The next morning, Cordelia lay in bed wondering how last night had gone for Xander and Willow. When she'd gotten home, Xander was asleep in the guest room and Willow's door was closed. She was dying to know how it went. She was formulating a plan for sneaking into Xander's room to get the details when she heard a noise outside her door. She quickly got out of bed and opened it. Xander was standing in the hall, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he prepared to knock on her door.

He smiled broadly when he saw her and leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek. "I just wanted to say thank you before Willow woke up."

"It went well then, I take it?" Cordy asked breathlessly.

Xander's smile widened. "She's still thinking about everything. But it went really well."

Cordy clasped her hands together and did a quiet little crazy happy dance. "She'll come to the right conclusion, Xander. You know she will."

His smile faded slightly. "I hope so, Cordy. I really do." He turned and went back to the guest room, his heart full of optimism for the first time in weeks.

Willow lay in bed, thinking about the events of the previous evening. Xander really did love her. She had seen it in his eyes. Felt it in his light touches. In her heart she knew it. It was her head that was putting up a struggle. She tried to rationalize how Xander could suddenly decide he loved her on that camping trip. She'd spent countless days and night trying to get him to notice her for fifteen years. Then one weekend she gives up on them completely and BOOM! Xander decides he loves her. It seemed totally impossible. But she wanted to believe so badly that she feared her desires were clouding her judgement. That kiss last night had certainly clouded her mind. It had been spectacular.

She finally sat up in bed and sighed. How much could she trust her heart? If it got broken again, she'd never make it out alive. Her mind finally offered some solid advice - Spend some time with him and see if he changes his mind about how he feels. Don't give your heart to him again until you're sure. She sighed again, knowing somewhere in the back of her mind that it was too late. He'd always had her heart in the palm of his hand. This weekend would be no exception.

Cordelia mysteriously disappeared again as Willow and Xander finished breakfast. She mentioned something about finishing a term paper and was out the door in seconds. Damn, she's good, Xander marveled.

He and Willow discussed what to do with their Saturday. She had to drop off some dry cleaning, but after that her day was free. Xander mentioned that he had always wanted to see Fenway Park. Willow rolled her eyes at him affectionately, and Xander forgot what his request was. He'd been encouraged by her attitude today. She wasn't skittish around him. She wasn't awkward as she teased him. It was like it had been their whole lives. Except better. She touched his hand longer than usual. She smiled at him shyly and then laughed at his jokes. He'd spent the morning completely enraptured by her.

And he wasn't the only one who was captivated. Willow had spent most of the morning in an almost nervous anticipation. She kept looking for the spark in Xander's eyes to fade. She feared it might happen. But in the first hour during breakfast and then cleaning up, she'd noticed the spark had only gotten stronger. And the more reassured she felt, the more she relaxed.

They bundled up the dry cleaning and dropped it off before heading toward Fenway Park. Willow had called earlier to check what time the tour would be. There was a tour at two o'clock. So they stopped at the Hard Rock Café for a light lunch before the tour. Xander had devoted lunchtime to making her laugh. He pointed out silly, useless and often wrong facts out about several of the musical artifacts in the restaurant. She couldn't help but laugh at his exuberance. The fact that he was trying to impress her struck her suddenly. It was almost like he was courting her. He once again played the gentleman perfectly. He was considerate, and frequently reached out to touch her hand or shoulder as he brought her attention to some item or event. He courteously asked her what she wanted to eat, and then ordered for them both. She began to feel giddy. Willow felt her love for him grow further than she ever thought possible.

They left the restaurant and headed for the ballpark, not wanting to be late. Xander hooked his fingers with hers as they caught the bus to the stadium. He knew she was doing this for him - she didn't really care one way or the other about baseball. And he thought of all the other times she had selflessly devoted herself to his interests. He once again marveled at how blind he'd been not to see the best thing in his life was by his side the whole time. That is, until she was gone, and left that painful void that he'd lived with everyday for weeks. He glanced at her as she looked out the window of the bus. She looked absolutely breath-taking right now. The sunlight was glinting off her hair, and then she glanced at him and smiled slightly. She didn't deserve all he'd put her through. The memories of her tears on the camping trip were enough to make his heart contract painfully. He was going to spend the rest of his life making it up to her.

The tour of the ballpark was pretty boring for Willow, except to watch all of Xander's reactions. He loved every minute of it. From the tour of the dressing room to looking out over the Big Green Monster, he was like a kid in a candy store. She smiled indulgently as he tugged her along by the hand, and when the tour was over, she almost wished it would start again.

Xander came to a complete halt just outside the stadium as he spotted a hot dog vendor. He led Willow over to it and placed an order for two hot dogs.

"I'll never eat a whole one," Willow protested as he handed her one.

"I'll finish whatever you don't." It was amazing how being with her had kick-started his appetite again. They loaded the dogs with ketchup and mustard and sat on a nearby bench to eat.

Xander finished his in record time, and Willow soon gave up the fight against hers. She handed him the remainder of her food and watched as he polished it off without any hesitation. When he finished, there was a small spot of mustard on his cheek.

"Uh, Xander, you've got a little.." She indicated on her cheek where the mark was. He swiped all around the spot and she giggled and reached out to wipe the spot with her own napkin. And then she looked at his eyes. The love in them was overwhelming. The world stopped revolving. Nothing existed except for she and Xander. She leaned forward and touched his lips with hers lightly, savoring the feel. She had wanted this for so long. Had spent years daydreaming about initiating a kiss with Xander. It was better than she ever expected. She really didn't know how long they spent exploring each other. She'd felt Xander's arms encircle her and sighed happily into the kiss. Neither of them ever wanted it to end. But finally Xander had to breathe.

He withdrew from her slightly and examined her flushed cheeks and heightened color. He'd never felt this pure joy kissing any other woman. Only Willow. His Willow. And he made a silent decision in his head. He leaned in for another kiss and forgot how to think.

Cordy watched her two friends from a safe distance away. Like they'd ever notice me! She giggled. They were kissing! She did a repeat of the morning's happy dance and walked away. Her work here was done. For now.

Willow had taken Xander on a small tour of Boston for the remainder of the afternoon. They walked through the Victory Gardens on their way to their next destination, even though it was slightly chilly in the crisp November air. Xander had stopped her several times and wrapped his arms around her. Then he'd kissed her and explained that he was merely warming her up. They admired the grounds and each other as they aimlessly wandered in the direction of the museum Willow wanted to share with him.

She took him to The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and Xander found it more interesting than he had anticipated. Willow spoke softly to him the whole time, detailing the history of the museum and eagerly showing him her favorite pieces. He was fascinated by what pieces she liked, and why. He found her innocent smile as she led him from room to room completely disarming. Several times he had to lean forward and kiss her lightly, just to make sure she was real. He was encouraged that she would kiss him back. But was she ready to believe that he loved her? "Dancing," he said suddenly.

Willow stopped describing the sculpture she was circling and looked at him. "What?"

"Let's go dancing tonight. Like old times, at the Bronze. Do you know of anywhere we could go?"

"Uh, well, there are clubs," she began. Her heart plummeted in her chest. Xander hadn't been listening to her. All afternoon she'd been so sure that he was sincere. But he'd been kind of distracted since they came into the museum. Maybe seeing one of her interests had reminded him of how boring she was. Maybe he'd decided he'd made a mistake. Maybe he realized that he didn't really love her. And now he wanted to go dancing like old times. That meant he danced with every beautiful girl in the place while she watched jealously from the sidelines.

Xander watched the play of emotions on her face and wondered what he'd said to upset her. Surely dancing was a neutral topic, wasn't it?

"Cordy," Willow said unexpectedly. She could sit with Cordelia while Xander danced all over her heart. Then she wouldn't have to be alone. "We should go home and find Cordy. She'd know the best club and -"

"Will, I kinda meant just the two of us," Xander started uncertainly.

"No." Willow shook her head vehemently. "We should bring Cordy."

Xander decided to back down. He wasn't sure exactly how he'd gotten into this situation, but he thought that fighting with Willow was certainly no solution. "Okay," he agreed cheerfully. "Night out with Cordy. Good."

Willow resumed her monologue about the sculpture in a strange voice. 'I told you so' her head crowed triumphantly over her heart. Her heart just broke in the answering silence.