"You have to pick, Xander. Me or Jesse. I'll never tell, but you have to." Her bottom lip stuck out a bit.

"This isn't fair Willow." He said in a plaintive whine, trying to get her to ask something else, but her eyes were hard. Well not really hard, Xander didn't think Willow's eyes ever got hard hard, but they seemed plenty hard enough at the moment. He gave up and looked away from her and at the ground.

"You."

--//--

"I think I'm getting it..." said Xander, his eyes closed, a look of profound concentration on his face as he sat cross-legged in front of a similarly cross-legged Willow, whose eyes were also closed. Her face, however, was serene.

"That's it...just a little more...focus..." There was a candle between them whose flame was beginning to flicker a little wildly despite the stillness of the air in Willow's room. The flickering candlelight threw uncertain light around the otherwise dark room.

"No!" Willow's eyes flared open as the candle flame was replicated five times around the room, setting her drapes, comforter and carpet ablaze.

"That's it!" said Willow standing up and extinguishing the fires with a wave-like gesture of her left hand.

"What's it?" said Xander groggily, looking up at her glassy-eyed.

"This is it." She said grabbing her singed comforter and shaking it at him. "Oh and that is it too" Pointiing at the burnt patch of carpet. "Not to mention my vase that you broke yesterday. All of that is it." She made a sweeping all-encompassing gesture.

"Is this like one of those riddles? The one hand clapping kind of thing?"

"No!"

"Because I'm really bad at those."

"It's not a riddle!"

"So...you're not going to teach me anymore?" Asked Xander, a look of relief warred with disappointment on his face. Willow sighed, somewhat regretfully.

"No...that's not it. I can't leave you like this." She looked around at her semi-destroyed room. "It would be...dangerous. Who knows what could happen at the wrong time. I'll teach you, but, the fact that it was me who taught you is now classified information."

"How classified?"

" 'The fate of Cordelia's favorite stuffed animal' classified." replied Willow seriously.

"Hugglebunny classified?" he asked, surprised. Willow nodded.

"Alright. You know, I'm still ashamed of myself for that."

"Me too."

"Well you should be Willow, it was your idea." said Xander perfunctorily.

"You're the one who did it Xander, so don't point any fingers." Willow retorted, as she always did when they had this particular argument.

Xander knew, as Willow did, that this path went round and round forever, So he left it at that this time, raising his hand in a gesture of truce.

"So, what's your story going to be about the magic?" asked Willow.

"Uh...I just spontaneously started casting spells one day?"

"Sounds good to me. The tests Giles will perform on you when he sees you do something can be your punishment for breaking all of my stuff."

"What?"

"Don't worry, they'll be painless." Willow said, then turned her head and muttered "Mostly painless." Willow felt a surge of power from Xander's direction.

"Whoops."

Willow's eyes closed and her head dropped to her chest. 'Not my closet. Not my closet....." She slowly lifted her head and opened one eye... relief swept over her and she opened her other eye. She took in the scene; there was a fair amount of fire. In the middle of it, Xander looked around until he caught her eye and shrugged helplessly, and she crumpled bonelessly into gales of hysterical laughter.

"Willow! Laugh at me all you want after you put the fire out."

--//--

Xander stormed into Willow's room.

"The following is strictly between us." He paused and waited for Willow to nod her sleepy 'of course'.

"Your girlfriend is a giant bitch. From the bottoms of her expensive shoes to the top of her annoying hair."

Willow frowned sleepily.

"Hair?"

"Face it Willow, her hair is annoying. I know you kind of live with her hair and so you get used to it, but that's not the case for the rest of us. It is annoying and if she doesn't stop bossing people around and generally making things unpleasant, I'm going to shave it while she's sleeping and blame one of the other slayers....and you haven't heard a word of this because it's one o'clock and you're sleeping like a lazy..." he trailed off into mutters as he pulled up her blanket to make sure she wouldn't be cold.

"Who sets an air-conditioner this low anyway?" he asked himself as he left her room closing the door softly behind him.

--//--

"I don't like her."

"But I thought after the troll incident you both kind of..."

"No."

"But she said..."

"No. She's... there's not a word really and I know a lot of words. When I picture the two of you together in the future..." Willow shook her head from side to side slowly and shuddered.

"She loves me."

"That's why I'll never say anything to her or anyone else."

"You've already kind of..."

"I meant from now on. Jeez cut me some slack."

"Okay."

"You kind of ruined a moment there Xand."

"You mentioned something about slack?"

--//--

"She didn't know how much I loved her." The words were a harsh whisper in the darkness. " I kept some of it a secret. Like I was still a little afraid or something." He hugged her harder.

"She knew. I swear she did."

--

"Stop talking about it Xander. Since when has it gotten you anywhere? Buffy picks some guy. You don't like him and attempt to make her not like him. You fail. She destroys the relationship somehow and the process starts over again." He raised his eyebrows.

"Ouch." Willow turned to look at him with a hand on her hip.

"You know it's true, you have a pattern of..." He shook his head and interrupted.

"The 'ouch' wasn't for me, it was for Buffy... who apparently destroys all of her relationships.... oh and for you and your broken bones if Buffy heard you."

"I didn't mean that," she said quickly "...you just..." She waved a hand in exasperation "...and I lost my head."

"Tell it to the judge."

"Uh-uh no way."

"Are you suggesting I hide your less than charitable remarks from our mutual best friend?" Xander pretended shock.

"I'm suggesting that if you say anything to Buffy I might happen to mention how this one time you fell asleep and I heard you moan 'Dawn'." Xander paled, and extended his pinky. Willow linked her pinky to his, smirking.

"It's not even true is it?"

"No." she said happily. Xander shook his head and smiled ruefully

"It's not like Buffy would believe me if I denied it. Dawn has most of the watchers panting after her."

--//--

"We can't keep doing this Willow."

"I know."

"It was wrong the first time we did this back in high school, it's more wrong now."

"I know."

"You have to pick; me or Kennedy. If it's her, I won't say anything; you know that, but..."

She moved her hand and placed it over his chest and he smiled in the darkness. His happiness made him feel guilty... but not too guilty.