Willow laughed at her boyfriend mirthlessly. He was over at her house for the night since both of their parents were gone and since they didn’t have a lot of time to spend together, they had decided that Oz would spend the night and they would hang and talk and watch movies and stuff like that. They had just eaten dinner and Oz had bet her that he could balance his glass of water on his two fingers and walk across the kitchen. Well, he dropped it and his shirt was soaked. Willow had to lean against the refrigerator to keep from falling over.

“It’s not funny! I don’t have another shirt!”

“Then take it off and I’ll put it in the dryer.” He shrugged and took off his shirt, handing it to her. She ran across the hallway to the laundry room, dumped the shirt in, turned it on, and ran back to the kitchen. Her heart practically stopped at the sight of Oz shirtless. Now he was just wearing his sweats. They were just about to get settled to watch TV and he decided to get ready for bed early. Well, Willow didn’t feel like having to get up to change, so before they went to the couch, she said,

“I’m just going to get ready for bed. I’ll be right back.”

“’K, see you in a bit.” Willow smirked at the remark and climbed the stairs to her room. She pulled out board shorts, a tank top, and a long-sleeved flannel to go over it. She dressed quickly and ran back downstairs. When she got there, she found Oz already on the couch, awaiting her arrival. She lay down next to him, snuggling into his chest.

He looked her over and said, “Is this what you usually wear to bed?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I just thought… never mind.”

“What!?”

“I just thought that you usually might wear something more… sexy.”

“Ha! Yeah right. Like I’d ever.”

“You might and you could be lying.”

“I’d never lie to you. Don’t you know that by now?”

“Yep, I do. Would you ever wear something sexy for me?”

“Possibly. Ya never know.” She smiled at him conspicuously. He grinned back at her and her mind trailed off to thoughts about her and Oz together, that way. She shook the thought from her head for the moment and stared into his eyes. His eyes reflected a love for her that was strong and true. Looking into his eyes, she found that deep inside of her, was a love just as strong and true as his. For a moment, she felt overwhelmed and confused. But did she really love him? All her life, she had thought that Xander was the only one that she could love and have romantic feelings for. She had discovered in the past 7 months that she didn’t really love Xander that way, but that she loved him as a brother. She had been finding more and more in the past few months that it was Oz that she really loved in a romantic sense, that he was the one that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with and at that moment, she couldn’t have been more sure. The next thing that came out of her mouth was,

“I-I love you.” Oz stared blindly at her for a moment.

< Did she just say that she loves me? > Ever since Oz laid eyes on her, he knew that she was the one. The one he wanted to share everything with. The one he wanted to love. The one he wanted to love him back. He had been contemplating for a while telling her that he loved her. He thought it best that he’d better wait until she told him first. He couldn’t lose her. She was everything. She gave him a reason to wake up in the morning and to go to sleep at night. She gave him a reason to live. Up until he met her, his life had been pretty crappy. His parents had gotten divorced when he was twelve and now he lived with his mom, who was barely around to say that she loved him and that she would be there for him. He had considered running away at one point. But now he had Willow. She was the one that made life bearable. She was beautiful, smart, sweet, considerate, loyal, and sensitive. It seemed that she was the glue that held the small group of Slayerettes together. They all turned to her with their problems and she was more then happy to help. He guessed what he truly loved about her was that she was there for him and that she always would be when he needs her. He never had anyone like that and he wasn’t about to scare her off by telling her that he loved her when she wasn’t ready. He then realized that he hadn’t responded. He looked deep into her soulful eyes that were full of love and sincerity and said,

“I love you, too.” She smiled at him through tears. After so many heartbreaks, one thing that she had wished for had come true: her wish to be loved by someone whom she loved back. And her parents didn’t count. Oz gently caressed her cheek. He leaned down and gently kissed her. She pulled him closer, trying to get as close to him as possible, as the kiss deepened. Eventually, neither one could stop and neither one wanted to. Oz tore his lips away from her mouth and gently began to nibble her ear. He slowly moved his lips across her jawline, gently placing a kiss along random places on her neck. He moved the other side of her neck and kissed a spot behind her ear. He kissed her again, this time deeper then he had ever done before. Her hands ventured up his shirt and he placed his hands on her thighs, riding up her shorts. They both simultaneously stopped, realizing how far they had gotten. Oz felt guilty for pushing Willow and Willow felt that she wasn’t ready to go that far and neither was Oz.

“I’m sorry,” they said at the same time. “I wonder how far we would have gotten is we hadn’t had stopped.”

Oz nodded. “So, do you want me to go?”

“No. I want you to stay.” They both realized that they were both tired.“Let’s go to bed.” Oz looked at Willow suspiciously. He opened his mouth to say something, but Willow stopped him. “Just lie down and hold me.”

He did as he was told, wrapping his arms around her as they both laid themselves on the couch. Oz brought the blanket up over them and whispered in her ear, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she said as she moved closer to him, allowing him to hold her more tightly. They both knew that they loved each other and that the rest was sure to follow.