Inell's Fanfiction Archive

It had been a little over a year since the First had been defeated. A little over a year since the town of Sunnydale had disappeared. A little over a year since her life had changed drastically for the third time since she had become best friends with Buffy Summers eight years ago. Willow Rosenberg had had a lot of time over the last few days in which she'd been able to reflect upon the last eight years at her leisure. The twenty-three year old redhead took a bite of her beignet and followed it with a sip of hot chocolate before reaching behind her head and pulling her mid-back length hair into a hazardous ponytail. Summer in New Orleans was proving to be humid and hot, sweat already dripping down her back and it wasn't even nine in the morning. She couldn't really complain, though, having been rather thankful for the unplanned vacation that she had received. The last year had been hectic for all of them, and it was rather nice having a chance to sit down and take a break. What made it even better was that it was all part of her job, in a way, so she had the built in excuse to enjoy the time to think without being surrounded by dozens of people.

She still found it hard to believe that it had only been a year since everything had been completely turned upside down. She'd realized that there had been pretty much three distinctive periods of change in her life since meeting Buffy with a few minor changes along the way. The first change was rather obvious, learning that vampires and monsters really did exist. That knowledge had completely changed her life and set her upon a new life. Buffy had been the chosen one, but she and Xander had not forced the slayer into fulfilling her destiny alone. They'd stood by their friend through it all, good and bad, picking up the slayer's mission as their own. The second change in her life had been Tara's death. It had nearly broken her, turning her into something she had never wanted to become, nearly killing herself and everyone else along the way. Xander had been there for her, forcing her into realizing what she still had even as she had lost Tara. It had taken time, but she'd dealt with her choices and learned from it, vowing to never lose control again. The biggest change of the last eight years, though, had happened one year and five weeks ago. That's when she'd summoned the powers of purity, when she'd redeemed herself for the events following Tara's death, when everything went to Hell, literally. Sunnydale had been sucked into Hell. Poof, no more city. She'd stood at the edge of a large crater surrounded by her friends, remembering everything that had happened, realizing that nothing would ever be the same again. Well, not all of her friends. Anya had not made the ride to victory, sacrificing herself to save Andrew. Several potentials had been struck down in the midst of battle, dying at such a young age fighting to save the world. And Spike had sacrificed himself to save the woman he loved, to save the world.

Willow could still remember the shock of realizing that Anya, the ex-demon that had nearly married her best friend and had become a friend over the years, had died. The tears that had threatened to spill thinking of the sacrifice of Anya and the slayers and Spike, knowing that they had helped save the world but hating that they had been forced into making that choice. She had not cried in front of the surviving slayers, saving her tears for the privacy of her motel room when they'd finally stopped driving. Then, she had sobbed for everything that had been lost, remembering the faces of everyone who had died at the hands of the Hellmouth, from Jesse to Jonathan to Jenny Calendar to Anya to Spike. She had cried until there had been no more tears to cry, washing her face and staring in the mirror until she had dealt with her grief. She had to be strong for everyone, had to be strong for Xander who had lost the only woman he had ever really truly loved, to be strong for Buffy who had loved Spike in her own warped way, to be strong for all of them. She found it ironic that there was never any mention of the loss of the entire town of Sunnydale in the papers or on the news. It was just as if the town had never existed. Just a crater a couple hours north of LA, perfect for hiking and scenic picnics was all that remained of the town she had called home for twenty-two years.

She had a new home now. A new family that seemed to become larger every month or so. After they had left Sunnydale, they'd decided that it would be wise to try to locate the girls that had been called when she had done the spell. Of course, they couldn't really load them all onto the bus so they needed a plan of sorts. They'd finally chosen to pick a location that was central to the states, making it easier to take short journeys across the country to locate the couple of dozen girls that had recognized their power. Personally, Willow was still a bit hazy on how the entire one chosen in every generation thing that was often quoted by Giles when they'd first met really worked since she knew of about thirty-five slayers that were all fifteen to twenty-three years old, but she didn't argue the logic of the council's fancy mythology. Instead, she focused on the connection that she felt with each newly called slayer and became their own personal slayer locator. There had been a lot of girls affected by her spell, in a variety of different countries. They'd chosen the suburbs of Dallas, Texas as their new home. Central to the states and by one of the largest airports in the country for the many flights out of the country. She had hacked into some of the accounts that the council had held, managing to secure enough money to get them by for a few years at least. Since their numbers were ever growing, they'd decided to find a nice warehouse to set up shop. They'd turned the first floor into a common area with a kitchen, living room, and enough space for everyone to be comfortable. The second floor was training and workout and more slayer specific. The top three floors were turned into rooms. Nothing overly lavish, the council did only have so much money she could move, but it was comfortable and everyone seemed happy with the situation.

It had taken them nearly five months before they managed to get the newly called slayers to Dallas. They'd spent a couple of weeks trying to figure out the best way to approach the confused and strong girls, not sure how they could get them to the warehouse for training and learning when they had parents that would surely object to sending their kids off with strangers. As shocking as it seemed, Andrew was the one to finally come up with a solution. He'd started speaking geek boy about some comic book that was about mutants or something and then Xander had joined in, giving the rest of them a headache as they'd started discussing people that could fly and read minds until finally Andrew explained in more civilian terms that the comic was about a group of mutants and that they had a school for gifted students for kids dealing with mutant powers. Well, that had made more sense that it should since it was being quoted by a guy wearing a shirt with William Shatner for President on it, and they'd discussed it at great lengths. She'd learned what was required by the state of Texas for a home schooling program, realizing that most of the potentials were still high school age anyway and should be taught even while learning their new abilities. Once everything was researched and put in order, they began rounding up the new slayers. Giles had mentioned a Hellmouth in Cleveland that might be of some concern so he and Kennedy had gone to research it. It had proven to be nothing threatening, but Kennedy had remained behind to keep a patrol over the area in case it suddenly became active. When their training had been complete, a couple of the junior slayers, as Dawn and Xander referred to the new girls, had gone to stay there and use their training. She had been rather relieved when Kennedy had made the choice to become the slayer of that area, their relationship not working out as either would have liked once the possibility of dying was removed. Kennedy was a good kid and was counted amongst her best friends, but it just hadn't been meant to be.

Life was going pretty well, overall. They all had roles in their new family, taking the new slayers under their wings as younger siblings. Giles and Robin were teachers, Buffy and Faith the trainers. Xander and Andrew helped out wherever they were needed, and she usually helped teach. Dawn was training with Giles and Robin after 'school' to become a watcher, something was definitely going to be needed with the many slayers they now found themselves with. She wasn't exactly sure what they were going to do with them all, though a few of the slayers had also shown interest in learning the mythology and watcher aspects and could very well be used in that capacity unless they were needed as slayers. It had been about four months ago that she had felt the calling of a new slayer. Confused, they'd wondered if it meant a child had been born, bringing up too many questions about the extent of the spell and what horrible things it could mean for infants to have super strength. They'd been very relieved, though a bit more confused, when they'd tracked the new junior to a freshly turned sixteen year old in Atlanta. Since then, there had been another five girls that had turned sixteen and received the full extent of their slayer abilities. If things kept going as they seemed to be, they were either going to need a second warehouse or they'd need to start sending some of the girls out to live on their own. Kennedy was proving very successful in Cleveland, so there was a likely chance some of the older girls would be sent to some of the risky areas to keep an eye on things and make sure no problems came up.

Two weeks ago, Willow had felt a connection to a new girl which brought her to New Orleans. Usually, she and Giles or she and Buffy would go pick up the new girls. This time, she and Buffy had made the short flight to New Orleans, finding the girl, Katie, and having the discussion with her about her calling and all that formal stuff. Katie was very sweet and had listened, asked questions, accepted everything far better than some of the girls did. She told her parents about scoring high on a test and winning a scholarship to a very private school in Texas, both parents surprised but pleased. Her only stipulation had been that she didn't want to leave until she had finished her driver's ed class, which was another week away. Buffy had decided that Willow deserved a break, having taken on much more than was expected from a best friend during their long relationship, and the blonde slayer had flown home, leaving Willow to enjoy a week's vacation in New Orleans. It had been sort of nice for the first day or so. Now, though, she was finding herself missing the noise and affection that was now home.

She'd spent three hours on the phone with her friends the night before, even urging Andrew to tell her why he thought the new Star Wars movies were nowhere near as good as the original ones, which had ended up taking nearly half the time she'd spent on the phone. He'd made her laugh, seeming to recognize that she was lonely and missed them, always enjoying the fact that he was part of their family now. Xander had told her about Buffy's cooking attempts that had resulted in the fire alarm being set off. Buffy had gotten on the phone to deny that the pancakes had turned out as badly as Xander claimed. Dawn had proudly told her about knowing all of the demons that Giles had quizzed her on, giving her too much credit for helping her study before she'd left. Faith had told her about kicking Buffy's ass when they'd been sparring which had resulted in Buffy denying that her ass had hit the ground as often as Faith claimed, all the while laughing before grudgingly admitting that she might have bruises on her butt from their fight. Even Robin had taken part, telling her his plans for teaching the juniors about astronomy as part of their science course. When she'd hung up, she'd felt the silence even more, relieved that it would only be five more days before Katie's class was over. She'd take her driving test and then they could go home, where she wasn't alone and where she didn't have so much time to think.

Willow finished her breakfast and left a couple of dollars on the table for the waiter that had been so friendly at such an early and busy time of the day. She left the sidewalk cafe and started the walk back to her hotel. She really did love this city, she decided. If she was stuck anywhere for a week of too much alone time, at least it was somewhere as unique and fascinating as New Orleans. She'd seen so many different kinds of people wandering around the streets, seen people performing acrobatic tricks, had a man make her a balloon animal because she had, according to him, the prettiest smile in town, and a lot of other interesting experiences that she'd be able to share with her friends when she got home. She'd already spent too much money, buying everyone something. And, since they now had thirty-one juniors staying with them, it had turned into several bags full of stuff. She'd decided to just ship everything back home before she left so she wouldn't have to deal with all of it on the plane. She had just turned down Chartres to walk towards her hotel when she was knocked on her butt. A large tongue ran over her face as she found herself looking into the dark brown eyes of a very hairy dog that looked like a St. Bernard. She had to laugh, chalking this up as yet another New Orleans experience to share with the folks back home. She could already imagine Dawn laughing at her being knocked over by a dog.

"Peaches! Stop that!" A voice said from above her as the dog was pulled back.

"It's okay," Willow said, wiping her face with her hand and then wiping the drool covered hand on her shorts. "I'm so sorry, miss," the man apologized as he tried to keep his dog from licking her any more. A hand was offered to her. "Let me help you up."

"Thanks," Willow said, taking his hand and letting him pull her to her feet. She stared at their joined hands in shock, a wave of electricity rushing through her. Had he felt that? What was *it* exactly? Green eyes looked up at his face, widening in surprise as she found herself looking into familiar blue eyes. With a slight tremor in her voice, she whispered, "Spike?"

********************

He should have just turned the channel. Picked up the remote and turned on cartoons or sports or anything. But, no, he'd left the news running and looked up from his book in time to catch the special interest bit at the end. He'd seen the sad gaze of the large dog that was in the cage behind the reporter who was content to hold a cute little puppy as she told everyone about the abundance of animals now housed at the local animal shelter. He'd stared at that dog during the reporter's entire chirpy little bit, not even realizing he was calling the number listed until a voice asked if they could help him. He'd hesitated only a moment before inquiring about the dog that he'd seen on the news, the one that looked like a St. Bernard mix. He'd given his name and made the arrangements to become the dog's new owner. Within two days, he had paid the pet deposit on his flat and picked up the dog. He'd never had a pet before, wasn't really sure what to do to take care of one. When he'd asked at the pound before retrieving his new dog, he'd been told that the most important thing about owning a pet was to be patient and affectionate. It had sounded pretty easy. He had a tendency to be impatient at times, but his job had forced him to acquire the patience of a saint, so he figured dealing with a dog wouldn't be that bad. It was only after he got the large dog home, to his two bedroom flat in the Quarter, that he'd realized that the dog was mixed with something that shed a lot and drooled nearly nonstop.

William Fairchilde could easily remember that afternoon two weeks ago when he'd brought the dog home. He'd sat on his sofa staring at the large hairy mutt, watching as the dog had laid down and chewed on one of the bones he'd picked up from the pet store. He had been trying to figure out a name for the large, drooly beast, having already grown a bit tired of referring to him as Dog. The shelter did not have a name listed so he had nothing to go with, wondering if a dog that was over a year old could even learn a name. It was then that the dog had looked at him, those dark brown eyes sad, staring at him silently for several minutes. He had no idea where it came from, didn't even question how stupid the name was, didn't remind himself that he'd been considering something like Yeats or Macbeth, one word coming from his lips, "Peaches."

The dog had cocked his head to the side and then wagged his tail, seemingly accepting his new name. William decided that, if the dog seemed happy, he could accept the rather unusual choice of name. Perhaps the dog had somehow communicated his name to him. Will had read accounts of such things before, believing that pretty much anything was possible. He'd turned on the telly and started watching some black and white Bogart movie, smiling slightly when Peaches had moved to sit beside him on the sofa, not even caring that the dog was drooling all over his jeans. He wasn't alone and that was rather nice.

It seemed like he'd been alone for a long time. He'd been born in London nearly twenty-seven years ago. His father had been American, carrying on a relationship with his Mum during business trips along with having a wife back home in Virginia. When he'd been born, the business trips had slowly dwindled to occasional Christmas cards and a birthday card every couple of years. He hadn't really minded too much, the man that was his father being a bit of a jerk who liked his alcohol more than caring for a young son. His Mum had been all he'd needed, raising him alone and making sure that he never wanted for anything. She'd gotten sick when he was barely a teen, making him promise to do something with his life, to become someone that would make her proud, to be happy and in love and to enjoy his life the way she wanted. She'd died shortly after his exams, leaving him a rather nice inheritance and completely alone in the world. He'd taken a year off before uni to explore the world, having never been anywhere. When he'd been younger, his Mum had taken him on a boat to France and they'd traveled by train a bit, but she'd gotten so sick and he'd not gone anywhere except school and his job at a bookstore in the years since her diagnosis. He'd explored Europe and areas of Asia, gone to Egypt and a lot of countries whose names he could barely remember. He'd seen the world and then he'd fulfilled part of his promise to his Mum.

He'd applied to several different universities in America, having dual citizenship due to his father and no need for the abundance of paperwork that would usually be required. He'd filled out a couple of short forms and received the papers he needed along with several different offers from top schools. He'd accepted the offer from Harvard, having often heard of the school on American programs and knowing that his Mum had considered it one of the best schools. He'd been there a year when he'd received word that his father and his father's wife had died in an automobile accident. He'd been twenty at the time. Surprisingly, he was listed in his father's will, inheriting everything the childless couple left behind. William had not cared about the money, having enough from his Mum and his part-time job to get by on, but he'd been saddened to hear that the man he'd never really known was now dead, knowing that he'd never have a chance to get to know his father. He was now completely alone, no living relatives and very few friends. He had decided on his majors, knowing it was a tough workload that left little time for a social life. He hadn't minded, burying himself in his work. When he'd received his first degrees, he'd applied for the master program, earning accepting and another two years of studying along with the student teaching opportunity. He'd not liked teaching at the university very much, his experiences in the local schools of Boston much more enjoyable. When he'd completed his master's degree program, he'd applied for the position he currently had, making the move to New Orleans a year ago this month.

It didn't seem like it had been a year since he'd woken from his nap at the airport with his luggage beside him. He'd been so tired that day, taking several minutes to remember who he was and what he was doing. When he'd been fully awake, he'd realized that the man that was supposed to meet him still hadn't shown up. He'd called the number he found in his pocket, finding out that Wally had had car trouble but was now on his way. Wally had since become one of his friends, a coach at the high school where William taught English Lit. Will had stayed with Wally and his wife for a week before he'd found his flat and moved in, all of his possessions occupying only the one suitcase he'd brought with him from Boston. He had lost the photos of his parents and other personal mementos during a fire a few years before, having nothing now except his memories of the woman that had raised him and the stranger that had been his father. He had friends now, a life in New Orleans that made him happy. His Mum would be proud. He still hadn't found someone to love, but he always kept his eyes open in case he happened to run into his soulmate.

It was a Thursday morning when his life changed, when he found himself believing in destiny and fate and all the other romantic ideas that his favorite poets often wrote about. It started off the same as any other morning. He'd woken around six, taken his daily mile run before going back to his flat and taking a shower. He'd gotten dressed and made some coffee, snacking on some dry cereal as he fed Peaches. He'd caught a bit of the news, heard them declare that it was going to be another hot day, and then Peaches had gone to the door and started whimpering to go out. William had put the leash on the large dog and taken him out. During the two weeks he'd owned Peaches, the dog had proved to be rather intelligent. He'd learned his name and learned that he needed to go outside to relieve himself and he'd learned that whimpering at the door would mean a quick walk. William had been rather surprised when his dog had taken off at nearly a run, pulling him along behind him. Peaches had never tried to get away before, usually very content to walk beside William and sniff the streets, occasionally smelling some of the flowers they'd pass before he'd sneeze and trot along. He'd been horrified when Peaches suddenly jumped upon a woman that was in their path, his stupid dog licking the woman's face as she fell to the ground.

"Peaches! Stop that!" He chastised the large dog, trying to pull him back for he drowned the poor girl in drool.

"It's okay," he heard an amused voice say, watching as the girl wiped her hands on her shorts, his eyes straying down rather long legs that were some of the best he could remember seeing. Stop it, William, he scolded himself. Not the time to be ogling the poor woman your dog attacked. "I'm so sorry, miss," he apologized, glaring at his grinning dog who was now sitting obediently beside him. He held out his hand, saying, "Let me help you up."

"Thanks," the redhead said, taking his hand and letting him pull her to her feet.

He stared at their joined hands in pleasant surprise, a wave of electricity rushing through him. Green eyes looked up at his face and the entire world froze. He was a bit of a romantic, often being teased by his friends for his views on love and romance, but he had never felt anything like this before. Call it love at first sight, call it fate, call it whatever you wanted, he knew from that first look into her gorgeous green eyes that this woman was meant for him. He'd only had two relationships in his life, both turning out badly. Ella had been his childhood sweetheart, beautiful blue eyes and dark hair that fell past her shoulders. She'd called him her pretty boy and helped him deal with his Mum's illness before she'd left him for another man. He'd nearly sworn off love after dealing with the heartbreak she'd left behind, but he'd ended up falling for a golden girl, Beth, who had ignored him and then turned to him and then things had just gone badly, her never able to give her heart or the love he so longed for, parting as friends before he'd left Boston though he'd not heard from her since he'd left a year ago. He had never felt for either of the women he'd loved the intense feelings that were currently coursing through his veins from just one touch and one look from this beautiful redhead. Did she feel it? He thought she might and then she spoke, her voice a soft whisper as she said one word, "Spike?"

********************

"I'm sorry, luv," William spoke softly, noticing the stunned look on her face, hearing the question in her voice and realizing that she confusing him with someone else. Perhaps she had landed a bit too hard, "I believe you must have me confused with someone else."

Willow heard him speak, recognizing that voice easily. It was Spike. The eyes, the voice, the scar on his eyebrow, those lips and those cheekbones, it was definitely Spike. But, how? And he was saying she was confusing him with someone else which didn't make sense. He was Spike. Spike was standing on the street with her in New Orleans and he didn't know who he was. New Orleans. She looked up at the sky, seeing the sun that was causing the sweat to trickle down her back. Her wide eyes swung back to the handsome face of the man that had not gone poof. Of the man that she realized was breathing, of the man whose warm hand still held hers. Oh God, Spike was human!

"You look like you've had a bit of a shock, pet," William said, reluctant to let go of her hand even if she did look like she'd seen a ghost. "There's some steps right there. Why don't you sit down for a minute. I'm afraid Peaches must have knocked the breath out of ya."

"Sitting is good," Willow murmured, allowing him to guide her to some stone steps. She took several deep breaths, confusion in her eyes as she tried to deal with what was happening. She looked into those beautiful blue eyes and felt her breath catch, not understanding what was happening and not even caring that much when he looked at her with such concern and attraction. Oh, boy, this wasn't good. She'd run into a human that looked and sounded just like Spike and now she was going crazy by thinking that he was looking at her with lusty intent. It had to be the heat. Spike had never looked at her like that, okay, so there was the time he'd kidnapped her when she'd wondered if he wasn't going to just push Xander to the floor and then shag her senseless, and there was the time in her dorm room when he'd rubbed his body against her and she'd felt the evidence of his rather large arousal as he'd licked her neck, but, otherwise, he barely looked at her at all. When he did look at her, it was usually with unreadable blue eyes that were cold and unemotional, the few times he'd let his guard down and allowed her to see his emotions being able to be counted on one hand. So, logically, this guy couldn't be Spike because his eyes were not cold and detached. There was also the standing in the sunlight and breathing thing to consider.

"Feeling better?" William asked, wondering why her eyes had looked so sad before looking confused.

"A little," Willow said, gathering her strength and giving him a smile. She could do this. So he looked like Spike and sounded like Spike, that didn't mean anything. It was just a very strange coincidence. She'd always heard that everyone had a twin somewhere in the world, she must have just found Spike's. Okay, so that argument was weak even for her, but she had to deal with this weird development so she could have time to think about it and figure out what was happening.

She was gorgeous. She'd been beautiful before, delicate yet strong, but when she smiled, the entire world lit up. It was unusual, this connection he felt towards her. It was as if he'd known her forever yet they'd only just met. He wanted to know everything about her, to sit and talk to her for hours until there were no secrets between them, to just look at her and appreciate true beauty. God, he was glad that Wally wasn't watching this. He'd never hear the end of it from the burly football coach if his best friend knew he was acting like such a bloody tosser. But, he didn't care. He couldn't let her go. He decided to ask the question that he'd been thinking about since she'd first spoken, wanting to know why she'd looked so happy yet so shocked when she'd said that name. He asked, "Is that Spike person a friend of yours?"

"He was," Willow said, her eyes noticing that this guy's hair was light brown and longer than Spike's had been, a bit of blond highlighted by the sun. He looked more relaxed than she'd ever seen Spike, happier, more alive, if you will. She should just stand up and assure him that she was okay and then walk away, go back to her hotel room and wait the last few days before she could go home. Why, then, did the thought of walking away from him seem so horrible? She sighed, giving him a soft smile as she explained, "He died last year so it was a bit of a shock to see you. Honestly, you could be his twin."

"I'm sorry," William said, having not expected those words at all. Poor chit, losing her friend and then running into him. No wonder she'd been so surprised when she'd looked at him.

"It's okay," Willow smiled, "like I said, it was just a bit of a surprise. I'm sorry that I was acting so weird."

"No need to apologize," William said with a slight smile, relieved that she seemed to have accepted his resemblance to her friend and was relaxing. "I'm sorry that Peaches knocked you down. He's never done anything like that before, though I have only had for a couple of weeks."

"Peaches?" Willow repeated the name, glancing at the dog and finding dark brown eyes watching her. He'd named the dog with the soulful brown eyes the nickname that Spike had used for Angel. Another coincidence?

"Yeah, I'm not really sure where it came from, but he seems to like it so I guess I can't complain," William said with a sheepish smile. He glanced at her shirt, taking a second to appreciate the view before he stopped his ogling to point out, "I'm afraid he's gotten your shirt a bit muddy. I'll pay for the cleaning, of course."

"It's not a problem. I've been covered in far worse," Willow said, her eyes widening slightly when she realized how that sounded as she stammered, "I mean, well, I don't mean it like it sounded."

William couldn't resist, he had to laugh as a light blush covered her cheeks, "Nothing seedy ever crossed my mind, luv."

"You should do that more often," Willow found herself saying after she heard him laugh, catching herself as she realized that she was again comparing him to Spike. "I mean, um, you have a nice laugh."

"And you have a beautiful smile," William said, his eyes watching her blush darken at his compliment.

"I guess I should go back to my hotel and change," Willow said reluctantly, confused as hell about what was happening but also knowing that she was finding herself attracted to this guy in a way that she hadn't felt since she'd first started falling for Tara.

"You're only visiting New Orleans?" William couldn't keep the disappointment from his voice. He'd never even considered the possibility that she was a tourist. That meant she'd be leaving any day. Damn it, why'd he have to meet her if he was only going to have to lose her?

"Until next week," Willow said, hearing the tone in his voice and realizing that he was feeling the same connection that she was feeling, relieved that it wasn't just her but also understanding why he sounded disappointed. "I'm going back home Tuesday."

"And where is home?" he asked, wondering if he was being too forward but not wanting to let her go yet.

"I live in Texas, near Dallas," Willow said, her eyes looking down at her shirt that was indeed muddy and wet. "I really do need to get this taken off. I think the hotel has a laundry service and the longer I wait, the less chance it will get clean."

"I have a washer," he said before he caught himself, feeling her eyes look at him in surprise. "I mean, I know you don't know me from Adam, but I live just down the street and I can have it cleaned in no time."

She felt her lips twisting into a teasing smile as she noticed the very faint blush crossing his cheeks, finding it easier and easier to distinguish between Spike and this guy that had his face. She smiled at him as she said, "You just want to get me out of my clothes."

He was about to deny having any such lecherous designs when he saw the teasing gleam in her eyes, realizing that she was more amused than threatened by his offer. He gave her a pompous smile and said, "A gentleman never thinks such thoughts, m'lady."

"And you're a gentleman?" she asked, finding it rather easy to believe that this guy was as chivalrous and proper as his tone of voice suggested.

"Sometimes," he responded with a wink as he helped her to her feet for the second time since they'd met. "So, what do you say? Are you going to take a chance that I'm not some psychotic stranger and come back to my flat so we can get that shirt washed up?"

As if she could have told him no after that flirtatious wink and crooked smile that made her tummy flutter and parts of her that hadn't been active in years stand up and take notice. Besides all those lusty feelings that this charming man was causing, she was intrigued by his resemblance to Spike and curious about him and his life. She gave him a smile as she said, "My name is Willow, Willow Rosenberg."

"Willow?" William repeated the name, shaking his head slightly at the familiarity it brought to his mind. His neighbor in London, maybe they'd had a daughter named Willow. They'd had a dozen kids at least and perhaps one of them had the same name of this gorgeous creature that was smiling at him. "Guess that means we're not strangers anymore, Willow Rosenberg. My name is William, William Fairchilde. It's a pleasure to meet you."

********************

"William?" Willow's smile held firm though her mind was reeling. Okay, this couldn't be another coincidence. William as in William the Bloody. This had to be some twisted joke that the powers that be were playing on her. It wasn't bad enough that they'd completely changed her life last year, now they had to screw with her mind, too.

"My flat is this way," William continued to hold her hand as he turned around and walked back to his flat. Peaches was walking beside them, no longer pulling on his leash or trying to run down the street. Stupid dog, William thought, deciding that he'd have to buy him a large steak for running into Willow and bringing her into their lives. He was hopeless, he decided. He knew that she was only in town visiting, knew that she would be leaving next week, but he still couldn't ignore the feeling that she belonged in his life, that she was meant to be part of his world. He looked at her and found her studying him, perhaps comparing him to the friend who had died. He didn't mind that, really, knowing how difficult it must be for her to be around him if the resemblance was as close as she said. He asked, "How do you like New Orleans so far?"

"I really love it," Willow said honestly. "It's hotter than Hades and the humidity is awful, but it's got character. It's got so many stories to tell if you just listen. I've been to a lot of different places over the last year and none of them have had the same mystique and allure that this city has."

"You travel a lot?" he asked, agreeing with her description of his city. "Is it work or pleasure?"

"Work," Willow smiled as she thought about her friends and her job. Goodness, wouldn't they be shocked to hear about her running into William. She'd have to get a picture of him to take home with her so they'd know she wasn't crazy. "This is more pleasure. I mean, it was work when my friend and I arrived, but she went back home and gave me a bit of a mini-vacation."

"Vacation is nice," he said, noticing the affection that had entered her eyes as she'd thought about her job. He could understand that love of work, his own job making him far happier than he'd ever expected. "One of the best parts of my job is the time off."

"What do you do?" she asked, curious what Spike's human twin did for a living.

"I teach English at one of the local high schools," William said, "British Lit is the students' favorite, but I think it's only because of the accent."

"You're a teacher?" Willow was a bit surprised but nodded when she thought about it. She could have seen Spike as a teacher, remembering his time training with the potentials and how great he had always been with Dawn. She knew she was comparing them again, but she couldn't help it. She smiled as she teased, "I never had a teacher as handsome as you or I might have paid more attention in class."

"Handsome, huh?" he arched a brow as he looked at her, "I don't believe I've ever had such a compliment from a beautiful woman."

"You know, you're just a big flirt, aren't you?" she asked, laughing as he smiled sheepishly.

"Actually, no. I'm a bit shy and often get teased by my friends at my lack of social skills," he confessed, "but with you, I feel comfortable and I guess the inner flirt is able to play."

"Oh," Willow couldn't resist the small smile that crossed her face at his admission. He was pretty candid and blunt, not at all hesitant in sharing his thoughts and feelings. William was completely unguarded and honest. She rather liked that. "Well, since we're confessing, I'm a bit shy myself and have never been good at flirting or playing those kinds of games."

"Really?" he smiled, pleased at her words. He let Peaches move ahead of him into the courtyard of his flat, telling Willow, "This is my place. You don't have to come up if you've had second thoughts, but trust me when I say that my intentions are honorable and I really just don't want our conversation to end."

Willow smiled at him as she said, "I trust you, William, and I want to go up. I honestly don't know what is happening between us, but I can feel it and I selfishly don't want it to end."

"My flat is this way," he kept her hand in his as they followed his dog into the flower scented courtyard.

********************

"You can go ahead and sit down," William said as he opened his door, Peaches running past him as he let the leash drop. He smiled at Willow and said, "I'll go grab you a shirt to change into so I can get your shirt in the wash."

"This is a nice place," Willow said sincerely, moving to look at the numerous books that were stacked everywhere. Her mouth dropped open in surprise when she saw the framed diplomas hanging on the wall, "You went to Harvard?"

"Yeah," William said as he reentered the living room, a simple white T-shirt in his hand. "I got my masters there, too."

"A masters?" Willow whistled, "Wow....you're pretty smart, huh?"

"Not really," William smiled at her, "I just wrote papers and tested well. Here's a shirt you can change into."

"Handsome and modest," Willow said, "I'll change in the bathroom."

"It's that door there," William motioned to the closed bathroom door. "If you want to toss out your muddy shirt when you've got it out, I'll get it into the wash."

"Okay," Willow entered the small room, relieved to have a chance to think without him around. Her eyes tended to drift towards him when he was there, and the feelings she was having about him tended to make her mind not quite able to form logical thought. She took off her muddy shirt and tossed it out the bathroom door to him, locking the door and then moving to sit on the toilet. She put her head between her knees and took several deep breaths. Part of her knew that William was not Spike. Besides being human, he was relaxed and flirty and smiled a lot. He had degrees from Harvard and a past that did not include being a vampire and dying a hero over a year ago. But, even knowing the reality of everything, a part of her kept noticing the many similarities. The way he spoke, the way he smiled, even the books he had on his bookshelves. She'd seen CDs that she knew had been in Spike's collection, even recognizing furniture that the bleached blond vampire had preferred. It was just too much to take in all at once.

She stood up and slipped on the shirt he had given her, inhaling the scent of William. She knew Spike's scent, leather and tobacco and whiskey. William smelled of oranges and a cologne she couldn't quite place. She did a little snooping, noticing the bottle of shampoo that explained the oranges. She saw the bottle of cologne, not recognizing the name, looking at the bottom and seeing the name of a local shop. She liked the scent, not able to determine the exact smells, but deciding that it suited William rather well. She washed her face to rid it of the drool that she might have missed from Peaches, smiling slightly when she thought of the dog that had knocked her over and ended up introducing her to William.

What was she doing in there? William had put her shirt in the wash and was now pacing in his living room, trying to figure out what was happening. He'd always been a believer in fate and love at first sight, having many a good argument with his friends about the reality of such notions, but he'd honestly never expected to experience those things himself. Yet, when he had first looked into Willow's eyes, he'd felt as if he'd known her forever and he'd felt as if his life was finally complete. One look had done that. In the hour since he'd met her, the feeling had just intensified, wrapping around his heart in a comfortable way that just felt amazing. He had always been good with words, but he couldn't even begin to describe what he was feeling. He didn't understand it, didn't know how he could have fallen in love with just one look, but he knew what he was starting to feel for Willow. With every smile and every word, he was falling more and more under her spell. And she was leaving in five days.

Was it wise to continue spending time with the woman that he felt such an intense connection to when she'd be out of his life within a week? Was it worth it to enjoy a few days with someone that felt like the other half of his soul knowing that he'd end up being alone when it was all over? Was he spending way too much time thinking about this when he'd only known her for an hour and had no idea if she was even interested in spending her remaining time with him? Maybe he'd end up making a friend even if nothing else happened. He looked up when he heard the bathroom door open, a feeling of possessiveness that he couldn't remember ever feeling running over him as he saw her wearing his T-shirt. Collecting his thoughts, he asked, "Do you want a soda or anything? I put your shirt in the washer and it should be done in an hour or so."

"A coke would be nice," Willow said once she was able to form words following the look of purely masculine appreciation he had just given her, parts of her tingling that she'd nearly forgotten existed. He smiled at her as he went to the kitchen to get her a soda. She moved to sit on the sofa beside Peaches, scratching the dog behind his ears as he moved to rest his head on her leg.

"Here you go," William handed her the can of soda before taking a seat in the chair opposite her. He made himself comfortable, his blue eyes moving over her face as she took a drink from the can, her right hand petting Peaches' head. He smiled as he settled back and said, "Why don't you tell me about yourself, Willow. I want to know everything."

********************

"Everything?" Willow repeated William's words, her mind already scanning through her life and putting things into two different categories. One category was the safe category, the facts and details of her life that were okay to discuss with a high school English teacher who had no idea about the things that went bump in the night. The second category consisted of all the things that were not safe to discuss with a handsome, flirting guy that could very well have some unknown connection of his own with the powers that be. She knew that the powers worked in mysterious ways, knew that it was very possible that they may have somehow rewarded Spike's heroic actions by giving him a new life as a human, knew that Angel had been promised a similar reward himself years ago....she also knew that William was not Spike, that he was completely unaware that there was a chance that he might possess the soul of a vampire that had sacrificed himself to save the world, that he might not even have existed until the powers created him or whatever they might have done if they were in fact involved. She also knew that she felt a connection to William that she'd never felt with Spike. Sure, she'd thought he was attractive and had had a bit of a crush on him throughout the years she had known him, but it had never been this intense, it had never consumed her with the need that she was feeling just to be with William. She had decided to try her best to forget her belief that William and Spike were somehow the same person, to ignore the physical resemblance between the two men, to instead concentrate on what she was feeling for this gorgeous blue-eyed human with the sexy laugh and flirty smile.

When she was satisfied that she had sorted her thoughts, she gave him a teasing smile and said, "Do you want me to start with birth or focus on the last ten years or so?"

"It's up to you," he said, having watched her face for nearly five minutes as she'd been lost in thought, watching her eyes as she'd frowned and then smiled. He wanted to know everything about her, but he had a feeling that she would only tell him about certain parts of her life. She was looking at him with a teasing smile and a relaxed expression on her face, but he could sense that she was just slightly tense.

"I was born in California, a small town a couple of hours north of LA called Sunnydale. Well, it was actually a city I guess since we had over fifty thousand residents during a good year," Willow began, deciding to be completely honest with him while omitting the parts that dealt with vampires and her magic and slayers. She watched his face, wondering if any of the names she would be mentioning would be buried somewhere in his memory, then she scolded herself for again focusing on her belief that there was some big powers that be interference at work concerning Spike and William and pushed those beliefs away to just watch his face. Spike had been very handsome, but his eyes had usually been cold and unemotional most of the time and a sneer or a smirk was often planted on his lips. William had beautiful eyes, caring and friendly, and there was a smile on his lips most of the time since they'd met. She liked watching his face.

"Sunnydale? I think I've heard of it," William said, smiling slightly as he felt her eyes on his face. He caught her gaze and watched as she blushed prettily at having been caught staring.

"It's gone now," Willow said, her cheeks flushed from him catching her staring at him like he was dessert and she was a starving woman.

"Gone?" he looked at her with a puzzled expression. "What do you mean it's gone?"

"Last year," Willow said, trying to figure out a logical explanation without resorting to the truth about the Hellmouth and things like that. "It was some sort of natural shifting of the earth or something like that. The whole town just shifted into this big crater and it's all gone now."

"That's horrible!" William said, "And they don't know how or why?"

"Scientists were looking into it," Willow said, deciding that it wasn't exactly a lie, "but they never figured anything definite out. Luckily, almost everyone was aware of the shifting thing and managed to get moved before the whole town sunk. A few people did die though."

"Anyone you knew?" William asked softly, feeling bad for having made her talk about something that had caused such a sad look to enter her pretty green eyes.

"Yeah," Willow nodded, sighing as she said, "My best friend's girlfriend, who was also a good friend of mine, didn't make it. Spike died there, too."

"The friend that looked like me," he remembered from earlier when they had first met.

"He died saving my best friend and a couple of other people," Willow said, adding 'and the world' silently to her sentence.

"I'm sorry," William said softly, leaning forward to take her hand, "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"It's okay," Willow gave him a small smile, squeezing his hand as she said, "anyway, my friends and I moved to the Dallas area to start over. It's been a rough couple of years but it's steadily improving. The change has been good for everyone."

"So, you were born in Sunnydale, a town that no longer exists," William said, wanting to know why it had been a rough couple of years, wanting to move Peaches to the floor and sit beside Willow and hold her as she told him about her life. To just hold her and let her talk until she no longer felt like talking. Instead, he squeezed her hand and gave her a smile, wanting to hear more about this beautiful girl and about the life she had led before they had met only an hour ago.

********************

"My parents were hardly ever around," Willow continued her story, her hand holding onto his as she spoke. "They worked a lot and spent a great deal of time traveling. They hired a nanny when I was younger and by the time I was ten, they decided that I was mature enough to take care of myself when they were away. I've seen them," she mentally counted, "six times in the last five years. I met one of my two best friends, Xander, when I started school. He became my family. Two years later we met a new kid in school, Jesse, and he became part of our family. I met my other best friend when I was a sophomore. Buffy transferred in and it seemed like everything changed."

"How did it change?" William asked, not looking away from her eyes as she spoke, hearing the wistful tone in her voice when she spoke about her friends. He couldn't believe her parents, wondering how anyone could simply ignore such a beautiful and intelligent daughter, deciding finally that it was their loss.

"Well, Jesse died. He was killed by some addicts or something in the park one night," Willow said, using the official police excuse for most of the deaths in Sunnydale. "And it seemed that nothing was really ever the same after that. I guess that was when our innocence died, when we grew up. A lot of things happened that were just part of life. You know, first love, first loss of love, getting ready for college, graduation, just life. After we graduated from high school, Buffy and I enrolled at the local university and Xander went to work. School was never really his thing but he's found that he is great with his hands and became a damn good carpenter over the years."

"I'm sorry that you've lost so many people that you've cared about," William said, wondering how she could still smile and seem so optimistic when she'd lost so many friends under such unusual circumstances.

"You don't know the half of it," Willow gave him a wry smile. "I've learned that you have to remember that life continues even after you've lost someone that means the world to you. If you let your grief consume you, it can be pretty ugly. Xander says that you just need to keep smiling even if you're screaming and crying inside or you risk forgetting that you're still alive and that you are the one that keeps the memories of the people you loved alive."

"Xander sounds pretty smart," William gave her a soft smile, seeing by the look in her eyes that she was fully aware of the loss of each of her friends but that she had grieved and moved on because life did go on.

"Yeah, he's probably one of the smartest people I know," Willow laughed softly. "He turned into one of the strongest people I've ever met. I love him so much and can't even imagine what my life would have been like without him. He went through Hell last year and I was able to give him the same support and love that he gave me the year before when my life went a bit crazy. He, Buffy, and I keep each other sane and I just love them both."

"I've never had friends like that," William admitted. "I was a bit of a loner when I was younger and then I was concentrating on school and everything. I can't remember really having any friends until I moved here, in fact."

"I don't know what I'd have done without Buffy and Xander. Being their friend, having them in my life, well, it's been worth all the bad stuff," Willow said, her eyes watching William's as he pulled himself from his thoughts and smiled at her.

"What bad stuff?" William asked, "You mean, there's more than what I've already heard?"

Willow laughed, "Oh, yeah. We've had a pretty tough past few years. Don't get me wrong, though. We've had a lot of good times, more good times than bad definitely. It's just, the bad times were pretty huge so you tend to lose sight of all the good stuff. It took nearly dying last year when the town went all sinking on us for us to realize how lucky we really were to have such a great group of friends and such a strong friendship. It might sound corny as hell, but we realized that whatever happened didn't really matter because we had each other and together we could do just about anything."

"It's not corny," he smiled, intrigued by what exactly had happened to her and her friends. She'd lost two of them to the natural disaster that had struck Sunnydale, but she was talking as if they'd all nearly died. "What happened?"

"I'll give you an abridged version," Willow decided, wishing she could just curl up against him and tell him everything, but she knew that wasn't possible. Instead, she'd be as honest as she could and continue to gloss over the supernatural aspects of her life, which really was a bit difficult since it had become such a huge part of her life since meeting Buffy. She decided to start at the beginning, wanting him to understand her and her life even if she couldn't be completely honest. "You know about Jesse dying. Well, later that year, Buffy died. She drowned but Xander saved her. She started dating a guy that went a bit psychotic with the possessiveness and we had a couple of scary months before he got some help and ended up becoming a good friend. My favorite teacher was murdered during my Junior year of high school and I ended up taking over her classes. That's when I realized that I enjoyed teaching people. During graduation, there was an explosion at the school and a lot of people didn't survive. We were lucky, but so many others weren't. We went to college and things calmed down a bit. Spike came to town and became part of our group, my boyfriend cheated on me and left town, Buffy met a new guy that was actually pretty nice, Xander hooked up with Anya when she came back to town following a brief vacation after graduation, and Buffy's old boyfriend moved to LA. That's when I met Tara and fell in love."

"Goodness," William couldn't think of anything else to say. He couldn't believe the events she'd experienced in the past few years, looking into her eyes and knowing that she wasn't finished yet. She'd said her boyfriend had cheated on her and then left. He understood that pain, thinking about his time with Ella. She'd cheated on him and left him and it had felt like the world would never again be right. But, time healed all wounds and he'd moved on, fallen in love again eventually. So had Willow. With a girl.

"I don't like to classify myself," Willow said softly, "I loved Tara because of who she was. I loved her soul, her personality, her. I don't really like all those little labels, lesbian, gay, bi-sexual....they don't really mean anything. I loved Oz and I loved Tara. It just happened that Oz was a man and that Tara was a woman."

"It's okay," he said with a smile. "I understand. You love who you love."

"Tara was the sweetest person I'd ever met," Willow smiled, knowing by looking into his eyes that he did understand. "It was a bit confusing but I loved her. My friends accepted her and never judged me. I love them a lot for that. Anyway, continuing my abridged version of my life, during our second year of college, one of the worst things we'd ever dealt with happened. Joyce, Buffy's mom, died. She'd been like a mom to all of us and it was just tough. She'd been sick for a while but we thought she was getting better and then Buffy came home one day and found her laying there. Dawn took it hard. Dawn is Buffy's younger sister and she was going through some emotional stuff anyway, being a teenager and all. Joyce's death didn't help. Buffy ended up quitting school to take care of Dawn and eventually, Tara and I moved in to help with Dawn and everything. Buffy was able to go back to school part time and work and things settled down. It was about a year later that Tara was killed by a stray bullet, dying in my arms. I, um, well, I sort of freaked out."

"Oh God," he whispered, holding her hand tighter as he saw the unshed tears appear in her eyes as she spoke about losing Joyce, the best friend's mother that had become a mother to all of them and then she'd lost Tara, whom she spoke of with such love and tenderness.

"Yeah, it was kind of scary for a few days there," Willow said, remembering the pain and loss she had felt, the need for revenge, the murder of Warren. She couldn't feel guilty about killing him, not even now, but she felt terrible for nearly destroying everyone she loved because of her loss of control. She couldn't tell William about that, about nearly ending the world because she let her grief consume her. Instead, she squeezed his hand and smiled, "Xander saved me. He put his arms around me and kept holding me and talking to me until I dealt with my issues. And, sadly, it wasn't even a year later that I was the one holding him as he dealt with losing Anya. There was an accident before all that happened and Xander ended up in the hospital, losing vision in one eye. He'd just accepted that and then he lost Anya. I held Xander and I listened to Buffy. She and Spike had sort of dated off and on for a couple of years...I can't really explain what their relationship was, honestly, but they cared about each other. She was upset that Spike had died, a bit guilty because he'd died saving her, but she had never really been in love with him so she handled it pretty well. She mostly wanted to talk, to have someone listen, so I listened. I mean, she loved him, but it was sort of the same way she loved me and Xander. Maybe with time, it would have developed into something more, but, then again, I really doubt it. I know he loved her, could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice when he spoke about her or spoke to her, but I don't think she'd ever have been able to give him what he wanted, what he deserved. Well, we're at the end of my story, I guess. We all left Sunnydale, moving to Texas and starting over. We got settled and began new lives. We're all pretty darn happy, too."

"You all deserve to be happy," William said quietly, finding it unbelievable that this gorgeous creature had experienced such tragedy and was able to talk about it with a faint hint of sadness in her eyes but a smile on her lips. She was even more strong than he'd originally thought. She was lucky that she had such great friends that she cared about and that cared about her.

"Yeah, I think we do," Willow said. She didn't tell him that Buffy had quit attending school part time because it got too tough to try to go to class and support Dawn. She also failed to mention that she had stopped going to class during her final year because she'd been needed to help get everything ready to fight the First and to try to stop the world from being destroyed. She also didn't tell him about her illegal activities involving her computer hacking and the councils' bank records or the hacking she had done to get her and Buffy the degrees that they had tried to get while balancing school with fighting evil. She didn't go into the details about how she had hacked into the university computers to forge her and Buffy's records so that they could request their degrees. Buffy had wanted hers to be in psychology, her major before she'd had to quit school. The slayer had spent several months as a guidance counselor and had actually picked up the habit over the last year of reading actual texts to learn her chosen degree field. Willow had nearly finished her coursework before Tara's death and it hadn't really been a lot of credits she'd had to fake on her own transcripts so she didn't feel overly guilty for the bending of the truth. She knew that it was morally wrong to have faked school records to get degrees that neither girl had officially earned, but they'd been through hell, literally, and, damn it, they'd saved the world. They couldn't have a parade or the key to the city that no longer existed, but they did have framed diplomas on the wall from the University of Sunnydale that also no longer existed. She drew herself from her thoughts as she told him, "Like I said, we had some pretty bad times but we survived. We're alive and happy and still together. Growing up isn't easy under normal circumstances, but we had each other so it wasn't so bad."

"You're right. Growing up can be rough, especially when you lose someone so close to you," William said, "my Mum died when I was a teen and my father was never really part of my life so I found myself on my own pretty early on."

"I'm sorry about your Mom," Willow said softly, wondering how their conversation had turned from flirty and fun to melancholy and serious. Okay, so it was her fault for starting to talk and not shutting up as she'd kept rambling. She honestly hadn't intended to dwell on the bad parts of her life, losing friends and people that she loved, but she'd looked into his eyes and somehow known that he'd understand what she was feeling. "It sounds like the two of you were close."

"She was great," he smiled as he thought of his Mum, "she was the perfect Mum. She kept me focused on my studies and was always encouraging me to be happy. She always wanted me to be happy and to find someone to love. I think she'd have liked you."

"I think I'd have liked her," Willow responded with her own smile, hearing the depth of affection in his voice when he spoke about his mother. She didn't have that affection for her parents, but she did for the friends that had become her family.

"Listen to us," he suddenly laughed, giving her a sheepish smile, "I never intended to turn things so serious when I asked about your life. I just wanted to know everything about you."

"It's partially my fault," she admitted, "I've been thinking a lot during my little vacation here, remembering the past, good and bad. I guess it was nice to have someone listen so I just kept talking. I didn't mean to get all weepy and nostalgic like this."

"I don't mind," he gave her a small smile, "It has been nice having someone listen and someone to talk to. I feel like I could tell you anything."

"William, what's happening between us?" she asked softly, knowing by his words and his expression that he felt the same connection that she had felt since she'd first touched him and looked into his eyes. Before he could answer her question, the buzzer of the washing machine sounded.

********************

Saved by the bell.

Willow had never really given much thought to that phrase before. Honestly, the television show that was on Saturday mornings years and years ago that had starred that cute blond kid came to mind even now when she said it in her head. He wasn't a kid anymore. She'd seen him baring his flesh on the cop show that Dawn enjoyed watching Tuesday nights. Okay, why she was sitting in William's living room thinking about some blond actor and his path from cheesy teen sitcom to serious skin showing drama? Because it kept her mind off dealing with what was happening between her and William. She'd answered her own question. She glanced towards the kitchen where the buzzer was still going off, her eyes moving to catch William's gorgeous blue eyes as she gave him a slight smile. Saved by the buzzer was more accurate.

William cursed the washing machine in every language that he knew. The moment had been ruined, Willow's eyes looking away from his to look towards the kitchen. When she looked back at him, her eyes were cautious, she looked like she might have said too much and only realized it when reality intruded. He glared at the kitchen, rolling his eyes and making a face as he reluctantly stood. He gave her a sheepish smile as he said, "I'll go turn that off and start the dryer."

"I'll be here," Willow replied, her eyes moving to follow his trim form as he walked through the living room towards the kitchen. Her eyes moved over the swell of his ass, recognizing it. Her eyes widened slightly as she looked away, her hand moving to run over her face as she told herself again that he was not Spike, that it didn't matter that he had the same ass and the same face and the same voice. Spike was gone. William was human. Their eyes were different. Okay, so that was a bit of a stretch of truth. They were the same but William's eyes were affectionate and happy and they didn't have the hard, unemotional shield that Spike's had always had. William smiled, a real smile that took over his entire face and made him even more handsome. She got to her feet, needing to move. She did not understand what was happening here. That wasn't exactly right. She understood the lust that was running through her veins, she understood the tingles and pleasure that she felt looking at William and listening to him and even just being with him. What she didn't understand was how he could practically be Spike's human twin, how he could make her feel things that she hadn't felt in years, how he could make her feel such intense emotions when they'd only just met, how it felt as if she'd known him forever when it had only been a few hours, how she was so comfortable being around him when she didn't even really know him. Those were the things that confused her, that made her curious and scared her at the same time they comforted her. She was getting to the point where she didn't even care why he was like Spike or why there such an intense attraction between them or why it felt as if there was some connection between them that went beyond the normal, where she only cared that he made her feel something she'd never felt, not even with Tara or Oz.

William tossed her shirt into the dryer, his blue eyes thoughtful as he leaned against the warm dryer. She'd asked him what was happening. He had no doubts as to what she meant, recognizing that she must be feeling the same pull and connection that he was feeling. He didn't have an answer to her question, had to admit that maybe being interrupted by the buzzer wasn't a bad thing. It gave him time to think and try to understand what was going on. That was a laugh. He couldn't understand it at all. He couldn't remember ever feeling such passion for anyone, feeling as if he'd found the other half of himself. He was scared to death. He'd thought that it might have been lust, an attraction that he'd misread into being more. He hadn't dated since he'd moved to New Orleans and hadn't had a woman in a while so a part of him wondered if it was just a physical reaction. He'd wondered for all of ten seconds before he'd realized that it wasn't just arousal that he was feeling when he was looking into her beautiful green eyes. It had felt as if someone had knocked the air from his lungs, as if someone had grabbed onto his heart and squeezed tight.

He couldn't very well tell her all those things though. She might be feeling the same connection, the same unexplainable rightness of it all, but he didn't think it would be wise to tell her that he believed it was fate that had brought them together. She'd had a hard life, losing people she loved and having a group of friends that were like family. She seemed innocent and optimistic in some ways, but, looking into her eyes, he'd seen that she was wise beyond her years. She'd lived lifetimes in a few short years, had seen people she loved die, had nearly died herself, and somehow he didn't think romantic words about love at first sight and destiny would help her understand what was happening. He wondered if his resemblance to her dead friend, that Spike guy, might be an issue. She'd said the guy was her best friend's lover, had died saving her friends, and he'd only been dead a year or so. Did she look at him and see a ghost from her past? He shook his head, knowing that he was worrying for no reason. She didn't look at him as if he were someone from her past. True, she'd seemed surprised at first and he'd caught her studying him in a way that made him believe she was comparing him to the dead guy, but her eyes would then look into his and he didn't believe that she was seeing anyone except for William Fairchilde.

He moved from the kitchen, standing in the doorway, his eyes watching her as she paced slowly back and forth, her eyes looking at the floor as she chewed on her bottom lip. He leaned against the doorway, hardening instantly when he watched her tongue move along her lip. He closed his eyes, counting to ten and then twenty as he tried to get control of his arousal. He'd never reacted like this before, never had an instant erection just from watching a gorgeous woman lick her lips. Not even Ella had caused such an attraction and he'd loved her for more years than he could even remember. Closing his eyes didn't have the proper effect on him. Counting drifted off to an echo as he found himself wondering what Willow tasted like, what she would feel like against him, what her face would look like as she cried out in pleasure, too easily imagining her red hair soaked with sweat, her green eyes lit with pleasure and arousal, her breasts arching forward to his hand....he groaned softly, licking his lips as he cursed himself for having such a vivid imagination.

"William, are you okay?" Willow asked softly, stopping her pacing when she heard the low groan coming from the doorway. Her eyes moved over him in concern, widening when they reached the rather large bulge pressing against his pants. Oh, wow. With sudden clarity, she understood why he had groaned, now recognizing the signs of arousal. She'd caused that, she realized. He'd been watching her pace and think and, goodness, how aroused would he be if they kissed? She felt a familiar tightening in her stomach as imagined kissing him, pushing him against the wall and just tasting his lips for hours. She shakily moved to lean against the sofa as her mind went beyond kissing and moved to clothes being tossed around the apartment and continued to him sinking deep inside her and Willow took a deep breath, knowing that she needed to stop those particular thoughts. She was even more confused now. She was by no means an experienced person, having only been sexual with people that she had loved and been involved with, but she'd had sex numerous times with those chosen few partners. During all of those times, she had never felt such intense desire, never felt this ache, never felt as if her life would be complete if she simply touched her partner. There was an electricity between her and William, a lust that could not be denied, a connection that went beyond just the physical attraction that they were feeling, and she had no idea what it meant or why it was happening or what they were supposed to do about it.

"I'm fine," William managed to respond, nearly forgetting his manners when he opened his eyes and saw her eyes watching him with desire that he knew must mirror his own. He managed to get control of himself, though, and his arousal slowly receded. He wanted this gorgeous creature more than he'd ever wanted anyone in his life, had to believe that it was destiny that had brought them together, knew that fate worked in mysterious ways, and he was starting to fall in love with her. Was it smart? No, not at all. It was probably the stupidest thing he'd ever done in his life. But, it felt right and he was a hopeless romantic that believed in soulmates and happily ever afters so he wasn't about to question the logic and intelligence of spending time with someone that was going to be leaving in a few days, about being around someone that caused such an intense arousal that threatened to consume him with just a look or a smile, about risking his heart by falling in love with a woman that he'd just met but felt as if he'd known forever. He wanted to spend time with Willow, wanted to see what was happening between them, wanted to explore the possibilities rather than dealing with regrets if he didn't take a chance.

He smiled at her, answering her earlier question finally, "Willow, I don't know what is happening between us but I'd like to find out. Take a chance and see what happens. What do you say? Would you like to have lunch with me?"

"I, well," Willow was a bit surprised that he'd been so honest about what he was feeling, knowing that she didn't want to leave and go back to her empty hotel room to later wish she'd made a different choice. She smiled at him as she answered, "Lunch sounds great, William."

********************

"I'll just feed Peaches and then we can go," William said, not able to keep the large smile from crossing his face as he heard her words, knowing that they meant she was going to take a chance and see what was happening between them.

"All right," Willow smiled as he went into the kitchen, calling the large dog that was responsible for their first meeting. She wondered what her friends would say if they could see her now. She'd have probably gotten several speeches about the dangers of talking to strangers, especially strangers that closely resembled vampires that had died saving the world, and she would have had to listen to tons of warnings about how foolish it was to explore feelings for a guy she didn't know, a guy that lived six hundred miles away from her, a guy that made her long for the days when she believed in happily ever after. She used to believe in fairy tales and would often wish for her prince charming to appear and hold her and love her forever.

She'd learned over the years that happily ever afters didn't seem to be part of her future and that you lost the people you love. She'd become cynical and jaded and, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't forget Oz's face when he had left her or Tara's face as she had died. It wasn't just her. Buffy had lost Angel and Riley and you could even count Spike. Xander had lost Cordelia and Anya. Maybe it was some sort of trade. You could survive and prevent the end of the world, but you would never find the forever kind of love. She guessed it was a fair trade, knowing that she would much rather be alive, even if it meant never having the love she had dreamed about before meeting Buffy. William made her feel special, made her want to believe in those happy endings, made her want to remember her childish dreams and forget the reality of loss and hurt and survival. Buffy and Xander would never believe that she was taking such a risk, always teasing her about how she was the logical and practical one of the group, the smart one that always wanted everything planned. It was scary, staying here with William, having no idea what was going on between them or what the future would hold, but she was finding that she had more courage than she'd expected. She was willing to take a risk to see what happened, not caring what anyone thought about it except herself and William.

She sighed as she looked at various photographs on William's bookcase, deciding not to worry about what her friends would say and to just concentrate on how right it seemed to be right here, right now. She smiled as she saw him with different people, smiling and making faces at the camera. She saw a picture of him surrounded by his students, the teens looking at him with admiration and respect. He was a popular teacher, she guessed. Not only was he gorgeous, which would definitely keep his female students awake, but he was smart and funny. He wasn't threatening with his looks in a way that would bother guys. If anything, she figured he was the teacher that the guys wanted to be like and that the girls crushed on. She noticed a plaque that he was holding in the picture with his students, moving closer and trying to read what it said.

"I was voted most popular teacher last year," William said softly as he came up behind her, not wanting to startle her. He gave her a sheepish smile and a shrug as he said, "I don't really know why, but the students seem to like my class. I got a plaque and they carried me around in a chair during a pep rally. It was rather embarrassing but it meant a lot."

"It sounds sweet," Willow said, sharing a smile with him as she tried to ignore how close he was. He was smiling, remembering the event in question. She loved his eyes, loved the emotion she saw there as he recalled how nice it was to be honored by his students during his first year teaching. She looked back at the pictures and said, "You've made a lot of friends since moving here, haven't you? All of these are recent."

"I've got a good group of people that I hang out with," he nodded, "first group of friends that I can really remember ever having. I don't have any photographs from before I moved here."

"You don't?" she looked at him, slightly surprised that he didn't have any pictures from the twenty-six years that he had lived before arriving in New Orleans. "No pictures of your mother or past girlfriends or anything?"

He shook his head, "Not a single one. I lost them when I moved to the States. And I never really met anyone here that I considered a friend. I mean, I drifted into a relationship with Beth and thought I loved her, but it just didn't work out. I never really thought about it, but I guess I never did get any pictures of her."

"Well, it looks like you've made up for the lack of photographs since moving here," Willow said with a small smile, trying to ignore the nagging part of her mind that was pointing out how coincidental it was that he didn't have any photographs of the time before he moved to New Orleans last summer which was after Spike had died and the powers that be might have rewarded him with this human life. Okay, so she wasn't exactly ignoring that nagging, but she was trying to concentrate on William and his beautiful eyes and that lovely smile that did things to her that were probably illegal in several states and not continue with trying to figure every single detail of what was happening out.

"Are you about ready for lunch?" he asked as he inhaled the sweet scent of Willow, making a memory as his eyes caught hers.

"Yeah, I could eat," she admitted, mesmerized by his eyes. If she moved just a little closer, she could be kissing those gorgeous lips, She moved a bit, watching as he, too, seemed to be caught in the realization that it was ever so easy to kiss. She licked her lips, her eyes on his as she whispered, "I'm rather hungry."

"I know the perfect place," he said huskily, eyes narrowing as he watched her tongue run across her lips. She had the most kissable lips he'd ever seen. He swayed slightly, wanting it to be his tongue moving across the delectable flesh in front of him. He wanted to taste every inch of her beautiful body.

"Maybe we should go," Willow finally managed to say, knowing that it was too soon for that. She hardly knew anything about him, wasn't ready to take that next step, not yet. One kiss would not be enough. She needed him, wanted him in a way that was scary at the same time it was almost comforting. She wanted to know him, though, before she shared her body with him. She wasn't even pretending to herself that she was going to just become friends with him, that she'd have fun and go home with pleasant memories of her trip to New Orleans. No, something was happening between them that was undeniable. Sure, they might become friends and she would probably have pleasant memories, but she knew, just knew somehow in a way that she couldn't explain or understand, that she would not be leaving New Orleans without tasting him, without being with him, without sharing his bed. It was inevitable. Some things were just meant to be.

********************

"Would you like to sit out in the courtyard?" William asked as he held the door open for Willow. Once she had entered the cafa33;, he followed her inside, glad to see that it was not very busy. He had wanted somewhere quiet, where they could sit and talk without distractions.

"That would be nice," Willow decided, knowing that it was fairly warm outside and that sitting outside in the heat was a bit foolish, but also seeing that the courtyard area was practically deserted. She could handle the warmth if it meant being able to give William her full attention.

"They have fans and shade trees so it's not nearly as hot you might think," William said, seeming to know what she was thinking about. He was rewarded by a pleased smile from Willow as he took her hand walked through the cafa33; towards the courtyard. There were two other couples outside, the remaining tables empty. He chose a table that was in the back, away from the others. Looking at Willow, he asked, "Is this good?"

"It's perfect," she declared, sitting in the chair that he had pulled out for her. She watched as he sat down opposite her, his leg brushing against hers as he got comfortable. It wasn't very long before their waitress came over with menus. They both ordered iced tea, sharing a smile before opening their menus. Willow looked at the choices, asking, "What do you recommend?"

"Everything that I've ever eaten here has been good," William said, "I don't think you can go wrong with whatever you choose. I'm fond of the burgers and the chicken strips for lunch, and they make a great chicken fried steak with gravy."

"It all sounds good," Willow said thoughtfully, trying to decide just how hungry she was at the moment. Finally, she closed her menu, telling him, "I think I'll try the burger and fries."

"Good choice," William remarked, "I'm having a bacon cheeseburger myself."

"That sounds even better," Willow said, deciding that she'd have the same. They placed their orders when the waitress came back with their tea. Willow squeezed her lemon and stirred the tea before taking a sip. "This tastes wonderful."

"Perfect for a warm afternoon," William agreed as he took a drink.

"So, William, while we're waiting for our food, why don't you tell me about yourself. I already bored you with my story," Willow sat back in her chair, her green eyes focused on his handsome face.

"You could never bore me, Willow," he responded with a soft smile before he shrugged, "My story, on the other hand, will bore you to tears."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?" Willow suggested with a smile, deciding that the chances of William boring her were slim to none. She loved listening to him talk, loved watching his eyes, loved the smiles that would cross his face.

"I was born in Estershire twenty-seven years ago. We moved to London when I was a baby. I never knew my Da," William admitted, "I mean, I knew who he was and had his address, but I only saw him a few times when I was a kid. It was just me and my mum. I had a good childhood. I don't particularly remember anything bad happening until my Mum got sick. I took care of her. Used to write her poems and read to her. She always liked my poems and my stories. She died after I finished school. I traveled a bit, saw the world, then I accepted enrollment at Harvard. Moved to the States and focused all of my energy at school. I honestly don't remember too much about my life before I got to New Orleans. I mean, I remember most of it but it's all kind of like distant memories. My life didn't really seem to start until I moved here. I grew up, lost my Mum, went to college and then got the job here. In between, I fell in love but lost her to another man. I also started a relationship that wasn't really about love. I hate to admit it, but it was more physical than anything else. It didn't last very long and was over before I accepted the position and moved here. After that relationship, I did a lot of thinking about what I wanted and decided that I could be patient enough to wait until I found someone that completed my life. I haven't really dated since the thing with Beth ended a couple of years ago. I was looking for someone that I honestly wasn't sure I'd ever find, a soulmate. I put my faith in destiny hoping that my patience would one day be rewarded, though there were many times since that decision that I started to wonder if I wasn't just a romantic fool who would end up alone without ever finding the other of my soul."

"That's not boring at all," Willow said quietly, not missing the way he was looking at her, giving her no doubts that he was starting to believe that *she* was the one he had been waiting for. And, God help her, she was starting to think he might be right. Soulmates? She had stopped believing in fairy tales and happily ever afters when she had lost Tara, knowing that real life was not a place for such romantic and foolish ideas. Now, though, looking into William's gorgeous blue eyes and listening to him talk about destiny and patience being rewarded and soulmates, well, she was starting to forget her cynical views on things like that and was beginning to wonder if it was possible to find someone like it was fate or destiny. She took a drink of her tea, trying to collect her thoughts. She wanted to move on from that topic, not yet ready to analyze what it was that had brought him into her life, not ready to decide if she was able to again believe in the romantic dreams she had once had. She looked back at him, asking, "What happened with your father?"

"He died," William sighed, "it was several years ago. I don't really miss him because I never knew him, but there are times that I find myself wishing that I had known him because now I'll never have the chance. He's gone and he never got to know who I am. I used to have a picture of him and my mum together, but I lost it with everything else during the fire. I honestly can't even remember what he looks like. I still remember my Mum, though. I feel like she's still with me, watching over my life, keeping an eye on me. Stupid, huh?"

"Not at all," Willow smiled at him, both surprised that he was being so honest with her but not surprised because he seemed to want to get to know her. It was getting far easier to separate him from the memories of Spike, spending time with him and learning who he was made her forget the similarities to the vampire that had become a friend and, instead, focus on the differences that made William who he was, that made him the man she was starting to have feelings for that confused her even more. "I still feel my friends with me at times. I sometimes talk to Jesse and Tara and Anya, sharing stories or thoughts with an empty room because I loved them and they were important to me. Does it make me stupid to ramble on to empty rooms?"

"You could never be stupid," he said, smiling at her as he watched her blush at the look of appreciation in his eyes.

Willow could have argued his words, thinking of many examples where she had been a bit stupid, nearly ending the world number one on that list, but she remained silent, instead looking in his eyes as they shared a moment of awareness where words were not necessary. She smiled softly, wishing she could understand what was happening at the same time she didn't care anymore about anything except being with William. The moment was finally interrupted by the waitress. After their food was left, Willow picked up a french fry and dipped it into ketchup. After she had eaten it, she asked, "William, why don't you tell me about your life since you moved to New Orleans."

********************

"Life in New Orleans?" William smiled as he took a bite of his burger. He thought about it before he said, "I don't really know where to start. Like I said, it almost seems like I didn't start living until I moved here. I have a job that I love. It might sound corny as hell, but I love teaching. There's nothing like the rush of introducing people to a subject that I love, watching my students get interested in those 'musty old books' they never thought they'd enjoy. I don't know, it's hard to explain without sounding like a self-indulgent ass, but it feels like I'm making a difference in a way. I've only been teaching for a year, though, and my friend Wally constantly tells me that he wants to see that sparkle of enjoyment in my eyes in another ten or fifteen years."

"I understand, actually," Willow said with a smile, "I taught a computer class during me senior year of high school and it was definitely an experience. I'd always been a bit shy. You know, the quiet geek that rarely spoke up in class unless called on. Well, when Jenny died, she was our computer teacher that I mentioned earlier that was killed during my junior year, I took over her class. It really helped give me some confidence that I was lacking, helped me become a bit more vocal and definitely improved my public speaking abilities. I enjoyed sharing my knowledge with the students that really did want to learn. Like you said, it was such a kick to know that I was responsible for introducing them to things that they'd never found very interesting before. It's much better now, though. I love history, have always loved researching and knowing about things that have happened in the past. Sharing that passion with my students is even more rewarding than teaching that computer class back in high school."

"You're a teacher?" William asked, realizing that she hadn't mentioned specifically what she did for a living. He smiled slightly as he said, "And I know what you mean about the shy geek. I was a bit of a nerd, always had my head stuck in a book or writing my silly poems."

"Yes, I am a teacher, and I doubt your poems were silly at all," Willow smiled, knowing it wasn't actually a lie. She did usually teach the history lessons to the girls, and she did have a passion for her subject of choice. She had even passed the accreditation test needed for the state of Texas without any hacking help or blurring the lines of the legal aspects of the test. She'd been rather proud of herself after that. It sort of made up for her fabrication of their college degrees, though she still did feel slightly guilty for not having actually completed the final courses needed for a legitimate degree. Unfortunately, saving the world tended to leave little time for studying, especially when the college was sucked into Hell, literally, before finals. She pulled herself from her thoughts, looking into William's blue eyes as she decided to explain a bit about the situation, being as truthful as possible without raising any unanswerable questions, "I work at a private girl's school. I teach history and help out with computer instructions and I'm also part of the admissions team. It's a very private school with only a few dozen students and is relatively new, but we're all working on it together and I think it's going pretty well."

"I can't believe you're a teacher, too," he shook his head, smiling as his eyes moved over her face. His voice lowered slightly as he said, "Yet something else we have in common, Willow."

"I guess so," Willow smiled before she went back to her food, not sure how to respond to his words. No, it wasn't his words. They were completely innocent and he was right. It was a coincidence that they were both teachers, that they found enjoyment in sharing an area of interest that they were passionate about with other people. Granted, their situations were a bit different. With him teaching in a public school and actually having the degrees to back up his profession and her teaching in a slayer training school in between training and seeking slayers and dealing with any evil threats that happened to arise, but, in the end, they were both teachers. No, it wasn't what he was saying, it was how he was saying it. With that flirtatious smile on his handsome face and the gleam in his beautiful blue eyes that let her know that he was interested in finding out what else they had in common. Her eyes moved over his face as they ate in comfortable silence, doing her best to be covert at sneaking peeks at him, not wanting to get caught ogling him while having lunch.

As they ate, she noticed things that she hadn't noticed before. Things that again made her remember Spike and debate the possibilities of William and Spike being the same person somehow. The similarities went beyond the face and the voice, which were just about identical, save for William being human and Spike being a vampire. There were other things that nagged at her mind, made her dwell on ideas of how it could be, what could have happened, if it were really possible that the Powers that Be had somehow given Spike a reward by giving him a new life, a human life. She hadn't ever been best friends with Spike or anything like that, but she'd known him for years. She'd spent a lot of time with him, more than any of the others knew. They'd patrolled together after Buffy had died, spending many hours together over that summer, becoming friends of sorts. They'd talk about various things, never anything important but just general topics. She'd seen a side of Spike that not many people ever saw. It hadn't been often, but there had been times he'd let his guard down, that he'd let her in even for a few brief moments before closing himself off again and growing distant and getting that attitude back. She was reminded of those moments as she talked to William, watching his face as he smiled and laughed.

She began to make a list of things that she couldn't easily accept and move past. Besides the face and the voice, William had a scar above his left eyebrow, just like Spike. He was left handed, just like Spike. He got the same sparkle in his eyes that she'd seen ever so briefly in Spike's when he'd talk about something that he really cared about. They had the same shape, same height, though William had a tan while Spike had been pale. The hands were the same, large and capable, though William's nails were free of the black polish that Spike had favored. She hadn't seen William without his shirt, but she would wager that he had the same smooth chest with a light scattering of hair across his lower abdomen just like Spike. There were so many ways in which it was nearly impossible for her logic thinking mind to ignore that they had to somehow be the same person, to wonder how and why and what it all meant. Nearly impossible but not totally impossible.

You see, she'd never felt like this about Spike. Sure, he'd been a good-looking guy, his snarly attitude never detracting from his physical beauty. He'd also been very intelligent, smart and shrewd and a good conversationalist the few times he'd bothered trying to be friendly. He'd been an observer, watching and studying everyone around him. He'd known everyone's strengths and weaknesses and the exact way to play them all to get the results that he wanted. She honestly thought he was more cunning and intelligent than Angelus had been, knowing he would have been a terrible enemy to face if he'd given his entire attention and concentration to the task of defeating them, might have been their eventual defeat if he hadn't been caught up in taking care of Dru or then stuck with the implant and eventually the soul. He seemed to appreciate humanity, enjoying junk food and music and soap operas, making him even more of a contradiction and puzzle that she'd never really been able to figure out. She'd been intrigued by him, had had a bit of a crush at one time or another, but it had never gone beyond that. He'd become a friend of sorts and that was it. When he had died, she'd felt the loss as she had felt the loss of Anya, pain for losing a friend that she'd never gotten to know as well as she'd wished, and she did think about him from time to time. He'd become part of their lives and it seemed weird without him around. That was all she had felt when she thought about Spike, though.

William, on the other hand, was making her body do things that it hadn't done in a long time. Okay, things that it probably had never done at all. Since taking his hand and looking into his eyes not a few hours before, her entire body had been in a steady state of awareness and semi-arousal. Intense desire, an unexplainable need to be with him, an interest in talking to him and learning everything about him. Though it was a bit difficult to ignore the likelihood that he could very well somehow be linked to Spike, she was able to forget about her suspicions and comparisons when she looked at him, when she spoke to him. He became William Fairchilde, English teacher and New Orleans resident. The man that was affecting her in a way that scared her at the same time it excited her. She didn't really care how he might be connected to Spike, didn't care about the numerous questions she had concerning this entire weird situation, didn't care about anything except the way he was smiling at her with that flirty twist of his lips and the wicked gleam in his gorgeous eyes and the way he made her believe that things like fate and destiny might actually exist in this fucked up world they lived in.

********************

"That was delicious," Willow declared as she finished the last bite of bacon cheeseburger. She smiled at William, noticing that his plate was empty. They'd spent the first part of their lunch in a comfortable silence as they ate, both lost in thought or simply enjoying their food. Midway through, he'd started to tell her about New Orleans, about his habits and the places that he liked to go. She, in turn, gave him an abridged version of her life, noticing that they both liked to take walks and enjoyed history and had similar tastes in music and films. Their chatting had turned their lunch into a nearly two-hour event.

"It's one of my favorite places for burgers," William said as he glanced at the waitress that came to refill their tea. He was reluctant to let their lunch end, not knowing what would happen next. He knew that they were virtually strangers, having just met that day. But it didn't feel like they were strangers. He felt as if he had known her for years. They had a lot in common, enjoying many of the same activities and music and movies. They both had families that were unconventional, consisting of close friends. Being with her felt right, as if it was supposed to be this way.

He did still get the feeling that she was keeping something from him, that she wasn't being completely honest, but he trusted her and knew that she had to have her reasons if she was indeed keeping secrets. For a brief moment, right after their food had come, he'd been struck again with the thought that she might be thinking about the dead guy that she said he resembled. She'd been looking at him, her eyes thoughtful, and he couldn't help feeling that she was making those comparisons. He'd been very relieved that the feeling hadn't lasted long. He knew it must be difficult for her since he looked a bit like the friend she had lost. He was very happy that she was able to adjust and was willing to give them time to get to know each other without comparing him with the dead guy constantly.

"I can see why," Willow said as she took a drink of her tea. She wasn't really sure what was going to happen next. She knew that she didn't want their time together to end. She liked talking to him, had found it very easy to forget about Spike and her theories and everything else except William and the feelings he brought out in her. It wasn't just the lust and desire she felt for him, though there was an awareness that was constant. It was so many things that she couldn't even begin to comprehend. She felt relaxed with him, comfortable and happy and, he was really starting rubbing off on her, at home. Being with him felt right in a way she couldn't put into words or thought. Even the silences had been nice, pleasant. God, she was sitting here calling silences pleasant. What was happening?

"What next?" William finally asked, watching as she looked at him and smiled, realizing that she had probably been wondering the same thing. He had to admit that he liked sharing thoughts with her, that he enjoyed the natural way they were able to complete each other's sentences and were always on the same wavelength.

"That's what I was just asking myself," Willow confessed softly, dragging her bottom lip into her mouth as she grew thoughtful, not sure what to say. She was finding herself at a loss of words a lot since meeting William, something she wasn't really used to. She'd been the 'thinker' and the 'planner' for years, always seeming to be the one everyone turned to for ideas and because she always seemed to know the right thing to say or do. Buffy often teased her about being her habit of setting goals and making lists and always being prepared for whatever might happen in practically every situation. Looking into his eyes, she was at a loss at what to say, what they should do, what was happening. She was a bit confused and uncertain even as she was content and relaxed.

William watched her chew on her lip and shifted in his chair as he felt himself growing aroused from the innocent act. Maybe a cold shower should be next. He'd never been this aroused before in his entire life. It wasn't just physical arousal, either. While he did find her beautiful and sexy and would love nothing more than to explore her body slowly with his hands and mouth, he was also aroused mentally. She was one of the smartest people he'd ever met. Their conversation had been stimulating even though their topics had ranged from Shakespeare to the battles of the American Civil War to the rise of English punk music in the seventies. He wanted to spend more time talking to her, wanted to enjoy the little time they had before she would go back home next week. Deciding that honesty was definitely the best policy, he told her this, "I don't want this to end, Willow. I love talking to you, want to know more about you, want to keep exploring whatever this is happening between us."

"Me too," she said quietly, having come to nearly the same conclusion herself. She caught his eyes as she smiled slightly, "I really like you, William. I don't want it to end yet, either."

"Have you been able to see much of the city?" William asked, not able to hide the pleased smile that had crossed his handsome face at hearing her words. He had an idea of what they could do. He could show her around the city, spend time with her as they got to know each other better, take her to some of the more popular tourist type places as well as some of the more locally known places.

"Not a lot," Willow shook her head. "Buffy and I had the meeting with our new student's parents when we first got to town but she flew home that night. Since then, I've just walked around a bit, seen the river and done some shopping. That's about it."

"Why don't you let me show you my city?" he asked, a bit nervous about her response. He relaxed when he saw her smile, knowing her answer would be yes before she opened her mouth.

"That sounds wonderful," Willow decided. She had wanted to see more of the city before she had to go home. She also wanted to spend more time with William. She wanted to make some good memories to take home with her. She'd promised Dawn and Andrew plenty of stories and pictures to keep them entertained when she returned, knowing they had made her make that promise to ensure that she wouldn't spend the majority of her visit in the room alone. She'd skip over the fact that William could have been Spike's human twin and concentrate on describing his smile and his eyes and the way he tilted his head just so when he was listening to her, giving her his entire attention as he listened to every word, making her feel as if she were the most important person in the world. It was funny, but the more time she spent with him, the less she thought about Spike and the powers that be and the more she thought about William and how easy it would be to fall in love with him.

********************

"So, what have you seen since arriving in my town?" William asked Willow as they left the cafa33; and stepped onto the sidewalk.

"Not a lot," Willow laughed, struggling to remember how she had spent the few days she'd had in New Orleans so far. She shrugged, "I did some shopping for the gang back home, but that's about it."

"Okay," William grew thoughtful as he thought of various things that he had done when he'd first moved to town and of the things that tourists considered must sees. He was trying to figure out what Willow would enjoy the most, wanting to make her time in the city memorable.

Willow watched his eyes as he thought, a smile crossing her face as she saw how serious he was about planning their activities. She didn't bother telling him that she didn't care what they did, that being with him would make even the most mundane activity enjoyable. She needed to go by her room to get her camera and some extra money. She'd bought everyone something already, but she wanted to be prepared in case she saw something perfect for one of her friends. She began walking towards her hotel, her smile growing when William took her hand.

"Where are we going?" he asked, arching a brow as he glanced in the direction that Willow was headed.

"How did you get that scar?" Willow asked curiously, moving closer to him. She ran her finger along the scar that was located in the exact same spot as Spike's. Was it yet another coincidence or further proof that William was somehow linked to Spike?

"I fell," William said softly, wondering if she had any idea what her gentle touch was doing to him. It was casual and friendly yet it had him completely aroused. He looked at her and saw that look in her eyes, the thoughtful yet confused look that made him wonder what she was thinking.

"Oh," Willow turned her attention away from the scar to look at William. Her breath caught when she saw the look of desire and need in his eyes. She moved her finger down his cheek, watching his eyes as he inhaled sharply as she neared his lips. She licked her lips before letting her hand drop and stepping back. She hadn't meant for that to happen. She's just been curious about the scar that was identical to Spike's scar. She hadn't intended to arouse them both, yet here she was contemplating kissing someone she'd just recently met. Kissing? Who was she trying to fool? She had moved beyond 'just kissing' hours ago.

"Ahem," William cleared his throat, thankful that his shirt was loose and long enough to cover the prominent bulge that was currently pushing against his jeans. He was that hard just from feeling her hand against his face. He didn't understand why she caused such a reaction in him, but he could see in her eyes that she was feeling the same thing. It wasn't just his physical reaction to her that surprised him. He loved talking to her, could sit for hours and do nothing except have a conversation with her. She was intelligent and funny and sexy. He ran a hand through his hair before finally looking into her eyes. A sheepish smile crossed his face as he acknowledged their explosive attraction, knowing it was stupid to pretend that it didn't exist, "Sorry about that. I've never had this kind of reaction to someone before so I'm not really sure how to handle it."

Oh, God, Willow's mind drifted into pornographic areas with his words, images flashing in her mind detailing exactly how he could handle it and how she could handle him. She got her hormones under control finally and returned his sheepish smile, "Yeah, me too. It's definitely unexpected. I mean, we only just met and it feels like I've known you forever and all I can do right now is wonder how you taste and I've never been like this with anyone before and it's kind of scary at the same time it feels so *right *, you know?"

"I know," he echoed softly, his eyes glancing at her lips before looking back into her eyes.

"Perhaps we should finish this in my room?" Willow suggested as she realized that they were still standing on the street. Her eyes widened as she hastily explained, "I mean, finish the discussion in my room instead of here on the street. Just talking, nothing else right now."

"That's a good idea," William smiled as he watched her blush, moving his hand up to push her hair behind her ear, letting his fingers brush against her flesh as his eyes watched hers, seeing the green depths flash with desire.

"Stop that," Willow scolded with a smile as she took his hand, "my hotel isn't very far. I need to get a few things."

"Lead the way," William said as he walked beside her, pointing out various points of interest along the way.

********************

"I need to get my camera and some money," Willow told William as they entered her hotel room. She saw the red light on her phone blinking and moved to sit at the desk to check her messages.

"This is a nice room," William said as he moved to sit on the end of the bed, his eyes looking around the room before resting on Willow.

"Yeah, I like it," she smiled as she glanced at him, noticing that he was sitting on her bed. Five steps and she could be standing in front of him. Pulling his shirt off and then pushing him back against the covers. Unfastening his pants as her mouth tasted him. Feeling him inside her as they kissed. Her tongue moved along her lips as she thought how easy it would be to just put the phone down and go to him. Buffy's voice interrupted her thoughts. Willow shook her head slightly, her eyes catching his.

She was going to be the death of him. He just knew it somehow. He'd nearly come in his pants like some inexperienced schoolboy when she'd moved her eyes over him and licked her lips, seeing the desire in her green eyes as she had squirmed in the desk chair. He was that aroused just from her looking at him like he was a tasty treat and she was famished. What would it be like when they finally kissed? Touched? When he was buried deep inside her?

Willow shifted in the chair, squeezing her thighs together as she tore her eyes away from William. She was wet, her panties soaking just from flirting and talking and fantasizing over the last few hours. She replayed the message from Buffy, her mind having been elsewhere when it had originally played. She listened as her best friend told her how everyone was doing before proceeding to tell her to enjoy her vacation and have some fun. She found herself wondering what Buffy would say if she knew she'd met a gorgeous guy that made her feel things she'd never felt before, a guy that was smart and funny and had the unique ability of making her feel as if she was the most important person in the world. She hung up the phone, making a mental note to call Buffy back later, before turning to face William. She knew exactly what Buffy would say. Easily imagining her best friend telling her to take a chance. Reminding her that life was too short to live in fear. Urging her to go for it with a gentle warning to not get hurt.

"I'm going back to Texas on Tuesday," Willow said softly, her eyes catching his.

"I know," William said quietly, wondering what she was going to say. They'd agreed at lunch to spend some time together, to see what happened.

"I don't understand what's happening between us, but I know that I don't want to go home regretting that I didn't take a chance on finding out what it is," Willow said. She needed to make sure that he understood, "I'm not looking for a relationship, William. My life is far too complicated and messy at the moment to get involved in something serious."

"It would be over when you leave," William nodded, having expected that. He didn't really like it, but he'd expected it. He'd try his best to not dwell on the fact that she'd be leaving in a few days.

"I'm glad you understand," Willow smiled, having been worried that he wouldn't accept a short-term affair. He spoke about fate and destiny and was definitely a romantic so she'd been concerned that he'd expect a happily ever after or want to try to make it work despite their geographical differences. She knew that she would end up hurting when she left, but she didn't want him to be hurt. She could feel the connection between them, was beginning to believe he might be right with the theory that it was destiny that had brought them together, and she knew that she would give herself to him completely before she went home. There was no way that she could be become friends with him, become his lover, and not feel a sense of loss and hurt when she left, but it was inevitable. Knowing it, preparing for it, well, it would make things easier. There was no other choice except sending him on his way and doing her best to forget him before taking the chance and risking her heart. And that wasn't an alternative.

"I guess that means that we should enjoy the time we do have," William said with a soft smile. Deciding that he wasn't going to waste any of the time they did have together, he stood up, telling her, "I was thinking that we might go to the wax museum. You love history and it's got some pretty good exhibits. Maybe we can take one of the local tours tonight. A friend of mine swears that no visitor to New Orleans should leave without experiencing a vampire or ghost tour."

"A vampire tour?" Willow looked at him with curiosity.

"It's pretty fun. I went on one after I moved here," William smiled, "it's pretty much fiction based."

"Really?" Willow asked, knowing that she definitely wanted to go on that tour. It would be amusing and she'd be able to tell the guys back home about it and make them laugh.

William nodded, a slight frown crossing his lips as he said, "Yeah, they don't get anything right. Sleeping in coffins and skulking for victims in the shadows. Any vampire worth his fangs wouldn't sleep in a coffin or hide in the shadows rather than hunt."

Green eyes watched William carefully, listening to the annoyed tone in his voice and watching his blue eyes flash. Willow watched as he ran a hand through his hair, his lips twisting into a smile as he looked at her. She moved forward and took his hand, smiling at him as she decided that it wasn't the time to ask why he seemed to believe that the tour was fiction or to think about anything except William and the few days that they had before she had to go home. She opened the door of the hotel and said, "I think the tour sounds very amusing. And the wax museum sounds great. I've always liked wax museums. I think they're pretty neat. My friend Xander hates them. He says that they're creepy and that he can feel the eyes of the figures watching him. It's kind of funny. He's scared of a wax figure but demons don't bother him."

"Maybe it's because the wax figures look almost real why most demons in movies look ridiculous and fake," William suggested as they walked down the stairs of her hotel and stepped onto the sidewalk.

"Yeah, right. Movie demons are a bit fake looking," Willow nodded as he answered. That question was answered. He spoke about vampires as if he had knowledge about them but he thought about demons as only being in the movies. She was probably overreacting to his comments about vampires, anyway. He was an English teacher, after all. He'd probably read tons of different stories about vampires and that's why he was annoyed that the tour had taken some of the more clicha33;d views of the vampire. She smiled as they walked, listening to him talk about his city, just enjoying the feel of his hand in hers and the sound of his voice as they walked towards the wax museum.

********************

"That was fantastic," Willow declared as she and William left the cool air conditioning of the wax museum behind and stepped into the sunlight.

"I thought you'd probably enjoy it," William said, his eyes moving over her face. Since he'd been to the museum before, he'd spent his time watching Willow. They'd discussed the exhibits, him giving her any additional information that he'd learned since moving to New Orleans. She'd asked questions and studied the figures and read every sign, sometimes twice. They'd ended up spending over an hour looking at the exhibits.

"Thanks for being so patient," Willow smiled sheepishly, "I loved how the exhibits were set up to show the history of this town. It was just so interesting."

"The other time I came here, I was with some friends that wanted to just rush through it. I enjoyed it today, with you, so much more," he confessed with a smile.

"I'm glad," she said as she looked into his beautiful blue eyes. She was so glad that she'd agreed to go out with him, that she'd taken a chance when they'd run into each other earlier. Comparisons to Spike had stopped seeming so important as the hours had passed. Her curiosity about the similarities between William and the blond vampire was fading as she spent more time with him. It no longer really mattered how he had ended up in New Orleans. She didn't care if he was somehow connected to Spike, if he was, in fact, some reward from the Powers or if he was just some gorgeous man that happened to look a lot like someone she had once known. The only thing that was important to her was this wonderful man that was smart and sexy and gorgeous and caring, this man that made her feel things she'd never felt before, this man that could arouse her with just a smile, just a word. All that really mattered at the moment was William, and just being with him.

"Are you okay?" William asked softly as her eyes focused on his lips, resisting the urge to take a step forward and claim her mouth in a soul-searching kiss. He was trying to be a gentleman, to take things slow. They'd only just met, even if there was some sort of bond between them. Looking into her eyes, he felt as if his life was finally complete, as if he'd found his destiny, but that didn't change the fact that they'd only known each for a few hours. They were both aware of the chemistry between them, had both acknowledged the desire and need, were trying to control the lust as they got to know each other.

Willow knew that she was being bad. She hadn't intended to eat him alive with her eyes or to get caught up in wondering how he tasted, and she certainly hadn't meant for him to catch her looking and wanting. They'd had a great time at the wax museum, spent over an hour just talking and hanging out. The desire had been there, of course, but they'd dealt with it. Everything had been friendly and fun, the attraction accepted and acknowledged as part of the package. They had touched and she'd leaned against him and it had been electrifying at the same time it had been gentle and casual. Now, though, in the warm summer afternoon sunlight, she was feeling a bit consumed by the need to kiss him. One simple kiss, one taste. The problem? She had no doubts at all that it would be far from a simple kiss. She also didn't think that one kiss would be enough. Just being with him aroused her, a lust running through her that was no longer quite as shocking now that she'd had several hours to get used to it. It was very simple. She wanted William, wanted to touch him and taste him and feel him buried inside her. She wanted to spend hours exploring his body, learning how to pleasure him, showing him how to pleasure her, giving herself to him completely, mind body and soul.

There was more to it than just physical attraction, though. She liked him, a lot. They were becoming friends, learning that they had quite a bit in common. They'd spent hours just talking. Under different circumstances, she could have easily fallen in love with him. She'd known all along that she wanted him, had realized that there was no fighting or denying that something was happening between them. She had accepted that they would become lovers before she left New Orleans. She had only been physical with two other people in her life, Oz and Tara. Okay, she'd necked a bit with Kennedy but her heart had never been into it so she'd never allowed it to go beyond groping. She wasn't the type of girl that slept around, that had affairs with handsome men while on vacation, yet here she was about to do just that. It wasn't time, though. It was still too soon. She shook her head slightly, giving him a smile as she said, "I'm fine. Just thinking. I really did love the museum, William. I'm glad you were there to share it with me."

"Me too," he smiled at her before taking her hand. They started to walk down the street, Willow's finger drawing little circles on his palm as they walked and chatted about passing buildings. He was glad that she hadn't asked where they were going now because he had no idea. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was too early to grab a bite for dinner and it was still a few hours before it would be time for a nighttime tour of the Quarter.

"I like this," Willow said softly as she moved closer to him until finally her head was resting against his arm as they walked. She looked up at him and smiled, "Just being with you, talking to you. It's nice."

"I could talk to you forever and never get bored," he said quietly, his hand moving to brush the hair away from her cheek, his fingers tracing her face. "I've never felt this way before, Willow."

"Me either," she admitted as she moved her face against his hand, enjoying the feel of his warm touch on her skin.

"I'm glad," he smiled before suggesting, "I know it's still early, but do you want to stop somewhere and get some dinner? Afterwards, we can stop by my apartment and I'll let Peaches out for a bit and feed him. By then, it should be time for one of the vampire tours."

"That sounds like a great idea," Willow decided as she leaned her head back against him, listening to him tell her the history of the buildings they were passing on their way to dinner.

********************

"I have to admit that I'm not that hungry," Willow confessed as she and William started discussing possibilities for dinner.

"Well, we could go ahead and drop by my place and take Peaches out for a quick walk," William said thoughtfully, "perhaps after that we'd be more ready for some dinner."

"That sounds lovely," Willow said as she smiled at him, her eyes moving over his face. She scolded herself for again eating him alive with her eyes, knowing that he was the only thing she was truly hungry for at that moment. What was wrong with her? She had never had this kind of reaction before, not even with Tara and Oz and she had loved them. She hadn't even known William an entire day and yet all she could think about was kissing him and holding him and being in his arms. She was at least not alone, William having the same undeniable attraction and feelings that she was experiencing.

She was confused, not knowing why there was such an intense desire and need between her and William, not understanding how she could look into his blue eyes and feel as if she had known him forever, feel as if she was finally where she was supposed to be. She had gradually accepted his similarities to Spike, still believing in a way that there had to be some kind of connection between the blond vampire that had died saving the world and the handsome English teacher that resided in New Orleans. But she did not dwell on the possibility that the Powers had interfered somehow as she got to know William, as she began to feel herself concentrating on *him* and not distant memories of a blond vampire that she had never really gotten to know.

"My place is only a couple of blocks from here," William smiled, noticing the distant and thoughtful look enter her pretty green eyes. She was thinking again, and he wished he knew what she was thinking. It was evident that she felt the same connection to him that he felt for her, the attraction and interest and plain old need. But, instead of just accepting it as destiny, as something that was meant to be, she questioned it.

She wanted to understand why she was feeling something so intense for a virtual stranger that resembled her old friend, she wanted to know why she was so comfortable with a man she'd only just met, why she was so attracted to him. He could understand her questions, in a way, having never experienced anything like this during his life, finding his emotions for the beautiful redhead new and powerful and so damn *right*. He was a believer in fate, a romantic fool that wanted to believe that they had met because it was meant to be, and again he used those words finding them too perfect a description for this day and meeting Willow.

"What time is that vampire tour?" Willow asked as she followed William to his apartment, her hand holding his. She felt his finger casually move along her palm, sending little shockwaves of awareness throughout her entire body. What was she going to do? Every time that she had somewhat managed to convince herself to take this relationship slow, knowing that she only had a few more days in New Orleans before she'd be returning home and this affair, was that the right word?, between her and William would become a not so distant memory, she would then find herself contemplating the idea of just forgetting all her questions and the need for some sort of explanation and just moving against him and kissing him. Her eyes moved to look at his lips, goodness, he had such beautiful lips.

"It starts around eight, so we've got several more hours," he said as he glanced at her, the smile fading from his face as he saw the look of pure desire in her eyes. He ran his tongue over his lips, watching her eyes darken at his action. He could feel himself harden just from that look in her eyes, wondering what he'd feel like if they ever actually kissed, touched, tasted...Fuck, he couldn't go there, not yet. Too soon. Just met her, William my boy, take it slow. Slow and easy, his mind flashing too easily with images of them naked in his bed as he took things real slow, tasting her for hours and learning every inch of her flesh, teasing her until she was begging, giving her such intense pleasure that she would no longer doubt destiny and fate.

"Oh God, I did it again, didn't I?" Willow whispered, her eyes widening as a blush crossed her cheeks. She smiled sheepishly, seeing the aroused look in his blue eyes and nearly forgetting her vow to spend time with him in a friendly way and learn who he was before she gave in to the need and desire she felt. She sighed, running a hand through her hair as she admitted, "I'm sorry, I just, you have such beautiful lips, William."

"Really?" the lips in question curved into a sensual smile as his blue eyes moved over her face.

"Yes, really," she gave him a small smile before she said, "I really don't understand any of this, William, and I have to be honest and tell you that I'm fast getting to the point where I don't care if it makes sense or can be explained. I've never felt like this before, never wanted anyone as much as I want you, never found such pleasure just being around someone. It's confusing and it's kind of scary and I really wish I knew what was happening."

"Shh, luv," he whispered softly, finding her absolutely amazing. She constantly surprised him with her honesty and intelligence, and he wished he had the ability to answer her questions so that she could stop worrying and thinking so much and just enjoy whatever this was that they had found. He moved his hand to her face, brushing his fingers across her cheek slowly as he said, "There are some things that just can't be explained, Willow. Perhaps this is one of those things. I know that I've never felt like this before, either, and that being with you feels right. Even like this, just hanging out and talking, I feel complete for the first time in my life. I'm confused and scared, too, but I'm willing to deal with that to be with you, to just enjoy this gift, if you will, of finding you and having you in my life, even for a few days."

"I've always liked to have answers," Willow confessed, moving her cheek against his hand and enjoying the feel of his warm flesh against hers as she looked into his blue eyes, "I wish I could just be like you and believe it's destiny or some other romantic notion, but my life hasn't really left me in a position to believe in fairy tales or happy endings. I don't trust easily, I like to understand what is happening around me, I hate feeling as if I'm not in control of my own life. From the moment I looked into your eyes this morning, I felt as if I was no longer in control. Being with you, it felt right. Like you said, I felt complete and like it was meant to be and *that* is why I find myself asking so many questions. The last year of my life has been so hectic and bizarre and I just don't know why I feel like this about someone I've only just met."

"I do understand, Willow," William said softly, "I just want to spend time with you, Willow. Enjoy the little bit of time we've got before you go home. I like you, really like you, and that's not the attraction talking. Today, talking with you and just being with you, you're not just someone with whom I feel this unbelievable connection."

"Same here," Willow said just as softly, knowing that what he said was true. She had first seen him and thought about Spike, still noticed the numerous similarities, physical and verbal, but he had moved from being a guy that looked like Spike's human twin to being William, a nice and gorgeous and funny and smart guy that made her feel things she'd never felt before.

"I think we should do as we decided earlier, just spend some time together and see what happens," William decided, "enjoy our time together. Who knows? Maybe we'll end up with some answers along the way."

"That sounds like a good idea," Willow smiled at him, "I think we've had enough serious talk for the day. Let's just go with it, have some fun. We can feed Peaches and then get some dinner and then go on that vampire tour. That should be interesting. I can't wait to tell Buffy and Faith about it, let them know what the guides around here have to say about vampires. They'll probably get a good laugh from it. Um, yeah, cause they're really into vampires, reading about them and stuff. Aren't we close to your apartment now?"

"It's right around the corner," William said with a smile, "I'm sure your friends will enjoy hearing about the tour. Do you have any ideas about dinner?"

"I'm thinking," Willow said as she took his hand again and they began walking. She'd had a close call, forgetting that he didn't know about her life with slaying and real vampires. She'd covered successfully, luckily, and they were now on their way to his apartment to feed Peaches and take the dog for a walk. The moment of seriousness had passed, and she was going to do her best to stop thinking so much. Answers probably wouldn't explain anything, anyway, so she was better off enjoying the company of this handsome man for the next few days. She leaned her head against his arms as they walked, her green eyes resolved to go with it and stop worrying so much and just savor the few days she had with William.

********************

"Peaches, get off her," William told the large dog that had immediately jumped on Willow they entered his apartment.

"It's okay, William," Willow laughed as she played with the dog, "You're just happy to see me, aren't you baby? You know it's time for a walk and some dinner so you're real excited."

"If I promise you a walk and dinner will you jump all over me?" William couldn't resist teasing, his blue eyes amused as he watched the gorgeous redhead play with his dog.

Willow looked at him and smiled, her cheeks blushing slightly from the image that had easily come to her mind, "Who knows? You might get lucky."

"I can handle those odds," William smiled softly at her before he moved to the kitchen to get Peaches' leash.

"Peaches, my boy, your master is unbelievably sexy, did you know that?" Willow asked the slobbering dog as her green eyes watched William walk towards the kitchen. Her only response was a wet tongue moving across her cheek. She giggled as she turned to the dog, whispering, "Now if we could only get your gorgeous master to lick me, I'd be a happy girl!"

"What are you telling my dog?" William asked as he reentered the living room, watching Willow look at him with a sensual smile, her green eyes shining with desire and happiness as she replied to his question.

"It's a secret," she smiled at William as she stood, her eyes not leaving his as the air suddenly began to crackle with what was becoming a very familiar attraction.

"We should, um, go now," William said slowly, not wanting to do anything but move to her and finally kiss her, cursing himself for being a gentleman and promising to take things slowly. Why couldn't he just live for the moment and take what he wanted? Because, he didn't want to do anything that Willow might regret later. He knew he wouldn't regret it, having ached to kiss her since they'd first looked at each other, his visions not stopping until he'd tasted her entire body and they were both too exhausted to move. And there lay the reason he couldn't kiss her yet. A kiss would lead to something more and it was just too soon for that yet.

"Yeah," Willow agreed, finding the room rather warm now. She looked down at his dog, smiling as she said, "Let's take Peaches for a walk. After that, maybe we can grab a burger or something before the tour begins."

"I know a good place for burgers," William said as he moved beside her to put the leash onto Peaches' collar. His body brushed against hers casually and he heard her inhale quickly, knowing she'd felt the same spark when they'd touched that he had felt.

"A walk and then some dinner," Willow repeated for no reason other than to get her mind off the feel of his body against hers. She didn't question her reaction to him anymore, knowing there were no answers. She wanted this man more than she had ever wanted anyone, finding herself aroused beyond belief the longer she stayed near him. His touch, his voice, his eyes, his hands, she wanted to consume him, to possess him, to have him mind, body, and soul, wanted to give herself to him in the same way, and that scared her to death.

"C'mon, Peaches. Let's show Willow our favorite walk," William told his dog as he opened the door to his apartment and looked back at Willow, seeing the look in her eyes and smiling gently as he offered her his hand, "Are you ready?"

Willow looked from his hand to his eyes, somehow knowing he was asking some far more important than if she was ready for a walk. She slowly smiled as she looked into his eyes, reaching out and taking his hand, feeling as if everything in the world was as it should be as she said, "I'm ready, William."

The streets were growing more crowded as dusk approached. They had the sidewalks to themselves most of the afternoon, the sun being so hot that it kept most tourists inside where it was cool and pleasant. Willow hadn't minded the heat too much, the summers in Sunnydale always pretty warm, even if not quite this humid. To be completely honest, she had paid very little attention to the temperature after meeting William, the handsome Englishman proving a distraction from the summer day heat. Now that the sun was low in the Western sky and the town didn't feel like an appropriate substitute for Hades, people were leaving their hotels or shopping expeditions to venture into the streets.


Her hand was still in William's as they walked down the street, and she had no interest in releasing his hand anytime soon. Peaches was ahead of them, pausing every so often to look back at them as if he were impatiently waiting for them to catch up. He wasn't running off far ahead or pulling on his leash, instead keeping just a few steps ahead of them. It would appear that William had been correct this morning, that Peaches was not usually so active and didn't make it a habit to knock down strangers during his walk.


He seemed to have made an exception for her, something that Willow found she didn't mind at all. If not for that slobbering dog, she never would have met William. And, while she had a feeling there would be some heartache in her future because, stupid fool that she was, she was beginning to care about him the more time they spent together and she knew that leaving in a few days and never looking back was going to be extremely difficult, she honestly couldn't imagine never having met him.


They'd only known each other since that morning, merely a few hours, not enough time to build a friendship much less a real relationship, but she was beginning to believe his theories on fate and love at first sight. No, not love, the redhead corrected herself quickly, love would be bad. She could not fall in love with William, that was all there was to it. She could not fall in love with this gorgeous Englishman that had such beautiful eyes and that dazzling smile and shy intellect and looked too much like Spike for it to be mere coincidence and who had no idea what really went bump in the night and lived hundreds of miles from her home. She felt his fingers brush against her palm, glancing at him and catching him looking at her, his eyes looking at her as if she were the most beautiful thing he'd seen and he couldn't believe she was his, full of desire and affection and curiosity to know everything about her. She recognized the look, having seen something very similar in her eyes just a little bit ago when she'd used the bathroom and glanced in the mirror.


It was confusing and didn't make any sense whatsoever, her feeling such intense emotions for someone she'd only just met, someone that could very well exist only because Spike had sacrificed himself. She looked at William and saw William, though the elements of Spike were still there. Spike was there in the way he cocked his head to the side when he was thinking and in his voice, not to mention the physical similarities, but William carried himself in a different way, he smiled and his eyes actually showed emotion and were not closed off and unreadable. That was the part that still confused her, that nagged at the studious part of her wanting to do research to find out if her theory of a connection between William and Spike was correct.


She was ignoring that part, deciding it was probably much better to just leave things alone, to not interfere if it was actually a reward to Spike for his sacrifice because the blond vampire had been her friend, in a way. And she knew he deserved this, deserved a second chance, and, on the off chance she was right and William was somehow connected to Spike in some magical reward program, she wasn't about to risk ruining this new life of his that seemed happy and satisfying for him. If she was wrong and William's striking similarity to Spike was merely coincidental, well, she would be glad she hadn't bothered wasting what little time she had left in New Orleans doing boring research when she could be spending time with a man made her believe in fate and love again.


"You think too much," William smiled at the redhead when he noticed the look of concentration on her face, finding her even more cute when she was lost in thought and her eyes narrowed just a bit and her nose wrinkled slightly and her lips curved into a pensive frown. God, he even thought her frowns were attractive. Stop it, old boy. She's leaving in a few days and you do not want your heart broken. Telling himself this was one thing, listening to that logical voice in his mind was something else entirely.


He liked Willow. Really liked Willow. She was pretty and intelligent and he could have spent hours talking to her and she was a delightful mixture of confidence and shyness that made him want to protect her at the same time he knew she could protect herself. She was perfect for him. It was as simple as that. He didn't care that they had just met, didn't care that she was going home next week, didn't care that he was all ready past infatuated and was approaching love, didn't care that he would find himself alone when she left with only memories of the redhead that he honestly believed was his true love because the memories would never fade.


He believed in fate and trusted that everything would happen the way it was meant to be. If that meant he only had these few days with the woman that was his other half, his soulmate, his destiny, he wasn't going to spend their short time together worrying about a broken heart or dwelling on the fact that it bloody well sucked to be given this time with someone he'd begun to believe didn't exist except inside his own romantic notions to only have to give her up again so quickly. To quote a favorite passage of his, he'd rather have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. He'd worry about losing her after she was gone, then he'd deal with it and at least have the memories of the time they shared.


He trusted that things would work out the way they were meant to, a part of him having to hope that she would feel the same connection and emotions and find herself unable to merely return home without looking back. He was practical, though, and knew that the chances of them having more than just these five days together were slim so he tried not to dwell on the possibilities of them actually having a real relationship or trying to make things work long-distance.


He smiled when she tightened her hold on his hand, her fingers entwining with his, the thoughtful look leaving her green eyes as she gave him a sheepish smile at having been caught thinking again after declaring that she was going to stop thinking and simply go with what was happening between them, exploring it and seeing what happened. He moved closer to her to avoid running into a group of passing tourists, their body touching casually, his breath drawing in sharply when she looked up at him, her eyes flashing with desire and awareness that he knew she was trying to control.


He couldn't remember ever being this affected by anyone before, resisting the urge to kiss her since he'd first looked into her eyes after Peaches knocked her over that morning. Now, after getting to know her and starting to feel far more than just lust for her, he was unable to stop at just kissing her, wanting her naked in his arms as he explored her entire body with his hands and tongue, wanting to hear her crying out his name as she came around him, wanting to feel her body against his, wanting to hold her as they slept. Bloody hell, just holding her hand or casually touching her was enough to cause arousal to spread over his body and his cock to begin to harden. She felt it, too, the attraction and need and desire, and William had little doubt that they would make love before she left.


Not fucking or shagging or sex, but making love, taking hours to explore one another, not leaving their bed for a day or two except for food or bathroom visits, just enjoying each other and making memories. That would not be today, he reminded himself, knowing that it was too soon for that progression of their relationship. That didn't stop him from touching her whenever possible and it didn't prevent him from attempting to flirt with her, his efforts not as awful as he would imagined since he had no real practice at flirting with such a beautiful woman. He was pulled from his thoughts when she spoke, looking at her and smiling softly as his hungry eyes moved over her pretty face.


MEANT TO BE (19/?)


"I think Peaches is ready to go home," Willow said softly, unable to look away from William's eyes. She was oblivious to the people passing by them on the crowded street, aware only of him standing so close she could feel his heat, of his eyes darkening to a gorgeous blue as he looked at her with longing and hunger. If she made it through this evening without attacking him, she would honestly be very surprised. She was trying to be good, knowing she shouldn't sleep with him yet. This was their first date, they'd only just met that day, she didn't make it a habit of sharing her body with people she didn't love, she wanted to wait at least another day before complicating whatever was happening between them even more.


Okay, the last reason was at least somewhat valid. She could do this. Damn it, she'd helped close a Hellmouth and save the world numerous times not to mention being strong enough to gain control of the Dark Magics she had absorbed into her following Tara's death. She was stubborn and resolved and determined! She wanted him, more than she could remember wanting anyone, and she knew she would have him soon, but not tonight. Tonight would possibly be a kiss on the cheek and then a very cold shower and possibly some self-gratification to release the tension.


She wanted to make sure that, when they did sleep together, it was because they wanted it and knew each other well enough to make the decision based on knowledge and desire and affection and not merely because they were caught up in romantic notions of fate and destiny. She did not want to have any regrets, didn't want him hurt because they took their relationship to such an intimate level and he wasn't prepared for her to leave.


That was the most important thing. She could deal with the heartache of them making love because it was her decision to leave, to give them only these few days, but she couldn't bear the idea that he would have regrets or be hurt when she left. If he felt for her what she was feeling for him, though, she didn't see how either of them would leave this brief encounter without some heartache. It was inevitable, just as her leaving on Tuesday and returning to a world where monsters were real and her life was complicated and far too complex for a relationship with anyone, really, much less someone who didn't know what really lurked in the shadows.


She could curse the Powers That Be for doing this to her. Cursing her, in a way, though many would see her 'gift' from them as an unbelievable reward, and now having her meet this wonderful man that could very well be her soulmate, if such things did exist, at a point where they had only a few days together. A part of her knew that she was lucky to have met him at all, having believed that Tara was her one chance at a forever kind of love, content with the knowledge that a love like she shared with Tara was rare and some people never experienced it.


Now she had met William, someone she hardly knew but that made her feel the same way Tara had, if not even more powerful emotions. With Tara, it had been slow, starting as a friendship and gradually developing into a sweet love. They had clicked and made a good couple, but Willow didn't feel like she was betraying her lost love or belittling what they shared to acknowledge that things between them had never been perfect and that there had been some times she wondered if they would last forever, not entirely sure Tara was her soulmate no matter how much she did love the blonde witch. It had taken Willow over a year to get to a point where she could even think about such things without feeling horribly guilt. After all, she had killed Warren and attacked her friends and nearly destroyed the world after Tara's death, when she'd allowed the grief to consume her and drive her to do such horrible things.


She didn't deserve to look back and wonder if Tara had honestly been 'the one', knowing that the love they shared was true and meaningful and doubting she'd ever experience anything like that again. Now, though, she had met William, someone she had felt instantly attracted to, instantly connected with, and she was reminded of the Tara and the questions she'd asked herself over the last couple of years since her lover's death. Perhaps there was such a thing as a second chance at a great and powerful love, perhaps everyone did have more than one person in the world they were destined to be with. She did not feel guilty for being attracted to William or for wanting to get to know him better.


Tara had been dead over two years now, though Willow would never forget her lover just as she had never forgotten the love she felt for Oz or even the love she had felt for Xander, and she knew it was okay to move on, that Tara would want her to be happy. Willow shook her head slightly, rolling her eyes as she realized that William was right. She was thinking way too much! True, this day was just one of those days that had things that caused her to do a lot of thinking, but even she was starting to think this was too much thinking!


Xander would be proud if she told him she'd finally gotten to a point where she thought she was thinking too much, her best friend always teasing her about being lost in thought too often. She looked into William's eyes, seeing that he had a thoughtful expression on his face and realized that he was just as confused and curious about what was happening between them as she was. She smiled slightly as she said, "I'm tired of thinking. Why don't we finish Peaches' walk and then get some dinner? Maybe do some more talking and just get to know each other better. No serious thought required!"


William laughed softly, agreeing, "That sounds like a brilliant plan, Willow. Come along, Peaches. Let's get you back to the flat. Does a burger still sound good, luv?"


"A burger sounds great," Willow told him with a smile as they followed Peaches and started back to his apartment to drop off the dog to be followed by dinner and conversation before they took the Vampire tour of the city, something that the redhead knew she'd find particularly amusing. They began to chat as they walked, discussing their favorite books as they made their way back to his house.


End of Part 19