So, the particular instance he had found didn't leave him with much hope or inspiration on how to reverse their current problem. Giles sighed and raked his hand through his hair, glancing nervously at the door as he waited for his charge and her friends to arrive. He had decided they should try to go to Cordelia's house even if Cordelia wasn't home. There would probably be a maid or someone available to let them in and retrieve the bracelet.

He looked up as he heard Buffy's distinct voice in the hallway outside the library. She moved through the library doors, followed closely by Oz.

Giles stared at her for a moment in silent contemplation. Every time he read about a slayer who died, he felt a twinge of fear for Buffy. Reading about a slayer who had died because she wished to be normal hit just a little too close to home for comfort.

Buffy came to a stop a few feet from Giles and looked at him. "What?"

"Hmmm?" he replied absently.

"Giles, you're doing the weird stare-thing at me." Buffy impatiently blew some stray hairs from her forehead. "You've been researching dead slayers again, haven't you?"

Giles blinked in surprise. He never knew she had caught on. "I was looking through some old Watcher diaries," he mumbled evasively.

Oz watched their exchange with an expression on his face that could have passed for amusement. He quickly cut to the chase with the question, "Did you find anything to help Willow and Xander?"

"Well, uh, I found an incident today with a necklace that was similar," he replied. "But they never resolved the wish, so I'm afraid I haven't found much that could be of use..."

Buffy turned to Oz. "That's Giles-ese for 'big fat nothing',' she informed him.

"Have either of you heard from Cordelia?" Giles asked, trying to change the subject.

Buffy shook her head. "She didn't show in our last period Home Studies class. Will and Xander are visiting all her teachers and getting the homework right now." Buffy pulled herself up onto the circulation counter. Giles glared at her disapprovingly for a few moments, but she chose to ignore his glare rather than move. "Did you come up with a plan, Giles? If we can't find Cordy, we're gonna be a little stuck in reversing this thing."

"Well, I thought that maybe we could over to Cordelia's house and see if her mother is home, or perhaps a maid or someone, who could let us in to go get the bracelet."

"Reality check, Giles," Buffy said. "No one at the Chase household is going to let a gang of teenagers and a strange guy wander through their house looking for a bracelet."

"Well, wouldn't Mr. or Mrs. Chase recognize you as Cordelia's friends?"

Oz snorted.

"What?" Giles asked, confused.

"None of us have ever even seen her parents up close. Xander's never even been in her house until yesterday, and then he was Willow," Buffy explained. "They wouldn't know any of us if they fell over us, literally."

"Hey!" Willow said brightly as she held the library door open for Xander, who was carrying both Willow's knapsack and his own bookbag.

"What's with the reverse chivalry?" Buffy asked, noting how Xander's petite Willow-arms seemed a bit strained under the weight of both bags.

"It's penance for gym," Willow explained, moving to lean on the counter.

"It's cruelty, coupled with blackmail, pure and simple," Xander retorted.

"Blackmail?" Oz pressed.

"She was gonna tell Cordy about my little … distraction …in the locker room."

Buffy brightened and jumped off the counter. "What are you going to buy me off with? Chocolate is always good." Xander sighed and sat down. "Et tu, Buffay?" he asked, putting a strange accent on her name.

"Girl's gotta do what a girl's …" she trailed off as the library doors swung open again.

Ross spotted Xander sitting at the table before Xander could find a place to hide. "Hey, Willow," he said, sauntering deliberately to the table.

'This guy just won't give up.' Oz thought, annoyed. He rolled his eyes and stepped closer, not sure what was going to happen next.

"Um, hi," Xander squeaked, unconsciously backing further into the chair as Ross approached.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you alone for a second," Ross said, flashing a brilliant smile at Xander. Buffy sighed at the brightness of it and allowed her stomach to go all gooey.

"Alone? No!" Xander replied, panicked. "I mean, here is good. With the people," he gestured to the others in the room.

Ross looked somewhat puzzled by the red-head's behavior. "Um, well," he cleared his throat and smiled again. "I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me tomorrow night."

"She can't," Oz replied, stepping forward. "She's got a date with me."

Buffy's stomach regained equilibrium as she exchanged worried glances with Willow. They shared a look and waited to see who was going to end up throwing the first punch in this brewing duel.

"I'd like to hear that from Willow, if you don't mind," Ross said, straightening to his full height and glaring at Oz. "Unless those rumors are true."

"Rumors?" Xander asked, anxiously, "What rumors?"

Ross shrugged and sat on the table near Xander. "I just heard them today. People talk about your strange little group here, you know." He gestured widely at the group scattered around the table. "It's probably all garbage."

"What?" Buffy asked, an uneasy feeling settling in. If anyone found out about the slaying…

Ross turned to Xander and grinned. "I heard you were a lesbian. I knew it was--"

"What?!" Willow shrieked from across the room, interrupting his sentence. "I'm not..! She's not..!" She sputtered for a few moments. "Where did you hear that?!"

"Oh dear," Giles mumbled, rubbing his face and sitting down wearily in a nearby chair.

Ross shrugged again. "From Harmony. She's been telling people all day about Willow taking a special detour to gawk at all the girls in the showers in the locker room. Harmony thinks that this whole dating-Oz-thing is a cover."

Xander turned three shades of red before settling on a deep shade similar to a cranberry. Willow's mouth fell open in shock. Buffy giggled with relief that it wasn't about slaying. And, well, because it was funny.

"It's not true," Oz said, letting a lopsided smile light up his face.

"Does he ever let you say anything for yourself?" Ross asked, turning to who he thought was Willow.

Xander, still recovering from the previous bombshell, only managed to open his mouth and make a weak sound.

Ross smiled and took Xander's hand in a firm grip. "Willow, do you want to go out with me tomorrow? Tell me yourself."

Xander looked wildly around the room, at Buffy, Oz, Giles, and his own Willow-occupied body. Willow had a pained expression on his features, as if she were deciding how to salvage her reputation from this mess. Finally she started vehemently shaking her head "No" behind Ross' back.

"I - No, I don't want to go out with you," Xander replied quietly, yanking his hand from Ross' grip.

Ross frowned and stood. "I guess the rumors are true then," he said, lifting his chin a bit higher and trying to console his bruised ego with the thought that Willow really didn't like men.

"Yeah, right," Oz snorted. He pulled Xander to his feet and spun him around before Xander even knew what was happening. Xander's eyes widened in a mixture of horror and surprise as he felt Oz kiss his lips. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to pretend it was the most normal thing in the world for Ross' benefit.

He uncertainly reached up to wrap his arms around Oz's neck as the kiss deepened. 'This is for Willow,' he thought. 'For her reputation, which I screwed up.' He tried to think of other things as he felt Oz's hands settle around his back. 'This in no way challenges my manhood. Although right now I'm wallowing in womanhood. I still like girls.… Lots of girls…. Oz is a good kisser….Where did *that* come from?… Okaaay. How 'bout those Lakers?'

Buffy, Giles and Willow watched the kiss in silent shock. "That happens all the time," Buffy hurried to explain to Ross as she recovered her voice.

"Yeah," Willow agreed, slapping Ross lightly on the back. "Now we're going to need that crowbar again." She laughed weakly.

They were so engrossed in the scene in front of them that none of them heard the library doors open and close quietly.

Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Willow and Oz immersed in a passionate kiss. The tension of the past day seemed to ease away with the one glance she took as she had entered. 'So Giles fixed it! I can get Xander smoochies!'

"Oh, great!" Cordy exclaimed brightly. "I'm *so* glad to see you guys."

She took in the sight of Ross Anderson watching Willow and Oz kiss. She wasn't sure why he was in the library, so she decided on an ambivalent phrase to show her happiness that everything was fixed. "It's nice to see everything back to normal. "

Ross stared at Cordelia in shock. "This is normal?" he clarified.

Cordelia threw him a careless smile as she answered. "Oh, yessss." Her voice was practically a purr. "I've been waiting to do this," she said softly, smiling and licking her lips like a cat about to pounce as she approached Willow.

Willow watched with apprehension and fear as Cordelia moved towards her.

She tried to shake her head imperceptibly so Cordelia would catch on. Cordy kept coming. "Uh, hi!" Willow began, only to be cut off by Cordelia pulling her into a kiss. 'Oh God.' Willow thought. 'If I scream, Ross'll know this is a set up. If I don't scream, well, ewww…' She determinedly kept her eyes shut and pulled Cordelia closer to her.

Buffy's eyes widened and a smile spread across her face. Even Giles smirked as the events unfolded.

"Well, Ross, I guess you know the truth now, and as you can see, we're busy, so we'll see you tomorrow and have a good night…" Buffy spoke quickly as she escorted Willow's disgruntled suitor through the library doors."See ya!" she finished brightly before locking the doors. Ross glared at her through the window for a moment before turning and stalking away from the library.

Buffy turned around slowly and leaned against the locked doors. "All clear!" she said, trying not to laugh.

Xander and Oz broke apart, stepping back from each other quickly.

Willow pushed Cordelia away from her with relief. "EEEEEWWWWWW!" she exclaimed, finally able to express her thoughts.

"Ditto," Xander mumbled feebly.

"What is it now!?" Cordelia exploded. "I just got my teeth cleaned…"

Buffy cleared her throat. "Um, Cordy, same problem as last time."

Cordelia looked from Willow to Xander in horror and back again. "And I used tongue this time!"

Willow nodded vigorously, punctuating it with another traumatized, "Ewww!"

"I'm going to yak!" Cordy exclaimed, beginning to run for the library doors.

Buffy stopped her with a firm grip of her arm. "Wait a few minutes until Ross is gone, 'kay?"

"Willow, I'm so sorry," Xander apologized, stepping towards her.

Willow held her hand up. "Not now, Xander."

"But---"

"NOT NOW!" she repeated forcefully.

Xander looked stricken as he turned to Oz. "I'm sorry, man."

Oz shrugged. "It was easier on my eyes than yours, I'm sure."

Suddenly Giles burst into giggles and wiped his eyes helplessly as four teenagers turned to glare at him. He met Buffy's eyes over the group and she joined in his laughter.

Willow stared at Giles with a cool expression on her face. "Giles?" she inquired coldly.

He tried to speak and only succeeded in laughing harder.

"Buffy?" Willow asked turning to her friend. Buffy schooled her features into a serious expression and made a valiant attempt to stop laughing. But she failed miserably as she caught sight of Giles chortling and holding his sides on the other side of the group. "Sorry," she managed to gasp out.

"I'm glad you find this so amusing," Cordelia stated coldly, glaring at Buffy and then Giles in turn. "I didn't come here to provide a comedy show for you people. I have better places to be." She threw her hair over her shoulder dramatically and stalked a few feet over to the door, before stopping abruptly. "I almost forgot why I came," she said, reaching into her purse and fishing for a moment. She withdrew Willow's earrings and the bracelet from her bag. "Here," she said, returning to the table and slamming the objects down fiercely.

Willow stared at the bracelet for a split second. Her heart felt light, and she laughed a little as a grin lit up Xander's features. Then she catapulted herself at Cordelia. She began raining grateful kisses on the utterly confused dark-haired girl's face. She finally withdrew and squeezed Cordy in a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she laughed. She released the cheerleader and grabbed the bracelet from the table, almost giddy with relief that the nightmare was finally over.

"Excuse me?" Cordelia interrupted, tapping her on the shoulder, " Exactly *who * is in there again?"

This time, everyone laughed.