Willow and Xander sat on the couch, watching a cheesy movie. < Another night spent together as friends, > Willow thought. < Another night where I try not to remember how much I love him, and how much he doesn't love me. > She glanced over at Xander, oblivious as usual on the couch. He smiled back a friendly Xander-smile. < At least, not the way I want him to, > she added automatically.

"Hey Wills," Xander said, "have another cookie." He indicated the nearly-empty plate of cookies on the endtable.

"Xander! I'm stuffed! I couldn't eat another bite if I tried," she replied.

"But you have such a terrible appetite!" he countered. "C'mon, just _one_ more?" He gave her his puppy-dog face.

She giggled. "No," she insisted.  He started to tickle her. "Please, stop," she begged. "I'll be a good girl, I promise!" She picked up one of the cookies and slowly forced it down.

"Did I tell you that these taste awful?" she said. "Where'd you get them, anyway?"

"I sorta made them," he said, grinning.

"Oh, using Grandma Harris' secret receipe for Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin Cookies?" she asked sarcastically.

"No, using your aunt's," he said. "I made sure to include the most important ingredient, of course." He fished underneath the couch, and came up with a small, nearly empty bottle. It was filled with teaspoon or two of reddish powder.

< Please God, no, > thought Willow. < Please tell me he didn't feed me the love potion my aunt made. >

"Of course, I made a few improvements," Xander continued blithely, grinning from ear to ear.

"Improvements?" Willow squeaked.

"Sure, I mean, after testing it on myself a few times,  I figured out how to make it better," he replied. "With the help of some musty old books," he added quickly.

"So, uh, this is really a more harmless version, right?" she asked hopefully.

"No, actually it's much stronger," he replied, still grinning.

"St-st-stronger?" She felt like her world was spinning.

"Oh yeah," he said. "I mean, you shrugged off that dose at your aunt's, so I had to make ours much more effective."

"Ours?" This was just getting better and better.

"Of course!" he cried. "You don't think I'd let my one true love take a potion without testing it on myself first, do you?"

< One true love, > Willow thought. < I'm his one true love....NO! FOCUS! Love potion! Enslavement of free will! Love. Enslavement. Will....Argh. > He was staring at her. Not goofily like he often did, or even kinda drooly like he did with Buffy. This stare was more...wistful. < Xander probably doesn't even know the definition of 'wistful,' > Willow thought.

"You know, you're almost unspeakably beautiful," he said. He began to lean over a bit, getting slowly closer.

< I can stop this, > Willow thought. < If I had a choice, > she remembered. < Which I don't. >

Then they kissed and they forgot all about silly unimportant things like free will and choice.

"Xander," she said breathily, "this is wrong. Very. Wrong. We have to get the antidote to the spell." He looked at her in complete disregard for logic and morals. "I think I can remember how to make it," she said. < If my brain weren't turned to Jell-O, > she added mentally.

"Oh, don't worry about that Wills," he said, starry-eyed. " I made sure there was no antidote to this one."

Willow eeped.

"But it wears off, right?" Willow asked Xander.

He grinned wide, and shook his head. No. "Another one of my improvements," he said.

"So you're saying there's no cure?" she asked, floored. "We're going to be in love. With each other. Forever." She stood up to pace.

< Why is it that when you get exactly what you want it always turn out horribly wrong? > she thought. < I mean, this would be a great thing, if we didn't turn into lovesick idiots within a day. > She sighed, and picked up the bottle of potion, which Xander had placed on the floor. < Ye gods! > she thought. < With this much, and the higher potency, we'll be lucky if we remember to eat. >

"I've got to call Giles," she said. Xander caught her by the arm. His mere touch seemed to send a pleasant shock of electricity through her. He stood up, faced her, looked deeply into her eyes.

"Can't it wait?" he asked plaintively.

"No," she said, swallowing hard. < Oh God, > she thought, < he's going to kiss me again. >

He did.

< Forget eating, > thought Willow afterward. < I barely remember how to breathe. >

"There's no use fighting this, Will, " he said.

She sighed. < I might as well enjoy it, > she thought. < Even if the whole thing is just a magical compulsion. >

"Problem, honey?" Xander asked.

< Honey? > Willow thought. < It's like we're already a couple. > "You realize that we'll probably die from this in some completely irrational fit of love-induced violence," she pointed out.

"Is that such a bad thing?" he asked, leaning in again.

"No," she whispered. They kissed.

Willow and Xander walked into school the next day holding hands. A very usual thing for them, except for the looks on their faces. Xander had a kind of dopey happy look on his face. < Well, more so than usual, > Buffy thought. Willow looked....blissfully resigned? Content, really.

"So," Buffy said as they walked up to her, "you two look like you've got a major case of the happies."

"We're in love," Willow replied, a bit sadly.

"Ok, don't go jumping off a cliff or anything," Buffy said, noting Willow's expression. "Seriously? You finally told him?"

"Well, not exactly," said Xander. "See, it all started with me baking cookies..."

"You must tell me everything," Buffy said. < This is beyond great, > she thought. < They are such a perfect couple. I mean, they're soulmates. They go together like...bacon and eggs or ham and cheese or -- wait, that's not terribly romantic -- well, something terribly romantic. Like Romeo and Juliet, only they grew up together. It'd be wrong for them to stay apart. Cosmically, intrisically wrong. As in, bad stuff happens if they stay apart.>

"Wait, I was kinda zoning out there," Buffy said. "Could you tell me again? I'm just so happy for you guys."

Buffy listened as they told her all about Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and love potions.

"Oh my God," was all she could say.

"Xander, I cannot believe even you could attain this level of stupidity," Giles said.

"Oh sure I can," Xander said. "I've had lots of practice." Willow giggled.

"You realize, of course, that this is bound to end in tragedy," Giles continued. "You no longer have free will. You will just react to each other from now on. The minute one of you steps out of line, the spell will begin to take a turn for the worse, ending only when both of you are dead."

"It's ok, Giles," Willow said. "It what we want, really. What we deserve." Xander, arm around Willow, hugged her to him and kissed her for the seventeenth time. They stared into each others' eyes, enraptured.

"Well, it's been nice knowing you," said Giles, and shook their hands.

"That's it?" asked Buffy incredulously. "You can't do anything?"

"I'm afraid not," Giles said. "Though there is one hope." Buffy listened intently. "If their love is pure, nothing bad will happen. They'll have the most contented, most romantic lives imaginable."

Buffy looked over at Willow and Xander. They were kissing and laughing an