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Disclaimer: I don't own them.
Author's Notes: Lyrics from "I love you" by Sarah Mclachlan. Thanks to: Kim, for proofing :)
Dedicated to: Matt
Willow watched her boyfriend with a gentle smile as he pulled into her driveway. He turned off the van, and then looked at her, smiling gently.
"You're sure you're going to be okay?" He asked, slightly worried about her.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She assured him. "My parents go out of town all the time."
"But, you're still healing."
"Oz," she said, unable to keep the smile off her face. His obvious concern for her was endearing. "I'm fine. I've been out of my wheelchair for almost three weeks!"
"I still think you should have gotten Cordelia to stay with you." He said.
Willow giggled. "Yeah, I would love to have Cordy walking around my house all night telling me exactly how cheap each and every piece of furniture we own is."
Oz smiled, chuckling a little.
"If I need help, I'll call you." She promised. Oz nodded in agreement, after a moment, and touched her hand, gently. "I had a really good time tonight." She told him, clasping his hand in hers.
"Oh, good." Oz said, his voice soothing. "I did, too."
"It was really sweet of you." She added, smiling when she noticed the slight blush that appeared in his cheeks.
He shook it off, smiling crookedly at her. "I..." He trailed off. "Don't know what to say to that." He finished, honestly.
Willow's smile widened, and she leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Don't say anything, then." She said. "Just know how much I appreciated it."
He nodded, and rubbed his thumb over her hand. "Okay."
She looked towards her house, reluctant to end the moment. "My parents will probably be calling soon to check up on me..."
"Yeah." Oz said. He let go of her hand, and hopped out of the van, striding around the other side to open the door for her. He took her hand once again, and helped her down, walking her towards her porch.
"I'll call you tommorow." She promised. "If you want, you can come over, or something."
"Sure." Oz said. "And if you need anything tonight--"
"I'll call you, Cordy, Xander, Giles, my aunt, your aunt, the hospital *and* the national guard." She said, with a smile, her eyes shining. Oz smiled back. She leaned in, and placed a soft kiss on his lips, allowing them to linger on his for a minute. She then pulled away, and got out her keys, opening the door. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." Oz replied, still tingling from the kiss. He walked back to the van, and waited until she was inside, and he saw her turn the living room light on, pull back the curtains, and wave at him, before he started it and left.
Willow smiled to herself as she went upstairs. It'd been a perfect evening, she decided, as she unhooked her earings and placed them on her dresser. Oz had taken her on a picnic up at a place above Lover's Lane, a couple hours before sundown. They'd talked, eaten, and just been worry-free. Afterwards, they'd gone to see a movie, and then gotten coffee, and taken a walk in the park (loaded with holy water and stakes, of course.)
She sat down on her bed, turning on her CD player and putting in "Surfacing", her favorite Sarah McLachlan CD.
< Oz is so sweet. > She thought, laying back, and looking at her ceiling. < I can't believe how lucky I am that I found him... or that he found me. >
In the last few weeks, since she'd been put in the hospital, and Buffy had disapeered, she and Oz had formed an intensely tight bond. He'd taken full responsibility in getting her better, and she knew that her recovery would not have happened half as quickly as it had, if he'd not been there.
She tuned out of her thoughts for a minute, and listened as the second
song on the CD started. She yawned, slightly. The song always made her a
little sleepy.
Willow was shocked at how much the song touched her, as she listened to
the lyrics closely for the first time. It discribed her feelings for Oz
so clearly... How, sometimes, when she was with him, she became
oblivious to everything else around her, how, just seeing him, made her
a little happier, a little more calm.
Willow felt chills down her body. < Oz... I love Oz. >
She'd come to the conclusion awhile back... not fully, but she'd decided that her feelings for him were more than just affection. Still, she'd never actually realized it, nor had she told him how she felt.
She suddenly felt almost guilty. Oz had done so much for her, and she
cared so much for him, and yet had never let him know how special he was
to her.
< I hear you, Sarah. > Willow lamented to the music. She sat up, looking at her phone, and then at the clock. It was nearly eleven. She picked up the phone to call Oz, determined to tell him exactly how she felt, but then put down the receiver. < I'm not going to tell him I love him for the first time over the *phone.* Geez, I might as well just send him a hallmark card... >
She glanced at her closet, and then stood up, walking towards it. She threw on a sweater, and then walked to her desk, grabbed a stake and a vile of holy water, slipped the bottle in her pocket, the stake under her sleeve, and left her room, the music still playing.
She walked out her front door, grabbing her keys and locking it behind her, and then walked swiftly towards Oz's house, which was only two or three blocks away. She checked all around her, to make sure the empty streets were still empty, and not crawling with vampires, and made it to Oz's house in a record 6 minutes.
She stood on his front porch, taking a deep breath. < This isn't going to be to hard. > She thought, reassuringly, before she ran the doorbell. She noticed that rain had begun to fall lightly. < Okay, so maybe Oz will have to drive me home. >
A few moments later, Oz came to the door, a guitar pick between his teeth. His face displayed his suprise, when he saw his girlfriend standing at his door. He took the pick out of his mouth, placed it on the table beside the door, cocking an eyebrow.
"Hey, Will." He said. "Are you okay?"
"Uh-huh." Willow nodded. "Yeah."
Oz opened the door wider, his bafflement growing. "You wanna come in?"
Willow shook her head. "Uh-uh."
Oz gave her a confused look. "Okay... you're sure you're okay?"
Willow nodded again. "I--ah, I..." She trailed off. Oz looked at her, anticipating the rest of her sentence with no clue as to what she was about to tell him. "I love you." She blurted out.
Oz stared at her. He blinked. He blinked again, raising his eyebrows, remaining silent.
Willow looked at him, anxiously, her face showing every ounce of nervousness and vulnerability she was feeling. < Atleast you said it. And you didn't mess up. > She told herself. Oz was still staring and blinking, not sure he'd heard her right.
"Oz?" She finally asked. "Did you... hear me?" Her voice was soft, slightly afraid. < What if he doesn't feel the same way? > She thought, the idea hitting her like a slap in the face.
"Yeah?" Oz said, unsure. He was still staring, shocked.
< He doesn't love me back. > She thought, heavily. She suddenly felt sick. < Oh God, I'm so stupid. > She felt tears well up in her eyes, and she tried to blink them back, unsuccesfully, as she turned around, avoiding his gaze.
"I-I'm sorry..." She mumbled, as she moved towards the front steps and started down them.
Oz watched her go for a second, as she ran across his lawn, the rain soaking her. He then snapped out of it, and took off after her.
< Oh, shit! > He thought, realizing that he hadn't responded. Not the way he should have, or the way she'd probably wanted him to, the reaction she deserved. He had been so caught up in the shock, the utter joy of finding out that she loved him... < Damn, she's fast! > He thought, sprinting to catch up with her.
"Willow!" He called. She didn't stop, not even looking back at him, her head down, as she splashed through a puddle. "Willow, wait!" He pleaded. Willow slowed down, and he raced to catch up with her. He stopped her, turning her gently to face him, capturing her arms lightly with his hands. She wouldn't look at him, still, keeping her eyes on the pavement, defeated. "Will, look at me." He said, softly. She shook her head.
"I'm sorry, that was just--" She started, but he cut her off by placing a finger under her chin and moving it up, catching her eyes with his and not letting them go.
"I love you, too." He told her. She looked at him, unbelieving for a second, but the gentle, loving smile on his face, and the look in his eyes convinced her, and a small smile began to form at the corner of her mouth. "I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner." He told her. "I'm just.... really not good at reacting to things like that."
She shook her head. "It's okay!" She grinned, a tear rolling down her cheek. "It's okay, it doesn't matter." She threw her arms around his neck, not caring that both of them were soaked from the rain pounding down on them. "I was just afraid you didn't love me back."
"How could I not love you?" He asked, hugging her tightly. "You're so... Willow."
She laughed, her face pressed into his shoulder. They stood on the sidewalk, holding eachother, for a few more moments, until Oz spoke.
"Um, Baby?"
"Yeah?" She said, her voice taking on a dreamy tone.
"We're getting sort of... wet."
Willow moved away from him, scrunching up her face as she turned it towards the sky, and then rain hit it. "Yeah I think we are." She said, smiling brilliantly at him.
"Come back to my house, we can dry off before I take you home."
Willow nodded, and he took her hand, as they sprinted back to his house, and out of the rain.