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It was a standard case and probably would have stayed that way had Willow not gotten injured by some demon-y thing or another. The type of demon hadn’t mattered all that much to Buffy, not after Willow whimpered in pain and started bleeding. All Buffy cared to know was that the demon was dead, gone, and could never hurt her best friend again.
“Thankfully, I don’t think you’ll need stitches,” Buffy murmured, carefully cleaning the chest wound before she could bandage it.
“That’s good,” Willow murmured, her words shaky and body tense.
Buffy tried very hard not to focus on the fact that Willow sat before her sans top. It was comical watching Giles, Xander, Oz, and Angel all flee the room when they realized Willow needed to undress, but Buffy found it a lot less so when Willow sweetly asked for help removing her torn bloody shirt. Slayer strength meant nothing in the face of Willow's earnest smile.
It was only just recently that Buffy fully acknowledged her attraction to girls after years of mistaking the way her eyes lingered on as envy rather than attraction. Her feelings for Willow were different from past crushes because she loved Willow platonically before she fell for her romantically. By the time Buffy realized, her feelings were already strong.
As she patched Willow up, Buffy’s brain cycled between the terror she felt when the demon sliced Willow open and unnerved as she tried to keep from staring at Willow’s unfairly perky boobs. Buffy was a little surprised Willow even owned a lacey bra and wondered what else she’d discover the longer they knew each other.
Willow was unusually quiet and Buffy found herself missing her nerdy tangents and ramblings. More than likely, Willow was just in a lot of pain and a little uncomfortable sitting in front of Buffy without a shirt on while Buffy did her best to keep from blushing too hard.
Just as Buffy was about to make a joke to ease the tension between them, Willow blurted out, “I like girls!” She grimaced and buried her face in her hands. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said that while I’m half-naked in front of a pretty girl. It kind of sounds like a weird come-on. You probably think I’m such a perv.”
Buffy couldn’t help but giggle and blush because she might be the Slayer but she was also a teenage girl who got called pretty by the person she liked. “You really think I’m pretty, Wil?”
Willow lowered her hands, her embarrassment softening. “You’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen, Buffy. I’ve always thought so.”
Oh. Oh, wow. Who knew Willow could be so sweet and yet so smooth? It made Buffy’s head spin.
“I’ve been trying really hard to not look at your boobs this entire time,” she blurted out
“Really?” Willow asked, looking pleased.
“Big time,” Buffy admitted.
Shyly, Willow said, “You know, I don’t mind if you’re the one looking, Buffy.”
“Oh,” Buffy said softly. “I really want to kiss you right now.”
“You can do that too,” Willow said.
Buffy’s lips were against Willow’s before she even had the chance to think about it. Willow’s breath hitched before she tentatively kissed back. They exchanged several short kisses that grew in confidence with each they shared.
“You’re a really good kisser,” Willow murmured against Buffy’s lips.
“So are you,” Buffy replied.
Time grew hazy under Willow’s touch, until Xander’s voice filtered in from the hallway. “Do you think they’re done yet?”
Much closer, Cordelia snorted. “Doesn’t look like it.” Willow and Buffy jumped apart and turned to see Cordelia smirking at them while Xander covered his eyes with his hands.
“Put a sock on the door next time if you don’t want anyone barging in,” he said, leaving the way he arrived.
Buffy snorted, a giggle escaped Willow, and they both burst into laughter. Cordelia rolled her eyes.
“It’s great that you guys are girlfriends now or whatever, but can you hurry it up? The rest of us want to go home.” She turned on her heel and left.
Buffy pulled a spare shirt from her bag and helped Willow put it on.
“I know we just had our first kiss, but is that something you might be interested in? In being girlfriends, I mean,” Buffy asked.
Grinning, Willow pressed a quick kiss to Buffy’s cheek. “Consider us girlfriends.”