“Hi, Xander,” I reply shyly. I look from his beautiful face to the interior of his house. He gets the message and holds the door wider.

“Why don’t you come in?” he invites, gesturing inside. I follow him in and hesitantly sit down on one of the well-worn couches.

“Xander, I have something to say to you,” I begin, taking a deep breath as I do. He looks at me expectantly. “I was extremely hurt when I found out about you and Faith. Besides not understanding why you would do something like sleep with her, I was upset that you didn’t feel you could tell me. I know that we haven’t been very close since our little. . . indiscretions, but I wish you would have told me. We’ve never kept anything big like that from each other, and I’m angry that you started now.”

“I didn’t want to hurt you, Will,” he responds. “I didn’t mean to tell you like that. But they kept pushing about why I felt like Faith might listen to me. There was no way I could lie. I don’t know if you’ll believe me, ever, but I never wanted to sleep with her. Things just kind of happened, and before I knew it, she was tossing me down on the bed-”

“Xander, stop it!” I yell tearfully. I can’t hold back the tears as he describes how he betrayed me. “I don’t want to hear how she seduced you. I can forgive you for doing it. I can’t stay mad at you. But I also won’t let you hurt me anymore with it.”

“Okay, I can understand that,” he concedes. He looks deep into my eyes and takes my hand. “Willow, can you forgive me enough to not let her stand between us?”

“Xander, here’s the other thing. I broke up with Oz tonight,” I admit quietly. I look up at him and I see the joy written all over his face. “I don’t love him more than you. I hate myself for hurting him again, so soon after I cheated on him, but I can’t stay with him when I know that it’s you I love.”

“Willow,” Xander breathes, grabbing me up in a hug. He presses his face into my shoulder and I feel the tears soak my sweater. “God, I never thought that you’d give me a chance. I love you so much. I need you so much.”

The tears fall silently down my face to land on his silky hair. “Xander, you broke my heart so many times. I never could tell why I still continued to love you. I thought things would be perfect when Oz asked me out; I thought I could move on and forget all about you. I was wrong. I never stopped loving you, and I was only fooling myself if I thought that I could ignore that love. Buffy and I had a talk earlier, and she flat-out told me that I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn’t run to you with my arms wide open. The last thing she told me before she left was that I should hurt the one that I could forgive myself for hurting. I knew that I would never forgive myself if I turned you down, but I realized that I could live with rejecting Oz. As much as I care about him, the idea of him moving on and finding someone else didn’t hurt near as much as the thought of turning you away to find comfort in the arms of some other girl. So, I’m here. I’m telling you that I love you and can’t stay away from you. I’m telling you you’ve won.”

I have rarely seen Xander cry. The day he broke his arm after he fell off the swingset when we were five, the day he found out his parents were getting divorced, and the night Jesse died about sums up those infrequent occurrences. However, when I raise my head to focus on his face, I see them again. His eyes are closed as if in prayer and the tears run like rivers. I hold my arms out to him and he falls into them. I hold him and rock him, as he has done for me many times before, soothing him and assuring him that I will never abandon him.

“Willow, you will never be able to understand how grateful I am that you didn’t push me away tonight,” he whispers. He holds his head up and gazes at me with adoration and love prominent in his eyes. His hand reaches up hesitantly and he caresses my face, reverently, worshipfully. “I’ll spend every day of my life thankful that you came back to me.”

“And I’ll spend every day of mine in love with the tall, dark-haired, goofy guy that I’ve loved for ten years,” I promise, my love for him making my eyes shine and my voice catch.

Xander’s hand drops down, and he puts it on my waist, then draws me closer to him. My breathing nearly stops as his head swiftly swoops down to capture my lips in the sweetest kiss imaginable. Even the clandestine embraces that we snuck can’t compare to the beauty of what’s happening now. Those stolen moments were filled with a tense passion, as if we expected to get caught at any time, and like it was the thrill of being naughty that fused us together. The kiss that makes my head reel right now is gentle, loving, and tender. It’s the kiss that promises us a future together.

“Willow. . .” he murmurs against my lips. “I’m going to make sure that you never regret your life with me.”

“How could I?” I ask adoringly. “I don’t regret a single moment of our life together so far, and there’s a lot more to resent about your past actions than there will be your future.”

“You’re perfect,” he whispers. “So beautiful, angelic, forgiving. How did I get so lucky as to have you, and your love?”

“Someone likes you,” I tease softly. “And I’m pretty sure she has red hair and the initials W.R.”

“Someday, those initials are going to be W.H.,” he vows. “I won’t ask you now, because we have so much ahead of us, but I want you to marry me, Willow. I won’t be able to live if I’m not your husband.”

“And I won’t be able to live if I’m not your wife,” I reply lovingly. I nestle my head against his chest and bask in the love that’s raining down over me. Our life together won’t be perfect, but I don’t care. I have him, and that’s all I need. For once, I’m doing what I want. And I’m happy.