Title: What? No Welcome Party? 2/?
Author: Beth Squires
E-mail: BethNirvanaChiWilliams@E-squires.freeserve.co.uk

'What?'
Buffy looked panicked as she spun round to face Oz.

'You said you had some good news earlier, I'm just curious to know what it is...'

Buffy regained her composure, and coyly turned back to face the sink; 'Well, you'll just have to wait and see, Daniel Osbourne.'

Oz, still curious, retreated back into the bathroom, realising that he wouldn't get any more out of the Slayer until she wanted him to.

****************************************

'....so, Spike's ok now?'

Buffy walked through the park, with Oz trying to get his head around all the new information that was being introduced to him.

'Yeah, well, as ok as Spike can be.'
'Right.'

*awwww* Buffy thought *Oz looks so cute when he's confused.... STOP IT... I wonder if he'd let me hold his hand....?*
Buffy slipped her arm through his and led him to a small bar at the edge of the park.
'Let me buy you a drink, ok, Oz?'

Oz followed her with his gaze as she walked up to the bar.
*What's the good news that she wants to tell me? Was it the Spike thing? No...she would have made more of a big deal out of it. Is she back with Angel? No....there were definite reasons why that did NOT work out... come on Oz...*

Buffy glanced round, seeing Oz standing exactly where she had left him, still looking puzzled.

'Oz? OZ?'
'Huh, uh, yeah Buffy?'
'Did you, maybe, want to get us a table?'
*Asshole* Oz thought to himself.
'Yeah, table, right.'

**********************************

Buffy walked over with the drinks in her hands.
*Beer, foamy, nice...NO...Beer, bad!*
She shook her head.
*Where the hell did that come from?*

'So, Buffy,' Oz said taking a sip of his beer, 'What's this news of the good, that you were wanting to tell me?'

'Well, it's not that it's good news, just not bad news, I mean, it's mediocre news, not good, not bad....'

'Okaaaaay,'
*Whoa, she sounded like Willow then, babbling and all, she's cute... What?*

'Oz? I said, do you really want to know?'
He nodded his head.
'Ok, promise that you won't judge me.'
He raised one eyebrow.
'Ok, I guess that means you won't.'

*Why has he gone all laconic all of a sudden, does he know? ...no of course he doesn't... but he will.*

'Oz, when you did whatever you did with Veruca, I thought.... well I didn't know what to think, and I sort of threw myself into looking after Willow and sorting her out...'

Oz nodded, looking stern at the mention of Veruca.

'...well, once Willow felt a little better, I thought about you..... a lot....'

*Where is this leading? If she wanted to tell me she hated me, she could have just said it back at the house, it *has* to be something deeper...*

'... and I realised that I still liked you, I know that you know what you did was wrong, and you were deeply sorry; leaving Willow was one of the hardest things you ever had to do; yeah?'

'Yes, you know it was, look..' he said glancing at his watch '...where is all this leading Buff?'

*Ok, the time is now.*
'I like you Oz, in fact I think I love you... but I couldn't say all this before because I didn't know, and I had to see you to be sure.... Oz? I've kinda laid my feelings on the line here... it's up to you now.'

Buffy sat staring at him, but his eyes didn't betray what was going on inside his brilliant mind. How would he react?

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