She'd been here two weeks. She'd popped back to her house a few times bringing things back slowly. She knew she was soon going to have to let Giles know she was no longer staying in Brazil, and that would mean explaining why she was in L.A. Spike was still adamant that no one else know that he was back. She knew now that it was more the fact that he hadn't yet told them that kept him from doing so now. She tried to tell him that the longer he waited the more pissed they'd be that he'd waited so long. But, as normal, he was stubborn as hell and wouldn't realize she was right until it was too late to make a difference.

She was excited to have everyone know so that she could stop hiding him and their new relationship. However, she was also nervous. What if he called Buffy and Dawn to let them know he was back and Buffy came running to collect what she thought was hers? Would Buffy be pissed that Willow was sharing his bed, his life? Or even worse, would he realize that he still loved the blonde slayer and leave her?

She told herself that would not happen. She reminded herself of the way he held her, the way he kissed her, the way he made love to her, the way he always seemed to be working around a lump in his throat when he said those three wonderful words. Most of the time it was enough to get her closer to excited and a little further away from worried. Not today though, because today she was going to tell him she had to let Giles know where she was. She was going to beg him to call and let them know what was going on, so that she could explain why she was here.

She was sitting in the kitchen sipping coffee, decaf of course, and waiting for him to come down the stairs. He was with Angel making sure the older vampire had his breakfast. If Spike didn't stay to make sure he ate, he wouldn't. She hadn't seen hide nor hair of Angel since the first night in the hallway. She knew that he was aware of her continued presence. Spike was constantly reassuring her that Angel was no longer mad at her, but ashamed of himself, but that didn't make it any better.

Stupid, moody vampire. Ok, so he was ashamed of his behavior? Big darned deal. If he'd just show his dumb face she could tell him that she understood. She could really apologize for her part in causing his pain, and she could hug him. Spike hugs were great, no - better than great, mind blowing. But Angel hugs? Well, they took her home. To Sunnydale, to times less complicated, to a life where she'd had all her friends within arm's reach and the only loss she'd experienced was Jesse's. Before the problems with magic, with Tara, before losing Tara, before she'd become a heartless murderer. Before Spike. Ok, so maybe everything hadn't been sunshine and roses.

But still, in the past couple weeks when she'd started missing her friends, when she'd been feeling particularly nostalgic she'd wanted to be able to see Angel. Maybe he wasn't who she really needed, but he was something from that life. Someone who'd know her as the simple, unsullied girl she'd once been.

Xander. That's who she really missed. Sure she missed them all. Giles and his stuffy, British ways, but kind, loving eyes. Buffy who could sometimes be a little self-involved, but was always there when it mattered most. Dawn, with her little girl eyes marred with too much death and pain, but still shining with so much veracity and life. But, Xander? Xander was her lifeline, the other half of herself. It had been so long since she seen him. She wanted to bask in his love for her, his surety that she was the Willow she'd always been. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and squeeze until he popped. Maybe not literally till he 'popped', but pretty darn close.

But, she couldn't see any of them yet and Angel was still out of the question. So, it came down to convincing Spike to finally bite the bullet. He knew they couldn't hide here forever, the place probably wouldn't hold out that long. They needed to find a more suitable place to live and the newly reestablished council could help with that. Ooooh, that was a good one. She could prey on his need to provide for her, protect her. And, of course his need for packaged blood, smokes, and the occasional bottle of whiskey. If they offered their services to the council, Giles, they could be added to the payroll. Then they'd have more than just Angel's meager stash and Willow's weekly pay to rely on. That was a good plan of attack, a little devious, but still, she'd learned from the best.

She leaned back in her chair, bringing the mug to her lips blowing gently on the steaming coffee-wanna-a-be before taking a sip. As the liquid slipped warmly down her throat she allowed her eyes to close and as was pretty typical recently, naked Spike danced behind her lids. Goddess she loved that man. Really, he was the only thing keeping her sane in this lonely, creaky hotel. Hotel? More like dungeon. She knew it couldn't be good for Angel to stay here. Sure it was familiar, it was where he'd spent his happiest days, but she knew from experience that without the people he loved to share it with, it just wasn't home.

So item one on the to do list: Make Spike call Giles. Buffy, well that was up to him, but Giles was a must. Once that was done, then they could work on the other things. Things like getting Angel out of this asylum and bringing him back to the realm of the living, or not-so-living, or whatever. The most important thing being that he actually look at her again. They could work up to the talking and hugging. But if he was going to be around, and she was thinking that was going to be the case, then they at least needed to be able to occupy the same room.

Cool hands were suddenly rubbing her shoulders and slipping down her arms pulling her out of the inner workings of her mind. A soft but still slightly seductive - it was Spike after all, the man oozed sex even without trying - kiss to her neck caused her to hum happily. She tilted her head to meet his lips and was once again awed by the way he could turn her to jelly with just a few touches.

"Hey baby, how's Angel tonight?" In the two weeks she'd been here, she'd easily adapted their hours, or at least Spike's hours, because Angel seemed to spend every hour in the bed.

"Same, least he ate though, without much prodding either, so better maybe? Not really sure, missed you." He kissed the top of her head and then moved to open the refrigerator and pull out a bag of blood for himself.

"You were gone ten minutes, Spike." She grinned at his pout and dutifully replied, "Missed you too." Which wasn't a lie, anytime he was out of her sight she missed him.

She heard the microwave ding and gave him a minute or two to get a little of his meal down. He was much easier to talk to when he wasn't hungry - or horny - unfortunately the latter was a constant.

"Spike?"

"Hmm?"

"I've got to call Giles today."

"Ok."

"Spike?"

"Yes, luv?"

"You need to talk to him."