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Willow arrived in Giles' courtyard about the same time Xander did. She gasped and rushed over to him, seeing that he was holding his side and grimacing in pain. "Xander!" she cried, rushing to him. She led him to the table and pushed him gently into the chair. "What happened?"

"Went home," he grimaced. He moaned in pain, closing his eyes to the tears that threatened to fall.

"That. . .bastard," Willow hissed.

"Yea, tell me about it. I snuck in to get my stuff, and he came down while I was packing. There was a fight, I didn't get my stuff." He looked down with a slight frown. "I actually hit back this time though." He glanced up at her through his lashes. "He's going to have a great shiner later."

Willow chuckled softly, then darkened. "He deserves more than a black eye."

"No," Xander said. "New life. No parents overshadowing me. Not thinking about that."

"Your ribs. . .do you think they are broken?"

"Naw," Xander said, brushing it off like he did so much in the past. "Probably just bruised."

Willow took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She put her hand on his ribs and chanted softly. Xander smiled as the pain disappeared. "Hey, that's a cool trick! Where have you been all year?"

Willow opened bleary eyes. "Around." She stood up, wincing at the pain in her side. She cried out, grabbing the table. "I. . .don't do it much."

Xander stood up, holding Willow's frail body. "Willow, what exactly did you do?"

She looked up at him, tears filling her eyes. "I took your pain, Xander."

He looked at her in horror, knowing she was hurting. He could hide his pain much better than she could. "No! Give it back!"

She shook her head. "Can't," she whispered before her system went into mild shock and she passed out.

Xander picked her up and went to Giles' door, knocking on it. After a moment, Giles opened it. "Xander! Wh. . .what happened to Willow?"

Xander glanced down at the innocent face of his best friend. < She wouldn't want him to know what she did for me. > "Ambushed. I think she will be ok, but she got kicked in the ribs. I think they are only bruised."

Giles ushered them inside. "Who did this?"

Xander looked up, biting back the response of "my father." "It was. . .a gang. A wild rabid gang who wanted money."

Giles blinked, surprised that Xander was using the town's excuse of explaining away the evil in the night. < Something's not right here. . . > "Xander, why aren't you hurt?"

Xander opened his mouth, then shut it, frowning. "Giles, don't ask, ok? Willow should be fine, I think her ribs are just bruised. Please help me make her better."

Giles sighed, moving towards his chest. He opened it and took out a first aid kit. "Just get her shirt off so I can bandage her."

Xander pulled Willow's shirt off, smiling softly at the dark blue bra she wore. He bit his bottom lip, resisting the urge to touch her breasts. He shook his head and looked up at Giles. The older man knelt beside them, and began to wrap Willow's ribs. After that was done, he pulled out smelling salts and waved them under her nose.

After a moment, her eyes shot open. "Xander!" she cried. She blinked, then looked around. "Oh, goddess," she whispered, looking down. She looked up, blushing heavily. "Thanks for wrapping my ribs, but um. . .could I have my shirt back?"

"Oh, yea," Xander said, shaking his head. He handed the girl back her shirt. She slid it on, thankful for baggy sweaters. "Sorry," he blushed.

Willow chuckled. "Like you haven't. . ." She paused, looking at Giles. She bit back the rest of her response, "seen it before," knowing Giles would probably question that. "Don't worry, Xander. It's ok. They are just breasts."

"No, but they are *your* breasts."

"Yea, and?" Willow asked, an eyebrow rising. She still hurt, but not as bad as when she'd first accepted the pain.

"They are nice," he said softly, glancing up at her. "I mean, more than nice. Really pretty nice."

Giles stood up, not sure he wanted to hear where this conversation was going. Something had definitely changed during the night, as two of his charges were acting much more comfortable with each other than he'd seen in almost two years. He moved to the kitchen to let them have their time.

"Hey, G-Man, call Buff, K?" Xander asked. "We need her here. We gotta have a talk."

"Sure," Giles said, moving to the phone. He picked it up and dialed Riley and Graham's apartment, knowing that's where Buffy would be.

"Pretty nice?" Willow asked softly.

"Yea." He smiled. "Willow, I'm. . .I'm sorry about everything that's happened."

She cradled his cheek with her hand. He turned slightly, leaning into her touch. He closed his eyes and sighed. < God, I've missed this closeness with her. >

"I know," she said softly. "We both had to grow up some, and unfortunately, it had to happen away from each other. We needed to be apart to become the people we were meant to be."

He opened sad eyes. "What does that mean? I mean, for us, now?"

"Now we've grown. We've seen the world away from each other, and frankly, I didn't like it as much without you there." She smiled, then winced softly at the pain.

He covered her hand, which was resting on her side. "Thank you," he whispered. "I. . ."

"No, don't say anything," she said, covering his mouth with her finger. "I did it because I wanted to, not because I felt I had to. You are my best friend, Xander. If I can ever take away anything that bothers you, I will."

He smiled. "I promise you, Willow Anne Rosenberg, I'm going to be the best friend that I never was."

She laughed slightly. "You were always good to me, Xander. Way oblivious, but that's ok. We both went through things we needed to go through."

"Besides," Xander chuckled, his eyes dancing in merriment. "*Someone* wants one of the creatures of the night."

Willow laughed, then moaned as a fresh wave of pain passed over her body. "Like you don't."

"Yea, well," Xander shrugged. He grinned, kissing her forehead. "I love you, Wills."

"I love you too, Xander."

He winked at her. "You were beautiful this morning. Absolutely breathtaking. I hope I can see that again."

Willow blinked as a deep red covered her face. She looked down, her hair falling to cover her face. "I'm so embarrassed," she whispered. "It was all the coffee. I didn't care."

"No, god, no, don't be embarrassed. You were beautiful. I can't say I didn't enjoy watching. . ." He blushed. "I mean, well, you know, it wasn't just a. . ." He dropped his voice, hoping Giles couldn't hear him. "Sexual thing. It was a. . ."

She smiled, shushing him. "Spiritual thing. We've always done things together, and that was just one more thing that we did together. Just not. . .together."

"So you aren't freaked?"

"Goddess no! I mean, embarrassed, yea, but if there were ever anyone watching me, then I would want it to be you. Besides," she lowered her voice, "you and Angel there ensured I didn't die."

"I would have staked him. I swear to God, Willow, I would have gone ape shit if he would have hurt you."

She smiled. "I know."

Giles cleared his throat, interrupting the hushed tones of Xander and Willow. They both looked up at him, smiling. He returned the smile. "Buffy is on her way."

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