Breakfast

Breakfast

Author: Sirius

Email: Sirius@wolf-walker.net

Archive: http://www.wolf-walker.net, Sirius_writings, Twisting the Hellmouth. Otherwise, please ask.

Rating: G

Disclaimer: If they were mine, Bartlet would be President. Since he’s not… well, you get the idea.

Author’s Note: This is #5 in the “Food for Thought” Series, and picks up the morning after “Midnight Snack.” I needed Willow/Sam fluff, so I wrote Willow/Sam fluff. This was actually written a while ago, and I posted it to everywhere else, but somehow forgot to post it here. Sorry.

Warning: SAP alert… this is cheesy and fluffy, and I might change it later, but I needed W/Sam fluffiness, so right now, I’m not particularly minding that it’s much cheesier than usual.



Willow woke hearing Sam’s voice… coming from somewhere above her. Mmm…there was a ringing. Bad alarm, was gonna hit the snooze. Think Sam stopped it, but why is he talking? Talking? Oh, it was the phone. Oops. My bad… should have realized that. Ick… I need to brush my teeth.

“Josh… Josh! I’ll tell you later, ok? Yeah, I know I sound better than I did yesterday. There’s this thing called sleep… does wonders.” She moved her head and looked up to see the grin on his face, before pushing herself up off the couch with a groan. She didn’t really want to move just yet, but she had things to do. Bathroom, brush teeth, come back and kiss Sam… wait a minute. Kiss Sam? Since when have I been thinking about the Sam kissage? I’ve never kissed… A voice deep inside her head responded, ‘But you’ve wanted to, haven’t you?’

Alright, alright, I’ll admit that Sam is sweet… and smart… and determined to right the wrongs of the world…and warm and cuddly… Oh, boy. Willow looked back at him, fully taking in the sight of an ever-so-shirtless Sam, and barely managing to stop the whimper that wanted to escape. Admit it, Rosenberg. When Oz left and you didn’t feel like you had anyone left to talk to… who did you call? You didn’t try to get Buffy to sit still. You didn’t talk to Giles or Xander or – Goddess forbid – Anya. You called Sam. I should probably tell the Sunnydale gang about him… or at least mention where I am.

‘Then you’d have to go back to being Research Girl and all Wicca,’ that voice whispered again.

I’m tired, she thought. I like research and I like the magic… but… the Scoobies aren’t really the Scoobies anymore. We don’t really sit down and talk to each other, just about life… or even see each other much outside of the slayage. Are we a team, now? We were once. Ok, enough with the depressing. Focus on the gorgeous, sweet guy here who knows about the Wicca stuff… though, not about the other. This is the guy who doesn’t expect me to be Research girl or hacker girl or magic girl. He just expects me to be Willow, whoever I decide I am. She went and took care of her morning stuff, coming back to see Sam still talking on the phone.

The look in his eyes when he saw her made her catch her breath. Maybe I’m not the only one thinking there’s more than the friendship going on here? Yeah, I know, I know… there’s always been something between us, but I hadn’t expected this. I hadn’t realized… how smoothly he slid into my life, from phone calls and emails to, well… to me showing up in DC just to make sure he has a chance to sleep. Oh, Goddess… do I look at him like he’s looking at me? No wonder the President just smiled and shut the door.

She smiled at him, understanding that look in his eyes… recognizing it for what it was. He was still speaking to Josh, but his smile was for her, and his outstretched hand silently told of his wishes… asking, not demanding, that she come back to sit by his side. With a contented sigh, she took the hand, curling up once more on the couch, listening to the dialogue between this more-than-friend and his brother-soul.

“Josh, I haven’t even had time to find out how long she’s going to be in town, yet. He what? Oh… no, she hadn’t had a chance to mention that, yet.” Sam’s face turned to hers and he mouthed the words, ‘The President?’

“Oops,” she whispered.

“Yeah,” he said, smiling again. “She’s going to fill me in later. Yes, Josh, I know that she’s Wiccan; we’ve talked about that. It doesn’t bother me… doesn’t seem to bother her. Josh… go back to sleep and let me talk to her so I’ll actually have something to tell you later, ok? Bye, Josh.”

He hung up the cordless phone and reached out a hand to Willow, running his fingers through her hair, and she couldn’t stop herself from leaning into his touch. “Willow,” he whispered, seeming almost… afraid for some reason.

“Mm-hmm.”

“Why did you come all the way out here?”

A small part of her… the same part that had given her a clue… wanted to back away for a moment, afraid that once she answered, she’d be too far gone in him. The other part… the part that knew he would compliment her rather than take over completely, wanted to tell the truth. She could see the fear in his eyes, too. He knew how he felt. How long has he known? He just wasn’t sure she felt the same way… afraid that she saw him as a friend or a brother. His eyes show so much.

“I came out here because you were tired and hurting,” she said, after taking that moment to gather her thoughts, “and I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving you like that. You’ve slid into my life, Sam Seaborn, and become so much a part of it… I’m not explaining this very clearly, am I?” She sighed for a second, continuing. “Around you, I’m not expected to be the research expert, or the girl people go to when they need help with a class. I’m not even expected to be the best friend you’ve known since forever – you have Josh for that. You’ve never called me Will.”

“Why would I call you Will?” Judging by the look on his face, Sam was a little confused.

“Xander calls me Will; we’ve been friends since kindergarten. All my other friends… they call me Will, too. The only one who’s ever really used my name – recently, anyway – is the closest thing to a father that I’ve ever really had, and there are days when I still have no idea how to talk to him about non-schoolwork issues. Sam, you call me Willow. You let me be Willow, without expecting me to be anything else. When we met… you didn’t know that I was the school techno-geek, or that I was friends with the librarian, or… well, anything. You had no preconceived notions about me. I was just this girl who thought that a good man had a right to keep his illness to himself. You didn’t know who I was… and that let me be me – not Will, not brainiac, not Research Girl or Witch girl… just Willow. Just Willow.”

“And Willow,” Sam whispered, drawing closer to her, “is all I’ve ever really wanted. I don’t need the Research Girl. I don’t need the Witch. I accept them both… I cherish them both, because they’re part of you. Willow without the magic would still be Willow. And Willow is just who I need.”

**Fin, for now**