Headers in part one

July 25, 2001

Willow let herself into Giles and Xander's apartment. The new roommates had 
settled into a routine that worked out fairly well for them, although Giles 
had been known to sneak out on particularly loud nights. Willow, Xander and 
Buffy assumed that he spent those nights at the bookstore, but he never said. 

She closed the door softly behind her, in case Melanie was asleep, and walked 
into the living room. No one was there, so she tried upstairs. She found 
Xander and Melanie asleep on his bed, and smiled. He looked so young and 
peaceful in his sleep, and she noticed that they both buttoned up their eyes 
in the same manner. She had only been standing there, watching them sleep, 
for a few minutes before Xander opened his eyes.

"Hi, Will," he whispered. 

She started, and her hand flew up to her chest. "Oh, you scared me," she 
said. "I thought you were asleep."

"I was. Then, I woke up," he grinned. *And saw an angel* he thought to 
himself. *Oh, yeah, that wasn't completely hokey* He shook his head at his 
thoughts, and saw Willow look confused. "Um, what?"

"I asked where Giles was," she repeated.

"Oh. Sorry. He and Katherine are looking at new stuff for the store," he told 
her, sitting up. 

"Oh, okay. I just wanted to drop this book off for Mellie," she explained, 
holding up a copy of Dr. Seuss' 'Oh, The Places You'll Go.' "I thought she 
would like it."

Xander smiled. "Thanks, Will. I'm sure she'll love it." He stood and bent to 
pick the baby up off the bed, laying her back down in her crib. They stood 
there, just quietly watching her sleep, each lost in their own thoughts.

"Wow, Willow," he said finally. "Can you believe this is us now? A baby." He 
shook his head in wonder. "Who would have guessed it."

Willow blinked back sudden tears. *If only it was us* she sighed inwardly. 
"Hard to believe," she agreed out loud. "We grew up, Xander."

"That we did," he said softly, tracing Melanie's cheek with his index finger. 

"I have to go now," Willow said unhappily. She loved watching Xander with his 
daughter. "I have a meeting to go to for DynaVox."

Xander bit back his disappointment. "Okay. I'll walk you out."

He followed her down the stairs, and they stopped in front of the door. "I'll 
come over later and read with Mellie, okay?" she asked, looking up into his 
warm brown eyes.

"We'd love that," he told her, not breaking their eye contact. "Thanks for 
the book."

"Anytime," she responded, unable to pull her eyes away from his. Impulsively, 
she reached up and gave him a hug. He held her close, rubbing small circles 
on her back. She pulled back, and tried to smile at him. "I'll see you 
later." She walked out, and he closed the door behind her, sagging against 
the door frame. It was so hard to be so close physically, but so far apart 
emotionally. He had no idea how much longer he could stand it.

~*~

July 31, 2001

Willow was comfortably reclined on the sofa in her living room, happily 
browsing through baby catalogs, as she had been all morning. She didn't 
notice Buffy standing in the doorway, trying to muster enough courage to walk 
in and have a conversation with her. After a few minutes of deliberating, she 
finally propelled herself forward into the room.

"Willow, I want to move out," she blurted out as quickly as she could.

Willow gaped at her. "What?"

"I know, and I'm so sorry, Will," she rushed ahead. "It's not that you're not 
great, because you are, and I've had so much fun with you, but it's just not 
the ideal situation anymore. Please don't hate me," she finished.

"Um, Buff? That 'what' was a real what. I have no clue what you just said," 
Willow said, slightly dazed from Buffy's barrage.

"Oh," Buffy said. "Um, I said that I wanted to move out. And move in with 
Spike. Because I really do spend more time at his place than here."

Willow took this in as Buffy peered hopefully at her. "Um, okay. Sure," she 
finally said, not sure what she was supposed to say. She knew that she could 
afford it by herself, with the money she made from DynaVox, it was just the 
alone factor in Sunnydale that bothered her. 

Buffy sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I'm so glad you're not upset," 
she said, reaching over to hug her friend. "That really is the last thing I 
wanted."

"No, I understand. You want to spend time with your honey, and it would be 
really hard here in the sunlight," Willow nodded. "Maybe I'll find someone 
for a roommate. I just don't really want to be alone at night here."

As if on cue, Xander burst through the door, carrying Melanie in her car seat.

"Whoa, Xander," Buffy said, surprised. "Moving a little fast there. If it 
wasn't daylight, I'd think a vamp was chasing you. Are you guys okay?"

"Us? Yeah, we're fine," Xander reassured them. "Just fine. We just needed 
some, um, some fresh air. And good company. Not that Giles isn't good 
company. Because he is." He noticed his friends exchanging a look, and tried 
to calm down, stop babbling. "So, here we are. How are you beautiful ladies 
doing?"

"We're fine," Willow said, moving over to allow him to sit with Melanie. She 
immediately picked up her and began cooing to her. 

"I'm moving out," Buffy told him. 

He looked at her in shock. "You're what?"

"Moving in with Spike," she explained, ignoring his look of annoyance. 
"Willow's thinking about looking for a roommate."

Xander's jaw dropped. This was almost perfect. He really wanted a new place 
to stay now, and Willow had one. "What about me?"

Both women turned to look at him in surprise. "What?" Buffy asked as Willow 
wondered, "Why?"

"Giles is great, really," he hastened to explain. "I just feel that he 
probably needs his. . .privacy a little more than we can help him with. So 
this might be a good idea."

"I think it would be great," Buffy agreed quickly. She knew a good thing when 
she saw one-this could be exactly what the two needed. "This way, you're not 
all alone at night, Will, and we don't have to worry about what possible evil 
a new roommate could be behind. And you know you'd love to have Melanie 
around more. What else could be more perfect?"

They turned to look at Willow, who had a deer in the headlight expression on 
her face. "Um, sure," she finally agreed. "That would be great." Inwardly she 
was panicking. She knew that she was in love with Xander, and that he didn't 
feel the same way. She had no clue how she was going to survive this. Why was 
Buffy doing this to her?

Xander smiled down at Melanie. "Did ya hear that, babe? We get to live with 
Auntie Willow. How cool is that, huh?" He made a face at her, and she batted 
at him, a huge smile on her face. "See, look. Even Melanie likes this 
arrangement. So, when do we get to move in?"

Willow and Xander looked at Buffy. "Next week sound good? Give us both time 
to get packed, and for me to convince Spike that mirrors really are a good 
thing."

Xander beamed at her. "Sounds great. Doesn't it sound great, Will?"

"Uh, yeah," she said, slightly disconcerted. "It's great. I can't wait."

~*~
End part four