*Maybe Oz is coming back? Would that be good or bad, considering the way he just left her?* Xander liked Oz, and he was aware that it was more than a bit hypocritical to blame Oz for hurting Willow like that, considering all the pain he himself had caused her over the years, but he didn't care. Willow was his best friend. He loved her. And he wanted to protect her from any pain he could. Even if he couldn't always protect her from himself...

*Oh geez, now I'm just gonna depress myself again. Time to put on the Happy News Face before I knock. Think happy thoughts.* Luckily, he'd always had a sure-fire secret weapon for cheering himself up.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he delved into his memory, looking for a Willow-smile. He didn't have to go very far. He never did. He liked to think he had every single smile he'd ever seen on his best friend's face tucked away safely in his memory. That was almost certainly untrue, but he did have hundreds, thousands, to choose from. He wasn't exactly sure when he'd started deliberately memorizing her oh-so-frequent smiles, but he'd been doing it for a long, long time. Something that pretty deserves to be preserved, had always been his reasoning. Sometimes, those memories had been the only things with the power to keep him going. Through all the trouble at home, and especially when he thought he'd lost Willow to Oz and would never be her friend again. That hadn't happened, of course. Willow wouldn't let it. But his Willow-smiles had sustained him through the agony when he thought she might.

He was in a hurry this time, though, so he couldn't take too much time to reminisce. Instead, he quickly pulled out one of his favorites. Willow covered, absolutely caked, in mud. Weeds in her hair, left shoe lost never to be seen again. And a huge, absolutely beautiful grin plastered across her face as they both ran through the park, chasing each other. They'd been six or seven years old and out of sight of Willow's mom for no more than a minute. Plenty of time for the two of them to get into more mischief than most kids could've managed in an entire afternoon. Willow, of course, claimed he'd pushed her into the pond first, but Xander had always loudly proclaimed that he himself had been the victim of her cowardly attack, cast down into the muck and the mire by the treachery of his supposed friend. The truth was, he couldn't remember anymore who had pushed who first, and he suspected Willow couldn't either. But he knew both of them would go to their graves claiming the other one had started it. Which was fine. That was just the way it was done, after all.

*Just because she's a double-crossing treacherous pond-pusher-inner doesn't mean I'm going to stop being her friend. Of course, I've kept one eye on her every time we've been near a large body of water ever since then. Better safe than sorry...* Basking a few more moments in the memory, Xander felt ready to face whatever news Willow had to tell him.

With all negative thoughts banished from his head and a happy grin on his face, Xander opened his eyes and knocked on Willow's door. She opened it almost immediately and smiled widely when she saw it was him. *There's a keeper right there.* He hugged her close, then drew back so he could keep his eyes on her face as he held her, giving himself time to make sure he'd remember her smile. He always made a special effort for the smiles he himself brought to her face.

"Xander! Quit it! Take a picture, it'll last longer." Her eyes assured him she wasn't really annoyed, of course, but he still blushed at her teasing. *Never should have told her. But I'm glad she knows.* Her eyes told him she knew that, too, and she just hugged him even tighter and giggled.

He laughed at her enthusiasm as she drew him into her room and closed the door. She was almost bursting with excitement, and the last vestiges of his fear disappeared utterly when he realized that whatever she had to tell him, there was simply no way it could be bad. She was far too happy for that, thank God. He hadn't seen her this happy since before Oz left.

*Maybe he really is coming back,* Xander thought, as he settled onto Willow's bed and pulled her down to sit next to him. *If he is and he's what's making her this giddy, all is forgiven. No way can I be mad at anyone who can make her feel like this.*

Aloud, he said, "So what's up? All Buffy and the mutt would say is that you had some good news to tell me. From that big ol' Willow-smile, I'd say it's better than good." Her grin got even wider, which he would have sworn was physically impossible. "So what is it?" he asked.

Willow's smile faltered a little, and she stood up and walked over to lean out the open window. She seemed tense now, but Xander couldn't understand why. Fear started to worm its way into his mind again, the way it always did when Willow was upset about something. "Will? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," she sighed. "At least, I hope nothing's wrong. Where are the guys? Is Tara with them?"

"They said they were gonna wait underneath the big oak tree. And yeah, Tara was with them when I came up here. Anya, too. And don't change the subject."

"I'm not changing the subject. I see them now." She waved out the window and apparently got a response, because she was smiling again when she turned back to him. But it wasn't the same smile she'd had earlier. It seemed to Xander that she was still happy, but half-expecting to not be happy for long. He began to get frightened again. Not as much as he had been earlier, but too damned much for comfort.

"Willow, please tell me what the hell is going on. You're scaring me." He tried to keep his voice light, let her think he was kidding, but he knew at least some of the fear came through in his voice.

Willow heard it, of course. She knew him too well for him to fool under any circumstances. Her best care-and-concern expression took over her face. She rushed over to the bed and sat down right next to him, taking his right hand in both of hers. "There's nothing to be scared of, Xander. I promise. It's just that I'm worried the good news I've got might not seem so good to some people." She looked directly into his eyes as she went on, her voice barely a whisper. "Maybe not to you."

It took Xander a second to place the look in her eyes. Fear? Willow was afraid of him? Or of how he'd react? The very idea broke his heart, and he had trouble keeping the anguish out of his voice when he spoke. "Willow, there is not a single thing you could tell me that would change the way I feel about you. Not anything, no matter what." He took his hand from hers and pulled her into his arms. "And I can't think of any good news you might have that I won't be overjoyed to hear." He drew back to look in her eyes. "So spit it out, already!"

That was apparently the correct mix of tenderness and sarcasm, because Willow laughed and smiled again. "What do you think of Tara?" she asked. As she spoke, she pulled herself from Xander's arms and scooted away a bit on the bed, but she kept hold of his hand.

Xander blinked a couple times at the seeming non-sequiter. "What do you mean? I think she's great. I mean, from what I've heard from you and Buffy she's great. I don't really know her all that well yet."

"Would you like to get to know her?" Willow was obviously nervous, but for the life of him, Xander couldn't figure out why.

"What's with all the emphasis on Tara? Are you trying to set us up? I've already got a girlfriend, Will, and..."

"So do I," Willow cut him off as he continued speaking, her voice small and hesitant.

"...I know you don't approve of Anya, but.... What did you say?" Xander looked at his best friend, trying to decipher what he'd just heard, and trying desperately to understand the fear that was back in her eyes. *hy is she afraid of me? What the hell did I do?!*

"Me and Tara. We're girlfriends. With the going out. And the holding hands. And the kissing. And the loving each other." She said it all in a rush, obviously desperate to get it out before she let her fear stop her, then immediately dropped her eyes to stare at the floor.

Xander just looked at her for a second. He blinked once. Twice.

"Oh." No inflection or tone at all in his voice.

"Oh!" Surprise and comprehension.

"Ohhhh..." Long, drawn out, actually seeing the implications of what she had just told him.

He looked at her. She kept her eyes on the floor. His Willow was unable to look him in the eye? He moved towards her on the bed, terrified that she would back away. She didn't. She collapsed into his arms, crushing him with more strength than should have existed in her small frame. Smiling, he brought his head down onto hers and inhaled the scent of her hair. *Willow-hair. Finestkind.* "Will, look at me. Please?"

Summoning her courage, Willow raised her face to meet Xander's gaze. Her lower lip was trembling, and unshed tears lurked within her eyes. She started to speak, but he put his finger to her lips.

"Uh-uh. It's my turn to talk now, okay?" She nodded shyly, smiling slightly when she saw his grin take over his face. "I love you, Willow," he went on. "You know that, but I don't say it often enough." He moved his hand away from her mouth and cupped her cheek. "I love you, and I trust you, and I think you and Tara are going to be great together. I think anyone you care about that much must be a wonderful person, and I really want to get to know her better now." He saw tears starting to well up in her beautiful eyes, but ignored them for the moment.

His voice trailed off as he thought, his eyes losing focus. Then he turned back to her and smiled again. "I was just about to say that who you go out with is none of my business anyway, but that's not true. It's not my decision, but you're my friend, so anything that makes you happy is my business. Do you think Tara can make you happy?"

Willow swallowed past the lump in her throat, but found she still couldn't speak. Tears falling from her eyes, she nodded frantically as her face burst into a smile. She hugged Xander fiercely and finally found her voice.

"Oh, yes! I think we can make each other happy. I know it." She brought her head to lay on his chest and sighed deeply as the weight of the world left her shoulders. "I love her, Xander. It just snuck up on me, y'know? She was just my best friend until last night. I don't understand how it could happen that fast."

Xander repositioned his arms to make her more comfortable in his grasp, then leaned down to kiss the top of her head before speaking. "Was it really that fast, Will?"

She laughed, as he knew she would. "No, of course not. It's been there for awhile now. I don't know how long. Longer for her than for me, I think. She says she knew she was interested from the beginning, but didn't know how to tell me. I think I was interested, too, though, but I didn't know how to tell myself. If that makes sense?" She turned her face up to his, and he nodded.

"It does. Of course it does."

She smiled again and brought her head back down to his chest. He lifted his hand up to stroke her hair gently. It soothed her, made her realize just how much he cared. How he was always there for her.

"Xander?"

"Mmm?" Without looking, she knew his eyes were closed and he had the smile on his face he always got when they were hugging each other. It was the same as hers.

"I think I owe you an apology."

"Why's that? What horrible thing have you done this time, you foul fiend?" He smiled at her giggle. *Might have to start keeping track of those, too.*

"I was worried about telling you this. A little because I didn't know how you'd react. Not much, though. When I thought about it, I knew you'd be okay. But I was still nervous, y'know?" She looked up at him to see as well as hear his answer.

"Of course. You don't have to apologize for that."

"I know. But that's not what I was really worried about. I was kinda worried that when I told you, you'd make a joke or something." She didn't look at him as she hurried on. "I mean, I know you wouldn't do it to be mean, but...."

"I understand, Will. And since that's generally how I react to shocking news, you don't have to apologize for that, either. Honestly, I might have said something stupid if I'd been able to talk at all. I swear, Will, you're the only person I know who can render me speechless."

Willow laughed into his chest before bringing her head up to look at him again. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"This, I do not know. I do know that the first thing I would have said if I could've spoken was 'So - you think you're kinda gay?'" He gave her his patented rakish grin, guaranteed to melt hearts and/or earn him a smack on the arm whenever he deployed it.

Willow hit him on the arm. Hard. As he winced and she grinned, she said "At least you didn't call me evil or skanky, I suppose."

"I was gonna work my way up to it," he told her. "And of course, I'm really looking forward to the return of that leather outfit." He presented his arm to be smacked again, and Willow did the honors. "I think I owe you an apology, actually," he said when she was done. "In advance. I'm going to make jokes about you and Tara. We both know that. To be fair, thought, you have to admit that it's your own fault."

Willow looked at him in astonishment. "And how exactly do you figure that?"

"Well, you're going out with her, right? When you go out with someone, I make jokes about it. That's the way it works. You don't want the jokes, don't go on the dates. Simple. Really, Rosenberg, a brain like you should have no problem with this concept."

He looked at her and was met by a glare. She held out her left hand. "Give me your arm." When he hesitated, the glare heated up a notch. "Give me your arm, Xander. When you say something like that, I hit you in the arm. That's the way it works. You don't want the hit, don't make the comments. Simple. Really, Harris, even a dummy like you should have no problem with this concept."

Xander sighed. He hated being hoist by his own petard. Pasting a resigned look suitable for a walk to the gallows on his face, he boldly thrust his arm into her hand, muttering under his breath. "'Tis a far, far better thing I do than I have ever..."

WHACK!

"Ow!"

Willow sat back, a smile on her face. "Very good. I wish I had a Scooby Snack for you. I think the Cliff Notes speech was a bit much, though."

"That was not from the Cliff Notes! I read that whole damned book, and you know it." Xander put on his best wounded puppy dog face. "If you're beginning to doubt the sanctity of the You Don't Know confessional, Will..."

Willow chuckled and moved over to lean against his arm. "Of course not. I know you read it, and I'm still very proud of you."

Xander did his best to appear unmollified, but the arm he put around Willow and the way he pulled her tight against him betrayed him. "Well, okay then." She smiled and shifted to rest her head on his shoulder.

They sat like that for a few minutes, content to just be together without speaking. Finally, Xander turned to look at her. "You said you figured it out last night?" She nodded without looking up. "So what was it that made you realize it?"

She didn't speak for a long time, but he didn't press her. Eventually, she shifted again and sighed. "I'm not even sure, really. Buffy, Tara and I were going to have that sleepover last night, remember?"

He nodded. "Sure. How could I forget? You and Buffy have been talking about it all week. GirlFest 2000. Which, by the way, is a dumb name, but don't tell Buffy I said so. It was a good idea, though. Even Giles thought so. He told me when we were patrolling last night. We didn't find a damned thing."

Willow chuckled at that. "Glad to hear it. Anyway, I guess it was around midnight when Robert showed up. He looked horrible. You know that Jill left him?" She turned to look at Xander as she spoke.

"Yeah. He told me this morning. Her loss." Xander tried to keep his voice light, but as always, Willow sensed the feelings underneath, the anger and sorrow for their friend. "I don't know all the details yet, but it sounds like it was pretty bad."

Willow nodded sadly. "Yeah. Did he seem okay when you talked to him?"

"I think so," Xander answered. "As well as could be expected, anyway. We're heading down to the bar tonight."

Willow's eyes were troubled. "Do you think he'll be okay with that? The drinking, I mean?"

Xander shrugged. "He says he needs one night to drink himself into oblivion over her, then she's like Alyssa - no drinking when he's thinking about her. I'll be there. I won't let him get too bad."

Willow hesitated. "Are you going to...?" She knew the answer, but she needed to hear him say it.

He shook his head forcefully. "Not a chance. I told him I won't drink, even for him, but he was fine with it. We're going to see if Giles wants to come along, so he can have a booze buddy. Even if Giles doesn't come, we'll do fine. I think he just needs someone there while he drinks, really."

Willow nodded absently. "Okay. Just be careful."

That brought a smile to Xander's face. "We will, I promise." Seeing that she was satisfied, he went on. "So, Robert came in at midnight?"

"Yeah. He looked terrible. I was so scared at first. I thought someone had died, y'know? But then he said she'd left him, and I understood."

"What happened then?"

Willow chuckled. "Buffy grabbed Tara and left Robert and me alone. He told me he'd come to talk to both of us, and you, too, but Buffy thought she wouldn't be able to help."

Xander smiled. "Yeah, she's never been one to realize how good she is to talk to."

"Yeah. We should talk to her about that, actually. But I think it worked out for the best this time. While I was talking to Robert, Buffy was talking to Tara. And it was talking to Robert that made me realize how I felt about Tara."

"How?"

Willow scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion. "I'm not sure, really. We were talking about love, and he kept talking about Jill and Alyssa. And then he started talking about Tara, asking questions and stuff. I figured it was just because they'd never met before, but he's heard me talk about her. And she helped me with those knives I gave you guys for Christmas, too. He thanked Tara for that before she and Buffy left. But I thought we were just talking, until he sort of smiled and looked at me and asked 'I guess you care a lot about her, huh?'" She turned to look up at Xander and her eyes were shining. "And it just hit me. Yeah, I care a lot about her. I love her." Her voice trailed off and her eyes focused on something off in the distance. "I love her."

Xander pulled her into a quick hug. "Feels weird?" He knew that wasn't it, but he wanted to get her talking some more.

She shook herself back from wherever she'd gone. "No, it's not weird. I thought it would be, but I guess it's been building up so long I got used to it without even noticing. That feels weird."

Xander laughed. "Yeah, I guess it would. So how about Tara? Did it hit her like that, too?"

Willow shook her head and smiled. "No. She told me she's been interested in me since before we even met. But she's so shy, she couldn't bring herself to say anything, especially since she knew I had just broken up with Oz."

"Yeah, I guess knowing you liked guys and had just come off a nasty split would tend to make her hesitate. So did you make the first move when you saw her this morning?"

"We both made the first move, kinda. Buffy and Tara talked about it last night, too."

Xander seemed surprised. "Oh yeah? She mentioned it to Buffy?"

"Nope, Buffy mentioned it to her. Scared her half to death, I guess."

That got a laugh out of Xander. "Yeah, I can see that. So Buffy saw it, but you didn't? I didn't either, dammit."

Willow leaned on his shoulder and put her arm around him. "Don't feel bad. You barely knew her. I've been spending all my time with her, and *I* didn't know until last night."

"Yeah, I guess." He didn't sound convinced.

"No 'I guess,' ya ninny. If I didn't know it, you couldn't have known it. Buffy, well, with Buffy I'm going with either Slayer-sense or the fact that she lives with me and isn't as dense as me." She paused, then continued. "You know, that was your cue to say 'Oh, Willow, you're not dense at all. Far from it.'"

Xander turned to her and smiled. "I know. Ow!" he yelled after she hit him in the arm again. "If you're done hurting me...?" he asked.

Willow nodded. "For the moment."

"Okay. So you both made the first move?"

She nodded again and smiled. "Kinda, yeah. When she came over this morning, she said she had something to tell me, and I said I had something to tell her, and she said go ahead, and I said go ahead, and she said no, you go ahead, and I just blurted it out, 'I love you.'" She giggled. "Not the most romantic moment ever."

"Oh, I gotta beg to disagree there. Sounds wonderful."

Willow's face lit up. "It was, especially when she told me she loves me, too."

"Good. So where do you go from here?"

Willow shrugged. "Not sure, actually. I'm thinking take it slow. We've got all the time in the world."

"Makes sense. Take the time to get it right."

She reached over and hugged him tight and just held on for a long time. "Thank you for being so cool about this, Xander." She looked up at him. "Not the me in love with a girl part, though that, too, I guess. I mean the me springing it on you so suddenly and not talking to you first part. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Will. Sounds like you sprung it on yourself pretty suddenly, too."

She squeezed him again. "Yeah, I did. But thank you for being such a good friend."

He squeezed her back before speaking. "No thanks necessary, Will. I love you, you know that."

"I do. And I love you, too."

"I know. And I also know you and Tara are going to be very happy together."

"I think so, too." She smiled and relaxed in his arms.

Xander looked down at Willow. She looked so peaceful. He knew it was time. "Will?" When she looked up at him, he smiled. "There's actually a few more things we have to get straight before I can give you and Tara the official Xander Harris Seal Of Approval."

She giggled before answering. "And I suppose I can't possibly go into a relationship without the Seal, right? I mean, what would the neighbors think?" He made a face at her, and she smiled. "Okay, what do we have to get straight?"

Xander did his best to put on a stern expression, but he knew he was failing miserably. "I just need to check Tara's credentials a bit. Now, you're sure she's not a werewolf?"

Willow laughed. "No, she's not a werewolf."

"And she's not a weird cyber-demon?"

She smacked him on the arm again. "No!"

He grinned as he rubbed his arm. "And she's not your supposed best friend who's been dumb as a post all these years and hasn't noticed you?"

Willow pasted an innocent look on her face and batted her eyelashes at him. "Xander, the average post would've noticed me *LONG* before you did." They both laughed, but she sobered quickly. "And you really are my best friend. Even if you have post-like moments. So, I assume Tara meets with your approval?"

She moved to hug him again, and Xander drew her into his arms. He waited until she relaxed and sighed one of her happy little Willow-sighs and he knew she was convinced all was right with the world. *Now!* "She meets with my approval, yes, but there is a little logistical matter we have to clear up before you two can move on with the relationship."

With an incredible effort, he kept his face under control as Willow looked up at him in confusion at his statement and the formal way he'd said it. "What logistical matter?"

He looked at her like she was forgetting something incredibly obvious. "Are you going to invite me over to watch you two in person, or will you just videotape it and bring the tapes over to me every morning?"

Heads all over the quad jerked up as the scream of horrified outrage tore across the campus. Only two members of the little group underneath the old oak tree seemed unsurprised.

Buffy made a show of checking her watch. "He lasted longer than I'd have expected, actually."

Robert chuckled at the perplexed looks on Anya's and Tara's faces, but before he or Buffy could explain, all their eyes were drawn to the window of Willow and Buffy's dorm room. Robert and Buffy laughed, and Anya and Tara gasped as Xander flew through the second story window as if he'd been shot out of a cannon. He hit the ground on his feet, but dropped and rolled before springing up and running towards them, a huge grin plastered across his face.

Willow's head appeared at the window. Her face was almost as red as her hair, and her arms waved furiously at Xander's retreating figure. "Alexander Lavelle Harris, you come back here and die like a man!!"

Her voice was most likely heard all the way across campus, but Xander ignored her as he made his way to the group under the tree. Willow screamed inarticulately and ducked back into the room.

Everyone was on their feet by the time Xander got to them, and everyone but Tara had some variation of tolerant amusement on their face. Tara looked uncertain, and a little afraid. She started to speak, but Xander stopped her. Taking her hands in his, he drew her around so she was facing away from the entrance to the dorm.

"It's okay, Tara. That one was between Will and me, not about you. I'm fine with all this. Better than fine. If even half of the great things Willow's said about you are true, you two are going to be wonderful together." Tara's face split into a timid smile, and Xander drew her into a gentle hug. "It's gonna be great having someone I can dish about Willow with. Me and Oz didn't really go for that kind of thing, y'know?" He pulled back to look at her eyes as her smile got even wider, and she nodded uncertainly.

Over her shoulder, Xander saw Willow burst out of the front dorm entrance, a yellow bat in her hands and murder in her eyes. She wasn't yelling, obviously conserving her energy to run faster.

Xander ignored her as best he could, and kept Tara facing away from her as he went on. "There's a whole lot I can't wait to tell you about her, but there are a few important things you should know right away." Willow was over halfway to the group now, so he hurried on, but timed his words with care. "For example, were you aware of her psychotic rages?"

As soon as he finished the last words, he turned and ran, the bat swishing through the space his body had just occupied. Willow didn't say a word as she brushed past the group to give chase. Xander, however, was whooping and laughing maniacally as he led her on a merry chase around the yard, letting her stay close but never quite letting her catch up to him.

Everyone in the quad was watching them now, most of them laughing and cheering one or the other on. The encouragement seemed to split along gender lines, which surprised no one. Buffy and Robert were laughing themselves silly. Anya was holding her head in her hands and muttering something about the man she loved being a complete and utter lunatic. Tara just watched the chase, amusement and bemusement warring for control of her face.

When Xander led Willow away from the quad towards the center of campus, trailing a throng of interested observers, Robert calmed down enough to turn to Buffy and speak. "Where'd she get the wiffleball bat? I didn't see it in your room last night."

Buffy wiped the tears from her eyes before responding. "Max down the hall, must've been. We play in the hallway sometimes, when studying gets too boring."

Robert nodded. "Makes sense to me. God forbid you should make the most out of your formative college years. Makes me glad I never went."

Buffy snorted and turned to Tara. "They'll be okay, if you're worried. They do this all the time." She paused. "Although I guess this is the first time Xander's ever made her mad enough that he had to jump out of a window to get away." She smiled. "But it's definitely not the first time she's chased him with a bat, so it's all right."

Tara opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before she managed to speak. "So they're always l-like this?" She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to hear the answer.

Buffy nodded happily. "Yep, they're always like this."

"You get used to it." The group turned to Anya. She had a resigned expression on her face. "I've decided to think of it as cute. Take my word for it, it's the only way to stay sane."

Tara still seemed uncertain, but she let a smile cross her face. "Okay. Cute it is."

Buffy laughed and drew her into a hug. "Welcome to the family."