DISCLAIMER: Willow, Angel, Amy Madison, Buffy, Xander, Giles and everyone else don't belong to me, they belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. No, really, they do...
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The title of this story comes from lyrics from the Elton John song, "The One"

When Stars Collide
By: Serendipity

Part 3

Closing her locker, Willow sighed heavily, closed her eyes and leaned her head against the cool metal. The last few weeks absolute torture. The sheer burden of what she knew had robbed her of several hours of sleep each night. Today she'd not only fallen asleep in math class AND in history, but she'd also had to continue to blatantly lie to all of her friends. She'd almost lost it a few days ago when Buffy had caught her between classes and asked her if she'd been sleep deprived lately. Faking a sudden allergic reaction, she'd run and hid in the bathroom until the bell rang. It had been two full weeks since she'd changed Angel. It was hard to believe that she'd been able to keep it a secret for so long. She'd had to basically cut off all connection to her friends in order to manage, <Not that they really noticed.> but she'd done it. She sighed sadly. Yes, recently her life had been full of guilt and close calls, but she'd somehow managed to emerge reasonably unscathed.

"You look the way I feel."

Her heart jumped to her throat and her body stiffened. Suddenly, she placed the voice. <Amy...> Groaning with relief, Willow banged her head lightly against the locker door, "Tell me about it. Today has been SUCH hell...."

"You still haven't told them."

"No, how did you know?"

"I just walked past Buffy and Xander talking. They're worried about you. They think you're avoiding them for some reason..and..well...they're right."

Willow turned to regard the young witch and was surprised at the dark glasses covering her eyes, "Amy, are you okay?"

Amy grinned wryly and leaned against the lockers as well, "Yeah. My eyes are a bit sensitive to light now for some reason. I'm feeling alot stronger than I expected I would, so it's not too bad. Besides, I think the glasses make me look mysterious." She wiggled her eyebrows comically and they both erupted into giggles.

Willow sobered up almost immediately, "Amy, how am I going to tell them? They're going to kill me. I-I can't even imagine what Giles will say...especially since I've kept it from him for so long..." The two girls started walking along the bright halls towards the front exit.

"Well, Buffy will be happy, right?"

"I'm...not so sure. She and Ms. Calendar were never that close, but the last time they were together, they were in a pretty bad fight. Buffy felt so guilty when she found out that Ms. Calendar'd been killed. She's also very loyal to Giles. I really don't know how she'll react."

"Well, Willow, what's done is done. I think you'll just have to trust them with the truth."

"Trust who with what truth?"

Both girls jumped about five feet in the air and spun around.

"Oh...Xander," Willow smiled weakly.

"Hey Wills," he smiled brightly and then saw her companion, "Oh..hi Amy." He immediately dropped his gaze.

For once, Amy was glad that she was wearing her glasses as she rolled her eyes. Xander had been acting weird around her ever since the whole magic spell incident. <That kid is so obnoxious, I can't believe he *still* thinks I want him...> "Well, this is my cue to leave," flashing a brilliant smile, she started walking in the opposite direction until she felt Willow's hand create a vice grip on her forearm, forcing her to stumble back into place.

"Umm..N-no...Amy, don't leave so fast..don't forget that we have to....STUDY yes, study at my house for that...project we were assigned," Willow stammered <I am SO bad at lying!!>. She gritted her teeth and waited a beat hoping that the other girl would pick up on the story.

"Willow, it's Friday," Xander protested, "studying is, like, illegal."

Amy paused and turned her attention back to a very suspicious looking Xander.

"Well, it's a pretty big project," she countered.

"What class?" he challenged.

"History," Willow blurted before Amy could stop her.

"Wills, I'm in your history class. We didn't have any project assign-,"

"Well, if you MUST know, Xander," Amy broke in rudely, "It's a special project that I have to complete because..I...," she lowered her voice for effect, "I haven't been doing that well in history..."

This explanation seemed to go much better with the dark-haired boy, "Ooohh. Like, as an extra-credit kind of thing?"

Amy had to stifle a giggle. He actually looked sympathetic.

"Yes," Willow rejoined, "And I've volunteered to help her to boost my own grade.. G-gotta keep up that GPA, colleges are really competitive these days..."

"Oh, well, Buffy and I were going to the Bronze an-,"

"Nope, can't make it," Willow shrugged helplessly and started to walk away, dragging Amy with her.

"Oh, well then I'll call you!" he shouted after her as the two girls beat their hasty retreat.

"We'll be really busy!" Willow yelled in response as they tumbled backwards out the door and into the sunshine.

Pausing for a moment to look at eachother, they both burst out laughing and started running down the steps and across the lawn.

"Good cover!" Willow gasped.

"You went along with it very nicely," Amy grinned.

"Yeah, well I saw that episode of Dawson's Creek, too."

Part 4


Willow paced nervously in front of her mirror. It was just past sundown and she needed to check up on Angel. He hadn't called or emailed for the past three days as she'd asked him to and she couldn't help but feel worried. They'd met frequently these past few weeks. The meetings were often short and Willow intiated pretty much all of them but it was a strange comfort to her to see him and to know that he was all right. Even though they usually said very little during their meetings, Willow hoped that he was becoming more comfortable around her. It was nice to have him back.

Regardless, she also knew that she'd have to deal with the rest of her friends sooner or later and she had absolutely no idea how she'd break the news to them. Deep in her heart, she knew that Amy was right. Willow couldn't hide behind her forever...fortunately, that wouldn't stop her from trying....

"Okay. I'm going. For real this time," she muttered softly as she stopped to stare at herself in the mirror. With shaking hands she rearranged her hair. <What the heck am I doing? A hair check? For Angel? What am I, nuts? Like he's going to care what I look like...especially now...> Vanity got the best of her, though, and she turned a few more times while straightening out her skirt before heading to the bed to grab her backpack so she could leave.

She heard a faint rustling noise from outside.

Dropping her backpack onto her bed again, she carefully picked up the stake on her dresser. She tiptoed towards the large french doors which led to the small balcony outside her window.<Cool it Willow, you're safe as long as you stay inside the house... hah. famous last words...>

Gritting her, teeth, she double checked to make sure that the doors were firmly locked before gingerly pulling back the curtain. There he was. A dark shadowy figure putting something down and turning to climb out again.

She rapidly unlocked the doors and threw them open, "Angel?"

He looked up at her with one leg already swung half over the railing, "Willow! Hi...I didn't think you were home..."

"How..how are you? Why didn't you call me like I'd asked?"

"Oh. Well, I was kind of busy thinking...about things. It must've slipped my mind."

Unable to stop herself from feeling a mild pang of pain and an odd sense of jealousy over that <I'll bet he wouldn't have forgotten if I'd been Buffy.> , Willow swiftly decided to drop the issue. <How can I be so petty? He's one of my best friends. He needs me to be there, after all he's been through, of course he's liable to forget to 'check in', I mean, geez, I'm not his mother...>

Angel looked on with a feeling of mild anticipation as Willow seemed to be considering something. <I hope she doesn't realize that I'm lying.> The truth was, it *hadn't* slipped his mind. He'd remembered to call. In fact, he'd sat by his phone almost every day, picking it up, getting halfway through the number and then dropping it again before getting up to pace around his apartment some more. He wasn't really sure if she'd meant it when she'd asked him to call. There was so much he wanted to know from her. So many questions that needed to be asked. She was like his only lifeline to his previous existance, but he was too afraid to cling to her for fear that she'd end up hating him as well.

"Oh, well, that's okay," she smiled at him, a faint note of sadness in her voice, "I understand...you were...busy."

<I've hurt her feelings...> He sighed softly, "So, where were you going?"

"Going?" she seemed a bit surprised.

"Well, you're kind of dressed up, aren't you?" as soon as the words left his mouth, Angel would have given almost anything to take them back.

Willow's face couldn't have gotten any redder.

"Oh..well..I....," she tried desperately to stop blushing while knowing very well that the effort was futile<This is so humiliating, now what am I suposed to say? Why yes, Angel, I just spent the past half an hour getting ready to see you...>

<I can't believe it. I did it again...> This had to be the single worst conversation he'd ever had with anyone in his life. It even rivaled the one he'd had with Buffy the night after he'd changed. He couldn't seem to say anything right.

"I meant to say that you look really nice, I mean, not that you normally *don't* look nice, but you just look extra-nice tonight, for some reason," he rushed on trying to cover for his mistake but not realizing that he was only making things worse, "So I was just wondering if you were going somewhere or something, not that you have to be going somewhere to look nice b-,"

"Angel, I was coming over to check up on you," she finally blurted out in order to end both her misery as well as his.

There was a beat as the vampire processed the information, "Oh."

"Yes." Boy, where was a good change of subject when you needed one?

<Does that mean she dressed up because of me?> Unable to help it, Angel felt strangely happy with that knowledge. The automatic wash of self-loathing which followed after it, however, helped to destroy that emotion. <I don't deserve to be happy. Least of all now. Least of all with Willow. Of course she didn't dress up because of me. She was probably going to the Bronze or something straight afterwards.>

"So, what were you leaving here? I thought I saw you put something down.. " Her green eyes traveled past him and carefully around the edges of the balcony, looking for the object he'd left for her.

"Oh, yes, that," Beyond relieved to be talking about something else, Angel stooped down, picked up a large plastic bag and handed it to her.

Tropical Fish.

"Oh wow..Angel..."

"I bought them a little while ago. With money and all, I mean. I umm...I had to break into the store, but I left an adequate amount of money for the owner to covered the window I had to break to get in as well." <Why am I babbling? My God, I think I'm babbling....>

"Angel..." she was utterly speechless.

"I tried to umm.. find another store which was open later at night so that I wouldn't have to break in and all but there weren't any around here and I really wanted to get you these as soon as possible to replace the...others." He wasn't sure why, but something deep inside him wanted her to trust him and not to be threatened by him. He wanted her to feel at ease. And it was causing him to act like an eight year old.

"Angel, you really didn't have to do this."

"Willow, I took your fish out of their tank, gutted them and strung them along a piece of wire. Yes, I do think that means I owe you another set."

"Well, I appreciate it," She nodded slowly and held the bag up to her face, "I really do."

"Have you...spoken to Buffy or Giles recently?"

"No, not yet."

"When do you plan on telling them?"

"Don't you mean when do "we" plan on telling them?"

"I don't think it's that good an idea to have me there when you break the news to the-,"

"What are you talking about? You *have* to be there. It'll give them all an opportunity to see that it's really you and that you're back to the way you were before."

"Too chicken to do it on your own, huh?"

"Absolutely."

Despite their situation he started laughing. She always had this uncanny ability to make him feel better. "Okay, Willow, I'll come with you. How does Sunday night sound?"

It would mean that she'd have to somehow avoid everyone for two more days, but she'd live...at least until Buffy found out. "Sunday night sounds great."

Angel nodded. It'd give him a little more time to get his own life back into order and he knew that the teenagers also had a two week vacation coming up. It'd give everyone an adjustment period before school started again.

"Alright, I'll see you then," he turned and started to climb down again.

She almost dropped the bag of fish she was holding, "Wait Angel, what are you doing tomorrow night?"

He paused, "Tomorrow night? I hadn't really thought about it."

"Would you like to do something?"

"With you?"

"Well, yes."

"Like..?"

"I dunno, hang out at your apartment and talk or something?"

"Well...," he considered turning her down, but the sweet and hopeful look on her face made him think better of it, "that sounds nice. Sure, why not?" <Almost like a lost puppy.>

Her smile could've lit up all of Sunnydale, "Terrific. I'll come over tomorrow night then."

He nodded silently and dropped out of site.

By the time she got to the edge of the balcony, he was gone.

Still smiling, Willow turned with her new bag of fish and walked into her room, locking the doors behind her.

It wasn't until then that an odd thought occurred to her

<Ohmigosh, did I just ask him out?>

Part 5


She awoke with a start.

Vaguely, in the back of her mind, she thought she heard the phone ringing.

<Geez, what time is it?> Bleary eyed, she reached over and turned her alarm clock around.

9:30 am.

<Who the heck would be calling this early on a Saturday?>

She buried her face in her pillow and sighed before blindly reaching up and grasping the phone.

"Hello?" she muttered groggily into the receiver, her voice still slightly muffled by the pillow.

"Amy? Did I wake you?"

"No."

"Oh good, Amy you'll never believe what happened..."

"I'll bet I won't..."

"Guess who came over last night?"

"Willow? Is that you?"

"Angel!"

"Do you still want me to guess?"

"Are you paying attention?"

"Yes. Of course I am. Why did he come over?" she yawned sleepily and flipped over onto her back.

"To give me some tropical fish."

"Oh, okay, that makes absolutely no sense."

"It's a long story, listen Amy, what're you doing today?"

<Presumably, sleeping.> "Nothing much as of now."

"Would you be interested in coming over?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"Well, it's no big deal but I have some really cool stuff that I wanted to show you that I found from the internet about techno-paganism."

"Mmmmhmmm," she murmured, sitting up.

"And I also wanted to ask your advice about a few things."

"My advice?"

"Fashion-wise and...other-wise."

"Oh...ok," she agreed, furrowing her brows slightly, "Wait..Willow, who did you say came to visit you last night?"

"Nevermind, I'll talk to you about it later."

"But Will-,"

"Bye Amy, see you in about an hour."

"No, Willow, wa-," the abrupt sound of the dial-tone filled her ear, cutting off her final remark.

"Weirdness..."

Shrugging slightly, she hung up the phone and rolled out of bed to get ready.


"Yes, but I'm worried about her."

"Buffy, she get's like this sometimes. Especially around certain times of the month..."

"Xander, I can't believe you just said that."

"What? It's true!"

"Look, I just think that one of us should go check up on her. I emailed her twice last night and again this morning. I just tried to call and her phone line was busy."

"Maybe she's online.."

"She's not, I checked."

"Well, maybe she took her phone off the hook to prevent her crazy friends from calling obscenely early on weekends..." he rolled over onto his side and propped his head up on one hand, "Seriously though, Buffy, this is ridiculous. Willow's fine. I know her, she wouldn't do anything stupid. Not without telling us at least. She's terrible at lying too, you know that. If she was trying to sneak around behind our backs and do anything, we'd know in a second."

"Not if she avoided us while she was doing it, Xander."

He paused.

"Look, why don't one of us go over to her house?"

"She's not there, she's working on some History extra-credit project with Amy."

"Well then, call Amy."

"Are you kidding me? I can't do that!"

"Xander, you need to get over this. Amy doesn't want you. It was the spell. It was seriously powerful. Believe me, I know."

"It's not just that. She just gives me the heebie jeebies for some reason."

"She's been hanging around with Willow alot lately."

"Yeah, I've noticed that too. What's up with that?"

"Well, *we* certainly haven't been hanging around her that much."

"What do you mean?"

"Xander, between Giles and I trying to save the world and you and Cordelia trying to rid the universe of hormones, when was the last time we all just hung out?"

He actually had to think hard about that one, "Gosh, maybe a month or so ago."

"Catching a twinkie break in the hall between classes doesn't count."

"Oh. Okay, longer then."

"Exactly, so she's obviously lonely."

"You're right, I never thought about that before.."

"Why am I not surprised?" Buffy muttered under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing. Look, Xander, I think you're right. Willow's just probably feeling down right now, that's all."

"No, you know Buffy, I think there might actually be something else wrong with her maybe we sh-,"

"The only thing wrong with her is that she's been consummately ditched by all of her closest friends. The best way to fix this is to try to include her more and to schedule some stuff to do all together this vacation."

'That's a good idea, Buffy, but I still think that we sh-,"

"Great, glad that you agree. Well, I gotta run, see you tonight!"

"No Buffy, wa-,"

He moaned softly at the sound of the dial tone and hung up the phone.

Well, he wasn't getting any more sleep, that much was certain.

<Poor Willow. I never even saw it before. I am SUCH an ass. She must be so miserable.>

End Part 5