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She turned away, what was she looking at?
She was a sour girl the day that she met me.

Riley stood in front of the door, trying to get up the courage to do this. < You're a military man, Finn, > he told himself in the sternest voice he could muster. It ended up sounding incredibly like the voice of his mother. Or possibly Professer Walsh. < You've fought demons, you can handle talking to a girl about another girl. >

The guy side of him freaked out at that. < Don't girls not like that? When you come to them for advice about other girls? But then, Buffy's her friend...and she's dating somebody, that Oz guy. Although, he did drop out of school... >

Shaking his head at his own uselessness, Riley raised his hand and quickly knocked on the door. A quiet and forlorn-sounding "Come in" emerged from inside. He opened the door, looking in to find the pretty redhead lying on her bed, sad music playing on her stereo. He did his best not to look panicked. "Gee, I hope I?m not interrupting something really depressing..." He managed a weak smile.

Willow shook her head, turning off the cd and clutching a big floppy-eared stuffed puppy closer to her chest. "No. Come on in, Riley."

He entered the room, shutting the door behind him. "You know, it's really not safe to invite just anybody into your room."

"Yes, but it?s daytime," she said immediately, almost offhand. Almost as if she knew the bizarre things that could happen in Sunnydale at night. But...he took another look at her wide-eyed face, the fractured innocence in her large brown eyes. She couldn't possibly know the truth about Sunnydale. Not with that face.

She cleared her throat, and he realized that he'd been staring. He blushed, looking away. Finally, Willow said something. "So...whats up?"

"Nothing really. I just came to talk about...Buffy."

Willow's large eyes regarded him. "She's not here."

Well, yeah. He blushed again. Points for the obvious. "But I was mostly hoping that I could talk to you. About her." He looked down at his feet. " See, I don't know that much about Buffy. But I'm interested in what she likes." < That's right, push for the interests. > "And so far, well, the only thing that I know she likes...is you." He looked up from the floor, where he'd been staring throughout his little monologue. Willow was looking at a bag underneath Buffy's bed with worried eyes.

Suddenly she got up and headed for the bag. "Oh...okay. Um...what do you want me to do?"

She began discreetly pushing the black gym bag further under the bed with one sneakered foot, trying her best to look nonchalant. Riley began to wonder if she had a pet in the bag that she didn't want him to know about.

Shrugging, he grinned at the redhead and tried his best to answer her question. "Just tell me something. Anything. Just give me a clue to?" He looked down at the floor again. The bag was too heavy for her to move, but she kept on trying. It was cute, especially the way she bit her lip. < Whoa?what the hell was that thought? > Trying to distract himself, he knelt down at her feet. "Here, let me help you with that."

Pushing the bag quickly under the bed, grateful for his muscles, Riley beat himself in the had with his thoughts. < You're interested in her friend, Riley. Willow's friend, the pretty blond girl. > He could remember back to the first time he?d met both of them?Willow had displayed quick enthusiasm about psychology, and her cute smile...

"Um, Riley?"

Riley looked up. Willow, standing above him, looked worried, and a little bit like she just wanted to go back to bed. He blushed again, calling up an image of Buffy for him to hold onto. Her in class, blond hair gleaming, laughing and... He breathed. < Okay. Got my mission again.

He jumped right back into the conversation, standing up as Willow sat back on her bed. "Just tell me something that will start us talking, you know?" He sat down on Buffy?s bed with a sigh. "I'm thinking that 'how 'bout them Broncos' won't really cut it."

She laughed, giving Riley a victorious feeling. However, the sober look quickly returned to her face, as she pinned him with a glare. "Ok. Say that I help, and you start a conversation. It goes great. You like Buffy, she likes you. You spend time together, feelings grow deeper, and one day, without even realizing it, you find you're in love. Time stops, and it feels like the whole world's made for you two, and you two alone. Until the day one of you leaves and rips the still-beating heart from the other, who's now a broken, hollow mockery of the human condition." She stared out the open window, eyes cold. And red, he realized suddenly, as if she?d been crying. He was seized by the sudden need to take her in his arms.

A chill ran over his body. < Whoa. Cut that out right now, soldier. Not only do you have a thing for her best friend, she's obviously alone and vulnerable right now. You need to be her friend. > He smiled a little, trying to perk up the downtrodden girl. "Yep, that's the plan."

"I figured it was," Willow fired back.

He nodded. "Look, if you want to tell me to go to hell, that's ok. Maybe this is the last thing you want to talk about. I just...you know. I'm here if you do want to talk." He panicked. < Going off the plan! Going off the plan! >

Willow wasn't buying it. "Why should I trust you?"

Um...good question. He shrugged, trying to look as earnest as possible. "Just sort of hoping you'd think I have an honest face."

She smiled softly, with sympathetic eyes. "I've seen honest faces before. They usually come attached to liars."

< God, what the hell did Oz do to her? > Riley was seized with the sudden urge to break every bone in the smaller man's body. He got up off the bed. "All right. I guess I'm not gonna win, here. I just sort of wanted...sort of wanted to be your friend."

He was headed for the door when Willow's voice broke through the silence. "She likes cheese."

< What? > "What?" He turned around to stare at Willow, who shrugged.

"Well, I?m not saying it's the key to her heart, but Buffy...she likes cheese."

< What? Oh! > He'd forgot all about his mission?come here, grill the friend, date the girl. The girl who he liked. The Parker thing proved that, right? He smiled, coming closer to the middle of the room and further from the door. "That's a start."

Willow began throwing out facts. "She has a stuffed piggy named Mr. Gordo. Loves Ice Capades, with healthy irony..." Riley smiled, amused at the random things Willow was saying. She pursed her lips, rolling her eyes. "And she's dragging me to this party tonight. At Lowell House."

He sat down on her bed, leaning forward, suddenly enthusiastic. "Oh, you're going? That's my house. I live there." < As if 'that's my house' didn't already convey that... >

Willow seemed to completely miss his confused and redundant ramblings. She shrugged. "Well, it'll give you a chance to interact." She suddenly sat up straight, eyes stony, a look of reproval on her face. Her lips were pouty. "But don't get fresh."

Riley shook his head in confusion. "Fresh? I don't even know if we like each other yet." < Actually, now I'm kind of doubting if I even like her... > No, bad. He did like Buffy. She was beautiful. And, um...beautiful. "Hey, does she ever talk about me? Like, has she ever said?"

Willow quickly interrupted him, shaking her head. ?Sorry." "That's discouraging." He looked up at Willow, who was a lot happier-looking than when he'd first dropped by. Almost as if focusing on Buffy's love life took her mind off her own. He placed his hand on hers, struggling to be friendly. He was having doubts about this Buffy thing, but it was making her happy. "Still, I feel like I have a fighting chance with my new accomplice."

The redhead across from his suddenly sat up straight, still clutching her stuffed dog. "I'm not your accomplice."

Riley grimaced. < Oops. Apparently, not the right way to go about this. > He tried to reassure her. "No, no. Of course not." "I?m not," she said emphatically, as if she didn't believe him. He just wanted to make her happy again.

Quickly he repeated, "You?re not."

Willow sat back with a slight smile on her face, looking much more friendly than she had moments before. "We're clear?"

Riley smiled, feeling something in his chest tighten at the small grin on her face. The small grin that he had put on her face. "We're clear."

Hey, what are you looking at?
She was a happy girl the day that she left me. What would you do?
What would you do if I followed you?

Riley searched the room nervously for the two freshman girls. < Where are they where are they? Will said they were coming. > He didn?t even notice when his two best friends showed up beside him.

"Riley, man!" Forest?s voice cut through Riley?s thoughts, making the blond man jump and Forest and Graham snicker. "Who're you looking for?"

He shrugged. "You know, just people."

"And would Buffy be among those people?" Graham asked slyly.

Riley gulped as Buffy walked through the door, a sullen-looking Willow on her arm. "She's definitely among 'those people'," he admitted, his eyes fixed on the girls. He walked over to a place near the door and leaned against the short wall, trying to remain calm.

He didn't realize Willow had come up behind him until he felt her breath in his ear.

"Hi Riley."

He jumped at the contact. < Oh my God! Oh...Willow. > He didn't turn around. His eyes were too wild. "So, whats up?"

"Ok, she?s wearing the halter top with sensible shoes. That means mostly dancing, light contact, but don't push your luck. Heavy conversation's out of the question." Willow?s voice was low, since she was trying not to be heard, and her breath was cool.

He turned around, staring into her sweet, soft eyes. "So what do I do?"

She rolled her eyes, as if it were obvious. "Ask her to dance." < Oh. Duh. Obvious. > "Right. Dance." He stopped, suddenly realizing. "Wait. No."

Willow's eyes were wide and concerned. "What's the matter?"

< Oh, this is gonna sound sooo stupid... > He went for it, feeling the inate need to be honest with her. He admitted his deepest, darkest secret to her: "I can't dance."

Willow burst out laughing, and Riley did his best to conceal the hurt look on his face. "Not really that funny," he muttered, blushing.

"Everyone can dance," Willow said assuringly. "Come on." She grabbed his hand, leading him away from his nice safe leaning spot.

"Where are we going?"

She led him to one of the empty rooms, leaving the door half-open so the music could still be heard. Turning to face him, she put on her best strict-face. "We're going to dance."

"What?" < Okay, okay, don't panic, Agent. You can dance, and there's no one here to see you look like an idiot. Except this really pretty redhead... >

"And after we dance," Willow announced, "you can go ask Buffy to dance, cause you'll be okay at it."

Riley's face lit up with a grin at her official manner. The song playing in the other room was considered rock, but was slow enough that he'd have to take her in his arms to do anything.

She stepped up to him, pulling his arms around her waist, and hooking her own arms around his neck. Her hair smelled like peaches, and he could see the back of her neck, pale and vulnerable and sprouting a thin layer of peach fuzz from the last time it had been cut. Riley pulled her closer to him, cursing himself for it.

Don't turn away, what are you looking at?
He was so happy on the day that he met her.
Say, what are you looking at?
I was a superman, but looks are deceiving.

< Okay, this is starting to be a bad idea, > Riley realized. Not only was he far away from his mission objective (and when had he begun to talk about normal things like dating as 'missions'? That gave him something to worry about) but he was very close to a very pretty girl who smelled like peaches.

Suddenly, Willow giggled. Riley pulled back a bit, looking down into her pretty face with a soft smile breaking out over his own. "What?"

Her eyes were sparkling. "I feel like that scene in Little Women. You know, where Jo burnt her dress and?"

He nodded. "Yeah, she went into the back room and danced with Laurie."

Willow raised her eyesbrows. "You read Little Women?"

Riley was aware that it was a very unmanly thing to do. "I have three sisters," he muttered.

She did a cute little 'oh' thing with her mouth, and as he leaned down to chastise her for it with a grin, their faces were very close.

Riley sucked in a breath. Willow seemed suddenly aware of their closeness as well and pulled back abrubtly, looking at anything but him. "So...this party is nice. I mean, not that we can see it or anything, since we're back here and the party's out there. Hey! Think you've learned dancing yet?"

Riley smiled, then leant in and kissed her. Her lips were soft and insistent on his, sweet and liquid as they opened, allowing his tongue to brush hers. His hands left her waist and tangled in her short hair, clipped back behind her ears.

She pulled back from him with a soft gasp, her fingers going to touch her lips as if she didn't believe what had just happened. "What?" Riley asked quickly, his voice quiet.

She was stuttering. "What was?I mean we...what just happened?"

Riley looked at the floor. "If you have to ask, I guess I really wasn't doing it all that well."

She laughed, then quickly regained her former shock. "No, that was...fine. But, I mean. You like Buffy."

"Yeah, I like Buffy. But you..."

Willow laughed again, suddenly, sounding bitter. "Oh. I get it. You can't get Buffy, so you might as well try for me."

Oh...shit. He tried to fix it. "No, no!"

"I'm always second best, aren't I? Always the fall girl. I should have known?" She turned on her heel and started to walk out.

"No!" He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back into the room with him. "It's not like that. I'm from Iowa, okay? My mother raised me better."

She crossed her arms. "Oh yeah? Then what is this?"

Riley blushed. "I thought Buffy was pretty, a sweet kid. Someone made a crack about her, and I got angry. I thought that meant... But it's like, being close to you, talking to you..." He shook his head, frustrated. "I can't figure it out. It's like I already know you. And I'd like to know you. You know?"