Part Two
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Buffy spent most of the walk back to their dorm dividing her attention between telling Willow about patrol and thinking about what she had overheard in the café. She knew that Willow wanted to know why she was acting so weird in the café, but she seriously couldn't see what good it would do to tell her she had heard. It would only upset her friend and Buffy didn't want to do that. Not the mention that Willow might wonder why her reaction to their "gossip" was so extreme. If that happened there was no way Buffy could explain it to her. She certainly wasn't going to tell Willow that there was more than a strong possibility that she was in love with her, "that way". But, if she didn't explain her reaction Willow might think that she was lying (which she would be but that was besides the point).
As they entered the campus grounds Willow linked her arms through Buffy's. Buffy looked over at her and was with a greeted with a smile that was impossible to resist. She smiled back and their gazes held for a moment before finally Buffy turned away and returned her attention to the path.
No, she decided, she wasn't going to tell Willow what happened in the café. Hearing it had already made her paranoid, and she didn't want to make Willow all self-conscious about the way they acted around each other. Buffy enjoyed the closeness between them, it was something special and rare, and she didn't want to jeopardize that. Maybe the desire to keep what she had heard a secret was a selfish attempt to make sure that things wouldn't change between them, and if it was then she was sorry in advance for any trouble it might cause, but she wasn't a saint, she was a living, breathing, human being with feeling and desires, and even if keeping the secret was the wrong thing to do, it was the only thing that she could do. There wasn't much that she had in this world to look forward to, when your whole life is dedicated to fighting demons goals are kind of a non-issue, but she did have moments like this with Willow, where it was just them, alone, and the world around them belonged only to them, and only to the moment, and she cherished them. They nourished her, and strengthened her, and she needed them. Maybe it was selfish, but it was the only thing she could do.
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It took Willow precisely two minutes and thirty-three seconds at start questioning Buffy about the café once they arrived back at their room. Buffy smiled even though she was dreading this conversation, it was classic Willow.
"So what happened at the café?" Willow asked sitting down her bed.
"At the café?" Buffy asked stalling for time. She needed to think. "At the café I took a nap-a."
Willow smiled but wasn't going to let her off the hook.
"You're not going to jokey rhyme your way out of this one," Willow said watching as Buffy moved over to take a seat on her bed.
"Will, it was nothing really," Buffy said lying down on her back. She couldn't lie if she was looking at Willow's face. "I think I must have gotten hit on the head harder than I thought."
"And that's 'nothing really'?" Willow asked looking at Buffy critically.
"Hey, it's not like I'm 'Concentration-Girl' even on my best days," Buffy responded.
"That's true," Willow responded. Buffy looked over at her. "Hey, you're the one that said it."
"So I did," Buffy admitted. It's not like she was even really upset.
"How's your head now," Willow asked getting up and walking over to Buffy's bed. "I could go get you some ice, or a cold compress if you want," the hacker continued brushing a strand of hair out of Buffy's face. Buffy sighed at the gentle touch.
"No, it's alright," the Slayer responded. "I won't even feel it in couple hours."
"You know if you could bottle that Slayer recuperation secret, you could be a billionaire," Willow said sitting down on the side of Buffy's bed beside her.
"But if I did that mom wouldn't have the fun of trying to scrap together enough money to pay for the expensive post secondary education that's not going to be of any use to me anyway," Buffy responded in a comically jaded way that only she could generate.
"I think that she'd forgive you," Willow said smiling. "Are you sure that you don't want anything?" Willow asked looking down at Buffy with concerned eyes.
"I'm sure," Buffy said smiling despite herself. Willow was to good to her. "I don't know what I did to deserve a friend like you, but I'm glad that I did whatever it was," Buffy continued before she was even aware that the words were coming out of her mouth. That's the way it is when your heart has something to say, no matter how much you try to suppress it, it always bubbles to the surface-usually when you would rather it didn't.
Willow looked down at her and just held her gaze. Then the hacker smiled and bent down kissing Buffy on the forehead.
"Whatever it was I'm glad you did it to," she responded finally. "Now go to sleep."
"I'm not tired," Buffy said smiling. She was suddenly feeling very, very good. Maybe even giddy.
"Yes you are," Willow said moving back over to her bed. "And so am I. So please to go to sleep...for me?" Willow continued.
"Well, if you're tired," Buffy said yawning. She didn't want to keep Willow awake. "I am," Willow said knowing that Buffy would never go to sleep simply for her own good.
"Okay then," Buffy said turning out her light.
"Right," Willow said turning out hers.
"Goodnight Will," Buffy said a moment later.
"Night, Buff," Willow responded.
"Sweet dreams," Buffy said.
"Don't let the bed bugs bite," Willow responded closing her eyes.
"Mr. Sandman give her a dream," Buffy said.
"Buffy," Willow said in a warning tone.
"Sleep, right...I'm on it," Buffy said closing her eyes.
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