| ~~~6~~~ �So are you going to tell Angel?� Cordelia hung one of Willow�s fuzzy orange sweaters on a hanger. �No!� Willow spun around from the bookshelf, her face drained of any color. �Please give me some credit. I�m not a complete idiot you know. I�m not talking about the walking talking Daytime Angel. But your Dream Angel, are you going to tell him?� Grabbing yet another fuzzy sweater Cordelia silently wondered if Willow bought stock in the company that massed produced the hideous things. �You make him sound like some kind of Barbie doll. Evening time Angel, Holiday Angel, Beach Angel-.� �Oh now that would be a real seller. Any time the doll was brought out into daylight it would go up in flames.� Cordelia chuckle died on her lips as Willow sent her a scathing look. �Okay not funny. Geez hormones already starting?� �I guess I�ll tell... Dream Angel about the baby. I mean what would it hurt. So far Angel... Daytime Angel hasn�t remembered a thing, so why should he start now?� Willow finished placing the books she had packed back onto the shelves. Grabbing a handful of toiletries she headed for the bathroom. Cordelia picked up a pair of oversized overalls and couldn�t resist a smile. At least Willow�s pathetic wardrobe was going to come to some use. There was enough room in the overalls to hide four months, perhaps five if the side buttons were left undone. �So what are you going to say about going AWOL? I should warn you everyone is out looking for you right now.� Willow groaned. Of course they were. �I don�t know. I don�t suppose telling them that the green Jell-O freaked me out will work.� �No, but I agree with you. There�s nothing creepier than a solid food that you can see through. Why don�t you come back to my house and we�ll tell them that I found you here. That you�re still a little out of it, and are in need of a good nights rest.� �Aren�t your parents at some retreat?� �Yeah, �How to rekindle your romance�. Whatever. Once the milk sours it�s not going to get any better.� Flipping her hair over her shoulder, a half attempt to hide her displeasure over her family�s problems. �But we do have Greta there, my housekeeper, that�s more parental supervision than you have here. And the added plus, we know that Buffy hates coming over to my place.� Willow chewed on her lower lip. What she wanted to do was get out of town so she wouldn�t have to face her friends when they found out the truth. It wasn�t like she could hide her pregnancy forever. Sooner or later the �I�m just gaining weight� excuse wasn�t going to cut it. Then what was she going to do? �I�m too tired to think.� Willow rubbed at her puffy eyes. �I guess I can go over to your house. I�ll think about everything tomorrow.� �Great!� Cordelia flashed Willow a large smile of victory as she walked to the phone to place a call to the library. ~~~*~~~ Walking a few feet behind Xander and Buffy, Angel wished that he had been able to go off on his own to search for Willow. Buffy was still in a mood from earlier that night, and it was only getting worse the longer they searched for Willow. He knew that she was expecting some sort of an apology, but honestly at the moment he had no real desire to coddle her childish attitude. He was still being plagued by the dream, knowing there was something important he should remember. He could recall that there was some sort of room, but that was all. It was so aggravating, the harder he tired to force himself to think the less clear it all became. �Angel?� Snapping his head up, he realized that they had stopped and that Buffy was trying to get his attention. �What�s with you?� �Nothing.� Shrugging his shoulders, Angel looked around a little surprised that they were standing in front of the High School. Weren�t they just in the cemetery? �Whatever.� Flipping the long blonde locks over her shoulder, Buffy stomped away. Xander looked over to Angel in amusement. �Has someone been a bad vampire?� �Shove it Harris.� Angel growled as he walked past the teen. The distance to the library was walked in silence. Occasionally Buffy would look from the corner of her eye over at Angel, waiting for the apology for his earlier behavior. Usually he would have said something by now, but there was nothing. It seemed as though he didn�t even know she was feet away from him. Xander was the first through the library doors, yelling out their arrival. �Where back.� Giles held a hand in the air, signaling them to be quiet. �Yes Cordelia, but is she all right other than the confusion?� Angel walked past Xander to stand by Giles. �I�m not sure that�s a wise decision. There may be more tests that the doctors want to run... I understand. Yes I�ll call the hospital and let them know she�s all right and will be in tomorrow for a check-up.� Hanging the phone up Giles let out a long breath. �Cordelia found her.� �We got that.� Buffy looked at Giles wishing that he�d hurry up and just spit it out. �Yes I guess you did.� Giles nodded. �Willow was at her house, a little confused but basically all right.� �Did she say why Willow snuck out of the hospital?� Angel asked. �No, not really. Though Cordelia did say that Willow seemed to be a little confused. I�m sure after a good nights rest she�ll be fine.� Giles tried to reassure the small group. �She should be in the hospital.� Angel answered stubbornly. He was relieved that Willow was safe, but after what she went through the night prior in the emergency room, she should still be in the hospital. Even if she was there just for observation. �Actually I agree with you Angel, but when Cordelia suggested the same thing to Willow, I�m afraid that she was rather stubborn about not going back. I�m sure we�re all still rattled over last night incident, and that with some rest Willow will be just fine.� Angel looked ready to disagree, but saw the murderous express cross Buffy�s face. He was pushing this too far, and if he kept it up it would only end badly. �Fine. If you see her tomorrow tell her...� Casting a look in Buffy�s direction Angel sighed. �Tell her I hope she�s feeling better.� Without another look in Buffy�s direction, Angel turned on his heal and stalked out of the library. �Who says his social skills needs improving.� Xander quipped as he leaned against the counter. ~~~*~~~ He wasn�t going to fool himself by thinking that he had just ended up here, standing in front of Cordelia�s house. Though his first intention was to make a sweep of the park, the need to make sure that Willow was all right tugged at him until he gave in. It was to late to knock on the door, so he just stood outside the house, waiting like some fool for proof that Willow was okay. He must have stood there in the shadows for ten minutes. Not knowing what he was waiting for, Angel was finally rewarded with a light turning on in one of the upstairs rooms. He could clearly see Willow as she readied herself for bed. Closing his eyes like a gentleman when she changed her clothing, Angel watched as Willow stood in front of a mirror staring at her reflection. She turned to the side, placing a hand on her stomach. Angel�s brown scrunched in confusion as he watched Willow shove a small throw pillow from the bed under her shirt. Sighing she returned the pillow to the bed, before climbing in herself. The light turned off, and Angel turned to go. She seemed all right. Trudging back home, Angel was anxious to get back to sleep. Perhaps there would be another dream. And if he tried hard enough, he might be able to remember it in the morning. |
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