by Tooru » Tue May 03, 2005 7:44 pm
TITLE: … Not sure yet. Any suggestions?
SPOILERS: Nope… none… this is an AU fic.
RATINGS: R-ish? I’m not sure yet. I’ll be sure to tell you whenever I update.
FEEDBACK: That would be wonderful and you will be on my “people I love” list.
DISCLAIMER: All the characters belong to Joss Wheden and UPN and everyone else who had something to do with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
NOTE: I swear, I'll reply to comments soon. Sorry that I'm such a slacker! I just really need to pass the AP tests...
Tara trudged unhappily to her brother’s car where he was impatiently waiting for her. Donnie had threatened to make her walk to school, which would be impossible because they lived in the middle of nowhere.
Oh yeah… I get to go to school and meet new people and listen as they make fun of me.
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Willow walked out of her house with her backpack slung over her shoulder. Today was the beginning of another school, filled with endless homework assignments and boring lessons from teachers who didn’t really care about their students.
Funny that what used to bring me so much pleasure now seems like a nuisance, Willow thought idly and she turned to unlock her door. She was leaving a little earlier than she would have last year before the “incident” because she didn’t want to walk with Buffy and Xander.
Ah yes…Buffy and Xander. My two best friends that swore to protect me. Lot of good that did, Willow thought bitterly as she started her long walk to school. By herself. Just the way she liked it. Alone, where no one can hear her haunted thoughts.
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Meanwhile, Buffy and Xander were walking to school, hoping that Willow would be waiting for them outside her gate, just like she always was. They didn’t understand what was going on. One day, Willow was her happy self, the next, she was broken. They never stopped to ask… they were scared to.
“Hey Buffy,” Xander said discreetly, interrupting Buffy from her thinking. “There’s Willow.”
Yes, it was true. Willow was walking in front of them, seemingly in deep thought.
“Oh… she didn’t wait for us,” Buffy said sadly, as she reflected on their friendship. They have all gone through a lot together, from climbing on trees and falling out of them to cheating on the chemistry final and getting caught.
“Come on! Let’s go catch up!” Xander said, under the illusion that Willow wanted to talk to him.
“Okay! Let’s go do that! Maybe she’ll talk to us now,” Buffy also said happily. She wanted to talk to Willow, understand her.
Maybe if they both stopped to think about it, they would have seen that Willow had no desire to talk to them. However, stopping to think was never one of their strong points.
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Willow was in hell. She was thinking… she was always thinking. Sometimes it was thoughts about good times… spending time with Buffy and Xander, learning new materials, her parents actually spending time with her. Sometimes it was bad thoughts… thoughts about her parents telling her to get the hell out, thoughts about being betrayed.
Those were the thoughts that plagued her. They appeared in her dreams. That’s why she didn’t sleep that much anymore.
Willow was still thinking when Xander decided to not let his presence be known but instead, wrapping his arms around her shoulders just to surprise her. He always did it before and she usually laughed it off so he was unprepared for the terrified scream that she let out.
Oh my god. Please don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me. I’ll do anything. Please… not again, Willow screamed in her head as she frantically pushed the hands off of her.
Xander immediately let go of her and was shocked when Willow turned around to look at him.
Her eyes… they were so scared. What happened to you, Willow? Why won’t you talk to me anymore?, thought Buffy when she got her first look at her friend.
Once Willow stopped and looked at her friends, a part of her wanted to hurt them for making her remember. She felt so angry at everything, the world, the unfairness of this, her inability to just talk to her friends.
Buffy was just staring at her shocked while Xander was staring at her like she grew a third eye right in front of him. In their eyes, Willow could see questions, hurt, and confusion. She didn’t want to deal with that so she did the best thing for her. The same thing she’s been doing for the last few months: She walked away from her friends, burying the emotions that threatened to come out.
“Don’t ever touch me with your dirty hands again”, were the last words that Willow threw out as she walked away.