Party Time! (Woodbury)

Willow had been looking forwards to the party for some time, partly because she was going to be relaxing with Milton, Philip and her other friends, as she was on her way to the party she had been kidnapped and dragged back to her flat by a rather over excited Andrea, who she had come quite close to since she had been here.

Apparently she wasn't looking magnificent enough wearing her normal outfit of jeans and a tshirt.

Eventually she was allowed to emerge from her flat, having been shoved in one of the only dresses she posessed still, she hardly ever wore it any more because it wasn't really practical but tonight might be a good time to wear it. Andrea embarrassingly told her that she would impress all the guys when she was wearing it, but, there was only one guy she wanted to impress.

This crush was getting completely out of hand now! Willow was even having dreams about Milton now, and not the kind of dream's you'd want to write down in your diary in case someone read it! Biting her lip, she didn't know what to do, she was confused, because he was so shy she didn't know if he was blushing because he was just shy, or because he liked her!

Sighing a little bit she wandered through to the party, a little later than she had been expected, but apparently she looked 'gorgeous', she was glad that Andrea had had fun, but Willow felt kind of odd being so feminine after so long not caring about her appearance.

Spotting Milton, Merle and Philip standing together she made her way over and smiled a little shyly;

"Hi guys, sorry I'm late."

Milton was stood around in his nicest, cream, suit and was already fidgetting nervously and the only woman he was hoping to impress wasn't even here yet. He was stood over next to Merle and Phillip, annoyed that they both seemed to be incredibly amused by the way he was trying, and failing, not to pace or to wring his hands. Philip chuckled,

"Keep that up and you'll wear a grove into the ground son." he joked lightly, "Why don't you just sit still? I'm sure she'll love to see you like this."

Blushing a little bit, Milton suddenly wished that he hadn't told Merle and Phillip about his feelings towards Willow. Of course both men had then turned round and told him that they already knew. Merle smirked a little bit,

"Boy yer' mor' nerv's than te catfis' te fish'rm'n too' hom' te mee' his wif'!" he joked, succeeding only in getting confused looks from both Milton and Phillip. He clicked his tongue at them both, "Ah man, yer' guys ain' nev'r hear'a no goo' sayin's."

Seeing that Willow had arrived, Phillip pushed Milton forwards so that he was only a few inches away from her before both Phillop and Merle just smirked a little bit,

"Ah nice to see you Willow, you look lovely." Phillip greeted her with a wink, "Be gentle with him. I have to go find my date."

As he left, Merle just shrugged with a little smirk,

"An' I'm lat' fer a roun' in te' rin' if yer'll excus' me." he teased them both, tipping an imaginary hat towards Willow, "Ma'm yer lookin' dam' fin'."

With both of them now gone, and still standing only a foot or so from her, he blushed a little bit. Feeling that he had to dive into it, he blushed brightly. Thankfully it was harder to see a blush considering it was night time at the moment,

"You look... you look... wow... just... just wow..." he tried to compliment her. Seeing that he had tripped over his words he blushed again, "Would you... would you like to dance? I mean... would you like to dance... with me?"

Willow smiled softly and she was glad that the other two men left rather sharpish but she did blush a little bit when Merle said that she was looking 'dam' fin'' she was kind of developing a soft spot for the harsh hearted Dixon, and although she didn't feel the same way about him that she did about Milton, she had to say that in some ways she found him attractive, she supposed it was his forwardness and his confidence.

Although Milton was very sweet, she could see that she was going to have to be the one to initiate anything between them, purely because he might spontaneously combust if he had to actually stutter out a sentence to do with becoming partners, or anything to do with sexual issues at all. Cute yes, frustrating...oh hell yes.

She had to admit that he did look really nice in his suit, very smart, and she had always had a liking for men in suits, it was just the professional air that they gave off.

"Thank you Milton, you look very handsome yourself, I love your suit." she laughed softly "I would love to dance with you, I'd like nothing better."

Smiling softly she took his hand in her own and lead him to the dancefloor, time for her to be decisive she supposed, and as the next song started up on the iPod dock they had managed to rig up, Willow wrapped her arms around Milton's neck and began to sway softly in time with the music. It seemed like she'd missed all of the fast tempo songs, what a shame!

"Sorry I'm late, Andrea decided to kidnap me and turn me into...well...some sort of doll for the last half an hour. I never knew beauty regimes could hurt so much." she joked softly as they danced under the nights stars "It's so beautiful out here, it's nice to be able to share it with you." Willow blushed, as she moved slightly closer to him.

Milton had to admit that the dress she was wearing right now did an amazing job of displaying her gorgeous figure, something that she seemed to spend an awful lot of time hiding under baggy and unflattering clothes. Right now he was about ready to burn all of her unflattering clothes if it meant that he could see her in things like this more often. When she complimented him in his suit he blushed but not too much. He had been hoping and preparing for that compliment,

"T-thank you very much Willow. Coming from you that means the world to me." he told her, blushing softly. She didn't have to know that he had been wanting to impress her so her word on his clothing was the only one that mattered to him, "Great! I've been waiting for you... I've really wanted to dance with you for the longest time Willow... I finally have occassion to dance with you."

He was trying his best to be as confident as he could right now. Merle had drummed it into his head that confidence was key when it came to getting a woman to like you. According to the Dixon, the main reason why anyone ever went to bed with him was because he was so confident. He swallowd a little bit when she wrapped her arms around his neck. Blushing just as much, he wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her close,

"I-it's fine, don't worry about it. Although I think you always look beautiful... the clothes and the make-up just make you look even more beautiful." he told her honestly, blushing deeply as he did so. As they danced his blush remained but only as a very light one, "It is beautiful... all the stars and the moon... they're very pretty..."

When they moved closer he blushed even more and his glasses fogged up. He ignored both things in favour of completing his compliment,

"But both stars and moon are jealous of you..."

Willow smiled gently, there was that confusing blush again, it made her want to kiss him and see how much he could blush, but also, she didn't want to take that risk just in case he didn't like her like that and it ended up a complete disaster for the two of them. Her heart was hoping against her rational thoughts, and she was hoping that she was going to be able to get her first kiss from Milton tonight.

It was just too perfect not to!

"Why?" she asked, with a soft smile on her lips "I'm flattered that you hold my opinion in such a high regard but, I was just wondering...and have been wondering for a while, why...why you do?"

Blushing herself faintly when Milton wrapped his arms around her waist, her thoughts swiftly jumped back to the dream she had that night they were in the medical bay, it had been by far the most vivid one yet, both sweetly romantic and...uhm a multitude of other things. Willow looked up into Milton's eyes as she danced, it was just so romantic, being here under the stars with him.

"Thank you Milton." she stated with a shy smile on her lips "It makes me happy to hear you say that, I guess you have Andrea to go and thank, but, I think she's with the Governor right now so, best leave those two to it." Willow grinned knowingly.

When she saw that his glasses were fogged up she smiled wider, it was sweet when that happened, it made him look so cutely embarrassed but the truth was he must be at least 30...he couldn't be this innocent and naive about relationships and love could he? Hearing his compliment made her heart flutter, and Willow had to try very hard not to kiss him as the song reached it's end.

"Thats so sweet...such a lovely compliment." she whispered softly, letting her hands slide down from his neck, down his chest and to her side again "Will you come with me, just one minute, okay?" Willow asked with a small shy smile, linking their hands she led them to a small back alley, it was empty because everyone was heading to the fight right now.

When she asked him why he held her opinion in such high regard he was momentarily caught off guard. But he decided that tonight was the night. He had to tell her. He might be a coward but right now that didn't matter, he had to tell her now. Taking a deep breath, and trying to surpress the blush he was now sporting, he coughed a little bit,

"B-because... well because you are you." he told her simply but in a maddening way. Blushing a little bit he chuckled slightly, "Not a good explanation is it? Let me put in this way... I... I think about you all the time. You're what I think about when I wake up and when I go to sleep. Your opinion is held highest to me because you're the person I care about most of all."

He was now blushing madly but the action of dancing seemed to help him calm the blush down as it gave him something else to concentrate on. When she said that he should thank Andrea he shook his head a little bit,

"I think she'll be very busy with him." he joked a little bit as he returned her knowing grin with a knowing smile of his own, "I doubt very much we'll want to be anywhere near their rooms... the noises might get awkward."

With the song winding down, Milton was able to wipe his glasses clear so that when he put them back on, her beautiful face swam back into focus. Smiling happily at her, he tried to resist the urge to kiss her at the end of the song. He then decided that he did want to kiss her and went to lean in for a kiss before the song was over and she was asking him to come with her. Mentally groaning at the missed kiss, he nodded and followed her towards the empty alleyway,

"Wha-what are we doing around here then Willow?" he asked, already having one idea that he hoped they would be doing, "I think it's safe to say it's something we want kept away from the others... wanted me in private for something?"

Willow, when she heard what Milton said felt her heart go into overdrive, but she was already on her way to the alleyway and so it gave her a little bit of time to think about what she was going to say in response, what could you say in response to that? It had just made all of her hopes come true, so he cared about her, he thought about her all the time, and this made her think that he definately had feelings for her.

So she was definately going to do what she had been thinking of doing tonight, and she was being spurred on by what she had just heard from Milton.

Stopping at the alleyway, she turned to face her crush with a small blush on her cheeks, it took her a few moments to drum up her courage, and fix what she was going to say, before she began to speak in a rather hushed but passionate tone;

"I am glad to hear that you care about me, as much as I care about you, and that you think of me as much as I think of you." Willow spoke softly, gazing up into Milton's eyes and her blush deepening a little bit as she continued "I didn't know, and if I did....I would have spoken to you a lot earlier."

Nervously, she bit her lip and paused softly, it was now time to take the plunge, she needed to, and she wasn't going to get rejected. Willow kept reminding herself of this, she wasn't going to get rejected because she knew that Milton must have feelings for her, and it made it a lot easier for her to confess her feelings knowing they would be accepted.

"I...I love you Milton and I...I wondered if you wanted to be my partner, if you...if you want to that would make me very happy."

Willow blushed softly, but she allowed her hands to wrap around Milton's neck and she softly pressed her lips to his own in a sweet kiss, her eyes closed and she softly moved her lips against his, breaking away after a short while, Willow blushed deeper.

"So...what do you say?"

Milton was feeling slightly down at the facts that she hadn't responded to his little confession of how important she was to him yet but they were on their way to the alleyway already. Maybe she would answer his confession there? Away from all the nosey people and their evesdropping. He hoped that she would return his feelings and he hoped that they were getting away from all of the other people to confirm their love with a display of it.

Namely, a kiss.

Or a dozen.

Although he wondered if he had enough self-control to stop even at a dozen. He had been waiting to kiss her ever since she had arrived in Woodbury and now it seemed like they were finally going to be able to do it. When she told him that she cared about him the same way his heart began to skip a few beats and he couldn't help but swallow slightly,

"So we care about each other the most out of all of our friends... we think about each other almost all of the time..." he continued, biting his lip softly, "Does this mean.... does this mean that we should be together? That we are both..."

He wanted to say that they were both in love but he didn't want to be too hard. If she didn't love him, but wanted to go out with him, throwing out the L word like that might push her away. He swallowed nervously before his mouth dropped open when she confessed that she loved him too,

"You... you love me? All this time... you've loved me too?" he blushed brightly but carried on to say, "I love you too Willow... I have always loved you. I would like nothing more than to be your partner... now and forever..."

Wrapped his arms around her waist instinctively, Milton leant into the kiss that she gave him. His eyes closed at the simple pleasure of the kiss. All too soon it was over and they were breaking away. He blushed back at her,

"I say this..." he began before kissing her passionately on the lips. Breaking the kiss, his glasses slightly askew, he grinned happily, "I love you Willow Evans. And I want to be by your side forever."

Willow nodded her head when Milton asked her if she had loved him all this time, she hadn't always loved him since she saw him but she realised that soon afterwards her feelings were romantic in nature and the more she got to know Milton the more she liked him and her feelings grew and grew until they were unmistakable, they just had to be love.

She would do anything for him, she would travel anywhere to be with him, and seeing him smile was one sure fire thing to brighten up her day.

"I...I have had these feelings for you for a few months now, I would have come to you sooner but...but I was just scared you didn't feel the same way, I didn't want to lose you completely if I made the mistake of acting on feelings that we didn't share." Willow explained with a soft blush.

Hearing that he wanted to be able to be with her forever, to be in love together with each other, Willow's smile grew and she beamed up at Milton, oh this was the best day of her life so far, since the world had gone to hell this had been the one moment she had been looking forwards to, it kept her going and now, now she had gotten the perfect answer.

When she was pulled into a passionate kiss Willow squeaked a little bit in surprise but she happily returned the passionate kiss, letting her lips move faster against his own, her hands wound themselves in his hair and she gently tugged at his lip as they broke away.

"And I love you Milton Mamet, and nothing would make me happier, than to be by your side for as long as I shall live." Willow laughed softly, so happy, and so relieved, pressing herself closer to Milton she pressed her lips against his again in a passionate kiss of her own.

Milton felt a little bit weak at the knees when she told him that she had loved him all this time. They had known each other for months now and they had both shared feelings for one another? He should have plucked up his courage sooner. Blushing be damned, she would have said yes an awful lot sooner! Of course it was perfect the way it was right now. He wouldn't change a thing about their mutual confession except, of course, having it done in a non-zombie filled world,

"Willow... I don't know what to say. I wish I had had the courage to talk to you about this before now seeing as we both have feelings for each other." he told her before blushing a little bit when she explained that she had been scared about him not feeling the same way, "I'm not really subtle with my affection am I? I kind of blush up a storm..."

When she was beaming up at him, Milton thought that the world could stop after far as he was concerned. Right now he was happier than he had ever been before. He hoped that this would be the style of their relationship; making each other happier and happier. She returned his passionate kiss and even played with his hair, causing him to blush,

"W-wow... I'm so happy that you feel the same way that I'm not sure what to say." he whispered to her before kissing her back passionately. This time it was his fingers that threaded into her hair first. When they broke the kiss, to breathe, he was blushing madly, "I never expected kissing you to feel so amazing... I expected it to be good but... but wow! It feels like I'm getting little shocks through my entire body..."

Willow couldn't move the smile from her lips, she knew that they were going to be the envy of the town, they were going to be such a sweet couple that the others would all be jealous. Of course she would be more than happy to give them all the tips they wanted, but, it was mostly because Milton was so affectionate and attentive, even when they weren't together like they were now.

"Well I did kind of notice you blushed a lot whenever I'd come near you." she teased with a sly grin "Although I did wonder if it was just the type of person you were, very shy and easily embarrassed, I guess that it is the type of person you are, but, it was also a sign that you liked me, a bit of both thoughts."

Gently Willow poked his glasses and smiled softly; "I did always think it was so sweet when your glasses fogged up, I wondered if you needed me to go on a hunt for some new ones for you sometimes, guess I was wrong about that one too."

When Milton told her that he had never expected kissing her to be so amazing, Willow bit her lip and blushed softly, she was glad that he thought that kissing her was so wonderful, she was trying her best but the truth was she hadn't kissed anyone in a long time, not since this whole thing started. Willow, although on the outside rather friendly and happy, was scared of allowing anyone too close, in case they dissappeared on her, and then she didn't know what to do.

"Thanks Milton." she blushed softly "I mean a girl does her best. You're not too bad yourself you know, that was another thing that made me wonder if you liked me or not, I'd never seen you with another woman, so I didnt know if it was just your reaction to ladies, or me in particular."

Allowing herself to give him a peck on the cheek, Willow threaded her fingers with his own; "You don't want to go to the fight now do you...I'm not in the mood to watch Merle posture for an hour."

Milton was sure that he was going to be the subject of many men's envious glares over the next few weeks, until they accepted that Willow had given him her heart. He couldn't help but think that Martinez was going to be downtrodden but he couldn't bring himself to feel bad about it now. He hoped that he was going to be good enough for Willow. After all she was out of his league by some considerable margin and he wanted to make sure that she realised just how much he appreciated her,

"Y-yeah... yeah I'm afraid it might take a little while for that to stop happening." he admitted, blushing as he did so, "I don't normally blush a lot but I guess I am a bit withdrawn... but when you're around me I try not to be and I think that's why I blush. I'm really not used to being the centre of attention, even in one-on-one conversations..."

When she poked his glasses he blushed as said glasses fogged up again and he had to quickly wipe them clean, "A-ah well if you think it's sweet I have good news for you; it's likely to happen a lot more often. I could wear contacts if you'd like... and if we can find some..."

Seeing her biting her lip while blushing just made him want her all the more. Blushing himself, he gently reached out and touched her cheek, touching her blush. Milton had only had one or two kisses before this one so he didn't have a lot to compare it to. But even he knew that a kiss like the one they had just shared was not something that just came along every day. When the next kiss was broken, reluctantly like the first one had been, he blushed brightly at her praise,

"T-thanks... I guess it's natural... I mean I've not had any practice before this..." he revealed before blushing more at what he had revealed. He coughed lightly to draw attention away from his blush, "I assure you that I only ever had that reaction to you..."

Holding her hand was so simple but Milton had been wanting it for so long that he couldn't help but notice how amazing it felt to hold her hand. He shook his head with a small smile,

"Well... the generator is on and I have a rigged up DVD player and TV..." he suggested with a blush, "It's in my bedroom... we could watch something if you like... or go back to dancing..."

Willow could tell that Milton had never been the 'popular type' she wasn't either to be honest, a medical student was always the butt of many jokes, them and the computer scientists which were just a little bit worse than them while she was at college. Running her hands through her hair she smiled softly at him, he was so innocent, it was like he was being in a relationship for the first time.

"I hope that eventually you'll be able to have a conversation with me where you aren't embarrassed all the time, although, I will be happy to admire your blush until that time." she grinned.

When he suggested he got rid of his glasses, Willow shook her head vigerously, she didn't want to see Milton beginning to change himself because he thought that she would like something better than she did already. Besides, she liked men with glasses.

"No no no, I like men with glasses, it makes you look curiously intelligent." she stated with a playful smile on her lips, as she walked with Milton to the end of the alleyway, looking up from his eyes into the stars above them, it certainly was a beautiful night.

Shocked, Willow felt her mouth pop open and she looked at Milton like he was an alien from the planet Mars, until she remembered her manners and that he might be a little sensitive about it, and so she merely coughed and tried to formulate a not offensive question to try and address what he had just told her, How could he not have had a girlfriend in the past, plenty of girls liked cute nerds!

"Milton do you mean you've never had a girlfriend before?" she asked a little confused "I mean it's perfectly fine if you haven't it's rather sweet actually."

Leaning her head into his touch to her cheek, Willow eventually moved away as they reached the end of the alleyway, and when he said what he did, she couldn't help but tease him. Who knows, Milton might not be as innocent as he appeared and it could in fact be what she was teasing him about. Willow severely doubted it though, and grinned up slyly at him;

"You're inviting me to your room?" she asked with a purr "Well, of course I accept your invitation. I can't wait to see what you have in your private DVD collection." Willow teased, before laughing softly "Lead the way then Milton, it will be such a treat to watch a film after all this time."

Milton couldn't help but blush a little bit when she said that eventually he'd need to stop blushing. He chuckled a little bit but shook his head slightly as he did so,

"You misunderstand... I don't blush because I'm embarassed." he told her honestly before blushing slightly more, "Most of the time it's because I'm thinking... about how incredibly attractive you are."

When she shook her head so vigerously at the idea of him getting rid of his glasses he blinked a little bit in surprise. He had not been expecting that reaction. When she said that she liked men with glasses he immediately vowed to never take them off,

"Well why didn't you say so? I'll leave them on forever now that you've said that." he teased her with a playful smile and only a small blush. He walked with her to the end of the alley, just enjoying their time together like this.

When her mouth popped open, Milton looked down at the ground in shame. He knew she was out of his league and apparently she was realising it now too if her shock, and the way she was looking at him, were any indication. Hanging his head, he sighed a little bit,

"No I've never had a girlfriend... only kissed two girls. One was spin the bottle and the other mistletoe..." he said with a little sigh before smiling, "Then I guess I'm sweet."

When she leant her head further into his touch he smiled faintly and stroked her soft cheek a little bit before they reached the end of the alley and he dropped his hand to the side. When she drew a conclusion from his suggestion he blushed a little bit,

"W-well yes I am..." he agreed, still blushing, before he grinned a little bit, "Well I have a wide selection from the old DVD store in the town so we should be fine. Come on then, up here."

Holding his hand out for her to take, he gestured towards his house with his head. It was luckily enough only across the road.