reminiscing over anecdotes of which he had no knowledge. Even that would have been ok, a chance to get to know a little more about his girlfriend; however, all of Buffy’s stories had starred ‘Guess Who?’ *Willow!*

He’d tried to start a conversation a couple of times with Jim, but received only monosyllabic answers in return. Either Jim didn’t like football, or he was actually captivated by the two girls discussion. Riley thought Jim was kinda boring; “What guy doesn’t like football?” he thought.

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Between the entrée and desert, Julie grabbed Buffy and dragged her to the tittle-tattle room. As Julie powdered her nose and added lipstick, she pressed Buffy on the Riley issue.

“Well, what’s the deal with your boyfriend?” she asked.

“Whaddya mean?” Buffy asked, confused.

Julie looked at her like she was daft, “Well… he’s kinda… boring.”

“He’s not boring, he’s a nice, normal guy!” Buffy protested. Her objection sounded a little weak, even to herself.

Julie turned around and looked at her cousin with something akin to disdain on her face. “Yeah. Boring. I said that already.”

“Hey, after my last few boyfriends, nice and normal aren’t such a bad thing.” Buffy defended herself. If her defense against vampires had ever been that weak, she’d have been vamp-chow ages ago.

Julie rolled her eyes. “How long have you been seeing this clown anyway?”

“About a month or so… and Hey! Enough with the Riley-bashing already,” Buffy whined.

“Is he at least any good in the sack?” Julie asked, looking for some reason her cousin was staying with this loser.

Buffy blushed and ducked her head, not saying anything.

Julie jumped on it, “Aha! Lemme guess, missionary only, 5 minutes of sweating and you have to fake it, ‘cause he’s done.” Not getting any response she continued, “And, I bet he constantly asks you how good it was, am I right?”

Buffy just glared at the other blonde.

“I don’t hear a denial!” Julie sing-songed.

“Can we not talk about Riley for a minute?” Buffy asked plaintively.

“You know Jim and I have been seeing Tracy .” Julie said.

Confused at the non sequitor, Buffy shook her head before responding, “Yeah I still can’t believe you’re having a ménage a trios!” she said, acting shocked.

Julie smiled broadly, “Well, I think you should really consider hooking up with Willow ,” she suggested.

Buffy choked, “What! Where the heck did that come from?”

“I’m serious, Buffy,” Julie said.

Buffy was stunned, “You think I should try to get Willow involved with Riley and me?” she asked, slowly, as if trying to grasp the concept. The image of Willow- naked, flushed and whimpering beneath her- popped unbidden into Buffy’s mind.

Julie actually shuddered at the thought of Riley touching the physical perfection that was her cousin and the sweet redhead. “No! God, No!” she exclaimed.

Buffy was relieved and confused, “Oh, well I thought…”- the image of Willow in the throes of passion remained in her head.

Julie interrupted to clarify her advice. “No Buffy, you need to kick Bland Boy there to the curb! I think you and Willow would be very happy together.”

Now Buffy was truly shocked. When she found her voice, she said “Oh my God! Julie! Neither of us is into girls! How could you even think…” Buffy almost shouted.

Julie stood there, hands on hip like she was taking to a child, “Buffy, I saw the way you looked at her when she left us earlier this evening.” She pressed on, overriding Buffy’s protestations of heterosexuality, “Buffy! I hear the way you talk about her, and I’ve read the way you write about her. I think the only reason you haven’t considered it is because you are stuck on the fact that she’s a woman.”

“Well, of course I’m stuck on that!” Buffy almost shouted. “Julie, I’m not gay! Or bi- or whatever! I’ve never…”

Julie put her hands on Buffy’s shoulders, interrupting her once again. “Buffy, it’s not about having a preference for one gender over the other. Jim and I aren’t with Tracy just for the sex. We both love her, and can’t imagine being without her, or without each other. That’s why we’re together.”

Buffy tried to interrupt, “But…”

Julie cut her off, giving her a little shake, “Who do you spend most of your free time with?” she asked.

“Well, we live together…” Buffy began.

“When you think about going out and having a great time, who do you think of?” Julie pressed, making Buffy answer without giving a lot of thought.

“But we’re best friends…” Buffy started to explain.

Julie smirked. “God, she’s being stubborn about this,” she thought. “Think about the most fun times you have had in the last twelve months. Who were you with?”

“Well, uh…” Buffy trailed off, realizing the answer to all of the questions was the same; Willow.

Julie was relentless. She knew from letters and phone calls that Buffy loved Willow like no one else, she just had to get her cousin to see it for herself. “When you need a shoulder to cry on, or someone to talk about stuff with, or just someone to be with to cheer you up, who do you think of before anyone else?” she asked, softly.

“ Willow ,” she whispered; almost surprised by the answer herself.

Thinking she had the last nail in the coffin, Julie asked, “How long have you been dating Riley?”

Buffy was suddenly wary, not wanting to have to defend her boyfriend against any more put-downs, no matter how accurate or well deserved they might be. “Uh, about three or four weeks…”

“In the last month you and I have talked on the phone three times, and you sent me, like ten emails, right?” Julie asked.

Thrown by the apparent change in topic, Buffy had to think about it for a moment. “Yeah, I guess so, why?”

Julie smiled warmly at her beloved cousin. “In all that you never once mentioned that you were even dating someone, let alone gave me his name. But you never failed to mention the latest thing you and Willow were doing.” She gave Buffy’s shoulders one last gentle squeeze and then let them go. She turned to leave the bathroom, saying, “Think about that for a minute Buffy. Just think about it.”

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Part 2

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Jim and Julie had to get back on the road. They had only stopped in Sunnydale on their way up to San Francisco , and they needed to be there before morning. Buffy hugged them both and made them promise to make time to visit again soon. Nothing more was said about Julie and Buffy’s conversation in the ladies room, though Buffy was sure their next email or phone call would be in the same vein.

Riley’s politeness was a bit strained as he spouted off the usual ‘Nice to meet you’ platitudes. He didn’t care for the almost smirking grin that Julie gave him as she shook his hand. It was as if she knew something that he didn’t.

Buffy was quiet as they walked back to the dorms. She couldn’t stop thinking about the things Julie had said to her. She thought about Willow , how much time they spent together, how much fun they had together. She thought about how much she depended on the redhead- for friendship, for support, for acceptance and even for love. “Best friend love!” she hastened to reassure herself. “Best friends are supposed to love each other… Right?” she asked herself.

It would have been easier to convince herself if she weren’t envisioning the sweet little witch moaning and writhing under her as their naked bodies intertwined. Somehow she just couldn’t get that fantasy out of her head. “Come on! I mean, sure I’ve had a few dreams about her, but that’s normal, isn’t it?” she asked herself. It was because she’d overheard her and Oz together, smelled the aftermath of sex between them. Plus, she’d seen Willow naked lots of times- they did live together, after all. It was unavoidable. “Those dreams didn’t mean anything… Did they?” she wondered.

They were almost back to her building when Riley broke the silence. “You’re awfully quiet tonight, Buffy.”

Buffy realized they had walked all the way back to the campus, and she hadn’t once given the slightest thought to her supposed boyfriend. “Jeez, I’m sorry Riley. I have kinda ignored you tonight, haven’t I?” she said.

Riley smiled, thinking he might get a little if he played his cards right, “Well, I know how you could make it up to me…” he said in what he thought was a sexy voice.

Buffy almost cringed at the tone of Riley's voice. She could tell he was thinking about sex, and the thought didn’t appeal to her at all. Unfortunately, Julie had hit the nail on the head- Riley stunk in bed. “He not only can’t hit the nail on the head, he can’t even find the nail!” she thought. “Hell, he doesn’t even *try* to find the nail.”

“Actually, Riley, I kinda needed to talk to…” she started, trying to blow him off gently.

“Wait! Let me guess…” Riley interrupted angrily. “ Willow , Right?”

Buffy was surprised by the sudden mood change. She hadn’t noticed him glowering all through the evening, ever since Willow had stopped by their table.

When she didn’t deny it, Riley threw his hands up in disgust. “I knew it! God, I am so tired of Willow Rosenberg. That’s all you ever talk about, ‘Willow this,’ and ‘Willow that.’ You never want to spend time with me, your supposed *boyfriend,* no- it’s always Willow .”

Buffy was shocked by the vitriol in Riley's voice.

Riley got in Buffy’s face and grabbed her arms tightly, “If I didn’t know you were straight, I’d think you were in love with that little bitch.”

Buffy felt a cold chill run down her spine. Her voice was deceptively calm as she said, “Let go of me, Riley.”

Riley didn’t yet know that Buffy was the slayer. Truly, even if he had, he probably would have reacted exactly the same way. No one ever accused Riley Finn of being the brightest candle on the cake.

“No! I’m tired of being ignored. You need to spend time with me; your boyfriend- your bitch of a roommate can do without you for a while.”

Buffy said, “I said, Let. Me. Go!” Buffy growled.

Riley just laughed, “Make me.”

Buffy reached across with her right hand, grabbing his right wrist. “First of all,” she said as she dug her thumb into the tendon’s of his wrist. “ Willow isn’t a bitch. Never call her that again.”

Riley was shocked when his right hand went numb and she removed it from her arm. “Some kind of judo move,” he thought- not able to believe that she could possibly be strong enough to hurt him.

“Second,” she continued as she grabbed his left wrist, “I won’t be spending any time with you. You and I are through.”

Riley quickly let go, before she could do the same thing to his left hand. His right hand was still numb, and his wrist was really sore. “You’re going to break up with me cause I called your roommate a bitch?” he yelled incredulously.

Neither paid any attention to the fact that there were several students walking by, who now stopped to watch the spectacle. Nor did they notice as most of the windows on that side of the dorm were opening up, and people sticking their heads out to see what was going on.

“I’m breaking up with you because you’re an insensitive jerk,” Buffy said, now seriously pissed off. “God, what did I ever see in this gomer?” she wondered.

“I’m a jerk? Screw you Buffy!” Riley shouted his clever comeback.

Buffy put her hands on her hips. She was on a roll now, “Screw me? That was never your strong suit, Riley. Why don’t you check out an anatomy book and try and find the clitoris! Maybe your next girlfriend, if you can ever get one, won’t have to fake all her orgasms!”

Riley saw red; figuratively and literally. Unbeknownst to Buffy, Willow had heard the ruckus and had come down to try and get her out of there before she did serious damage to her now ex- boyfriend.

“Buffy, come on. Let’s go upstairs. He’s not worth it.”

Buffy had turned around at Willow ’s voice; otherwise she would have seen Riley in time to stop him.

Riley had lost what little sense he had when he saw his redheaded nemesis. He rushed over and shoved her hard, knocking her down onto the building’s steps. “Shut up you little Bitch! This is all your fault!” he screamed, absolutely enraged. He actually pulled his leg back to kick her.

What happened next was a matter of dispute for weeks on campus. All the witnessed agreed on the course of events up to Riley shoving the redhead to the ground and preparing to kick her while she was down. Beyond that, there were two camps- those that couldn’t believe what their eyes told them, and came up with various wild theories to explain Riley’s injuries- and then there were those who remembered it accurately, even if they couldn’t explain how it was possible. The latter were in the decided minority

If Riley could have remembered what happened next, he would have described a sudden intense squeezing pain in his neck. Seeing the world rushing down in front of his face followed that, as he found himself staring straight up at the sky. His entire body was supine and positioned about six feet above the ground.

Gravity suddenly reversed and he found himself traveling a ballistic arc through the air. He might have remembered the sharp crunching sound that came from the left side of his rib cage as it impacted with the oak tree. He might have marveled at the fact that said tree was some twenty feet away from where he had been standing. He might have, if it weren’t for the hollow ‘thunk’ sound his head made as it struck the rock-hard soil at the base of the trunk, some ten feet down from his initial point of contact.

All Buffy knew is something hurt her Willow , and was about to cause her even more injury. That something had to be removed from her presence, immediately and vigorously. She didn’t remember shrieking in rage as she did it, though the witnesses were unanimous on that point. Those closest to the event, the ones who remembered the look on her face as well as the sound of her scream would continue to feel their bladders clench uncomfortably whenever they recounted the event.

Buffy dropped to her knees in front of her roommate, completely ignoring everyone else around her. The constriction around her heart eased slightly, and she let go a quiet sob when she saw the gentle rise and fall of Willow ’s chest as she breathed. She gathered the redhead’s upper body into her lap and stroked her fingers through her hair. She made sure not to touch the large knot she felt forming on the back of her head.

Buffy turned to one of the onlookers and simply said, “Call 911.”

The young man nearly tripped over himself, he moved so fast getting to the phone.

It was a sure bet that no-one who saw the action that night - whichever way they remembered the events- would ever mess with Buffy Summers or Willow Rosenberg from that day forward.

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Police and ambulance arrived, witnesses were questioned, and statements were taken.

The paramedics saw the way the little blonde was looking at the redhead in her lap. “Ma’am, you need to let us take a look at your girlfriend, ok?”

Buffy looked up into the paramedic’s eyes, she frowned in confusion for a moment then nodded her head, gently easing Willow ’s head down. “She’s got a big bump, right here,” she said, indicating the spot where Willow ’s head had struck the concrete stairs.

The medics checked her vitals and shined a light at her eyes. The one who had spoken previously turned to Buffy and said, “Ok, it doesn’t look like she’s too bad. We want to take her in to the hospital and have the docs look at her though, just to be sure. Ok?”

Buffy nodded her head. “I wanna go with her,” She said quietly.

Just then a police officer stepped up to Buffy, “I’d like to ask you a few questions first. You can go to the hospital after we’re done.”

Buffy looked up at the officer and said, “I want to ride with her,” gesturing to the ambulance where they were loading up her roommate.

The officer saw the look in her eyes and took a step back, blanching slightly. “Uh, ok. You ride with your girlfriend and I’ll have someone follow you to the hospital to take your statement, ok?”

Buffy frowned again, but nodded her head, not wanting to waste time arguing. “Fine,” she said as she climbed into the back of the ambulance.

The ride seemed to take both forever and only a moment as Buffy existed in a timeless space where she looked down on the face of her best and dearest friend in the entire world. The thought of Willow not being ok was more than she could face. The paramedics said she was going to be ok. In fact they kept saying it to her the whole way to the hospital, trying to reassure her that it was just precautionary and that her girlfriend just had a bump on the head, and that it didn’t even look like she had a concussion.

Buffy looked up into the face of one of the medics and asked, “Why do you keep saying that?”

The look on his face was one of utter compassion. “Y- you… you just look so worried.” He stuttered out.

Buffy frowned in confusion. She hadn’t noticed that her face was wet with tears.

They got to the emergency room and Buffy hovered nearby as the doctor’s took a look at Willow . She wanted to follow when they took her down for x-rays, but the doctor stopped her.

“Your girlfriend looks like she’s going to be just fine, Buffy. The x-rays are just a standard precaution. There’s no sign of concussion at this point, just a nasty bump. She should wake up pretty soon, and you’ll be able to see her, ok?”

Buffy was confused again. “How did you know my name?” she asked. The doctor looked familiar, but Buffy wasn’t sure.

The doctor smiled at the little blonde, “I treated you when you had the flu a couple years ago. Remember?”

Now Buffy could place her. She nodded her head, “Dr. Wilkerson?”

“Wilkinson,” the woman corrected.

“ Willow ’s really ok?” Buffy asked, her voice somewhat smaller and higher than normal.

The doctor smiled at Buffy, the little-girl voice reinforcing in her the thought that these two must be deeply in love. “Your girlfriend is going to be just fine. We’ll take some x-rays, and observe her for a couple of hours just as a precaution, but you’ll probably be able to take her home with you tonight.”

Buffy was about to ask why the doctor called her that, when she was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder.

“Buffy Summers?” a man’s voice asked.

Buffy turned around to see a tall man in a blue suit. “Yes,” she said, still frowning.

“Ms. Summers, I’m Detective Shoenk, with the Sunnydale PD,” he said while flipping out his ID. “I need to ask you a few questions, please.”

Buffy looked back over her shoulder at the doctor.

“I’ll be sure to let you know when she’s out of X-ray, ok?”

Buffy, nodded her head glumly. Of course it wasn’t ok- she should have been with Willow ; or better yet, she should have kept Willow safe and out of the hospital in the first place- but it appeared that she had no other choice at this point. She turned back to the detective and said, “Ok, what do you want to know?”

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“What does Mr. Finn have against you and your girlfriend, Ms. Summers?” the detective asked.

“Why does everyone keep calling her my girlfriend?” Buffy asked. “We’re just roommates!”

Detective Shoenk raised an eyebrow. “Sorry Ms. I didn’t mean to offend you.” He had just assumed… she acted exactly like a concerned girlfriend.

Buffy calmed down immediately. “It’s not offensive… I… I just… I was actually dating Riley up until tonight,” she finally said.

The detective got it. He didn’t say it out loud, but he had figured out the whole thing with that one statement. She dumped Riley Finn. Riley figured it was because of the redhead, and snapped. This girl probably didn’t even realize that was why he snapped. “Were you and Riley arguing about Ms. Rosenberg?” he asked, making sure to keep any trace of judgement or assumption out of his voice.

“How did…” Buffy started. She trailed off when she immediately realized that the witnesses must have overheard them fighting.

“If Mr. Finn recovers, will you be wanting to press charges against him?” he asked.

Buffy’s first inclination was to say no, she could take care of Riley herself. Then she thought maybe she should, just so he would be kicked out of school and wouldn’t be around to bother Willow . Finally she realized exactly what the detective had said. She looked sharply at him and asked, “What do you mean, *if* he recovers? What’s wrong with him?”

Detective Shoenk looked at her, trying to gauge her sincerity. “She really has no idea,” he thought. “He’s in critical condition, Ms. Summers. The left side of his chest is crushed, his left lung has been shredded by the fragments of his ribs, and his heart was pierced twice. There’s only a thirty percent chance that he’ll live.”

All the blood drained out of Buffy’s face, and she felt faint. “Oh my God!” she whispered.

Det. Shoenk was quick enough to keep her from hitting the ground. He saw her face turn white, and started to reach for her even as her legs gave out. “How could this little girl have done that?” he wondered to himself. No amount of martial arts skill could enable this little slip of a girl to throw a two hundred pound man twenty feet through the air and into a tree, let alone with enough residual momentum to do the damage that Riley Finn had suffered. He lowered the petite blonde into one of the chairs in the waiting area.

“Riley’s going to… die?” Buffy whispered.

“He might. Does that bother you?” he asked.

“Of course it bothers me!” she snapped. “I was dating him until a couple of hours ago!”

Shoenk said, “You mentioned that.”

Buffy’s slayer nature was quickly regulating her blood flow- returning the color to her face, and reducing her dizziness. She sighed heavily. “Yes. I broke it off with him tonight. That’s what started the fight. He got pissed, grabbed me and started yelling about stuff.”

The detective just nodded his head, letting her talk. So far what she was saying tracked with witness statements.

“I guess Willow heard us arguing- our dorm room is on the second floor on that side of the building,” she explained. “She came down to pull me out of there, I guess.”

Shoenk asked for clarification, “Why do you say that?”

Buffy was looking at her hands in her lap. “She told me he wasn’t worth it… I turned around and looked at her… I saw him hit her, I watched her fall and hit her head on the steps…” She looked up into the detective’s eyes, her own full of questioning and pain, “Why her? Why didn’t he go after me? She never did anything to him!”

Shoenk didn’t have any answers for her. Whatever Riley had done to the redhead, the Detective imagined he’d paid the price and then some.

Buffy dropped her eyes back to her lap. “He was going to kick her; she was laying there, unconscious. She was just laying there…”

“And that’s when you… What exactly did you do?” the Detective asked, not really expecting the truth.

Buffy looked up at the detective suspiciously. “I threw him out of the way and looked after Willow .”

He didn’t even argue. He’d been a Sunnydale cop for long enough to know; you had to let some things go. If it happened at night, and was inexplicable- you just left it the hell alone. No sense ending up a fatal part of the mystery. It used to frustrate him- he’d once been a good cop, now he just accepted it as a normal part of living and working in Sunnydale CA .

“Well, witness statements corroborate your story, Ms. Summers. I don’t imagine we’ll be pressing any charges.”

“And if Riley… doesn’t…?” She couldn’t actually verbalize it.

“Doesn’t make it?” he said. “I’d say it’s still pretty clearly a case of self defense. After all, he was much bigger and stronger than either of you.”

“Yeah, I guess…” Buffy said, not bothering to correct his misconception.

Just then Doctor Wilkinson came out into the waiting area. “You can see Ms. Rosenberg now Ms. Summers.”

Buffy popped up, not bothering to look to the detective for permission.

“That’s alright, we were finished anyway,” Detective Shoenk said to the blonde’s retreating back.

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Part 3

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“Is she awake?” Buffy asked the doctor, concerned that she would still be unconscious.

“No,” Doctor Wilkinson said, “We did wake her up briefly, but she’s obviously exhausted and fell back asleep right away.” Seeing the worry on Buffy’s face, she added, “This is entirely normal, Ms. Summers. Your girlfriend is ok, and we’ll be waking her up to check on her every hour or so for the next few hours, so she’ll be able to tell you herself. She’s going to be just fine.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Buffy said. “We’re just best friends.” Her voice lacked any tone vehement denial, however and the doctor misconstrued her meaning.

“I understand,” the doctor said. “Really though, you don’t need to worry; we’re very open minded around here.” Doctor Wilkinson thought Buffy might be worried about being harshly judged or that her girlfriend might get less than top-notch care because they were lesbians. “Studies show that patients get better, faster when their significant others take an interest in their recovery; we don’t care what race or gender they are, so long as they’re here for them.”

Buffy wanted to get in to see Willow , she didn’t feel like standing there and arguing with the doctor, so she just let it slide.

They walked in to the room and Buffy was suddenly struck by the vision before her. Willow , lying in a hospital bed. Buffy had a flashback to when Willow was in a coma after Drucilla’s attack on the library back when they were juniors in high school.

This time there was no bandage on her forehead; and Buffy wasn’t on the run from the police; but it was still traumatic. She felt her throat tighten and her eyes well up with tears.

Doctor Wilkinson touched her gently on the shoulder, quietly saying, “I’ll leave you two alone. A nurse will be by in about 45 minutes to check on her.”

Buffy just stood there as the doctor left, closing the door behind her. She walked around the bed so she could see the door and Willow at the same time, and pulled up a chair so she could sit right next to the bed.

She took Willow ’s hand in her own hands and bent down, rubbing her cheek on Willow ’s knuckles. “God, Will. I was so scared when I saw you down on the ground,” she whispered. “I couldn’t do any of this without you.” Her tears spilled over and fell on the back of Willow ’s hand, waking her up just as Buffy said, “I love you Willow .”

Willow hummed in pleasure, “Mmm, I love that dream,” she mumbled as she woke up. She opened her eyes to see Buffy’s smiling face and feel her holding her hand. She was about to smile back when she noticed her head was throbbing rather painfully.

Buffy frowned as Willow ’s hum turned into a groan.

“Oh! Ouch, head hurts,” Willow whined.

Buffy squeezed her hand lightly; “I’m so sorry Will. I should have never let him get past me…” she began to apologize.

“What happened?” Willow asked, confused. She didn’t really remember how she got where she was. She crinkled her brow in concentration, “I was sitting in the room; I was reading something… I remember getting up and walking over to the window… and now I’m in the hospital?” she asked.

Buffy was staring at Willow ’s hand. She was holding it with her left, and rubbing slow circles across the back of it with her right. She marveled at how big Willow ’s hand seemed, compared to her own. Big, but so soft, and gentle; her own hands were rough and callused from hours and hours of weapons training, and combat. She began to pull away, self-conscious of the coarseness of her hands against Willow ’s soft skin, but Willow gripped her tightly.

“Don’t. I like it. It’s nice…” Willow began.

Buffy raised her eyebrows, but didn’t look up from Willow ’s hand. “Nice?” she asked gently.

Willow smiled, “Yeah, I like it when you touch me,” she whispered. Suddenly embarrassed about revealing that, she quickly asked, “So, how exactly did I go from the dorm room to being in the hospital with a sore head?”

Buffy didn’t bother to analyze Willow ’s comment- mostly because she too enjoyed the touching. It was reassuring, holding Willow ’s hand and stroking her skin. “You must have heard Riley and me arguing outside the dorm,” she said.

Buffy went on to explain the basics of the situation to Willow, who absorbed the information with a sort of quiet shock. Buffy didn’t go into detail as to their argument, only that they had argued, Buffy had told him off, and he attacked Willow .

“I’m so sorry I didn’t stop him before he hurt you, Willow ,” Buffy said, staring into the redhead’s eyes as she finished the tale.

“Riley did all that? But, but… Why? And why did he push me down?” Willow asked in bewilderment.

Buffy focused once again on their joined hands as she answered that question. “He was mad because he thought I spend too much time with you, and because I’m always talking about you.” Her voice dropped almost to a whisper as she added, “I think he was jealous…”

“Of me?” Willow squeaked. She thought about it for a minute. Even though she didn’t really like it when Buffy went out with Riley, it was unfair of her to try and monopolize her time. She realized that she probably had been subconsciously interfering with Buffy and Riley’s relationship, because she was jealous of Riley. She was jealous that Buffy had feelings for him instead of her. She realized she was being selfish.

“Oh, God, I’m sorry, Buffy. Jeez, I’ve been hogging all your time, and then tonight; at the Pump… no wonder he was…”

“Don’t!” Buffy said, quickly covered Willow ’s lips with her fingers, stopping her from that line of thought. “Don’t ever apologize for spending time with me, Will.” She slid her fingers along Willow ’s lips, across her jaw, and stroked her hair. “You’re way more important to me than Riley Finn could have ever been.”

Willow shuddered under Buffy’s touch. God! How she longed for the slayer to touch her. She yearned to have Buffy’s hands cover every square inch of her body. She had to bite back a moan as Buffy’s fingers trailed along her jaw-line and into her hair. Even this purely platonic touch had Willow trembling with desire.

The nurse came at that moment to check on Willow . “Ah, it’s good to see you’re already awake, young lady.” She said. She seemingly took no notice of the touching and looks that were going on between the two.

Willow expected Buffy to pull back in embarrassment, but was pleasantly shocked when Buffy continued to hold her hand and stroke her hair.

“Ma’am, I’m going to need that hand for a moment, please.” The nurse said, trying to get Buffy to move away so she could take Willow ’s vitals.

Buffy looked up at the nurse as if only now noticing that she was even there. She looked back down into Willow ’s eyes and smiled. “I’m gonna go call Giles. I’ll be right back, ok?”

Willow was captivated by Buffy’s smile. “Ok,” she said. She probably would have agreed to exploratory surgery without the benefit of anesthesia at that moment. Her own face was plastered with a goofy smile.

After Buffy left the room, the nurse began taking Willow ’s vitals. “You’re a lucky girl, Willow ,” the nurse said. “Not many people find someone that loves them like that.”

“Oh, were just friends,” Willow mumbled around the thermometer.

The nurse raised her eyebrow and harrumphed her disbelief. “Humph! I’ve been a nurse longer than you’ve been alive, young lady. I know the difference between a look of friendship, and the look of pure adoration and love!”

Willow squirmed under the stern gaze of the nurse. “Well,” she started; surprised at herself for sharing something this personal with a stranger, but she couldn’t bring herself to deny it. “Yeah, but she doesn’t know; she doesn’t feel the same way I feel about her…”

The nurse’s look softened into an expression of maternal concern. “Honey,” she began, shaking her head gently. “I wasn’t talking about the look on *your* face…”

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Buffy stood next to the payphone. She was leaning against the wall with her head back and her eyes closed, trying to mentally regroup. She wasn’t looking forward to this call; she had to tell Giles that she might have killed a human. “Not just ‘a human’ Dammit! Riley! I might have killed my Boyfriend!” she thought. “Well ex-boyfriend, technically…” her mind sidetracked.

“That’s not the point,” she argued to herself. “Boyfriend or ex, he was human, and I hurt him so bad that he could die.”

“But he hurt Willow !” her mind argued back with her. “She could have been hurt a lot worse than just a bump on the head- you didn’t know. And, he was going to kick her! He could have broken her ribs or smashed up her internal organs and stuff!”

“Yeah, so I did it to him instead,” she whispered to herself.

If that wasn’t enough, there was the whole thing between her and Willow back in the hospital room. She wasn’t sure what the heck was going on, there. She wanted to believe that it was just friend stuff, but what was up with that, “I like it when you touch me,” thing? What the heck did she mean?

“And why did I keep touching her?” she wondered to herself. “Why did it feel so good?”

Suddenly switching mental gears again- without the benefit of a clutch- she thought, “And why does everyone keep thinking that we’re girlfriends?” she demanded silently. “Ok, there was that whole thing in the room, but that was after. And why did Julie tell me I should dump Riley and hook up with Willow ?” she wondered. “Although she was right about Riley…”

She shook her head and whispered to herself, “I’ve got to call Giles. Giles will know what to do.”

Even though Buffy was afraid about talking to Giles, she was even more afraid that if she didn’t call him right now, she’d have to think about the main issue that her mind was trying to avoid:

She was pretty sure that, if that nurse hadn’t walked in right then, she’d been just about to kiss Willow .

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Giles hung up the phone and took off his glasses. It was hard to indulge in the nervous habit whilst talking on the phone. He’d been afraid something like this was going to happen the moment he’d been introduced to Riley Finn.

Clearly Finn was wrong for Buffy. He was mentally weak and emotionally retarded. It was only a matter of time before his inability to deal with a strong, self-confident woman led to a blowup with the Slayer. Finn seemed to be under the impression that women were delicate flowers, needing to be shielded from life. Buffy Summers didn’t need to be shielded. *She* was the protector and defender. In fact she generally treated all her friends as needing to be kept from danger- just as Finn tried to treat her. Giles knew that Finn’s attitude would eventually lead to a less than positive encounter with reality as Buffy shattered his preconceived notions of gender behavior.

He hadn’t imagined the shattering would be literal.

Giles had never imagined that Finn would be so foolish as to physically challenge the Slayer. Finn might even have survived such an imprudent decision, as Buffy wouldn’t ever intentionally cause serious harm to a human being. However, assaulting one of Buffy’s loved ones- especially Willow… well, anyone who knew Buffy at all might have warned him that such reckless behavior could result in terminal consequences.

He was glad that Willow ’s injury was relatively minor, and that it appeared there would be no legal repercussions for the injury done to Finn. The last thing they needed right now was to have the Slayer behind bars.

Giles wondered if this event would finally be enough for Buffy to realize she was in love with Willow .

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Willow thought about what the nurse had said. She’d had feelings for Buffy almost forever, it seemed. She had been in awe of the slayer that first night, when Buffy had saved her from the vampire. That feeling of awe had never diminished, even after years of friendship. Even when things between them were strained (such as when Buffy had been spending all that time with Faith, or when Buffy had abandoned them the summer before their senior year) Willow never lost that sense of awe and wonder whenever she saw the slayer in action.

Watching Buffy fight… it was like seeing poetry in motion. It was like sitting front-row center, listening to the Berlin Philharmonic perform Flight of the Valkyries. It moved her; stirred up her emotions, her passion.

When, exactly, that awe mixed with that friendship and turned into love, Willow couldn’t say for sure. The time she had been captured by Faith while they were breaking into City Hall to steal the Box of Gavrock had been the first time she put it together in her head. While she had been held prisoner there, it wasn’t thought of her boyfriend Oz that filled her mind, it was Buffy. She had been willing to die, if it meant Buffy’s victory over the Mayor. If her death was the price of Buffy’s survival, then she was willing- if not particularly eager- to pay.

When Buffy traded that certain victory to ransom Willow ’s life, the Witch had imagined that maybe Buffy returned her feelings. Even though she really had been in love with Oz, she loved Buffy more. It shamed her to admit it, but if Buffy had wanted her, she’d have dumped Oz like yesterday’s news.

Again, when Willow told Buffy she was staying in Sunnydale, instead of leaving to any one of the prestigious universities that had accepted her, she had another moment when she thought Buffy might feel for her the kind of love she had for Buffy. Rolling around in the grass with Buffy had spiked her desire almost instantly. When Buffy said, “I kinda love you,” Willow ’s heart had melted. If only she’d meant it like Willow wanted. Despite her cool dismissal of the Slayer’s sharp insight, Willow was staying for nothing more or less than Buffy Summers. She did believe that it was a good fight, and she did want to help people, but that wouldn’t have been enough if it weren’t for Buffy.

So now there was this feeling again that maybe, just maybe, Buffy might want Willow like Willow wanted Buffy. You have to admit, it was pretty darn romantic… Buffy as the knight in shining armor, saving the redheaded damsel in distress from the attack of the Riley-Ogre. Sure, it was a plot straight out of a cheesy period romance, but what’s wrong with a little cheese between friends?

She was still a little embarrassed that she’d revealed that she liked it when Buffy touched her. But, when Buffy didn’t pull away… when she had stroked Willow ’s lips and face and hair… “Goddess, I almost thought she was about to kiss me!” Willow thought.

That image was at the top of her mind since then. Kissing Buffy. She’d fantasized about it many, many times. She’d dreamed about it on many nights- of course the dreams usually led to far more than kissing, but that’s where they usually started. However, she’d never thought it would actually happen. She’d imagined it, but just a few minutes ago she thought it was about to really happen.

Goddess, how she wanted to kiss Buffy. She daydreamed about running her tongue along that upper lip and sucking it into her mouth. She pictured Buffy’s lips wet and swollen from her kisses; glossy red and ripe. “Ok, so I have a slight fixation on Buffy’s lips,” she thought.

It wasn’t just the lips, of course. It wasn’t just physical at all. In fact, when she decided to stay in Sunnydale to be with Buffy, it wasn’t with the expectation of Buffy falling in love with her at all. Until just a few minutes ago, she’d never actually held out serious hope that she and Buffy would ever get together that way. Fantasies, yes. Dreams, yes. Reality, no. No, her decision was based more on the fact that she loved Buffy, and knew the Slayer loved her more than anyone would ever love her. Even without the romance and sex aspect, Willow knew that she would never find anyone who loved her like Buffy did.

What man, or woman for that matter, would walk into the earth to face certain death for their lover? Not many, yet Buffy did it for her only a few months after they met. Giles had told her how Buffy was going to quit, how she refused to face the master vampire when she’d heard the prophecy of her death at his hands. Yet, five minutes with Willow and she unflinchingly went down to face her doom. Why? Because Willow was scared, and Buffy couldn’t accept that.

Who else would throw away the one and only opportunity to save thousands from the ascension of a first level demon, just to save Willow ? Buffy, of course.

“So, I know Buffy loves me, and I know I love her. And, I’m in love with her,” Willow thought. “Now the sixty-four thousand dollar question is; could Buffy be falling in love with me?”

The other question