Oz wandered over to the table as Spike left to get some drinks. Dingos Ate My Baby had finished for the night, and the next band, a group called "Groove Juice Special," had taken the stage. "Hey," he greeted everyone.

Xander and Willow were still giggling at Spike's retreating form. Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Poor Spike," she muttered, then smiled at her friend. "Hey Oz. The band sounds great tonight."

"Thanks," he acknowledged, sitting next to Willow in Spike's abandoned chair. "Why are we feeling sorry for Spike?" he asked.

Cordelia gestured towards the giggling duo. "Because *these* are his friends."

Oz smiled. "Ahhh, I see your point. The poor guy." He looked at Xander and Willow. "That was my sarcastic voice," he explained.

Xander opened his mouth to speak, but Cordelia cut him off. "We know. It sounds a lot like his regular voice. We've been through this before, doofus."

He clutched at his chest. "Oh, Cordy, you wound me with your insults."

She giggled. "That's funny, you don't look wounded," she teased him.

Xander smiled, then grabbed her hand. "Come on beautiful, let's boogie," he said, pulling her towards the dance floor.

"Xander, I don't boogie," Cordelia protested. He continued to tug on her hand, and she sighed in defeat, making a face at him as they left Willow and Oz behind at the table. "Ok, fine. But just one boogie."

Spike watched from across the room as Xander pulled Cordelia on to the dance floor, leaving Willow and Oz alone at the table. Willow laughed at something Oz said, and Spike was surprised to feel a twinge of jealousy. He moved back over to the table before he had a chance to overanalyze himself.

Oz and Willow were enjoying a comfortable silence when he got to the table, and again he felt that little bit of jealousy at their close friendship. "Care to dance again, luv?" he asked Willow. She nodded, then stood and took his hand.

Spike must have jumped at the contact, because Willow gave him a puzzled look. "What's wrong?" the redhead asked.

He shook his head. "Nothing," he assured her, trying to ignore the barrage of feelings assaulting him because of the simple touch.

"Are you sure?" Willow asked him.

"Yes, luv," Spike said. "Now let's dance."

As they all got ready to leave that night, Spike remembered that Willow hadn't eaten all day. "Can I take you to dinner?" he asked her as he held the door for her.

Willow smiled and shook her head. "Cordelia's coming home with me, and Buffy's coming over later. We'll pick something up on the way home," she promised, touched that he had even thought about it.

"Well, can I at least make you dinner tomorrow night?" Spike persisted.

"Alright, it's a date," she consented, then blushed. "I mean...not a date...well, no...it's...dinner.." the redhead stammered.

Spike just chuckled. "I'll call you tomorrow, Red," he promised, then walked away, disappearing into the night.

Once Spike was gone, the rest of the group dispersed as well. Oz gave Xander a ride home, and Willow and Cordelia went to get Cordelia's car from the school where she had left it. After she dropped the other girl off, Willow stopped at an all-night pizza place as she had promised, and picked up a large pizza with everything, then nibbled on the toppings while she finished the drive home.

Cordelia was on the phone in her car when Willow pulled into the driveway. "Where are your parents?" she asked as she got out of the car and walked to the door with Willow.

"They're researching unemployed giants in Greenland," Willow explained. "They'll be out of town until the beginning of September."

"You mean you have the whole house to yourself?" Cordelia asked.

Willow nodded, balancing the pizza on one hand as she unlocked the front door and led them into the kitchen.

Cordelia shook her head in amazement. "I can't believe you've got all this and no parents, and you're not having wild sex and parties every night."

Willow thought about that for a minute as she put the pizza down and got some drinks from the refrigerator. Then she turned back to her friend. "Cordelia, this is Sunnydale. With my luck, evil goats would kill all my party-goers, and nine months later I would give birth to Satan's spawn. Neither one is high on my 'To Do' list."

Cordelia nodded. "Good point. Ok, so since you've nixed that idea, why don't we go into the living room, get comfortable with this pizza, and you can tell me all about what's going on between you and Spike while we're waiting for Buffy to show up."

"I swear, Cordy, there's nothing going on between me and Spike," Willow said, taking her fourth slice of pizza. She'd been saying the same thing for twenty minutes, but it didn't seem to be sinking in.

"Yeah, but have you seen the way he looks at you?" Cordelia asked. "And I thought he was going to kill someone after you danced with Xander tonight."

"He was jealous?" Willow asked, a small smile beginning to form.

Cordelia saw the smile and knew some of what she was saying was getting through. "Totally," she assured the other girl.

"Who's jealous?" Buffy asked, letting herself in the front door. "Sorry it took so long. Mom has the car, so I had to walk over." She sat down next to Willow and picked up a piece of pizza. "Hey, wait a minute," Buffy said, looking at her food. "I though you said this was 'everything' pizza...where are the olives?"

"Willow picked them all off on her way home," Cordelia informed her.

Buffy glared at Willow, who rolled her eyes and walked into the kitchen. "So who's jealous?" the Slayer asked Cordelia.

"Spike. Willow was dancing with Xander tonight," the other girl explained.

"Oh, ok," Buffy said. "You know that he totally likes you, don't you, Will?" she called, loud enough for Willow to hear her in the kitchen.

"We're just friends," Willow insisted, coming back into the room and handing Buffy a bowl of olives. "Here ya go. Anything else you'd like?" she asked sarcastically.

"Pineapple?" came the hopeful reply.

"Get it yourself, lazybones. You know where it is," Willow retorted.

Buffy pulled herself up and walked towards the kitchen. "No tip for you tonight," she grumbled.

Spike went straight home after leaving Willow at the Bronze. First, he grabbed a bag of blood out of the refrigerator and threw it into the microwave to warm up. Biting Willow the night before had been the first fresh blood he'd had since he'd returned to Sunnydale. Of course, it wasn't something he advertized. It would ruin what little of a bad reputation he had left.

While the blood was warming, he went to one of his many book shelves and picked out a few cookbooks to plan his dinner with Willow the next night, bypassing the Martha Stewart section. Angel had gotten those books for Spike as a gag gift, after seeing the impressive cookbook collection the last time he visited.

He heard the ding of the microwave from the kitchen and took his books in to the table, then went and poured the blood into his favorite mug.

A little while later, the mug was drained and Spike had chosen a menu for the next night. He made a list of the ingredients he would need, and after going through his cupboards, he decided he needed to go grocery shopping. Now.