Building a Mystery

by Sibling

Copyright © 2003

sibfanfic@verizon.net

Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Buffy & Co. belong to Hellgod Joss Whedon and his minions, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television, etc.
Distribution: The Mystic Muse http://mysticmuse.net
You can use it, but please let me know first.
Feedback: Much welcomed.
Spoilers: Season 4.
Author’s Note: This story came to me in a dream, really!
Pairing: Willow/Buffy

Willow sat on her bed, fidgeting and biting her lip while she watched the clock and waited. Buffy was sitting across the room on her own bed, glancing at Willow occasionally and bouncing a little herself in nervous anticipation.

The last note had read:

The first gift had been two vases of roses left on their night table while they were sleeping. Willow's instant reaction had been a flattered – and very sleepy – WOW! Not only were they her first flowers since her breakup with Oz, but they hadn't been your standard red or white roses: one dozen had been an orangey-red that closely matched the color of her own hair, while another had been a bright gold that resembled Buffy's.

Buffy, on the other hand, looked somewhat perturbed. She swore that the flowers hadn't been there when she came back from patrol, and that she hadn't heard anyone sneaking in during the night – and with all the beasties that were always after the Slayer, Buffy couldn't afford to be a heavy sleeper.

And then they had read the card:

One quick call to L.A. had verified that Angel was still there, soul intact. Which left the questions looming:

Who could get into their dorm room to do this?

Who would go to the trouble to find unique flowers like these?

And were they going to accept Mr. Mystery's advances, or beat the holy living hell out of him for trying to romance both of them at once?

The second morning, the gifts were even more personal. This time, the card had read:

They both received chocolate, but in the form that they each loved the most: Buffy got a large can of mocha powder, which she swore she'd share with Willow, who swore back that she'd share her two-pound box of chocolates.

That's not so big a sacrifice – if I eat all that chocolate by myself, I'll make myself sick and get so fat our secret admirer won't want a thing to do with me...As if he's really going to pay any attention to me anyway, with Buffy around, she added morosely. More guys have asked Buffy out in the past week than have even looked at me all year!

She was immediately on the case.

Her first suspect was Xander, but he seemed to be spending a lot of his meager cash buying Valentine's Day gifts for Anya, so unless he'd won the lottery and not told anyone, he couldn't have afforded it. Besides, she had to admit, her old friend was good at kicking the ol' demon ass, but he was about as stealthy as a whoopee cushion. He'd never have been able to sneak into their dorm room undetected.

The idea of their clandestine gifts coming from one of the other two males who knew them well was a lot more frightening. Giles...well, she had to admit that she'd had an awful crush on him all through high school...but could she seriously consider a relationship with him? Uh-uh. It would feel too much like dating her best friend's father. And she was pretty sure his affection for his Slayer was purely "fatherly" – and vice versa, especially with all the "ew ew ew" noises Buffy made when Olivia came to town.

And as for Spike – he did have that whole sexy bad-boy thing going, but as Buffy kept saying, it was time to get over the bad-boy thing. And he'd hinted more than once that he "wouldn't mind nibblin' on Red's neck for a bit in a non-chip-headache way," but he still got the shuddering horrors whenever his spell-induced engagement to Buffy was mentioned. Nope, wasn't him, either.

Parker Abrams wouldn't have the guts to even speak to either of them right now.

That eliminated just about all the guys they knew...

Suddenly her eyes widened, and she ran off to one of the other dormitories.

"I really thought I'd had it figured out this time," Willow moped as she came back.

"Who was Mr. Likely Suspect today, hmmm?" Buffy asked teasingly.

"Actually, it was a Miss Likely Suspect."

"Oh." Buffy blinked in surprise. "Who...who's that?"

"Um..." Willow squirmed a little. "You remember Tara, the girl I met in the Wicca group? Well...she's...kinda gay...and when we've been...doing magic together...I kinda felt like...she liked me...in a, sorta, kinda, likes me way."

"Oh. But she doesn't?"

"Um...actually...she said she kinda does. But she said she wouldn't be able to afford all this stuff...and she would never get up the nerve to do something like this."

Buffy shrugged. "Oh, well. And what about the, ah, liking you liking you stuff?"

Willow ducked her head. "She's really nice, and I like her...I just don't like her like her. "

How could she explain to Buffy that the idea of being with a girl hadn't weirded Willow out...it was just that Tara, however good a friend she was becoming, just didn't interest her in that way?

Of course, that led to some interesting thoughts on what might result if their mysterious benfactor really was interested in both of them...

Finally, Valentine's Day arrived, and the last note, along with a pair of necklaces, with appropriate pendants for each of them: a silver stake for Buffy, and a silver pentagram for Willow.

Willow was so nervous for the whole day that she stuttered and babbled through all of her classes. She barely touched her lunch, because her stomach was tied up in knots. Her nervousness wasn't entirely bad – she did hold out a tiny little bit of hope that the night would end in smoochies – but she was so baffled at the identity of their mysterious gift-giver that she couldn't help thinking Hellmouth-y thoughts.

Something that wants to eat us all up...in some kinda way, she finished with a blush.

At six, she was back at the dorm room, where she and Buffy washed up and changed into nice clothes. They'd both agreed that whoever this person was, they had class, and had probably arranged for something involving dressiness.

By ten of eight, they had finished dressing, putting on makeup and a little bit of jewelry – including their gifts, of course – and there was nothing to do but sit, and fidget.

And wait.

And wait.

Eight o'clock came. Willow stared intently at the door, waiting for the knock that would surely come at any second.

There was no knock.

Eight-oh-one. Unable to stand the suspense any longer, the two of them got up off their beds and walked to the door, waiting, waiting for the knock to sound.

Still no knock.

She turned to Buffy, about to quip, "Hey, our mystery person may be classy, but he or she needs a watch," when the last thing she'd ever expected to happen, did.

Buffy Summers, looking nervous as hell, whispered, "Happy Valentine's Day, Willow."

And kissed her.

Over dinner – Buffy had, in fact, made reservations at a fancy restaurant – the Slayer confessed to the whole thing.

"No wonder you were able to swear that the presents weren't there on the table when you came in – you were the one bringing them!" Willow mock-scolded her. "But why the double prezzies, and the whole note thing?"

Buffy gave a half-guilty smile. "I guess I figured if you didn't have too bad an 'ew' reaction to the idea of sharing a guy with me, you might not find it so icky to leave the guy out of the equation altogether. Besides, it was kinda fun."

Willow shook her head in amazement and wonder. "But...when?"

"When did I buy the prezzies?"

"When did you decide...to give...me..." The last word came out as a squeak.

Buffy pursed her lips and looked down at her dinner. "Remember what I told you when you said you were staying in Sunnydale last year?"

"Um...'I kind of love you?'" Willow murmured, her eyes widening.

Buffy actually blushed as she answered, "You might as well leave out the 'kind of,' Wills."

There was a long silence, which Buffy finally broke by clearing her throat, twice, and saying, "Um...Wills?"

Willow managed to give Buffy a smug little smile. "I thought you were a mystery buff, Buff. You made me wait all week for this...the least I can do is make you wait till we get back to the dorm."

The End

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