*This fic will start out PGbut will work up to the NC-17 rating*





CH 1

William Giles sat in his car in LA traffic, beating on the steering wheel to the beat of the punk song playing on the radio. He should have known better than to try and leave Los Angeles at this hour, but he was in a bit of a hurry to get to his hometown of Sunnydale.


It seemed like ages since he had been back, well almost eight years to be exact. Ever since…no he wouldn’t think about that. It still hurt way too much and it wouldn’t do any good to start dredging up the past now.


Shaking himself of his thoughts, he concentrated on the unmoving traffic ahead of him. God how he hated LA.


“Listen I know you’re old and all, but do you know your music sucks,” a little voice from the passenger seat huffed.


William turned and looked at his seven-year-old niece who was sitting with a petulant scowl marring her cute little face.


“My my Kennedy, such language. Does your mum know you talk like that?” Spike asked with a raised brow. “And I’m not old,” William grumbled indignantly. Hell, he was hardly thirty.


Kennedy’s cheeks blushed an adorable shade of pink as she looked down sheepishly. “Sorry Uncle Will, but I don’t think I can take another minute of that junk you call music.” She whined. Then in a teasing tone added, “And yes, you are kinda old.”


William looked down at his cheeky niece and gave her a pointed look. “You do realize you’re not helping your situation right?” he asked dryly.


Kennedy pulled out the big guns and batted her big blue doe eyes up at her uncle. “Please can we listen to something else on the radio?” she begged in a sickeningly sweet voice.


William took one look at her and melted. How could he say no to that face? With an exasperated sigh, he relented. “Fine, change the bloody station, but if you put on some bubblegum garbage, I might just have to run us into that guard rail over there,” he warned.


Kennedy clapped her hands excitedly and started flipping through the stations. “That’s okay, we’re going slow enough it’ll just smash the bonnet of your car,” she commented off handedly.


William turned and looked at his niece with a look of disbelief. Bloody hell, she most definitely got her mother’s attitude. He honestly wondered how his brother-n-law, Derek, survived with both his sister, Cecily and Kennedy. He must be a bloody saint.


Kennedy channel surfed for a few minuets and finally settled on a pop station. Bouncing to the beat, she sang along to the song in an overly dramatic voice.


William cringed as he listened to the god-awful pop song that was now blaring from his stereo. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he prayed that god himself would reach down and take him out of his misery. Just when he thought his head might explode, the DJ came on and started going on about a concert that was going on that weekend in Sunnydale.


“Alright all you Blue fans, this is your last chance to get tickets for their homecoming concert. Caller number thirteen will be the lucky owner of two front row seats and back stage passes. The lines are open now, so you better act fast to make sure you’re the lucky caller.”


William rolled his eyes. Who really called into those stations anyways?


Kennedy pulled out her cell phone and had the numbers dialed faster than you could blink. She had wanted to see Blue in concert ever since she had first heard them on the radio. Unfortunately, Blue had never gone to England, but now was her chance since she was going to be in Sunnydale this weekend. She just had to be caller thirteen.


“Kennedy are you actually calling in for those tickets?” William asked incredulously.


“Are you kidding me, if I get to go to their concert I will be the only girl in my entire school to have seen them in concert,” she pointed out as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.


William had never even heard of the bloody group. Probably some little boy band that every young girl from this end of the world to the other drooled over. Letting his head rest against the window, he let out a sigh. He could probably walk to Sunnydale faster than this.


Kennedy persistently called into the radio station. She was bound and determined to be the thirteenth caller. When the line started to ring, she let out a shrill scream and began to bounce up and down in her seat.


William about came out of his own skin at the sound of Kennedy’s ear piercing scream.


“Bloody fucking hell!” William yelled as he put his hands over his ears.


“It’s ringing, it’s ringing,” Kennedy shrieked throughout the car.


“All that racquet over the bloody line ringing,” William grumbled staring at the young girl as if she had lost her mind.


Kennedy rolled her eyes in her uncle’s direction and waited for someone to answer.


There was a loud squealing noise coming from the radio. William reached over, quickly turned it down and then realized that Kennedy had gotten through.


“Am I caller thirteen?” Kennedy asked in a giddy voice.


“You sure are sweetie, what’s your name?”


“Kennedy,” she all but shrieked.


“Well where are you from Kennedy?” the DJ asked, apparently intrigued by her British accent.


“I’m from London, but I’m here visiting in America,” Kennedy answered in an excited voice.


“Well Kennedy from London, you are the proud owner of two tickets and backstage passes to see Blue tomorrow night. If you’ll stay on the line, I can get the info I need,” the DJ replied as he put Kennedy on hold.


William shook his head. Just great. He hoped that Kennedy didn’t expect him to take her to some bloody boy band concert, ‘cause sure he loved his niece and he would hang the moon in her window if she asked, but boy bands were just simply out of the sodding question.


Kennedy looked over at her uncle with the biggest smile she could muster without hurting her face. She couldn’t believe it; she had tickets to see Blue.


“Alright folks, here’s Blue’s number one hit ‘Someone’” the DJ announced before starting the track.


The soft sound of an acoustic guitar came over the radio and William couldn’t help but want to turn up the volume. He listened as the person strummed the cords and created a slow rhythm. But it wasn’t until the soft voice floated over the air waves that William gave it his undivided attention.


He would know that voice anywhere. He felt his heart leap in his throat as he listened to the words of the slow song.


"You can’t eat, you can’t sleep, you can’t weep when you love someone
Feels extreme when you dream, and you scream when love someone
If you feel that strong
Can you see that one
Let me be your….

Someone to hold you tight
Someone to make you feel alright
Everyday and night
I wish I was your Someone
Someone to hold you when you're weak
Someone to make you feel complete
Everyday and night
I wish I was your Someone"


William quickly reached over and turned off the radio. It couldn’t be her. He would have known if she had gone and really made something of herself. She would have told him, right?


His head was spinning from all the things running through his head at that moment. If it was in fact her, then his world was about to come crashing in on itself.


Kennedy hung up the phone and looked at her uncle as if he was crazy. “Why did you turn that off, that’s my favorite song,” she asked huffily.


The sound of Kennedy’s voice brought him out of his musings. “Wha’?” he asked distractedly. He hadn’t heard a word she just said.


“I asked why you turned off my favorite song,” she repeated, but this time her tone was more concerned. Her uncle was acting weird, and she wasn’t sure why.


“Oh well I wanted to make sure you could hear on the phone,” William covered, running his fingers through his platinum blond hair, letting loose some of his errant curls.


“Right,” Kennedy replied not believing a word he had said and turned the radio back on.


William let out a sigh of relief when the previous song was no longer on the radio. He really didn’t think he could handle listening to that voice again.


Kennedy let out a huff. “My song’s over,” she whined.


“No worries, you’ve got your grandfather to take you to your little concert, and if that’s their number one hit, I’m sure they’ll play it there,” William assured the pouting child next to him.


Kennedy looked over with big eyes. “You mean your not taking me?” she asked truly disappointed.


Oh shit! How in the buggering hell was he supposed to explain this one. There was no way in hell he could go to that concert, especially if it was her.


“Ken you know I would love to take you, but you know I’m not into that sort of thing,” he tried for an easy out.


“But Grandpa’s all old, even older than you,” Kennedy pouted.


“Come on, he’s not that old. Besides, I bet he knows more about this band than I do,” William suggested. And if his father did know, he would kick his ass good and proper.


Kennedy let her shoulders sag. “Fine, I’ll take Grandpa,” she relented.


“Atta girl,” William cooed as he ran his fingers through his niece’s light brown ringlets.


Kennedy couldn’t help but smile. “Alright, your gonna make my hair all fuzzy if you don’t quit,” she warned playfully.


“Sorry, I forgot you have some hot date to impress when we get to Sunnydale,” William teased.


“Ew Uncle Will,” Kennedy said as she scrunched up her nose.


“Aw, music to my ears,” William replied and Kennedy let out a laugh.


Traffic finally started to pick back up and they were now well on their way to the good old town of Sunnydale. Now if he could only manage to not run into ‘her’.





A/N The song in this chap is "I Wish I Was Your Somone" by D.H.T and all lyrics and rights belong to there rightful owners.

CH 2

William pulled into his father’s driveway and turned off the ignition. Sunnydale hadn’t changed a bit. The ride through town was like going back in time. The small coffee shop he used to go to every morning before school was still there and even the small club that he and his friends used to frequent every Friday night was still up and running. Yeah it was nice to see that some things never change.


William stretched as he got out of the car. He noticed Kennedy was still in the car fast asleep. Careful not to scare her, he ducked his head in the driver’s side door and called out to her softly.


“Hey nibblet, we’re here.”


Kennedy opened her eyes groggily and let out a yawn.


Spike couldn’t help but find her absolutely adorable, even if she did drive him bug shaggin’ crazy half the time.


Kennedy hopped out of the car and ran to greet her grandfather who was now standing on his porch.


“Grandpa!” she squealed excitedly as she jumped into his arms.


Rupert Giles stood and smiled brightly as his beautiful granddaughter came bounding toward him. With an ‘umph’, he hugged her tightly in his arms and kissed her on the cheek.


“My goodness look how you’ve grown,” Giles observed as he placed his granddaughter on her feet.


Kennedy held out her arms for her grandfather’s inspection. “Almost a whole three inches since Christmas,” she informed him proudly.


“Why you’re practically a young lady now aren’t you?”


“Yep,” Kennedy agreed with a nod.


“Don’t let her looks fool you,” William teased as he walked over to his father.


“William,” Giles replied as he took in his son’s appearance.


He was still bleaching his hair that awful platinum color, but you could tell that it had been awhile since he had last had it done by the dark roots that were now showing. His face was much thinner than the last time he had seen his son and his cheekbones were more pronounced from weight lose, but all in all, he looked well.


“How about a hug for your ol’ Da’?” Giles asked.


William walked over to his father and embraced him in a masculine hug.


“You look good Da’,” William commented as he patted his father’s shoulders.


“As do you son. So tell me, how was your trip down here?” he asked his son as he ushered them in the door.


William walked in the door and inhaled deeply. He loved the way his father’s house smelled. It was a mixture of English breakfast tea, his father’s aftershave, and a small hint of something that was distinctly his mother. It had been almost fifteen years since his mother had lived in that house, but it was still there, just lingering under the surface.


“I won tickets to go and see Blue tomorrow Grandpa,” Kennedy informed her grandfather excitedly.


“Did you now,” Giles commented sounding somewhat nervous. He knew that the band would be in town this weekend and had hoped that it would go unnoticed by not only his granddaughter, but his son as well.


“Yeah Da, backstage passes and all,” William added giving his father a look that said he had questions that needed to be answered.


“Well that sounds lovely Kennedy. Why don’t you go get washed up and you and I can go and get some ice cream, how’s that sound?” Giles asked the excited seven-year-old.


Without even answering, Kennedy ran off to the bathroom to wash up.


As soon as Giles was sure the little girl was out of sight, he turned to look at his son. “William let me explain,” he tried but was cut off by a very brassed off William.


“You knew all this time and never told me,” he accused his father.


Giles knew he had some explaining to do. With a heavy sigh, he sat down on the arm of his easy chair.


“Right after you left for England, she just up and left. No one knew where she had gone for the longest time. Her mother assumed it was to New York, but we never knew for sure. Her mother was worried sick about her and was almost at the point of just giving up when one day she finally got a phone call saying that she had finally made it and that she was getting the chance to live out her dreams as a singer, just like she had planned.” He could see the hurt written all over his son’s face. It had been eight years since that awful night when his son gave up his whole world to make the one person he loved the most happy.


William closed his eyes and fought back the tears that threatened to spill. He had pushed all his memories away for so long and now they were invading his mind as if no time had passed at all. It had taken him years to come to grips with the fact that she was really gone.


Shaking his head, William opened his eyes and looked at his father. “It doesn’t matter anymore, she’s gone to me,” he stated resolutely.


“But William she’s-,” but he was cut off yet again.


“No Da’, she gone. She’s no longer the girl I fell in love with. She proved that the day she told me that she had to go and find herself and that it didn’t involve me,” he stated, letting all the hurt that he had been bottling up for so long come to the surface.


Giles nodded his head and left it at that. There was no use in pushing his son to go over the past if he was determined to try and forget it. Hearing the heavy footsteps of an excited little girl, Giles turned and smiled brightly.


“All ready?”


“Yep,” Kennedy agreed and then turned to her mournful looking uncle. “Uncle Will are you gonna come with us?”


“Not tonight ducks, think I’m just gonna call it a night,” he replied in a distant tone.


“Take me to pick up my tickets tomorrow?” she asked hopefully.


“Sure thing,” he agreed, smiling as best as he could.


Kennedy walked over and wrapped her arms around her uncle’s waist. “Goodnight Uncle Will, I love you.”


William picked up his niece, gave her a hug and kissed her on the cheek. “Love you too sweet pea, I’ll see you in the morning.”


William put her down on her feet and watched as his father and niece walked out the door and to his father’s car.


Letting out a ragged breath, he closed his eyes and willed himself not to think about the girl that had broken his heart all those years ago. But he knew, deep down inside, that was something that would just never happen.

**************************************************************************************


William woke up and rolled over to look at the alarm clock. It was only seven o’clock. For some reason even when he wasn’t working, he managed to get up before eight.


Not quite ready to face his father’s line of questioning, he decided to go for a run. Nothing like a good jog to get the blood flowin’.


Throwing on a pair of running shorts and his tennis shoes, William left out of the backdoor unnoticed and headed down the street.


He found himself somehow standing in front of her mother’s house. He didn’t actually remember jogging there, he was just there. Panting slightly, he stood there with his hands on his hips just staring at the old house that had once been his second home.


There wasn’t a memory that didn’t involve this house. When his parents had gotten divorced, he had all but moved in and now here he was eight years later standing in the same spot where his whole world had fallen apart.


Joyce Summers walked out of her front door and nearly fell over from shock. She had to blink several times to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. Hesitantly, she walked down the steps and stood in front of the man she hadn’t seen in almost eight years.


“William?” she asked disbelievingly.


William looked the woman that had been a second mother to him in the eyes and smiled.


“Joyce.”


“What are you doing here?” Joyce asked still in awe.


William took a deep breath. “Well I guess I’m here to see my wife.”






Big thanks to gotkona, lacey, Nicki, Kimber, Whitelighter354, Brat, SarahandJamesFanatic, and MidnightGirl for the encouraging reviews! I can't tell you how much it means to me; you're all such doll babies! Kuddos!

CH 3

“I’m sorry William, but she’s not here,” Joyce informed her son-n-law. It was funny how she forgot that they were still married. She had wondered why neither of them had filed for divorce, but she figured that they just weren’t ready to admit that it truly was over.


William didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed that she wasn’t there. A small apart of him wanted to hold her, to touch her, to tell her that he still loved her and that he would do anything just to have her back again, but there was the bigger part of him that knew he just couldn’t do that. Not just because he couldn’t bring himself to do it, but because she wouldn’t let him. She had made her choice. She chose her dreams over him and that was just something he couldn’t compete with.


The look in his eyes must have told Joyce his true feelings because she was wrapping him in a warm hug instantly.


“William I know you must still be hurting, but you really need to talk to Buffy.”


William pulled out of Joyce’s arms as if she had burned him. That was the first time he had heard her name since he had left Sunnydale eight years ago. It was like a knife to the heart. It cut him deep to his very soul. He slowly backed away with silent tears streaming down his face.


“I-I have to go,” he mumbled as he continued to back away from Joyce as if it would make it all go away.


“William wait,” Joyce pleaded, but before she could reach him, he had taken off down the street.


William ran, ran as fast as his legs would carry him. That’s what he always did when it came to Buffy. When she had told him she was leaving without him he had run to England. He made sure he was as far away from her as possible hoping that maybe the distance between them would make the hurt go away, but in actuality, it had only made it worse.


William ran until he could taste the blood in his lungs. He stopped, gasping and coughing, coughing so hard that he threw up.


Standing there clutching his gut, he dry heaved what little was in his stomach from the day before. He wiped his sweat soaked brow and began the long walk back to his father’s house.


**************************************************************************************


Buffy Summers stretched lazily in her large hotel bed and let the warm California sun warm her skin. It had been so long since she had been back to the west coast and it felt nice. New York was nice enough, but it would never replace that place in her heart that sunny California held.


Buffy was about to get out of bed when two strong warm arms pulled her back and securely into their tight embrace.


“Hey darlin’, where’s my good mornin’ kiss?” Lindsey McDonald drawled in his smooth mid-western accent.


Buffy smiled and placed a sweet kiss to his lips. “Sorry, thought you were still asleep,” Buffy apologized.


“Well I wouldn’t complain if you woke me up,” Lindsey replied suggestively as he let his hands skim across the exposed flesh of her stomach.


Buffy quickly pulled out of Lindsey’s arms, pulled down her thin camisole, and pointed a finger at him. “Oh no you don’t mister. We have lots of work to do before tonight, and you and I both know that if you get that started neither of us will leave this room till well after noon,” she scolded.


Lindsey held up his hands in surrender. “Fine, you win,” he relented. Sitting up in bed, he swung his legs over the side and looked up at Buffy with a grin curling at the edge of his lips.


“God I love you,” he admitted with a twinkle in his eyes.


Buffy felt the raw panic she always felt when Lindsey told her that he loved her. Sure she cared about him and they had been together for over five years now, but she had vowed to herself that she would never love again, not after what had happened the first time.


Lindsey could see Buffy retreat back within herself. It hurt him beyond words that she couldn’t bring herself to say it back. They had been together for five years and she still keep that part of her heart to herself.


“I’m gonna go get a shower,” she replied softly and left for the bathroom without another word.


Lindsey watched as Buffy walked away from him and shook his head. He loved Buffy with all his heart, but he didn’t know if it was quite enough for the both of them.


When he had discovered Buffy six years ago playing in a small bar in Manhattan, he had instantly fallen in love. The way she poured out her soul into her music was something he hadn’t seen in a long time. When he had approached her after her set, she had instantly told him she wasn’t interested and simply walked off not even giving him a second glance.


Lindsey went to that small bar every night in hopes of catching what he new would be the next greatest hit.
He had all but given up after a week of not seeing her, and then on his last attempt, she had showed.


Lindsey was determined that he was not going to take no for an answer, so he took a different approach this time, more business like. Game face in place, he walked up, stuck out his hand, and introduced himself as the talent manager for M&R records.


Buffy had at first thought it was a pick up line until he pulled out a card and handed it to her telling her that if she was interested to come by the studio and show them what she had. That’s when she got her chance to make her dream a reality.


After a year of trying to convince Buffy to go out with him for dinner, she had finally broken down and agreed to ‘just dinner’, and they had been together ever since.


It was hard at first getting Buffy to open up to him about herself, but after some time she explained why she kept her past in her past. She had told him that she had married young but needed to go and find herself before she could live someone else’s dream.


Lindsey knew that Buffy was still married, but he had learned the hard way what happens when you push the subject of her filing for divorce.


It was their three year anniversary and Lindsey was planning on proposing. He had arranged for a big romantic evening and then after dinner he was going to pop the question. Everything went as planned except when Lindsey asked Buffy to marry him, she ran out of the restaurant, leaving him on bended knee.


Lindsey had run after her and demanded to know why she had reacted like that. All Buffy had said was that he knew why and then stormed off down the street.


The next day Lindsey went to her apartment and tried to find a way to make Buffy see that he loved her and that he would do anything to spend the rest of his life with her. When he had asked again why she wouldn’t marry him, she had cried and screamed that she was still married.


Lindsay let his temper get the better of him and screamed that she needed to just get divorced and be done with it already.


Buffy had told him to get out and never come back again. It was months after that until she had finally agreed to talk with him over coffee.


Buffy had agreed to take him back if he promised to never bring up marriage until she was ready. And now here they were today after all this time still doing the same song and dance. Lindsey telling Buffy that he loved her and Buffy claming up and acting like he had said he’d killed a preacher.


With a heavy sigh, Lindsey got up off the bed, walked over to the desk, and started going over the itinerary for that night’s concert. What else was there for him to do?


Buffy stood under the hot stream of water letting it wash away all the tension in her body. Why couldn’t she tell Lindsey that she loved him? There was only one answer that she could possible think of, William.


William had been her first love, first kiss, first everything. William Randall Giles had been her older brother, Angel’s best friend since they were in kindergarten. He was two years older than her so he had always looked at her as Angel’s bratty sister until Buffy’s sixteenth birthday when he’d given her her first kiss. That’s when everything had changed.


The night of William’s graduation Buffy decided to give him her most precious gift, her virginity. They had made promises of being together forever and that he would go to collage at UC Sunnydale so he could be close to her.


Everything was perfect. They stayed together while Buffy finished high school and on the night of Buffy’s graduation they ran off to Vegas, got married at some cheesy Elvis chapel and spent their honeymoon night at the ‘Heartbreak Hotel’.


Neither of their parents’ were surprised when Buffy and William came home and said that they had gotten married. They just thought that they would have at least had a wedding that didn’t have an Elvis impersonator as their witness.


Things were going just how they had both dreamed. Both Buffy and William were enrolled in college. William was almost done with his degree and Buffy had decided to major in music. They both were living out their dreams until the day that William told her that they were going to move to England so he could work for his stepfather’s firm.


Buffy had explained to him that she wanted to finish her degree and then make it big in the music industry. If she moved to England then she would have to give up everything she had worked so hard for.


William asked her if she could put it off for a few years, just until he got settled into his career enough that they could come back to the states and he could start a firm of his own.


Buffy had told him that she had come too far to give up her dreams and that if he couldn’t find something here in the states, then he was going to England alone.


William had begged and pleaded with her to reconsider and to give the idea of moving to England a chance, but she had flat out refused and left the house to go to her mother’s.


Buffy felt the water begin to run cold as she stood in the shower lost in thought. How had everything gone so wrong? Buffy closed her eyes and replayed the fateful night in her mind. The night she threw her happy life as she knew it away.




**Flashback**

Eight Years Ago


“Buffy please don’t do this,” William begged. He could see his life crumbling around him as his wife stood there, face void of all emotion.


“I’m sorry William, but I have to find out who I am before I just become your wife,” Buffy explained trying to mask the hurt that was clenching her heart like a vise.


William felt his anger bubble to the surface. “So what, you’re just gonna throw the last two fucking years of our marriage away like they never happened,” he snapped at her.


“Well maybe if you weren’t so damn selfish none of this would be happening,” Buffy snapped back, face red with rage.


Spike looked at her as if she had lost her mind. “Me?! I’m being fucking selfish? What the hell do you think you’re doing? Telling me that I either stay here or you’re leavin’ me. If that’s not the fucking pot calling the kettle black,” he retorted snidely.


“Oh, so it’s okay to tell me to give up everything I’ve worked for to follow you to do what, go play in step daddy’s office,” she snapped. She knew it was a low blow, but she was pissed off and really wasn’t too concerned with being nice.


Spike looked at her aghast. “You know what Buffy? I’m sorry if I want to make sure I can provide for my wife, really I am, but if that’s what you really think of me, then you know what, fucking stay, I really don’t care either way anymore. Just remember, when your little dream blows up in your face, don’t say I never said I fucking told you so,” he ground out through clinched teeth and then turned and walked away and never looked back.


Buffy stood there as silent tears ran down her cheeks as the only man she had ever loved walked out of her life. She stood there until he was completely out of sight. Then with what felt like might be her last breath, she whispered, “I’m sorry William, I’m so sorry.”


**** ****


Buffy stood under the now cold water shaking violently. She wasn’t quite sure if it was from the icy water or the emotions that were wracking her to her very core.


Buffy turned off the shower and grabbed the terry cloth towel that was hanging next to the shower. She wrapped herself in its warmth and rubbed her arms trying to fight off the chill that seemed to have seeped into her bones.


Pulling a comb through her hair, she walked out of the bathroom and sat on the edge of the bed with a far off look in her eyes.


Lindsey turned to look at Buffy and frowned. He had seen this look all too often. He could always tell when Buffy was thinking about her past. It was if the light that shown so bright in her eyes just turned off to leave her normally vibrant emerald eyes a dull washed out green.


Lindsey reached out his hand to hold hers. When he felt her small icy fingers in his hand, he furrowed his brow.


“Baby your hands are like ice,” he pointed out as he brought her hand to his mouth and blew on them, trying to warm them up.


“I guess I stayed in the shower too long,” Buffy replied in a distant voice.


“Yeah I guess so,” Lindsey replied in a mournful voice. She still wasn’t going to tell him what was bothering her.


Buffy got up and went to find something to wear. She had a long day ahead of her and it wouldn’t do her any good to let her mind get bogged down with painful memories. Like flipping a switch, Buffy plastered a smile on her face and asked chipperly, “So what’s first on the agenda today?”


Yep, there was his Cleopatra, queen of denial. With a shake of his head, Lindsy ran off the day’s plans as Buffy got dressed.


“You have to be in Sunnydale at four so you can do autographs and then at five there will be a small meet and greet where they will have a Q&A session, so be prepared to answer any of the latest tabloids,” he informed her with a knowing look.


“No problem.” Buffy assured him. “So will I have time to go by my Mom’s house before the concert or will I have to have her make an appointment for that,” Buffy asked dryly.


“Sorry darlin, you have to hold off goin’ to your mom’s till after the concert. From six to seven-thirty you got warm-up,” he explained.


Buffy let out a huff. “Fine, I guess I’ll call my mom and tell her I won’t be over till tomorrow afternoon, ‘cause you and I both know I won’t get out of there till late tonight,” she commented knowingly.


“That’s the price you pay to be the star you are,” Lindsey pointed out going back to his paper work.


Buffy felt the hurt creep back into her heart. The price she had paid. It was a price she would never be able to forget, not for as long as she lived.






Huge thanks to MidnightGirl, Dee, DaniD, Nicki, daisy, vitalis, guzu, Brat, chrissnicole, Kimber, Pam S, caatje, lacey, jt, and jenny for the amazing reviews! I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate them. You guys rock! Kuddos!!!!!!

William walked in the back door of his father’s house to find his father sitting at the breakfast table reading the morning paper. Without so much as a word, he walked over to the fridge, pulled out a bottle of water and chugged it down in one swallow.


Giles took in his son’s paler than normal complexion and was instantly concerned.


“William are you all right? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”


William turned to his father and let out a sardonic laugh that could send chills down your spine.


“No Da, even better. Buffy’s mum,” he informed his father in an eerie tone.


Giles regarded his son for a moment before he asked, “What did she have to say?”


William took a seat at the table and looked at his father, void of emotion. “Not much. Said I should talk to Buffy.”


“So are you?” Giles asked curiously.


“No,” William stated flatly. He didn’t even have to think twice.


“William don’t you think it’s time for some sort of closure? It’s been eight years. Eight very long years and you’ve yet to file for divorce,” Giles pointed out gently.


William turned to his father with cold eyes. “She’s the one that left me. If she wants a bloody divorce then she can file for it,” he snapped and then pushed away from the table with such force it sent his chair across the room to collide with the island.


Giles flinched at his son’s enraged outburst. He knew that bringing up his son’s broken marriage would upset him, but he had no idea it would be to this magnitude. With a heavy sigh, he looked up at his son with concerned eyes.


“William I didn’t mean to upset you, it’s just that I hate to see you this way. I just want you to be happy that’s all,” Giles told him with fatherly love.


William let go of his anger and let his hurt take over. With glassy eyes, he looked down at his father and stated matter a factly, “Well Da’ I hate to say it, but I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.”


Giles felt his heart go out to his son. This was a parent’s worst nightmare. To see their child in so much pain and yet unable to do a thing about it.


“William I know it may feel that way, but it will get better,” Giles tried to soothe his son.


“Da’ if it hasn’t happened by now I doubt very seriously it ever will,” William pointed out pessimistically.


“My only suggestion is to find closure and move on with your life. You can’t change what’s already done. You just need to cut all ties and be done with it,” Giles replied in a gentle tone.


William knew his father was right. As a lawyer, he had seen this all too often. One person in the marriage wanted out and the other just couldn’t let go. He knew it wasn’t healthy to keep holding on to the only tie he had left to Buffy, but his heart just couldn’t understand what his mind had known all along. Buffy was gone.


With a heavy sigh, William nodded his head. “Your right Da’, it’s time to let go. Buffy’s not coming back and it’s about time I face the truth and truly set her free.”


Giles got up and placed a comforting hand on his son’s shoulder. “You’re a good man William, but honestly this is the best thing not only for you but for Buffy as well.”


William looked at his father with sad eyes. “If it’s the right thing to do, then why does it hurt so much?”


**************************************************************************************


Buffy sat in her limo on her ride into downtown Sunnydale in silence. She still couldn’t believe it had been eight whole years since she had last seen this place. She had tried to convince Lindsey that they should do her homecoming concert in LA, but he had insisted they come to Sunnydale. He had said something about going back to your roots or some crap like that.


“Hey Buffy, you all right?” Oz, her bass guitarist asked in his normal monotone manner.


Buffy looked up at Oz and smiled. “Sure. It’s just I haven’t been back to my home town in awhile,” she explained.


“How long has it been?” Devon, her drummer, asked as he rolled down his window to get a better look at the quaint town of Sunnydale.


“Eight years,” she replied sadly.


“Damn, that’s a long time,” Devon commented. “So you ready?”


Buffy rolled down her own window and saw the crowds of people outside the record store where they were going to be signing autographs.


“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she replied wearily as the limo pulled to a stop, letting them out to face the crowds.

**************************************************************************************


“Grandpa, why isn’t Uncle Will taking me to get my tickets?” Kennedy asked curiously.


Giles looked down at his bright-eyed granddaughter. “I’m afraid your Uncle Will is feeling a bit under the weather,” he covered. His granddaughter had no business knowing her uncle’s real problems.


“Well he seemed fine yesterday,” she pointed out knowingly as she walked out the front door.


Giles watched as Kennedy skipped off to the car. Sometimes that girl was too smart for her own good. With a shake of his head, he followed the young girl out the door to make the long drive to LA to pick up their concert tickets.


William waited till he heard the sound of his father’s compact car drive off before coming out of his room. After his conversation with his father, he felt he needed some time to himself to get his thoughts straight.


He looked at the clock and noted it was well after noon. He hadn’t had anything to eat since early yesterday evening and he was beginning to feel a bit peckish. Going in the kitchen, he pulled out the things to make a sandwich when the telephone interrupted him.


“’Ello?”


“William it’s Joyce.”


William let out a heavy sigh. “I was wondering when you might call,” he commented knowingly.


“Well you ran off so quickly this morning I didn’t get a chance to ask you how you’ve been,” Joyce replied conversationally.


“Well I could lie to you and tell you that my life for the past eight years has been great, but you and I both know I’m a shitty liar,” he replied trying to sound casual, but wasn’t able to hide all his bitterness.


Joyce felt her heart break at the hurt sound in William’s voice. She had always had a soft spot for William, even when he was a small boy.


He had been frequenting her doorstep since the young age of five when he had first met her son, Angel. They had been on the same little league team growing up and then when they had gotten to junior high and high school they played soccer together. You would have thought them to be brothers instead of best friends.


“I just wish things would have been different for the two of you,” she replied sympathetically.


“Yeah well you and I both know that Buffy had made up her mind and there was nothing I could have done to change it,” he told her knowingly. For as long as he had known Buffy she had always been so damn hardheaded.


“Oh believe me, I know for a fact how stubborn my daughter can be. As a matter of fact, she hasn’t been back to Sunnydale at all since she left,” Joyce told him.


“Well I can’t say much in that department, I’m just as guilty,” William confessed sheepishly.


“Well at least now I know you weren’t avoiding me all these years,” Joyce teased.


“You know that if I was in town that I would have more than likely stopped in to see you,”
William defended.


“You sound kind of unsure,” Joyce pointed out.


“Well to be honest, I thought you hated me,” William admitted.


“What?! God no. Why in the world would I hate you?” Joyce asked completely astounded.


“For letting her go,” William answered in a mournful tone.


“William it is NOT your fault Buffy left,” she quickly assured him. “Buffy made her own choices; you of all people should know that. She was young and confused, not that it’s any excuse, but it does seem to make it a bit easier to understand why she did the things she did,” Joyce tried to rationalize.


William let out a small chuckle. “You know for the longest time I wouldn’t let myself blame her for any of it. I told myself that it was all my fault. That if maybe I had let her have her way and stayed in the states things would have worked out for us and we would still be together today.”


“William you can’t take the blame on this. Buffy was the one that gave you the ultimatum. Buffy was the one that decided her dreams were more important than trying to save her marriage. Don’t get me wrong, I love my daughter, but she was wrong in every sense of the word, and I made sure I told her that.” Joyce stated matter a factly.


To say William was surprised by Joyce’s opinion on how she felt on the whole situation was saying the very least. Here all this time he had thought Joyce had blamed him when she had put most of the blame if not all of it on Buffy.


“Joyce it’s nice to know that you stuck up for me, but I wasn’t exactly innocent either. I said some pretty harsh things before I left,” he pointed out.


“I know exactly what you said to my daughter that night in my front yard William,” Joyce assured him. “And I never said you were innocent, but I think it all could have been avoided if Buffy had been willing to compromise.”


“Well I wasn’t exactly giving her much choice now was I,” William pointed out.


“See there you go again, giving Buffy the easy way out. You have got to stop doing that. I know you love my daughter but if you don’t let yourself see that she played a part in this you will never be able to find some sort of closure,” Joyce pointed out gently.


“You sound just like my Da’,” William pointed out.


“Well your father’s a smart man,’ Joyce replied fondly.


“I think someone has a crush,” William teased.


“William don’t be ridiculous,” Joyce replied a little too quickly as she began to blush profusely.


William could practically feel her blushing over the phone. “You do realize that Buffy and I both know you and my Da’ have snogged before, right?” he asked letting out a full laugh.


“There is a very good explanation for that,” Joyce quickly explained. “We had had a few too many drinks and well one thing lead to another…” but her voice trailed off unable to finish her sentence out of sheer mortification.


William suddenly realized that Joyce thought he was talking about something TOTALLY different.


“Uh Joyce, a snog is a kiss,” he explained hesitantly.


Joyce had never been more embarrassed in her whole entire life. She had all but told her son-n-law that she had had a one-night stand with his father.


“Of course I knew what a snog was, what did you think I was talking about?” Joyce tried to cover but didn’t sound one bit convincing.


“You know what, how ‘bout we just leave it at that and NEVER talk about this ever again, sound good to you?” William asked as he cringed from the mental picture of his father and Joyce together like that.


“Sounds good,” Joyce quickly agreed. She was never going to be able to look her son-n-law in the eyes and not feel uncomfortable for as long as she lived.


They both sat there on the phone in awkward silence, unsure of what to say to the other after having talked about Joyce and Giles’ sex life.


“Well William I think I have embarrassed myself to the point that I have nothing else to say,” Joyce tried to joke to lighten the mood a bit.


“Right, well I guess I will talk to you later then?”


“When do you leave town?” Joyce asked.


“I head back to Los Angeles Sunday evening,” he informed her.


“You should come by the house then before you leave. Angel should be in town this evening for the concert and will be staying until sometime next week,” Joyce let him know.


“I’ll think about it,” William replied skeptically, feeling a set up in the works.


Joyce could sense his skepticism. “Don’t worry William, I’m not trying to trick you into seeing Buffy, although I think it would do you both a bit of good to talk,” she pointed out.


“I like how you slid that in there all covertly,” he retorted dryly.


“Well what can I say, I’m secret agent mom,” Joyce quipped.


“I wouldn’t go that far,” Spike teased. She most definitely needed to work on her covertness that’s for damn sure.


“William,” Joyce warned knowing exactly what he was implying.


William let out a laugh. “I’m sorry but you set yourself up for that one.”


“Don’t think your too grown young man that the next time I see you I won’t take you over my knee,” Joyce scolded.


“Knowing you, you would definitely give it a go,” William commented knowingly. Joyce was a sweet enough woman, but God help you if you pissed her off.


“And don’t you forget it,” Joyce replied resolutely.


“Not in a million years,” William chuckled.


“William, come to the concert tonight,” Joyce asked.


Well that came out of nowhere. William didn’t know what to say. He had gotten so comfortable talking to Joyce that for a moment he let himself forget about all the bad things between him and Buffy.


“Joyce I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” he tried.


“Please William, it’ll be good for you,” she pleaded.


“My Da’ is in Los Angeles with Kennedy right now picking up their tickets from some radio station she won them from, but she only won enough for the two of them,” he pointed out hoping that it was a good enough excuse as to why he couldn’t go.


“That’s not a problem, I’ll just leave your name at the ticket booth, and you can come and sit in the section we’ll have blocked off for VIP’s,” she explained happily.


Well shit. That didn’t work out the way he had hoped at all. Now how was he going to argue as to why he couldn’t go? He knew for a fact Joyce wasn’t going to give up until he agreed to go, so he decided to save himself the headache.


“Fine I’ll go, but only if you promise not to tell Buffy I’m there before the concert,” he demanded.


“I won’t say a word.” Joyce promised. But she never said anything about making sure they just so happen to meet up afterwards.


“I mean it Joyce,” William warned.


“I promise I won’t say a word, and if you want we can even give you an alias to go by,” Joyce suggested sarcastically.


“Very funny,” he retorted dryly.


“Seriously, Buffy will be so busy before the concert that I won’t get a chance to talk to her,” she assured him.


“Well I guess I’ll see you tonight then,” he replied wearily.


“All right, I’ll keep an eye out for you, and tell your father he’s more than welcome to bring Kennedy over so she can meet the band after the concert.”


“No worries, Ken got backstage passes as well,” he informed Joyce. He didn’t quite know how to explain that Kennedy had no clue that Buffy was her aunt.


“Kennedy doesn’t know about Buffy does she,” Joyce asked knowingly.


“Not exactly,” he replied sheepishly. “Because of me, no one really talked about Buffy and if they did, they made sure not to say her name.”


“Don’t feel bad, Buffy knows Cecily had a baby, but that’s about as far as it goes. After she left the only time she really called is when something big was going on and then I knew better than to bring up anything that had to do with you,” she informed William.


“Well I don’t think tonight is the time to tell Kennedy about Buffy,” he suggested.


“You’re probably right, but I still think it would be neat for her to get a chance to meet Buffy,” Joyce replied.


“Most definitely. Buffy is her idol, so I want her to have the opportunity to meet her backstage, just not necessarily as her aunt, you know?”


“I think we can manage that,” Joyce assured him.


“Well I have some things I have to do around town before my Da’ and Kennedy get back so I’ll talk to you tonight,” William said getting off the phone.


“All right, see you tonight, bye,” Joyce said and then hung up the phone.


William stood there for a minute staring at the phone. What in the buggering hell had he just done. How had he let Joyce convince him to go to see Buffy tonight? Running his hands through his hair frustratedly, he realized he was in much need of a haircut, and a bleach job no less.


Grabbing his keys, he headed out the door. If he was going to see Buffy tonight, he was going to make sure he looked damn good doing it.







Huge thanks to gotkona (my lovely beta by the way!), DaniD, spuffette, Brat, Kimber, gg, Stine, MidnightGirl, Whitelighter354, and jenny for all the lovely reviews! I so appreciate them y'all. I don't know if I mentioned before but I was way nervous about this fic but ya'll are making it very easy to post, so much luv. Kuddos!

Buffy was sitting in her chair half listening to the reporters that were doing the Q&A session. It was the same every time. ‘Buffy when are you going to go on tour again?’ ‘Buffy are the rumors true that you’re engaged to your manager?’ They really needed to start coming up with some better questions. But one reporter seemed to spark her attention.


“Buffy your hit single ‘Someone’ is absolutely amazing, is it about someone in particular?”


Buffy sat stunned for a moment. Of course it was about someone in particular, someone she had loved more than life itself.


“Not necessarily,” she lied. “I wrote ‘Someone’ for everyone who has ever been in love,” she covered quickly. Buffy had always made a point of keeping her personal life and business totally separate things.


Buffy looked over at Lindsey and gave him a look that said she was ready to wrap things up.


“Okay folks, how about one more question and then we call this thing quits,” Lindsey let everyone know.


All the reporters and columnists started talking over one another trying to get the last question in. Lindsey scanned over the crowd and chose a columnist that was local.


“You back there in the back from the Sunnydale Times,” Lindsey pointed to a highly attractive blond that was clearly giving him the eye.


Buffy saw Lindsey choose Harmony Kendall and felt her stomach clinch in knots. Harmony was Buffy’s lifelong enemy. They had hated each other since grade school, but when Buffy had started dating William it had turned into all out war.


Harmony stepped up so she was at the center of attention and plastered a sickeningly sweet smile on her face. Oh, this was too good to be true.


“So Buffy, you have apparently made something for yourself over the past few years,” Harmony pointed out with a malicious undertone. “I was just curious, and well, I’m sure everyone else here is as well,” she knew she had sparked the attention of every last person in the small room. With a sadistic smile she asked, “So tell me, what does your husband think of all your success?”


Buffy felt like the air had been sucked out of the room. She knew Harmony could be a heartless bitch, but this was low even for her. Without warning, tears began to well up in her eyes and she sat there completely helpless as reporters began to flash cameras in her face and all speak to her at once.


Lindsey took one look at Buffy and quickly tried to rectify the situation.


“Okay folks that’s all the time we have, I would like to thank each and every one of you for coming out today. On behalf of Blue and myself, have a great day.” He helped Buffy from her seat and quickly brought her to the backroom.


The reporters started going wild for answers as Buffy left the room but then turned to Harmony to see if they could get the scoop on Buffy’s mystery husband.


Buffy got in the backroom and began to pace back and forth. “Damn it!” she yelled, thoroughly pissed off.


Lindsey leaned up against the wall and pinched the bridge of his nose. “How in the hell am I supposed to fix this one?” he asked rhetorically.


“You were supposed to screen all the questions beforehand Lindsey,” Buffy snapped, stopping her pacing to glare at her boyfriend.


“I did Buffy! How the fuck was I supposed to know that this woman knew you?” Lindsey snapped back.


“Because that’s your job!” Buffy yelled.


“Well maybe if you didn’t keep your past a secret from me, I might have known,” Lindsey pointed heatedly.


“I told you about Will, so don’t act like this was some big shock,” Buffy retorted snidely.


Lindsey let out a heavy sigh. “Buffy I don’t want to fight with you about this. What’s done is done. I’ll take care of it; just let’s not fight, okay?” Lindsey relented.


Buffy just looked at Lindsey for a moment with emotionless eyes. She should have been glad that Lindsey was backing down, but for some reason it just seemed to aggravate her. Knowing now wasn’t the time to get into things Buffy let it go for now.


“Whatever Lindsey, let’s just go.”


Lindsey went to hug Buffy but she simply sidestepped him and walked out the backdoor.


Lindsey shook his head and let out an exasperated sigh. Buffy acting in typical fashion. She doesn’t like what she hears so she walks away, that’s all she’s ever done.


Buffy was about to get in the limo, but was stopped by a strong hand on her arm.


“Buffy, why do you always walk away from me?” Lindsey asked in a hurt filled voice.


“Can we not do this right now,” Buffy pleaded. All she wanted to do was forget this whole mess and go get practice started.


“Baby I love you and I don’t want you mad with me,” Lindsey confessed in a soft smooth voice.


Buffy felt some of her frustration towards Lindsey slip a little. She knew it wasn’t his fault that Harmony had asked about her past, but Lindsey was the only person there at the time she could take it out on.


“Lindsey look, I’m sorry if I took things out on you, but Harmony just threw me for a loop,” Buffy apologized.


Lindsey pulled Buffy in his arms. “I understand darlin’.”


Buffy let herself be comforted by Lindsey’s warm embrace. She knew it wasn’t right, but she was so desperate to make the hurt go away.


Lindsey ran his fingers through Buffy’s honey blond hair. “So we’re good baby?” he asked pulling back slightly to look her in the eyes.


“Yeah we’re good,” she agreed.


Lindsey gave her a sexy smile and pulled her in for a passionate kiss. He knew things weren’t completely all right between them, but there was no use dwelling on it now.


Buffy let Lindsey show her how much he cared for her. She wanted to love him, but her heart just wouldn’t let go of the past to let her give herself fully to him.


Pulling away for air, Buffy blushed at their blatant display of affection. “We should probably get to the stage so I can practice,” she pointed out.


“Yeah, I have to make sure everything is set up and ready to go for tonight,” Lindsey agreed. Placing one last tender kiss to her lips, he opened the limo door and slid in next to her.


Buffy rested her head against Lindsey’s shoulder as the car pulled away, but little did she know there had been a certain bleached blond standing across the street watching her as his heart broke into a million pieces all over again.


**************************************************************************************


William walked out of the saloon and ran his fingers through his freshly bleached and cut spiky locks. It was amazing how a physical change could somehow make you feel just a little bit better on the inside.


He was about to cross the street to his car when he stopped dead in his tracks from the sight before him.


Buffy was storming out of the back entrance of the record store and was visibly upset. His heart was screaming out to him to go to her and comfort her in anyway he could, but just as soon as his mind was beginning to agree with his heart, it all came to a halting stop.


William stood and watched in horror as some guy took Buffy in his arms and soothed her, then just when he thought his heart might break, said guy kissed his Buffy. Not just a quick peck to the lips but a full-blown open-mouthed passionate kiss.


William felt like someone had punched him in the gut and all the wind had been knocked out of him. He tried blinking to see if that would make the awful gut wrenching images of some ponce kissing his wife go away but it was an effort in vain.


He stood there shell shocked until he saw Buffy get in the limo and drive away. William crossed the street in a mind-boggled haze somehow avoiding oncoming traffic. Well if he wanted closure, he just fucking got it, because if what he just saw said anything at all, it was that whatever he had or what maybe could have been between him and Buffy was most definitely without a shadow of a doubt over.




Big thanks to cordykitten, DaniD, MidnightGirl, Smitten, spufette, Nicki, Brat, Raspy_Luv, Kimber, Dee, and jennybean for the lovely reviews, y'all are the absolute best! Also a huge thanks to by beta gotkona for all the hard work she has put into this fic for me. I can't thank you enough! Kuddos!

William walked into his father’s house and slammed the door behind him. He had had the entire ride home to sit and stew about what he had seen go on between Buffy and what was apparently her boyfriend, and he was absolutely livid.


How dare that asshole touch his Buffy, or more specifically, his wife. The rage that was boiling deep from within him was almost primal. He wanted to go and find out who this git was and rip him limb from limb for ever thinking he was worthy of such a goddess as Buffy.


The phone rang and snapped him out of his jealous rage.


“‘Ello?” he snapped at the person on the other end.


“Will?”


William let his nerves settle slightly. “Hey Cec,” he greeted in a somewhat softer tone.


“Spill,” Cecily demanded, knowing full well something was wrong with her little brother.


Cecily Giles-Adams was the picture of perfection. She was the perfect wife, perfect mother, perfect daughter to their parents, but most of all she had been the perfect sister to William.


Cecily was four years older than William and had looked after him like a mother hen. When their parents had divorced, she was nineteen and William was fifteen. Their parents had thought it best for William to stay with Giles and Cecily was old enough that she could choose for herself where she wanted to live.


She had always been very close to her mother and couldn’t see not moving to England with her. It was hard at first being so far away from her little brother, but they stayed in touch and William came to visit as much as he could.


William let out a heavy sigh. He loved his sister to bits but the way she could read him so well without even seeing his face was a bit frustrating sometimes.


“I really don’t want to talk about it Cec,” he tried.


“Sorry, I didn’t ask all that, now tell me what’s going on,” she demanded.


“Don’t you want to ask me how Kennedy is?” William asked trying to change the subject.


“Well yes, that’s why I called in the first place, but I know since she’s with you and Dad that she’s fine,” Cecily pointed out. “Now tell me what’s bothering you Will,” she asked in a soft voice.


William knew he wasn’t going to get away with not telling his sister what was bothering him. With a heavy sigh, he sat down at the breakfast table to explain himself.


“It all started when your daughter wanted to listen to that bloody crap music of ‘ers on the radio,” he grumbled.


“I see, so it’s Kennedy’s fault you’re in a piss poor mood,” Cecily concluded dryly.


“Yes,” he replied petulantly.


“Why do I have a hard time believing that a seven year old girl wanting to listen to pop music on the radio is the real reason you practically bit off my head when you answered the phone,” Cecily asked knowingly.


“Well that’s how it all got started,” William explained.


“Well I’m curious as to how that is, so please do tell.”


“I let Ken take over the radio, unwillingly I might add, and the DJ on the station announced that they were giving away tickets for a ‘Blue’ concert here in Sunnydale and-,” but he was cut off.


“Did you just say ‘Blue’?” Cecily asked hesitantly.


William couldn’t believe it. His sister had known about Buffy as well. “Bloody hell! Did everyone know about fucking Buffy being this big pop star?” he asked aggravatedly.


“Well hello, seven year old daughter, and besides, you live under a rock William,” Cecily pointed out.


“I do not,” he defended indignantly.


“Please, you had never even heard of the bloody TV show ‘Friends’ for God sake.”


“Well excuse me for not following half the sodding world around the bend,” he replied in a huff.


“The reason we never said anything to you was because we didn’t want to bring up a sore subject,” Cecily explained. “You had moved on, or at least given the impression you had. You were getting a start on your career and making a name for yourself Will, it would have just brought you down to know that Buffy had…” she trailed off not wanting to hurt her brother’s feelings.


“Had found her dream without me,” he finished for her morosely.


“Exactly.”


“Yeah well I tell you what, I wish I would have found out some other way than hearin’ her on the fucking radio,” he stated bitterly.


Cecily felt her heart go out to her brother. He had been through so much because of Buffy and now this was just one more thing to add to the list.


“Will I’m so sorry. Someone should have told you,” she apologized.


“Well this weekend so far has been full of surprises,” he snorted.


“What do you mean?” Cecily asked hesitantly.


“Well first I find out Buffy’s apparently famous and in Sunnydale, then when I went to get my hair cut, I saw her snoggin’ with some bloke on the street,” he explained bitterly.


Cecily had read in the tabloids that Buffy was dating her manager, but she wasn’t about to tell William that.


“Are you serious?” she gasped in mock surprise.


“As a bloody heart attack.” William stated flatly.


“So what are you going to do now?” Cecily asked.


Letting his anger seep to the surface, he replied in a resolute tone, “Something I should have done a long time ago.”


**************************************************************************************


Buffy sat in her makeup chair as her makeup/hair artist, Amy put the finishing touches on her flawless work. Practice had been short and sweet due to the fact that Buffy couldn’t keep her mind focused enough to get any real work done.


“So what do you think?” Amy asked of her work.


Buffy smiled at Amy in the mirror. “It looks great as always,” she complimented her.


”Well you make my job way too easy. You have such great skin.”


Buffy blushed at Amy’s compliment. “You are too sweet, how much do I pay you again?” Buffy teased.


They both let out a laugh as a soft knock sounded at the trailer door. Amy winked at Buffy and then went to answer the door.


Buffy smiled as she watched her very pregnant red headed friend walk in her trailer.


“Hey Willow,” Buffy greeted brightly. Willow Osborn was married to her bass guitarist Oz, and they were due to have a baby in the next month.


Willow waddled over to Buffy and gave her a quick hug before sitting in the makeup chair next to her.


“Hey,” she replied slightly out of breath. She had only walked across the parking lot but was completely out of breath from lack of breathing room due to her ever-growing waistline.


Buffy reached over and rubbed Willows swollen tummy. “So how is my goddaughter doing in there?”


Willow rubbed her stomach and let out a sigh. “More than ready to come and grace the world with her presence. I swear if she gets any bigger I’m gonna pop,” Willow informed her best friend miserably.


Willow had known Buffy for only four years, but it seemed like they had known each other much longer.


Buffy gave Willow a sympathetic smile. “You only have a month left till you have your body back to yourself,” she pointed out.


“Ugh, four more weeks.” Willow moaned. “You know they say the baby gains like a pound a week in the last month of pregnancy,” Willow informed Buffy with a frown.


Buffy couldn’t help but laugh. Poor Willow was absolutely miserable. Before she had gotten pregnant she was rail thin, and now she looked like a watermelon with toothpicks sticking out as arms and legs. She was most definitely all baby.


“Well at least you haven’t gained a bunch of extra weight,” Buffy pointed out optimistically.


Willow gave Buffy a death look. “Are you kidding me? At my last appointment I had gained like twenty pounds, so I think it’s safe to say I’ve gained some weight,” she replied dryly.


“That’s nothing, with my first one I gained almost fifty pounds,” Amy commented as she walked out of the backroom with every hair product known to man.


Buffy and Willow both looked at Amy wide-eyed. You would never have guessed in a million years that Amy had ever gained that kind of weight. She was as tiny if not tinier than Buffy, and Buffy was very much on the thin side.


“You’re kidding?” Buffy asked disbelievingly.


“Nope, I was huge with Christian, but with Bailey I only gained like thirty or thirty five,” she replied as she got started on Buffy’s hair.


Willow let out a low whistle. “Well you look great now, so maybe I’ll be that lucky and get my body back after the baby’s born,” Willow commented hopefully.


“I have no doubt that you’ll bounce right back Willow, you were in great shape when you got pregnant,” Buffy pointed out.


“Oh then you should be fine,” Amy assured Willow. “I was nowhere close to being as in shape as you were and it only took me like six months to loose all my weight from Christian.”


“Well Oz said that he loves me no matter how much weight I gain, as a matter of fact, he wants me to gain a little bit, you know, to give me some more curves,” Willow said, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.


Buffy let out a full laugh. “If you keep thinking like that then you’re gonna have one hell of a surprise when you go back for your six weeks check up,” Buffy warned playfully.



“Sorry but lately I have been feeling extra frisky,” Willow admitted with a blush.


Buffy and Amy exchanged knowing looks in the mirror and said simultaneously, “Hormones.”


All three girls let a round of giggles take over.


Willow pulled herself out of her chair and let out a huff. “Well I guess I should go and find my husband before he sends out a search and rescue party for me.”


“All right Willow, I’ll see you after the show,” Buffy replied waving to her best friend.


Willow smiled brightly. “Okay, see you two later,” she called back as she waddled out the trailer door.


Buffy couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy towards her best friend. They were so happy and in love. Willow had put everything on hold so she and Oz could be together while he was on the road. Why couldn’t William have done that for her? She knew that was asking a lot, but if you loved someone it wasn’t, right?


Her smile slowly faded as she let thoughts of her estranged husband fill her head. Why had she been thinking about him so much here lately? It must be the fact that she was back in her hometown, no, their hometown.


Amy noticed Buffy sudden mood change and frowned. “Is everything okay Buffy?”


Buffy looked up and gave Amy a forced smile. “Sure, just nervous about tonight I guess,” she covered.


“Well I guess I would be nervous too if it was me having to face everyone from my hometown,” Amy pointed out.


“Yep everyone that knew me before I was someone will more than likely be here tonight,” Buffy replied letting her nerves creep into her gut.


“Do you think he’ll be here tonight?” Amy asked curiously. She knew Buffy’s story and couldn’t help but wonder.


“Last I heard he was in England, so I doubt it very seriously,” Buffy replied trying to sound indifferent, but deep down inside all she felt was hurt.


Amy smiled and went to her task of fixing Buffy’s hair. She could tell Buffy didn’t want to talk about it and decided not to push the issue anymore.


Buffy let out sigh of relief when Amy let the sore subject go. She had way too much to worry about to add thought’s of William to it. If she only knew what tonight really had in store for her.





Thanks to xtina, Brat, Kimber, marta, mmmmmmmmm, MidnightGirl, kim, vitalis, DaniD, ace, cordykitten, Raspy_Luv, jennybean, and gotkona (my beta!) for all the lovely reviews and support, y'all are too good to a girl! Kuddos!

Buffy and Amy left Buffy’s trailer talking animatedly about everyday stuff. When Buffy caught Lindsey’s eye, she smiled and walked over to him.


“Hey you, is everything in order for tonight?” Buffy asked.


Lindsey leaned in for a kiss but was stopped by a scowling Amy. “I didn’t spend hours in that trailer making Buffy look like this for nothing,” she scolded.


Lindsey returned her scowl and turned to look at a laughing Buffy. “She’s kidding me right?”


Buffy shook her head with a grin on her face and pointed to her cheek.


Lindsey rolled his eyes and placed a sweet kiss to Buffy’s cheek. “I swear. Can’t even give my girl a kiss,” Lindsey grumbled.


Buffy stepped back from Lindsey and let a distant look cross her face. She remembered the first time she had heard someone call her ‘their girl’.


** Flashback**


“Buffy what the bloody hell are you doing out here?” William asked as he walked to where Buffy was sitting on the swing in her back yard.


Buffy swung her feet idly as she looked up at William with sad eyes. “Nothing, just needed to get away for awhile,” she replied softly.


It was Buffy’s sixteenth birthday and her mother had pulled all the strings to throw her a huge party, but Joyce had made the mistake of inviting Buffy’s dad, Hank.


“Did Joyce and Hank get into it?” he asked knowingly as he sat down next her.


“Yeah. They tried to act like nothing was wrong when I walked in the kitchen, but I had heard them arguing about child support and all the other bullshit they can’t seem to agree on before I walked in the room,” Buffy replied somewhat bitterly. She always seemed to be the subject of her parents’ fights.


“Such language from such a pretty girl,” William teased.


Buffy turned to William with wide eyes as she turned a bright shade of red. “Did you just call me pretty?” she asked in almost a whisper. She had been in love with William Giles since she was ten years old.


Spike let his look turn serious. “Yeah I did pet,” he admitted in a husky voice.


Buffy felt goosebumps run up and down her entire body at the sound of William’s voice. He was looking at her with this look that was causing her heart to hammer in her chest and her breathing to become erratic.


William gazed at the young girl he had always thought of as a little sister. She had grown up into one of the most gorgeous creatures he had ever laid eyes on. He suddenly didn’t see Buffy as that little girl anymore, but as a woman.


Sure he had noticed before how cute she was when she was younger, but he had always told himself she was off limits because she was Angel’s little sister, but the way she looked tonight, Angel be damned. He let his eyes drift to her full glossy lips and wondered what it would be like to kiss those lips. He scooted closer to her, closing some of the distance between them, needing to feel her closeness.


Buffy felt a million butterflies go into flight in the pit of her stomach as William scooted closer to her. Oh how she had dreamed of this moment since she was a little girl, and now it seemed like her dream just might become a reality. When there was no space between them, Buffy looked up into William’s sapphire blue eye. “Will?” she whispered.


William tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and gazed into her emerald orbs. “Buffy I’m not sure what’s happening,” he admitted as he slowly leaned in, closing the distance between their lips.


Buffy placed a hand on his chest and looked at him with insecure eyes. “I’ve never…” she trailed off feeling slightly embarrassed by her inexperience.


William backed away slightly and looked at Buffy with wide eyes. “You mean, you’ve never…,” He couldn’t believe it. Buffy was a beautiful sixteen-year-old girl and had never been kissed.


“Been kissed,” she finished for him sheepishly as she turned an adorable shade of pink.


William cupped her cheek and smiled softly. “Well then I think we need to rectify that situation,” he purred as he leaned back in to capture her lips.


Buffy closed her eyes. She had never been this nervous and excited in her entire life. She was finally going to get her first kiss, and it was going to be from the man she had dreamt of for so many nights.


When their lips met in the tenderest of kisses she swore she might explode from the sensations it was causing within her. It was like liquid fire was coursing from her full lips to every cell of her body. She knew that she would never experience another kiss like this one for as long as she lived.


William had to remind himself that this was Buffy’s first kiss and that he had to take it slow as not to scare her away. He let his lips linger against hers, reveling in the feel of their warmth. Never had he ever felt anything remotely close to what he felt at that very moment. He knew that from this moment on he was forever lost to this girl, and all from a simple tender kiss


William broke the kiss and opened his eyes. Buffy still had her eyes closed with a dazed look on her face and he couldn’t help the small smile that curled at his lips from the reaction he had caused.


“So how was that?” he asked in a husky voice.


Buffy let a soft smile cross her face as she whispered her reply. “Perfect.”


“Open your eyes,” he demanded softly.


Buffy slowly opened her eyes and saw the tenderness in William’s big blue eyes. Never in her life had she seen eyes so blue.


William gazed in to Buffy’s eyes and smiled nervously. “Buffy will you be my girl?” he asked shyly.


Buffy felt tears well in her eyes. This was the moment she had been waiting for all her life. With a watery smile, she answered softly, “Yes.”


William captured Buffy lips in a tender kiss. He darted out his tongue and brushed it across her bottom lip, begging for entrance.


Buffy slowly parted her lips and let his soft tongue mingle and dance with hers in a slow erotic dance that she never knew existed.


They kissed languidly until they both needed air. They reluctantly broke apart, both panting for much needed air.


Buffy looked deep into William’s eyes. “Will, when you say that I’m your girl, you mean...” Buffy trailed off somewhat unsure of this newfound relationship.


Spike cupped Buffy’s cheek and let a serious look cross his face. “That means you’re mine Buffy,” he stated possessively.


Buffy felt a chill run down her spine at William’s sudden possessiveness. She had always thought her friends were stupid for letting guys ‘claim’ them, but now she understood why they did, it was freakin’ hot!


“So you’re my boyfriend now?” she asked wanting to be perfectly clear as to where they stood.


William let a grin curl at his lips. “Yeah, I’m your boyfriend now,” he replied adoringly.


Buffy let a bright smile cross her face before she captured his lips in a heated kiss. This may have only been her third kiss, but what could she say, she was a fast learner.


William was surprised by Buffy’s sudden eagerness, but it was quickly replaced with want as she plundered his mouth with her soft bubblegum tongue.


Buffy moaned softly into William’s mouth as a flood of moisture pooled between her thighs. She had never experienced these new sensations before.


William felt the stirring in his faded blue jeans and knew that he needed to slow things down before they spiraled out of control. Breaking their kiss, he panted heavily.


“Buffy I think we better stop while we’re ahead,” he warned huskily.


Buffy gave him a confused look. What was he talking about?


William subtly gestured down at his lap and gave her a knowing look.


Buffy felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. Oh my God, had she really done that? Looking away shyly, she let out a soft, “Oh!”


William found Buffy’s innocence absolutely adorable. He wasn’t quite sure, but he was almost positive he was already head over heels in love with this girl.


William let out a nervous chuckle, “Sorry pet, but I got a bit carried away there for a minute,” he apologized.


Buffy felt her cheeks tint a deeper shade of pink. “I don’t think you were the only one,” she admitted as she shifted in her seat. Her panties were damp with her arousal.


William pulled Buffy snuggly in his arms and coaxed her to rest her head on his chest, kissing the top of her head as he slowly began to push the swing.


Buffy let out a soft sigh. This was the best birthday present she could have ever asked for.


They sat there in comfortable silence, just enjoying the feel of being in each other’s arms.


“Will, this was the best birthday ever,” Buffy admitted as she looked up at him with big doe eyes.


William smiled down adoringly at the girl in his arms. “Happy birthday Buffy,” he murmured softly before capturing her lips in a tender kiss. “From now on, you’ll always be my girl.”


** **


“Buffy did you here me?” Lindsey asked somewhat irritated. She had been doing this all day. One minute she was there talking to you, the next she was off in her own little world.


“What, I’m sorry I must have zoned out,” Buffy replied still somewhat dazed. How long had she been zoning out like that?


“Buffy are you all right, you’ve been acting weird all day, is there something you’re not tellin’ me?” Lindsey asked letting his aggravation become evident.


Amy looked between the couple and knew that it was time for her to go. “I’ll see you two later,” she said quickly and then went off to find Willow.


Buffy watched as Amy walked away and then turned to Lindsey. “What are you talking about?”


“Buffy you’ve been acting like a space cadet all day, so obviously something’s got you preoccupied,” Lindsey pointed out.


Buffy scoffed at Lindsey’s comment and shook her head. She wasn’t about to tell her boyfriend that she had been lost in a William daydream.


Lindsey regarded his girlfriend for a moment before he let a knowing look cross his face. Why hadn’t he figured it out sooner? After all this time he should have been able to recognize what that distant look was from a mile away.


“Oh my god, it’s him,” Lindsey stated knowingly.


“What?!” was all Buffy could manage to say.


Lindsey let out a sardonic chuckle. “You know for as many times as I’ve seen them, I really should have figured it out sooner, guess I’m loosin’ my touch,” he commented somewhat bitterly.


“As many times as you’ve seen what,” Buffy asked irritably.


“A William induced trance,” Lindsey stated matter of factly.


Buffy outright laughed in his face. “You know what Lindsey, I think you’ve finally lost it,” she retorted indignantly as a cover.


“Then tell me I’m wrong, tell me you weren’t thinkin’ about him,” Lindsey all but pleaded.


Buffy just stood there in silence. She had never out and out lied to Lindsey and she didn’t think now was the time to start.


Lindsey shook his head and let out a crestfallen chuckle. “This song and dance we’ve been doing for the last five years now, it’s becoming old hat Buffy. I know you’ve got a lot of shit to still sort through with Will, but for God’s sake Buffy, do it already.” He told her dejectedly. He knew he sounded weak, but at that point, he really didn’t care. “I love you Buffy. God only knows why, but I do, I just don’t think I have enough to go around for the both of us.”


Buffy felt tears begin to sting her eyes. “Lindsey I don’t know what to say,” she whispered.


“Tell me you don’t still love him, tell me that he doesn’t still have your heart in his hands, just tell me anything to reassure me you still want to be with me,” Lindsey pleaded desperately.


Buffy let her tears fall. “Lindsey you know I care about you, but I just can’t tell you what you want to hear. Maybe someday, but not now,” Buffy replied softly.


Lindsey took a ragged breath and swallowed the knot that had formed in his throat. “I’ve been waiting for a long time already Buffy and I just hope you figure out when that someday is while I’m still around to hear it,” Lindsey replied mournfully, hanging his head.


Buffy reached out and cupped Lindsey’s cheek. “I promise as soon as I figure it out, you’ll be first to know, but until then I just need you to understand I can’t tell you what my heart won’t let me feel.”


“I guess I don’t really have a choice now do I?” Lindsey replied with a weak smile.


Buffy leaned in and kissed Lindsey on the cheek. “I’m sorry, but this is who I am.”


Lindsey wrapped his arms around Buffy and kissed the top of her head. “I know.” He replied sadly. He wanted to pretend that his unrequited feelings didn’t bother him, but he wasn’t fooling anyone.


Buffy pulled from Lindsey’s embrace and wiped at her tears. She didn’t want to believe Lindsey’s brutally honest words, but God help her if it wasn’t all true.


With a dejected look, Lindsey turned to walk away from the girl he loved but would never love him in return.


“Lindsey wait,” Buffy called out to him.


Lindsey turned around and looked at Buffy with vacant eyes.


“I do want to be with you Lindsey, but I just don’t know how we can get around this,” she tried to explain.


Lindsey shook his head and let a sad smile curl at his lips. “The way we always do Buffy, I pretend like it never happened.” And then he walked away.


Buffy closed her eyes and fought back her tears. Why did this have to be happening now? She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs she was so damn frustrated. She had all these feelings swirling around in her head and in her heart that she thought she might actually go insane.


Shaking away all her thoughts, Buffy plastered on the fake smile that she wore more often than not, and went to the stage where her band members were waiting for her. She was going to make sure tonight was one no one would ever forget.



Thanks to DaniD, jenny, MidnightGirl, caatje, Kimber, Brat, and anon for the reviews, you guys rock! Also thanks to gotkona for the amazing beta job. Couldn't have done this with out you sweets! Kuddos!

Disclaimer: Own nothing all belongs to some top exec who has way more money than I will ever see in this life time.



William sat on the front porch smoking his cigarette, letting the nicotine sooth his frazzled nerves. He had talked to his sister for over two hours and it had helped him decide that it was time once and for all to set Buffy free.


When his father’s car pulled into the driveway, he took one last drag of his cigarette and flicked it in the yard.


Giles got out of the car and frowned. “William are you smoking again?” he asked somewhat concerned.


William looked at his father with a droll look on his face, “Nope,” he replied sarcastically.


Giles rolled his eyes. His son could be such a twit sometimes. “Then can you explain to me why there’s a smoldering butt in my garden,” he asked dryly.


William stood up and brushed off the seat of his pants. “Stupid questions deserve stupid answers,” he stated matter of factly and smirked down at his father.


Kennedy came bounding across the yard and wrapped her arms around her uncle’s waist. “Uncle Will!” she exclaimed excitedly and then quickly pulled away. “You stink,” she pointed out scrunching up her little nose in disgust.


“Hey, I don’t stink,” William defended indignantly.


“Ya huh, you smell like an ashtray,” she retorted huffily


William frowned and brought his shirt to his nose. It smelled of his cologne and a hint of smoke, but it didn’t exactly stink, at least not to him anyways.


Giles couldn’t help but snicker. Leave it to Kennedy to somehow manage to hurt a grown man’s feelings just by telling him he smelled bad.


Kennedy scowled at her uncle. “I guess it doesn’t really matter if you stink or not when you’re dead,” she pointed out nastily and then stomped off into the house.


William looked at the retreating form of his very brassed off niece and then back to his father with a look of complete bewilderment.


“What in the buggering hell was that?” he asked stupefied.


Giles walked up the steps and let out a chuckle. “Apparently she’s anti-smoking, what do you think?”


William didn’t find his father at all amusing. “Oh bugger off,” he grumbled and walked in the house.


Giles let out a full laugh and followed his son in the house.


“So I take it you’re in somewhat of a better mood,” Giles observed as he went about making himself a cup of tea.


“I talked to Cecily,” William replied with a shrug.


“Really, how are she and Derek enjoying San Francisco?”


“You know Cec, she could make a good time being stuck in a cardboard box,” William replied with a chuckle.


Giles had to smile; his oldest child was quite the remarkable woman. Even if she was bored out of her mind, she would smile and see to it that she had a good time. She was a firm believer that every cloud had a silver lining.


“Right you are,” Giles commented knowingly. “So did she say when they would be back?”


“They’ll be in Monday morning and I think she said that they don’t fly back to London for another week or so after that,” William replied trying to recall what his sister had told him.


“And will you be staying here as well?” Giles asked his son hopefully.


William looked up at his father. “Da’ you know I can’t stay, got work back in LA,” he replied resolutely. “Besides, I have to get back so I can sort out all the paperwork.”


“Paperwork?” Giles asked confused.


William looked at his father with emotionless eyes. “For the divorce.” His voice was cold and flat, void of any emotions that he felt churning in his gut. If he was going to be able to do this, he was going to have to completely detach himself from the situation.


Giles looked over the brim of his cup, eyes wide with shock. “You’re filing for divorce?” he asked disbelievingly as he set his cup on the table.


William took a deep breath and let a determined look mar his features. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking in the last two days and it’s time. Buffy’s moved on so it’s time for me to do the same,” he stated resolutely.


”Well I must say I’m a bit surprised,” Giles commented still somewhat shocked.


“Nothin’ to be surprised about. It’s been eight years, time to move on,” William replied casually as if he was talking about selling an old car.


Giles regarded his son. It was more than a bit disconcerting that he was acting as if this was no big deal. His son had mourned his wife’s leaving like you would a death in the family and now he acted as if he never really loved the girl at all.


“William I think-,” But he was cut off.


“No Da’ I heard all that I need to hear from everyone. I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to see Buffy tonight and tell her that she can finally have what she wants, her own life.”


Giles nodded his head in understanding and left it at that.


William gave his father a curt nod and walked out of the kitchen to his room. Closing the door, he leaned against it, clamping his eyes shut to keep his tears from surfacing.


He took a deep breath and pushed all of the anguish that was knotting in his gut aside. He was going to do this, even if it meant making Buffy hate him.


He knew that when this was all said and done, Buffy would have no problem signing those papers, it may not be the right way to go about things, but it was the only way he knew how.


**************************************************************************************


Buffy stood at the edge of the stage, eyes closed as she listened to the roar of the crowd. This was her favorite part of the concert. Feeling the adrenaline rush from anticipation, knowing that the people in the crowd wanted something only she could give them, it sent chills down her spine.


Lindsey watched Buffy as she went through her regular routine of working herself up for her performance. He had never seen anything more beautiful. Lindsey walked over behind Buffy, leaned over and whispered in her ear.


“Alright darlin’, this is your night, go show them what you’re really made of.”


Buffy opened her eyes and turned to look at Lindsey. “Thanks Lindsey, no matter what you’ve always stuck by me, you can never know how much that means to me,” Buffy gushed leaning in for a tender kiss.


Lindsey let a smirk curl at his lips. “What can I say, I’m one hell of a guy,” he joked.


Buffy let a serious look cross her face. “You are and that’s why I need you Lindsey.”


Lindsey captured Buffy’s lips in a heated kiss and then pulled back to look in her big green eyes.


“Darlin’ that’s exactly what I needed to hear. Now get out there and do what you do best,” Lindsey told her lovingly.


Buffy smiled brightly as she turned and headed on stage.


Lindsey smiled and hollered over the crowd. “I love you.”


Buffy turned and looked at Lindsey with warm eyes and mouthed back, “I know.”


Turning to the crowds of screaming fans, Buffy took a deep breath and let the rush of excitement take her away.



“Hello Sunnydale!”


**************************************************************************************


William had found Joyce with no problems and was now in the far corner of the crowd so he was sure that if Buffy scanned the crowd he would be nowhere in sight. She looked absolutely amazing up on stage with the lights on her so she was the center of attention. This is where he knew Buffy had always belonged.


He watched as Buffy sat on her stool barefoot with her acoustic guitar and couldn’t help but let his mind wander to a time when things weren’t so confusing, before they had gone and broken each other’s hearts.


**Flashback**


Buffy sat on her front porch, legs crossed with her acoustic guitar in her lap. She had begged her dad to buy it for her and after practically selling her soul, he had broke down and got it for her, so now she was going to have to learn to play.


She had read the guidebook on how to play the night before and now she was going to put her knowledge to the test. She placed her fingers on all the correct strings and strummed experimentally. It wasn’t the best sound, but it wasn’t exactly horrible either. Feeling a bit more confident, she experimented with some different chords, getting a feel for her new instrument.


“Don’t quit your day job kid,” William commented cockily as he walked up the Summers’ walkway.


Buffy looked up to see William standing there with a smug look on his face. Her first reaction was to turn beet red and then to scowl.


“Angel’s not home,” Buffy spit out nastily.


William smirked at the small blond perched on the porch. She may have only been thirteen, but he had to admit she was cute as hell.


“Well I guess that works out nicely for you then,” he commented taking a seat next to her.


“And why is that?” Buffy asked indignantly.


“Because now I can help you learn to play that thing without you scaring all the neighbor kids,” William teased.


“Who said I needed your help?”


William raised a brow at her question. “You’re kidding right? You can hear can’t you?”


Buffy let her mouth fall open. “Harsh much.”


“Sorry pet, just statin’ the facts,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders.


Buffy let a scowl mar her cute face. “I bet you can’t even play,” she grumbled under her breath.


William snatched the guitar from her hands and settled it in his lap. Checking to make sure it was tuned properly; he closed his eyes and began to pluck at the strings softly as he sang along to the soft melody.


If I leave here tomorrow
Would you still remember me
For I must be travelin’ on now
There's too many places I gotta see

And if I stay here with you girl
Things just wouldn't be the same
For I'm as free as a bird now
And this bird you cannot change
And the bird you cannot change
And the bird you cannot change
Lord knows I can't change


Buffy sat there in awe. She had had no idea that William could play, let alone sing. His voice was so smooth and deep that it caused goosebumps to erupt all over her body. She closed her eyes and let the words wash over her, committing the sound to memory.


Bye bye it's been sweet love
Though this feeling I can't change
Please don't take it so bad now
Cause lord knows I'm to blame

And if I stay here with you girl
Things just couldn't be the same
For I'm as free as a bird now
And this bird you cannot change
And the bird you cannot change
And the bird you cannot change
Lord knows I can't change


Playing the last chord, he opened his eyes and looked at Buffy who was now staring at him with a look of amazement on her face. Not wanting Buffy to see the way she was looking at him was affecting him; he thrust the guitar back in her lap and smirked.


“See I told you it was to your advantage,” he told her cockily


Buffy quickly recovered from her swooning and rolled her eyes. “You’re okay I guess,” Buffy commented causally not feeling the need to stroke his ego. But if truth be told, Buffy thought William had the sexiest voice she had ever heard, and that was even before she had heard him sing.


William shook his head and let out a chuckle. “Whatever you say princess.”


Buffy rolled her eyes. She really hated when he called her princess, well sort of. “Alright mister, show me how to play what you just played,” she demanded resolutely.


“You do realize that I can’t teach you in one sitting no matter how good I am right?”


“Are you always this arrogant or is today just my lucky day?” Buffy asked dryly


William curled his tongue behind his front teeth and purred, “What can I say princess, I’ve always been bad.”


Buffy felt her entire body go up in flames. Looking away shyly she suggested, “Well I guess if you have time you could teach me then.”


William noticed how adorable she looked when she was all shy and bashful. He knew inside it wasn’t a good idea for him to spend alone time with his best friend’s little sister but he just couldn’t tell her no.


“Tell you what, how ‘bout once a week, I’ll come over for an hour or so and help you practice,” he suggested.


“You don’t mind?” Buffy asked hesitantly.


“Not at all,” he replied honestly.


Buffy squealed and lunged at William for a big hug. “Thanks Will, I really appreciate it.”


William was caught off guard by the small blond in his arms but quickly recovered and returned her hug.


Buffy pulled back and blushed as she realized she had practically knocked William over with her hug. “Sorry,” she apologized with a blush.


“S’alright pet, so we have a deal then?”


“Deal,” she agreed excitedly.


“Well on that note, I’ll be shoving off. We can practice next week whenever, just let me know,” William said as he stood up to walk back home.


Buffy stood up and called out to him. “Hey Will?”


William stopped and turned around, “Yeah?”


“Thanks,” Buffy said softly and flashed him a million dollar smile before going in the house.


William watched as Buffy went inside and let a lopsided grin curl at his lips. “You’re welcome.”

** **

William watched as Buffy poured her soul out into her music. She had finally found her dream and who was he to hold her back. He turned to go and try and find Joyce but ran smack into someone.


William looked up to see a man staring at him. There was something about him that was familiar, like he had seen him before. “Sorry mate didn’t see you there,” he apologized cautiously.


Lindsey narrowed his eyes. He knew this guy from somewhere but he just couldn’t put his finger on where. When the platinum blond opened his mouth and the thick British accent came out Lindsey knew exactly who he was. It was Buffy’s husband William.


“No problem,” Lindsey replied in a casual tone. Sure he knew who William was, but William didn’t know him.


William stepped around the man that had his senses tingling and headed in the direction as to where he had left Joyce. What was it about that bloke that had him so off kilter?


Lindsey watched as William walked away. Was this why Buffy was acting so weird today? Did she know William was going to be there? To say that Lindsey was unhappy would have been putting it lightly. He wanted answers and he wanted them now.




Big thanks to spuffette, DaniD, jeanie, MidnightGirl, caatje, Brat, spikestheman, vitalis, cordykitten, Kimber, Raspy_Luv, SarahandJamesFanatic, Nicki , and everyone that has taken the time to read this fic. You are all amazing and I can't thank you near enough. Much luv! Kuddos!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story line. All else is credited to the rightful owners.




William walked over to Joyce and touched her arm to get her attention. You could hardly hear yourself thinking over the screaming crowds.


Joyce looked up when she felt a hand on her arm and smiled. She grabbed William’s hand and pulled him off to a quieter area so that they could talk. Once they found a spot they could actually talk to one another without shouting, Joyce asked, “So what did you think?”


William looked back over to Buffy who was working the crowd and smiled. He wasn’t surprised in the least that Buffy had made her dreams a reality, that was just the way she was, she never did anything half ass.


“She’s amazing,” he admitted.


Joyce watched her daughter fondly. She had never been more proud of Buffy. The only thing she wished was different for her daughter was that she could have found some way to include William in her life.


Buffy put down her guitar and sat behind the grand piano that was now on stage.


“Alright folks this next song is one of the first songs I ever wrote, it’s called ‘Listen to Your Heart’.” Buffy closed her eyes as she started to play the slow song that meant so much to her and reflected what she felt in her heart.

I know there’s something in the wake of your smile
I get a notion from the look in your eyes, yeah
You've built a love but that love falls apart
Your little piece of heaven turns too dark….

Listen to your heart when he’s calling for you
Listen to your heart, there’s nothing else you can do
I don't know where you're going and I don't know why
But listen to your heart before you tell him goodbye….

William sat there in stone silence. Was that song about them? His mind was going a mile a minute and he felt dizzy trying to sort out all his feelings that were squirming around in his head. He suddenly wasn’t so sure setting Buffy free was the right thing to do.


Sometimes you wonder if this fight is worthwhile
The precious moments are all lost in the tide, yeah

They're swept away and nothing is what is seems
The feeling of belonging to your dreams…..


Listen to your heart when he’s calling for you
Listen to your heart, there’s nothing else you can do
I don't know where you're going and I don't know why
But listen to your heart before you tell him goodbye…..


And there were voices that want to be heard
So much to mention but you can't find the words
The scent of magic the beauty that’s been
When love was wilder than the wind….


Listen to your heart when he’s calling for you
Listen to your heart, there’s nothing else you can do
I don't know where you're going and I don't know why
But listen to your heart before you tell him goodbye….


Listen to your heart…Mmmm
I don't know where you’re going and I don't know why
Listen to your heart before… you tell him goodbye…


William turned to Joyce and stared at her with wide eyes. “I can’t do this,” he muttered absently.


Joyce grabbed a hold of William’s hand and gave it a small squeeze. “William it’s time,” she stated softly as she looked up at him with sad eyes.


William hung his head and closed his eyes. Joyce was right. Buffy had moved on, he had seen it with his own two eyes. Taking a ragged breath, he inhaled deeply through his nose.


“I’ll come and talk to her after the show, I just need a minute to myself first,” he told Joyce in a mournful voice.


Joyce rubbed his arm and nodded her head knowingly. “Take all the time you need, Buffy will be here for awhile.”


William turned to walk away and then turned back to Joyce. “Do you think you can get Kennedy back there before I talk to Buffy?” he asked.


“Sure sweetie,” Joyce replied and then walked over to where Giles and Kennedy were standing watching the show.


William walked over to the smoking area and pulled out his smokes. Lighting one up, he inhaled deeply, enjoying the buzz from the nicotine. He didn’t have much time, and he needed to think of a way to tell Buffy that it was finally over. How in the bloody hell was he supposed to do that?


Joyce found Giles and Kennedy standing close to the stage. Reaching out for Giles’ arm, she smiled and nodded her head for him to step away a bit so Kennedy wouldn’t overhear them.


Giles leaned in so he could hear Joyce without having to strain his ears.


“I just talked to William and he asked if we could get Kennedy backstage before he gets back there,” Joyce relayed to her old friend.


“I think that would be best, that way Kennedy isn’t confused by their relationship,” Giles agreed.


Joyce nodded in agreement and motioned for then to follow her. Giles grabbed his granddaughter’s hand and led her in the direction Joyce was going.


Kennedy frowned and yelled over the crowd, “Where are we going, the concert’s not over yet.”


“Backstage so you can meet Buffy and the rest of the band,” Giles called back to her.


Kennedy shrieked loudly and eagerly followed the two adults backstage. Her friends back home were going to be so jealous.


Buffy finished her last song and waved to all of her fans. “You guys were great! Thank you so much for coming out tonight, I love you Sunnydale!” she yelled at the crowd as she walked off stage. Buffy was barely offstage when she was whisked off her feet and twirled in the air.


“Buffy you were absolutely amazing out there,” Lindsey gushed as he captured her lips in a mind-blowing kiss.


Buffy pulled away panting for air. “Lindsey put me down,” she demanded between giggles.


Lindsey put Buffy down on her feet and let a serious look cross his face. “Buffy we need to talk.” He had some questions that seriously needed to be answered.


“Lindsey what-“ but she stopped mid-sentence when she saw her father-n-law standing there looking at her with a look on his face that she couldn’t quite describe, but if she had to guess, she would have said disappointment. She quickly pulled out of Lindsey’s arms and turned to the man she had loved as a second father.


“Giles,” she gasped in complete awe.


Kennedy looked from Buffy then back to her grandfather. “How does she know your name?” she asked confused.


Buffy hadn’t noticed the young girl at Giles’ side until now. She was the prettiest thing Buffy had ever seen. She had long soft curly brown hair and the most amazing blue eyes. Buffy felt her heart leap into her throat. Those blue eyes looked all too familiar.


Buffy walked over and leaned over to smile at the young girl. “Well what’s your name?” Buffy asked sweetly.


Kennedy was a bit star struck and took a moment to answer. When she finally found her voice, she squeaked, “Kennedy.”


“That’s a gorgeous name.” Buffy complimented her.


Kennedy blushed a pretty shade of pink and held out a CD and a permanent marker. “Can I get your autograph,” she asked shyly


Buffy smiled. “Of course you can,” she replied taking the CD from the little girl. Writing a message on it, she handed it back and looked up at Giles with a questioning look.


Giles realized he hadn’t introduced the young girl at his side. “Buffy this is my granddaughter, she’s a huge fan of yours,” he informed his daughter-n-law vaguely.


Buffy felt panic rise up within her. If that was Giles’ granddaughter then was this William’s daughter?


Joyce could see the panic in her daughter’s eyes and was about to clarify who the young girl was when she saw William in the distance.


“Giles how about we take Kennedy to meet some of the other band members,” Joyce suggested giving him a look as she nodded in the direction of William.


Giles looked over and saw his son standing there. He nodded in agreement and then turned to Buffy. “It was good seeing you again,” he said quickly and then led Kennedy in the direction of the other band members, that just so happened to be where his son was standing.


Buffy turned around and gasped. Standing not more than a hundred feet away was the man she would never have expected to see. The man that she had thought about everyday for the last eight years. The man that she could still legally call her husband, William.


Kennedy saw her uncle and ran over to him, jumping in his arms. “Uncle Will look, Buffy signed my CD,” she squealed excitedly.


William took the CD from her and read the message.


Kennedy,
Always follow your dreams and never let them go!
XOXO, Buffy


He handed back the CD and smiled. “That was nice of her.”


“Did you know Grandpa knows Buffy?” she asked animatedly.


“See I told you Grandpa was a better choice to bring than me,” he teased.


William looked over and saw Buffy standing there staring at him. This was it, he couldn’t back down now. Turing his attention back to Kennedy, he placed a sweet kiss to her brow and smiled. “Why don’t you go with Grandpa and meet some of the other people from the band,” he suggested.


Kennedy quickly hopped out of her uncle’s arms and ran back to her grandfather.


William watched to make sure his niece was safely at his father’s side and then turned back and walked over to the woman he had fallen in love with so many years ago.


Lindsey watched as Buffy stood stone still waiting for William to approach her. By the way she was reacting to his presence told him that she had had no clue he was here. Keeping his jealousy in check, he stood back and let his girlfriend have the space she needed, but would be close enough that he could jump in if need be.


With every step William took her heart would beat that much faster in her chest. Her mouth went dry and she knew that she wouldn’t be able to make a coherent thought even if her life depended on it. Right now the only thing her mind could process was that he was here. After all this time, he was here.


William stopped in front of Buffy and stared into her big green eyes. “Hello Buffy.”


Buffy stared back at William. His eyes were still the same deep blue that she had gotten lost in all those times so many years again. “Will what are you doing here?” she asked almost breathlessly.


All coherent thought went straight out the window when he heard Buffy say his name in a breathy tone that had his insides melting. “Had to come see about a girl,” he replied softly as he looked down at his feet and shoved his hands in his pockets causing his faded blue jeans to ride lower on his slender hips.


Buffy had to remind herself to breathe when she saw the smooth alabaster skin of his flat abs become exposed to her wandering eyes. She quickly averted her eyes and tried to think of something to say. When she heard the soft sound of a little girl laughing, she was brought back to her earlier thoughts.


“I met Kennedy.” Buffy tried to see if he would tell her on his own if she was in fact his daughter.


William looked up with wide eyes. Had they told Buffy that Kennedy was her niece?


Buffy felt her heart break in two. The look on his face was all she needed to confirm what she had thought all along. It seems that William had moved on.


“So they told you?” William asked hesitantly.


“They didn’t have to, I took one look at her and I knew….your daughter’s beautiful William, she even has your eyes,” Buffy replied mournfully.


William was stunned. Buffy had thought Kennedy was his daughter. For some reason this made him angry. How in the hell could she think he had moved on so quickly. Oh that’s right, because apparently she had.


“Buffy, Kennedy’s not my daughter, she’s my niece,” he corrected her coolly.


Buffy felt a wave of relief wash over her. She didn’t know what she would have done if he would have confirmed her worst nightmare.


“But those eyes, they look just like yours,” Buffy commented.


“Cecily has the same blue eyes as I do,” William pointed out.


“So you haven’t met someone?” Buffy asked hesitantly.


William knew if he lied to Buffy and said yes that it would make it so much easier on himself, but he had never been able to lie to his girl. “No I haven’t,” he said as he looked up at her with sad eyes.


Buffy felt her heartbreak at the sad look in his eyes. It killed her to know that she was the one who had put it there. How was she supposed to tell him that she was in a relationship, had been for over five years now. And as if he had been reading her mind, he said the one thing she couldn’t bring herself to say.


“I know Buffy, I saw you with him,” he informed her desolately.


“But how?” she gasped.


“I was walking out the salon from getting m’hair cut and there you were kissing some bloke,” he informed her bitterly.


Buffy closed her eyes. William had seen her and Lindsey outside of the record store today. Could her life get anymore complicated?


“Will, let me explain,” Buffy tried.


William let his anger bubble to the surface. “You know what, don’t bother, I saw what I needed and it makes what I’m about to say that much easier,” he replied in a cold voice.


Buffy let her hurt show on her face as she held her breath in anticipation of William’s hurtful words.


Lindsey saw the pained look on Buffy’s face and had had enough. Walking over, he put his arm around Buffy’s waist and pulled her to him with a smug look on his face.


“So we meet at last, the infamous William. I’m Lindsey, the boyfriend.” He said cockily as he placed a kiss to the top of Buffy’s head, never taking his eyes off the enraged platinum blond in front of him.


Buffy tensed in Lindsey’s hold and looked at William with wide eyes. She couldn’t do anything but stand there shell shocked and wait for the inevitable blow out that was only a matter of seconds away.


William resisted the urge to reach over and rip the fucking ponce’s throat out right then and there. How dare he put his hands on HIS wife. He leveled Lindsey with a sadistic glare then turned to look at Buffy with cool eyes. Oh yeah, this was much easier now.


“Your papers should be in the mail by Monday,” he said through clinched teeth and then turned and walked away without looking back.


Buffy stood there numb. She felt like she was outside her body watching herself unable to do anything. This was it, it was really over. William had taken the final step to completely take her out of his life.


Lindsey stood there watching as William walked away. He couldn’t help but be somewhat happy. Not that he wanted to see his girl hurt, but if her marriage was really over, then maybe, just maybe she would allow herself to love him the way he loved her.


Lindsey pulled Buffy in his arms and kissed her on the cheek. “Darlin’ it’ll be okay, it’s over now,’ he tried to sooth the broken girl in his arms.


Buffy pulled out of Lindsey’s arms and looked at him with cold eyes. “Don’t.”


“Buffy let me help you,” Lindsey pleaded.


Buffy shook he head and let out a sardonic laugh. “Lindsey I think you’ve helped enough,” she replied flatly and then turned and walked away. Well this was most definitely a night she would never forget.



*Song by D.H.T. 'Listen to Your Heart' and all lyrics and rights belong to the rightful owners.*




Huge thanks to Brat, spuffette, cee, kristina, DaniD, jeanie, gotkona, cordykitten, caatje, MidnightGirl, Nicki, kim, vitalis, soikestheman, Spikesluv, Kimber, Briana, and frederique for all the reviews, you guys blow me away! Kuddos!

Buffy was walking aimlessly around backstage, stopping to sign the occasional autograph or take a picture with a fan. She was like an empty shell for she felt nothing, not sad, not angry, not anything, just empty.


Joyce saw her daughter and could tell straight away that things had not gone well. Turning her attention back to Giles, she gave him a weary smile. “I better go and see if Buffy’s alright,” she suggested.


Giles glanced over and watched as Buffy forced a smile on her face and attended to her fans. She may have seemed fine on the outside, but for someone that knew her well, they could see that she was broken on the inside.


“Right then, I should be taking Kennedy home as well,” he replied giving Joyce an affectionate hug and peck to the cheek.


Joyce smiled fondly at the man who cared for her daughter very much. “Don’t be a stanger Rupert,” she commented and then kneeled down to look Kennedy in the eyes.


“It was a pleasure meeting you Kennedy and the next time you’re in town you’ll have to make your grandpa bring you by my house so you can have a look at where Buffy grew up,” Joyce suggested as she hugged the young girl.


Kennedy returned Joyce’s hug and pulled back with an excited look on her face. “Oh I can’t wait to come back and visit now,” she squealed giddily.


Giles rolled his eyes playfully. “Forget the fact that you’ll get to see your favorite grandfather.”


Kennedy looked up at her grandfather and smiled. “Grandpa you know I love you, but there’s no way I’m not gonna get excited about going to the house that Buffy Summers actually lived in,” she stated matter a factly.


Joyce and Giles both exchanged knowing looks and started laughing.


Giles shook his head and grabbed Kennedy’s hand. “Come on, let’s get you home before your mother finds out I’ve kept you out ‘til all hours of the night and skins both our hides.”


Joyce smiled and waved goodbye. “You two drive safe.”


Giles turned and looked at Joyce and smiled warmly. “I’ll ring you soon Joyce, goodnight.”


Kennedy looked up at her grandfather with a cheeky grin on her face. “Ohhh, someone has a crush,” she sing-songed before a fit of giggles took over.


Giles looked down at his granddaughter and scowled. “Oh hush your gob,” he grumbled.


Kennedy jumped in the car and let out a full laugh. “Grandpa and Joyce sittin’ in a tree, S-N-O-G-G-I-N-G,” she sang out loud.


Giles rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. “Oh dear Lord.”



**************************************************************************************



William didn’t go straight home once he left the concert. He had too many things running through his mind to be able to sit at his father’s house and not tear the place to bits. So instead he drove to the liquor store, bought a fifth of whiskey, some more smokes and was now sitting at the local parking spot he had brought Buffy to the night of his graduation.


He took a long swig of the amber liquid that warmed his throat and numbed his mind giving him the false sense of security that all his problems would somehow be gone in the morning.


“Well mate, you did it, showed her who was boss you did,” he snorted as silent tears rolled down his cheeks.


Wiping away his tears, he sniffled and let out an aggravated growl. “Grahhh, no damn wonder she left, look at me, I’m a sodding nancy boy sittin’ cryin’ over some fucking girl,” he chastised himself.


Taking another swig of his whiskey, he leaned back on the trunk of his car and closed his eyes, remembering the first time he had brought Buffy to this very spot.


**Flashback**



William pulled the car to a stop out on Pinnacle Point and turned to his girl sitting next to him.



Buffy knew exactly where they were and looked at William somewhat confused. “Will, what are we doing here? I thought you said you wanted to go to Cordy’s graduation party.”



William looked deep in Buffy’s eyes and smiled. “I thought that maybe you and I could just be alone tonight, you know, so we can talk.”



Buffy swallowed the knot in her throat. The only reason people came to Pinnacle Point was to do one thing and talking definitely wasn’t one of them. Buffy looked up at William and smiled nervously.



“Okay, we can talk,” she replied softly.



William could tell Buffy was nervous and didn’t want to make her think that he had brought her up here to just try and have his way with her. Opening the door, he got out and went to the trunk.



Buffy was clearly confused, but sat there waiting for William to explain.



William leaned and looked in the car with a grin on his face. “Are you coming or not?”



Buffy got out of the car and saw that William had set up a blanket on the ground under a huge tree where you could look out and see all of Sunnydale.



“Wow, the view is amazing from up here,” she gasped as she walked over and sat next to William on the blanket.



“I knew you’d like it,” he said as he pulled Buffy into his arms, leaning against the tree.



Buffy turned and looked up at William with a raised brow. “So you’ve been up here before?” she asked accusingly.



“Not like you think luv,” he assured her with a chuckle and a quick kiss to her lips.



Buffy turned back around and snuggled back in his arms. “So if you haven’t been up here parking, what have you been up here for?”



“I started coming up here after m’mum and da’ got divorced. You know, to blow off steam or to just sit and think,” he explained somberly



“Oh,” she replied softly. She remembered how hard William had taken his parents’ divorce. She had overheard him once when he was talking to Angel about it and she remembered he sounded so hurt, as if maybe he blamed himself for his parents’ separation.



William didn’t want tonight to be about bad memories, so he tried to lighten the mood. “Well there was that one time….” he teased.



Buffy smacked the arm that was securely wrapped around her waist. “Okay so not funny,” she replied indignantly.



“I’m just playin’ kitten, retract the claws,” he chuckled as he brushed her hair from her neck and nuzzled it affectionately.



Buffy arched her neck to give him better access. “Mmm, Will,” she moaned softly as she brought up her hand to run her fingers through his short blond curls.



William felt a tightening in his jeans and inhaled deeply. God how he wanted Buffy. She was so pure and innocent, everything he could have ever dreamed He skimmed his hand across the now exposed flesh of Buffy flat stomach. It was so soft, like smooth satin. He let his nuzzle turn into wet openmouthed kisses that caused goosebumps to spread all over her body.



When Buffy felt William’s tongue draw lazy patterns on her neck, she let out a gasp. The way the warmth of his mouth countered the cooling of her skin from the night air was causing a delicious ache to form deep within her womb begging to be released.



William slowly brought his hand further up Buffy’s torso and cupped her firm covered breast, kneading it softly.



Buffy leaned her head to the side so she could capture William’s full lips in a passionate kiss. Their position was a bit awkward, but at that moment she could have cared less.



William could tell that Buffy wasn’t exactly comfortable and managed to change their position so that she was lying on her back and he was on top of her, bracing his weight on his arms.



They kissed languidly just enjoying the closeness between them. When Buffy felt like she might pass out from lack of oxygen, she broke their kiss panting for air.



“Will I’ve never felt this way about anyone before,” she admitted breathlessly.



William brushed a stray hair from Buffy’s face and looked down at her adoringly. “I know what you mean
kitten. I feel like I’m drownin’ in you Buffy, you’re all I bloody think about,” he confessed.



Buffy felt tears well in her eyes. No one had ever said anything even remotely as sweet as what the man she was madly in love with had just confessed. Quickly, before she could over analyze it, Buffy said the first thing that came to mind.



“I love you William.”



William let an awe-filled look cross his face. Never had those words been sweeter to his ears. The girl who he loved more than life itself had just told him that she loved him, HIM.



William captured Buffy’s lips in a searing kiss and then pulled back to look deep in her enchanting, emerald orbs. “I love you too,” was his simple reply.



Buffy let her tears fall as she pulled William back to her for another mind-blowing kiss. For as long as she lived, she would never forget this moment.



William pulled away and gazed adoringly at the small blond beneath him. Buffy gazed back at him and cupped his chiseled cheek in her hand. She wanted this night to be a night that they both would remember.



“Will?” she asked hesitantly.



“Yeah luv?”



Buffy looked away shyly and murmured softly. “I want tonight to be extra special,” she tried, hoping William would understand what she was trying to say.



“Buffy it already is, hearin’ you say you love me can’t get anymore special than that,” William assured her.



Apparently, she was going to have to spell it out for him. “Will I want you to be my first,” she replied shyly, letting a blush tint her cheeks.



William was at a loss for words. He hadn’t brought the whole sex issue up before because he didn’t want Buffy to feel like he was pressuring her into something she wasn’t ready for, but now it was her telling him that she was ready and that she wanted to give her virginity to ‘ him’.



When William didn’t say anything Buffy let hurt flash behind her eyes. Did he not want her like that? She quickly tried to get up but stopped when William reached out and cupped her cheek.



When William saw the hurt in Buffy’s eyes, he reached out to her, to reassure her that he wanted her more than anything.



“Buffy don’t go, I’m sorry, I’m just a bit surprised is all,” he explained his lack of response.



Buffy relaxed and settled back down beneath William. “I thought you didn’t want me,” she whispered in a small voice.



“God Buffy how could I not want you?” he gushed as he peppered kisses all over her face.



Buffy tangled her fingers in William’s hair and pulled his mouth to hers, letting her tongue slip between his slightly parted lips. Their tongues began to battle for dominance as the kiss slowly deepened.



William pulled away panting to search Buffy’s eyes to make sure she was sure this was what she wanted. When all he saw was love reflect back at him, he rolled to the side so he was lying next to Buffy but still partially on top of her.



Buffy smiled lovingly up at William as he slowly unbuttoned her shirt, letting his fingers skim her sensitive flesh as he pushed her shirt open. Never taking his eyes off Buffy, he leaned in and placed wet open-mouthed kisses across her chest, latching onto her bra covered nipple.



Buffy closed her eyes and arched into William’s kisses. “Uh Will, feels good,” she egged him on. They had fooled around before, but somehow this time felt different, more special.



William wanted to feel Buffy’s skin against his so he quickly pulled off his shirt and tossed it aside.



Buffy took William’s lead, took off her shirt as well, and tossed it with his.



William stared hungrily down at Buffy. “Want to see all of you,” he demanded huskily as he reached and undid the front clasp of her bra.



Buffy, out of reflex, brought her hands up to cover her exposed chest. No man had ever seen her bare-chested before.



William pulled Buffy’s hands away and looked her in the eyes. “No need to hide luv, you’re absolutely gorgeous,” he assured her as he slipped the thin material off her arms.



Buffy lifted slightly so William could take her bra completely off. Felling more confident about herself, she reached up and ran her fingers down the firm muscles of William’s chest and abs, letting her hand rest at the waistband of his jeans.



Before Buffy could undue his pant, he put a hand over hers and looked deep in her emerald eyes.



“Buffy are you sure you’re ready for this?”



Buffy smiled and placed a sweet kiss to William’s lips. “I’m ready Will. I love you and there’s no one else I’d rather do this with than you,” Buffy assured him. She knew it sounded cliché, but it was the truth.



William smiled and gave her a quick nod, releasing her hand.



Buffy pulled open the button fly of William’s jeans and trailed her hands around his hips to his backside, squeezing his firm ass cheeks softly.



William brought his hands to the snap on Buffy’s denim mini-skirt. Capturing her mouth in a passionate kiss as he undid her skirt and slowly pulled down the zipper, pushing it down off her slender hips.



Buffy lifted up so William could get her skirt all the way off. As he pushed her skirt down, he left a wake of goosebumps on her exposed skin. She had to resist the urge to physically shudder from his gentle touch.



Once Buffy’s skirt was completely off, he sat back on his haunches and stared down at his girl laying before him in nothing but a simple pair of light pink cotton panties.



“Buffy do you have any idea how bloody gorgeous you are,” he asked in awe.



Buffy blushed at William’s confession and looked away shyly.



William slid his pants off and came to lay next to Buffy, turning her so they lay on their sides face to face. He hooked his finger on the inside of Buffy’s panties and slid then down her well-toned thighs, resisting the urge to bring her panties to his nose and inhale her scent deeply into his senses.



William pulled Buffy flush against him and kissed her with all the passion and desire he had for her. He wanted to take things slow, show her how gentle and tender he could be.



Buffy laid her leg over William’s hip and pulled him as close to her as she could. Breaking the kiss, she gasped. “Uh Will, I want you.” Her demand was breathy and full of desire.



William grabbed his pants, pulled a condom from his back pocket, and laid it next to him before he turned his attention back to Buffy. He rolled on top of her, braced his weight on one arm, and used the other to part Buffy’s legs. With a single finger he trailed a line up the inside of her thigh and brought it to her nether lips.



Buffy felt like a thousand ladybugs were dancing up her leg as William trailed his finger up her sensitive flesh.



“Ah,” she gasped and closed her eyes.



William kept his eyes on Buffy as he let his finger slip into her wet core wanting to see every emotion that played on her face.



When Buffy felt William’s slender digit invade her virginal channel her eyes shot open with a look of awe behind then.



William let a satisfied grin curl at his lips as he gazed down at the girl before him. “Feel good?” he asked huskily as he slowly began to pump his finger within her in a come hither motion.



“Uh huh,” was all she could manage because there was a slow delicious ache building inside her that was on the brink of exploding.



William inserted another finger in an attempt to stretch her for him as much as possible. No matter what, he was going to hurt Buffy, but if he could make it a little bit better, then he would.



Buffy felt the ache become a tingle and then an all out wave of pleasure. Squeezing her inner muscles, she arched into William’s fingers and let out a small whimper.



William could feel Buffy was close and sped up his thrust. When he felt her feminine walls flutter wildly around his fingers, he captured Buffy’s lips in a searing kiss swallowing her cries of ecstasy.



When he finally felt Buffy calm from her high, he released her lips and gazed down at her adoringly.



Buffy had never experienced anything like that in her entire life. She had thought once she had had an orgasm when she and William had been fooling around, but it was nowhere close to what she had just experienced.



“Will that was….” She sighed but was unable to describe what she was feeling.



William grinned and let out a soft chuckle. “Well if you think that was good just wait till the real thing.”



“Does it feel different?” she asked in a small voice. She hated the fact the she had been so inexperienced.



“A bit from what I’m told,” he explained. “Buffy I’m not gonna lie, it may hurt at first,” he explained honestly.



“I know,” she assured him.



“So you still sure you want to do this?” he said one last time giving her an out now if she wasn’t ready.



“I’m sure,” she assured him with love-filled eyes.



William grabbed the condom and tore open the package, tossing it aside. Rolling the latex completely over his achingly hard member, he settled between Buffy’s thighs and guided his shaft to the opening of her wet entrance. Letting just the head slip within her, he looked up at Buffy and asked, “You all right?”



Buffy felt a slight burning sensation, but it wasn’t to the point she wanted him to stop. Nodding her head, she replied. “I’m okay.”



William nodded his head and slowly slipped inside her an inch at a time until he could feel her barrier. He stilled his movement and let Buffy adjust to his girth. He leaned in and placed a sweet tender kiss to her full lips.



“Buffy this is gonna hurt a bit, but if it’s too much you tell me and I’ll stop,” he assured her.



Buffy nodded her head and braced herself for the pain she knew was coming.



“Alright luv, now just relax and I promise it will only hurt for a minute,” he soothed before he quickly thrusted into her, breaking her virginal barrier.



Buffy gasped as she felt white-hot pain course through her lower body. Never had she felt pain quite like this before. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks as she buried her face into William’s shoulder and dug her fingers into his back.



William stilled his motions and let Buffy adjust to the intrusion on her body. When he felt her tears on his shoulder, he thought his heart might break. He never wanted to hurt his girl and now he had caused her pain that he could never quite understand.



“Buffy luv, I’m so sorry, I didn’t hurt you too bad did I?” he asked in a remorseful voice.



Buffy felt some of the pain residing and took her face out of the crook of William’s neck. “No it wasn’t too bad, you just need to take it slow,” she replied in a tight voice.



“You just let me know when your ready.”



Buffy nodded her head and pulled William down in a passionate kiss. When she felt her muscles completely relax, she slowly lifted her hips experimentally to see if there was any pain. All that she found was a warm sensation from the friction of their bodies moving together.



William took Buffy’s slow rise of her hips as a signal that she was ready and broke their kiss to look deep in her eyes and he slowly thrust inside her.



When William began to pump within her, Buffy closed her eyes and let the wonderful sensation that was filling her to the brink build up at a deliciously slow rate.



Buffy was so tight that William had to use every bit of his will power to not explode inside her right then. He wanted to make sure his girl was completely satisfied before he found his release.



“Ah Buffy….so tight…ungh” he grunted as he shifted his hips, picking up the pace of his thrusts.



When William switched up his position, he rubbed against her engorged clit and tapped the sweet spot deep within her with each thrust.



“Oh Will, right there, uh right there,” Buffy rambled senselessly as she felt her orgasm slowly approaching.



William buried his head in Buffy’s neck and thrust deep into her tight channel. He could tell she was close by the way her inner muscles clinched around his rock hard shaft.



Without warning, Buffy felt ecstasy take over her body and stars burst behind her closed eyes. Her body shook with the intensity of her orgasm as she cried out her release.



“OH WILLIAM YES! AHHHHH!!!!!”



William felt Buffy’s inner walls flutter around him and couldn’t hold back any longer. With a final thrust, he let out a strangled groan and released his seed within her.



“UGHHH FUCK!!! AHH…. BUFFY… SO… GOOD!”



William collapsed on top of her panting heavily with a dazed smile on his face. Never had he cum so hard in his entire life.



Buffy held William to her and ran her fingers through his damp hair feeling completely sated. “Will that was amazing.”



William rolled off the top of Buffy and removed the used condom. Pulling Buffy to lay her cheek on his chest, he let out a sigh. “I love you so much Buffy,” he confessed kissing the top of her head.



Buffy snuggled into William’s chest and smiled. “Love you too.”



They lay there under the stars, content in each other’s arms exchanging words of love and promises of forever.



“Buffy from here on out there will never be anyone for me but you,” he promised.



Buffy let out a content sigh as she replied softly. “Dido.”



*** ***



William tipped up his bottle and let the last drop sting his tongue. He clinched his jaw and inhaled deeply through his nose. He had kept his promise to Buffy that night. He would never find anyone to take Buffy’s place, but she apparently felt differently.



William sat up and instantly regretted it as the effects of the alcohol set in causing the world to spin. Without another thought, he slowly closed his eyes and passed out cold on the trunk of his car.







Thanks to my lovely beta gotkona (Vicki) who has been amazing! Thanks sweetie, I couldn't do this without you! Also big hugs and kisses to spufette, willowmouse, Nicki, jeanie, DaniD, Brat, Smitten, Kimber, jennybean, Raspy_Luv, spikestheman, caatje, Angi, MidnightGirl, kristina, kim, and vitalis for the amazing reviews, I can't tell you how good it makes me feel to know that you are all enjoying so much! Kuddos!

Buffy rolled over in the bed and looked at the clock. It was almost five-thirty in the morning and she still hadn’t fallen asleep.


She had stayed up arguing with Lindsey most of the night until he finally just gave in and apologized for whatever was wrong, regardless if it was his fault or not. She had been so tired that she let it go and just forgave him so she could go to bed.


Buffy rolled back over and watched as Lindsey slept peacefully next to her. She felt a pang of guilt hit her out of nowhere. It felt wrong to be sharing a bed with Lindsey now that she had seen and talked to William, like she was somehow betraying him.


Shit, who was she kidding; she was betraying him in every sense off the word. She was sharing a bed with another man, had been for over five years now. She had made a promise to William that for better or worse she would stick by him and what had she done but ran off the first time things didn’t go her way.


Buffy closed her eyes and willed herself not to cry. She had to leave, had to get out of that bed, out of that hotel room before she went insane.


Quietly Buffy got out of bed, careful not to wake Lindsey, grabbed her tennis shoes, sweat jacket, and slipped out the door to her mother’s house. At least there she wouldn’t feel as guilty, or would she?



******************************************************************************



William felt the morning’s rays on his face and cracked an eye. Bloody hell, where the fuck was he? Sitting up slowly he grabbed at his throbbing head and took in his surroundings. He was still parked up on Pinnacle Point on the trunk of his car.


“Bugger,” he grumbled as he rubbed his sleep-filled eyes and slid off the trunk. When his feet hit the ground and he stood up straight he felt nausea take over as his stomach began to churn.


“Oh bloody hell,” he groaned just before he doubled over and threw up at his feet. Once he had emptied the entire contents of his stomach, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve, panting heavily. Yep, Jack was no friend of his this morning.


When William was sure his stomach wasn’t going to rebel against him again, he stood up and groaned. His head felt like it might explode at any second and he couldn’t help but think it would be a welcome relief because anything was better than the way he felt right now.


Swallowing hard, he grimaced at the awful taste in his mouth. Wanting nothing more than a good shower and a toothbrush, he stepped around his pile of puke to get in his car.


William dug his keys out of his pocket and caught sight of his shoes. Apparently, when he threw up, he didn’t completely miss his feet. “Oh now that’s just bloody nasty,” he groaned in disgust. He was definitely not wearing those things in his precious Desoto.


With what little grace William could muster, he took off his boots, threw them in the trunk, and headed home where he knew his father would be waiting for him and expecting some sort of explanation as to his whereabouts the night before.



******************************************************************************



Buffy snuck in the backdoor of her mother’s house with the stealth like expertise she had mastered from sneaking in so many times in her younger days. She closed the door and nearly jumped out of her skin when a deep voice sounded in the quiet kitchen.


“Morning Buffy.”


Buffy whipped around and glared at her older brother. “Jesus Angel, are you trying to give me a fucking heart attack!” she hissed angrily as her heart thumped rapidly in her chest.


Angel let out a small chuckle and sat down at the breakfast table. “Sorry Buff, but I didn’t think you would freak like that,” he apologized not feeling remorseful at all.


Buffy put her hand over her chest and took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves. “You didn’t think sneaking up on me wouldn’t scare the piss out me?” she asked dryly and then furrowed her brow. “What are you doing up anyways, it’s only a little after six?” she asked taking a seat across from him at the table.


Angel took a sip from the coffee cup he had in his hand and then looked up at his little sister. “Still on eastern time. My clock says it’s after nine,” he explained as he put his cup down.


Buffy nodded her head knowingly and then shrugged. “So how are Cordy and the boys?”


“Good, Cordy wanted me to tell you she was sorry she couldn’t make it, but the boys had school and the doctor said she shouldn’t fly this close to her due date,” Angel replied.


Buffy waved him off. “Tell her not to worry about it, I totally understand.”


Buffy had known Cordilea Chase since she was in grade school and she wasn’t exactly known for being the nicest of people. When Angel started dating Cordy, Buffy had tolerated her for Angel’s sake, but after Angel and Cordy graduated she had actually grown to like her once Cordy realized there was life after high school.


Cordy was the one that Buffy had confided in when she had first left William, she had been her shoulder to cry on so to speak. Cordy had assured her everything would eventually be okay and that no matter what she would always be there for Buffy if and when she needed her. After that Buffy would always and forever be indebted to her sister-n-law.


“That’s was some concert last night,” Angel commented with an underlying tone. He was wondering how long it would take his sister to tell him about William showing up.


“Yeah the crowd was awesome,” Buffy replied ignorantly. She knew Angel was talking about William, but she wasn’t ready to get into it with her brother just yet. She was well aware how Angel felt about the whole William situation because he made his opinion more than apparent on several different occasions.


When Angel had first found out that Buffy was dating William he was furious. He had all but threatened Buffy with her life if she didn’t stop seeing him. When Buffy had told him to stick it up his ass, he stormed out of the house to look for his best friend so he could thoroughly kick his ass.


Angel didn’t have to go far to find William because he was at the door coming to see Buffy. With rage in his eyes, Angel pushed William off the front porch and into the yard, pummeling him with everything he had. William quickly recovered and returned Angel’s punches without questioning why. All he knew was that it was defend or get the shit beat out of him.


Buffy ran to the front door and screamed for her mother. When Joyce saw the two boys in her front yard beating one another within an inch of their lives, she broke things up and stepped between them demanding to know what the hell was going on.


Angel had yelled something about William being a sick bastard and taking advantage of his little sister and William yelled back about Angel being a fucking wanker who just attacked him for no reason.


Joyce had dragged them both inside, madder than a wet hen, by their ears and forced them to sit on the couch and talk things out like human beings and not some caged up animals.


Things were strained between Angel and William after that until William went to Angel and told him he wanted to ask his permission to marry Buffy. Angel knew William could have gone to his father, Hank, but had instead come to him to make sure he approved because his opinion mattered more to him than Hank’s.


Angel gave his sister a pointed look. “Buffy you know I’m not talking about the crowd.”


Buffy let out an exasperated sigh. “What do you want me to say Angel. Yes, Will was there and yes, we talked, but it doesn’t matter.” Buffy stated matter of factly.


“And why is that?” Angel asked curiously.


Buffy let William’s hurtful words play through her mind. Your papers should be in the mail by Monday. Buffy physically shuddered; they still sent chills down her spine.


“Why? Because William wants a divorce,” Buffy stated flatly.


Angel sat in stunned silence. Never in a million years would he have thought he would hear those words come out of Buffy’s mouth. He had always hoped that Buffy would one day come back to her senses and figure out that she was wrong for leaving her husband and go back to him, but now he knew that was just never going to happen.


“Well I wasn’t expecting that,” Angel admitted in a stunned voice.


Buffy looked at her brother with sad eyes and murmured dejectedly, “Yeah, neither was I.”


“I’m sorry Buffy,” Angel tried to sooth his sister. Sure, he didn’t agree with the way Buffy had handled her marriage, but he hated to see his sister so upset.


Buffy blinked back her tears and gave Angel a weak smile. “Not your fault. I’m the one who left him so I shouldn’t be that surprised,” Buffy replied trying to sound casual but deep down inside she was dying. It killed her to think that William was really letting her go.


Angel just sat there unsure of what to say. He couldn’t argue with her. It was Buffy’s choice to leave and find her dreams; she couldn’t expect William to wait around for her forever.


Angel’s lack of sympathy stung Buffy more than she could have ever imagined. Letting out a heavy sigh, she stood up from the table. “I’m gonna go lay down for awhile. I didn’t get much sleep last night so I’ll talk to you later Angel.”


“Alright Buff, I’ll tell mom that you’re here but to let you rest,” Angel replied with a nod of his head. Buffy nodded appreciatively and went to her room upstairs.


Angel watched as his sister walked away looking so broken. He hated to see her like this but couldn’t help but not feel sorry for her. She had brought this on herself, but because he was her brother and he loved her, he was going to see what he could do to fix it.


******************************************************************************



William stumbled in the backdoor with dirty boots in hand. The fact that his father was standing there with a menacing look on his face hadn’t even fazed him. All he wanted to do was take a shower and go to bed ‘til it was time for him to go back to LA.


Giles had waited up for his son all night until he finally fell asleep still sitting at the breakfast table. When he had heard the sound of the very loud Desoto pull in the drive, he forced himself to wake up so he could interrogate his son as to where the hell he had been all night.


William blatantly walked past his father with no intention of talking to him. He was in no mood to get into why he never came home.


Giles scrunched his nose in disgust as William passed by him with his dirty shoes in hand. “Dear Lord William what is that smell?!” Giles gasped as he covered his nose and fought the urge to gag.


William shrugged his shoulders and turned to look at his father. “Puked on m’shoes,” he replied bluntly and continued to walk out of the kitchen to the bathroom.


Giles stood up completely flabbergasted. Did William just say he threw up on his shoes? Bringing himself back to his task of finding out what was going on; he followed William to the bathroom but was met with a door in the face.


“William open this door,” he demanded as he knocked on the closed door. When he was met with silence, he pounded harder on the door and bellowed, “William I demand you open this door at once.”


William dropped his boots on the floor and striped himself of his clothes, ignoring the beating on the door. He grabbed at his head which was beginning to ache again from the incessant banging and turned on the shower. He would just have to tune his father out with the sound of the running water.


When Giles heard the sound of the shower, he fought the urge to give the door a swift kick. His son could still manage to bring out the Ripper from his younger delinquent days out in seconds flat.


Kennedy walked out of her room rubbing her eyes. “What’s all the fuss about?” she whined sleepily.


Giles turned his attention to his obviously knackered granddaughter and let out a sigh. “Kennedy I’m sorry if I woke you, please just go back to bed,” he apologized.


Kennedy looked at the closed bathroom door and then back to her grandfather. “Uncle Will must be home,” she commented knowingly.


Giles pinched the bridge of his nose and removed his glasses to clean them absently. “Kennedy please just go back and lie down,” he pleaded. He really didn’t want his granddaughter to have to see or hear the confrontation that was going to happen between him and his son.


Kennedy turned to her room and let out a yawn. “He must be in trouble too,” she mumbled as she shut her door.


Giles turned and glared at the shut bathroom door. “Oh he’s more than in trouble.”


******************************************************************************


Buffy tossed and turned in fitful sleep. Even though she was in the safety of her old bed she still couldn’t’ find the rest she so desperately needed. She had been fighting sleep for over five hours now and it was almost noon. She was sure that if she checked her phone there would be fifty-million messages from Lindsey waiting for her, wondering where the hell she had run off to, but that was something she would deal with later. Feeling her stomach begin to growl, Buffy got up and decided to go downstairs to grab something to eat.


When she walked in the kitchen, she saw her mother and Angel talking in hushed tones. Buffy cleared her throat to make her presence known and they both looked up at her with guilty looks on their faces.


“Talking about me huh?” she accused with a raised brow.


Joyce quickly got up and hugged her daughter. “We’re just worried about you sweetie,” she explained.


Buffy pulled from her mothers arms and gave her a fake smile. “Mom I’ll be fine,’” she assured her mother. She wasn’t quite sure if she was trying to convince her mother or herself.


Joyce squeezed her daughter’s shoulder affectionately. “I’m here if you need anything Buffy.”



“I could use some food,” Buffy replied trying to change the subject.


Joyce smiled. “Of course. How about I make you your favorite? Peanut butter and banana sandwiches,” she suggested.


Buffy rolled her eyes playfully. “Mom that was my favorite when I was like five,” she reminded. Her mother still thought of her as the little girl she was so long ago.


Angel let out a laugh. Buffy turned and scowled at her brother as she smacked him on the arm. “What are you laughing at?”


“Nothing, it’s just that’s the kinda stuff Cordy makes for the boys,” he explained through his laughter.


“Mom I’ll just have a ham sandwich,” Buffy said irritably as she smacked at her brother again.


Angel continued to laugh as he flinched away from Buffy. “Hey quit,” Angel chuckled as he swatted back at Buffy.


Joyce watched as her two children picked at one another back and forth. How she missed having her kids at home. With a small chuckle, she took out the things for Buffy’s sandwich and fixed her lunch.


Buffy finished her sandwich and let out a contented sigh. This was the first time in she couldn’t say how long she had had a real meal. Sure it was just a sandwich, but it wasn’t junk food or something that came out of a wrapper.


“Thanks Mom for the sandwich,” Buffy said gratefully as she rubbed her full stomach.


“You’re welcome dear,” Joyce replied as she put away the dishes in the sink.


Angel looked over at Buffy and scrunched his brow. “You’re full from just that small sandwich?” he asked disbelievingly.


Buffy grinned and reached over and poked Angel’s slightly larger waistline. “Not all of us eat like a horse, fatty,” she teased.


Angel frowned at his little sister and pulled away from her prodding finger. “I’m not fat,” he defended and than turned and poked her in her side. “Hey Buffy didn’t you hear the waif look is out,” he countered.


Buffy scowled at Angel. “I’m not that skinny,” she defended. “I’m just petite,” she added haughtily.


“Petite my ass, you’re just plain skinny,” Angel snorted.


Buffy turned to her mother. “Mom Angel’s picking on me,” she pouted like a whiney five year old.


Before Joyce could get a word out edgewise, Angel chimed in.


“She started it, she called me fat,” Angel grumbled childishly.


“And how old are you two again?” Joyce asked sarcastically as the phone rang. Without waiting for her children to make a smart remark, she went over and answered the phone.


“Hello... Oh! Hi Lindsey.”


Buffy and Angel continued to bicker among themselves until they heard who Joyce was talking to. Buffy quickly shut her mouth and turned to he mother shaking her head “no” vigorously.


Joyce rolled her eyes and turned her back to Buffy.


“Yes Buffy’s here…. Of course, you’re more than welcome to come by…. Uh huh, sure…okay Lindsey I’ll see you then…you too, bye.” Joyce hung up the phone and frowned at her daughter. “What?”


Buffy scowled. “Mom! What part of,” Buffy began to shake her head frantically, “did you not understand?”


“Buffy I’m not going to lie for you. If you don’t want to see Lindsey than you need to be a grown up and tell him yourself,” Joyce stated flatly.


Buffy let out a huff and then turned to Angel. “Angel I need to borrow your car for a little while.”



******************************************************************************



William was in his room packing his things to get ready to leave for LA. He was surprised to find his father wasn’t standing outside the bathroom door waiting for him when he came out from his shower. Not that he was complaining by any means, because he knew his father was right pissed off with him.


William zipped his overnight bag and took a quick glance around the room one last time to make sure he had everything before he walked out of his room and headed for the front door.


“Did you plan on leaving without even saying goodbye to your niece?” Giles asked coolly.


William let his shoulders sag. “No Da’, I was just putting my stuff in the car and then I was gonna come and say all my goodbyes,” he drawled in an exasperated tone.


“Fine we can talk while I walk outside with you,” Giles retorted still thoroughly irritated with his son.


William knew he wasn’t going to get to leave before his father got a chance to interrogate him, so he figured he might as well just get it done and over with.


“Alright, let’s talk.”


Giles followed William out the door. “Where were you last night?” he asked first.


“Went to Pinnacle Point, next,” he replied curtly.


“William,” Giles said in a warning tone.


William tossed his bag in his car and let out a frustrated sigh. “What Da’? You want me to tell you exactly what happened last night?”


“Yes,” Giles replied giving his undivided attention.


“Fine. I saw Buffy last night, we talked, I told her I wanted a divorce, went and got myself right pissed, woke up on the boot of m’car, puked on m’shoes, came home, the end,” he explained point-blank.


Giles stood silent, jaw slightly ajar, staring with wide eyes. He couldn’t believe his ears. What had caused his son to suddenly change his mind in filing for divorce?


William let out a sardonic snort. “Best close your gob da’, you’re libel to catch flies.”


Giles snapped his mouth shut and continued to stare at his son. “Oh dear Lord,” was all he could manage.


William shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, what’s done is done. Now if you’ll excuse me I need to go say goodbye to my lil’sweetpea,” he commented offhandedly as he walked around his father into the house.


Giles turned and watched as his son walked away and wondered if his son was going to be able to yet again be able to pick up the pieces of his broken heart.


******************************************************************************


Buffy had gotten Angel’s keys and left not bothering to tell him or her mother where she was going, because in all honesty she hadn’t a clue.


She drove around aimlessly just taking in the sights of Sunnydale. She had to admit she missed her hometown; it had a sense of security about it, like it could keep you safe from the rest of the evil in the world.


Without even realizing it, she found herself in front of the small house that was her home for only a few short years. Getting out of the car, she walked up and peeked in the windows. It was like looking back in time and oh what she wouldn’t give to just go back and fix this awful mess that she had caused.


Buffy closed her eyes and blinked back the tears as the familiar sound of a Desoto pulled up behind her. I guess she wasn’t the only one going down memory lane.






Thanks to spuffette, kristina, Kimber x3, LOL!, aspikefan, DaniD, cee, Brat, cordykitten, frederique, MidnightGirl, spikestheman, Smitten, Nicki, Raspy_Luv x2, chrissnicole, and chrissnicole for the amazing reviews! I love y'all to bits! Kuddos!

William had left his father’s and was on his way out of Sunnydale when he decided to take a small detour. He knew this wasn’t going to help his situation, but damned if he wasn’t curious.


When he pulled up in front of the small house, he nearly hit the parked car in front of him. What in the bloody hell was she doing here? Parking the car, he got out and leaned against the hood of the car, lighting a cigarette to keep his rattled nerves in check.


“Fancy seein’ you here pet,” he commented as he took a long drag of his smoke.


Buffy slowly turned around and gazed at William with sad eyes. “Hey,” she replied softly not moving from her spot on the porch of their first and only home together.


William blew out a puff of smoke and regarded his soon to be ex-wife. She seemed smaller somehow, like she felt the need to try and hide from the world. She had lost weight since the last time he had seen her eight years ago and her eyes didn’t shine as brightly as they used to. Her hair was still long, but slightly blonder than he remembered. All in all she had grown up.


Buffy continued to stare at William. He was still as beautiful as ever. His hair was still the same platinum blond, but he looked different somehow, older. He had lost that boyish look about him and she wondered if it was because of her.


William stood up straight and crushed his cigarette under the heel of his boot. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he rocked back on his heels.


“So….” he drawled unsure of what to say or do.


“So,” Buffy replied as she took a seat on the top step of the porch.


William walked over and stopped right in front of the bottom step. “I guess you finally made it big,” he commented softly as he looked down at his feet.


Buffy wrung her hands in her lap nervously. “I guess,” she agreed.


William looked up at Buffy and let out an exasperated groan. “Bloody hell Buffy I can’t do this,” he said turning to go to his car.


Buffy stood up and called out to him. “Will wait.” She didn’t know what she was going to say, but she knew she didn’t want him to go before she had a chance to explain everything.


William stopped and turned to look at Buffy with an emotionless look on his face not saying a word.


Buffy let out a sigh of relief and then sat back down. “Can I at least explain myself?” she asked meekly.


William shoved his hands in his pockets and gave her a small nod. He wasn’t sure why, but he wanted to hear why Buffy had up and left him like she had.


Buffy took a deep breath and got all her thoughts in order trying to find a way to explain to him as to why she ruined the best thing that had ever happened to her. “First off, I never wanted to hurt you Will,” she explained.


William let out a sardonic snort and shook his head.


Buffy let her anger get the better of her as she snapped, “If you’re just gonna stand there and mock me every time I say something then you might as well just go.”


William looked at Buffy with cold eyes. “I’m listening.”


Buffy took another deep breath and tried again. “Like I said, I never wanted to hurt you, but I got scared, scared I was gonna turn into someone I wouldn’t be able to recognize five or ten years down the road,” she explained.


“Is that what you thought I was trying to do to you? Turn you into someone else,” he asked incredulously.


“Not intentionally no, but you expected me to give up school and my dream of taking my music professionally to follow you to England,” she retorted flatly.


“Buffy I told you it was only until I got us on our feet,” he defended letting his temper flare.


“See that’s the problem, you told me. Never once did you ask me what I wanted,” Buffy replied irritably.


“Well that’s because you never gave me the bloody chance! You were too busy running away,” he snapped.


Buffy felt pure rage build within her. How dare he try to put all the blame on her. “I can’t believe this, you are absolutely incredible,” Buffy said as she shook her head and let out a sardonic chuckle.


“Me? I’m incredible? I’m not the one who’s sittin’ here tryin’ to justify up and leaving her husband because things didn’t go ‘er way,” he commented snidely.


“You know what Will, go to hell,” Buffy snapped as she stormed past him in a fit of anger.


Oh no. She wasn’t going to get off that easy. William whipped around and was on Buffy in a flash. Pinning her against the car with his body, he leaned in until his face was mere inches from hers.


“Don’t walk away from me,” he growled in a low menacing tone.


Buffy gasped from the forcefulness William had used. She couldn’t decide if she was more scared or aroused by his sudden change in demeanor. Looking William dead in the eyes she put up a wall so he wouldn’t see he was affecting her in more ways than one.


“Let me go,” she demanded through clinched teeth as she struggled beneath Williams’s weight.


William grabbed Buffy’s wrists to stop her movements. “Not until you give me some answers,” he replied in a menacing voice.


Buffy stopped her struggle. “Fine what do you want to know,” she snapped heatedly.


William let go of Buffy’s wrists and put some distance between them. Where did he even begin? “Why didn’t you tell me what was going on in your life?” he asked bitterly.


Buffy let out a heavy sigh. “When you left that night I figured you didn’t care,” she explained dejectedly.


“How could you think that?” he asked incredulously.


“Well when someone says, ‘Fucking stay I don’t care either way,’ it kinda makes you think they don’t care,” Buffy replied dryly with her hands on her hips.


“Buffy what did you expect me to say?” he asked heatedly as his temper flared once again.


“I don’t know?” Buffy replied exasperatedly. She really didn’t want to start hashing over what went wrong at the moment and just wanted to skip all that, getting to the point where they could talk things out like adults and try to salvage what little they had left.


“Will listen, I didn’t get any sleep last night and I really don’t think I have the energy to do this now, so can we just get straight to the point here,” she pleaded as she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.


“Fine, where do I send the papers,” he asked mournfully.


Buffy looked up at William with wide eyes. She had honestly expected him to argue with her, not to just give in and ask the one thing she had feared the most. “I’ll be back in New York next week so you can send them there,” she replied softly, feeling her hear break. This was it. It was really over.


William resisted the urge to comfort the woman he loved more than life itself. He knew if he gave in, he would only be hurt in the end. She was with someone else now.


“Fine as soon as the paperwork is drawn up I’ll give you a call,” he said fighting back tears.


“Do you have a number to reach me at?”


“No, I’ll call your mum,” he replied staring at Buffy with an empty look in his eyes.


Buffy nodded her head and looked up to meet his gaze and felt a knot rise up in her throat. This was even harder than when she had told him she was leaving, because then, she had always known in the back of her mind she was going to come back to him.


William gave her a quick nod. “Well I guess I should get back to LA, got stuff to take care of,” he said in a distant voice.


“Yeah I should go too, Angel’s probably wondering where his car is,” Buffy replied softly letting her hurt show in her eyes.


William suddenly wondered if he was doing the right thing. He could see the hurt in her eyes and wondered if there was still a sliver of hope for them. Just as he was about to question Buffy on it, her cell phone rang.


Buffy let out a sigh and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She saw her mother’s number and let out a small groan. It was more than likely Angel asking her where she was. Shaking her head, she looked over at William and gestured for him to give her a minute. Flipping her phone open, she closed her eyes and sighed.


“Listen Angel I’m in the mid-“but she stopped mid-sentence and snapped her eyes open. “Lindsey!” she said surprised. She had totally forgotten that Lindsey was going to be at her mother’s house.


William narrowed his eyes at Buffy and snorted. Well so much for that sliver of hope. He looked at Buffy and gave her a curt nod before turning and walking to his car.


When Buffy saw William walk away, she felt panic rise within her. “William wait!” she yelled running after him.


“Buffy where the hell are you?” Lindsey asked angrily.


“Lindsey I have to go,” she said quickly before she hung up the phone not waiting for a response.


Lindsey sat in stunned silence as he stared at the phone in his hands. He was not happy to say the least.


Buffy stopped just as she reached William. “Please don’t go,” she pleaded.


William turned around to glare at Buffy with cold eyes. “Why shouldn’t I.”


Buffy felt a chill run through at the look in William’s eyes. “We need to talk,” she insisted.


“Buffy there’s nothing left to say. You made your choice,” he stated matter of factly.


Buffy let out a sardonic chuckle. “So that’s it. End of discussion. What William says goes, as usual,” she replied snidely with a shake of her head.


William got right in Buffy’s face and leveled her with his eyes. “You’re the one that left me remember. You’re the one who’s moved on and fucking someone else so don’t go carrin’ on like you’re the one who got the shit end of this deal,” he growled.


Buffy was taken aback by William’s harsh words. Letting her tears surface, she nodded her head, “Well I guess that settles it. I’ll give you what you want, just tell me where to sign,” she replied dejectedly.


William backed away and got in his car with out saying a word. If he would have tried to speak, his voice would have cracked under the raw emotions that threatened to strangle him.


Buffy stood there as she watched William drive away. Letting her emotions give way, she let out a strangled sob and fell to her knees. Looking back at the house, she clutched her face in her hands as her tears flowed freely. This was the yet another day she would never forget as long as she lived.


******************************************************************************


William rode in silence as tears streamed down his face. He didn’t think his heart could take anymore pain than it already had, but he was sorely mistaken. At that moment, he felt as if his heart had been ripped out and stomped to pieces right before his eyes.


Wiping at his cheeks furiously, he grabbed his cell phone and dialed the familiar number. When the line connected, he cleared his throat and used his best cocky self-assured voice he could.


“’Ello pet,” he purred.


“Ah my sweet William, to what do I owe the pleasure?” the eerily calm voice replied.


“I’m on my way back to LA, thought I might stop by on m’way in,” he purred suggestively.


The woman on the phone giggled seductively. “Would this be business or pleasure?”


“How about a bit of both?” he asked charmingly.


“Oooh, sounds like someone needs a bit of comfort,” she cooed.


“So what do you say Dru, you up for a bit of company?”


“For you my sweet boy, of course.” Dru purred into the phone.


“I’ll be there in an hour,” he replied and then hung up. If Buffy could move on then by God, so could he.



A/N Okay before you all start throwing heavy objects at me let me explain. William is hurt right now so he isn't exactly thinking straight, hence bad phone call making decisions. In all fairness I did warn you that something like this might happen, but I promise there is a method to my madness so just stick with me here. With that being said please go and review letting me know what you think. Remeber I love you guys so easy on the flames, my fire suit is still at the cleaners, LOL!




Thanks to spufette, cordykitten, Kimber, Spikesluv, ChrissieLinnit, DaniD, Laura, Brat, kim, desertrose, LiLi, willowmouse, spikestheman, SarahandJamesFanatic, Raspy_Luv, frederique, Duckiesrule2005, MidnightGirl, Nicki, Brunettepet, jenny, vitalis, and jennybean for the amazing reviews! I hope you guys will stick with me on this one, I promise to make it worth your wild! Kuddos!

Buffy sat on the ground outside of her old house for God knows how long when she saw a familiar car pull in the drive. Not even bothering to hide her tears she looked up with tear-swollen eyes at her brother who was staring down at her with a concerned look on his face.


“Buffy get up,” Angel demanded softly as he reached down to help the broken blond off the ground.


Buffy absently grabbed Angel’s hand and tried to pull herself up. When she got to her feet, she swayed slightly and was caught by two very strong arms. Looking up at her brother’s big chocolate brown eyes, new tears sprang forth and she felt her throat constrict.


“He’s gone,” she choked out in a tight whisper.


Angel hugged his sister and tried to soothe her with his words. “It’ll be okay Buffy, you’ll see.”


Buffy pulled herself from Angel’s arms and shook her head. “No. It won’t ever be okay,” she stated adamantly.


“Buffy I know it seems that way now, but you’ll see, it’ll get better, besides you still have Lindsey,” Angel pointed out.


Buffy looked at Angel with wide-eyes. She had forgotten about Lindsey in all this mess that was her life. “Oh God! He’s at Mom’s still isn’t he?”


“Well yeah, and I don’t think he’s too happy right now,” Angel commented knowingly. Lindsey had been a force to be reckoned with before he had left. It took everything Angel had to keep Lindsey from going out and finding Buffy himself.


“What did he say?” Buffy asked meekly.


“That when he found Will he was going to show him once and for all whom you belonged to,” Angel replied verbatim. He wasn’t a huge fan of Lindsey so if what he said pissed his sister off enough for her to break up with Lindsey it wouldn’t be any skin off his nose.


Buffy stared at Angel wide-eyed. “He said what?!” She knew Lindsey could be a bit jealous, but he had never gone as far as to ‘claim’ her.


Angel held up his hands in surrender. “Hey I’m just telling you what he said.”


Buffy felt pure rage boil inside her. She belonged to no one. “How dare he say that I ‘belonged’ to him. What is this, the fucking cave man days?” she snapped.


Angel couldn’t help the grin that crossed his face. Buffy may be tiny, but God help you if you pissed her off. All he could say was that he was glad he wasn’t on her radar.


“I have to go,” Buffy stated quickly before she walked over to Angel’s car.


“Hey if you’re gonna run off somewhere take Mom’s car.” Angel yelled.


“I’m going back to Mom’s. I think I need to have a little chat with Mr. McDonald,” Buffy hissed through clinched teeth.


“Alright I’ll meet you there,” Angel said as he walked over to his mother’s car.


Just as Buffy was about to get in the car, she called out to her brother. “Hey, how did you know where to find me?” she asked curiously.


Angel let a smile curl at his lips. “I didn’t, just had to take my chances,” he replied with a shrug.


Buffy gave him a quick nod and got in her car, speeding off in the direction of her mother’s house.


Angel quickly got in his mother’s car and followed Buffy home. This was something he wouldn’t miss for the world.



******************************************************************************



William pulled into the upper-class apartment complex and shut off the engine. The whole ride over he had questioned himself if going to see Drusilla was the right thing to do.


He had met Drusilla Childes at a convention his law firm hosted a few years ago and was immediately drawn to her by a force he couldn’t quite explain. She was dark and mysterious yet she carried herself with such grace.


When William had approached her, she had looked him straight in the eyes and told him point blank that his sunshine was gone and that she could feel the darkness around him.


William had thought her insane and simple turned to walk away from her, but was stopped by a surprisingly strong delicate hand. He turned to look at her and was lost in her trance-like gaze.


Drusilla pulled him to her and whispered seductively in his ear, “She can’t hurt you anymore; mummy will make it all go away.”


Feeling completely unnerved by this woman that was on the brink of her sanity, he pulled away from her and avoided her for the rest of the convention. When he had returned to work on Monday, he was stunned to find the woman who had so strangely captivated him sitting in his office. He had walked in eyeing her wearily as he asked how he could help her.


Drusilla had simply let out an eerie cackle and tsk’d her slender finger at him saying that he was the one in need of help.


William got irritated and told her to leave if she wasn’t interested in his law services, showing her the way out.


Drusilla had simply smiled and slipped a card in his shirt pocket as she slipped out of his office with cat like grace.


William had reached in his pocket and read her card with wide eyes. The woman, who’s name was Drusilla Childes, was a divorce attorney. Looking out his office door at the woman who was being concealed behind closing elevator doors, he shook his head in bewilderment. How in the bloody hell did she know about his broken marriage?


It took weeks for him to call and ask Dru how it was she had known about his problems, but after the first phone call, Dru was someone that William found he could confide in. Their relationship was never physical other than a comforting embrace from time to time, but that’s as far as it ever went.


Dru made it clear that if he ever wanted more she was more than willing to oblige, but that he would have to be the one to initiate things. So now here he was, standing outside her door, hands shoved in his pockets waiting for her to open the door so he could take things to the next level.


Drusilla opened the door and smiled mischievously. “Ah, my sweet William, do come in.”


William nodded his head and walked into her apartment. Every time he walked in her flat a chill ran down his spine. Her apartment was always so cold and empty feeling. The living room was open and had very little furniture, but what she did have was all leather and black. Taking a seat on the couch, he let out a sigh. “Dru I need your help,” he started.


Drusilla came to sit next to him on the couch and trailed a long pointed nail down his arm. “What can mummy do to help?” she purred seductively.


William turned to look at Drusilla and found himself entranced by the deep dark look in her black eyes. He shook his head trying to keep his thoughts straight.


“I need you to be my attorney,” he stated flatly.


Drusilla tilted her head and studied him. “My William’s been to see his sunshine,” she commented with a far off look in her eyes.


William hung his head. “She was in Sunnydale this weekend,” he replied dejectedly as he went over the weekend from hell.


Drusilla got up from the couch and began to sway to the sound of music only she could hear. “Sunshine has found someone else to warm with her rays. Has for sometime now,” she rambled.


“That’s right, found out she’s warmin’ someone else’s bed too,” he commented bitterly.


Drusilla stopped her dancing to look at William with vacant eyes. “So you’ve come to mummy so she can make it all better,” she cooed as she held her frail hand out to him.


William took her small hand in his and stood from the couch. “It just hurts so badly, the pain, its gut wrenching luv. I just want it to stop,” he pleaded desperately.


Drusilla cradled William’s head to her chest and began to sway them slowly. “Shhh my sweet boy, mummy can make the pain stop. Do you want me to make it stop?” she cooed in an eerie voice.


William closed his eyes and clutched Drusilla to him. “Yes luv, just make the hurt go away,” was his muffled plea.


Drusilla pulled William from her chest and caressed his chiseled cheek as she gazed into his cerulean eyes.


William closed the distance between them and captured Drusilla’s lips in a fiery kiss, plundering her mouth with his tongue.


Drusilla lead them to her room, never breaking the kiss. When she felt William’s knees hit the edge of the bed, she pulled back and stared at him.


“Gonna show you the darkness, make you crave it,” she purred as she leaned in and kissed and suckled at the tender flesh on his neck.


William closed his eyes and tried not to think about Buffy. He hadn’t been with another woman since the first time he had kissed Buffy nearly twelve years ago. Shaking away his thoughts, he roughly threw Drusilla on the bed and pinned her with his weight as he nipped at her neck.


Drusilla let out a maniacal laugh. “My boy wants to be rough with his dolly. Mmmmm make it hurt.”


William broke away from her neck and looked down at Drusilla with dark eyes as he tore her shirt from her chest and exposed her small breasts to his hungry gaze. He had never been an aggressive lover with Buffy and right now it was about pure raw animalistic need.


Drusilla let out another laugh and thrashed her head back and forth. “In the dark is where you belong sweet William. Show mummy you don’t need your sunshine,” she hissed as she brought her hand between her legs and rubbed herself.


For some reason her words brought him back to what was happening. What was he doing? He didn’t want Dru like this. This wasn’t him at all. He pulled away from Drusilla with a horrified look on his face.


“Dru, I’m so sorry. I... I can’t do this,” he mumbled as he backed away slowly to the door.


Drusilla let her hand fall from between her thighs as she sat up, not bothering to cover her exposed chest. “You can William, but you won’t,” she stated calmly.


William stopped and looked up at Drusilla with sad eyes. “You’re right. I could very easily warm your bed tonight and leave it in the morning, but I won’t. Not just because I don’t want to ruin our friendship, but…,” he trailed off as his eyes became glossy with unshed tears.


“Because you still need your sunshine. Still need to feel the sun on your face,” Dru finished in an unusually calm and sane tone of voice.


William nodded his head. “Because if I do this then I can never be able to look Buffy in the eyes and tell her that it’s only ever been about her,’ he stated matter of factly.


Dru tilted her head and patted the spot next to her on the bed. “Come sit,” she demeaned gently.


William sat next to Drusilla and hung his head in shame. Drusilla ran her fingers through his soft hair and pulled his head to her chest.


“My sweet boy. So lost he is. There’s nothing mummy can do now,” she cooed softly as she stroked his hair.


William turned into her chest and realized she wasn’t wearing a top. Feeling very uncomfortable, he pulled away and grabbed her ripped shirt from the floor to cover her chest.


“Dru I’m so sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” he apologized feeling ashamed for being so rough with her.


Drusilla shook her head and stood in front of him, cupping his chin. “All is forgiven. Miss Edith told me you wouldn’t go through with it,” she replied in a child-like voice.


William looked at her with a confused look. “Your dolly said I wouldn’t sleep with you?” He had to admit, Dru was completely off her nut.


Drusilla smiled brightly. “Yes, and she also told me other secrets, but I promised not to tell.”


He could only imagine what Dru was really talking about. With a heavy sigh, he stood up from the bed and looked at Drusilla with sad eyes.


“I should probably go,” he said as he placed a quick kiss to her pale cheek.


William walked out of her room and was almost out the door when Drusilla called out to him.


“William, you will stand in the light again,” she stated.


William looked up at Drusilla and shook his head. “No Dru, I won’t. My days in the sun are over.”



A/N : You didn't think I would actually let him go through with it now did you? Yes it was evil on my part to make you think that I would let Will actually sleep with her, but I love a good cliffhanger!




Thanks to Spikesluv, cordykitten, jeanie, Debbie, Angi, DaniD, Meagan, DaniD, frederique, duckies2005, dusty273, dragontiff, gotkona, spufette, Pam S, SarahandJamesFanatic, ChrissieLinnit, ................ ( you know who you are), caatje, Kimber, Nicki, and MidnightGirl for reviewing adn letting me know what you think. I know not everyone was happy with the last chapter but its all in the name of the plot line. Kuddos!

**Disclaimer still very much in effect**




Buffy threw the car in park and got out, nearly ripping the door off its hinges. She had had the whole ride home to stew over what Lindsey had said and she was thoroughly pissed. She belonged to no one!


Buffy stormed in the front door and turned to see Lindsey sitting on the couch talking to her mother. Shooting him a lethal glare, she walked out the backdoor and slammed it behind her. If Lindsey was smart, he would follow her and not make her have to come back in to get him.


Lindsey winced at the sound of the backdoor slamming and looked over at Joyce. “Well looks like someone’s not happy to see me,” he sighed exasperatedly.


Joyce shook her head and looked in the direction of the backdoor. “Well Lindsey I can’t say I envy you right about now,” she commented knowingly. Buffy could be down right scary at times.


With a sigh, Lindsey got up from the couch to meet his fate with the wrath of one, Buffy Summers.


Buffy paced back and forth trying to concentrate on what she was going to say. She was so mad she couldn’t even see straight. Lindsey had no right to say that she belonged to him. Hell she had never even told the guy she loved him, let alone that she ‘belonged’ to him. When the backdoor opened, Buffy stilled her pacing and looked up at Lindsey with angry eyes.


“Would you mind explaining to me why the hell you told my brother that I ‘belonged’ to you?” she asked heatedly.


Lindsey let his jaw drop. That’s what she was so spitfire mad about?” Lindsey couldn’t help but laugh.


Buffy crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. “I’m sorry but I so don’t see the humor in this.”


“Oh believe me, this is funny,” Lindsey said wryly. “You are actually pissed at me for saying that you belonged to me Buffy, I don’t think it can get any more amusing than that.”


“And how is this funny?”


“Buffy you’re my GIRLFRIEND!” Lindsey stated as if he was talking to an ignorant child.


“And?” Buffy asked pointedly.


“And nothing! We’ve been together for five years Buffy, how the hell do you expect me to react when I find out the woman I love is with her ex-husband.” Lindsey pointed out heatedly.


“Husband,” Buffy corrected.


Lindsey clinched his teeth and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. “See, that right there is why I said what I said Buffy. You still can’t let it go,” he pointed out irritably.


“Let what go?” Buffy asked completely exasperated.


“The fact that it’s over!” Lindsey snapped.



******************************************************************************



Angel ran into the house looking around curiously. Joyce frowned at her son and furrowed her brow. “Angel what are you doing?” she asked getting up to see what he might be looking for.


“Where’s Buffy?” he asked quickly heading towards the kitchen.


“She’s out back with Lindsey,” Joyce explained with a frown. What was her son up to?


Angel had his hand on the door but stopped at the sound of his mother’s voice.


“Angel Conner Summers if you open that door so help me,” Joyce threatened in a warning tone.


Angel slowly turned and looked at his mother with a look of pure innocence. “What?”


Joyce placed her hands on her hips. “Don’t give me that. Sit.” She demanded gesturing to the chair in front of her at the breakfast table.


Angel let out a huff and trudged over to the chair like a sullen child. “Fine,” he relented grumpily.


Joyce shook her head disapprovingly at her son. “You know this is none of our business,” she scolded.


“Well as her older brother I make it my business,” Angel pointed out defiantly.


“Buffy is a big girl now Angel, she can take care of herself,” Joyce replied with a heavy sigh.


“Oh I know Buffy can handle herself,” Angel pointed out matter of factly.


“Then why do you want to go out there?” Joyce asked curiously.


Angel let a smirk cross his handsome face. “To see Lindsey get what’s coming to him.”



******************************************************************************



Buffy stood there wide-eyed. She couldn’t believe Lindsey had just said that. She couldn’t decide if she was hurt or pissed off, maybe even a bit of both.


Lindsey rubbed at his face in frustration. “Buffy look, I’m sorry I was so harsh, but it’s true. You won’t let the fact that whatever you and Will had is over. I mean come on; who stays married to someone after not hearing a single word from them for eight years?”


Buffy felt her chin begin to tremble and tears sting her eyes. There was so much truth to Lindsey’s words yet she wouldn’t let herself believe them, because then it would make it real.


“Go,” she stated flatly.


“What?” Lindsey asked disbelievingly.


“Go,” she repeated. “This isn’t working anymore,” she explained emotionlessly.


“You have got to be shitting me,” Lindsey replied with a shake of his head.


“Sorry Lindsey, but I’m not ‘shitting’ you,” Buffy replied dryly.


“So this is it? All this time we’ve put into this relationship was just a waste of time?” he asked full of raw emotion.


“Lindsey obviously you feel you can’t trust me,” Buffy pointed out.


“Buffy it was never a question of trust,” Lindsey retorted.


“Than explain to me why you felt the need to try and claim me like some barbaric oaf?”


“Buffy don’t you get it?” Lindsey asked wryly.


“Get what?” Buffy asked confused.


“How am I supposed to compare to the man that you’ve had on a pedestal your whole life? When you first told me about Will I thought that maybe it was something you might get over some day, but now I’m not so sure,” Lindsey replied mournfully. He could see himself losing the girl he loved right before his eyes.


Buffy let go of some of her anger and placed a hand on Lindsey’s arm. “Lindsey I’m sorry you feel that way, but you know how hard it is for me to just give my heart to someone after what I’ve been through,” Buffy pointed out gently.


“So what now?” Lindsey asked as he looked up at Buffy with sad blue eyes.


“I think maybe we should take a break and give each other a bit of space,” Buffy suggested softly.


“How long?”


“At least until I can get through all this shit with Will,” Buffy replied feeling a headache coming on at just the thought of her divorce.


“I’ll move back to my place until then,” Lindsey suggested.


Buffy let out a sigh of relief. She was glad that Lindsey was going to give her the space she needed to figure everything out.


“Thanks Lindsey, it really means a lot to me,” she replied with a small grateful smile.


“So can I call you sometime?” Lindsey asked hopefully.


Buffy smiled. “I would like that, besides we still have to work together right?”


Lindsey hadn’t thought about that. How in the hell was he supposed to work with Buffy and pretend that they weren’t separated? This was going to be harder than he thought.


“Buffy how are we gonna work this?” Lindsey asked dejectedly.


“Lindsey I know it will be weird at first, but maybe we can work things out somewhere down the road,” Buffy tried to reassure him. She knew the chances were slim, but she did still care for him.


“Right,” Lindsey replied not believing a word she said.


They stood there awkwardly on Buffy’s mother’s back porch not knowing what to say next. I mean what do you say to the person whom you’ve shared a bed with for five years and never even considered sharing your heart?


******************************************************************************



William walked in the door of his apartment and let out a sigh. It was good to be home. At least here he wouldn’t have to deal with all the bullshit he had left in Sunnydale.


Setting his bag down, he walked over to his answering machine, pushed the flashing button, and listened as the machine played out the messages.


William was about to sit down on his cool leather couch when a deep voice came over the machine.


“Will I know you must be surprised to here from me, but I think we should talk. You know where to find me.”


William pinched the bridge of his nose. Bloody hell. Was there no end to the nightmare that was this weekend? Grabbing the phone, he dialed the familiar number and waited for his old friend to answer and prayed that she wouldn’t.


******************************************************************************


Angel sat in the living room watching TV when the sound of the phone interrupted him. Reaching over he grabbed the cordless phone and brought it to his ear.


“Summers residence.”


“’Ello Peaches,” came the low British drawl over the line.


Angel couldn’t help but chuckle. “Will you do realize I can grow facial hair now?” he replied dryly. His friend would never let him live down the fact that he didn’t have to shave until they were seniors in high school.


“Pfft. I’ve seen the sad excuse you call facial hair, and it’s not much,” William retorted playfully.


“You’re just jealous of my baby smooth skin,” Angel retorted back.


“What ever you say Peaches,” William chuckled.


“So how the hell have you been Will?” Angel asked of his oldest friend. It had been quite some time since he had talked to William.


“Do you even need to ask?” William snorted.


“Well I’ve heard Buffy’s side of it, but you know what a drama queen she can be,” Angel replied knowingly.


“Well there’s not much for me to tell you,” William replied flatly.


“How about your side?” Angel suggested.


“Buffy moved on, so now I’m gonna truly set her free. The end,” William replied.


“What, you mean Lindsey?”


William had to take a deep breath before he replied. “Yes, Lindsey,” he said through clinched teeth.


Angel couldn’t help the grin that crossed his face. “Well I don’t think that’s an issue anymore,” he replied cryptically. He knew that Buffy was just taking a break from Lindsey, but he couldn’t help but see this as the chance to try and get his sister back with his best friend.


“Wha’” William mumbled stunned.


“Buffy and Lindsey aren’t together right now,” Angel replied. It wasn’t exactly a lie.


“Angel what are you getting at?” William asked cautiously.


“Nothing, just that if Lindsey’s the only reason you’re pushing the divorce, then you’re gonna have to find a new one,” Angel replied flippantly.


“What are you on about mate?” William asked cautiously.


“I mean you and Buffy can be together now, there’s no obstacles,” Angel pointed out resolutely.


“Hate to tell you Angel, but just because Buffy’s decided to un-ass the git doesn’t mean I’m gonna go running back to her,” William replied matter of factly.


Angel let out a heavy sigh. “Listen I’m the first to admit that I wasn’t too keen on the idea of you and my sister, but after I saw the way you two were together I realized that you were really meant for one another.”


“The key word of that statement being ‘were’, as in not any more,” William pointed out.


“How can you say that?” Angel asked frustratedly.


“Things have changed, we’ve changed,” William replied point-blankly.


“Well I can’t say I didn’t try,” Angel huffed, defeated.


“Were you calling to try and get Buffy and I back together?” William asked disbelievingly.


“Well, yeah,” Angel replied honestly.


William couldn’t believe it. He expected something like this from Joyce, maybe even his father, but never from Angel.


“Listen mate, just because things didn’t work out between me and your sis…” William trailed off thinking he was beginning to sound like a bloody poof.


“Easy Will,” Angel warned playfully.


William let out a chuckle. “I know, I’m startin’ to sound like a poof aren’t I?”


“I always wondered about you,” Angel teased.


“Hey I think you know for a fact that that’s bloody well not true and if you need remindin’ go and ask your wife,” William retorted cockily.


Angel felt his jealousy bubble to the surface. He was well aware of the fling his wife had had with his best friend while he and Cordy were on the outs.


“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that,” Angel warned in a serious tone.


“Easy Peaches, it was a long time ago and it obviously didn’t mean anything to Cordy ‘cause the next day she ran to you beggin’ for forgiveness,” William defended.


“I think we should find something else to talk about,” Angel suggested still feeling a twinge of jealousy.


William let out a chuckle. “Still want me back with your sis?” he asked sarcastically.


“Surprisingly yes. For some reason it’s you that makes her truly happy.” Angel retorted sarcastically. “Ever since the day you guys split, Buffy hasn’t been the same,” he finished honestly.


William closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He really didn’t want to deal with this right now. “Angel I need to make some calls before it gets too late,” he lied.


Angel knew William was trying to give him the brush off. “Whatever Will. Listen, I know it’s been a long time, but we’re still family and you have two nephews and a niece on the way that would love to met you.”


William felt a pang of guilt rack him. He had never even thought to try and stay in touch with Buffy’s family due to the fact he didn’t feel he had any right to.


“I’m sorry Angel,” William apologized.


“Don’t be. I know why you stayed away, really I do, but now that you know that we still consider you family you have no excuse,” Angel pointed out.


“You’re right. Maybe we can get together sometime and I can see the boys and Cordy,” William suggested.


“That’d be great. As long as you promise to keep your hands off my wife,” Angel teased.


William let out a chuckle. “You have my word.”


Angel felt a bit better about the situation and decided to let William go. “Alright Will, go make those important calls that don’t exist,” Angel commented sarcastically.


“Thanks Angel,” William replied gratefully.


“I head back to Boston tomorrow but I will give you a call soon, alright?”


“Sounds good, tell Cordy I said hello and congrats on the new baby,” William replied before hanging up.


“Thanks Will, I’ll talk to you soon, bye.”


William hung up the phone and let out a heavy sigh. Angel’s call was making his decision even harder. Was Angel serious when he said that he was the only one who made Buffy truly happy? Looking up at the ceiling and fusing his eyes shut, William let out a growl of frustration as he kicked the wall.


“Bloody fucking hell!”




Huge thanks to Briana, spufette, cee, Raspy_Luv, Meagan, Nicki, spikestheman, teasha, blondiebear, dragontiff, dusty273, Lucy, SarahandJAmesFanatic, DaniD, jenny, caatje, cordykitten, Spikesluv, ChrissieLinnit, MidnightGirl, kim, Kimber, frederique, vitalis, Rikki, and Laura for the lovely reviews, I can't thank you guys enough. I want to say a special thanks to gotkona, my beta who has been my backbone through this fic. If not for her I so never would have posted, thanks swwets, love ya! Kuddos!

**Disclaimer in full affect**





Buffy sat in her old room in deep thought. Lindsey had left shortly after their talk and was heading back to New York the next morning to start moving out of her apartment. Buffy knew she should have been sad, but she just wasn’t. She cared about Lindsey there was no doubt, but it just wasn’t the way she felt he deserved.


Buffy closed her eyes and let out a sigh. Why was it that every time something good happened to her things always fell apart at the seams? She was really beginning to wonder if she was the butt of some cosmic joke.


Buffy got up from her spot on the bed and went to her closet. She knew it still had to be there, it was just a matter of finding it. After rummaging through the bottom of her old closet, she found what she was looking for.


Buffy placed the old shoebox in her lap and wiped the dust from the top. She hadn’t looked in this box since the night she left Sunnydale. Opening the lid, she traced her fingers over its contents. In this box was every note, picture, and keepsake Buffy had saved from her time with William.


She pulled out a picture of them from the night she had graduated and gazed at it with glassy eyes. It seemed like only yesterday that they were running off and making plans to spend the rest of their lives together.



***Flashback***


“Will!” Buffy screamed across the football field as she ran into the arms of the man she loved.


William scooped Buffy in his arms and spun her around as she let out a fit of giggles.


“I’m so proud of you kitten,” he said as he captured her mouth in a searing kiss, placing Buffy on her own two feet.


Buffy smiled dazedly up at William. “Can you believe it! Now we can go to collage together and start planning our future,” she squealed excitedly.


William looked over Buffy’s shoulder at Angel who had a knowing smile on his face.


“Let’s get out of here,” William suggested with a lopsided grin.


“Alright, let me give my cap and gown to my mom and then we can leave,” Buffy replied.


William gave Buffy a quick kiss and nodded his head. Buffy flashed William one last smile before she ran off to her mother to tell her she was leaving with William.


Angel walked up to William and looked in his line of vision which happened to be on his little sister.


“You do realize she’s still too young for this,” Angel commented, looking over at his friend with a serious look on his face.


William let his gaze leave Buffy to look at his oldest friend. “Angel I told you before, I love your sister more than life itself. I want to spend the rest of m’life with ‘er,” he replied honestly.


“I know,” Angel replied knowingly.


“So I have your blessing to ask Buffy to marry me?” Sure he had already talked things over with Angel, but he wanted to make sure he had Angel’s full approval before he asked Buffy.


“If you promise to wait till she’s ready,” Angel stated resolutely.


“When she thinks she’s ready or when YOU think she’s ready?” William asked with a raise of his brow.


Angel let a grin curl at his lips. “You’re smarter than you look.”


William shook his head. “Your approval may be important to me, but bugger all if you think I’m gonna wait around for you to give me the green light on marrying your sis, hell I’ll be ninety if I wait around on you,” he commented knowingly.


“And this is bad why?” Angel asked teasingly.


“Alright now peaches,” William warned.


Angel jutted out his chin and rubbed at the thin facial hair that grew there. “Peaches my ass, I have a full beard almost,” he defended.


William let out a full laugh at the poor excuse of hair that Angel claimed was the beginning of a beard.


“Yeah if you don’t shave it for the next year,” he replied through his laughter.


Angel reached over and punched William in the arm. “Oh shut up,” he grumbled as William continued to laugh, rubbing his sore arm.


Buffy walked up and put her hands on her hips, scowling at her brother. “What did you do?” she asked walking over to William, fussing over him like a child.


“Please, I barely touched him,” Angel sighed exasperatedly.


Buffy furrowed her brow at Angel and then turned to William with a sweet smile. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”


William smiled at Buffy and then turned and looked at Angel. “Later mate.”


Angel shot William a warning look. “You two be good.”


Buffy rolled her eyes at her brother, taking William’s hand in hers. “Whatever Angel, bye,” and then dragged William in the direction of the parking lot.


******************************************************************************


Buffy noticed the leaving Sunnydale sign and turned to William with a curious look on her face.


“Uh Will, where exactly are we going?”


William looked over at the girl of his dreams next to him and let a mischievous smile curl at his lips. “What would you say if I said Las Vegas?” he asked.


Buffy felt her jaw fall open and her eyes bug out. “You’re kidding right?” she asked disbelievingly.


William let a serious look cross his face. “Does it look like I’m kidding?”


“Will what in the hell are we going to do in Las Vegas?” Buffy asked completely flabbergasted.


William pulled the car over and turned to look at a very stunned Buffy. He felt like his stomach was going to turn over on itself he was so nervous. Taking a deep breath, he looked Buffy deep in the eyes.


“Buffy, you know I love you more than anythin’ in this world right?” he asked nervously. When Buffy cautiously nodded her head, he continued. “And you know I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”


Buffy felt her breath hitch in her throat as she sat there expectantly waiting for William to say what he needed to say.


William reached in his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. Looking up at Buffy with hopeful blue eyes he asked the one question he had been wanting to ask since the first time he had kissed her.


“Elizabeth Anne Summers, will you marry me?”


Buffy thought she might pass out. William Giles was asking her to marry him. She had dreamt of this moment a million times and now it was actually happening. Buffy just simply sat there in stunned silence.


William began to shift nervously in his seat when Buffy hadn’t said anything. “Buffy luv?”


Buffy snapped out of her daze and gave William a watery smile. “Yes,” she replied in a tear tight whisper.


William let out a whoop and pulled Buffy to him, crushing her lips with his. He plundered her mouth anxiously, putting every emotion he felt into that kiss.


Buffy pulled away panting for air. “Will,” she gasped between breaths.


“Yeah luv?” William gasped as he too panted for much needed air.


“Do you seriously want to go to Vegas?” she asked nervously. Yes she wanted to spend the rest of her life with William, but did she want that to start tonight?


William cupped Buffy’s cheek in his hand as he gazed at her adoringly.


“Buffy I want the rest of my life with you to start right now. I love you and there is nothing in the world that can change that,” he confessed as he slipped the ½-carat solitaire on her finger.


Every doubt Buffy had was gone as she gazed down at the stunning diamond ring that now adorned her ring finger. With a bright smile, Buffy nodded her head. “Alright, let’s do it!”


******************************************************************************


Buffy and William stood in front of the red velvet church with Elvis as their witness as they promised to love, honor, and cherish each other for as long as they both shall live.


Buffy looked down at their joined hands and smiled brightly. In just a few moments she was going to officially be Mrs. William Randal Giles. Feeling a jolt of excitement course through her she looked up at William and squeezed his hand affectionately.


William had never been as happy as he was at that very moment. Sure getting married in an Elvis chapel wasn’t the most romantic thing, but to him it didn’t matter. He was now married to the woman he loved.


As the minister pronounced them husband and wife, William scooped Buffy in his arms and crushed her lips in a passionate kiss as Elvis sang ‘Love Me Tender’.


Once the register was paid, William took Buffy’s hand in his and walked them out of the small chapel.


“Well Mrs. Giles since this was sort of spur of the moment thing we don’t have many options as to our honeymoon suite,” William confessed.


Buffy just smiled. “Will I don’t care where we stay as long as we’re together,” Buffy replied honestly.


William glanced over Buffy’s shoulder at a vacancy sign. “Well how about the Heartbreak Hotel?” he chuckled.


Buffy turned around and looked at the small hotel that looked like something out of a seventies porn movie and laughed. “Well this is one night we will definitely never forget.”


William let his voice drop to a husky tone as he pulled Buffy to him. “And in more ways than one Mrs. Giles,” he purred suggestively.


Buffy felt her entire body go up in flames. “Room. Now,” she demanded as she pulled William in the direction of the hotel.


William opened the door to their room and had to hold back a laugh as he carried Buffy over the threshold. It was what the Heartbreak Hotel considered a honeymoon suite. The room was done in reds and golds from the velvet bedspread to the bathroom. When William saw there was a mirror over the heart-shaped bed he couldn’t hold back any longer.


“Oh this is just too much,” he managed to say through his fits of laughter as he set Buffy on her feet.


Buffy looked up and joined in his laughter. “Well it looks like you’re in for quite a show tonight Mr. Giles,” Buffy teased suggestively.


This seemed to sober William instantly. “Buffy luv, I know this isn’t exactly what you had in mind for your wedding night, but you do know that this is the best night of my life,” he confessed as he took Buffy in his arms and kissed her passionately as he laid her down on the bed.


Buffy moaned softly into William’s mouth, pulling him on top of her. William braced his weight on one arm as he used the other to open the buttons on Buffy’s blouse.


Buffy wanted to feel his skin against hers and quickly pulled his dress shirt from his slacks, breaking the kiss as she gasped for air. “Want you,” she rasped as she worked the buttons of his shirt.


“Uh Buffy, want you so fucking bad,” William groaned as he pulled open Buffy’s shirt and cupped her pert breast in his hand, kneading it softly. He leaned in and laved at her neck, nipping and suckling at her fevered flesh.


“Ah Will,” Buffy cried out as she arched off the bed. He was sending her into a frenzy with the way he was tormenting the tender flesh of her neck.


William stood up and rid himself of his shirt; staring at Buffy with eyes so full of lust they seemed black.


Buffy sat up to rid herself of her shirt. She reached out with gentle hands, undid the button of William’s dress pants, and slowly pulled the zipper down, freeing his now fully erect cock.


William let his head fall back and hissed in pleasure as Buffy put her hot little mouth around his engorged member.


“Ugh Luv, feels so good,” he encouraged her, tangling his fingers in her hair.


Buffy let William’s hard prick almost slip from her mouth before deep throating him to the hilt, eliciting a deep moan of satisfaction.


William pulled Buffy away from his painfully hard cock and stood her up before him.


“Want to cum inside you,” he rasped as he trailed his hands up Buffy’s arms leaving goose bumps in his wake.


“Uh Will, need you now,” Buffy moaned breathlessly as William sucked greedily at her neck.


William continued to adorn her neck as he expertly removed Buffy’s bra and worked on her skirt. Once the material fell around her feet, he hooked his fingers inside the strings of her tiny thong and pulled it down her slender thighs.


Buffy pulled William from her neck and brought his mouth to hers in a searing kiss. They kissed languidly at first but as hands roamed over fevered flesh, it turned frenzied and desperate.


William lifted Buffy and wrapped her legs around his slender waist. Kicking his pants aside, he laid Buffy on the bed and rested his weight on his forearms.


“Buffy I love you so much,” he gushed as he looked into her big emerald eyes.


“I love you too William,” Buffy replied as tears began to swim in her eyes.


William noticed the tears in Buffy’s eyes and furrowed his brow in concern. “I didn’t hurt you did I?”


Buffy shook her head. “No, I’m just so happy right now,” she replied in a tear-tight voice.


William felt his own tears trying to betray him. Buffy had never looked more beautiful to him then she did right then. Letting a hand drift between her thighs, he let a slender digit spread her nether lips, running it along her wet slit.


Buffy gasped and arched her back off the bed. “Will, ahhh” she moaned breathlessly.


William let his finger delve into her wet heat and pumped it at an achingly slow pace as he watched her face, writing every little detail to memory. Then without warning, he slipped another finger deep within her, causing her to writhe beneath him.


Buffy closed her eyes and rocked slowly against William’s talented fingers. She was so close and yet so far from release.


William could tell Buffy was close so he turned up his fingers and pumped faster as he massaged her clit with his thumb.


Buffy’s eyes shot open as she panted heavily from the sensations William was inflicting on her oh so sensitive region.


“That’s right luv, let me see your eyes as you cum all over my fingers,” William purred as he stared Buffy in the eyes with unadulterated desire.


Buffy locked eyes with William as her orgasm tore through her. “Ugh yes, Will….ah….love you…,” she cried out in a shrill voice.


William slowly removed his fingers from Buffy’s drenched core and brought them to his lips. “Mmmm, so good,” he moaned as he licked his fingers clean of her essence.


Buffy couldn’t stand it anymore. Pulling William down for a deep kiss, she grabbed his hard cock in her hand and positioned him at her wet entrance.


“William make love to me,” she pleaded desperately.


William could see Buffy could take no more and slowly slid his hard shaft within her moist depths.


They both let out soft moans as William encased himself inside Buffy to the hilt. He let his head lull forward to rest on Buffy’s shoulder as he let her adjust to his girth. After as many times as they had been together she was still so tight that it felt like the first time every time.


Buffy felt the slow ache building within her and was desperate for release. Rocking her hips, she thrust upward letting William know she was ready for him.


William followed Buffy’s lead and began to slowly pump within her scorching depths, rolling his hips with every other thrust.


Buffy dug her nails in his back as she arched up off the bed. “Uh Will, harder,” she gasped feeling her release on the brink.


William thrust faster and deeper as he grunted, “Ah Fuck Buffy, so tight…ah, gonna make me cum.”


Buffy clinched down her inner muscles and felt William’s cock jump within her. With a few more strokes, Buffy buried her face in the crook of Williams’s neck and cried out her release.


“Oh Will…Ugh yes, right there…don’t stop, don’t stop!!!!!”


As soon as Buffy’s inner muscles began to flutter wildly around his cock, William felt his sac tighten with his impending release.


“Uh Luv… so good… so bleeding good,” he rambled senselessly as he let his hot spunk go in thick spurts deep within Buffy’s womb.


When Buffy felt William’s hot load hit the back of her womb a wave of pure pleasure washed over her. “Ahhhhhh Will,” was her strangled cry as she scratched her nails up his back.


William rolled to the side and pulled Buffy with him, never letting his now softening cock slide from her warm depths.


Buffy cuddled up to William’s chest and let out a content sigh. “William that’s was absolutely amazing,” she gasped still trying to catch her breath.


William held Buffy securely to him and kissed the top of her damp head. “Uh huh,” he replied feeling completely sated.


“Will it always be like this?” Buffy asked before a yawn took over.


“Till death do us part,” he promised as he stroked her hair.


“Till death do us part,” Buffy repeated as she closed her eyes and let sleep take over.


William kissed Buffy’s forehead and smiled. “For as long as we both shall live.”


**** ****



Buffy sat there staring absently at all the memories they had shared together, but that’s all they were now, just memories.


Wiping the tears from her cheeks, Buffy put away her precious mementos and put them back in the closet where she had found them.


Standing up she took a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror. She was no longer the girl she was all those years ago and it was about time she started acting like it. With new resolve, Buffy Anne Giles was going to show her husband just exactly who she had become.





Thanks to aspikefan, spufette, Spikesluv, Kimber, DaniD, dusty273, smitten, cordykitten, SarahandJamesFanatic, frederique, Raspy_Luv, kim, Brunettepet, Meagan, MidnightGirl, Laura, Briana, and Renee' for the lovely reviews and please by all means KEEP THEM UP!!!!! It's because of y'all I post as often as I do *winks*! Kuddos!

William sat in his office thumbing through his cases absent-mindedly, glancing over at the phone occasionally. He knew he needed to make that phone call but every time he reached for the phone he would pull back as if it might bite him. With a reluctant sigh, he grabbed the receiver and dialed the familiar number waiting for someone to answer on the other line.


Buffy sat on the couch flipping through the channels glumly as she engorged herself with her favorite ice cream. Angel had already left for Boston and her mother had to go the gallery for a last minute sale, so yet again, she was all alone.


Just as Buffy was about to let her foul mood get the best of her, the phone rang. With an exasperated sigh, she picked up the phone and brought it to her ear.


“Hello?” she answered desolately.


William felt his breath catch in his throat. Shit, Buffy was still at her mum’s and he had completely forgotten about it.


“Uh, hey Buffy,” he replied hesitantly.


Buffy felt a knot rise in her throat. Just great. This was all she needed right now.


“William why are you calling here?” she asked with more bitterness than she had intended to.


“I was calling to get your address from your mum,” he replied honestly.


“Oh,” Buffy replied in a small voice.


William reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. Why did this have to be so bleeding hard?


“Listen Buffy I know this is awkward as ass, but I didn’t realize you were still at your mum’s,” he explained.


“No it’s fine, really,” Buffy lied.


“It is?” he asked trying to hide his hurt.


“Yeah, it’s time we both moved on right?” Buffy suggested keeping up her brave façade.


“Right,” he agreed meekly.


They sat in awkward silence until Buffy could stand it no longer. “So when exactly can I expect…..” She trailed off unsure of how to word what she was asking.


“Dru should have everything finished by sometime next week,” he finished for her in a flat voice.


Buffy felt hot tears well in her eyes. “Okay,” was her choked reply.


William could hear the tears in Buffy’s voice and knew he wouldn’t able to hold together much longer. “I guess since I have you on the line you could just give me the address,” he suggested quickly, swallowing down the knot in his throat.


Buffy took a deep cleansing breath. “Sure, it’s uh, 502 Park Place apartment 10 B,” she relayed as she wiped at her tears.


William quickly jotted down the address and put down his pen. “Well I guess that’s all then pet,” he sighed.


Buffy closed her eyes and held back the sob that threatened to escape at the use of his old pet name for her.


William furrowed his brow. “Buffy are you still there?” he asked concerned.


Buffy swallowed her tears and tried to clear her throat. “Yeah, I’m still here,” she replied in a tear-tight voice.


William felt his heart ache at the sound of Buffy’s teary voice. This was absolutely killing him. Fighting his own tears, he let out a ragged breath. “Buffy I’m sorry, but I can’t do this,” he choked out.


Buffy let out a small sob and let her tears flow freely. “William, I’m so sorry,” she hiccupped and hung up the phone.


William sat with the phone clutched in his hand as silent tears rolled down his cheeks. Clamping his eyes shut, he inhaled deeply through his nose and mentally kicked himself for being so weak. What kind of man was he? Here he was crying like a baby over a woman who clearly didn’t want to be with him anymore. Wiping at his tears furiously, William got up from his desk and stormed out of his office calling over his shoulder to his stunned secretary.


“I’m out for the rest of the day,” he all but growled.


Tara McClay watched with wide eyes as her employer burst through the double doors and into the street. “Sure thing boss,” she said in a small voice, shaking her head.



******************************************************************************



Buffy curled her small body on the couch and let her sobs come out in long anguished cries. Her heart felt as if it was breaking within her chest. She had never felt pain like this before, not even when she had left William had it hurt so much.


As her body slowly calmed, she heard the front door open. Looking up with tear-swollen eyes, she saw her mother standing there with concern etched all over her face.


“Buffy what’s wrong?” Joyce asked as she quickly went to Buffy’s side to comfort her in a way only a mother could.


When Buffy felt her mother’s warm arms envelope her, fresh tears surfaced and her shoulders shook with their intensity. “Oh Mom,” she wailed into her shoulder.


“Shhh, sweetie, I’m here,” Joyce soothed her hysterical child.


When Joyce was sure Buffy had calmed down, she pulled her at arms length and looked her in the eyes. “Buffy what happened?” she asked in a soothing voice.


Buffy wiped at her dripping nose and sniffled. “Will called,” she explained meekly.


Joyce gazed at her daughter with sympathetic eyes. “Oh sweetie,” she cooed as she brushed the tears from her daughter’s eyes.


Buffy sniffled again as she looked up at her mother with sad green eyes. “It’s really over,” she said dismally.


Joyce didn’t have to ask what her daughter was referring to. “Buffy honey, I know you can’t see this right now, but maybe this is for the best,” Joyce tried. She loved William like a son, but she couldn’t stand to see her daughter in so much pain, so maybe cutting all ties was really for the best.


Buffy looked at her mother aghast. “How can you say that?” she asked incredulously.


“Buffy think about it. You and William have been separated longer than you were even together,” Joyce tried to reason.


Buffy felt pure rage course through her. “So what, the four years we were together should mean absolutely nothing,” she snapped heatedly.


Joyce let out an exasperated sigh. “That’s not what I’m saying Buffy.”


“Then what are you saying mother?” Buffy asked snidely as she crossed her arms over her chest defiantly.


Joyce felt her anger bubble to the surface. “Well look at it from William’s point of view Buffy. He sees you for the first time in eight years and you’re all over another man, how is he supposed to feel, huh?” Joyce pointed out angrily.


Buffy was taken aback buy her mother’s forthrightness. She had tried to not look at it from that point of view, but when it’s thrown in your face like that, well it’s kinda hard to ignore.


“Mom I….” Buffy trailed off not knowing what to say.


Joyce instantly regretted her harsh words. “Buffy I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” she gasped putting a hand to her mouth.


Buffy swallowed back her tears and let a resolute look cross her face. “No Mom, don’t be sorry. Everything you said was true. I was wrong for leaving William for my own selfish reasons and I have no right to be hurt or upset because he wants a divorce,” Buffy stated in a calm voice.


Joyce looked at her daughter with sad eyes. “Buffy this is not all your fault.” She reassured her daughter. “You and William were both way too young when you got married and now that you are both adults maybe you can fix things and possibly salvage what’s left of your relationship by setting each other free,” Joyce suggested in a gentle tone.


Buffy looked up at her mother with glassy eyes. “But I still love him so much,” she confessed as a single tear ran down her cheek. It felt good to finally admit it out loud to someone other than herself. The truth that had been eating away at her daily.


Joyce felt her own tears begin to surface. “Then tell him before it’s too late,” Joyce replied in a tear-tight voice.


Buffy fell into her mother’s lap and let out a small sob. “I just don’t know if I can,”


Joyce stroked her daughter’s hair in a soothing manner. “Well Buffy, only you and you alone can take that leap, so you have to decide if he is worth it,” Joyce stated in a motherly tone.


Buffy continued to let her tears fall as she clung to her mother’s waist. “I just don’t know Mom, I just don’t know.”



******************************************************************************



William sat at the bar, half a bottle of tequila later, deliriously numb. He knew it was still way too early to be drinking, but he just wanted something to make the pain go away.


Tapping his shot glass on the counter he looked up with hooded glassy eyes. “Fill’er up Steve,” he demanded in a drunken slur.


Steve the bartender walked over and studied William. “Hey Will, I think you’ve had enough man,” he suggested cautiously.


William sat up on his stool and pointed a finger in the direction of the blurry figure before him. “Listen mate, I’m the payin’ cust…customer and I say when enough’s enough,” he slurred as he teetered on his stool.


Steve rolled his eyes. “Yeah well I’m not exactly in the mood to call 911 to come get your ass, so I say I’m cuttin’ you off,” Steve demanded.


William was about to retort when his eyes rolled in the back of his head and he promptly passed out cold, falling smack on the floor.


Steve set down his rag and let out an irritated sigh. “Damn it Will,” he groused as he came around the other side of the bar to help the very inebriated man off the floor.


William let out a groan and grabbed his head. “What the fu-,” but was stopped by the bile that was hitting the back of his throat. Leaning forward, he threw up the half bottle of tequila and what was left of his lunch all over the floor and Steve’s shoes.


Steve none to gently tossed William into a near by booth as a slew of profanities fell from his lips. Reaching in William’s jacket pocket, he pulled out his cell phone and scanned the phone book for the number he was looking for. Once he found the number, he pushed send and glanced over at a now snoring William. Yeah he was seriously gonna kick his ass once he was sober.


******************************************************************************


Drusilla grabbed her cell phone and looked at the caller ID. Seeing William’s name she smiled and brought the phone to her ear.


“So tell me, what do I owe the pleasure of this call?” she purred into the phone.


“Drusilla sorry, it’s Steve down at Keys, Will is passed out drunk and I didn’t know who else to call,” the bartender explained as he rolled his eyes in the direction of the reason he was calling Drusilla in the first place.


Drusilla shook her head knowingly. “Very well, I’ll be there in ten minutes.”


“Thanks Drusilla,” he replied gratefully. “Oh and you might want to make sure you have something in the car in case he gets sick again,” Steve added dryly.


“Again?” Drusilla asked curiously.


Steve looked down at his soiled shoes and clinched his teeth. “Don’t ask,” he warned.


Drusilla let out a small chuckle and shook her head. “Right, well I’ll see you soon,” and then hung up. Her poor William must have talked to his sunshine today. Well I guess it was up to her to make everything all better.


******************************************************************************



William woke up and grabbed at his throbbing head. “Fuck!” he moaned as he looked around and took in his surroundings. He was in his bed completely naked and was that the shower running? He sat up, steadying himself from the now spinning room. Oh this couldn’t be good.


Drusilla came out of the bathroom and rubbed at her wet hair. She had a dinner to be at in a little over an hour and figured she might as well get ready here and make sure William was okay. When she saw William sitting up in bed she smiled.


“Ah, he lives,” she commented playfully.


William snapped his head in the direction of the female voice and stared wide-eyed.


“Oh shit,” he groaned as he lay back in his bed, pulling the sheet up to cover his head.


Drusilla pouted her lip. “Now William, that’s no way to greet the woman who came to your rescue,” she said in mock hurt. She knew exactly what William assumed had happened and figured she needed to teach him a lesson. It could have been some other woman in his apartment in a less than innocent situation.


William sat up and made sure the sheet covered his manly bits. “Dru I…” But he didn’t even know what to say because in all honesty, he wasn’t exactly sure what had happened.


Drusilla could see that William was in great distress. With a shake of her head she reassured him.
“Nothing happened. I have a dinner to go to and I didn’t want to leave ‘til I was sure you were okay,” she explained.


William closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief. Not that Drusilla wasn’t a desirable woman, it’s just his heart belonged to someone else, or well it had.


“Dru I’m sorry,” he apologized.


She raised a brow at him. “For what? Almost throwing up in my car or almost killing yourself with bloody alcohol,” she asked dryly.


William tried to think about how much he had had to drink. Last he remembered he was on his fourth or fifth shot.


“That bad huh?” he winced


“Well if you call being passed out for the last six hours bad, then yes,” she replied flippantly.


He hadn’t intended on getting that drunk, but apparently his head wasn’t quite in agreement. He was beginning to notice a pattern here. Every time he talked to Buffy he woke up with the worst hangovers. It had to be a sign of some sort.


“I appreciate you getting me home luv,” he said gratefully.


Drusilla sat on the edge of the bed. “You talked to her today didn’t you.” It was more a statement than a question.


William let his head fall back to rest on the headboard, eyes shut. “Yeah, I did,” he admitted bitterly. “Grahhhhh, why the fuck does she always seem to do this to me!” he yelled as he slammed his head back on the headboard, instantly regretting it as throbbing pain coursed through his head. “Fuck!”


Drusilla winced. “William you need to calm down, you’re going to give yourself a concussion,” she scolded.


William let silent tears fall from his eyes. He wasn’t sure if it was from the pain in his head or his heart. “Dru what am I gonna do?” he murmured softly.


Drusilla scooted closer to her dear friend and cradled his head to her chest. “Shhh it’s alright now,” she cooed in a gentle voice.


William pulled from her embrace and wiped at his eyes. “I’m gonna get a shower,” he said quickly, shame taking over.


Drusilla backed away and nodded her head. “I’ll leave you to it then, I’ll be in the living room when you get out alright?”


William ducked his head, unable to meet her gaze. “Sure.”


Drusilla got up and walked out of his bedroom closing the door behind her. William looked up at the shut door and mentally kicked himself. Could he be anymore of a wanker? Letting a slew of curse words go under his breath he got up and went to the bathroom to get his shower.



******************************************************************************



Buffy sat at the breakfast table staring at the small slip of paper on the fridge. All she had to do was walk over, grab it and dial the number, it was that simple. So why had she sat there for the last hour and a half just looking at it like it might jump up and run away?


With an exasperated sigh, she snatched William’s phone number off the fridge, grabbed the cordless phone, and walked out the backdoor to go and sit on the swing, their swing.


Drusilla heard the phone ring and wondered if William was going to grab it. When it rang a second time, she debated on letting the voice mail get it, but something told her to answer it. Walking over, she garbed the phone and brought it to her ear.


“Hello?” she answered in a soft sultry voice.


Buffy sat quiet for a minute, wondering if she had the wrong number.


“Hello?” Drusilla said again.


“Oh I’m sorry I must have the wrong number,” Buffy said praying this wasn’t William’s number.


“Well who are you looking for luv?” Drusilla asked curiously.


“Um, William Giles,” Buffy replied hesitantly as her heart pounded in her chest.


“Oh you have the right number,” Drusilla assured the woman on the other line.


Buffy felt her heart sink in her chest. He had another woman in his home, but her hurt quickly turned to pure out anger.


“Well then who is this?” Buffy asked heatedly.


Drusilla let a smile grace her stunning face. This must be William’s sunshine. “Oh how rude of me, I’m Dru,” she replied in a sickeningly sweet voice.


Buffy let her draw drop. Dru? Isn’t that who was handling their divorce? Well I guess she’s handling more than that.


“Well Dru can you tell William that his wife, no better yet, his ex wife called,” Buffy hissed nastily and then hung up.


Drusilla looked at the phone in her hands and frowned. “Well that was just rude,” she commented out loud.


William stood there in nothing but his favorite blue jeans, towel draped over his shoulders as he cleaned his ears. “What was rude?” he asked confused. Was Dru talking to inanimate objects again?


Drusilla looked up and set the phone down. “Sunshine didn’t want to play,” she replied with a pout in a child-like voice.


William creased his brow. “Dru what the bloody hell are you on about?”


“Your sunshine called and was quite rude with mummy,” she explained crossly.


Buggering fucking hell. As if things weren’t bad enough already. William closed his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. “Did Buffy just call?” he asked as he fused his eyes shut, feeling his headache come back.


“Well she didn’t leave a name, but she said to tell you that your wife, no, ex wife called,” Drusilla relayed with a nod of her head.


William looked toward the ceiling and shook his head. “Oh lord, why me?” he questioned as he walked over and plopped on his couch. He could see now, it was only gonna get uglier from here on out.





Thanks to spuffette, Spikesluv, DaniD, kim, MidnightGirl, dusty273, spikestheman, jt, Kimber x4 ( You always kill me with your reviews sweetie, I absolutely LOVE them!), mer, met, cordykitten, Laura, willowmouse, frederique, Meagan, Raspy_Luv, dragontiff, SarahandJamesFanatic, Renee', vitalis, Albie, and Brat for the reviews, y'all totally kick ass! I ahve to say I am tepted to find out if I can get a chat bored for this fic since y'all have so many opinions on this fic, LOL! Reall guys I am so glad everyone is enjoying, I love y'all to bits! Kuudos!

William sat in his office staring down at the papers in his hand. It was as if his eyes didn’t want to believe the names on the divorce papers were actually his and Buffy’s. Time seemed to stand still as he pulled out his pen, scrawled his signature on the bottom and signed the day’s date.


Well this is it. This is the final step to starting over and finally letting go of the past. This is what’s best for both of us, right?


William shook his head and closed his eyes. He felt as if his heart was being clinched in a vise-like grip and there was nothing he could do to ease the pain. His heart was screaming to him to just throw the papers in the garbage and beg Buffy to take him back, but his head told him that if he did that, things wouldn’t be the same as they were before.


He wanted to talk to Buffy, but unfortunately since the night she had called his flat and spoke to Dru, she was avoiding his calls altogether. He knew he looked like a big hypocrite having another woman answer his phone, but it wasn’t what Buffy had thought at all and she wouldn’t even give him the chance to explain. Reaching the bottom of the barrel, he picked up the phone and got his secretary on the phone.


“Tara, I need you to find the number to the Summers art gallery in Sunnydale for me,” he asked.


“Sure thing Mr. Giles. When I get the number would you like me to connect the call to your office?” Tara asked in a soft shy voice.


“That would be wonderful Tara, thank you,” he replied and hung up and waited nervously as Tara found the number to his mother-n-law’s gallery.


******************************************************************************



Joyce pointed in the direction of the far corner of the room. “You can put that crate over there and then the smaller one in my office,” she dictated, looking up from the clipboard in her hands.


The sound of the phone ringing in the office caused her to let out an exasperated sigh and she shook her head. With all the distractions she was never going to get the truck unloaded and cataloged.


Bringing the phone to her ear, she closed her eyes and answered irritably. “Summers gallery, Joyce speaking.”


William could sense the irritation in her voice and wondered if it was from work or if she saw his number in the caller ID.


“Uh Joyce did I catch you at a bad time?” he asked hesitantly.


Joyce’s eyes flew open when she instantly recognized the deep British voice on the other end. Inventory forgotten, she sat on the edge of her desk. “No, not at all,” she lied. She knew if William was calling it must have been important. “What can I do for you?”


William let out a sigh of relief. “Well I’m sure Buffy told you about her calling me last week,” he started.


Joyce was well aware of the call Buffy had made. After Buffy had hung up she spent the rest of the evening in her room crying and then the few days that she was in Sunnydale, she did nothing but sit around the house in a foul mood.


“Uh yes, she may have mentioned it,” Joyce replied.


William closed his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. “Well I tried calling her to explain, but apparently she’s not taking my calls.”


“So what exactly happened William?” Joyce asked. When Joyce had questioned Buffy as to why she was so upset, all Buffy had said was that some slut bag had answered William’s phone when she called, so Joyce had just left it at that.


William took a deep breath and began to explain to Joyce the events that had unfolded. “Well I called your house looking for Buffy’s address, but Buffy answered. We talked for a bit and things got a bit intense so when I hung up I may have gone to the bar and gotten a bit pissed.”


“You brought some random woman back to your apartment?” Joyce asked disapprovingly.


“What? No,” William exclaimed. “Dru brought me home.”


“Dru?”


“A friend of mine, she came, picked me up, brought me home and made sure I was okay,” he explained.


“So this is the woman that answered when Buffy called?” Joyce asked to make sure she was following him.


“Yes, Buffy called when I was in the shower.”


Joyce sat there for a minute thinking over the situation. It sounded innocent enough, but she could see why her daughter was so upset. William had had a woman in his apartment and let her answer his phone, something you would only let someone do if they were close to you.


“Well William it looks like you have quite the predicament on your hands,” Joyce sighed.


“That’s where you come in,” he replied, still slightly skeptical.


“Oh no, I’m not calling Buffy and explaining to her why you had another woman in your home,” Joyce stated determinedly.


“What else can I do? Buffy won’t talk to me,” William pointed out desperately.


Joyce knew this could turn around to bite her in the butt, but she could hear the desperation in her son-n-law’s voice.


“Well there is one way you might be able to reach her,” Joyce suggested hesitantly. Buffy was going to kill her.


William perked up. “Really, how?”


“William is this really important?” Joyce asked wanting to know if this was going to be worth the possible repercussions.


William looked down at the papers in his hands. “Joyce this could be the most important thing in my life.”


“You could try her at the studio. If you use the password, they’ll put you straight through to her.”


“Thank you Joyce, you don’t know how much this means to me,” he replied gratefully.


Joyce gave William the information he needed to reach Buffy and just before she was going to hang up she asked, “William?”


“Yeah?”


“I hope things work out the way you hope they will,” Joyce said in a knowing voice.


William let out a soft chuckle. “Me too Joyce, goodbye,” and then hung up.



******************************************************************************



Buffy sat in the studio with one of her producers as they went over one of her latest tracks.


“I don’t’ know Xan,” Buffy said skeptically. It seemed like ever since she had gotten back from her mother’s she couldn’t get back in the swing of things.


“It’s great Buffy. It has that whole I’ve just had my heart ripped out feel to it,” Xander Harris assured her.


Buffy let out a wryly chuckle. “Oh Xander if you only knew.”


Xander scrunched his brow at her. He had been working with Buffy for a few years now and he thought of them as friends, so he was automatically concerned at Buffy’s sudden change in mood.


“Hey Buff, you all right?”


Buffy let her head fall to the counter. “Xander I don’t know, I mean it’s like everything is crapping out all at once,” she sighed.


“You mean you and Lindsey?” he asked gently.


Buffy sat up and turned to look at Xander. “That’s just one of the things to add to the ever growing list of things wrong in Buffy’s shitty life.”


Xander studied his friend for a moment before he asked. “Do you want to talk about it?”


“You got a week to spare?” Buffy asked dryly.


Xander couldn’t help but chuckle. “Come on, it can’t be that bad.”


Buffy raised a brow at him. “You wanna bet?”


“Try me,” Xander challenged.


“You asked for it,” Buffy warned and then went to explain the mess that was her life. When she had divulged every last detail, Xander sat with a thoughtful look on his face.


“Well that’s some week huh?”


Buffy let out a sigh. “Tell me about it, and I’m the one that actually had to live it.”


“Well Buff the only thing I can suggest is to take it one step at a time,” Xander suggested.


Buffy frowned. “How so?”


“Well if I were you, I would take the Lindsey situation and the William situation and make them two totally different problems instead of making it one big one,” Xander said with a shrug of his shoulders.


Buffy thought about what Xander was trying to say for a minute before she asked, “So you mean to not let my problems with Will involve Lindsey and my problems with Lindsey not involve Will?”


“Exactly,” Xander said diplomatically.


“But what if that’s the reason I’m having problems with the other,” Buffy whined as she jutted out her lip in a pout.


Xander thought on that one for a minute. “Well Buffy you have to decide what it is you really want. Do you want to be with Lindsey and make a go of it, or do you want to try and work things out with your husband and tell Lindsey to hit the road?”


“Well Xander why didn’t I think of that?” Buffy asked sarcastically. Like the thought of just simply choosing between the two of them had never occurred to her.


“Okay no need for sarcasm here, just trying to help,” Xander replied.


“Sorry Xan, I’m just so screwed up in the head right now it’s not even funny. I’m almost to the point were I’m willing to say the hell with both of them and turn gay,” Buffy replied exasperatedly.


“Well before you decide to go gay, maybe you and I could….” Xander teased.


Buffy looked over and rolled her eyes. “I swear you are such a man.”


“Was that supposed to be an insult?” he chuckled.


“Yes,” Buffy replied trying to scowl, but came across more amused.


They both looked at each other and fell into a fit of laughter. Just as they were getting their laughter under wraps, line one stared blinking. Xander cleared his throat and answered the phone.


Buffy wiped the tears from her eyes and then looked at the phone in Xander’s hand with a look of confusion. Who was calling her at the studio? Oh God, was it Lindsey?


Xander shrugged his shoulders and passed her the phone. Buffy brought it to her ear hesitantly and answered, “Hello, this Buffy.”


“Buffy please don’t hung up,” William pleaded desperately.


Buffy felt her face burn with anger. How in the hell had he found out how to reach her at the studio? Then as if someone flipped a switch, she knew the answer. Her mother.


“William how dare you call me at work,” she said through clinched teeth.


Xander saw the anger in Buffy’s eyes and got up to leave. “Buffy I’ll just be outside.”


Buffy gave Xander a curt nod before she turned her attention back to William. “What the fuck do you want,” Buffy asked snidely.


William was expecting Buffy to be mad; he just hoped he could get her to listen. “Buffy can I just explain the night you called?” he asked in a pleading voice.


Buffy knew she didn’t owe him her time, but she was mildly curious as to what he had to say. “I’m listening,” she informed him coolly.


William let out a sigh of relief. “Right, well after I talked to you, I was kinda upset so I left work and went to the bar, got completely pissed, and Dru had to take me home, that’s why she answered my phone,” he explained.


Buffy felt her anger turn to rage. “So let me see if I understand. You got shit faced and called Dru to come and get you to go back to your place?” she asked incredulously.


Well that came out sounding all wrong. “Buffy wait, it’s not how it sounds,” he defended.


“Oh really?” she challenged. “So the fact that some other woman was answering my husband’s phone after he got ‘pissed’ at the bar is a good thing?”


William didn’t hear anything Buffy had said except the word ‘husband’. “What did you just call me?” he asked disbelievingly.


“What?” Buffy asked confused as she thought over what she had just said, then she realized what he was talking about. She had just called him her husband, yes by all sense of the word he was, but she had called him that in more of a possessive manner.


“Uh, well, I uh,” she sputtered nervously.


“Buffy?” he asked with a hopeful tone. She had said it possessively, not casually, that meant something right?


“What?” she replied hesitantly.


“You just called me your husband,” he pointed out.


“I know,” she whispered.


“What does this mean?” he asked cautiously.


Buffy let out a sigh. “Nothing.”


“Nothing?” he asked dejectedly.


Buffy let silent tears fall down her cheeks. Too much had been said and done to go back to the way things were.


“William I can’t do this right now,” Buffy pleaded. She was at the studio and she really didn’t want to have to explain to everyone why she was red-eyed and tear-stained.


“Buffy we need to talk about this,” William pushed.


“Whatever, just not now,” she sighed.


William felt his temper getting the better of him. “What is your precious Lindsey there?”


Buffy felt her anger rise to the surface ten-fold. “What?”


“Lindsey, he’s there that’s why you don’t want to talk now isn’t it,” William accused.


Buffy had had all she could take for one day. “You know what Will, I’m done talking to you, just send me the damn papers and be done with it alright,” she snapped.


“Fine, they’ll be there day after tomorrow,” he snapped back.


“Fine!” Buffy yelled through her tears.


“Fine!” William yelled back as he flung an award he won across the room to smash into a million pieces.


Buffy heard the sound of busting glass and flinched. She had never seen or heard William lose his temper like that.


“William this conversation is over,” she said through gritted teeth.


“That’s right, whatever Buffy wants Buffy gets,” he remarked snidely.


With that Buffy hung up the phone and let out an irritated groan. She could not be done and over with this mess soon enough.


William clinched his jaw and shook his head. She fucking hung up on him. With a sardonic chuckle, he took and stuffed the divorce papers in the envelope and scribbled Buffy’s address on it. If this is what Buffy wanted, then who was he to deny her.



A/N : Okay I know this chap was kinda angsty but I swear I am working up to something here. I know you are all ready for the Spuffy but all good things come to those who wait, LOL! I swear that it won't be too much longer until the angst dies down, you're just going to have to trust me. Thanks again for all the support, kuddos!


Huge thanks to cordykitten, Brunettepet, spuffette, Suzee, KImber, spikeshunny, blondiebear, DaniD, briana, Nicki, SarahandJamesFanatic, frederique, dusty273, mj, willowmouse, kim, Laura, MidnightGirl, Raspy_Luv, jennybean, vitalis, and gotkona (my lovely beta who has worked her tail off on this fic for you guys! Show her some luv!) for all the reviews I love them to bits! Kuddos!

Buffy sat curled up on her couch, ice cream carton firmly in hand. If she didn’t start cheering up she was gonna pack on fifteen pounds in no time. Looking down at her ice cream, she grimaced and got up to put it away. She needed to pull herself together. If she was going to get through this then she needed to be strong and not let her feelings for William get in the way.


Buffy was just about to go to bed when there was a knock at her door. Looking at the clock, she frowned. Who would be coming by at eleven o’clock at night on a Wednesday? When she answered the door, Buffy had to suppress a groan. This was all she needed after the day she had had.


“Lindsey, what are you doing here?” she asked trying not to sound irritated.


Lindsey smiled softly, and jammed his hands in his pockets. “Hey Buffy, can I come in?”


Buffy hesitated for a moment and then reluctantly stepped aside to let him in. “Sure.”


Lindsey stepped inside of the apartment he used to call home and inhaled deeply. “God I miss that smell,” he sighed.


Buffy instantly regretted letting Lindsey come in. “Lindsey it’s late so if there’s something you need, can we go ahead and get to it,” she demanded exasperatedly.


Lindsey turned to Buffy with blue eyes full of hurt. “Buffy we haven’t talked since the day at your mom’s house. Every time I call you don’t answer and you make sure that we’re never at the studio together. How are we supposed to work things out if we don’t see each other or talk?”


Buffy used every once of control she had not to take her frustrations out on Lindsey. In all honesty, he had done nothing wrong to deserve her anger; all he had ever done was love her.


“Lindsey I’m sorry, but things have been a mess lately and I knew if I talked to you all I would do was make things worse between us,” Buffy tried to explain.


“Well you could have talked to me about it,” Lindsey pushed.


Buffy sighed, “No Lindsey I couldn’t have. I can’t talk to you about this, not when it involves you.”


Lindsey stepped closer to Buffy slowly, attempting to close the distance between them. “Buffy,” he pleaded.


Buffy backed up slightly and shook her head. “Lindsey don’t, not now,” she whispered in protest.


Lindsey reached out with a tentative hand and brushed the back of his knuckles over her cheek. “Buffy I miss you,” he admitted in a tight voice.


Buffy felt her heart clinch. Why did Lindsey have to be so kind and understanding? Why couldn’t he be like all the rest of the men she had ever known and just tell her it wasn’t worth the effort and walk away? Before she could stop herself, she returned his sentiment. “I missed you too.”


Lindsey pulled Buffy in his arms and tenderly kissed her full lips. “Buffy I need you, without you I can’t breathe, can’t sleep. I love you so much it hurts,” he gushed as he peppered her face with kisses.


Buffy wanted to pull away and tell him no, that she was sorry she couldn’t be with him anymore, but she was so confused between her feelings for William and Lindsey that she let her body betray her by physically reacting to Lindsey’s soft kisses and endearing words.


“Lindsey,” she whispered in a breathy voice. She knew it was wrong, but she wanted to be comforted.


Lindsey pulled back and looked Buffy deep in the eyes. “Buffy, just for tonight can we just pretend everything is all right between us?” he pleaded desperately.


Before Buffy could think, she nodded her head and pulled Lindsey in for a deep kiss. She knew she would regret this in the morning, but right now she was going to try and fool herself into thinking that things weren’t as bad as they really were.


******************************************************************************


Buffy woke up and felt a heavy arm across her bare stomach. When she looked over, she saw Lindsey sleeping peacefully on his stomach with a contented smile on his face. Closing her eyes she willed back her tears. How could she have done this? How could she have slept with Lindsey when she didn’t love him and even worse, when she was still in love with her husband?


Slipping out of bed, she grabbed her robe and went straight to the bathroom to get a shower. Getting the water to the point of almost too hot, Buffy took off her robe and got in, letting the scalding water wash over her.


After washing her hair, she took the loofah and scrubbed at her skin, scrubbed until it was red and angry. She felt dirty and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get clean. She was a dirty person who had used a man that loved her for her own selfish reasons.


Letting her tears mingle with the water that was running down her face, she let out a choked sob and fell to the shower floor as her body shook with the intensity of her emotions. When Buffy felt the water begin to cool, she got up and shut off the shower. Wrapping her hair in a towel, she pulled herself into the warmth of her robe and looked at the reflection staring back at her. It was a ghost of the woman she used to be. No longer did she have the spark in her eyes that once was so bright it was almost overwhelming.


Wiping away the tears that had escaped her now swollen eyes, she prayed Lindsey was still asleep as she walked out of the bathroom. Thanking whoever was listening for small favors, she grabbed some clothes from her dresser and left the sleeping man in her bed, shutting the door behind her.


Buffy stood in the spare bathroom brushing her hair when she heard a soft knock at her door. Quickly she ran to the door before they could wake up Lindsey. Buffy looked through the peephole and frowned. When she opened the door, she was greeted with a very official looking woman standing before her.


“Can I help you?”


“Are you Mrs. Elizabeth Giles?” The woman asked in a very business like manner.


Buffy was taken aback at the sound of her true name. She had been so used to the sound of Buffy Summers that her real name sounded foreign to her. When she didn’t answer, the woman asked again, “Ma’am are you Elizabeth Giles?”


Buffy nodded her head. “Yes, I’ m Elizabeth…,” but she couldn’t say the name. The woman gave her a sympathetic smile and handed her the package in her hand.


Buffy looked down at the envelope in her hands and saw the law firm address and didn’t even have to open the package to know what it was. She guessed William was ready to be done and over with this even more than she had thought. He had actually overnighted her the divorce papers. Buffy stood there staring at the envelope in her hands completely dazed.


“Ma’am, I just need your signature here,” the woman said gently, not wanting to startle the obviously upset woman in front of her.


Buffy looked up with wide eyes. “Huh?” she asked feeling somewhat disoriented.


“I just need a signature saying that you received your package ma’am.”


Buffy went to scribble her name, but the nice woman stopped her. “Your real name ma’am,” she corrected.


Buffy looked up with glassy eyes and nodded her head. Taking a deep breath, she slowly wrote out her full name ‘Elizabeth Anne Giles’.


After handing back the clipboard, Buffy shut her apartment door. She held the envelope as far away from her as possible as if it might burn her if it touched her body. Sitting at the table, she set down the offensive object and stared at it waiting for it to maybe jump up and bite her or maybe disappear if she concentrated long enough. She was so caught up in her daze, she never heard Lindsey walk up behind her.


“Baby you okay?” Lindsey asked as he leaned down and kissed her temple.


Buffy jumped and in the process caught Lindsey in the nose with her head.


“Oh fuck my nose!” Lindsey hollered as he clutched at his now bleeding nose.


This brought Buffy back to reality. “Lindsey oh my God,” Buffy gasped as she reached out to help him.


Lindsey let Buffy lead him to the kitchen, careful not to get blood allover the carpet. Once over the sink, Lindsey let go of his nose and blood came gushing from the sore appendage.


Buffy grabbed a towel from the draw and brought it to Lindsey’s face. “Oh God Lindsey, I’m so sorry,” she apologized.


“It’s my fault, I shouldn’t have snuck up on you like that,” he assured her.


Lindsey’s assurance seemed to push Buffy over the edge and she let her anger spill forth. “No Lindsey it’s not okay. Why do you have to be like this? Why can’t you just for once not be so fucking patronizing, huh?” she yelled as she turned and stormed out of the kitchen.


Lindsey stared after her in bewilderment. What in the hell had just happened? He was the one standing there with the potentially broken nose and she was blowing up at him? Lindsey took the towel away from his nose and noticed the bleeding was beginning to stop. Spitting out some of the blood that had trickled down the back of his throat, he went in search of Buffy. When he came to her bedroom, he found her sitting in her chair looking out the window over the New York skyline.


“Buffy?” he said cautiously. He was going to make sure she knew he was there before he approached her this time.


Buffy continued to look out the window. “You know William was my first everything,” Buffy said in a vacant voice.


Lindsey felt a stab of jealousy but pushed it away. Buffy didn’t need him getting all possessive right now, she needed someone to listen.


“Is that right,” he replied trying to mask his hurt as he sat on the edge of the bed.


“Yep. First crush, first kiss, first boyfriend even, well my only boyfriend,” Buffy replied as silent tears rolled down her cheeks.


“Besides me,” Lindsey corrected her before he could stop the words from coming out.


Buffy turned to look at him and gave him an empty smile. “And then there’s you,” she commented in a far off voice.


She sounded so broken that Lindsey instinctively wanted to go and comfort the woman he loved, but pushed it way.


“You’ve always been there no matter what, trying so hard to make me love you and all in vain. What does that say about you Lindsey?” she asked.


“That even more fucked up than I thought,” he answered in a wry voice.


“No, just that your are a good guy that deserves better than me,” Buffy argued.


Lindsey came over and crouched before her, putting his hands on her knees. “I don’t want to try and find someone else Buffy. I love you, god help me, but I do. I know right now you may not love me, but one day you will. The week that I didn’t have you in my life made me realize I need you and I’m willing to wait, however long it takes,” Lindsey stated determinedly.


Buffy turned to look back out the window not saying a word. She had no more energy left to argue, so instead she just let Lindsey hold on to his fantasy that one day she would love him even though that’s all it would ever be, just a fantasy.



******************************************************************************



William sat in his office half listening to the client in front of him. He hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything since he had talked to Buffy yesterday. Realizing he hadn’t heard a word the man from a very important account had said, he stopped him.


“Mr. Winters, I apologize, but I’m going to have to reschedule our meeting for another time,” William apologized.


“What?! I rearranged my whole schedule for this meeting,” Mr. Winters exclaimed outrageously.


William took a deep breath and tried to keep a rein on his temper. “I understand this is an inconvenience to you but-,”


“No this is more than an inconvenience, this is unacceptable,” Mr. Winters declared getting up from his chair and leaning over William’s desk.


“Well if there’s anything I can do to rectify the situation, by all means feel free to tell me,” William replied losing what little bit of control he had.


“By finishing this meeting as promised Mr. Giles,” Mr. Winters challenged.


William lost all control and stood from his chair, leaning over his desk to face the obstinate man in front of him. “I told you I was unable to do that. Now if you would like to finish with one of my associates, then that can be arranged,” he said in a low menacing tone.


Mr. Winters face turned red with anger and he pushed himself from the desk. “I have never in all my years been treated with such disrespect. Mr. Giles you will regret this when I pull every last account I have at this firm,” he threatened.


William knew he should have been trying to save his ass, but at that moment in time he didn’t care. “You do what you think you have to Winters, but I can guarantee you won’t find anyone as good as me,” he replied cockily.


“You arrogant son of a bitch,” Mr. Winters hissed. “We’ll see how high and mighty you are when I take and tear this firm apart. When I’m through with you no one will touch this place with a ten foot pole.”


William walked over to the door and opened it. “Have a nice day Mr. Winters,” he said with an infuriating smirk on his face.


“Your finished Giles,” Mr. Winters sneered in his face before storming out of the office.


William slammed the door to his office, ignoring the look of concern on his secretary’s face. Once behind closed doors, he let the realization hit him of what he had just done.


“Fuck!” he yelled as he kicked the desk in front of him.


He had just pissed away one of the most important clients this firm had and it was all because he couldn’t separate his personal life from his professional life. He had never had an issue with separating the two but ever since Buffy had come back into his life everything was a complete mess.


With a sigh, he picked up the phone and got Tara on the line so she could do some damage control.


“Tara I need you to call up Tele Corp and have a late meeting with Mr. Winters set up. Tell them that I am regretfully sorry for the way this afternoon’s meeting went and that I would like to rectify the situation in anyway possible.”


“Of course Mr. Giles, anything else I can do for you,” Tara asked shyly.


“No Tara that’s all, no wait, can you tell me if the mail service I ordered has called to verify delivery?”


Tara looked through her messages before finding the one she was looking for. “Yes Mr. Giles. It was delivered and received at ten-thirty this morning by Mrs. Elizabeth Giles,” she replied gently. She wasn’t told about the situation but she was smart enough to put two and two together.


“Thank you Tara,” William said quickly before hanging up.


Sitting back in his chair, he closed his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. His life was falling apart before his eyes. In a matter of days Buffy would no longer be his wife. This thought caused a knot to form in his throat. This isn’t what he wanted but it seemed to be the only answer. If he ever wanted to live a life that wasn’t bogged down with pain he had to cut all ties from the only woman who ever truly made him happy.


Pulling a flask from his desk, he tipped it up and took a long swallow. With a sardonic chuckle he toasted himself. “Ain’t love grand.”



A/N: Okay I know Buffy is so not looking good right about now, but she does realize she is wrong here. People make bad desicions when they are hurting and that is exactly what Buffy did. She took advantage of Lindsey to try and make herself feel better even if it was temporary. I know this is wrong and I don't condone such things but I want this fic to be true to real raw human emotions. If this offends you I am sorry, that was never my intention. With that being said I hope you will all keep with me. I promise Buffy will start to try and redeem herself in the next chap. As far as Lindsey, what can I say, he 's blinded by love and is willing to take what he can get where Buffy is concerned. Kuddos!






Thanks to spuffette, KT, spikeshunny, aspikefan, Spikesluv, dusty273, caatje, cordykitten, nichole, Nicki, kim, Debbie, Deege, mer, MidnightGirl, DaniD, Meagab, willowmouse, Kimber, vitalis, SarahandJamesFanatic, Raspy_Luv, frederique, Laura, usafan, and Brunettepet for the lovely reviews! Kuddos!

**Disclaimer in full effect**






It had been two days since Buffy had received her papers in the mail and she had still not opened them. She told herself she was giving herself time to recuperate from her little emotional breakdown, but she knew in the back of her mind that she was just avoiding the inevitable. Besides, it’s not like they were going anywhere.


Aside from all that Buffy had a bigger problem on her hands; Lindsey. Since the night they had slept together he had slowly tried to bring himself back into her life.


Buffy had been in such a whirlwind that she didn’t even realize what was happening until Lindsey reminded her of the dinner they were supposed to have that evening at her place. She had tried to make up excuses as to why she couldn’t have dinner with him but they had even sounded lame to her, so in the end she had agreed as long as it was just dinner and dinner alone.


Lindsey reluctantly agreed and promised to be the perfect gentleman. So now here she was, arms loaded down with groceries for the dinner Lindsey was going to be cooking her in a few hours.


Lindsey showed up early, but Buffy pushed back her frustration and tried her best to give him what was supposed to be a welcoming smile. When Lindsey tried to kiss her, she turned so he got her cheek.


Lindsey frowned slightly and then forced a smile. “So ready to have your taste buds tantalized?” he asked as he rubbed his hands together.


“Yep,” she replied with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.


Lindsey hoped that her mood would improve as dinner progressed but he had learned a long time ago not to hold his breath.


Dinner was spent for the most part in silence except for the occasional question on Lindsey’s part. Buffy would answer his questions and then go back to picking at her dinner. Letting his frustration get the better of him, Lindsey asked, “Is it that awful having to have dinner with me?”


Buffy felt a twinge of guilt. Lindsey had gone out of his way to make her this nice meal and she was treating him like shit. “I’m sorry Lindsey, but I just have a lot on my mind,” she tried to explain.


“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked hoping she would confide in him.


“Lindsey,” Buffy sighed. Why did he always have to try so hard?


“Buffy I just want to be involved in your life,” Lindsey said hanging his head dejectedly.


“I know you do, but this is something I have to do on my own,” she told him gently.


“Is it him?” he asked, all the hurt he felt evident.


Buffy knew she couldn’t lie to him. “Yes it has to do with Will,” she answered honestly.


Lindsey pushed away his jealousy. “Then talk to me about it Buffy, I can handle it.”


Buffy wanted to reach over and just shake Lindsey. Why couldn’t he understand that it wasn’t about what he could handle, it was about her, and how she couldn’t talk to the man she was beginning to see as nothing more than a friend about the man who would always and forever hold her heart?


“Lindsey I’m sure you can, but I don’t know if I’m quite ready to talk about this,” Buffy tried.


“Talk about in general or talk about with me?” Lindsey accused, finally letting his anger come forth.


“See this is why I can’t talk to you,” Buffy huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest defiantly.


“Why, because I asked you a simple question?” Lindsey snapped.


“Lindsey I think you should leave,” Buffy suggested.


“Buffy don’t do this, don’t push me away,” he pleaded.


“Lindsey I just can’t do this anymore,” Buffy said finally feeling like she was being honest not only to herself, but to him as well.


“Buffy you don’t mean that, you’re just upset about William and you’re letting that confuse you on how you feel about us,” Lindsey said not wanting to believe it was really over.


Buffy felt sorry for the man sitting before her. He just couldn’t grasp that there was nothing left for them. “Lindsey I’m sorry, I just don’t think there’s a future for us.”


Lindsey got up and took their plates to the kitchen as if Buffy hadn’t said a word to him.


Buffy turned in her seat and watched Lindsey with a confused look on her face. “Lindsey what are you doing?” When he didn’t answer, Buffy got up and went to the kitchen where Lindsey was cleaning up dinner dishes. Buffy turned off the water and put her hand on Lindsey’s to stop him.


“Lindsey stop this, it’s over,” she said this time with more resolve.


Lindsey let go of the plate in his hand and hung his head. “I thought that maybe if I pretended that you weren’t saying it, it would make it not real,” he said in a sad tone.


Buffy swore that she could hear Lindsey’s heart breaking at that very moment. There was nothing but silence between them and Buffy felt more lonely than she had ever felt before. When she had come to New York she knew no one and that was okay with her because she had come to grips with being alone, but then she had met Lindsey. Lindsey had helped her come out of her shell and helped her find her dream, and for that she would be forever grateful.


“Lindsey I’m sorry,” she finally said when the silence became too much.


“I know,” he replied as he looked up to gaze one last time into the greenest eyes he had ever seen.


“So where does that leave us?” she asked meekly.


“I don’t know,” he replied mournfully.


“I hope we can someday be friends,” Buffy tried.


Lindsey let out a wryly chuckle. “Buffy you and I both know I could never just be your friend.”


Buffy knew as well as Lindsey did that it was true. They had shared way too much to just be friends. “Well can we still work together?” she asked hesitantly.


Lindsey considered this for a moment. He loved Buffy more than anything and the idea of being completely taken out of her life was too much to bear right now, so reluctantly he agreed. “Of course Buffy,” he assured her.


Buffy let out a small sigh of relief. “Thank you Lindsey.”


Lindsey looked down at the dishes in the sink. “Before I go at least let me help take care of the dishes,” he suggested.


Buffy shook her head. “No Lindsey, you don’t have to do that.”


“Buffy please, let me do this,” he asked hoping she would understand that it wasn’t about cleaning up; it was about drawing out the last few moments that he had in her home, and in her life.


Buffy nodded her head and understood completely. “Okay Lindsey.”


They stood there in silence as Lindsey washed and Buffy dried. It was probably the most domestic they had ever been together even in the five years they were together. Buffy knew she would never have this again and let herself enjoy the moment, even if it wasn’t real.



******************************************************************************



It had been a week since Buffy had had dinner with Lindsey and things had been awkward as hell. She had expected it to be this way, but what she hadn’t expected was the guilt that would come along with it.


Lindsey had tried to act as if nothing was wrong but every time he looked at her he had that wounded puppy dog look making her feel ten times worse than she already did. She was seriously stating to reconsider the whole working together thing.


Unable to deal with everything, Buffy grabbed her bag, and was about to head out the door, when she noticed the envelope she had been avoiding fall out and onto the floor. Picking it up, she shook her head. Why was she avoiding this? She knew what was in there so it wasn’t like it was going to be a surprise or anything.


Sitting down, she tore open the envelope and pulled out the papers. As her eyes swept over them, the knot that seemed to be in her throat more often than not returned. She was about to stuff them back in her bag when something caught her eye. Hurt being replaced by anger, Buffy clinched her jaw and stuffed the papers in her bag.


“That son of a bitch!”



******************************************************************************


William sat in his car stuck in traffic ready to fall asleep as the warm California air breezed in his open window. Aside from all the bullshit that was his life, today had been a fairly descent day. He had managed to brown nose his way back into the good graces of Mr. Winters and was now the sole lawyer for the company.


Just as he was about to dose off, his cell phone brought him back to consciousness. Without looking at the caller ID, he flipped his phone open and brought it to his ear.


“’Ello?” he answered groggily.


“How dare you, you fucking asshole!”


William sat up in his seat and frowned. “Buffy?”


Buffy was seething with anger. “There is no way I’m letting you do that,” she hissed.


“Buffy what the hell are you talking about?” William asked thoroughly confused.


“Don’t play dumb with me William,” she spit at him heatedly.


“Buffy I haven’t a fucking clue what it is you’re on about,” he defended starting to get mad.


“The house William,” she snapped.


“The house? What house?” he asked frowning in confusion. Buffy wasn’t making any sense at all.


“Our house!”


It finally dawned on him what Buffy was so pissed off about. In the divorce papers he had filed that they would sell the house and split whatever they got for it fifty-fifty.


“I agreed to split everything down the middle Buffy, what more do you want?” he snapped letting his temper get the better of him.


“Until you agree to not sell the house, I’m not signing anything,” Buffy replied defiantly.


“What?” he asked disbelievingly.


“You’re not selling the house,” Buffy stated flatly. There was no way she would let someone else live in their home.


“Buffy this is crazy,” William tried to reason. Why was she so fired up over this? It’s not like she planed on moving back to Sunnydale, was she?


“I don’t care what you think, you are not selling the house,” she reiterated.


“Buffy why is this so important to you?” he finally asked.


Buffy sat quiet for a minute. She couldn’t tell him it was because that was their house and their memories or that no one was allowed to come in and take out all the furniture that was still there that they had gotten together and put in new things that just didn’t belong. So instead she went with a more childish response.


“Because I said so.”


“Excuse me?” William hissed. He had never been more pissed off with Buffy than he was right now. Who the bloody hell did she think she was?


Buffy knew she had crossed the line, but she wasn’t about to back down. “You will not sell the house William,” Buffy said point blank.


That was it, that was the straw that broke the camels back. “So, you want to play things that way?” he asked maliciously.


“You can’t do anything without my signature,” she replied cockily.


“We’ll see about that,” he sneered.


Buffy felt a surge of rage course through her. “I swear to God William if you go behind my back and sell that house you will regret it,” she threatened.


William heard cars honking behind him and stuck two fingers out the window. Pulling his car up further, he returned to the call that was ready to make his head explode.


“Buffy don’t threaten me, I have one of the best divorce attorneys in the fucking state of California. By the time this is done I could leave you with nothing so don’t start.”


“Well it looks like I’ll be seeing you in court then William,” Buffy replied arrogantly and then hung up.


William snapped his phone shut and punched at the steering wheel. He had tried doing things the nice way but Buffy was insisting on being a bitch about things, so he was going to show her just how ugly things could really get.







Thanks to Kimber, MidnightGirl, spufette, Spikesluv, aspikefan, cordykitten, spikeshunny, Debbie, Brunettepet, Nicki, Meagan, DaniD, frederique, SarahandJamesFanatic, Laura, Klai, usafan, and ... (my mystery reviewer, LOL!) for the lovely reviews, you guys rock! I know it is getting pretty angsty but I promise it will all smooth out soon enough. Kuddos!