Roomies

She had been here everyday this week, honing her twists and jumps. It made her feel better about herself when she could close her eyes and instinctively let her body do the work while her mind focused on other things. Things like what she was going to wear on her first date. Willow had suggested a simple pair of pants and a dressy top, but Buffy had had her eye on a slinky black dress in the local mall since they had started college and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to buy it.

Buffy was brought out of her reverie by a round of applause as she executed a perfect double salchow. Pirouetting around, she skated across the ice and braked sharply, purposefully spraying ice at Willow and Oz as they leant against the edge of the rink. They brushed the ice off, the former poking out her tongue at her best friend as Buffy greeted her friends.

“Nice jump.” Oz told her as she finished speaking. She grinned happily at him, and pushed open the door to step off the ice, taking a seat below them and turning around to chatter excitedly about her upcoming date.

Spike was flipping through an old Shakespeare book when his mother arrived home. Standing up to help her with her bags he was ted ted with another presence in the doorway. He frowned slightly, turning his head so the guest would not be offended.

“William,” His mum called, “You remember Joyce don’t you?”

Spike frowned; his parents had stopped calling him by that name long ago. He turned back around to put the name to the face and was assailed by childhood memories. He smiled politely at his mum’s old friend as offered her a drink.

Watching as his mum and Joyce chatted animatedly about art he waited for the kettle to boil. He hadn’t seen Joyce since he was nine years old. And those were times he never wanted to relive. Ever.

Taking the steaming mugs of tea out to the ladies, William sat down, sliding the book of Shakespeare into his rucksack and sliding easily into the persona of Spike.

Buffy grinned eagerly as she bounced around on the balls of her feet. She had just bought her dream dress and was waiting for Willow to emerge from the changing room

Her date was tomorrow night; she had the dress, the shoes and the date, but no idea where she was going. Her stomach lurched at the thought of being overdressed and completely out of place until Willow’s entrance made her gasp.

The redhead was dressed in a provocatively low cut dress that fell in ripples to her ankles, enhanced with a thigh high slit on both sides. The shimmering emerald material clung to her figure perfectly, making Willow blush profusely as she edged her way back into the stall.

Grabbing her friend and pulling her back out, Buffy gushed praises about the dress and the way Willow looked until her cheeks rivalled the colour of her hair. Convinced enough to buy the dress, Willow escaped back into the changing cubicle to take off the dress so that she could pay for it, leaving Buffy back outside her mind leading her into a blind panic about her date.

She had only been with two guys in her life, one turning out to be gay and the other being a completely self-centred asshole. She had never been on a date with a guy that she didn’t know, never been to more than second base and as half of her mind worked her into a frenzy of despair while the other half worked swiftly to create an array of excuses to get her out of this date.

After seeing her best friend mumbling to herself in despair as she had left the fitting rooms, Willow had promptly taken her friend straight to Starbucks and ordered a triple chocolate iced malt and an iced tazo chai for herself. Finding an empty booth for two, the girls slid in and engrossed themselves with their drinks.

“So?” Willow demanded when her drink was empty, “What’s wrong?”

Buffy pushed her straw away from her mouth with a sigh. “IhaveadatewithRiley.” She muttered. Willow was grateful for her years of Buffy-speak practise as she tried to figure out what was so wrong about the date her friend was so excited about just hours ago.

“So?”

“So I d kno know what the hell I’ve got myself into!” Buffy practically squeaked,

“I’ve never done this before.”

“You’ve been with Angel.” Willow reminded her, making her wince at the memory.

“But nothing ever happened with Angel.” Buffy told the young redhead, “He was too self-absorbed to even care.”

“That’s not true.” Willow protested, “He did love you. More than you realise Buffy. And you don’t have to worry about this date. Just be yourself and everything will be fine.”

“Be myself?” the blonde repeated. “I can do that.” She paused, “I think?”