The Author Wishes To Thank:
  Serendipity (for reading and posting this! You rock, girlfriend!)
  Doug and David (for proof reading with a fine tooth comb. Any mistakes, blame
  them!!)
  Max (for listening to me ramble as I try to figure stuff out)
  Brian (For also listening to me ramble)

 “Do you think we’re talking too loudly? I wouldn’t want to wake her.”
 
Xander looked up at Matt. They had been talking ever since they had gotten into the limo. Matt seemed to be a rather great guy. It turns out that he and Mindy were not just friends, but he was head over heels for her too.

 “Nah. Short of a screaming contest, nothing will wake Willow up once she’s asleep,” Xander replied smiling at Matt.
 
Matt smiled at Xander, looking at the way he wrapped his other arm around Willow so she was held protectively in his embrace. “How did you two meet?” Matt asked curiously.
 
“Oh, we’ve been friends for as long as I can remember. I think even my very first memories include Will.”
 
“And how did the two of you get together?”

 Xander looked up at him, mildly surprised. “Oh, we’re not together. I mean, we’re just friends.”

 “Oh,” Matt replied confused. “I’m sorry, I guess I just assumed since Mindy invited you to the Master’s together that you were a couple.”
 
“Why would you assume that?”

 “It’s just that almost everything at the Master’s is geared towards couples. You know how some resorts are family getaways? Well, the Master’s really is more of a couples retreat than anything else. But I guess since the two of you are best friends it won’t effect you. If you were going alone, you’d probably be bored out of your skull.” Matt chuckled to himself.
 
Xander gave him a little half smile, wondering exactly what he and Willow had gotten themselves into.
 
Matt noticed the disturbed look on Xander’s face and felt the need to offer reassurance. “Don’t worry about it. I’d never really thought about it before, but the Master’s would be a great vacation for friends, especially if those friends had been growing apart,”  Matt looked at Xander knowingly.

“It’s a wonderful way to renew a friendship.” Matt smiled at him and then sat back in his seat.
 
<Maybe that’s why Mindy arranged this. Is it that obvious that Willow and I are growing apart?> He tighten his arms around her. Maybe this vacation was just what they needed. The limo turned around another corner and Xander gasped when he looked out the window. Sitting on top of a hill just in the distance was the most glorious structure he’d ever laid eyes on. The building was seven stories high with a main building and two wings that were the same size as the main section. It looked like one of those old English mansions that he had always seen in tour books, only grander.
 
“Is that it?” Xander asked in awe.
 
Matt was grinning from ear to ear. “That’s it.”

 “Whoa,”  Xander, not being a man of many words, said in response.

 “The pool, tennis courts and golf course is behind it. And do you see that building over there?” Matt asked pointing.

 “Yes.”
 
“That’s the stables.”

 Xander just sat there in shock. The stables were probably three times the size of his house. “This place is awesome.”
 
“Wait until you see the inside.”
 
Xander woke Willow up as they got closer.

 “Where am I?” she asked groggily.

 “Right outside of the Masters. You fell asleep on the plane, and we didn’t have the heart to wake you.”
 
The limo pulled to a stop as Xander finished what he was saying. Willow rubbed her eyes and stepped out of the limo door that had been opened for her.
 
“Wow” she mouthed. “This place is amazing,” she added staring at the hotel before her.

 Xander and Matt followed her out of the limo and she was about to turn around to ask Matt something when she heard a shout.

 “Matt!!!” They all turned towards the sound and saw Mindy running towards them. Matt took a few steps towards her and then caught her as she jumped into his arms. They hugged fiercely and then kissed one another.

 “Hey you two!” was the next thing they heard. Mindy came rushing over to hug the two of them.
 
“So what do you think of my hotel? Did you have a nice trip? Tell me as we walk, I want you two to get all settled in so we can have dinner together.” Willow, Xander, and Matt all smiled as Mindy rushed them into the hotel, mouth going a mile a minute with excited chatter.

 “So what do you think?” Xander and Willow were on their way up to their room, after being given an impromptu tour of the hotel. Mindy had been so excited by their arrival that she had forgotten about a staff meeting she was supposed to attend. It had been an hour and a half since they had gotten to the hotel and they were supposed to meet for dinner in two hours.

 “This place is like something out of a fairy tale,” Willow responded to Xander question. “I can’t wait to see what our room will look like.”
 
“Are you sure you’re OK with us sharing a room, Willow?”
 
“Well it’s not like we have much choice. The hotel is booked, and I don’t want to force Mindy to share her room with me instead of Matt. She’s already doing enough by letting us come here. She shouldn’t have to sacrifice her room too.” Willow looked up at him with a little smile. “Besides,” she added. “If we didn’t share a room, your butt wouldn’t get out of bed till noon everyday and I don’t intend to let you sleep this vacation away.”

 “What are you thinking of as a wake up time?” he asked suspiciously.

 “I was thinking nine would be good.”
 
“Nine in the morning? Will, this is a vacation,” he whined.
 
“Well, I’ll get up at nine and take my shower. That’ll give you till nine-thirty to sleep. Any later than that and we’ll miss breakfast.”
 
“Fine. Nine-thirty, but only because of the breakfast thing.” Xander grudgingly agreed.
 
Willow just rolled her eyes at him as the elevator stopped on their floor. The two walked out of the elevator and down the corridor. Their room was the last one on the right of the corridor. Willow walked up to the door and put in her key. She walked into the room and gasped in awe.
 
“Wow! This room is beautiful!” she walked directly to the balcony and opened the double french doors. They had a view of the river that flowed behind the hotel and the gardens that they had toured earlier. It was magnificent. Willow turned around and walked back into the room. There was a large, open fireplace, that allowed one to see into the bedroom, built into the wall that separated the two rooms, as well as a little kitchenette when one first walked in.
 
“Isn’t this perfect?” she asked, looking for Xander.

 “Yeah, perfect. One problem,” Willow frowned walking towards the sound of Xander’s voice. She walked down the little hallway to her left and found Xander standing in the middle of the bedroom right next to an oversized king bed. “It’s a couples hotel. That means one bed for the two of us,” Xander said plopping down onto the bed.
 
“It doesn’t have to be a problem. We’re both adults, and it’s a huge bed. You get one side and I get the other. It’s not like we’ll be spending all our time here, and what does it matter if we’re asleep?” Willow asked trying to convince him and herself that what she was saying made complete sense.
 
“Right. Not a big deal. Sure the last time we shared a bed we were five, but that doesn’t mean anything. It won’t be a problem.” Xander nodded. Willow put her suitcase on the bed and opened it up to unpack. Xander just laid there, peeking into her bag. Willow began taking out her clothes and putting them into the bureau.
 
“Are you just going to lay there and watch or are you going to unpack?” she asked looking down at Xander.
 
“I’m thinking I’m going to lay here for a while.”
 
Willow smiled and picked up her travel bag. She went into the bathroom to unpack all of her make-up and toiletries. When she walked back into the bedroom Xander was going through her clothes. He lifted up a pair of black lace g-string underwear. He looked up at her, eyebrows up in question. She walked over and yanked them away from him.

 “They were a gift,” she muttered.
 
“From Oz?” he asked gruffly.
 
“No,” she replied, taken back by his tone of voice. “They were a gag gift from Buffy.”
 
Xander looked at her in disbelief. “Then why did you bring them?”
 
Willow blushed deeply, the red of her face matching her hair. “I forgot to do laundry once and I ended up having to wear them, and they were really comfortable. So I switched from my old uncomfortable underwear to that kind and I can’t believe I’m telling you this,” she blushed even redder as she went to put her underwear into a dresser drawer.

 “So you’re saying all of your underwear are G-string now?” Xander asked incredulously.
 
“I’m not gonna answer that,” Willow replied as she continued to put her clothes away.

 “You might as well tell me Will, cause if you don’t I’ll just go through your clothes some other time this week. Course that could be fun, so maybe it’s best if you don’t...”

 “All right, fine! If you promise not to go through my clothes,” she held out her little finger for him to pinkie swear with. He locked his finger with hers. “Yes, Xander, all my underwear are t-back. Are you happy now?”
 
“Immensely,” he said smiling smugly.

 “No more questions?”
 
“Just one.”

 “What?” Willow asked almost afraid to hear.
 
“What about your swimsuit?” Xander laughed as he rolled off the bed and out of the reach of her swinging arms.
 
 Willow walked into the bathroom to get ready for bed. It was late, just after midnight, and she was exhausted. Dinner had ended up taking a couple hours, they had all been having so much fun joking and laughing with each other that none of the four had wanted it to end. They ending up stalling with dessert and coffee, while each one shared stories about the other. Xander chose to embarrass Willow by retelling the events which had lead to her fear of frogs. Willow had flushed bright red, until Matt decided to reveal Mindy’s unfortunate experience with the hotel’s diving board and a bikini. From then on it almost became a contest to see who could out do the others. After dinner was over they had all taken a walk down by the river’s edge. It was just what the group needed to calm them down. They had all been way too hyper to go to bed before that.
 
Now Willow stood in the bathroom looking at the nightgown Mindy had sent up for her. She realized while unpacking that she had forgotten hers and Mindy assured her it wouldn’t be a problem. She had called the front desk and asked them to send up a nightgown in Willow’s size, and neither had thought about it again. Until now. Willow stared at the little pink nightgown. There was no way she was going to wear this, especially not in front of Xander. The top half was made out of lace and the bottom was a flimsy material that she couldn’t identify. The entire thing was see through. She sighed as she took the hanger down. <It is really pretty. Too bad I can never wear it.>
 
“Hey Will,” Xander called, knocking on the door. Willow jumped, startled.
 
“Yeah,” she replied clearing her throat. She opened the door, “What’s up?”

 “Aren’t you supposed to be getting ready for bed?”
 
Willow sighed, “One problem.” She held up the nightgown for him.
 
Xander looked at the nightgown and then back to Willow. “So, what would be the problem?” he asked innocently.
 
“Xander, you know there’s no way on earth I’ll ever wear this. Look at it.” She held it up between the two of them and waved to him to emphasize it’s sheerness.
 
“All right I get the point. Tell you what, you can sleep in the top half of my pajamas if you want. As long as I’m wearing the pants, we should be able to share. It’ll cover a whole lot more than that would. Of course if you change your mind, I did bring the camera....”
 Willow laughed at him. “What kind of pajamas are we talking about?”

 “Oh, they were a Christmas present from my grandparents,” Xander said as he walked into the other room and retrieved the top half of his sleep wear. He came back and handed it to her. Willow was almost afraid to look. She unfolded the shirt and looked down at it.
 
“Wow, Xander. This is really nice,” she said in amazement. It was dark blue with long sleeves and little covered buttons down the front. Willow was almost positive that it was silk and the letters ALH were embroidered on the top left hand side.

 “Yeah, y’know Grams, always complaining that I dress like a slob. Apparently she thought I slept like one too,” Xander said with a shrug. “Can I get in here to brush my teeth?”

 Willow stepped aside and decided she’d brush her teeth too. <No sense in us taking turns doing that. Just wastes more time.> The two brushed their teeth and washed their faces. Xander then left so Willow could change.

 “I’m going to make a fire,” he told her as he left the bathroom.
 
“Isn’t it a little warm to have a fire?”

 “How often do we get to have a fireplace? Besides, I like the way it smells. I’ll turn up the air so it won’t be too hot,” Xander replied as he happily went to embrace his pyromaniacal instincts. Willow silently said a little prayer in hope that Xander wouldn’t burn the hotel down around them. She shut the bathroom door and took off her clothes, putting on the silk pajama top. She finished buttoning it when she realized it was obviously made for a man. Besides the fact that it hung down almost to her knees, not to mention completely engulfing most of her hands, the first button was right between her breasts, showing off more cleavage than Willow was comfortable with. She looked at the other nightgown. <No, that’s more cleavage than I’m comfortable with.> She picked up her brush and quickly brushed through her hair. The impromptu nightgown slid across her bare skin as she moved. <Yep, definitely silk.> She put her brush down and opened the door, turning off the bathroom light as she left.
 
Xander was kneeling by the fireplace as she walked into the room. The fire was roaring brightly as she watched Xander set up the fire gate to assure no embers would accidentally fly out and torch the place. He turned around and Willow just stared for a second. For some reason it hadn’t connected in her brain that if she was wearing the top half of his pajamas he would not be wearing anything other than the pants. Her eyes drifted across his broad chest and down to his waist where he was wearing the pants slung low on his hips. With the firelight dancing across his body, he looked amazing. She felt her breath catch and her face warmed with a slight blush.

 Xander stood in front of the fire looking at Willow. She was standing there in nothing but his shirt. He could see the swell of her breasts through the neck line. Her chest was lifting with each breath and her cheeks were flushed. His mind involuntarily decided to remind him of the last time he had seen her in nothing but a shirt. It was during the whole love spell fiasco. She had told him she wanted him to be her first. She had basically thrown herself at him, kissing his neck and nibbling his ear. <Stop that! Don’t think about it. You still have to share a bed with her and those aren’t the things you need to be thinking about right beforehand> He shook himself mentally. He reached over and turned out the light and then walked over to the bed that Willow was already getting into.
 Willow lifted the covers and quickly slid into bed, sliding over as close to the edge as she could. She felt the bed dip as Xander climbed in beside her.
 
“So,” she heard him say hesitantly. “How’d we do this when we were five?”
 
Willow rolled onto her side so she was facing him. “I think we just said goodnight and fell asleep.”
 
“Goodnight, Will,” he replied.

 “Goodnight Xander.” Willow closed her eyes and tried to relax so she could sleep. Xander just laid there watching her. She looked so peaceful and innocent in the firelight. He was lucky to have her as a best friend. No one else would put up with everything that she had over the years. No one else knew him better than she did. He reached over and took her hand in his. She opened her eyes, eyebrows crinkling in confusion.

 “Thank you for putting up with me. Your the best friend I could ever have,” his hand tightened briefly around hers. “You’re my Willow.” She smiled at him and shifted her hand so that their fingers interlocked. She squeezed his hand gently and then closed her eyes.
 
They slept that way all night long.