"Listen to the voices in your head
They make no sense, take a rest"
-Faithless, "Addictive"

She and Buffy were over an hour into their study session before Willow finally broke the uncomfortable tension between them and brought up the subject of Xander's lunchtime comments. It had been eating at her all day and she wanted to clear things up. Actually, the whole ordeal had been troubling her for a while, and she felt it was finally time to talk about it.

"Uh, Buffy?" she asked meekly. She felt badly about disrupting a much-needed study session, but she couldn't keep quiet on the subject any longer.

The blond girl looked up from the textbook in front of her and replied, "Yes?"

Suddenly, Willow felt her throat go dry, and her brain felt like a mass of mush. Buffy needed help studying for the chem test. She shouldn't be interrupting with her thoughts on all these things. However, it was too late. Willow had to say something.

"Yes?" Buffy repeated.

Summoning every ounce of courage she had, which wasn't much, Willow said, "Buffy, I want to talk to you about Xander... and Angel."

"Willow, I'll listen to whatever you want to say to me, but I really don't think there is anything to say. Angel's human now and we're just friends. Xander may not be able to believe or accept that, but that's his problem. Unless you and the other guys feel weird about it..."

"Oh, no, Buffy!" Willow exclaimed, anxious to get that idea out of the slayer's mind. "No. We don't feel weird about Angel at all. That's Xander's thing. Trust me, we've already tried talking to him about what an idiot he's being." The corners of Buffy's mouth turned up into a slight smile. "But we are curious about your relationship with Angel now. You two seem to be very close since his... change." The corners went down just as quickly as they had risen.

"Will, we're just good friends, really good friends. We hang out and stuff, just like I do with everyone else."

"Then why do you keep the things he gave you?" Willow wanted to know, indicating the silver jewelry Buffy wore.

Buffy's hand went up to the silver cross hanging around her neck, and she looked down at it. "This is for killing the vampires, Will," she explained, as though it were elementary. Glancing at the digital clock/radio on the nightstand beside her, she added, "Something I actually have to do tonight, so can we please get back to studying for this test?"

Willow was already too deeply into the conversation to stop now. "Then what's the ring for?"

Silently, Buffy fingered the Claddagh ring on her left ring finger. The point on the bottom of the heart faced outward as though no one occupied her own heart, but it was still a gift of love from Angel. He'd given it to her on her 17th birthday, right before he told her he loved her and they made love. It meant so much to her, and, at that moment, she knew she'd been caught. She would not admit it, though.

Shutting her book, she put the rest of her study materials in her backpack and closed it. She grabbed her things, got up, and checked the clock once again before turning back to a surprised Willow.

"I've gotta go. Someone has to make sure the vamps in this town don't have too much fun. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Willow still wasn't finished. Buffy had to listen.

"Buffy, he's waiting for you. Why else hasn't he started dating anyone? I'm sure he wouldn't have any trouble finding someone, but he wants you. He loves you, and you love him, too. Admit it."

Ignoring her friend's pleas, Buffy walked silently out the bedroom door and headed home to prepare for her slaying duties. Her departure left Willow alone with a guilty conscience. She didn't know what had gotten into her, but she'd told her friend exactly how she felt. Now she could only wait for things to follow their own course.

"Please hurry," she whispered into the empty room. "You two need each other."