Title: Fall for You

Author: Arina

Email: mystic_spirit@hotmail.com

Rating: PG - R

Category: BTVS/WWE

Pairing: Willow/Jeff

Disclaimer: Joss and Vince own it all. I got nothing.

Spoilers: Post Season 6 – Tara died, but Willow never went evil. None for WWE. I’m working off how the roster split started off, but since they’ve gone and swapped everyone all over again, it’s a little odd in this story. Bear with me…

Summary: Some things just happen, whether you want them to or not.

PART 1

It was cold. Willow shivered as she made her way back to her apartment, pulling her coat in tighter around her. She’d only been in Chicago for a couple of months, and already she didn’t like it.

She missed home.

After Tara’s funeral, Willow couldn’t take being in Sunnydale anymore. There were just too many memories of Tara around. When she told Xander her plans on leaving, he grew angry. Shouting and protesting, arms waving wildly in the air, he finally gave in, sinking into the couch miserably. Buffy was silent. Dawn had just cried.

First, she went to L.A. After all, wasn’t that the place where everybody went when they wanted to run away? Soon she found herself travelling across the state, then over state borders into other areas. She would have called herself an interstate traveller, only she wasn’t enjoying her ‘travels’.

Because she really missed home.

Despite the painful memories of her girlfriend, Willow constantly found herself reminiscing over the times she shared with her friends back home. In Sunnydale. Which was totally different to Chicago.

She missed the sunshine. Her college. Her friends. Even the refrigerator in the Summers home. The one she had in her apartment was dingy and smelled funny.

But what could she do about it? It was her choice to leave. She could blame no one but herself for these feelings of melancholy and regret. So here she was, a twenty one year old waitress in a diner with an unfinished college degree.

She’d gotten the job the minute she arrived in town. Realising that even the shabbiest of apartments required the payment of some form of rent, she went and applied for a job at the first place she saw.

Lou’s Diner.

It wasn’t too bad. Lou was nice enough when he wasn’t busy checking out her ass and winking at her. When she turned down an offer to stay at his place until she was ‘settled down’ by telling him she wasn’t interested in the alpha-male group, he’d said that he wouldn’t mind taking part in all-powering, girly action, if she knew what he meant.

Ew.

Willow wondered if this was what Buffy had to put up with when she was a waitress in L.A. Most likely it was similar. Only Buffy’s boss didn’t ask her for a threesome. Well, probably not.

Willow was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice the mugger creeping up behind her, ready to grab her.

Not until it was too late, of course.

* * * * * * * * *

Jeff Hardy was bored.

He had nothing to do. The WWE was in Chicago for a week, which meant the wrestlers would chill and relax a bit more than usual. No need for the hustle and bustle of rushing from one place to another.

But Jeff liked the rush. It gave him something to do. Kept him occupied. Normally he’d spend his time with the other wrestlers, but Matt and Lita wanted to spend the night together (again), the guys went off to get drunk and the divas were annoying. Well, not always, but a man can only take so much.

Which explained whey he was walking through the streets at night by himself.

He really envied his brother. The way he could just commit to a relationship and stay wit it for so long. Jeff could never do that. He’d never met anyone who managed to capture and keep him. Someone who could make him fall.

But he was a wrestler. He travelled most to the year, never staying in one place for more than a week. It was hard keeping relationships while working. Some people had it easy, and were able to mix work life and social into one. But not everybody was as lucky as Matt and Lita. Some just couldn’t get it.

Kicking a pebble on the ground, Jeff thought he heard a sound coming from an alleyway. Dismissing it, he then heard it again. His curiosity peaked, he walked through the alleyway to the backstreets, letting his eyes adjust to the change in light. Silently, he could hear Matt berating him for doing something so stupid as to let his curiosity lead him. Curiosity killed the cat, he would say.

Good thing he wasn’t a cat then.

Seeing shadows moving, he headed over to a dimly lit area when he saw it.

A man had his arm around a waist, his hand covering her mouth to keep her from screaming. Her eyes were wide with fear, and Jeff could see tears streaking down her face.

"Hey!" he called out. "Let her go."

The man glared at Jeff. "Mind you own business, boy." He growled.

"Not until you let her go."

"How about this, boy," the man drawled, a sick smile on his face, "After I’m done with her, I’ll let you have a go."

"How about you let her go before I hurt you."

Rolling his eyes, the man carelessly shoved the young woman to the side and headed over to the wrestler, flicking a switchblade open in his hand. "Have it your way," he sneered.

He swiped the blade at Jeff, but the wrestler moved out of the way before it could cut him. Knocking the knife out of the mugger’s hand, Jeff punched the man in the face and threw him against the wall. Groaning, the mugger tried to get back up, but slipped and passed out.

Walking over to the young woman, Jeff held out his hand to her. "It’s okay," he said softly, "I won’t hurt you."

Helping her to her feet, she drew a shaky breath. When she saw the state of her attacker, Jeff could see the shock in her green eyes, as though trying to make out what happened.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I –I think so," she stammered.

Jeff gave her a good look. She was in her early twenties, but had a look of innocence about her which made her look and seem vulnerable. "Do you want me to walk you home?" he asked her.

She nodded, not trusting her voice to speak. Grabbing her bag, which had been tossed to the floor during the attack, Jeff escorted her back to her apartment in silence.

When they reached the apartment block, she looked up at Jeff, sincere gratitude in her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered.

Then she shut the door.

"You’re welcome." Jeff sighed and made his way back to his hotel. She had seemed so scared. Well, of course she’d be scared. Some creep had tried to hurt her. He thought about checking up on her the next day. To see if she was okay.

Maybe he’d do that.

* * * * * * * * *

Willow made her way up the stairs slowly. Throughout her whole life in Sunnydale, not once had she ever been attacked by another human. She had frozen when she felt the muggers hands grab her, all training of self-defence flying out of her head.

And then he came along. The strange man with the southern accent who had saved her life. And all she could say was ‘thank you’.

She made her way up to her apartment. Unlocking the door, she all but raced inside. And it wasn’t until she closed the door and locked it behind her that she let the tears fall.

She really missed home.

PART 2a

~*~MONDAY~*~

Jeff walked into the diner where his friends were already waiting for him. Taking a seat, he grabbed a menu and let out a huge yawn.

"Rough night?" Lita asked with a smile.

"You could say that," he mumbled in response.

"What did you do?" she asked.

"Yeah man, what did you get up to last night?" Edge asked. "You didn’t come out drinking with us."

"I...went for a walk."

"A walk?" Matt repeated, looking at his brother strangely.

"Yeah."

"So why are you so tired?"

"It was a long walk."

Matt sighed. Jeff was as stubborn as a pack of mules and obviously didn’t want to share what he did the previous night. He wondered what he could have done to want to be so secretive about it.

Jeff’s stomach growled. Scanning the menu, he looked around for a menu. "Is someone gonna take our order or what?"

Edge shrugged. "Only one waitress in this place. Guess we gotta wait."

"What kind of place is this anyway?" Chris Jericho asked. "You sure pick weird spots, Lita."

"Next time chose a place with actual service," Jeff grumbled.

"It’s not that bad here," Lita replied defensively. "I’ve eaten here before. They make really good hotcakes and muffins."

"McDonald’s style or different?" Chris questioned.

"What do you –"

"McDonalds sucks," Edge scoffed. "Homemade is better."

"Not if it’s your homemade," Matt laughed.

"Hey, I can cook," Edge insisted.

"Uh –making two minute noodles doesn’t count as cooking,’ Lita said.

"The only reason why I make those is because Christian won’t let me near a stove anymore," the blonde man defended himself.

"Can you blame me?" Christian retaliated. "You burned down Mom’s kitchen twice."

"It wasn’t my fault . . ."

The men continued to bicker as Jeff yawned again. When he’d gotten back to the hotel the might before, he’d been unable to sleep, memories of the poor young woman running through his head. Planning to check up on her later in the afternoon, he felt his stomach rumble again. Where the hell was that waitress?

At that moment, a young woman came flying into the diner, red hair streaming behind her. Racing into the kitchen, Jeff could hear her asking for Lou. "Sorry I’m late," she apologised. "I promise it won’t happen again."

"Make sure of that." Lou replied. "Katie’s been handling it fine so far, but there’s a group at table six waiting."

She came out, tying an apron around her waist. Heading over to the group of wrestlers, she pulled a pen and pad out from the apron pocket.

"Sorry about the wait. Are you ready to order?"

Her eyes met Jeff’s. Recognising her as the young woman he’d saved the night before, he saw her mouth drop open in surprise.

"You!"

* * * * * * * * *

To say that Willow was shocked to see her rescuer was an understatement. This man was the last person she expected to see. She’d literally cried herself to sleep the night before. Waking up a complete mess, she was late for work and looked like crap.

Not without proper reason, of course.

So there she was, standing in front of her rescuer, pen and pad in hand, mouth open and eyes wide with shock.

Realising the state she was in, Willow snapped her mouth shut, trying to think of something to say. "I –um, I –"

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"I –uh, yes I am. Thank you," she pulled herself together. "I never really thanked you for last night. Well, I did, but it wasn’t –I mean it didn’t –"

"It’s okay," the man said, giving her a small smile. "You’re welcome. I’m just glad you’re okay."

Nodding, Willow noticed his friends giving each other confused looks. Slightly embarrassed, she realised she should really be doing her job. "Um . . . so what can I get you all?"

After taking the orders and casting another flustered look at her rescuer, Willow all but ran into the kitchen, taking deep breaths once the door swung shut behind her. Giving the orders to the chef, she peeked around the door to look at the man who had saved her.

The first thing she noticed was his hair colour. Well, colours. It was as though he’d dipped his head into a vat full of poster paint and just swirled it around. Looking closer, she noticed that all the men on that table had long hair. That was strange. What an odd group.

"So what’s with you and the waitress?" one of the blonde men asked.

"Nothing." Her rescuer replied.

"Nothing?" the brown-haired man asked. "She thanked you for doing nothing?"

"No, you know, I just helped her out. That’s all."

"Doing what?"

"Geez, what is this? Twenty Questions?" The multicoloured man said, exasperated.

"We just want to know, Jeff," the woman said. "I mean, some pretty little waitress is thanking you for something you did last night . . . something none of us know about…"

Jeff. So that was his name.

Jeff sighed and shook his head. "It’s not like that. I was walking around town the streets last night and some asshole was attacking her. I just helped her out. That’s all that happened."

There was a brief moment of silence as the woman said ‘Oh.."

"Talk about coincidence that she works here, huh?" another blonde man commented.

The group went on talking as Willow pulled away from the door. It *was* a coincidence. A big one.

"Willow! Pick up!"

She was jolted out of her reverie when Phil, the chef, called for the order. Picking up the plates of food, she made her way to Jeff and his friends. It took her three trips before all of the food was delivered out to them. Gosh, they ate a lot.

"Will you be needing anything else?" she asked.

"No thanks, I think we’re right for now," Jeff replied. The other men had already dug into the food.

She made a move to walk away when she suddenly turned back around and looked at Jeff, who was still watching her. "Don’t worry about paying for any of this. It’s on me."

"You really don’t –"

Willow cut him off. "I know. But I want to. I really appreciate what you did last night. If you hadn’t of been there, then. . . I-I just want to thank you."

"You’re welcome," Jeff replied softly, noticing her nametag. "Willow."

She gave him a small smile, finally noticing that his friends had stopped eating and were watching the exchange between her and Jeff with interest. "Enjoy your meal," she finished hurriedly, scampering off to serve another table.

She hoped the meal didn’t cost too much.

* * * * * * * * *

Jeff watched as Willow took the orders of a couple at a nearby table. Her face was flushed, and although there was a placid expression on her face, he could tell she was extremely shaken up about the night before. He had a feeling that the chance encounter between them may have rattled her even more.

"Eat up, man," Christian urged, mouthful of food. "Hotcake’sh are good."

Before he started eating, Jeff stole another look at the redheaded waitress.

She was pretty.

PART 2b

~*~MONDAY NIGHT – RAW~*~

Team Extreme were sitting in a locker room during a taping of RAW. Although they weren’t scheduled to appear that night, it was still fun hanging out backstage with the other wrestlers. The monitor was on. Jeff was staring at the screen, though not really seeing anything. His thoughts were elsewhere . . .

"Hello? Anyone home? Jeff?"

Jeff shook his head clear of his thoughts. "Huh?"

Lita shook her head. "What is with you tonight? I’ve been calling your name for the past ten minutes and you’ve totally been ignoring me."

"I’m sorry. Did you need something?"

The redhead sighed. "You are so lost," she grumbled. "I was asking if you wanted a drink or something. You’ve been sitting on your ass for an hour. Even Matt got bored and went for a walk."

"No thanks. I’m good."

Lita sat down next to Jeff, a worried look on her face. "What’s wrong, Jeff? You’ve been acting really weird all day."

"Nothing’s wrong," Jeff answered. I’m just thinking."

"About?"

He shrugged one shoulder. "Stuff," he mumbled.

"Stuff concerning a certain redheaded waitress?"

Jeff’s head shot up. "How did you know?"

Lita smiled. "You can kinda tell," she said. "You shouldn’t worry about it too much. I’m sure she’s fine."

"I don’t know, Lita," Jeff replied doubtfully. "You should have seen how scared she was yesterday. That guy could have killed her."

"But he didn’t, because you were there to help her," Lita reminded him.

"I don’t know . . . "

"If you’re that worried about her, go back tomorrow and see how she’s doing," she suggested.

Jeff shrugged again. "Maybe,"

Lita stared at the younger Hardy while he stared into space. Finally, she threw up her hands in exasperation and groaned. "For crying out loud, Jeff. Get over yourself and just admit that you’re interested in her."

"What? Lita, how the –that’s stupid."

"No, you’re stupid. I saw the way you were looking at her in the diner. You were the only one that kept ordering food after the rest of us had finished."

"I was hungry," he defended himself.

"Sure you were," she scoffed. "No human is *that* hungry. You didn’t even eat most of it. You know, the poor girl nearly passed out when she tallied it all up in the end. Or did you forget she offered to pay for it all?"

"I left a big tip."

"Whatever. Don’t think I didn’t notice the way your head just shot up every time you say a redhead walk pass. Also –"

"Okay, okay," Jeff cut her off. He couldn’t stand it any more. "So I was on the lookout. I just wanted to make sure she was okay."

"So the five or so times you asked her back in the diner not enough?"

"Shut up, Lita." Jeff grumbled.

She snickered and then paused. "She’s pretty, you know."

"I know. I do have eyes."

"And she seemed really nice."

"Lita, what are you trying to do?" Jeff asked.

"I’m trying to get you to admit that you’re interested in her," she said.

"Okay. I’m interested in her. I agree that Willow is very pretty and really nice. But what can I do about it? We’re only here for a week, I can’t get involved with anyone."

"Why not?"

"What’s the point?" Jeff sighed and gave the other wrestler a weary look. "It’s not easy for me, Li. I’ve never had it as good as you and Matt do. I don’t like knowing that the only chance of having any sort of relationship has to come from a fling."

"I know it’s not easy," she said softly. "But you can’t just not try. I want to see you happy, Jeff, and you looked happy when you were talking to Willow earlier."

"But –"

"I’m not saying ask her to marry you. Just go talk to her again, give it a try. I don’t want to see you moping about for the next week just because you were too gutless to make some kind of move."

"I –gutless?!"

"Look," Lita said. "You have the day off tomorrow. Maybe you’ll find yourself feeling peckish for some hotcakes. Just remember, you can never go wrong with redheads."

She gave him a big smile, which he ruefully returned. "I’m going to get some drinks. When I come back, I want to see a smile on your face. And no moping."

She left the room and Jeff was alone with his thoughts. He made up his mind. He was going to stop moping and do something.

He was going back to the diner.

* * * * * * * * *

Willow flopped facedown onto her bed. It had been a long day. Not to mention a surprising one.

She really didn’t expect to see him. She’d just about passed our when she recognised him as her rescuer for the night before. Though there was something . . .

She felt as though she’d seen him and his friends somewhere else. Not just in the diner, and before he’d rescued her. But where could she have seen him? What place or event would harbour such strange people with uncommonly long hair and muscular figures?

Maybe they were hippies.

Willow rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. He was good-looking. And seemed genuinely concerned for her welfare. That was nice. She wasn’t sure if she imagined it or not, but he also seemed to look at her a lot. And he also seemed reluctant to leave the diner.

Then again, it was probably just wishful thinking.

And though it probably wouldn’t happen, a tiny part of her hoped she would see him again. When he left, he’d told her to take care and that he hoped she’d feel better.

What a nice guy.

PART 3

~*~TUESDAY~*~

Willow stifled a yawn as she wiped the counter clean for the third time. Well, it was already clean, but she had nothing better to do.

It was eleven-thirty in the morning and Willow was the only one in the diner. The other waitress wasn’t set to start until one, and Lou was out the back having a smoke. Actually, considering how long he’d been out there, he was probably having several smokes. From a number of cigarette packets.

Didn’t he realise cigarettes kill?

So there she was, all alone in a diner with nothing to entertain herself with.

Swell.

She ducked behind the counter and began fishing around for a magazine. Rummaging through a pile of old newspapers, she was almost hidden inside behind the counter. Which is why she didn’t hear him come in.

"Hello?" an unexpected voice said.

Willow raised her head in surprise and banged it on the inside of the counter with an audible thud. Pain shooting through her skull, she slowly stood up to glare at the customer.

But she didn’t.

She came face to face with the man who had rescued her. Well, face to neck, really, seeing as he was fairly tall. And seemingly laughing at her.

"You again," she said, rubbing the back of her head.

"Me again," he affirmed. "Sorry about surprising you just then. I couldn’t see anyone so I just –"

"Don’t worry about it." She waved a hand dismissively. "Everything is sort of echoing right now, but give me a couple of minutes and I’ll be fine."

She smiled at him. "So what brings you back here? More hotcakes, ‘cause I’d have thought the amount you all ate yesterday would have kept you full for a week."

"We’re all fairly big eaters," he admitted.

"No need to convince me," she replied wryly. "So can I get you anything?"

"Umm, two coffees, please? I actually came by to see how you’re doing. . . um, again." He gave her a sheepish smile as she poured the coffee. "I know it seems like I’ll never leave you alone, but I just had to make sure."

"Well, I’m doing pretty good. Thanks to you." She gave him another smile as she placed the two coffees in front of him. She indicated to the second coffee. "Is someone else joining you?"

"Nope," he replied.

A confused look passed over her face. "So then who’s the other coffee for?"

He pushed one of the coffee cups towards Willow. "You."

* * * * * * * * *

"So you’re a wrestler?"

"You look so surprised," Jeff commented. "Is it so hard to believe?"

"No, not really. It’s just that I swear I’ve seen you and your friends around somewhere before, I just didn’t know where, and it’s odd, because I’ve never really watched wrestling."

"Never watched wrestling?" Jeff repeated. "Well, that’s not right. You’re going to have to watch a match someday. You’ve never really lived until you’ve seen a TLC match."

"Tender love and care?" Willow teased.

"Table, ladders and chairs," he corrected her.

The redhead blanched. "I have no idea what that means, but I have a feeling I like my version better."

Jeff chuckled. They had spent the past hour talking about . . .well, everything. Correction, everything except Willow.

"So we’ve talked about me," he started again. "What about you?"

"Well, I’m obviously not a wrestler, so I’ve never been in a TLC match I-"

"No, no," the multicoloured man interrupted, laughing. "Tell me about yourself."

"Well, what do you want to know?"

"I don’t know. . .have you always lived in Chicago?"

"I’ve only been here a few months, actually," she admitted. "I’m originally from California."

"So what made you move?"

Willow shrugged. "Change of scene, I guess. One of those times when you have to get away. Honestly though, I never thought I’d wind up waitressing."

"Really? What did you do before?"

"I was a college student," she answered absently.

"You’re here by yourself?"

"Yep." She so did not want to talk about this.

"So let me get this straight," he began. "You’re a native Californian who moved to Chicago one your own, leaving college to become a waitress?"

"It’s not like that’s my dream goal," she grumbled defensively. "And you really didn’t have to put it like that."

"I wasn’t trying to put you down," Jeff apologised. "I think it’s different. It’s good that you’ve made a change. That’s the only way you’ll ever really be able to figure out what you really want in life."

Willow gave him a small smile. "You’re nice," she said simply.

He grinned back at her. "I try. What are you doing tonight?" he asked suddenly.

"I –I –um –"

"You don’t have to look so scared," Jeff laughed. "I just wanted to ask you out."

"Ask me out?"

"Yeah."

"On a date?"

"Uh huh."

"Tonight?"

"That was the idea."

"No."

Jeff was taken aback by the bluntness of her rejection. "Um…okay I –uh- wow."

"I really don’t want to be rude," Willow explained. "Well, a little late for that, huh? Anyway, I think you’re a really nice guy, but this is just really not good timing. I mean, I only found out your name today, well, yesterday because I was sort of eavesdropping but the point is –"

"Willow, it’s okay." Jeff said. "I understand. You don’t have to explain, it probably wasn’t a good idea."

At that moment, a group of people entered the diner. Realising that Willow had a job to do, Jeff stood up and gave the redhead a small smile. "I should go," he said. "I’ve got some training to do, and I’ve been distracting you all morning."

"Not a bad distraction," Willow assured him.

He gave her a bashful grin. "I’ll, um, see you around then. Take care, okay?"

"I will. Thank you, Jeff. For everything."

He left the diner a little disappointed. Okay, so she rejected him. Okay, so it was bad timing. That was still alright.

Maybe he could go back tomorrow and ask her out again.

Maybe she’d give into persistence.

Maybe.

* * * * * * * * *

Willow stared at the object in her hand. This was the moment –it was now or never. She had to use it. Putting it off any longer would just kill her.

So why was it so damn hard?

Frustrated, Willow threw the phone onto her bad. What was wrong with her? She’d used a phone before. It’s not like she didn’t know how to do it.

But it was the actual ‘doing it’ part that was the problem.

Damn.

She shook her head and sighed. She really should have agreed to go out with Jeff. He was a very likeable guy and she knew she would have had a good time. Plus he was cute. Not to mention the fact that it would have saved a lot of trouble.

Gathering her will together, Willow picked up the receiver. Dialling a number she knew all too well, she held her breath as she heard it ring.

One ring . . .two rings . . .three rings . . maybe she should hang up . . .

Then it happened.

Someone picked up.

"Hello?" a deep voice answered.

Willow couldn’t speak.

"Hello?" the voice repeated. "Is anyone there? You know, I can hear you breathing. Who is this?"

"I –urg –"

That didn’t come out right.

"What the –Willow?" She could hear a catch in the man’s voice. "Willow, is that you?"

Willow slammed the phone down.

A tear trickled down her cheek as she thought back to the people she loved so much.

If only they knew just how much she missed them.

* * * * * * * * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, Xander Harris stared at the receiver in his hand.

"Who was that?" Buffy Summers asked, walking into the kitchen.

"I –I think it was Willow," he choked out.

Buffy felt a pang of sadness at the mention of her friend. "Is –is she okay?" she asked hopefully.

"I don’t know. She didn’t say anything," Xander answered numbly.

Buffy stared at her feet. "I guess she’s not coming home soon, huh?"

"I don’t know, Buffy. Willow will come home when she’s ready."