"You sure you're okay?" Buffy asked; the tenth time in half as many minutes.

"Buffy, I'm sure," Willow replied. Again. "But the way you keep asking me is making me think that maybe I shouldn't be."

It had been a long night. It was the early hours of the morning, and all the stress and tension had taken a strain. So Buffy was excused for having nothing more articulate to say than 'Huh?'

It was then that Willow noticed how tired her friend was. They were on their way back to Buffy's house, but even ignoring the fact that the streetlights made everyone look bad, Willow thought that the Slayer looked awful. Tired. Tense.

"Are you okay though?" Willow asked softly.

Not meeting her eye, Buffy said, "Me? Peachy."

If 'peachy' meant 'unhappy', Willow thought she just might be telling the truth. But she didn't push the matter. Not yet, anyway.

They turned down the path, heading towards Buffy's house. They were nearly at the front door when they heard a scream from the house next door.

Buffy glanced at Willow. There were identical looks of shock and fear in their eyes. Then Buffy blinked, and that look vanished. She was all business.

"Stay here," she said. Soft but firm.

"Wait," Willow said.

Her friend, halfway through heading towards the back, turned. "What?"

Biting back all the things she really wanted to say, Willow told her, "Be careful."

The look Buffy gave her said enough. More than enough. There were entire stories in her eyes. Promises, lies, questions, answers.

Willow's heart missed a beat. With fear, she told herself. But she didn't quite believe that. There was something about her friend, about the way she – but no. That kind of thinking would get her nowhere.

She offered her a weak smile. She didn't want to stay where she was; she wanted to help. But the Slayer had spoken, and it was pointless to argue.

It was only a minute or two later, but it felt like hours. Only a minute or two of standing there in darkness, in silence, in hope and expectation and fear, before her friend came back around the front of the house. Willow was going to ask if everything was okay, but Buffy's eyes told her it wasn't.

"We need to go," she said.

Willow didn't know if her friend had actually said that, or if she'd just read it in her eyes. It didn't matter. They had to go.

Buffy grabbed Willow's hand and started leading her away. Something she'd done so many times before. But this time, it felt different. The Slayer quickly let go and moved on ahead.

"What's going on?" Willow asked as they ran through the streets.

"Vampire," she replied, not looking back.

"Why are we running?" Willow pressed. "If it's just one, can't you super-slay it or something?"

"Theoretically," Buffy said.

Her friend knew not to push her luck. She fell into silence, into the steady rhythm of running. They turned left, down an alley. Running down a dark alley, trying to escape from a vampire. It was a scene uncomfortably familiar for Willow.

The alley ended in a low brick wall. Well, low for a Slayer, anyway. Buffy leapt lightly over it, landing softly on the other side. Turning around, she saw Willow standing there, hesitating.

"Will?" she said. "Come on."

The witch walked up to the wall, and then stood there, one hand resting on the bricks. It was too tall for her. How could she get over it?

Then Buffy stepped forward, offering her hand. Willow hesitated, and then gratefully took it, and with the Slayer's help managed to scramble over the wall, landing more or less on her feet.

She was off-balance, though, and automatically grabbed Buffy's arm to steady herself. Then she met her friend's eyes, blushed, and turned away.

She didn't notice that Buffy was blushing too.

The pair kept moving, keeping to the well-lit streets and avoiding the shadows. After a while, Willow, jogging a few paces to catch up to her friend, pointed out, "They haven't been following us for a while. Do we really have to keep moving?"

Buffy, doing a quick scan of the area, finally said, "I don't think so. We should probably find somewhere safe for the night."

About to agree, Willow happened to glance at the horizon. "Um, Buffy?"

"Yeah?"

She pointed.

"Oh," said Buffy.

The sun was creeping up over the horizon.

Willow looked at her watch and said, "I think the night's over."

The news didn't seem to go down too well with Buffy. She groaned. "You're telling me that after spending the night running around the streets and rescuing you and everything, I have to go to school now? With no sleep? Life is not fair."

Willow grinned, but suddenly she felt tired. She hadn't been aware of how much that night had taken out of her, but the realisation that she'd lost an entire night hit her hard. Somehow she'd have to plough through a full day of school, sit through an awkward dinner with her mother, and then – only then – she'd be able to sleep.

She sighed too.

"Unless -" said Buffy, a wicked gleam in her eyes.

That look made Willow a little nervous, which was understandable. That look usually ended up with someone getting in trouble, or being in danger, or something equally awful.

"Unless -?" Willow prompted, curious despite her better judgment.

"You know," said Buffy, taking Willow's arm in her own and leading her on. The redhead couldn't ignore the tingles that shot up her arm. "We don't really have to go to school."

Willow thought Buffy may have felt the tingles too, because the blonde girl suddenly let go and looked away.

Pretending not to notice, and that she wasn't embarrassed, Willow prompted, "Technically we do have to go to school, you know."

"Well, yeah," agreed Buffy, "if you want to get a good education and a good job and all those other wonderful things the teachers are always going on about, but, right now, all I want is a soft bed and a little sleep."

Willow hesitated, and then smiled. "My sentiments exactly."

An hour later Buffy and Willow were settling down on the Slayer's couch. They'd waited until they were sure that it was safe – both from monsters and from mothers. They'd been inside for only a few minutes when the phone rang. Buffy's eyes widened.

"Uh oh," she said.

Willow nudged her arm. "You'd better get it. It could be important."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "You and your logic."

Then she got up and went to the phone, leaving her friend to stare at the place where she'd been. With an effort, Willow switched her attention at the clock, and realised that on a normal day – although, she asked herself, what counted as a normal day anyway? - she'd be just about leaving for school.

Buffy turned to her, the phone in one hand, and mouthed, Mom.

Then she turned back and said into the phone, "No, Mom, I'm fine – yes, Will's here – no, I know – yeah, we will – no, really, we – okay. Okay."

She hung up the phone and came back over. As she sat back down, Willow noticed that she was a little further away than she had been, and felt inexplicably disappointed.

"What's the verdict?" she asked.

"Our distraction worked last night," replied Buffy. "We lured the vamp away before it got too near my mom. And after thanking me for it, she made sure that you were with me – apparently your mom's been worried – and that we were planning on going to school."

Willow grinned. "You wouldn't have lied to her, would you?"

Buffy shook her head, feigning innocence. "No, of course not."

"Good," said Willow, and their eyes met for just a second before she forced herself to look away.

"Do you think the others went to school?" asked Buffy after a minute or two.

"Giles would have," said Willow at once. "And the others didn't have to run from any creatures of the night, so I'd say they didn't have as late a night as us. They'd have no excuse not to go."

"What d'you think they're doing right now?"

Willow shrugged. "Probably wondering where we are."

As if in response, the phone rang again. Buffy answered it, once again leaving Willow on the couch.

"Hey, Giles – yeah, we're fine – no, we had a little – no, we're actually – yes, Willow's here too – of course – all right."

She turned around after she'd hung up, and Willow knew at once that something was about to disrupt their day.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Giles said I have to go track down the vamp from last night," she said.

"During the day?"

"He said the sooner the better, so, yeah, I guess."

"I'll come," offered Willow at once, wondering how she'd find the energy to get off the couch, let alone hunt down a vicious vampire.

"Thanks, Will," said the Slayer, "but I think you'd better sit this one out. I'm going to go get some supplies from my room, and then I'll head off. Just sit tight, okay? I shouldn't be long."

She left, seeming to take all the warmth from the air. But all Willow could think about was how it had felt when Buffy had said her name.

When Buffy came back into the room, Willow noticed that she'd changed her shirt. She also noticed that the shirt she was now wearing was tight, showing off the shape of her body. As soon as she thought that, Willow bit her lip. What had gotten into her lately?

"You okay?" asked Buffy, leaning against the doorway.

"Yeah," said Willow, startled, "yeah, I'm fine."

The look she gave her made it clear she didn't believe her, but Buffy let it drop.

"Okay then," she said. "I'm off."

She pushed herself off from the wall, slipped a stake into her sock, and headed for the door.

"Wait," said Willow, getting to her feet.

Buffy whipped around, her eagerness evident in her eyes as well as her movements. "Yeah?"

Willow hesitated, wrestling with herself. "Nothing," she said at last, sitting back down. "Just – be careful, okay?"

"Always," she replied, and then she was gone.

Willow lay back on the couch, staring at the ceiling. She was debating getting up to get a blanket when the door opened and Buffy stuck her head in.

"You know," she said, "you can come with me, if you want."

Willow was up and out the door in one smooth movement. They set off down the street, like they'd done so many times before. After a few blocks, Buffy paused.

"What's up?" asked Willow.

"The vamp went this way last night," she replied, glancing up and down the street. "But after that, I have no clue."

Willow was about to reply when they both heard a scream. They exchanged a glance, and then the Slayer said, "Or we could just follow the screaming."

She took off at a run, leaving Willow struggling to catch up. As much as she loved being one of the Scooby Gang, Willow sometimes found it hard just to keep up. Yet she knew that as long as Buffy was moving, she'd force her tired legs to follow.

Buffy skidded to a stop at the start of an alley.

"An alley," she scoffed. "How original."

Willow came to a stop beside her, and they both peered down the alley. They could see a shape at the end, hunched over and moaning softly. There was no sign of the vampire, but the alley had enough shadows that it might be able to hide.

"Stay behind me," Buffy instructed, beginning to creep down the alley.

Falling into place behind her, Willow thought of all the times they'd done this before. The tension, crackling through the air like electricity. Her heart, pounding like a sledgehammer. The uncertainty, the fear, the strange thrill of excitement.

She opened her mouth to say something, only to feel something huge and heavy slam into her back.

This was all too familiar for Willow. Her hands flew out to break her fall, and she ended up with grazed palms and aching joints, but avoided any serious injury. She hit the ground and rolled, more out of instinct than due to any actual thought. She heard something sprint past her, and she managed to call out a warning to Buffy as she scrambled to her feet.

The vampire that had knocked her down was now headed straight at Buffy, fangs bared and eyes wild. Casting a quick glance around her, Willow grabbed the only thing she could find that would serve as a weapon, and hurled the metal pole at the vampire. It missed, skimming past his face and clattering to the ground, but it distracted him long enough to give Buffy time to react.

The Slayer leapt at him with a flying sidekick, crashing into him and sending him tumbling to the ground. Then she pulled a stake out of her sock and plunged it into the vampire's chest, without any of her usual witty banter. She didn't even wait for the vampire to turn to dust before she yanked her stake back, slipped it into her pocket, and jogged towards Willow, who was leaning against the wall.

"Are you okay?" Buffy asked, resting her hand on Willow's arm.

Willow looked down at it and felt her heart miss a beat. This time, though, Buffy didn't move her hand away.

"I'm fine," Willow assured her.

Their eyes met for one tingling, tantalizing moment, and then Buffy's attention was captured by something else.

"You're hurt," Buffy said, her eyes becoming gentle as her hand brushed over a cut above Willow's eye.

"It's nothing," Willow said, straightening up and ducking her head. "I'll be fine."

And suddenly Buffy was leaning into her, letting her hand drift across Willow's face, playing with her hair.

"Yeah," Buffy whispered into her ear, so close that Willow could feel her breath. It made her shiver with delight. "I think we're going to be just fine."

They didn't talk about what happened.

It was just a kiss, Willow kept reminding herself. It was just one kiss. It didn't mean anything, anything at all. There was no need to tell Oz about it. There was no need to talk to Buffy about it. And yet.

She ran her finger along her lips, remembering the feeling. It hadn't been as passionate as her first kiss with Oz. It had been lighter, gentler, more hesitant. But it had felt incredibly right. Thinking about it now made her smile, even though there were so many 'what ifs' and 'uh ohs' associated with it.

She'd just about convinced herself to forget about the kiss when there was a knock at the door. A moment later it opened, and in stepped Buffy.

"Hi!" Willow said, a little too brightly.

"Hey you," Buffy said, sitting down on her bed.

Instinctively Willow moved over a bit, increasing the space between them. Just in case.

"You don't have to -" Buffy started. Then she just slightly shook her head.

"How are you doing?" Willow asked.

Buffy shrugged. "I'm okay. Tired, a bit sore. I'm used to it by now. What about you?"

"I'm… I'm Willow," she said, smiling. "I laugh in the face of danger and I mock the consequences of catastrophe. I'll be fine."

Her friend smiled.

A few beats of silence followed, during which Willow felt her heart slow down. Just being in Buffy's presence was calming, in a heart-wrenching, nerve-wracking kind of way.

"I think we need to -"

"I wanted to talk to you -"

They broke off, embarrassed. Willow gestured for Buffy to go first.

"I think we need to talk," Buffy said. "About what happened."

"Me too." Willow sat up, putting her pillow on her lap and resting her hands on it. "I'm not sure what… I mean, I don't know what it meant. I don't know what we do now. I don't -"

"Do you regret it?" Buffy asked suddenly. Realizing how blunt she'd been, she ducked her head and looked away. "I'm sorry. I just -"

"I don't," Willow said softly. "I don't regret it."

Buffy hesitates for just a second. "Me neither."

"So where does that leave us?" Willow said.

"I don't know."

The silence fell over them again, but Willow was surprised that the sound of her heartbeat wasn't deafening both of them. She could never forget that kiss. She didn't want to. Did that mean maybe they had a chance?

"Do you think we -" Willow started, not sure what she was going to ask.

"- have a shot?" Buffy finished.

Willow nodded.

"I guess there's only one way to find out," Buffy replied.

As they leaned into each other again, Willow couldn't help but think that maybe things would actually be fine after all.

Okay, I kind of trailed off. But I like leaving things to the imagination. Please review and let me know what you think! :)