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DISCLAIMER: Er... if I say yes, what'll happen?
SUMMARY: Pre-series. Just another afternoon in Sunnydale.
WORDCOUNT: 1173
DEDICATION: to Cassie, in her birthday.
SHIELD
by Leni
“Cordelia is so beautiful,” Jesse sighed for the twentieth time that afternoon.
“Did you see her today? That soft gold eyeshadow made her eyes glow under the
sun...”
Willow rolled her eyes, preferring not to comment on her friend’s obvious insanity.
Xander was more direct, opting for whacking him with his Literature book. The thickest of
the bunch.
“Ouch.” Jesse punched his arm.
Xander didn’t yelp, but slapped his shoulder in return.
Jesse was about to counterattack when Willow’s hand stopped him. “Guys,”
she said in her most serious voice. “We have a Lit test tomorrow.”
“But he began!” Jesse complained, making puppy eyes which begged that she let
him hit Xander. Willow just knew that her other best friend was sticking his tongue out at
Jesse behind her back. She sighed. When she was older she’d stick with one kid only.
Yes, it was lonely being an only child, but if all kids were anything like her best
friends, more than one would drive her crazy before their teens.
“Xander, go back to work. I want you to name five Shakespearean plays and know
their plots before we stop.” She took the book from his hand and opened it in the
respective page.
“Will!” Xander whined, even though he knew she wouldn’t relent. Willow
turned to him and fixed him with her oldest ‘Do it or else...’ stare, the one
she’d perfected back in primary school as she used the vegetable pottage Mrs.
Rosenberg called lunch as a tangible threat. Xander hadn’t dared oppose her since the
day she made him eat that thing. They also hadn’t spoken to each other for
more than a week, but eventually his love for his Willow Girl – and the cookies she
always carried in her backpack – led him back to her.
“Have you seen her new look?” There was no need to say whom Jesse was
talking about. He hugged his book to himself, not caring when Xander snickered beside him.
“She’s so pretty in her new skirt.” As an afterthought: “So
short...”
“Advertising the merchandise,” Xander snorted.
Willow blushed but smiled anyway.
“Shut up! As if I haven’t noticed how you check her out.”
“Well, yes,” Xander admitted. Willow glanced up, surprised, and looked at him
questioningly. Xander shrugged unrepentantly. “Well, I do have eyes. And, as I
said, she does good advertising.” Willow’s smile was a bit more dimmed this
time.
“But she is beautiful,” Jesse insisted. This time, finally fed up, it was
Willow who took a book, if a thinner one, on him. “You’re just jealous!”
the boy accused, rubbing his ‘injured’ arm and musing abut the injustice of not
being able to hit Willow back, even when she was his best girl-buddy and deserved
it. “Because she is taller and dresses more nicely and is much prettier than
you!”
Willow’s eyes widened and she quickly hid them under a wave of her hair as she looked
down to re-read the passage she'd already committed to memory.
It didn’t escape Xander that her eyes had watered before hiding them. She
couldn’t hide anything from him, he wondered why she still tried. “Fool,”
he muttered angrily before whacking Jesse on his scalp, strong enough to make the other
boy cry out in earnest. “Now apologise.”
Jesse looked right and left, the anger in Xander and the defeat in Willow. He didn’t
need to be told anything else to feel guilty. “I’m sorry, Willow,” he
murmured, playing with his pen nervously.
The girl only nodded, still not looking up from her book.
“I just...” At a loss of words, Jesse looked at Xander for guidance.
Xander’s eyes held nothing but an order to make Willow feel fine again. Since the
beginning of their friendship they had had misunderstandings like this, Jesse just
didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. Willow was a big girl, she could
handle herself. If she didn’t, it was high time that she learned.
But apparently Xander didn’t think the same. His friend was really protective, Jesse
thought. When he wasn’t the one teasing Willow himself, of course. But other than
that Xander really didn’t like anyone upsetting the redheaded girl. He had seen him
in action against Cordelia and her clique. Where Willow just ignored them and walked
faster, Xander confronted them with plays of words. Over the years he had built an arsenal
against the vapid girls, often striking them down before they knew what was going on. He
always used his best when Willow was with him, instinctively stepping forward to shield
her. The only one who was immune to his taunts was Cordelia Chase, giving as good as she
got at every turn. That was how Jesse had first noticed her, whoever avoided Xander's
insults so effortlessly deserved his attention. The fact that she was graceful, beautiful
and completely out of reach just made his crush the sweetest.
Xander coughed and Jesse snapped out of his thoughts. “I shouldn’t have said
that,” he added quickly, back to Earth and his Xander-given mission. No reaction.
Jesse shrugged, with no idea what to do next. Then it came to him; there was still one
more thing to try. “Please forgive me? Please please with a cherry on top and
chocolate toppings?” He had learned that from Xander, it was the ultimate
‘Willow pacifier’ and it never failed to make her smile. Until now. She just
nodded again mutely, barely acknowledging him.
A little worried, Xander got up from his chair and walked towards her. He put his hands on
her shoulders and lowered himself to talk against her ear. “Jesse’s an
ass.” At that he directed a killer glare to his friend. “You didn’t believe
him, did you?”
Willow shook her head and he saw as her grip on the book turned tighter. Which meant she
did. He tugged at her hair softly, almost playfully and added as much confidence as he
could into his next words. “Because he’s wrong. Totally and utterly wrong.”
She tilted her head a little, just enough to look at him. Her eyes were wide and she was
biting her lower lip indecisively. “Really?”
Xander nodded. Seeing that, a tremulous smile appeared on her face. This was why he’d
become friends with her all those years ago, why he’d stolen her Barbie when she was
paying too much attention to another girl in their classroom. This was why he’d
created the most inventive nicknames for the girls who bothered her and why he put up with
endless study sessions when he knew he was an inept at anything school-related. Because
that smile meant happiness and laughter and Willow and their promise of never letting go.
He couldn’t help but smile back. “That’s my girl,” he said, his finger
tracing the trail of a lost tear and erasing it from her skin. “Now are you ready for
all the Shakespeare I have for you?”
“Show off,” Jesse muttered behind him.
Xander shrugged. As long as Willow smiled like that, he didn’t care.
The End
18/07/04
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