Title: Swallow The Day

Summary: IWRY Beyond Buffy and Angel. What else did Angel take back when he took back the day for him and Buffy? Written for jadedcynic’s IWRY ficathon.                                                                                                   

 

 

 

Riley rolled his shoulders as he walked down Main Street. He was still jet lagged from the quick trip to Huxley, Iowa for Thanksgiving with his family. Walsh had called everyone back early because of an incident with vengeful Indian spirits. By the time he’d gotten back the situation had been resolved. Walsh wasn’t exactly sure how as it was nothing the Initiative had done but they were looking into it. He stopped by the coffee shop hoping the caffeine would keep him up a few more hours. If he went to bed before midnight it would throw his entire sleep schedule off. It’d take a week to get himself back on track.

 

“Regular cup of Joe,” he ordered at the counter. He dug his wallet out of his back pocket, dipping his head to get the $2.50 out of it.

 

“Riley? I thought you were in Iowa.”

 

He turned to see a familiar redhead standing in line behind him. His face lit with an open smile. “Willow. Yeah, uhm…I came back early. I had some papers to grade for Professor Walsh. I’ve got thirteen nephews and nieces. I couldn’t get anything done there.” The clerk behind the counter handed Riley his coffee. He muttered thanks and turned his attention back to Willow.

 

“How are you?” He asked. He knew the redhead was having a difficult time right now with her boyfriend leaving.

 

Willow shrugged and lifted a corner of her mouth then dropped it. “Okay I guess. I mean I’m not like bouncy Willow…well I am kind of since this is like my third latte but that’s ‘cause sugar and caffeine…anyway I’m okay.” In truth she wasn’t doing okay. She’d been working on a numbing spell. If she’d done it correctly it would help dull the pain of the broken heart Oz had left behind. Only she hadn’t done it correctly, she was still hurting and her dorm room was a mess of colored sand, over burnt sage and beeswax candles.

 

Riley grinned at her ramble. “Three latte’s huh? You sure you can handle that?  If you need an intervention I can come through in a pinch.”

 

Willow’s laugh came out high and nervous. She shook her head. “N-no. I’m…you wanna have a seat? Or walk? Walking might be good. I’m less jittery when I’m moving.”

 

Riley nodded. “We can walk. I’m trying to stay awake for a few more hours anyway.”

 

Willow nodded and they started out of the coffee shop. Riley held the door for her and then fell into step as they started down the sidewalk. “So why aren’t you eating the traditional leftovers with the rest of the gang?”

 

“O-oh…Buffy went to see her Dad in LA. Xander and Anya took the leftovers. Anya had this bizarre and incredibly gross idea for yam usage. Giles is happiest with a book and silence. Mom and Dad are in Washington protesting something to do with turkeys. That sorta leaves me leftoverless.”

 

Riley nodded and sipped at his coffee. “And alone.”

 

Willow nodded. “Yeah,” she glanced over at him. “But you don’t need to feel obligated you know. I mean to fix the aloneness. I’m okay with aloneness. In fact I’m thinking about getting a rocking chair and some cats. I’ll be one of those little old ladies in the house with the cats. I’ll knit scarves and the neighborhood kids will make up rumors about me being a wicked witch.”

 

Riley chuckled. “That imagination of yours just takes off like a run away freight train doesn’t it?”

 

Willow shrugged. “Sometimes. I’m sorry I’m probably boring you or w-worse driving you crazy. You can leave now.”

 

He shook his head. “No. You’re not boring at all nor are you hurting my mental capacity.”

 

“O-okay. Buffy should be back tomorrow.” She gulped nervously at her latte.

 

Riley furrowed his brow, his features growing serious. “And Xander and Anya are doing the yam thing…which now that that image is burned into my brain I’ll have nightmares…Giles is reading and you’re alone until tomorrow.”

 

Willow nodded. “Yeah, but I mentioned I was okay with the aloneness right? You don’t have to feel-”

 

“Obligated. I know,” he finished for her.  They continued to walk along in companionable silence for a moment before Willow broke it.

 

“So, Professor Walsh’s class…it’s getting really interesting.”

 

Riley nodded. “It’s an interesting field of study, Psychology that is. The human brain and how it works…why…the patterns we fall into. It’s fascinating to see how certain things can shape us and drive us…”he trailed off. “Sorry, I can get a little enthusiastic about it.”

 

“So are you’re a psychology major?” Willow asked. “What do you want to do with that?”

 

“I’m not sure,” Riley answered honestly. He glanced over at Willow as they walked nearly running into a light post as they did. He scowled and continued. “I don’t think I want to be a Psychologist as interesting as I find it. The idea of being locked up in an office all day doesn’t really appeal to me.”

 

Willow stifled a laugh as Riley narrowly avoided the light post. She wrinkled her nose. “Isn’t that sort of what a Psychologist does by default? Stay locked in an office? It’s not like Ecology where you have field work. All your field work would be inside too, wouldn’t it?”

 

Riley nodded. “So you can see my conundrum,” he grinned. He shook his head and scuffed his foot as they continued walking. “I don’t know. I’ve been looking into various fields where Psychology could help me. I haven’t come up with anything yet.” He continued to talk about the things he’d looked into doing and what he would like to do with a Psychology degree. Willow listened and she couldn’t help comparing him to Oz. With Oz she would have long periods of silence. It’d taken her a little while to grow comfortable with those silences. Eventually she had even come to appreciate them, but Riley didn’t seem to need silence. He was content to fill it with chatter about himself and classes.

 

“So what are you majoring in?” He asked pulling her out of her reverie.

 

“O-oh…I’m not really sure. I’m just a general major right now. There’s lots of things I’d like to do,” Willow answered.

 

“Such as?” Riley looked up as they passed the Pizza Parlor. He stopped, pulling Willow to a stop with a light touch on her arm. “Have you eaten?” She shook her head. “Why don’t we have some pizza? If I go back I’ll be stuck with Graham and Hunter who are invariably planning some kind of frat party with drunken co-eds.”

 

“You don’t like drunken co-ed’s?” Willow asked stalling on the pizza invitation. This was the guy Buffy potentially liked, the first one after Parker. She wasn’t sure if she was treading on the unwritten friend rules or not.

 

“Well sure. Who doesn’t like drunk co-eds? You’re better company though. You can form complete sentences, whole paragraphs even,” Riley grinned at her.

 

She couldn’t help returning the smile. “Well…alright, but only because I’m on a mission to save people from drunk co-eds one boy at a time.”

 

He chuckled and led her into the pizza parlor.   Fifteen minutes later they sat at the table with a greasy cheese pizza and an old wine bottle fitted with a lit taper candle between them. Riley picked up a piece of the pizza and took a bite, cheese stringing from the corner of his mouth.

 

“You’ve got cheese…”Willow said gesturing toward his mouth.

 

Riley swiped at his face with his napkin somehow managing to completely miss the cheese. Willow shook her head and grinned. She reached over and plucked at the cheese. She jerked her hand back like it burned; surprised at the tingle brushing her fingers against the corner of Riley’s mouth had produced.

 

“Thanks…” Riley trailed off suddenly a bit uncomfortable with the tension. He cleared his throat. “I’m glad you like cheese pizza. Most people want to add more things to it and I end up picking everything off.”

 

“You do that too?” Willow asked surprised. “I mean…I- Xander likes lots of things on his pizza. I like cheese. It’s like…silence…which probably doesn’t make sense to you or-or anyone who’s not me.”

 

Riley grinned widely and nodded. “No. It does make sense. Sometimes it’s nice to have the noise and…drunk co-eds…sometimes.” His smile softened as he caught Willow’s eye. “It’s also nice to have just cheese…silence and someone who can carry a conversation.”

 

“S-so I’m cheese?” Willow asked, her voice pitching a bit high.

Riley chuckled. “I like cheese.”

 

 

They lingered over pizza long after the cheese on the few remaining pieces had grown cold. Willow was surprised by how much she and Riley had in common. For a little while she was actually able to forget about Oz and how much she ached inside. It was a nice break.

 

Riley glanced up at the clock on the wall in the pizza place. It was getting late and he was supposed to meet Graham and Hunter for patrol in a half hour. He looked back to Willow.

 

“I should get you home,” he said and pushed himself away from the table. He held out a hand to help Willow up. She hesitated before laying her hand in his; a smile crept over her face. Her hand looked tiny and pale folded inside his. Her brow wrinkled with confusion and then she looked up, her eyes meeting Riley’s.

 

“I-uh-y-you don’t have to walk me. I’m okay walking by myself.”

 

Riley shrugged. “There’s a lot of dangerous elements out there after dark. I don’t mind.”

 

“O-oh…yeah dangerous elements. I’ve sort of taken self defense. Ha ya! Karate and all…” Willow feigned a movie style karate pose and then trailed off.

 

Riley laughed. He squeezed Willow’s hand tighter when she tried to draw it out of his. “I want to.”

 

Willow’s eyes went wide. “B-but Buffy…”

 

“Buffy and I are friends…nothing more,” he assured her. “Yes there has been some flirting…but Buffy and I really don’t have much in common. I’ve seen her struggle to stay awake in Walsh’s class but you’ve…you enjoy it. Your face gets this glow when you’re learning something new.”

 

Willow flushed pink and concentrated on her tennis shoes. “I-I’m a bookworm. It’s cool to be a nerd…or at least that’s what I tell myself.”

 

Riley grinned as they walked down the sidewalk. He nodded. “Yeah…it’s cool to be a nerd. Besides if you claim nerdom I have to claim it too. I confessed to my passion over psychology.”

 

Willow nodded enthusiastically. “That qualifies you. Don’t worry we can share Nerdom solidarity.”

 

“I’m glad to hear it,” he chuckled. He glanced up at Stevenson Hall. “This is you right?”

 

Willow frowned slightly. She wasn’t aware they’d walked so far or so fast.  “This is me. Thanks for the walk home.”

 

Riley glanced down at his watch. His pager went off with a beep. The 911 identifying the page as one from The Initiative. “I’ve really got to…”

 

Willow nodded. “Go. I know. I can make it to my room from here. A couple of flights of stairs and a door, easy peasy.”

 

“Maybe we can have pizza again,” Riley offered.

 

“Or Indian. I’m open to a whole variety of foods,” Willow rambled. She tugged her hand out of Riley’s and gnawed on her bottom lip. “I-I had a nice time.”

 

“So did I,” he grinned and turned on his heel to walk away. Willow paused before turning around to walk into the dorm room. She gasped when a hand grabbed her wrist. Riley turned her around and placed a very light kiss on her lips.

 

“Next time we’ll try Indian.” He gave her a sloppy grin and then loped off. Willow lingered on the dorm building steps before returning to her own room for a night of popcorn and studying.

 

 

*

 

 

Willow wrapped her hands around her third cup of latte and started out the door of the Espresso Pump. She was recounting the debunked numbing spell she’d attempted earlier trying to discover where she’d gone wrong when she caught sight of a familiar face.  Her brow furrowed.  An uncanny sense of déjà vu tickled the nape of her neck.

 

“Riley? I thought you were in Iowa.”