The day after Willow graduated from high school, she took her boyfriend Arthur for a drive in her graduation present - a brand new SUV. The destination didn't matter. The point was to go somewhere away, until they could move into the backseat and make out.
Fooling around with Arthur was one of the best things ever, but it was also one of the scariest. When she was with him, she had the uneasy feeling that she was not
In Control. Willow didn't like it when she wasn't the one in control, but if she was with Arthur, there was an overwhelming impulse to ignore that little nagging voice of worry. Because Arthur was
smoking hawt, that was why. Because when he looked at her
that way or used
that voice, she was putty in his hands and she knew it. And he knew it too. She was pretty sure of that. And that
scared the crap out of her.
Arthur's mother was a succubus, and he'd inherited a lot of her abilities. She knew that's why he had such a hold over her, and why she ought to run far, far away. But she hadn't fallen for him because of his smouldering eyes or his scorching kisses. She'd fallen for the geeky, distracted intern at her dad's lab who understood her when she talked science and treated her like a fellow scientist. She'd never met another boy whose eyes didn't glaze over in boredom when she discussed the finer points of neurochemistry or protein folding. The fact that he
just happened to have kisses to swoon for was simply a
rather nice perq.
And there was this: Whatever power Arthur had over her, he
didn't use it. Heaven knows he'd had opportunities enough - times when they had been making out for what seemed like hours until she came up for air. She'd look into his eyes and feel completely mesmerized. At those moments, Arthur was the one who was
In Control, and he could have done anything he wanted to her. Not just going all the way (
which they still hadn't done!), but anything depraved or sadistic or terrifying that she couldn't even fully imagine, but knew she'd go along with in a heartbeat if Arthur wanted it.
Instead, all he'd do was pause, take a few deep breaths, and then - back off a bit. It hurt her feelings when it first started happening, but when she looked at it logically - when Arthur wasn't around to distract her - she understood.
He was afraid of his power too. He didn't want her dancing on his puppet strings. He wanted her to be with him of her free will. But when he kissed her like that, she
had no free will.
Which is why two high school graduates, with plenty of mutual desire and ample opportunity, were still virgins.
Willow was really going to have to do something about Magic one of these days. It just screwed up
everything.
