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Oz smiled broadly as he caught sight of Willow across the front lawn
of Sunnydale High School. <<
Okay, time to put on the whole “I don’t know about any surprise party”
thing. >> “Willow!” he called,
running to catch up with her and Buffy. “Are you going to the
Bronze tonight?” he asked nonchalantly.
“I wasn’t going to,” Willow answered, “but if you want to, sure.
What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you
be sleeping in or something?”
“Well, yeah, but I couldn’t resist the thought of seeing my beautiful
best friend this morning,” he said,
smiling at her. “And I wanted to wish you a happy birthday,”
he added and scooped her up into a bear
hug.
“Oz! Put me down!” Willow laughed happily. She was glad
that they had emerged from their break-up
as friends. When he broke up with her she was afraid they wouldn’t
be but then he called her one night
and everything was okay between them. “Thank you,” she said as
he placed her gently back down on
her feet.
“Hello, ladies,” Xander called, running up to the group. “And
Oz,” he added, blushing, when he saw
him. “Sorry about that man. So, is everyone Bronzing it
tonight?” he asked.
“Yup,” Willow answered. “Are you going?”
“Mm-hmm. Cool. See you there,” he responded distractedly
and then left in a hurry. “Bye!” he called
over his shoulder as he entered the school.
“Okay, that was weird,” Willow remarked and then shrugged. “Oh
well, he’s been acting strange ever
since he broke up with Cordelia.”
“Anyway,” Oz said, drawing Willow’s attention back to him. “How
‘bout I pick you up at your house a
little before 8:00? Then we can head over to the Bronze.”
“Sounds good to me,” Willow responded, giving him a hug. “Okay,
I’ve got class, so I’ve gotta go. I’ll
see you around eight at my house. Bye!” she said, as she headed
into the school.
“Okay, do you think she knows something’s up?” Buffy asked Oz.
“I don’t think so. If Xander doesn’t stop acting like a nut-job
she’s gonna figure it out, though,” he
answered.
“Yeah, I’ll keep a reign on him. I seriously doubt Willow’s parents
want him ruining the surprise party
they planned for their daughter.”
“Do you know who’s doing the music?” Oz asked.
“Nope,” Buffy responded. “Apparently I am not on the list of people
who need to know about the music
situation. There is one wicked chain of command on this party
planning and I’m at the bottom. The
people above me tell me nothing. I guess we’ll just have to wait
and see.”
*****
“…So, overall it was a pretty good birthday so far. Xander was
acting really weird all day, though,”
Willow told Oz as they drove to the Bronze. “He seemed distracted.
Probably too busy thinking about
Buffy to even bother wishing me a happy birthday,” she said, a hint
of pain in her voice.
“I doubt that,” Oz defended Xander, parking down the street from the
Bronze. “Maybe he was just
thinking about some school stuff or something.”
“Xander worrying about school? Not likely,” Willow smiled.
“No, I just have to resign myself to the fact
that he’ll always be thinking about her and I’ll always be thinking
about him. It’s just the way the world
turned out. I’m accepting it.”
They got out of the van and walked towards the Bronze. As they
neared the club, Willow looked around
warily. << Something’s not right here. There aren’t
enough people. >> She carefully pulled a stake
out of her purse and gripped it tightly in her hand. Then she
cautiously entered through the door Oz
held open for her. She peered into the darkened club, holding
the stake at the ready. Then she sensed
motion to her right and lunged at the figure, driving the stake towards
it.
In defense, Buffy pushed Willow away from her as hard as she could,
sending her flying into Oz, and
turned on the lights. “Willow?” she asked, rushing to her friend’s
side. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, god,” Willow said, standing up and smoothing out the knee-length
skirt she wore. “I tried to kill
you. Sorry,” she said sheepishly. “What’s going on?” she
asked then, looking around and seeing the
decorations for the first time.
“Umm, surprise?” Buffy said weakly.
“Is this for me?” Willow asked, her mind boggled by what she saw before
her. The Bronze was closed
to the public, and the members of her small group of friends were the
only people inside. The walls
had been decorated with balloons and streamers of every imaginable
color, one of the tables was
heaped with brightly wrapped gifts, and her friends stood around smiling
sheepishly. “You guys threw
me a surprise party? Who planned this?” she asked, taking a seat
next to Angel and Cordelia at their
table.
“We have absolutely no idea,” Buffy laughed, joining the group.
“Giles isn’t talking, and he’s the highest
up the chain of command so far.”
“What do you mean?” Willow asked and then looked around the Bronze.
“Where’s Xander?” she asked
hopefully, noticing for the first time that he wasn’t there.
“I haven’t seen him since we left school,” Buffy answered. “I wonder where he is, though.”
*****
“So, you have the list of songs to sing, right?” Xander asked, panic
in his voice. This party absolutely
had to go off without a hitch and the singer forgetting her songs would
be a pretty big hitch.
“Yes, Xander, I have the list,” the woman said, smiling. “I have
sung in public before you know. I’ve got
the playlist. So, does your friend know I’m here?”
“No,” Xander smiled. “Everyone was really good about keeping the
whole thing a secret. Plus, it helps
that nobody else knows that you’re doing the music. This was
my idea and I didn’t want anyone giving
it away, so I didn’t tell any of them. By the way, thanks for
doing this. I know that tiny birthday parties in
local night clubs are not exactly high on your list of concert venues.”
“Well, after I read the thousandth letter you sent me begging me to
do this, I thought you might really
mean it. Anyone who would go to this much trouble to give his
girlfriend a birthday party is pretty cool in
my book.”
“Willow’s not my girlfriend,” Xander protested, a note of pain in his voice. “We’re just friends.”
“Oh,” the singer answered, taken aback. “I just assumed… You seemed
so intent on impressing her
that I assumed she was your girlfriend. You want her to be, though,
don’t you?” she asked quietly. She
didn’t really know this boy, but she could tell that he loved this
girl he was “just friends” with and she
hated to see people suffer. “This party should do the trick then.
I’m sure she’ll be really grateful.”
“She’s not going to know I planned it,” Xander said abruptly.
“What?” she responded, aghast. “You’re going to all of this trouble
and you don’t want her to know?
Why not?”
“I just want her to be happy,” Xander answered. “Look, it doesn’t
matter. Do you have your cue?” he
asked, changing the subject.
“Yeah, I think I can handle it. Some boy is gonna come back and
say his name is Oz and that it’s time
to start playing. I think I can remember that one. So,
how am I supposed to know which one she is?”
she asked.
“Just look for the one who’s stunningly beautiful. That’s Willow,”
Xander said and turned to leave. “Now,
I have to go wish my best friend a happy birthday. Just make
sure you play all the songs on that list.”
“I will,” she answered and then sighed as he left. << Poor,
beautiful, clueless boy. That girl’s lucky to
have a friend like him. >>
*****
“Willow!” Xander exclaimed as he entered through the front door of
the Bronze. “Happy Birthday!” he
said, hugging her tightly. He deposited his present on the gift
table and then sat down in the chair Buffy
vacated next to Willow. “Sorry I’m late,” he added. “My
parents were majorly not understanding that I
needed to be here on time.”
“That’s okay,” Willow smiled at her best friend. << Wow, he looks really good tonight. >>
“So, do you feel eighteen yet?” he asked her but his mind was elsewhere.
<< She has the most
beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. >> “Were you surprised?”
“I guess you could say that. I tried to kill Buffy,” she said
sheepishly. “And, yeah, I guess I do feel
eighteen. I don’t know. Something is definitely different
today, though.”
“You tried to kill Buffy?” Xander yelped. He couldn’t imagine his Willow trying to hurt anybody.
“Well, it was an accident. I thought she was a vampire.
Buffy and Angel were very impressed with my
staking form, though.”
“Who knows? Maybe Willow’ll be the next Slayer!” Buffy joked and
then regretted it when she saw the
look that passed over Xander’s face. << Oops. Looks
like he doesn’t like that idea. >>
“Anyway,” Giles said, breaking the tension that settled over the room.
“I believe we have someone
waiting backstage to provide the entertainment for this party.
Oz would you please go tell her that we’re
ready when she is,” he told him.
“Sure,” Oz answered. “Is this the last job I’m supposed to do?” he asked Buffy.
“As far as I know,” she responded. “Cordy told me to put you in
charge of getting Willow here and
giving the musician the cue. That was all you were supposed to
do.”
“Okay,” Willow interrupted. “I’m still somewhat confused about
this chain of command thing. Are you
honestly saying that nobody here knows who planned this thing?” she
asked as Oz headed off to do his
appointed task.
“All I know is what Cordelia told me,” Buffy answered. “She made
the invitations and gave them to me,
putting me in charge of actually inviting people. She also had
me help her decorate. And she put me
in charge of telling Oz what to do. That’s all I know.”
“Okay, well what about you?” Willow asked Cordelia, determined to get
to the bottom of this mystery.
The party had to be somebody’s idea and she was going to discover whose.
“Hey, I don’t know anything either,” Cordelia said defensively.
“Giles told me to make invitations and do
the decorations. Plus, he told me what to tell Buffy. That’s
it. He won’t say where he got his orders,
either, so it was probably his idea.”
“Giles?” Willow asked, turning her gaze to the Watcher. The look
in her eyes showed that she meant
business.
“Okay, all I know is that your parents put me in charge of relaying
messages to Buffy and Cordelia,”
Giles said carefully. “They must have planned it. They
also must have rented the Bronze and
everything because I didn’t.”
“What about you Xander?” Willow smiled at her best friend, who was staring
distractedly at the floor. <<
I wonder what’s wrong with him. He seems really strange today.
>>
Xander looked up when he heard Willow’s voice and smiled back at her.
“I got left totally out of the loop
on this one,” he said as indignantly as he could. “They didn’t
even let me help plan my best friend’s
surprise party! Can you believe that? They probably thought
I’d let it slip. Oh, here comes Oz,” he said
as Oz returned to the table with a slightly dreamy look on his face.
“Oz? Are you okay?” Willow asked and then turned her head to look
in the direction that Oz was
staring. “Oh my God,” she gasped. “Is that who I think
it is?”
“Well, that would depend on who you think it is,” the singer laughed.
“I heard that a stunningly beautiful
girl was having a birthday. But all of you are stunningly beautiful.
So, which one of you is Willow
Rosenberg?”
Willow raised a trembling hand and gulped. “M-me,” she answered.
“It’s my birthday. A-are you
Sarah McLachlan?” she asked in an awed voice. “Did my parents
hire you to sing at my birthday
party? I didn’t even think that they knew I listened to your
music! Wow!” she concluded, unsure of what
else to say.
The singer smiled down at Willow. “Yeah, sweetie, I’m Sarah McLachlan.
I am honored that you’re
this excited about me singing for your birthday. And yes, I was
hired to sing for you. Well, actually, I
was begged to sing for this party so I agreed. I guess that means
I wasn’t technically hired.” << There, I
didn’t even lie. >> “Okay, Willow, I’ve got a list of songs that
you like so I’m just going to sing those. If
you want to hear something different let me know,” she said and then
launched into the beginning of
“Building a Mystery”.
The group sat in awed silence, amazed that they were sitting listening
to a Grammy-winning singer.
Buffy rested her head against Angel’s shoulder, smiling contentedly.
The music washed over them,
engulfing them with its quiet intensity, while each of them sat in
reflection. They stayed that way through
several of the singer’s more famous songs, but then the tone of the
music changed.
Her voice became wistful and haunting as she sang the opening strains
of “I Love You”. Mesmerized,
Willow listened to the music, thinking how well the song fit her emotions.
And then Xander was
standing next to her, holding out his hand wordlessly. She rose
just as silently and walked with him to
the dance floor. They swayed slightly to the music, so slowly
that their friends could barely call it
dancing, locked in each other’s arms. Not trusting herself to
look into his eyes, Willow rested her head
on Xander’s shoulder and danced with the boy she loved.
Her mind was awash with sensations and emotions that she didn’t really
understand. She didn’t know
what was happening, but she knew that something about her was changing.
She hadn’t been joking
when she told Xander that she felt different. She really did,
though she couldn’t explain how she felt
now or why it wasn’t the same.
Xander, meanwhile, felt like crawling into a hole and crying like a
baby. << I thought I could handle
this. I can’t though. She’s happy, or at least I think
she is, but she thinks someone else did this for her.
I’m just the guy who was late for his best friend’s birthday party.
>> He rested his head on top of hers,
breathing in the soft scent of her hair. << I love you.
I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you. Oh
God! Why can’t I say that? >>
As the song ended they continued to dance, oblivious to the stares coming
from every person in the
room. Buffy smiled as she watched them. << Yay!
Okay, now all they have to do is tell each other
how they feel. Of course, that’s not very likely to happen. >>
Disturbing the silence that had settled over the club, the singer cleared
her throat. “Um, that was a song
off my latest CD, Surfacing. I hope you liked it.”
<< Surfacing, >> Willow thought, smiling slightly. <<
That’s what this is. I’ve been drowning so long
that I don’t even recognize what it is to be above water. I still
love him, of course, but it’s different
somehow. It’s okay if he doesn’t love me back. I’ll be
okay. >> She felt like laughing. She didn’t feel
incomplete any more. She didn’t need him in order to be a whole
person.
For the rest of the night Willow laughed and smiled, enjoying the party.
Her friends, especially Xander,
noted the change in her and smiled inwardly. For the first time
since Buffy had met Willow, she felt that
her friend was really and totally happy. This unexpected change
put everyone else in a good mood as
well and soon the whole group was talking and laughing, drowning out
the music coming from the
stage.
As the food ran out and people tired of dancing, the party started to
wind down. Willow’s parents came
by to keep their promise to Xander to take credit for the party.
After talking with them for a few minutes,
Giles left with Cordelia soon following. The small group that
was left thanked Sarah McLachlan for
providing the music and then headed out of the Bronze, leaving the
security people to lock up.
Standing outside the front entrance of the club, Willow thanked each
of her friends in turn. “Thank you
Buffy,” she said as she hugged her newest best friend. “This
was the best birthday of my life.”
“Good,” Buffy said emphatically. “You deserve to have the happiest
birthdays imaginable. But, I didn’t
really do that much. You should thank your parents. They’re
the ones who did all the work.”
“You’re right. Thanks Mom. Thanks Dad,” Willow smiled at
her parents, who looked slightly guilty for
some reason that Willow didn’t really understand.
“You’re welcome sweetie,” her mother answered. “Buffy’s right. You deserve the best.”
“Well, I don’t know about that,” Willow said modestly. “But I
do appreciate it,” she added smiling.
“Angel,” she said then, turning to the vampire. “Thanks for coming
tonight. I know this isn’t exactly your
idea of fun.”
“What?” Xander cut in, laughing. “Spending time with me isn’t his idea of fun? Why on earth not?
“Gee, Xander, I don’t know. Maybe because you can’t go five minutes
without making a sarcastic
remark?” Willow joked.
“Nope, that can’t be it. There must be some other reason. Right fangboy?” he said, glancing at Angel.
“Yeah, that’s it, Xander. I think it’s just because you’re generally annoying,” Angel answered.
“Hey!” Xander protested. “I am not annoying! I’m just uniquely
witty. You just don’t understand my
humor.”
“Okay. Oz, thanks for bringing me to my party,” Willow interrupted
so that she wouldn’t have to listen to
the two banter all night. “And you,” she said turning to Xander.
“You were late and everything and you
don’t seem to have done anything for this party, but you’re still my
best friend. Thanks for being your
uniquely witty self.”
“Aah, you’re welcome my lady,” Xander said with a sweeping bow.
“It’s my pleasure. Happy birthday!”
he exclaimed and pulled her into a bear hug. “Now, you should
be getting home, this being a school
night and all,” he said, adopting a stern tone.
“Aye aye,” Willow answered. “See ya tomorrow.”
Xander stood smiling bravely at her back as she walked away with her
parents. He waved when she
glanced back once and then let his smile fall, sure that she would
continue on to her parents’ car. A tear
slipped out of the corner of his eye and made a trail down his cheek
while his mind screamed. <<
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why can’t I say it? I love you. See, that’s not so hard.
Just three little words. Why can’t I just tell her? >>
<< Because she doesn’t love you any more. She got over you
when she was with Oz, >> he
answered his own question. << And you’re afraid of rejection.
You know that. >>
*****
Willow glanced over her shoulder and smiled when she saw Xander wave
at her. Then she continued
walking next to her parents. When they reached their car, she
turned and looked back one more time.
What she saw made her freeze, her heart beating a little faster.
She saw on Xander’s face a look she
had seen more times than she could count. It was a look of pain,
fear, and loneliness. She had seen it
so often that she knew that particular expression better than any other
she had ever seen. She had
never seen it on Xander’s face before, though. No, that expression
had always been on her face every
time she looked in the mirror.
With a flash of insight she could not explain Willow knew Xander’s face
held that expression because of
her. << I hurt him? How could I hurt him? >>
And then, in another brilliant moment, she realized why
his face looked that way. <<The party. Oh, he did
this for me. It didn’t make sense that my parents
would do something like this and I let them all convince me that they
did. He’s my best friend and I
honestly believed he didn’t do anything. >> With that realization,
Willow Rosenberg made a decision
that would change her life forever. For the better or for the
worse, she didn’t know, but she didn’t care.
“I’ll be right back,” she told her parents.
Then, turning back, she hurtled her way down the street and flew into
Xander’s arms. She wrapped
her legs around his waist, forcing him to support her to prevent her
from falling, and glued her lips to
his. She kissed him happily, only half believing that she had
just made her dream come true.
Xander, meanwhile, returned the kiss, awe-struck that his Willow would
actually want to kiss him. They
stayed that way for about a half a second, until the unexpected weight
caused Xander to collapse. Then
they both tumbled to the ground, laughing hysterically.
Through a fit of giggles, Willow kissed him again. “Thanks for
the party,” she said, when she finally
stopped laughing and got her breath back.
“You’re welcome,” Xander answered, causing Buffy, Angel, and Oz, who
were watching with
amusement, to laugh. “I love you,” he finally admitted to her.
Willow gave him that smile that always made his heart stop, then answered, “I love you, too.”
“See, that wasn’t so hard!” Buffy exclaimed and then laughed.
Her two best friends in the entire world
were both happy at the same time. This was cause for celebration!
“Well, we’ll leave you two alone.
Come on Angel. Oz, let’s go. Bye guys! See ya tomorrow!”
Willow smiled as they left, Buffy dragging Angel and Oz away.
<< It’s funny,>> she thought. << It felt
like drowning when I loved him before, when there was no hope of him
feeling the same way. Now, I
feel like flying. I like it! >> she decided and then turned her
attention back to Xander, who smiled softly
at her.
“Happy birthday, Wil,” he said and then kissed her.
“Thanks Xander,” she answered and then kissed him again.
Eventually they rose from their position on the ground, noting that
Willow's parents had long since left,
and walked around their small town for the rest of the night.
They had known each other all their lives
and yet they still felt like they had a lifetime of catching up to
do. They talked and laughed all night long,
discussing the emotions they had both kept bottled up far too long.
They also spent a large amount of
time kissing, of course, but that was to be expected. The most
important thing, Willow thought as she
smiled up at Xander, was that they were starting out on equal footing,
both completely understanding
the other.
For some reason, the vampires kept their distance this night and Willow
and Xander had one night to
spend together, postponing facing the Hellmouth until the next day.
They both knew that they could face
whatever the Hellmouth or anything else threw at them, though.
They were together and they were
strong and that was all that really mattered.
Fan Fiction Chamber