“Because I love you more,” she replied simply. She took his hand. “Yes, Oz, I love Xander. It’s not something I can help. He’ll always be in my mind and in my heart. But I love you more and it’s *you* who I’m looking forward to spending my future with. Not Xander. Xander is my past, he’s my first love and my best friend, and he’s part of the Willow who didn’t know you.”

Oz shook his head, pulling his hand away from her. “Willow, I can’t handle being with you and knowing that you’re watching him. I can’t handle knowing that you have all those ‘what-ifs’ in your mind, ‘What if I hadn’t picked Oz?’ or ‘What if Xander told me he loved me, who would I choose?’ Will, I need some more assurances than that.”

“Oz, I don’t know what kind of assurances I can give you, because you won’t accept the ones that I do!” Willow cried, frustrated. “You have to trust that I mean what I say, and you can’t do that yet. Why not? Because I made a mistake? Because for once in my life I wasn’t the perfect little girl who would never do anything bad to anyone? Yes, I gave in to my feelings for Xander. I succumbed to the ‘what-ifs.’ But the flukes only served to strengthen my knowledge that you are the best person for me, that it’s you who I love with every breath in my body and not Xander. If you can’t trust me on that, that I no longer even *want* him, then I really think it’s over for us!” Willow burst into tears and ran from his house.

Oz sighed and sank down onto the couch. Willow was gone and it was his fault. He swore quietly and punched a pillow, a ghost of a smile appearing on his normally unemotional face. *Willow would be so proud,* he thought. *I actually displayed some emotion. Not a lot of good it’ll do me, though.* He sighed again and headed for his room upstairs. Oz turned on his radio and collapsed onto his bed, snuggling down into the nest of blankets, clothes, and sheet music. Normally he would have stayed up at least for another hour or two, practicing his guitar, but tonight he just wanted to get away from reality. His fight with Willow would have distracted him too much, anyway. He drifted off slowly, his mind occupied with thoughts of fiery red hair and an even fiery temper.

Oz woke up the next day well past noon. “Man, I haven’t done that since before my second senior year started!” he groaned aloud. He stretched and got out of bed, slipping on a pair of khakis and a New York City T-shirt. Humming the Dingoes’ latest tune to himself, he descended the stairs and went through the front door. He walked to the street and grabbed the mail, noticing a small brown package with no stamp or postmark. His name was on the front in small, delicate letters and he smiled broadly to himself. *That’s my Will,* he thought proudly. *Always a rebel. Now she’s even defying the Postal Service.* Oz turned around and went back inside, opening the package as he did so.

Inside was a cassette tape with no label, one of the kinds that you buy in packs of six in any store that sells electronics. There was a note wrapped around it and he quickly pulled it off. In Willow’s small, neat handwriting, it said, “For reassurances. I *do* love you, Oz. Maybe this will show you just how much.” Intrigued, he managed to find his old Walkman and slid the cassette tape in. A pretty melody began playing through the earphones and he recognized it as Terri Clark. Willow had once confessed that she was a closet country fan and this particular singer was one of her favorites. He’d heard the CD many times but never really listened to the words. He sat back and took the time to listen.

“Oz, I love you. This song, it was written for us. Look at the words. Tell me that there isn’t a single syllable in this song that isn’t about you and me. You took me when I was broken-hearted and unhappy and you made me feel loved. You saw who I was and you helped me to understand that I was capable of being loved. Oz, Xander is part of the tears. ‘We’ll conquer fears/Together we will grow.’ We will, Oz, if you’ll trust me. We can get past this problem with Xander and we can get stronger. I’m not going to leave you for him. I’m not going to betray you again. Xander is part of the past, Oz. ‘A lifetime just ain’t enough to love you true,’ but I want to try. Oz, please believe me. I love you.”

The voice faded away but the words still hung in the air. Oz, the most unemotional person alive, quietly wept with joy. When he had control of himself again, he picked up the telephone. The phone rang and rang, and finally a breathless female voice answered, “Hello?”

“I love you too, baby,” he said quietly, not even bothering to tell her who it was. She would know. “And I’m so glad I found you.”

Willow smiled on the other end. She quoted back softly, “ ‘And we’ll no longer have to be alone.’ ”