Buffy cringed as she watched the Frisbee veer far right of its intended trajectory and squealed as it slammed into the reading man.



“Oh my god!” She ran over. “I’m so sorry. Are you…are you okay?” Buffy bit her lip and watched as the man removed his now bent glasses and rubbed his temple. When she got close she dropped to her knees and realized that the man in question was actually the new kid she’d noticed earlier that week at school. Who dresses like that to hang out at the park, she thought before quickly refocusing to see if he was hurt. “I’m sooo sorry” she repeated, “I seriously shouldn’t be allowed near a Frisbee.”



William looked up and blinked at her for a moment before answering. “Its…I’m...that is…its quite all right, just an accident, no cause for…uh… concern.” He continued to rub the side of his face.



“Oh but your hurt!” Buffy gestured towards his face for a second before reaching over and pulling his hand away. She cringed again, noticing the already red mark above the pale boy’s cheek. “You need ice. Ooh.” She jumped up. “Hold on one sec.” She ordered before running off.



William watched her run off with his mouth open in shock. He knew who she was and knew that the rules of the universe certainly dictated that she never look at him twice, much less worry this much over whether or not he was hurt. He’d spotted her his first day. Hell, he remembered, he hadn’t even made it to his first class before he’d seen her. He’d immediately asked Xander, the boy who’d been given the task of showing him around, who she was. Xander had laughed, shook his head and told him in no uncertain terms that she was out of his league. Well he knew that, he thought with a frown, he’d long since figured out that girls saw nothing of interest in him. Still, he’d been entranced upon site and begged his guide for more information. Xander had shrugged and filled him in. Her name was Buffy Summers, she was a cheerleader and she dated a football player with the unlikely name of Angel. Also she had the kind of smile that lit up a room. Xander hadn’t told him that; that he’d seen for himself. When Xander caught him starring at her again during lunch he’d once again laughed, but he’d then told William that at least Buffy was nice. “Most of the girls at that table wouldn’t even notice if you spoke to them; Buffy will at least say hi.” he’d told him.



William had paled. “Talk to her…I…I couldn’t…I wasn’t…”



Xander had chuckled and patted him on the back. “It’s cool. You’re going for the whole worshiping from afar gig. Got it. Probably safer, though we may have to work on being a tad less obvious; Angel is a big dude.”



Buffy appeared in front of him again and thrust something cold into his hand. He looked down, saw the ice cream sandwich and looked back at her quizzically.



“Cold, for your head. The ice cream truck didn’t have ice.” She shrugged and gave him a big smile. “But this is cooler anyway ‘cause now you have first aid and a snack.” She gestured towards his temple. “Go on you don’t want it to get all swollen.”



Placing the ice cream sandwich against the side of his head, he gave her a small smile. “Thank you, that’s umm…this is very considerate.” He was having an even harder time talking than normal. She glows, he thought, like the sun. Her presence alone made him feel warm. Realizing that he was no doubt starring he quickly looked down at the grass.



“It’s my fault; the least I can do is make sure I didn’t give you a concussion or something.”



“Oh no.” He looked up at her. “I’m quite… fine. I’m hard, that is to say I have a hard head…my…” He blushed a dark pink then, a look of terror washing across his face before he looked away.



Buffy smiled. Boy this guy is wound tight, she thought. She wasn’t sure she’d ever spoken with someone who was this clearly uncomfortable. The blushing however, she decided, was quite cute. In fact, she was thinking that up close he wasn’t a bad looking guy; he was pale, but he had nice features and really pretty eyes. Too bad he had to wear those glasses. The accent was pretty cute too. British, she thought.



“Buff…are you done here yet? We’re all ready to head.”



She was startled away from her observations by Cordelia’s plainly annoyed tone. She looked up to see the other girl watching her with an arched brow and a hand on her hip. Patience, she knew, was not one of Cordy’s strengths. “I’d better wait I …” She gestured towards the boy realizing that she didn’t know his name.



“He seems fine Buffy; it was just a Frisbee.” She turned to William. “You’re fine right?” She demanded.



He nodded.



Buffy shook her head. “Cordy be nice. He’s hurt and…” She paused and looked back towards the rather surprised looking boy. “I’d better stay. I can catch up with you later. ‘Kay?”



Cordelia sighed and shook her head. “Whatever. Your loss though ‘cause we’re all headed to the beach.” She turned and headed towards the parking lot.



“You don’t have to stay. Really I’m…”



“Don’t be silly; I broke your glasses. Which I’ll totally pay to have fixed by the way, but how will you get home?”



“What?” William looked confused.



“Without your glasses.” She explained.



“Oh…but…I can…that is…” He took a deep breathe. “They’re only for reading, I can see fine to walk home.”



“But I’ve seen you at school; you wear them all the time.” She paused. “I have seen you at school right? You go to Sunnydale.”



He nodded, surprised that she had even noticed him. “I…I just transferred last week.”



Buffy smiled. “Cool. What’s your name?”



“William Pratt”



“William huh, are you a like Billy or a Will?” She shrugged.



“Just William”



“Okay Just William, welcome to Sunnydale.” She thrust out her hand. “I’m Buffy.”



“I know.” He shook her hand lightly and reddened. “That is I’ve seen you at school…you’re a umm... you’re a cheerleader.”



She nodded and frowned slightly. “So can I ask you a question William?” At his nod she continued. “If you only need them for reading, why are you always wearing the glasses?”



William was so overwhelmed by the sound of his name in her voice that he almost missed the questioned entirely. “What? Oh…I don’t know. I read a lot I guess so…” He gestured to the book he had been reading.



She shrugged and couldn't help thinking again that it was a shame “Can I ask you another?”



He nodded and smiled. “Of course.” He was now quite certain that this was the longest conversation he’d ever had with a girl.



“Aren’t you like… hot?”



“Pardon?”



“The clothes. Do your folks make you wear that?”



He looked down at his attire. He hadn’t really thought about, he supposed the blazer was a bit heavy for the sunny afternoon. Turning back, he noted Buffy’s shorts and tee. He shrugged. “No. I … I just didn’t think about it. It was the uniform at my school before; just habit I suppose.”



Buffy looked mildly appalled. “You had to wear a uniform?”



He laughed softly. She’d asked as though she could hardly imagine a worse fate. “Wasn’t so bad really; I probably wouldn’t choose well anyway.” He shrugged.



Buffy smiled brightly. “Maybe I could help? I’m kind of a clothes expert.” Hmm, she thought, probably a lot of blue to bring out those pretty eyes. She shook herself. What are you doing thinking about his eyes? You love Angel’s eyes; he’s your boyfriend.She considered for a moment before she decided that she was just being friendly. He’s new and looks like he could use a friend, sher thought, I’m being nice, that’s all.



William gaped at her. “You want to help me pick out clothes?” He asked incredulously.



“Sure, we can go to the mall and get your glasses fixed and look at some stuff.” She gave him a big grin. “Ooh we could do like a California makeover.”



“Pardon?”



“Your new here right? I mean not just the school but like the whole country right?”



He nodded slowly.



“So it would totally be a great time for a makeover. You know to help you fit in here in the good old U.S of A.” He looked skeptical, she thought. Actually, she decided, he looked terrified. She giggled. “How’s your head?”



“What?”



“Where I hit you with the Frisbee?”



“Oh.” He lowered the hand holding the ice cream sandwich. “It’s fine. I’m…fine.”



Buffy leaned over slightly and took a closer look. “See ice helps. It’s almost not swollen at all now.” She smiled. “So what do you say?”



“What do I…” He trailed off tilting his head to the side slightly and giving her a confused glance.



“About the mall? Are you free? Are you going to let me make amends for almost beheading you earlier?”



William was stunned. She was looking at him hopefully. Did she actually want to spend time with him? Certainly she was just being nice, he decided. “I guess. If…if you’re sure. I don’t…that is… it’s not necessary.” She giggled again. He decided that he loved that sound above all others.



“Is that a yes?”



He shrugged and nodded. “Yes.” He said more firmly before admitting “My Mum gave me a credit card last week. Actually, she suggested I might pick up some new attire.” He gave her a wry grin.



Buffy’s eyes flashed with excitement. There is nothing quite as fun as shopping with someone else’s credit card she decided with a grin. “Perfect.” She bounced to her feet and held her hand out to help him up as well. “Can you drive? Cause Buffy and cars are non-mixy things.”



William starred at her hand for a moment, realizing that she meant for him to take it. He did so slowly, embarrassed by his excitement over the innocent touch. She quickly gave him a firm tug. “I can…drive that is, we can take my car. I live a few blocks from here; it’s a short walk.”

Buffy licked the ice cream off her fingers. “Yum. They’re even better melty don’t you think?”

William nodded and scolded himself for the thoughts watching her eat her half of the ice cream sandwich had brought on. She’s a nice girl, he admonished, she’s been nothing but kind and she would undoubtedly be horrified if she knew what you were just thinking. He turned away and pointed to a white house a few doors down from where they were. “It’s just there. You can wash up if you want. I have to go in and get my keys.”

“’Kay.”

Buffy smiled as she walked through the door he was holding open. She wasn’t used to guys holding the door for her so casually. Angel only did it when they were having a special night like homecoming or something. He always made it seem kind of silly too, by bowing deeply and gesturing like Vanna White. William had held the door like it was entirely normal. Somehow, she thought, that made it seem more special. Once again she felt the need to scold her own thoughts. Well he’s British, she thought, they have different manners and all; Angel makes you feel plenty special.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a woman’s voice calling out from another room.

“William? You’re home rather early. I didn’t expect to see you again until it got too dark to read.”

“Hello Mum” William called back “I’m just stopping home for a moment.”

“Is everything…oh William I didn’t know you had company”

Buffy smiled at the elegant looking woman who had just entered. “Hi.” She decided quickly that she would have known that she was William’s mom even if he hadn’t already called her that; there wasn’t really a strong resemblance, but their eyes were almost the same. Hers had just a touch more grey. Which Buffy decided looked especially pretty with the woman’s sleek grey bob. Funny, she thought, that William’s mom seemed so much more stylish than he did. She was wearing a long khaki skirt and a short-sleeved black top.

“William, will you not introduce me to your young lady?”

William blanched. “She’s not, I mean…” He glanced sheepishly at Buffy and then back to his mother. “This is Buffy Summers. Buffy this is my mother Anne Pratt. My…my glasses got bent and Buffy kindly offered to help me locate the shopping mall so that I can have them repaired.” He quickly explained.

Anne looked at the pretty girl next to her son and smiled. “How nice. It’s a pleasure to meet you Buffy.”

“It’s nice to meet you too Mrs. Pratt; you have a lovely home.”

Anne quickly noted the girl’s good manners and genuine seeming smile. Lovely, she decided. “Thank you dear and please, call me Anne. Mrs. Pratt sounds like an old lady who bakes and does needlework all day. I hope to fend off those urges for a few years yet.”

Buffy giggled and nodded.

“We’re just going to get washed up and grab my keys mum.”

Anne laughed softly. “All right I won’t keep you.” She turned back, leaned slightly towards Buffy and spoke in a stage whisper. “Perhaps while you are at the mall, you might point William in the direction of a clothing store that carries something besides navy blazers.” She gave her a wink.

William joined Buffy in a laugh. “Don’t worry Mum, she has already offered. It would seem my wardrobe is so dreadful that it inspires kindness in near strangers.” He leaned over and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek. As embarrassing as that little scene had been, William was nothing but glad to have had it. Two years ago he had almost lost his mother to breast cancer; now he made sure to remember every day just how lucky he was to still have her. As pathetic as it may sound to others, she was his best friend.
**************************************************


The clerk held up William’s mangled glasses. “You’re going to need new frames. There’s really nothing I can do with this. I should be able to resize the glass and get them done for you today though if you pick something we have in stock.”

William shrugged. “That’s fine.”

Buffy cringed and grasped William’s arm. “Have I mentioned the ‘so sorry’ and the ‘I’ll pay’ part?”

He chuckled. “It’s really not a problem. I haven’t gotten new ones in ages; the insurance will cover it.” He gave her a shy smile. “Maybe you could help me select new frames though?” He was having a hard time pretending not to be thrilled by her hand on his arm.

Buffy smiled warmly. He’s just too nice, she thought, anyone else would have acted at least a little upset. “Definitely” she agreed.

The third time she shook her head "no " William sighed. “These are very much like the ones I had.” He said holding up the frames in question.

“I guess” she shrugged “but I think we can do better.” She turned towards the display and studied the frames. Nodding she reached over and plucked a pair from the wall.

“I’m not sure what you’re expecting; none of them are going to make me look any better.”

Buffy spun back towards him surprised by his quiet statement. “William, you’re not a bad-looking guy.”

He looked at her skeptically.

“You’re not.” She repeated firmly. “A pair of jeans, a haircut” she shrugged “the girls are gonna be all over you.” She laughed when he looked more terrified than pleased by that thought and handed him the frames. “Here try these.”

He slid them on and looked at her expectantly.

She grinned and nodded. “Much better.”

“Really?” He glanced quizzically in a nearby mirror. He thought they looked sort of odd, but if she liked them...

“Yes really. See…” she moved to look into the mirror with him “these draw attention to your eyes instead of hiding them like the last pair.” She watched as his eyes widened and a deep blush crept up his cheeks.

He looked down and then to the side. “All right. I…I’ll just…I’ll just give these to the clerk.”

Buffy sighed when she heard his stutter return. They’d been doing so well she thought; was she really this intimidating? I’m just trying to be his friend, she thought. She didn’t question her desire to be friends with the shy young man whom she’d only met that afternoon, although she acknowledged he was really nothing like most of the crew she hung out with. Whatever, she decided, there’s no rule that says I can’t have different types of friends.

Two hours later William sat starring at his reflection in the hair dresser’s mirror. He looked at his much shorter hair and tried to process Buffy’s suggestion. “You think I should what?” He asked bewilderedly.

“Lighten it.”

“Men don’t color their hair.”

Buffy laughed. “Maybe not in England, but in California it’s not such a big deal. Besides, I want you to really lighten it, that’s not girly; its kind of punk.” She grinned knowing that would help. She’d checked out his CDs in the car; lots of punk bands. It was harder stuff than she typically went for, but kind of cool and it had definitely given her some ideas for his makeover. He still didn’t look convinced.

“Look it’s totally not a big deal. If you don’t like it they can dye it back.”

William looked over at the hairdresser for affirmation. She nodded. He looked back at the mirror. This whole thing made him feel a bit ridiculous; he’d already let Buffy pick his glasses and talk him into buying jeans and tee-shirts that he thought were too tight. Then there was the haircut. He was about to shake his head 'no' when she spoke again.

“I think it’ll look sexy.”

He was a goner, he acknowledged while nodding an okay to the hairdresser.

**********************
She’d been right she decided an hour later as she watched the hairdresser show him how to use gel to spike up his now almost white hair; it did look good. In fact, it looked even better than she’d expected. William was going to drive the girls at school crazy with his new look. That was point, she thought, right. You wanted to help him fit in better. She wasn’t sure why the thought bothered her so much now though. She frowned for a moment. You’re just worried because he’s so shy and you want to be a good friend she told herself. That was it, she decided, looking back at William. “All this shopping has me starved. How about I show you where to get the best pizza in Sunnydale?”


William gaped. She wanted to spend more time with him? He couldn’t believe his luck. Could she actually be interested in him? He pushed that aside. She had a boyfriend, he knew it, had seen them together. He couldn’t compete. She was just being nice. Gorgeous and nice, he thought, she’s a goddess. “Pizza would be good.”


William waited for Buffy to sit and then took his seat on the other side of the booth. He looked up at her with a pained expression. “I feel like everyone is starring at me.” He whispered fervently.

Buffy smiled. “They’re just checking you out. Sunnydale doesn’t get a lot of new kids; you’re like fresh meat.”

His jaw dropped. “What if I…that is I’m...umm…not so sure I want to be meat.”

Buffy laughed at his horrified expression. “You don’t want girls to check you out?” She giggled for a second before freezing. Oh, she thought, I hadn’t even considered that. She leaned over the table. “William, are you gay? I mean it’s cool if you…”

“What?” He shouted in shock. Noticing the attention he had drawn, he quickly lowered his voice. “No. I’m…I’m not very successful but...” He sighed, closed his eyes in embarrassment and whispered “I like girls.”

Buffy ignored her feelings of relief and scooted around to sit on the same bench he was. He moved to make room but gave her a startled look. She smiled. “If you’re going to keep whispering than I’m going to have to sit closer.” She giggled. “I kind of like this…” she gestured to the two of them “sitting like this. It makes it feel like we have some kind of big secret, and now we can check out people together.”

William wondered if it was too soon to be in love with her. He’d had a crush since the moment he’d seen her, but he hadn’t really known her at all before this afternoon. Now he knew that she was kind and friendly and more than a little bossy and that she giggled a lot and that when she smiled at him he felt more alive than he had ever felt in his whole life. Oh yeah, he thought, I’m done for.

“So if you like girls, what’s the problem with getting checked out?”

“I was really hoping for more of a blending in look than a standing out one; I don’t really like to attract attention.” He looked at her apologetically.

She nodded. “I get it, but you’re going to have to attract attention to get a girlfriend. Besides, you were standing out before, just in a less hot way.”

William reeled. Was she saying that he was hot? “Girlfriend?” He asked weakly.

“Don’t worry, I’m going to help. I’ll be like your own personal little cupid.” She beamed.

A half an hour earlier William was praising his newfound luck. Now he was sure he’d found hell. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you doing all of this? What difference does it make to you if I have a girlfriend or odd hair?”

Buffy frowned. “I…I thought…I just thought we’d be friends. Don’t you want to be my friend?”

“Of course I do, but why would you want to be mine?”

She shrugged. “I think you’re nice. Why do you want to be my friend?”

Because you’re a radiant goddess who controls my very soul, he thought dramatically. “Because you’re…nice. You’ve been very kind.”

Buffy giggled. “You keep forgetting this all started when I walloped you in the head with a Frisbee.”

“It’s true. You do have a bit of a violent streak.”

Buffy looked up at him startled and swatted at his arm. “Take that back” she demanded playfully.

William laughed and ducked away from her pretend punches. “Very well, I’ll take back my comment that you’re violent because you’re hitting me.”

Buffy giggled. “So it’s settled; we’re friends?”

“I’d like that very much.”

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

Forty minutes later William pulled up in front of Buffy’s house, put the car in park and hopped out. Buffy watched him walk around the front of the car with a confused expression before realizing that he meant to open her door for her. She giggled when he did and couldn’t help but think that a girl could get used to this sort of thing. She smiled a thank you and bounced out of the car.

“I…thank you Buffy…you…” William shook his head. He really wasn’t sure what one was supposed to say under these circumstances.

Buffy gave him a big smile. “It was fun right?”

He nodded.

“Good.” She glanced towards her house. “It’s getting kind of late; I should go in. I’ll see you Monday ‘kay?”

William nodded again before answering quickly. “Yes!”

“Cool”

William watched as Buffy ran over to the front door. She stopped briefly before going in to turn and give him a quick wave. He raised his arm to wave back, but she was already inside.

William got in his car and drove the short distance home, trying to process the whirlwind of a day he’d had. He turned off the car and pulled the bags containing his new wardrobe out of the trunk.

His mother’s voice called out as he opened the front door. “William? Oh good. Can you come in here and help me with this dear?”

He cringed. He hadn’t yet considered his mother’s reaction to what Buffy called his ‘new look’. With a sigh he placed the bags on the floor in the foyer and headed towards her voice. He found her standing on a chair in the dining room trying to hang up a picture. “Mum.”

She spoke again without turning. “Here, can you grab this side? I know I should have just waited until you came home, but I…” She turned towards him slightly and froze.

William stepped forward and grasped the picture frame before she dropped it. He placed it smoothly on to the hanger and made sure it was straight before looking back towards her. He reached out his hand to help her down. “That bad?” He asked with a cringe.

Anne gave him a small smile and tilted her head to give him a considering look. “It is certainly different. I don’t believe I ever expected you to have white hair before I do, but…no, it isn’t bad.” She nodded. “Actually it is rather striking. It would seem that your young lady has an eye for these things.”

William quickly shook his head. “Not my girl mum; she has a boyfriend. She was just being nice.”

“Hmm I see.” She nodded.

Catching the glint in his mother’s eye, William shook his head again. “Really Mum, I think she just felt sorry for me.”
At that Anne laughed. “Sweetheart she spent the whole day with you. Certainly even a nice girl wouldn’t have done that if she hadn’t found you to be charming company.”

William laughed. “You’re the only one that finds anything about me charming, and as my mother you really have no choice.”

Anne reached over and ruffled her son’s now shockingly light hair affectionately. “That is not true; I was simply blessed with the world’s most brilliant and handsome son.”

Monday morning came fast and William soon found himself pulling into a parking spot at school and wishing he’d thought to wear a hat. He turned off the engine, pulled out the keys and grabbed his bag. He opened the door to see Xander and Willow, the slight red-haired girl he’d met briefly last week, heading his way.

“Hey, Will…William?” Xander’s eyes widened. “Man, what happened to your hair?” He demanded quickly.

“Xander!” Willow elbowed him and looked back at William with a smile. “He means you…um…you look different. Which doesn’t mean not good umm…”

William smiled, there was definitely something about Willow that put him at ease. “Thank you for the polite translation, but I think Xander had it right; it is rather odd.”

Willow shook her head. “It looks fine. We just didn’t think you were the ‘bleach your hair’ type.”

“Yeah” Xander agreed nodding. “What Willow said and what happened?”

“Well I suppose…” William started only to turn abruptly a second later at the sound of his name.

“William!” Buffy called out and waved from across the parking lot. She bounced up and down on her toes, causing the short skirt of her cheerleading uniform to flip around.

By the time William thought to raise his hand and wave back she had already turned away to join a group of girls. He watched her walk away for a moment before looking back at his new friends’ rather shocked expressions.

Xander spoke first. “And again I ask; what happened?”

“It’s something of a long story.”

Xander glanced towards the entrance of the school where Buffy was now walking through the front door. “I’m prepared to skip first period.”
****************************************
A little while later William was starting to wish he’d thought to skip school all together. His new look was definitely not helping him blend in; if anything he was attracting more attention. People had been giving him strange looks all day. His first period professor hadn’t even recognized him and had suggested he was in the wrong class, causing most of the students to giggle and William to turn red in mortification. He was now in third period where he was sure that the girl sitting across the aisle thought he was a freak. After all, he thought, he’d apparently shocked her enough to make her drop her pencil three times. He’d retrieved it for her and gave her an apologetic smile each time. He was, he thought with conviction, certainly going to have to get it turned back and soon.

At lunch he avoided the cafeteria all together and found temporary peace in the rather empty library. He might have left school; he certainly could have claimed to be ill. It wouldn’t even be a lie, given the currently nauseous state of his stomach. He would have left, but for one thing: last period. Last period was American History and Buffy was in his class. He wasn’t going to leave and give up the chance that she might smile at him again. So he stuck it out, he ignored the odd glances and occasional whispers and with a desperate sort of gladness finally slid into a chair for his last class of the day.

Buffy entered the room a couple of moments later and surprised him by not only smiling at him but heading his way. She dropped into the seat next to him. “Hey. I looked for you at lunch.”

William’s mouth opened twice before any sound came out. “You did?”

She nodded and then leaned in to whisper. “So how’s the makeover working out? Was I right? I bet girls have been hitting on you all day huh?”

“No one has hit me.” William whispered back confusedly. “Why…”

Buffy giggled and he could help but smile at the sound.

“Not hit, like …hit.” She pretended to punch his arm. “I meant like flirt. I’ll bet that a lot of girls noticed you today.”

He laughed. “I do seem to have drawn some attention, but…” He shrugged not sure how to tell her without hurting her feelings that he didn’t think that any makeover, even hers, was likely to work the kind of magic she was talking about.

Buffy frowned slightly and gave William a look over. He looked good, she thought, actually she amended quickly; he looked really good. The dark jeans and black tee shirt fit him well and showed off an unexpectedly fit physique and the hair really made the blue of his eyes stand out. No, she smiled; looks were really not an issue. He was, she decided, simply being too shy. “William, you…”

The teacher started talking and Buffy stopped and leaned back against her own chair to listen.

William was having a harder time paying attention. He’d expected her to go sit next to someone else once class was underway, but she’d surprised him by staying and he now found himself trying to disguise his need to glance her way every few seconds. He was so caught up in his own internal struggle to keeps his thoughts on appropriate topics and not on how smooth the skin on her thighs looked, that he completely missed it when she turned back to him and spoke.

“Okay?”

“Huh… I mean… that is…”

She smiled. “Are you cool with being my partner for the project? I’m sure you’re way smarter about this stuff then me, but I always do my share and my Mom usually makes good study snacks.”

He gaped. Was she actually trying to talk him into working with her? “Yes! I mean yes that would be very nice.”

“Cool.” She bit her lip for a moment drawing his eyes to her mouth. “Are you free tonight? I like to get a quick start on these things so I don’t have to do too much on any given day. That is the way to brain frizzle you know. I have practice but it should be a short one.” She stopped when she caught his dazed expression. “Earth to William” she grinned at his sheepish expression” so does tonight work for you?”

He nodded quickly. “Yes.” He paused for a moment before adding. “I can wait…I mean at school. I could wait until you finish practice and then give you a ride home. Unless, I mean you probably already have a…”

Buffy beamed. “Perfect. That would be great. Ooh then you could meet some of my cheerleading friends.”

He nodded and tried to smile back. He really didn’t think he could handle talking to a whole group of Buffy’s friends, but if it made her happy he’d certainly try.

When History ended William once again delighted in the relative security of the school library. No one there was likely to expect him to talk overly much; not that there were really many students there. He was still a bit puzzled by the lack of use the school library seemed to get and he wondered if anyone here did their homework. He was pondering his chances of checking out a book of poetry by William Blake without anyone noticing, he really didn’t want to provide his fellow students with even more reason to question his sexual preference, when he ran into Willow.

“William!” She gave him a warm smile. “You’re in the library!”

She seemed so genuinely excited to see him that William was for a moment stunned. He nodded and then laughed. “It doesn’t seem like a very popular destination.”

Willow shook her head. “No. No one comes here. Well I come here and sometimes I see Lee Chovskoski here, but I think she just hides here when she’d cutting P.E. Oooh we can be library friends. I’ve always wanted a library friend. Xander swears he doesn’t even know where the library is but everyone comes here during their freshman tour so he must. I guess it would be cooler not to know but I don’t know why. I mean why is it cool to not know something?” She grinned and looked at him expectantly.

William gave her a weak smile while trying to decide which parts of her speech required an answer on his part. Willow seemed like a possible kindred spirit but that didn’t mean he was quite used to following her rather rapid chat yet. He opened his mouth to attempt a response but she saved him from the need to talk by starting up once again herself.

“So you really let Buffy Summers bleach your hair? Is it because you like her, I mean I guess all boys kind of like her right?”

He blushed. “She didn’t actually do the bleaching she just suggested it and I…she seems to know more about this sort of thing than I do, so I thought it best to follow her advice.”

Willow nodded. “I think it’s just one of those things you have to get used to. Like this morning I was all Ahhh!, but now I think it looks nice.”

“Thank you, but I’m really not so sure myself.”

She gave him a quizzical look. “So you like her?”

“She’s been most pleasant to me. I think she…is very nice.” And also the most beautiful and illuminating of souls, his mind filled in.

Willow giggled. “But do you like, like her like her.”

“She has a boyfriend, not that I would presume to…that is I…”

Giggling again, Willow filled in the blanks. “So you really like her.” Seeing William’s blush, she quickly assured him that she wouldn’t tell anyone. “Is it just ‘cause she’s so pretty?”

“Oh no! She’s …fascinating. I’ve never met anyone like her.” Catching himself, William quickly ducked his head.

Willow smiled. “So do you have like a big wooing plan?”

“What? Oh no I’m not. No. I’m just hoping to be her friend.” He paused and leaned towards her slightly. “She asked me to be her partner on our history project, so maybe…”

“Oh William. She definitely likes you then. I’ll bet she thinks you’re cute.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him.

He laughed. “I rather think not. She seems to have made it her crusade to help me find a girlfriend.”

Willow frowned. “Hmm…that is tricky. I’m really not the one to help with love stuff. I’m kind of a lost cause myself.”

William frowned. “Surely not. You seem quite lovely. I’m certain there are gentlemen who would be honored to …” He stopped when she started laughing and gave her a confused look.

She looked at him sheepishly. “I’m sorry. It’s just that you have such nice manners.”

“And that’s bad?”

“No.” she shook her head “it’s really nice. I hope we can be friends.”

William smiled at the somewhat odd girl. “I hope that as well.”

After chatting with Willow for a few more minutes, he made his way toward the field that Buffy indicated they should meet at. She’d said that they were just having a quick meet and that she’d be ready in a half hour. He’d considered giving her a few extra minutes in the hopes that most of the others would leave, but quickly decided that he didn’t want to risk the possibility that she would think he’d forgotten and decide to go home with someone else. He ducked against the bleachers along the side at the exact suggested time and watched the girls wrap up their meeting. He couldn’t make out any of the conversation, but he thought that they all seemed quite excited. He supposed that was a requirement for a cheerleader.

Buffy noticed him a couple of moments later, smiled, and gestured that he should come over. He took one look at the bouncing mass of rapidly talking girls surrounding her and decided to pretend that he hadn’t noticed. He ducked his head and feigned great interest in the grass.

Buffy shook her head and giggled. She was pretty sure that he had seen her and decided not to come over. She was also pretty sure that she’d never met anyone so shy before. She decided not to push it. She turned to Cordy. “I’ve got to head. I told William that we could get started on our history project this afternoon.”

Cordy gave her a confused glance. “Who?”

“William, you know we met him at the park.” At her blank look, Buffy added. “I nearly killed him with the frisbee. Well, he’s really nice and smart and he’s got US history during seventh period with me.” She gestured toward William. “He’s waiting so…”

“Wait.” Cordy looked at William for a moment and then back at Buffy. “That is not the dork from the park.”

“Cordy! He’s not…he’s just kind of shy.”

Cordy gave her a skeptical look and then turned her attention back toward the black-clad boy standing on the side of the field. “That boy does not look shy.” Her eyes lit up as she turned back to Buffy. “What does Angel say about all this?”

“What does he say about what? How would he know if William’s shy? I don’t think…”

“So you’re saying that you’re boyfriend doesn’t know that you’re hanging out with bleach boy over there.”

“We’re doing a project and…and he’s my friend. Angel wouldn’t care.” A little voice in her head argued that Angel just might care if he knew about some of her mind’s wanderings during history, but she quickly shut the voice up by reminding herself that it was fine to notice that William was attractive just so long as she remembered that she loved Angel. Angel was her boyfriend.

Cordy nodded, but didn’t appear to agree. “Okay if you want to risk losing the hottest guy in school just to hang out with that guy…just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. Angel won’t care.” Hell, she thought Angel was probably too busy to even notice. She waved goodbye to the others and jogged over to where William stood. “Hiya. You could have come over you know.”

“I was fine waiting. If you’re not done I can…”

“We’re all set.” She laughed. “You ready to think historically?”

He nodded. “I generally am.”

Twenty minutes later William followed Buffy into her house. “I found a couple of books at the library that should prove useful.”

Buffy gave him a frown. “But we’re supposed to do the work together. You weren’t supposed to start without me.”

William’s eyes widened. “I didn’t think you’d…I just found a couple of books on the topic; I didn’t read them or make any decisions. I’m sorry if I offended. I certainly never intended…”

Buffy shook her head. “I know. I’m sorry; I’m over-sensitive. Everyone acts like just because I’m a cheerleader I’m some kind of ditz or that I will try to con people into doing my work and it just makes me so…”

“Oh no! I would never think that. You’re…you’re not…”

Buffy grasped his arm. “I know. I’m sorry. Please forget about it. Let’s go do a fridge check. I’m in serious need of some thirst quenching.” She tugged him in the direction of the kitchen.

William remained glued in place. “Please. Buffy. I…”

Buffy turned and took in his still horrified expression. “I know. Please forget my little psycho moment.” She smiled warmly. “Come on. What do you like to drink?”

When she tugged his arm again, William let her guide him into the kitchen. He watched as she bounced over to the refrigerator and surveyed the contents. She didn’t seem upset with him now, but he was still concerned. He vowed to be more careful in the future. He didn’t really think he ever stood a chance of being anything more than friends with the beautiful girl in front of him, but he certainly didn’t want to lose his chance at that.
He politely accepted a soda and followed her into the living room.

Buffy’s mother, Joyce, found them there an hour later surrounded by notes and books. Buffy’s laptop sat on the floor between them and they were, she realized with a surprised smile, debating whether the internet or the library was a better source for history facts. Joyce watched them for several minutes unnoticed. Buffy was vigilantly supporting the internet as the bearer of all truth while the young man next to her was quietly upholding that books and journals have a more stringent fact-checking regiment and are more likely to be written by an expert with education and experience on the subject. Joyce had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the unusual scene. She found herself very curious about the boy who’d gotten her daughter involved in such an academic discussion, his hair and clothes certainly didn’t match his quiet manner and she was fairly certain she’d not seen him around before.

“Hi Sweetie. I don’t want to interrupt your homework session here, but I wanted to let you know that I’m home and see if guys were hungry.”

Buffy looked up, startled to see her mother standing in the archway between the living and dining rooms. “Oh hi Mom, you’re home early aren’t you?”

Joyce shook her head. “It’s a little after five.” She shrugged. “Pretty normal time.”

Buffy’s eyes widened and she glanced at the clock, sure enough it was after five. “Wow. I didn’t realize…” She looked over to see William, who had stood up and was now looking at her expectantly. She frowned slightly before realizing that he wanted her to introduce her mother. “Oh Mom this is William. He’s my partner for the Revolutionary War project, which is totally neat because he’s British.”

Joyce laughed and raised her eyebrows slightly when the young man reached his hand out towards her. She shook his hand and smiled. “Well then, it’s nice to meet you British William.”

William blushed slightly. “It’s Pratt, William Pratt and it’s very nice to make your acquaintance Ms Summers. Thank you for…for umm…having me in your home.”

Delightful, Joyce thought with a grin. If he hadn’t been so earnest seeming she would have found his manners suspicious. But she took one look at the boy’s pink cheeks and averted gaze and was charmed. “It’s Joyce William, and you are quite welcome. In fact, I hope you’ll stay for dinner.”

“Oh I couldn’t, thank you but I…”

“It’s no trouble, I always make too much for just the two of us; it’s nice to have a man-size appetite to cook for now and again.”

“My mother… that is I told my Mum that I’d cook tonight and I don’t want her to be alone. But thank you very much for the invitation.”

Buffy and Joyce responded in chorus. “You cook?”

At his nod, Joyce nodded. “Well I certainly wouldn’t want you to upset your mother. I hope that the two of you can both join us for dinner sometime soon though.”

William nodded again. “That would be very nice.”

“All right I’ll leave you two to finish up. Dinner in…about an hour?”

“Sounds good Mom. We should wrap up for today soon.

*************************************
The rest of William’s week followed a similar pattern. He continued to attract an unusual amount of attention, but most of the whispers and comments stopped after the second day. He supposed that people were getting used to his new look. He was surprised to find that he too was getting rather used to it. At times he even thought that he might like to be the person his new look suggested he was: bold, confident and little rebellious. The man in the mirror did not look like someone who hid in the library, but he still found himself there rather often. Several times he chatted with Willow and he was confident that he’d found a true friend in her. He began to suspect that she had rather romantic feelings toward a completely unaware Xander. He did venture into the cafeteria a few times to sit with the pair of them. If Buffy spotted him and waved, he waved back and then blushed at Xander’s teasing remarks. He went twice more to Buffy’s house after school in order to work and was delighted to find that she was clever and often had a unique perspective on their topic. Overall William was feeling quite upbeat Friday evening when he answered the phone.

“Pratt residence”

Buffy giggled. “William?”

“Yes.” He laughed. “Hello Buffy.”

“Hi. My Mom wanted to see if you and your mom wanted to come to dinner at all this weekend and well me too, I mean I want you to come to.” Buffy was surprised by how awkward she felt and by how hopeful. Jeez, she thought, you’re just inviting a friend to dinner; it’s no biggie.

William frowned. “Oh we can’t. That is, my mother is already gone. She has a business meeting in Los Angeles; she won’t be back until Monday.”

“Oh, but that means you’re all alone so you have to come. Tomorrow, come to dinner and then we can do something. I’ll show you the Sunnydale hotspots or the lukewarm ones anyway. Okay?”

William practically shouted his “yes”.

Buffy laughed. “Yeah I get lonely when my Mom’s out of town too. I usually have Cordy or someone stay over.”

William didn’t explain that his excitement had more to do with seeing her then with getting out of the house. She hadn’t really spoken much about her boyfriend, but he’d seen them together at school a couple of times. It was clear to him that they were still very much together. He laughed softly as though in agreement.

“Okay so why don’t you come over at say… five. Dinner will probably be at like six and then we can head out. Cool?”

“That would be very nice, Buffy.”

Buffy laughed. “You know you could just say cool or like…yeah.”

He chuckled. She’d mentioned that he could “relax already” as she put it a few times already. “Indeed.”

Buffy hung up a moment later and went to get dressed for her date with Angel. She smiled brightly as she chose an outfit and styled her hair, but she was mostly thinking about Saturday night.

When the doorbell rang a short while later she ran down to answer it. She generally avoided leaving Angel and her mother alone if at all possible.

He grinned when she opened the door and gave her a quick look over. “Hey beautiful. Are you ready to head? I hear there’s a good band at the Bronze tonight; the whole team’s going.”

Buffy smiled back and nodded. “Just let me grab a sweater.” She tried not to feel disappointed, but it seemed lately that the only time Angel wanted to be alone with her was when they were making out. She’d been hoping that tonight wouldn’t end up holding the pattern. As she reached into the closet she told herself that she was being silly. The guys on the football team were funny and there would almost certainly be some girls she knew there; it’d be fun she decided. She turned back to him with a cheerful smile and, shouting a goodbye to her mother, followed him out the door and to his car.

“Everything’s been delicious Ms Sum…Joyce. Thank you again for having me.”

Joyce smiled. “You’re welcome William. It’s nice having company. Buffy gets bored listening to all my stories about the gallery; it’s great having a new victim to inflict them upon.”

veryt“Oh no, surely…” William trailed off when he noticed that both women were bubbling with laughter.

Buffy spoke first. “She’s just teasing.”

William smiled and nodded. He really wasn’t used to be on friendly teasing terms with anyone but his mother. Buffy’s mother seemed quite kind though and they both seemed to genuinely want his company, so he tried to relax. “I enjoyed hearing about your gallery; I would never have realized gallery work was so…” he paused trying the select the right word “well creative, I guess. I’ve been thinking as you’ve shared your anecdotes that many of your artists owe much of their success to you. Certainly they share their talents but if you failed to display it to its best effect, then the entire meaning of the piece could be lost on the audience.”

“Thank you William; but now I’m thinking that you’re just kissing up to get another piece of cake.”

He grinned. “It was very good cake.”

Buffy giggled as she watched William charm her mother. It was nice; she and her mother had always been very close but she knew her mom didn’t think very highly of most of her friends. There was a comfortable feeling that came with having William over; she wasn’t worried that he would say something to offend her mom or that would result in another after-school special style mother-daughter talk. She was also enjoying watching him loosen up as the evening progressed. He still generally seemed rather shy, but occasionally she got a glimpse of his apparently dry and sarcastic sense of humor. She liked it and hoped it would become a more standard part of their friendship.

She smiled at that thought. It had only been a week, but she really felt like they were friends or like they were becoming friends anyway. Buffy suddenly felt that despite the many kids at school she generally considered friends, she just didn’t have anyone she was that close with. Well, except Angel of course, she amended. He was her boyfriend after all. When she heard William start to insist that he should help with the dishes she grabbed his arm.

“You’re a guest. Guests don’t do dishes. More importantly, you’re my excuse to not help clean up since I’m going to be sooo busy showing you around Sunnydale.” She grinned at her mom.

Joyce nodded and gave a small laugh. “Go on; get out of here. You’ve spent enough time entertaining me; you should go listen to too-loud music or do something else that will lose its appeal once you get old. Have fun.”

Buffy tugged his arm again and William let her lead him into the other room. He decided on the spot that he should play up his reluctance to things a bit more so that he could enjoy the sensation of her hand on his arm as much as possible. He then blushed guiltily.

Buffy saw the change in his expression and paused. “Is everything okay?”

He nodded. “Fine.”

“All righty then William. I thought we’d start with the Bronze. It’s not really great, but it is the only club in town that lets in us underagers.”

He shrugged. “I’m eighteen actually.”

“Right but not twenty-one”

His eyebrows came together for a moment. “Oh I’d forgotten. The drinking age here is twenty-one isn’t it?” He shrugged. “I’m not really much of a drinker.”

“Well they probably wouldn’t serve you anyway, not without a good fake ID, but we can get in to check out the band, dance…that kind of thing.”

“Do you have one?”

“A fake ID?” Buffy shook her head. “No, definitely not. My mom would be big with the killing. But Angel does and a few of the other guys on the football team.”

“Oh”

“So does that sound like a good first stop?”

“I’m sure you know best. Whatever you like will be fine with me.”
*********************************************

Following her into the dark, crowded and noisy club a little while later he pondered the truth of his words. He felt way too conspicuous; he was sure that everyone was looking at him and knew that he didn’t belong there. When she turned to him and said “Cool right?” he nodded with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.

She led him to a table towards the front. “Oh I’ve seen these guys before.” she motioned towards the band. “They’re pretty good.” She glanced around for a moment. “There are waitresses, but if we want a drink any time tonight we should probably go to the bar.”

“Oh of course, I’m sorry. What would you like to drink?”

Buffy shook her head. “I didn’t mean that you should buy my drink William.”

“Please. It’s the least I can do…to…to thank you for showing me around.”

She took in his pleading look and smiled. “Ok, I like Diet Coke.”

He nodded once and started to make his way to the bar.

Buffy watched him for a moment before turning to look around the club. She was looking at the band and didn’t notice Angel and a couple of his football friends until they were at the table.

Angel leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Hey I thought you were busy tonight.”

Buffy nodded. “I am. I’m showing a new friend the sites. I figured the Bronze counted. Barely.”

“Oh. Well where is she? You girls could join us; we could show her the sites.”

One of his friends nodded in agreement. “Is she hot?”

Buffy laughed. “She is a he and he went to get drinks.”

“You’re here with a guy?” Angel didn’t sound jealous as much as bewildered.

Buffy nodded. “William. He just moved here from England and he’s my history partner. You’ll like him, he’s really nice.” Even as she said the words she couldn’t actually picture Angel and William hanging out.

“History partner, like homework?”

Buffy nodded.

As William returned to the table, he was surprised to find Buffy surrounded by four large guys. He immediately recognized one as her boyfriend and seriously considered heading back towards the bar. He scolded himself to at least try and act like a man and walked the rest of the way. He handed Buffy her soda and placed his own on the table. He didn’t get a chance to speak before Angel did.

“Hey you must be Will; Buffy’s been telling all about how smart you are. It’s so nice of you to help my girl out with her history stuff.”

William shook his head. “Oh but no. Buffy doesn’t need…”

Angel laughed. “I know; I’m just messing with you. My girl gets like straight A’s. I don’t know how she finds all that study time.” He shrugged “she’s a sweet girl yeah, showing you around as thanks. I was just telling her that I was sure you’d like it even more if she introduced you to some of the guys.”

Twenty minutes later it had become clear to William that Angel and his friends were not planning to move along. They’d all said hello, and then after a few half-hearted attempts to find common ground, they’d pretty much ignored him. He was well aware it could have been worse. In truth he wasn’t sure he’d have been so nice if the tables had been turned, if Buffy had been his girl and he’d found her out with another man. But he supposed that the idea that he was competition seemed so far fetched that it hadn’t even occurred to them. So he’d sat there trying not to watch Angel touch Buffy. That was especially hard once Angel decided that he and “his girl” could share a seat. Buffy looked vaguely uncomfortable and tried to ease the situation with a forced cheerfulness.

It had been a half an hour. Buffy decided that surely that was long enough. She didn’t try to analyze her feelings. She just knew that she had been looking forward to talking with William and that was definitely not happening here. She decided to take the coward’s way out. “You know. I think I’ve had enough of this band.”

Angel looked confused. “Really? I think these guys rock.”

“Maybe it’s just a headache.”

“Oh” Angel nodded. “Well I guess I could take you home and then come back to meet up with the guys.”

“Oh no! I mean I’m sure William wouldn’t mind taking me home.” She turned. “Do you?”

William stood up eagerly. “Of course not. If you’re not feeling well, I’d be more than happy to…”
Buffy turned back to Angel with a big smile. “See. You should stay with the guys. I’ll be fine.” She stood up and then gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.

Angel nodded agreeably. “Okay. Call me tomorrow?”

“Of course.” Buffy agreed easily as she headed toward William.

As soon as they were outside, William touched her arm gently. “Are you okay? Do you feel sick or…”

Buffy shook her head. “I’m fine. I…I actually don’t really have a headache. It just…it just didn’t look like you were having any fun and…”

“Oh but you don’t have to worry about me. If you want me to leave…”

“No! I want us to hang out okay?”

William nodded dazedly. Had she really just chosen to spend time with him over Angel? “Of course, what would you like to do?”

“Maybe…maybe we could just go back to my house and watch a movie. Ooh I can make popcorn.”

His heart leapt. “That sounds perfect.”

And it was, William decided an hour later. The movie was fairly awful, something clearly designed to focus on the costumes and attractiveness of the cast more than on believability, but it was passably funny and he was enjoying watching Buffy giggle.

She turned to him and found him smiling widely. “See I told you. It’s funny right? And don’t you just want them to realize how perfect they are together?”

“Absolutely, pet.” He responded in a quiet and husky voice.

Buffy grinned and nodded. Pet, she thought and tried to ignore the strange warm feeling the affectionate term caused. She rationalized that it was just a sort of blanket term that British people used with their friends. She decided that she liked it, just as she liked being William’s friend.

It had slipped out before he could catch himself. William watched Buffy closely for her reaction. She seemed happy, he thought with a quick sigh of relief. He started to let himself relax.

He continued to find himself relaxing in her presence over the next few weeks. They completed their history project and were thrilled with the resulting marks. The professor was impressed by their unique presentation and by their decision to have William present the colonist’s side and Buffy make the case for Britain. They eagerly agreed to be partners for the next project as well.

But they also continued to spend time together apart from homework. William had sat through much of Buffy’s collection of teen romance DVDs, though he’d been increasingly vocal in his opinions about them. Buffy laughed at his sarcastic remarks and occasionally admitted that he had a point. But, she’d say with a grin, that was why they were so fun. William found that he almost never had to share his time with her with Angel. In fact, it really seemed that she only spent a couple of evenings a week with Angel and lunch of course. Lunch was still a hard time for William. He still sat with Xander and Willow, who both knew that despite his firm “friend” status with Buffy he was hoping for more. They would frequently try to console him during Angel and Buffy’s cafeteria snuggle sessions. A few times he’d had to excuse himself, but he was proud to think that he generally held it together.

Buffy was delighted that William had stopped stuttering and staring at her and loved the several affectionate nicknames he now used for her. If asked, she would probably have said that he was her best friend, but she really didn’t contemplate their relationship that much. It was nice to be with him and so she often was, period.

She knocked on his front door on a particularly warm Saturday afternoon and smiled when his mother answered. “Hello Anne. Is William home? I’m sorry to just stop by. I was at the park and I left my phone at home.”

Anne gestured for her to come in and smiled warmly. “You’re always welcome dear; you know that. He’s up in his room. Would it be all right if I just sent you up? I was just in the middle of something in the kitchen.”

Buffy nodded. “Yep. Don’t let me keep you. I’ll find him.” She happily jogged up the stairs and turned down the hall towards the room she knew was William’s. She was about to open the door when her mind registered the sounds coming from inside as music. She stilled as she realized that the singing was William. It was quiet, but it was definitely him and it was definitely good. She waited another moment before slowly turning the door knob.

“William! You never told me you play guitar and you sing. You’re so good.”

Startled, he jumped at her words and dropped the guitar from his lap. “Buffy, I…I didn’t know you were here.” He started lamely.

“Oh don’t stop. Please. It was so pretty.”

He shook his head. “I don’t…I don’t really play in front of people.”

Buffy pouted. “Oh but were friends right? Please.”

William took in her pleading expression. He took one look at her jutting lower lip and groaned. God, I want to taste that lip, he thought fervently. He shook his head knowing that she had no idea what she did to him. “Of course we are pet it’s just a sort of private thing.”

Buffy walked over and sat down next to him on his bed. She nodded sort of sadly. “Okay, I get that, but…will you tell me what you were playing; it sounded pretty.”

He laughed. “It was actually a Clash song. I just slowed it down a bunch. I don’t think it’s generally considered pretty.”

“What’s it called?”

“Umm it’s Should I Stay or Should I Go?”

Buffy wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard it.”

He shrugged.

“Oh, so I came by to see if you wanted to go to the beach. It’s so nice out today and it will start to get cold soon…so can I tempt you?”

William almost laughed. If only you knew how much, he thought. He nodded. “Sure that sounds nice.”

“Cool. Why don’t you get changed and then we can swing by my house so I can too.” She bounced over to the door and turned to see him nod again before heading downstairs to chat with his mom again.

He appeared a few minutes later wearing a pair of longish blue swim trunks and one of the blue tee shirts that Buffy had chosen on the day they’d first met.

With a promise to call if he’d be out late, William followed Buffy out the door and chatted happily with her as they drove to her house so that she could get changed.

Buffy was no longer surprised when he got out of the car and came around to open the door for her, She’d considered telling him that she was totally capable of opening doors for herself, but she knew it would hurt his feelings and that he meant it in nothing but a respectful way. So she’d just gotten used to it instead. She thanked him as she got out of the car and feeling a burst of mischievous energy dared him to race her to the door.

She won, but only due to the head start his confusion granted her. He laughed as he walked into her house. “It’s really not very sporting if you start early you know.”

“Aww…is that your way of asking for a rematch?”

Her mother’s voice calling from the other room interrupted his response. “Buffy? Are you home?”

“Hi Mom” she yelled back. “William and I are just stopping by so that I can get my swimsuit on…” She trailed off as her mom came into the foyer.

Joyce gave William a smile. “Hello. Are you two going to head to the beach? It’s certainly nice enough.”

He nodded. “Hello Joyce. How is everything at the gallery?”

Buffy left her mom telling William about the latest delivery mix up and went upstairs to change.

Joyce knew the moment that Buffy appeared on the stairs even though her back was to her. She watched William’s eyes widen before he quickly averted his gaze and she turned to see her daughter come down the stairs. She shook her head. “Buffy, take a shirt.”

William glanced quickly back at Buffy to watch her reaction. When he saw her roll her eyes but turn to do as her mother had said he let out a swift breath. This, he suddenly realized, was an issue that he should have seen coming. Seeing her fully dressed often provided him with enough of a challenge, when he seen her appear at the top of the stairs in a scant red bikini and a denim mini skirt slung low on her hips he’d almost lost himself. Two primary thoughts were now running through his head. First he wondered how he was going to keep his attraction a secret once they got the beach and she presumably proceeded to take off the skirt to swim and second he was now sure that red was his favorite color.

Joyce was pondering how she should proceed to pretend she was unaware of William’s interest in her daughter when the phone rang. She turned to him. “Excuse me for a second.”

She walked into the kitchen and placed the phone to her ear. “Hello? …Hank?...yes, she’s here…umm hmm…I see…yes…just a second” Joyce placed the phone on the counter with a sigh and called her daughter. “Buffy, honey your dad is on the phone.”

Buffy, now clad in a filmy white cover-up over her bikini top, came down the stairs and ran eagerly into the kitchen. She grabbed the phone. “Hi Dad. I can’t wait to see…what? Oh. Yeah; I understand…of course…yeah next time…yep…love you too.” She slowly hung the phone back on the receiver.

Joyce reached over and gave her daughter a quick hug. “I’m sorry honey. I know you were looking forward it. You know he doesn’t…”

“I know mom, I know…”

William watched with dismay as the normally cheerful girl clearly tried to pretend that she wasn’t upset. He wasn’t sure if it was his place to get involved, but he couldn’t watch her be upset and not try to help. “Buffy” he started gently, tilting his head to the side and giving her a searching look “luv, what’s wrong; is there…”

Buffy shook her head. “It’s nothing really. I’m being silly. I just…it’s my birthday next week.”

William nodded. “Friday”

She smiled and nodded back. “Well my dad was supposed to come on Saturday. We have tickets…he always used to take me.” She sighed. “We were supposed to go to the Icecapades, and I know that seems lame, but I really like it and my mom has an event at the gallery and so she can’t go with me and…” She shrugged.

William furrowed his brow. “Angel, surely…” He was cut off by her giggle.

“No way.” Even through her disappointment, the idea of Angel coming to the Icecapades made her laugh. At best he’d be miserable and out of place and at worst he’d probably spend the whole night making fun of it, thus ruining her fun.

He frowned at that, angry at the thought that Angel would not do anything in his power to make this incredible girl happy. “I’d…I don’t want to presume…that is I’d be honored to escort …”

Buffy looked at him in shock. “You’ll go with me?” At his nod, she asked. “You do know what the Icecapades are, don’t you?”

He laughed. “I’ve seen the posters in your room.”

“But why?”

He froze at that. Why he thought, because I’d do anything to see you smile, because I’ve fallen for you and just wish you could see me, just see me. He smiled shyly. “We’re friends right? I want you to have a good birthday.”

She beamed at him and giving a little squeal, she hugged her mom in celebration. She quickly came over to hug him as well. “Ooh, you’re the best!”

The feel of her arms thrown quickly around his shoulders, nearly took his breath away. He cautiously raised one arm to softly pat her back twice. “It’s nothing luv.” He cleared his throat. “Were we going to the beach?”

Buffy nodded happily. “Yep. Just let me grab one more thing.” She practically danced into the living room and started rummaging in the closet.

William laughed when she proudly displayed her find: a Frisbee.

“Well, it’s not like I’m going to hit you with it if we’re actually playing.” She grinned. “It probably won’t even come anywhere near you.”

Anne Pratt smiled as she surveyed the room. The lighting was excellent, the work was expertly hung and the hardwood floors shone. The whole place managed to feel both warm and elegant. It was perfect. Now she just had to convince the owner.

Joyce spotted the woman studying a painting by one of her favorite local artists and approached her eager to hear her opinion. “It’s intriguing, yes?”

“Oh most definitely. I love the contrast; the colors suggesting an entirely different mood than the composition and stroke patterns. It’s a bit like watching someone who is trying but failing to keep their feelings secret.”

Joyce’s eyes widened as the other woman’s words hit exactly upon the tone of her own feelings. “Yes! That’s…you’ve just described it perfectly. I must admit; I’ll be sorry to see this one go but I’d be happy to send it to an appreciative home.”

“Oh …I’m sorry. Of course I’ve given you the wrong impression. I am sadly not here on a shopping expedition. Though, this one does tempt me to rather ignore my budget. I’m hoping to speak with the owner. My name is Anne Pratt, I work with the Breast Cancer Institute and we were hoping to discuss holding an event at this lovely gallery.”

“Oh. I’m the owner, Joyce Summers.” She shook hands with the other woman before stopping to give her a curious look. “But wait. Pratt. You’re not by any chance William’s mother are you?”

Anne gave her a surprised smile. “You know my William?”

Joyce nodded. “He and my daughter seem to have become fast friends.”

“Oh of course, you must be Buffy’s mother. Oh your daughter is just lovely. I was so glad to see William find such a fine friend. He tends to be a bit shy; you’ve probably noticed.”

Joyce laughed softly. “I have. But you should be proud; he is a charming young man.”

Anne beamed before leaning towards her with a mischievous glint in her eye. “And have you noticed then?”

Joyce grinned and nodded. “That he’s fallen for my daughter? Yes, though I’m quite certain she hasn’t.” She shook her head.

Anne laughed again. “I know.” She shook her head.

Joyce glanced at her assistant for a moment and then back at Anne. “Do you have time for coffee? There’s a cute little place a few doors down. We can discuss your event and finish gossiping about the kids.”

“That sounds brilliant.”
*****************************************************************

Cordy gave Buffy a smile as they started warming up for practice. “Sooo…where is Angel taking you for your birthday?”

Buffy shook her head and smiled. “I don’t know. He’s being kind of mysterious about it. He did say I should wear a dress.”

“Ooh I’ll bet he’s going to take you to that new French place. It’s all dark and romantic. You know set the mood for your birthday… dessert.”

“Cordy!” Buffy blushed and looked around to see if anyone heard.

Cordy laughed and the two girls began jogging around the track.

Buffy wasn’t surprised to hear that her friend assumed that she and Angel were sleeping together. They’d been dating since sophomore year and her earlier crush on him was no big secret. She wasn’t really sure why they weren’t. Well she knew that it was because she hadn’t been ready yet, but she wasn’t sure why. They’d definitely covered the other bases. But when it came to that final act, she just couldn’t go through with it. When she was feeling really honest about things she could admit to herself that it was probably why Angel had started making so many of their dates group things. He never really pushed, but she knew he was getting frustrated by her reluctance. Buffy frowned at her thoughts and at herself. It was silly, she thought, she had a great boyfriend. He was handsome and kind and one of the best football players their town had seen in years. She knew that a dozen girls would have been thrilled to take her place. She’d nearly passed out when he’d first asked her to Homecoming. She told herself that it was perfect, that he was perfect, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing.
********************************************

Joyce was startled to hear a knock on the door early Friday morning. She opened it to find an anxious William.

“Hello Ms…Joyce, I just wanted to drop off a birthday present for Buffy.” He reached out to hand her a package.

“Don’t be silly William; come in and give it to her yourself.” She opened the door further so that he could come in.

He entered looking uncomfortable. “Oh but I don’t want to interrupt; I mean …I’ll see her at school later.”

“You’re not interrupting anything. We always get up early on her birthday and have pancakes. Why don’t you join us?”

“Oh I…”

Joyce shook her head. “Come on. Buffy’s in the kitchen.”

William followed her into the kitchen to find Buffy sitting on the counter still wearing a rather colorful pair of pajamas. She was, he thought with a smile, the most adorable thing he’d ever seen.

She looked up surprised. “William?”

Joyce spoke first. “He stopped by to give your birthday present before school. Isn’t that sweet?”

Buffy grinned. “Ooh now you can have pancakes with us. We’re adding extra chocolate chips.”

William walked over and handed her the wrapped package in his hands. “It’s nothing much, I …”

Buffy shook her head. “Stop. All presents are great. It’s like my motto.” She grinned at him and then carefully unwrapped the gift. When she removed the paper she quietly studied the cover of the book inside. Emma, it said, by Jane Austen.

He watched her carefully looking for signs that she was disappointed with his choice. “You haven’t read it have you?”

She shook her head no.

“You know that movie you like…the one with the girl who has all the clothes. The one where they all talk funny.”

Buffy laughed at his description. “You mean Clueless?”

“Yes, well it was apparently based on this book, so I thought…”

“Really?” Buffy looked surprised. “But this is really old.” She opened the cover to find a date, 1816.

He nodded. “I’ve never read it. Jane Austen is…well her work tends to be a bit girly. But my mother said that she’s always loved this one. So, I just thought…you don’t have to…”

Buffy grinned at him. “This is really sweet. I can’t wait to read it.” She slid off the counter and came towards him. “Thank you.” Bouncing up on to her toes, she leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I really love it.”

William was too stunned to respond. He smiled dazedly and watched as she announced that she was going to get dressed before pancakes and left the room still holding the book to her chest.
*******************************************************
That evening Buffy smiled as she ran her fingers across the book’s cover. She was tempted to read the first page but a glance at the clock told her that she had to finish getting ready for her date.

She went to the closet and pulled out the dress she’d decided upon earlier and laid it on the bed. Quickly assembling the necessary undergarments and accessories, she placed them alongside the dress and left to take a shower.

Her mother smiled when she came downstairs a short time later. “Oh Sweetie; you look beautiful. Do you know where you’re going?”

“No” she shook her head. “Angel said he wanted it to be a surprise.”

Joyce smiled. “That’s nice.”

“Yeah.” Buffy nodded.

Angel arrived a moment later. “Hi. Wow.” He grinned and shook his head. “You look great.”

“Thanks. You look very nice too.” And he did, she thought, he’d gotten dressed up for her and he looked very handsome in a pair of grey slacks and a black button-down shirt.

After a few moments of a conversation with her mom, the two headed out to his car.

“Buff…I sort of forgot something back at my house. So we’re gonna just stop there first okay?”

“Sure.” Buffy nodded agreeably.

He pulled up to his house a few moments later. “Why don’t you come in with me?”

Buffy shrugged and followed him in. When he led her into the dining room she gasped. “Angel?” She looked at him quizzically and then back at the table. It had clearly been set for a romantic dinner. There were candles, wine, flowers and a small wrapped box sat on one of the plates.

“My folks went away for the weekend, so I thought this might be, like… romantic. I picked up some of that fettuccine you like from Tony’s and…” He shrugged. “If you’d rather go out somewhere, we can. It’s your day. I just thought…”

Buffy gave him a big smile. “It’s wonderful.”

He grinned and nodded. “I hoped this might be just the thing to get us back on track.”

Buffy frowned and shook her head confusedly.

“You’ve…I’ve just felt like you’ve been kind of distant for awhile now.”

Buffy’s eyes widened. She’d felt it too, but hadn’t thought he’d noticed. “I…I guess I’ve just been sort of busy with school and cheerleading. I…I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be.”

He nodded. “I’m not mad sweetheart, but …you like it; the surprise?”

She nodded again. “I do.”

And she did, she told herself that night lying in her bed. It had been sweet; probably the most romantic date she’d ever had. She looked at her finger and at the ring he’d given her. It was called a Claddagh ring, he’d said and it was special for sweethearts. He’d hinted that he hoped someday he’d be giving her a different ring. He’d more than hinted that he hoped she might be ready to make love, but he hadn’t pushed when she’d said no. He’d just nodded and given her a slightly hurt look. She’d told him then that she was sure that she’d be ready soon.

On Saturday night Joyce was surprised to find herself home before William brought Buffy back from their evening at the Ice Capades. She was relieved to see them pull into the driveway only a short time later.

“Mom?”

“In here sweetie. Is William still with you? Tell him to stay and I’ll make Hot Chocolate.”

William and Buffy made their way into the kitchen and sat on the stools next to the island counter.

Joyce noticed the large smile on her daughter’s face and smiled gratefully at William. “So…” she said looking from one to the other “tell me all about it.”

“Oh Mom, it was sooo good. I think it was the best ever. This one girl was like flying….”

Joyce listened to her daughter rave about everything from the costumes to the music before turning to William. “And what did you think?” She smiled at his thoughtful expression.

“The skaters all seemed very athletic” he started carefully “and there was certainly an element of…”

Buffy laughed. “I think it was all a bit too sparkly for William, but he was a really good sport.”

Joyce laughed. “Well it certainly sounds like you’ve earned yourself some hot chocolate. Do you like marshmallows?”

He nodded agreeably.

Buffy made a face. “I don’t like anything messing up my chocolate.”

William shook his head. “But the contrast…the marshmallows help show the true depth of the chocolate. Sometimes things are more themselves in the presence of that which is other.”

Buffy’s eyes widened comically. “Really thought about this haven’t you?”

“It’s important to be able to make informed decisions.”

Buffy laughed and reached out to take her hot chocolate from her mother. “Thanks Mom.”

Joyce turned to William. “So did your mom tell you that we’re going to have the silent auction for the Institute at the gallery?”

He nodded. “She did mention it; she’s really pleased that you agreed to donate the space. The Institute is…it’s really important to her.”

Joyce nodded sympathetically. “She told me.”

William looked distant for a moment but recovered before Buffy asked what was upsetting him. “Then she told me I had to get a new suit.”

“Ooh shopping. You wanna go Tuesday after school?”

William looked surprised. “You’ll help?”

She laughed. “Well duh. We have covered that shopping is my thing right?”

Laughing, William nodded.

As Joyce watched Buffy say goodnight to William a short time later, she felt a touch of frustration with her daughter. She couldn’t help but wonder exactly how long Buffy was going to date William before she realized that she was doing just that. She hoped that it happened before he lost patience and she hoped that her daughter didn’t hurt him when she did.
*************************************************

Anne put the last of the paperwork into her folder and nodded. “Well I think that’s everything. Things have really come together well. I think this is going to be a very successful evening for us.” She smiled warmly. “Really Joyce, I cannot thank you enough for all your help.”

“Oh no; I’ve been glad to. I really want this to be wonderful.”

“It will be. I think…”

Anne was interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing. She glanced down to see that William was the caller. “Ah…William.” She smiled at the other woman. “Excuse me for just a second.” She answered and spoke with her son for a couple of moments before pressing the button to end the call. She turned back to Joyce. “It would seem that William and Buffy will be at the mall for a bit longer yet. He called to tell me that he wouldn’t be home for dinner.”

Joyce laughed. “I’m surprised that he ever expected to. Buffy told me this morning that she’d probably be late. It is certainly nice that he calls though, you’ve raised a considerate young man.”

Anne smiled her thanks before sighing. “I do worry though that I let him worry about me a bit too much. It would be…well, a relief if he forgot about me and was just a tad irresponsible now and then.” At Joyce’s confused look, she continued. “I just want him to be young and to enjoy it.”

Joyce nodded and took a seat. She gestured for Anne to take one next to her. She sensed that Anne needed to share.

“I told you that I’ve had my own fight with Cancer.”

Joyce nodded again.

“I don’t know if I mentioned that it came the year after my husband passed away.”

“Oh Anne, I’m so sorry.” Joyce reached over to place a comforting hand on her new friends arm.

“Thank you.” She nodded once and took a deep breath before continuing. “Well you can imagine; I was barely holding things together before I started to get sick. I was trying to for William’s sake. But things were already hard…then…I was just so sick and the treatment just makes you feel even sicker... I had a few friends around but mostly William took care of things. He was always such a little grown up. He just started taking things over, the house chores, my medicine. He was only fourteen, but he was so serious and so smart, I think that the doctors forgot that he was just a child and they talked to him, told him what to do so that I could come home.” She let out a small laugh to hold back the tears. “William had missed almost a month of school before I even noticed he wasn’t going. He was just so determined to take care of me…I just let him.” She looked up at Joyce. “It’s awful, right? Letting him leave school to take care of his mum.”

Joyce shook her head. “No. Anne. No. You were sick and he wanted to be with you. It’s not awful.”

Anne smiled gratefully. “I really did think for a while that I wouldn’t make it and then it just seemed like I needed every moment I could get with him, just to make sure he never forgot that his mum loved him.”

“Oh Anne, he couldn’t…”

“I know, but at the time…”

Joyce nodded.

“He’s been protective really ever since and it’s lovely, but I want him to let go a little. He focuses so much on the bad that can happen; it’s not normal for a man his age. He should be rebelling a bit and doing all those foolish things young men do because they’re sure that they are invincible.”

Laughing Joyce shook her head. “First I’m sure that the parents of those young men would rather it were otherwise. Second, I’m not so sure William was likely to do that stuff either way.”

Anne grinned. “You’re right, of course. If things had gone according to plan he would have graduated early and be at Oxford by now.” She shook her head. “Sometimes I don’t where that child comes from; his father and I were certainly not so…well, academically focused.”

“Anne Pratt; are you acknowledging a bit of a wild past?”

She giggled a bit like a teenager. “Married the lead singer of a punk band didn’t I.”
********************************************************

Buffy stood with Cordelia and Faith, the newest member of their squad, as their couch finished giving them a pep talk for the next game. As soon as she had finished, Buffy turned to see if William was waiting for her; they had plans to get an early start on their homework. She smiled as she spotted him standing next to the bleachers.

“Damn. Now that’s ride-able. What’s his story?”

Buffy’s eyes widened at both Faith’s language and at the realization that she was talking about William.

Cordy laughed and gave Buffy an expectant look. When Buffy didn’t respond she turned to Faith herself. “That would be Buffy’s other boyfriend.”

“Wow B. didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Cordy! He’s not…” She turned to Faith. “We’re just friends”.

Faith gave her a skeptical look and then glanced back towards William. “So he’s available?”

Buffy swallowed but nodded, telling herself that she just didn’t think that Faith was William’s type.

Cordy shook her head. “Yeah, good luck with that. He’s turned down every girl who’s made a play.”

Buffy turned to her surprised. “He has?” She knew that he had declined her matchmaking help when they’d first started hanging out, but she hadn’t really thought about it since. He never mentioned any girls.

Cordy nodded. “Man you really are out of the loop.”

“Who?”

“Well you know about the whole thing with Cecily Adams right?” At Buffy’s shake, she went into full gossip mode. “Well Cecily’s been trying to say that she turned him down and that he’s all in love with her. Only everyone knows that she asked him out and he wasn’t interested. And Harmony Kendall totally threw herself at him, and he didn’t even notice.” She leaned closer. “He’s gay right?”

“No! He’s just…just kind of shy.”

Faith grinned. “Shy huh? So introduce me.”

Buffy nodded helplessly and walked with Faith over to where William was waiting. “Hi.” She gestured towards Faith. “This is Faith, she just moved here and joined the squad. Faith: William, William: Faith.”

William nodded once in the pretty brunette’s direction. “It’s nice to meet you Faith.” He looked back to Buffy and waited.

“So Will huh? No cool nicknames to go with the hair.” Faith slide closer to him and reached up to play with the aforementioned hair.

He jumped back as though he’d been burnt. “No. No nicknames. It’s just William.” He shot Buffy a confused and almost frightened glance.

She stepped in. “Umm yeah, William and I really need to get started on our history paper. So, we’ll see you later ‘kay Faith.”

Faith grinned as she watched the two of them head towards the parking lot and shook her head.

“Buffy…honey we have to go. Are you ready?” Joyce called out while checking her appearance in the mirror a final time. She smiled at her reflection.

“Yeah Mom. I’m ready.” Buffy answered as she came into her mother’s room. She gave a little turn. “What do you think? Do I look like someone headed off for evening of classy fundraising?”

Joyce nodded, feeling a few tears gather as she looked at her very grown-up looking daughter. Buffy had chosen a simple silver-blue cocktail dress and pulled her hair up into an uncluttered twist. “You look lovely Buffy.”

She smiled. “Well it must run in the family.”

Joyce grinned before doing her own turn. “You like?”

“Oh yeah. I think the men are going to be drooling all over you.”

Joyce laughed. “Well I hope not; I just bought this dress.”

Buffy giggled and handed her mother her wrap. Grabbing the one she was borrowing, she followed her mom down the stairs and to the car.
***************************************************
Two and a half hours later, the evening was in full swing. The Silent Auction was a great success and several local companies had made generous donations. Anne surveyed the room with more than a touch of pride. She was also thrilled to see that people seemed to be genuinely having a good time. There was a band playing mostly swing era hits and more than a few people were dancing. Her expression grew more wistful as she watched.

William noticed the sudden change in his mother’s demeanor and came over. “Mum, is everything all right? I thought that you were counting the evening a success.”

She smiled. “Oh I am. Everything is fine. I guess I was just thinking about your father.”

William nodded and slid his arm around his mother’s shoulders. He followed her gaze to the dancers and realized what he had to do. He smiled. “Would you like to dance Mum?”

Anne nodded. “Who wouldn’t want to dance with the handsomest young man here?”

William rolled his eyes as he offered his mother his arm and led her over to the dance floor.


Joyce and Buffy walked out from the back room.

“Thanks for your help Sweetie.”

Buffy smiled good-naturedly. “It’s no problem mom.”

“Wasn’t Angel coming tonight?”

“Yeah he said he was going to be late, but I thought he’d be here by now.”

Joyce gave her a sympathetic look. “Well I’m sure he’ll be here soon.” She suddenly stopped and nodded towards the dance floor. “Oh look…how sweet.”

Buffy followed her mother’s gesture and watched in surprise as William danced with his mother. Her eyes widened. William could dance.

As the song ended Anne gave her son a hug. “All right now, you’ve done your duty by your mum. Now go ask Buffy to dance.”

William shook his head. “Oh no. I don’t think…”

“I do think. Now go ask her. Trust me.”

William led his mother back to where Joyce and Buffy were watching and turned nervously to Buffy. What the hell, he thought; if nothing else it would give him an excuse to hold her for a few minutes. Well it would if she said yes, he amended. “Buffy, would you like to dance?”

“Oh but I can’t.” She shook her head. “I mean I wish I could but I don’t know how to do that stuff you were doing. That was all like, Fred Astaire. I’m more familiar with the shake it if you got it stuff.”

William smiled, relieved to hear the reason for her initial rejection and shook his head. “It was pretty basic really, I…I can lead Buffy.” He ducked his head shyly for a moment before laughing. “Well I could if you let me.”

Buffy’s mouth opened in surprise. She grinned. “Are you saying that I’m bossy?”

He held up his hands at her mock indignation.

“I am not bossy…okay well, I’m not that bossy.” She joined his laughter.

He grinned. “Well then, would you like to give it a try?”

She nodded and clutched William’s arm before he even had a chance to offer it.

William didn’t bother to hide his smile as he led her over to the dance floor. He gently helped her into position and talked her through the first few steps. They danced for a moment somewhat awkwardly before he pulled her closer, fitting her body against his. He blushed at her startled expression. “I…if you’re closer it should help you follow my lead. You have to sort of feel what I’m going to do next.” Of course, he thought, that may not be all you end up feeling. He swallowed and concentrated on stopping his body’s reaction to the perfect feel of her in his arms.

Buffy nodded and forced her mind to stop reeling. Just follow, she ordered herself before realizing that she was already doing just that.

“Don’t watch your feet love.”

Buffy looked up at him and smiled sheepishly.

William gave her a big smile. “You’re doing fine, better really; you’re a natural.” He held back the part about her natural grace.

They didn’t notice that they’d caught the eye and the lens of the event photographer. She quickly took several shots of the handsome couple as they danced.

Anne turned to her friend with a smile. “What do think?”

Joyce chuckled. “It definitely looks promising.” Grinning, she gestured towards the couple. “Have you noticed that Buffy selected matching clothing for them?”

Anne turned back to look at her son’s black suit and pale blue shirt and nodded. She reached over and hooked her arm through Joyce’s. “Come on; let’s get a drink and pretend we’re not watching before we get caught.”

Buffy grinned up at him. “Thank you for this; I feel like Cinderella.”

William’s eyes grew soft, but he kept his gaze on hers. “Only I’m not Prince Charming pet.”

Buffy frowned slightly as she tried to figure out the meaning behind his words.

He quickly covered his momentary lapse. “For one thing, even I wouldn’t wear a jacket with those silly tassels.”

When he finally walked in, Angel quickly realized that he’d made two big mistakes. First, he thought with a frown, he shouldn’t have come to this damn gallery thing so late. Second he should have realized that William was after his girl. Angel watched the man dancing with his Buffy and scowled. He really hadn’t had a problem with them hanging out; it just hadn’t occurred to him to have one. He’d been sure that Buffy loved him and he hadn’t really thought that William was potential competition anyway. Hell, he thought before making his way towards the dance floor, he’d thought that the guy was gay, especially after he’d gone with Buffy to that skating thing.

*****************************************************************
William went home on cloud nine. Sure Angel had shown up while he was dancing with Buffy and claimed “his girl”, but that didn’t erase the feel of her against him or the memory of her smiling up at him so excitedly. And, he thought fervently, she had looked at him differently tonight; he was sure of it. For the first time, William felt like Buffy had looked at him as a man.

Lying on his bed, he soon realized that replaying the evening’s events was doing nothing to alleviate the increasing uncomfortable situation in his pants. With a quick glance to make sure that his door was firmly shut, William closed his eyes and slid his hand down his body and under the waist band of his pajama pants. He groaned as he grasped his already full erection and began stroking quickly up and down. The memory of her scent and touch were still fresh and as he remembered their dance he imagined that he had instead impressed her with a series of witty remarks before sweeping her off her feet with a romantic Hollywood style kiss. He came quickly, imagining his name gasped softly by her lips, and was soon immersed in sleep.
**************************************************************

Buffy was not sleeping so easily. Hitting her head against her pillow, she groaned. Stupid, stupid Buffy, she thought; you have a boyfriend. You have a boyfriend who loves you and is nice and good-looking but, she thought angrily, can you just be happy and love him back. No, she answered herself; no you have to screw everything up by falling for someone else. She flipped over on her bed and buried her face in her pillow to muffle her scream of frustration. And not just anyone, she continued to taunt herself, you have to go ahead and fall for your best friend, a guy who has been nothing but sweet to you and has made it abundantly clear that he is not looking for a girlfriend.

Buffy groaned again, fisting her hands in her pillow, and returned to her stupid Buffy chant.

Buffy smiled brightly when Angel came over at half-time to say hi. She accepted his kiss and congratulated him on his great play earlier in the game. She hoped that her extra make-up hid the fact that she hadn’t gotten any sleep.

“How’s my girl?” Angel bent to scoop her in to a hug.

Buffy tried to giggle playfully, but the sound got caught in her throat. She pushed against his chest a little harder than normal. “Great. You guys are slaying them out there!”

Angel ignored her attempts to get put back on her own feet and swung her around instead. “Yeah we are. There’s gonna be a little victory celebration out at Todd’s place. You’ll come yeah?”

Buffy paled. She’d been hoping to talk to him after the game. She’d come to some pretty big realizations last night and one of the most important was that she was being unfair to Angel; he deserved to be with someone who felt about him the way she suddenly realized that she felt about William. She cared too much about him to continue seeing him now. A small selfish part of her wanted to. It’s not like anything is happening with William, she’d thought briefly, but a bigger part of her felt sick at the idea of hurting Angel just so that she wouldn’t feel alone. So she was going to have to end it. She’d wanted to call him first thing in the morning, but he deserved better then a few minute phone call right before his big game. So she’d pretended everything was all right. “Oh I don’t think so, I have…” She shook her head.

“Oh come on Buff.” Angel had come to some realizations himself the night before. He now knew that his girl had been spending way too much time with William. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her. In fact, Angel was certain that Buffy had no idea that the other man was interested. She was just too trusting. She was sweet and innocent, he thought, it was what he loved about her. It was why he’d put his sex life on hold for the past two years to be with her. Although he was thinking that now was a good time to get it back on track. “You gotta come. It’ll be great. I know you’ve got your homework done already.” He placed her back on the ground and gave her a pleading look.

“It’s just that I was hoping we could talk this afternoon.”

He laughed. “We can talk at the party.” He kissed her once more. “I’ll find you after the game OK!” He ran off to join the rest of the team in the locker room.

Faith watched the entire encounter just out of hearing range, but she read the body language well. She understood plenty about what had just taken place. What she didn’t understand was why everyone she talked to at this school thought that Buffy was in love with Angel.
*************************************************************
Buffy went to the party. She simply couldn’t come up with a good reason not to. Most of the cheerleading squad was there and so she found it simple enough to avoid spending any alone time with Angel. They needed to talk, but not in the middle of a rowdy party.

She caught Faith’s eye and smiled. Buffy was surprised to find that she really liked the new girl’s company. Sure, she thought with a smirk, she talks like a porn star, but her honesty is refreshing.

“Hey B. Good game huh?”

“Yeah. I think we’ll make regionals again this year.”

“Wow! You know at my old school I swear the cheerleaders had a better shot at winning a game then the boys did.”

“That bad?”

Faith nodded emphatically. “Which isn’t to say those boys didn’t have other fine qualities.” She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

Buffy laughed and shook her head. “I’m umm…glad to hear that. I mean, good for them.”

Faith laughed. “You mean good for me.”

“And that.”

“So uh…where’s your boy?”

Buffy looked around. “Angel’s here somewhere.”

“No I meant the other one…you know hot, bleached and bothered?”

“William? He’s not…”

“I’m just teasing B”

“Oh. Well, he doesn’t…this isn’t really his scene.”

Faith nodded, noting the sudden color on the other girl’s cheeks. “So what is his scene?”

Buffy shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Well what kinda stuff is he into?”

“Lot’s of stuff. He umm…I guess he reads a lot.” Warming up Buffy leaned closer to her. “He’s really smart. I mean like really smart. And…and he plays guitar and…”

“Yeah? Is he any good?”

Buffy nodded. “Yeah, but he won’t play in front of anyone. I’ve caught him a couple of times though; he’s…he’s…”

“Good.”

“Yeah.” Buffy nodded. “He’s really good.” Buffy’s cheeks reddened when she realized how breathlessly she had just spoken. She quickly changed the subject.
*****************************************************************
Buffy waited until Angel pulled his car into her driveway to try and talk. She turned to him. “Angel, I…”

“Hey do you want to catch a movie tomorrow after school? There’s a couple of new action flicks at the…”

“Angel.”

He frowned at her serious expression. Something was definitely wrong here. His heart began to speed up. “Did you want to see a comedy?” He tried weakly.

Buffy shook her head. “Angel, I’m sorry.” She couldn’t quite keep the waver out of her voice. “I…”

“Why Buffy? Why are you sorry?” His voice was cold.

“I can’t…” She pulled the ring he’d given her off her finger and reached her hand over to give to him. “I can’t keep seeing you. I’m sorry.” She tried but failed to keep her eyes from tearing up.

“Why?” He said it quietly and without looking at her, but he sounded more angry than sad.

“Because I…I just can’t…I’m not…I’m not in love with you anymore. You deserve…”

“I deserve to be dumped.” He turned towards her angrily. “That’s what I deserve. Two years Buffy. How can you just throw away two years?”

“That’s not. I still care about you. I… hope that we can be friends.”

Angel’s eyes turned black. “Friends. You want to be friends?” He snatched the ring from her hand and held it front of her face. “Friends? I wanted to marry you Buffy.”

The tears were flowing freely down Buffy’s face. “I’m sorry Angel; I never meant to hurt you. I…”

“Are you fucking him?”

“What?”

“You heard me; I asked if you were fucking that little twerp. How long have you been playing me Buffy? Pretending to be all innocent…two years I barely got my hand in your pants…”

The blood left Buffy’s face and she reached up her hand to slap him. “I would never…”

He caught her hand in his. “Don’t you dare touch me; get the hell out of my car.”

As soon as she stepped out, he pulled quickly out of her driveway.

Buffy fell to her knees and cried.
**********************************************************
William pulled his guitar out of its case, placed it in his lap and ran his fingers over the worn engravings. He’d always enjoyed looking at it; some of his best memories were of his father playing it. He knew that he didn’t have his father’s passion or talent for music, but he knew he had a good ear and, he felt, a passable voice. More importantly, William could lose himself while playing. All of his anxieties and repressions were temporarily forgotten while he plucked out the chords. He’d close his eyes and simply let go. And that, he thought, was why he never played in front of anyone. When he played, he was laid bare and sharing that with someone else terrified him.

Only today he was thinking about trying it. He’d seen enough movies to know that even mediocre playing would increase his status as a potential boyfriend and Buffy had brought it up a couple of times, so he knew she wanted him to play for her. William was pondering a big romantic gesture. He bit his lip as he thought about it. What song, he thought, or should I try to write one myself, something especially for her. He shook his head. Too much, he thought quickly, there’s no coming back from that. What he needed, he decided, was a song that expressed his feelings but wasn’t one of his own, that way if she wasn’t interested he could claim it was chosen at random and that it didn’t mean anything. He nodded, pleased with himself for coming up with a back up plan and began strumming softly.

Buffy was only moderately surprised when Cordelia lit into her Monday morning. She sighed. “What was I supposed to do Cordy? I just wasn’t…I’m not in love with him. How would it be better for him if I stayed with him?”

“What’s not to love Buffy? He’s hot and he’s treated you good; everyone knows that.”

“I never said that he didn’t.”

“So what the hell were you thinking?”

Buffy sighed again and tried not to lose her patience. “I told you.”

Faith stepped in before Cordy said anything more. “Whoa Queen C, maybe give her a little space. She did what she thought was best right?”

Cordy shook her head and huffed once before walking away.

Buffy gave her unexpected savior a small smile. “Thanks”

“No big.” Faith shrugged. “And she’ll get over it…” She frowned. “Or maybe she won’t but damn: Why does she care so much?”

Buffy shrugged. “I guess it’s just that we’ve all been friends for awhile and…” She sighed. “I don’t know.”

Faith nodded slowly before giving her a grin. “So is it William?”

“What?”

“Is Willie Boy the reason you’re clearing your schedule so to speak?”

“What? No. I mean we’re just friends.” Buffy shook her head quickly and blushed.

Faith chuckled. “Yeah I got that. But I’m thinking that maybe you’re thinking a change there could do you some good.” She grinned.

Buffy started to deny it then stopped. She bit her lip and gave the other girl a considering look. She decided suddenly that she could trust Faith and that she needed to trust someone. “Is it that obvious?”

Faith shook her head. “I mean, I’d say yeah, but since no one else seems to have noticed: I’d say your big secret is safe.”

Buffy let her breath out quickly and gave Faith a grateful nod. “No one can know.”

Faith raised her eyebrow. “You mean until you tell him.”

Buffy shook her head. “No. I can’t. I mean he doesn’t even want a girl friend; he’s definitely not interested and then with the freaking out and…no… no, telling just leads to badness.”

“Or it might just lead to goodness.” Faith held up her hand to stop Buffy’s rebuttal. “Trust me here B; the boy wants a girl. He’s just holding out for the right one.” She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

Buffy’s eyes widened. “You think?”

“Oh yeah. And I don’t mean to brag here, but this, kind of my area of expertise.”

Buffy blushed again but forged ahead. “What should I do?”

“I’d say go with the classic jump him maneuver.”

“But I’ve never…I mean I’ve…but I haven’t…”

William heard Buffy’s voice and smiled. He followed the sound to a classroom around the corner and stopped in the doorway. Faith, he thought, paling considerably. He rapidly decided to wait outside until they were done chatting.

Faith’s jaw dropped. “No way. But…two years…” She shook her head. “Damn. Ok the advice is still the same. You want him: jump him. Trust me; hottie like that it isn’t going to be hard or well parts will be…do you need a whole health class chat?”

Buffy’s amusement outweighed her embarrassment; she laughed. “No. I think I got a handle on the basics, but…just…jump him?” She scrunched her nose.

Faith nodded. “Definitely.”

William backed away from the door shaking. He felt sick. Buffy wanted to sleep with Angel. The thought tore through him, she hadn’t yet but wanted to now. Idiot, bloody moron, he thought clutching his stomach; you thought she could want you. William thought about the song he’d planned to play for her that afternoon and barely made it into the boy’s restroom before he began retching.
****************************************************************

Buffy found William standing at his locker talking with Willow and blushed. She wasn’t sure that Faith’s idea was the way to go but she had decided that she was going to make a move. She’d just invite him over like normal and then she’d try a little flirting and maybe a snuggle and then she’d see if he freaked. She smiled at the thought; he was cute when he was freaked. She walked over and gave him a big smile. “Hey.”

William nodded once in her direction and then looked back in his locker.

“So do you want to come over this afternoon? I don’t have practice and I was thinking we…”

“Can’t”

“Oh. Ok. Whatcha doing?”

William gave her a cold look. “I have plans; it’s not so impossible. In fact I’m going to be busy a lot. You should probably just find another doll to play dress up with; clearly you’ll never be able to change me enough.”

The blood drained from Buffy’s face. “What? I don’t…William, what are you talking about? I don’t…”

William didn’t answer. He quickly reached into his locker, grabbed a book a shoved it forcefully into his bag. He slammed his locker door shut and walked away without another word.

Buffy watched him walk down the hall and right out the front door. She turned slowly to where Willow still stood and noted the look of shock on the other girl’s face. Her eyes watered. “I don’t…I thought we were friends.”

Willow shook her head and moved closer to Buffy. She placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Willow wasn’t sure what she’d just seen, but she was certain that William was going to regret it. “You are. I don’t know what that was but I can tell you that William…he really cares about you. He’s…” She shrugged. “He was really upset last period, maybe something happened.”

Buffy looked at Willow for a moment. “But he thinks I try to change him.”

Willow shrugged. “Don’t you?” She asked quietly.

Buffy paled, asking herself the same question. No, she shouted, that’s not what happened. She shook her head. “No. I mean sure I helped him change his look a bit but nothing important. He doesn’t need…I wouldn’t want him to be any different…he’s…he’s…”

Willow gave her a questioning look. “He’s what?”

Buffy couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. Perfect, she thought; he’s perfect. “William.”

Willow nodded but continued to study her quizzically.
*************************************************************
William continued walking straight to the parking lot. He got into his car and drove. He considered taking a long drive, heading out of town and trying to find someplace where he could feel really alone. He went home instead and was surprised to find that his mother wasn’t there. She didn’t mention anything this morning, he thought. Standing in her office, he shrugged thinking that she’d probably just gone shopping or something. He went up to his room and pulled the shades closed. Southern California, he thought bitterly, was just not designed for wallowing in your own self pity.

Acted like an idiot, he thought, now she won’t even let you tag along as her friend. He groaned. He wished he could take back his words. He knew that there was a kernel of truth in them; it bothered him that she seemed so keen on changing him. He wished that she wanted him just the way he was. But at the same time, he was well aware that she had certainly never meant to hurt him. She was trying to help and he couldn’t deny that he looked better. He’d definitely gotten more attention from girls since her makeover. The problem was he only wanted one girl and she wanted someone else. He closed his eyes and the image was there again, the image that had been tormenting him all morning. Buffy and Angel, Buffy giving Angel special looks, Buffy gasping Angel’s name, Buffy giving herself to Angel. It made him sick.

He’d actually supposed that it had already happened, that Buffy had already slept with her boyfriend. It had bothered him but it wasn’t something he focused on. This morning had changed that. He’d woken up thinking that they’d shared something Saturday night; he’d woken up thinking that Buffy wanted him and that had made the truth all the harsher. She hadn’t before, but wanted to now. He wasn’t making progress, Angel was.

He wanted to hit something. William’s seldom seen temper was in full flare. It didn’t matter whether it was the truth or not, he felt like Buffy was his. He felt like his girl was about to make love to another man.
********************************************************************
Buffy wasn’t surprised when William failed to show up for history class. She hadn’t really expected him to come back after his exit earlier. She hadn’t expected it, but she had hoped. She’d hoped to find him seating in his spot with a sheepish grin and an explanation. She’d hoped that she could assure him that she liked him just as he was and that he’d tell her that he knew that.

She spent the entire period watching his empty seat.
************************************************************************

William was still raging when he answered the phone some time later. “Lo.”

“William?”

“Yeah, Mum; it’s me.”

“Honey, are you ok?”

“Fine. Just a rough day. Where are you?”

Anne hesitated. She could tell that her son was already more than a little upset and knew that this wasn’t going to help. She also knew that she had to tell him. “I’m…I’m at the hospital, William. I felt something and I had an appointment with the doctor today.”

“Felt what…why didn’t you say anything?”

Anne sighed. “I felt a lump a couple of days ago.”

“Mum!”

“I just didn’t want you to worry, I figured I’d go to the doctor and it might be nothing, but the doctor needs to run more tests…and with my history, well they want me to stay until they finish.”

William felt the blood drain from his face.

“William? Please honey, don’t worry…it might be nothing.”

When Buffy realized that William wasn’t in school the next day she got worried. She tracked down Willow. “Look I know that you’re William’s friend and not really mine, and if he’s just avoiding me…but I’m getting really worried. He didn’t answer the phone last night and it’s just not like him to skip…”

Willow held up her hands. “Buffy, I don’t know anything. If I did, I would tell you. He didn’t answer when I called either.”

Buffy frowned.

Willow gave her arm a sympathetic squeeze. “If I see him I’ll make sure to let you know.”

Buffy nodded. “Thanks Willow. If you do see him would you tell him…tell him…”

Willow waited patiently.

“I guess just tell him that I’d really like to see him.”

Willow nodded. She was going to tell him a few other things she’d learned too.
******************************************************************

Buffy hung up the phone and gave a groan of frustration; still no answer. It was Wednesday evening and she hadn’t seen him or spoken to him since Monday morning when he’d stormed out. She tried stopping by his house and she’d called a half a dozen times but nothing. It was like he’d dropped off the planet. She was just deciding to ask her mom for Anne’s cell phone number when she heard the knocking on her front door. She walked over distractedly and couldn’t have been more surprised when she found William on the other side.

“William!” She just starred at him in shock for a moment “Where have you…” She trailed off as she realized how bad he looked. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair and clothes were rumpled and he was holding the doorframe like he couldn’t stand without it. “William what happened?”

William didn’t answer. “Buffy. Please Buffy. Don’t be mad anymore. I…I can’t lose you too…gonna be all…all alone…can’t lose any…I need you Buffy please I’m a git, a right ponce.” He swayed slightly as he spoke.

Buffy’s eyes widened. “William are you drunk? What happened? William?”

“Can’t lose you. Please Buffy!”

Buffy shook her head and reached over to help him in. “You’re not going to, come on come in.” She led him over to the couch and was quickly able to answer one of her questions, yes; he’d definitely been drinking. William reeked of alcohol. “William what have you been drinking? Please tell me what’s going on; let me help.”

He looked at her with watery eyes. “So good, always so good...I’m so sorry pet, please”

Buffy sat down next to him. “William.” She cupped the sides of his face with her hands. “I’m not mad. I’m not going anywhere.” She smiled. “You’re stuck with me.”

He gave her a wobbly smile.

“William, why are you drinking? You never drink.”

“Makes things all numb” He frowned. “Only not.” He shook his head exaggeratedly. “Didn’t work.”

Buffy nodded. “Why did you want to be numb? William, what’s going on?” She watched in horror as he started to cry.

William curled into himself and shook with nearly silent sobs.

Buffy rose up to kneel on the couch next to him and wrapped her arms around him. She stopped asking questions and simply held him until he grew still. When he did she gave him a tight squeeze and then leaned back slightly leaving one hand on his shoulder. “William.” She said his name gently. “Please sweetheart.”

He shook his head. “Not your sweetheart.”

Buffy sighed sadly. “Ok” she nodded “but friends right? I’m your friend and I want to help.”

“I’m gonna lose her and you too and then it’s just me.”

Buffy frowned. “Who William? Who are you going to lose?” Her eyes widened. “William. William look at me.”

He raised his head slowly and turned to meet her eyes.

“William did something happen with your mom? Is that it?”

His eyes glazed over as though he was focused on a spot far away and he nodded slowly.

“What…what happened, William? Is she…”

“She’s gonna die Buffy. The cancer took so much out of her last time. She won’t be able to fight it again.”

Buffy gasped. “Oh William!” She wrapped her arms back around him.

William hesitated only a moment before reaching over to wrap his arms around her as well. He pulled her closer roughly and buried his face against her neck.

Buffy knew he was crying again even though he wasn’t making a sound. She could feel his hot tears on her shoulder. She wanted to cry too, but forced herself to hold it together for his sake. She waited until his hold on her loosened to ask anything else. “William, where’s your mom now?”

“Hospital.”

Buffy nodded. “Is that where you’ve been that past few days?”

“Made me leave.”

“Who made you leave?” When he didn’t answer she tried again. “William who made you leave? A doctor or…”

“My mum, said I shouldn’t be there.” He looked up and met her eyes suddenly. “She didn’t want me there.”

Buffy shook her head. “No, I’m sure that’s not true. She was probably just worried about you.”

William shrugged.

“We’ll go back in the morning ok. Your mom’s strong; she’ll fight it and you’ll help her right?”

William nodded. “I have to go help her. I have to.” He stood up and swayed in place for a moment before starting towards the door.

“Whoa.” Buffy stood up and firmly grasped his arm. “Where are you going?”

“Got to go to the hospital and help my mum, pet; she needs me.”

Buffy nodded. “She does. William she needs you to help her be strong.”

“Gonna do that.”

Buffy nodded. “Yes. In the morning, after you’ve showered and when you don’t stink of booze. You can’t even walk straight right now. You’re not going anywhere.” She led him awkwardly towards the stairs.

“But I have…”

“William, you have to get some rest. You go there right now they won’t even let you in to see her. She’s resting now and once you get some rest you can go see her.”

Buffy carefully maneuvered William into her room and towards her bed.

When he saw that she meant for him to lie down on her bed he shook his head. “Can’t”

Buffy sighed again but gave a gentle laugh too. “I’m not going to ravish you William. I just want you to rest.” She gave him a gentle shove and he moved to sit on the edge of her bed. “I’m going to get you some water. Do you think you could handle some food?”

William looked a bit green as he shook his head no.

He was still perched somewhat stiffly on the edge of her mattress when Buffy returned with the water. She handed it to him and watched as he took a few tentative sips.

“Tastes funny.”

“Maybe cause whatever you were drinking before burned your taste buds off.” Buffy offered.

William shook his head. “Whiskey…puts hair on your chest.” He looked down at himself curiously.

Buffy felt a small giggle escape. “William, are you wondering if the whiskey gave you chest hair?”

He looked up at her sheepishly for a moment before remembering to shake his head in denial.

Buffy laughed softly again and then reached over press the water glass closer. “Drink some more.” She walked out of the room and returned a moment later with a couple of Motrin. She handed them to him. “I’ve heard that it helps to take the aspirin the night before the hangover.”

Once he’d taken them, she took the glass from him and placed it on the nightstand. She knelt on the floor next to him and went to work removing his boots.

The sight of her on her knees before him was a bit too much like one of his more graphic fantasies. William jumped slightly. “Pet! No.” He reached down to try and push her away.

Buffy swatted his hands. “Relax William; I’m not going to do anything to your feet. Geesh.” She pulled off his boots, stood up and pressed firmly on his shoulders. “Now. Lie down and get some rest.”
************************************************************
An hour and forty-five minutes later Buffy was exhausted. She sat against the headboard and watched as William finally slept with his head in her lap. He’d started crying again and then he’d thrown up and twice he’d tried to leave for the hospital. She gently ran her hand through the hair near his temple. She’d had to promise that he’d never lose her and he’d never be alone to get him to rest. She meant it, she thought while looking down at his finally peaceful face; she wouldn’t ever leave him.

Buffy didn’t hear her mom come in or up the stairs, she was startled to find her standing in her door way.

“Buffy!”

Buffy quickly gave her mom a gesture to be quiet and a pleading looking. She gently lifted William’s head and, scooting off the bed, placed it on her pillow. She walked over to her mom.

“Buffy, what is that boy doing in your bed?”

“Shh Mom, please. He only just fell asleep and...and I don’t think he has in a couple of days and…” Buffy started to cry. With someone else there to be strong, she finally reacted to the events of the evening.

Joyce reached over and gave her daughter a hug. “Sweetie, what’s going on?”

Buffy quickly filled her in with as much information as she knew.

“Oh no. Oh Anne.” Joyce looked back over at the young man sleeping on her daughter’s pink blankets and shook her head. “Oh the poor baby.”

“Mom, do you…do you think that she’ll die?”

Joyce squeezed her again. “I don’t know sweetie. She’s a strong woman; she won’t go without a fight.”

Buffy nodded and sniffled. “That’s what I told William.”

“Good sweetie. You did good. I’ll give the hospital a call and have them let Anne know that he’s here and that he’ll be staying with us while she’s there. She’s…probably worried sick." She looked back at William and then back at Buffy. “Why don’t you take the guest room and let him stay where he is tonight. He can get his stuff and move in there tomorrow?”

Buffy shook her head. “No Mom; I can’t leave him alone. I promised. He was such a mess, he kept trying to leave and he couldn’t even walk straight. I can’t…”

“Couldn’t walk…was he drunk?”

Buffy’s eyes widened. “Oh. Please don’t be mad at him. He never drinks, not normally. He…”

Joyce put up her hands to stop her daughter’s words. “I’m not mad honey. I’m just worried about him.”

“I am too Mom. I can’t just leave him alone.”

Joyce sighed and gave her daughter a considering look. The thought of her daughter sharing a bed with a man for any reason didn’t thrill her, but she also recognized the situation as a unique one. She nodded slowly. “Tonight. Tomorrow he goes in the guest room.”

Buffy nodded and gave her mother a final hug. She went back in her room and slowly closed the door. She walked back over to the bed and picked up the blanket folded up at the foot of the bed. She shook it out and gently covered William before sliding on to the bed to lie next to him.

She lied there stiffly for a few minutes, unsure of whether or not it would be all right for her to touch him. After a useless inner debate, she slid a little closer and tentatively put her hand on his chest. He made a small noise and Buffy quickly pulled her hand back.

She was about to scoot further away when he reached for her. Still asleep, William reached out and tugged her closer. He tucked her head against his chest, wrapped his arms around her tightly and sighed contently.

Buffy rubbed her check against his chest and soon fell asleep.

Buffy woke first and couldn’t help but feel a little warm thrill at the sensation of waking up in William’s arms. Though, she acknowledged guiltily that the circumstances were pretty far from a fantasy. Buffy’s arm rested on the arm William had curled around her waist and, without even realizing it, she began brushing her thumb slowly back and forth to gently caress his wrist. She figured that she should probably get out of bed, that William would likely be uncomfortable with the situation once he woke up, but she couldn’t bring herself to move just then. She was in love with him; there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that it was the real thing. However, she thought, he’d made it clear last night that they weren’t together. “Not your sweetheart.” he’d said. The message there seemed pretty clear to Buffy; he wasn’t interested in her romantically. Trying not to cry at the thought that she might never get a chance to do it again, Buffy decided to stay snuggled against him for as long as possible.

William woke gradually. He felt like he was pushing through a cloud of dense fog in his head. He was warm, really warm. It struck him as odd. He realized that he was still dressed and acknowledged that that was strange. When his brain finally registered Buffy’s soft rubbing on his hand, he realized that he wasn’t alone. He forced himself to blink his eyes open and he saw her. Buffy was curled up against him; it should have been a dream come true. But as soon as he saw her, his memories from the night before began rushing back. He struggled not to groan out loud.

Buffy felt William’s breathing change and knew that he had woken up. She rolled on to her stomach and looked up at him. “Hey; you’re awake.”

William nodded, unsure of how he should respond.

“How are you feeling? Do you think you’re going to be sick again?”

He shook his head. “I’m fine. I’m…sorry Buffy; there’s no excuse for my behavior. You should never have had to…”

“Whoa.” Buffy lifted a finger to his lips to quiet him. “There’s every excuse. Of course you were worried about your mom.” She shook her head. “Of course you were.” She slid her hand over to cup his cheek.

“That doesn’t…I should never have come here like that last night. I …”

“No you should have called me sooner so that I could’ve been with you at the hospital. But since you didn’t, I’m glad that you came last night.”

He shook his head. “But I was…”

Buffy smiled. “Drunk.”

William nodded and looked away. He’d humiliated himself, he thought disgustedly.

“Hey.” She tugged his chin to make him meet her eyes again. “I’m not saying the whole ‘drink your sorrows away thing’ was a good plan, but I’d say you should give yourself a break on this one. You know, let it slide just this once. OK?”

He studied her for a moment but couldn’t find any repulsion in her pretty green eyes, just compassion and a touch of amusement. He nodded once. “Thank you for…for everything.”

“That’s what friends are for right?”

William frowned slightly. Really, he thought skeptically. He was fairly certain that sharing a bed went a bit beyond the realm of even a good friend, but he didn’t mention it. He was becoming increasingly aware of a more immediate concern. The feel of her pressed so intimately against him was warming more than his heart. He looked down and saw that, even with the blanket, his arousal was becoming noticeable. He quickly tried to sit up but couldn’t.

Buffy noticed that he was starting to get up and shifted her weight to press him down. “Hey, you don’t have to get up yet. You know you could try to get a little more sleep; it’s still pretty early.”

William tried to move subtly away. “Thank you, but…”

Buffy misunderstood the urgency on his face. “Oh! My mom knows you’re here already. She’s cool with it. Actually she wants you to stay with us until your mom comes home. So see, no reason to rush.”

“Oh…umm…that’s…”

Buffy leaned across him to resettle the blanket around him. “So why don’t you get a little more rest and then we’ll…” She gasped when she felt his erection pressed against her stomach. “Oh.”

William groaned and closed his eyes as Buffy moved to his side. Once she was off him, he quickly sat up. He forced himself to open his eyes, but he couldn’t make himself look at her. He settled for a spot of the far corner of the room.

“Oh.” Buffy’s eyes were wide. She looked up to see William’s obvious misery. “But it’s normal. I mean, when guys sleep…that…umm…it just happens. I know…” She got off the bed. “I just mean I know that it has nothing to do with me; there’s no reason for us…to umm…there’s no reason to be embarrassed. I’ll just…” She headed towards the door. “I’ll just go get started on some breakfast and umm….see you downstairs.” She gave him a weak smile and quickly left the room.
****************************************************

William forced himself to go downstairs a short while later and found both of the Summers women involved in cooking an apparently large meal.

Joyce turned to him immediately and gave him a warm smile. “Hey, Buffy said you were up.”

William almost groaned at her choice of words and stole a quick glance at Buffy. She blushed, but smiled encouragingly. He nodded in response to Joyce’s statement.

“So I hope you’re feeling up to a big breakfast.”

“I…that’s very kind but I really need to get back to the hospital. My mum…”

“Your mother knows that you’re here with us and she’d want you to eat.”

His brow furrowed. “She knows that I’m here?”

Joyce nodded. “I called the hospital last night. She was awake so they patched me through. We both agreed that it would be best if you stay with us for right now.”

“Thank you, but I’ll be fine. I can…”

“William, I know that you’re an adult and that you can take care of yourself. Your mother and I have spoken about…about when she was sick. I know that you handled everything on your own and you did an amazing job.” Joyce had walked while she was talking and was now standing directly in front of him. “But there’s no reason for you to be alone in this, you have us.” She placed her hand on his shoulder. “The four of us will get through this together. All right?”

William was almost overcome. He nodded silently.

“Good. So we’ll eat some breakfast, you’ll get cleaned up and we’ll all go to the hospital together.” Her tone, though still warm, made it clear that her plan was the final plan.

He turned to Buffy. “You’re not going to school?”

She shook her head. “Nope. Family emergency equals I get to skip. Besides we have tomorrow off anyway and lots of folks are going to turn our three-day weekend into a four-day weekend. I won’t miss much.”

He nodded and wondered if she meant that she thought of him as family. It was a nice thought; it had just been him and his mother for a long time and he’d often wished that they’d had more family. He just hoped that it didn’t mean that Buffy thought of him as a brother.
****************************************************************



After breakfast Buffy joined William on the walk to his house. Joyce had made it clear that he needed to shower and change before he went to see his mother. William had looked embarrassed, but hadn’t argued. So he and Buffy were going to stop by his house so he could clean up and then head over to see his mother. Joyce had already left for the hospital.

When they reached his door, William fumbled with the key for a moment and then quietly let Buffy in. “So umm…I guess I’ll just run up and take a quick shower. Please… uh…make yourself at home. I won’t take long.”

Buffy nodded. “I was thinking that I’d just gather up some clothes and stuff for you so we don’t need to stop back for a couple of days.” His words from Monday morning suddenly came back to her and she paled. “Or I guess…I mean you should probably do that yourself so you can… you know, pick what you like. I’ll just umm…I’ll just wait down here.”

William realized immediately what had made her pull back. “Buffy, I’m sorry about…about what I said; I was a git. Please…I’m sure whatever you choose would be just fine. I’d…I’d be glad for the help.”

She looked at him anxiously. “I didn’t ever mean to make you feel like you had to change. I mean I know I’m a bit pushy, but if you don’t like something…I just want you to be happy.” She sighed gently.

William stepped towards her and slowly pulled her into his arms for a hug. “You do make me happy pet. I don’t…I don’t really know what I’d do without you.” He surprised them both then by brushing a soft kiss on her forehead before pulling away.

Buffy watched him walk up the stairs for a few seconds before following. She brought her fingers up to feel the spot his lips had touched and smiled. Maybe, she thought, you’ll give me a chance to make you really happy some time. Even if he didn’t know it yet, Buffy was sure she could.
*****************************************************************

Buffy found a duffel bag in William’s room and quickly put in a couple of pairs of jeans, some tee shirts and a few button downs. She went back to his closet and pulled out one of his old pairs of khakis, just in case they were what he really wanted and added them to the stack. A quick rummage through his dresser added a few pairs of socks and some comfy looking pants that she suspected he used for pajamas. She grinned thinking about how yummy he’d look wearing just those pants and then shook her head. There’s no denying it, she thought, you are a bad person; the poor guy is coming to stay with you while his mom is in the hospital and you’re hoping for a chance to play peeping Tomasina. She opened the final drawer and frowned; she hadn’t found any boxers or anything. Just as well, she thought with a shake of her head, he’d probably freak if he came back to find you pawing through his unmentionables.

She put her hands on her hips and tried to figure out what else he might need. Some bath room stuff, she thought, but that would have to wait until he came out. She walked over to his desk and was considering whether or not to grab his school stuff when he appeared in the door.

“Umm…Buffy.”

“Yeah.” She turned, looked up and froze. William was standing rather awkwardly in the doorway, as though he felt uncomfortable entering a room with her while wearing only a towel. His hair was a mess of dripping curls and he was holding a toiletry bag. Her mouth went dry. Yeah he’s hot, she thought; you knew this and you need to pull it together. “Oh you need to get dressed.” She blushed.

He laughed. “That was my plan too.”

“I didn’t mean…I mean of course you were…I just meant that…I’ll just get out of your way now.” She hurried past him into the hall.

William continued to laugh quietly as he went in his room. “Figured you’d prefer it that way pet.” He closed the door.

Well you figured wrong, Buffy thought with a grin. She shook her head. This was all Faith’s fault she decided; her talk with Faith about jumping William had put all sorts of naughty pictures in her head and now her hormones were out of control. You’ve seen his chest before, she reminded herself, when you went to the beach; you acknowledged the general prettiness but you didn’t turn into a babbling fangirl. Shaking her head again, Buffy wondered exactly how she was going to hide her new-found nympho-tendencies while he stayed with them.

*********************************************************************
Joyce took a deep breath before entering the hospital room. She knew that her friend needed positive thinking and support. She went in a moment later with a warm smile. “Anne.”

Anne sat up more fully and returned her friends smile. “Joyce! Oh I’m so glad to see you. I just tried to watch some television and discovered that there are no less than eight talk-shows on right now, all of them featuring people I hope never to meet. There are thirteen year old girls who beat up their mothers and men who went to prison and now work as clowns. Where do they find them?” She shook her head and laughed.

“I always worry that they’re too easy to find.” Joyce sat down in the chair next to the bed.

“You’re probably right.”

Joyce nodded. “The kids are stopping by your house so that William can get some clean clothes before they come.”

Anne sighed and nodded. “How is he doing this morning?”

“Seems better then last night, from what Buffy told me.”

“My poor baby; he just panicked… couldn’t even listen to me. The doctors are not sure what it is yet. They’re going to remove it and then we’ll know and even if it is the cancer back…I’ll fight…I’ll do the chemo again. William just…”

“Got scared.”

Anne nodded. “He didn’t do that last time. I did…I told you I thought I was going to die, but he wouldn’t even consider it. Yesterday…” she started crying lightly “he looked at me like I was already gone.”

“Oh Anne.” Joyce leaned over to hug her.

“Thank you for taking care of my baby.” Anne said as they pulled apart a moment later. “I know he’s a big boy, but…”

“He’s still your baby.”

She nodded.

“William is always welcome at our house. You know that Buffy and I adore him.”

“I can’t tell you what a relief it is to know that he has such good friends, I…I…” Anne blinked to stop herself from crying again.

Joyce rested her hand on the other woman’s shoulder. “I know. Just remember that we are your friends too.”

Anne smiled. “Thank you.”

Joyce shook her head. “There is one thing I should…I have to go to LA on Saturday and I won’t be back until Monday morning. Are you comfortable with the kids staying alone while I’m gone?”

Anne nodded and gave her a confused look. “They’re eighteen. Surely you’ve left Buffy alone before.”

“I meant alone together.”

“Oh. But William wouldn’t…surely not while she has a boyfriend. I don’t think there’s any reason for concern.”

“Buffy broke up with Angel.”

Anne smiled brightly. “She did! Oh but William never mentioned that.”

Joyce smiled at her friend’s obvious delight and shrugged. “I don’t know if she’s told him yet. I don’t get the impression they did a lot of chatting last night.”

Anne considered the news. “I still like to think that William will be a gentleman. Although…” her eyes sparkled mischievously “I hope he steals a kiss or two.”

“So you’re ok with it.”

“They’ll be going off to college in a few months Joyce; we’re going to have to get used to the possibility…”

Joyce laughed. “Perhaps you can just never end that sentence and I can live in blissful ignorance.”

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

Buffy nodded for the fortieth time. “Yes Mom.” She sighed in frustration and looped her arm through her mothers. “We aren’t going to throw any ragers, accept candy from strangers or burn down the house; everything will be fine.” She eagerly walked her to the door.

Joyce shook her head. “Buffy…”

“You’re going to be late Mom.”

Joyce looked from her daughter to William and sighed. They’d been so busy the past couple of days that she hadn’t had a chance to have a private talk with Buffy. She wasn’t exactly sure what she would have said anyway. “Alright, I’ll call when I get there.”

“We’ll be here.”

Joyce nodded. “William.”

He looked up.

“Try to keep my daughter out of trouble.”

William nodded solemnly. “I’ll try.”

“Mom!”

Joyce laughed, picked up her overnight bag and left.

Buffy looked at William and shook her head.

He grinned. “Does that mean I’m in charge? I think that means I’m in charge.”

“It doesn’t…”

“Sounded like I’m in charge. Don’t worry I’ll take the responsibility very seriously; you’ll eat lots of vegetables, do extra homework and…”

Buffy slapped him playfully on the shoulder. “You’re such a dork.”

“You know you love it.”

Buffy rolled her eyes, but couldn’t hold back her giggle.

They were both feeling a bit giddy. The past few days had been tough, but Anne’s surgery seemed to be a success. The doctors were keeping her at the hospital for another couple of days and were still checking out a few what they called inconsistencies in her blood work, but things were looking good. They hadn’t found any evidence that the cancer had returned. The lump, it seemed, was just a benign tumor. They were all being pretty careful not to celebrate too soon, but there was a distinctly relieved aura about them.

“So what do you want to do?”

William shrugged. “I’m actually kind of tired.”

“Oh, did you want to go rest for a while.” Buffy tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

He shook his head. “No. I think I can hold off for a bit. But maybe we can find something low energy for the afternoon?”

Buffy nodded. “Movie?”

“That sounds good.”

“Cool. Let’s watch it my room.” Buffy started towards the stairs.

William frowned. The living room television was considerably bigger, he thought, why would she want to watch upstairs.

She turned back and saw that he hadn’t followed yet. “If you’d rather we can watch down here.” She shrugged. “I just figured that upstairs would be more comfy…you know just in case you fell asleep.”

“Oh. That…that makes sense. That’s umm…very considerate.” He nodded and followed.

Buffy could tell that he was uncomfortable; he always pulled out the super polite manners when he was nervous. What she couldn’t tell was whether or not he was the right kind of uncomfortable.

William followed Buffy into her room and found her rearranging pillows against the headboard.

“There.” She announced a moment later. “You get comfy and I’ll put in a DVD. Any preferences?”

“You pick pet.” William was sitting on the far right side of her bed with his back against her headboard.

If he moves any closer to the edge, he’ll fall off, Buffy thought with a grin. She held up one of her favorite movies. “Are you sure?”

William laughed but nodded. “It’s the cheerleaders again isn’t it?”

“You can pretend otherwise, but I’m on to you.”

“Really?”

“Yep. You love watching all the cute girls bouncing around.” Buffy slipped the disc in, grabbed the remote and headed back towards her bed.

“Oh certainly, the cheerleaders are lovely; it’s the dialogue I find questionable.”


She sat down next to him and looked up with widened eyes. “You’re not even going to deny it?”

He laughed. “Why should I? I’m a single, red-blooded man; it’s my god-given right, no not right it’s more like a duty, to appreciate an attractive female form.”

She laughed and shook her head. “I see.” She loved the rare glimpses of William’s naughty side his playfulness were giving her. She finished setting the movie up to play and placed the remote on her nightstand. “Well scoot over here before you end up doing your appreciating from the floor.”

William blushed when he realized that he was that transparent in his actions and shifted somewhat towards the center of the bed.

“Better.” Buffy moved to rest her head against his chest. “See now you can be my pillow.”

William didn’t respond, probably couldn’t have at that moment. The touching thing had always been a problem. But up until the past few days, she had only touched him briefly and not very frequently. Now it seemed like she was always hugging him or reaching over to hold his hand. Most of the time it was obvious that she was just trying to comfort him; this was more confusing. Did she really see him so platonically that she thought nothing of putting him in her bed and snuggling against him? He ignored the small flare of his temper that told him he should remind her that he was not a toy and that he should show her just what all the touching was doing to him. He forced his body to relax instead and brought his arm to rest gently against her hip.

They both fell asleep. Buffy woke to a screen of static and a persistent ringing. The phone, she realized groggily. She stretched across the bed to answer. “Hello? Oh hi mom. Sorry. Yeah I guess I must have dozed off, it took me a minute to realize the phone was ringing…Umm Hmm…yeah William’s fine. He’s here. Yup. Yeah I still have it. Ok… Mom… alright… love you too. Bye.”

William woke up to find Buffy lying across his lap and talking on the phone. He blinked and reached up to run a hand through his hair as he listened to her finish. She was talking with her mom; he realized quickly and couldn’t help but feel guilty about the rather graphic dream he’d been having. He looked down at the rather tempting view of her shapely bottom she was currently providing him with and laughed. That’s it, he thought, its official; she’s trying to kill me.

Buffy hung the phone back up on its base and wiggled back into her spot. “My mom.”

“I figured.”

Buffy looked at the TV screen. “I guess I was tired too.”

William smiled. “You did fall asleep rather quickly.”

Her mouth formed a small circle. “I fell asleep first.”

He nodded and grinned. “Don’t worry the snoring was very lady-like.”

Buffy’s eyes widened. “I…I…” She stopped when he started laughing. “You’re messing with me aren’t you?”

“Perhaps a little bit.”

“Unh” She quickly grabbed up a pillow and smacked him with it. “You are arghh.”

“Resorting to violence I see.” William smirked.

“No.” Buffy gave him another half-hearted swat.

William looked at his watch and frowned considering.

Putting the pillow down, Buffy caught his look. “Hey, do you wanna go check on your mom before dinner?”

He looked up surprised. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“Of course not; we’ll go say hi so you can stop worrying and then we can pick up a pizza on the way home. ‘Kay?”

“You’re going to come with me to the hospital?”

Buffy frowned. “You don’t want me to?”

“That’s not…I just don’t want you to feel like you have to…I mean I can go on my own; you don’t need to…”

She shook her head. “Nope; you’re not getting rid of me.” She reached over and took his hand. “I told you…not alone.”
*********************************************************

Buffy smiled as she entered the hospital room. “Hi, how are you feeling?”

Anne looked up, surprise clear on her face. “I’m fine, a little sore but…” She shook her head. “What are you two doing here? It’s a Saturday evening; you two should be out having fun.”

William bent to give his mother a kiss on her cheek. “What could be more fun than visiting you?” He gave her a wink.

Buffy smiled as her stomach tumbled. For the hundredth time she wondered how it could possibly have taken her so long to realize that she was falling for William. Watching him with his mother only served to drive home how great he was. She still couldn’t tell if he was interested though. She had considered making a move earlier, but she was quite sure that if he told her that he didn’t feel the same way it would break her heart. Sometimes, she thought, ignorance was bliss. Or at least it let her keep the fantasy safe.

Buffy excused herself a few minutes later. “I’ll give you guys some privacy. I’m going to go grab a soda.”

Anne nodded. “Thank you dear, but don’t be long. I don’t want you guys wasting your whole evening in this place.”

Buffy gave her a quick nod and William a quick smile before ducking out. She took a leisurely pace and detoured over to poke around the gift shop before heading to the cafeteria. Once there she picked up a soda for herself and one for William and then started back.

As she turned the corner to head down the hall to Anne’s room, she froze. William was outside talking with a girl, a really pretty dark haired girl. She frowned; the girl was standing very close and he was laughing. Buffy felt the blood drain from her face; did he know this girl, she wondered. More importantly, she thought, does he like her. The girl in question was moving closer and still talking animatedly. She twirled her hair flirtatiously and Buffy felt sick to her stomach.

Deciding that she couldn’t watch anymore, Buffy ducked back around the corner. She leaned her back against the wall for a moment as she tried to decide what to do. She was just starting to head back towards the cafeteria when she heard him yell.

“Bloody hell woman. Get off me!”

Buffy came around the corner just in time to see William give the girl a firm shove. He was wide-eyed with shook.

The dark-haired girl laughed. “Come on then. I just wanted a peek.”

Buffy watched in shock as the girl pounced towards William and boldly reached for his belt.

William grabbed the girl’s hands and pushed her away hard. “Well you bloody well can’t have one!” His mind was reeling. The girl was clearly insane. At first he’d thought that she was just odd. Hell, he thought, he’d even found her unusual ramblings kind of charming. He was no longer amused.

The girl wasn’t either. William had pushed her hard enough to knock her down that time and when she got back up there was an almost predatory look in her eyes. She quickly reached out and scratched her nails across his cheek, leaving three thin lines of blood. “Bad dog!” she yelled.

Buffy ran to William’s side just as a nurse and an orderly hurried around the corner. They immediately ran to the girl and tried to restrain her.

“Drusilla, what are you doing here? You know you’re not supposed to leave your room.” The nurse questioned the girl with a forced calmness.

“But he called to me. He belongs with me. We’ll dance with the fish in the dark night sky.” Drusilla turned and glared at Buffy.

The nurse gave William a quick glance. “Do you know Drusilla?”

He shook his head frantically. “Never saw her before in my life. Rather hope I don’t see her again as well.” He gave the nurse a bewildered look. “She…she was just talking to me and then…then” he lowered his voice to a stern whisper “she stuck her hand down my…my pants.”

Buffy tightened her hold on William’s arm and looked up at him in shock.

The nurse sighed as the orderly led Drusilla away. “I’m very sorry sir. I’ll see to it that she is supervised from now on. She hasn’t…we haven’t seen any violence from her before.” She pointed to his cheek. “Why don’t you come with me and I can clean up your face?”

William put a hand up to his cheek and touched the angry scratches. Pulling his fingers away he was surprised to see blood. He looked back the nurse slowly. “Thank you, but I can clean it at home. It’s fine.”

Buffy nodded; eager to leave the hospital. “I’ll clean them; we have a good first aid kit.”

The nurse nodded, she was just glad that the young man didn’t seem intent on pressing charges.
******************************************************************

“I can’t believe she did this.” Buffy exclaimed shaking her head. She poured some hydrogen peroxide onto a piece of gauze and dabbed it across William’s cheek.

“I can do that myself pet.” He reached for the gauze but Buffy swatted his hand away.

“Almost done.” She looked down and began rummaging through the box of medical supplies. “Aha!” She held up a small tube of cream. “Neosporin so that you don’t end up with any scars.”

William’s eyebrows came together. He stood up and gave his face a good glance in the mirror. “I don’t know. A scar might make me look more… manly or something.”

Buffy frowned. “You don’t need to look any more manly. Come here.”

He sat back down obediently and let her rub the ointment across the scratches.

“There all set.”

William gave her a shy smile. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” She grinned. “Pizza?”

His stomach growled in response.

Buffy giggled. “Gonna take that as a yes.”
************************************************************************
An hour later, William was wrapping up the leftovers and placing them in the refrigerator.

Buffy watched him and smiled. She liked how comfortable he’d gotten at her house and was sad that he’d probably be going home soon. This, she thought quickly, didn’t mean she wasn’t thrilled that his mom was doing well enough to go home. She just knew that she’d miss having him around all the time. “I’m thinking hot cocoa. You?”

He nodded. “Do you make it like your mom does?”

“Better.” Buffy grinned as she began to collect the ingredients.

William shook his head. “Not possible.”

She pouted. “Well if you think that maybe you should just wait until she comes back to have yours.”

The pout was driving him insane. He starred at her jutting bottom lip. Bloody adorable, he thought with a shake of his head. He gave her a smirk. “I’m sure the chocolate you make will be adequate.”

Buffy’s jaw dropped. She gaped at him for a moment. “Adequate?”

His lips twitched as he tried to look at her with a straight face. He nodded. “Yes.”

“Arghh.” Buffy reached into the bag of marshmallows that she’d pulled out just for him and grasped a handful. She tossed them at him and laughed as they bounced of his rather shocked face.

“Well now that’s hardly…”

She threw another.

“That’s certainly enough.”

Buffy giggled. “You think?” She threw another.

“Buffy!”

She threw another while giggling hysterically.

“Oh well that’s it. You’re going get it now.” William came towards her with a devilish glint in his eyes.

She squealed and tossed another marshmallow at his head before running from the kitchen.

He stalked after her, followed her up the stairs and then hid behind her bedroom door.

When she hadn’t seen or heard him for a moment, Buffy came out.

She squeaked as he jumped put from behind the door and grabbed her. He picked her up, carried her a few steps and tossed her on the bed. She didn’t even have a chance to voice her surprise before he joined her. He grabbed her arms and pinned her to the bed. He grinned down at her and her heart began to race.

“I…you win…you win.” She whispered breathlessly.

“Is that so?”

She nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving his.

“And what do I win exactly?”

Buffy swallowed hard. “Anything. Anything you want.” She gasped, forcing herself to keep her eyes focused on his.

William’s eyes widened slightly. He laughed and shook his head. “You ought to be more careful pet; plenty of blokes would get the wrong idea when you say that.” He pushed up and off of the bed and headed towards the door.

Buffy got up too. Now or never, she thought. “Maybe they would have the right idea.”

William froze in the doorway. He turned silently and slowly to look at her.

She gasped at his dark expression.

“That right?” He questioned quietly.

She bit her lip. She couldn’t read him. He looked cold, possibly angry but there was something else there too. Buffy knew she couldn’t stop now. She nodded.

“And Angel?”

She frowned and shook her head.

“Your boyfriend; he doesn’t have anything to say?”

“Not my boyfriend. We…we broke up.”

William was stunned. He starred at her for a moment before walking towards her. He cornered her, placing one hand against the wall behind her and using the other to grasp her chin. “Who?”

She frowned.

“Who ended it pet?”

“I…I did.”

William nodded slowly. He moved his hand to caress the side of her face. “And do you have a replacement all picked out?” He leaned in close so she felt his warm, moist breathe against her ear when he whispered. “Or do I get to audition for the part?”

He didn’t wait for her response. He didn’t look up to see her surprise. William leaned in and claimed her lips with his own.

Buffy was surprised when William kissed her, but it was the kiss itself that left her breathless. She’d expected sparks, had felt them on her end numerous times, but his kiss felt more like flames. She felt like she was being consumed. There was a desperate, possessive edge to his kiss that stunned her and left her trembling.

William pulled back nearly as abruptly as he’d kissed her. He was breathing hard when he finally looked up to see the shock on Buffy’s face. As he watched her bring her hand to her mouth, he felt ill. She didn’t want this; he thought frantically, she didn’t. He paled and started to back away. “Buffy I…I…”

She quickly reached out and placed her hand on the center of his chest. “Wait” she whispered.

When William began to once again try to find words, she brought her finger to his lips. “Shh…It’s my turn.” She reached her hand around the back of his neck and drew him down for her kiss.

William couldn’t close his eyes; he couldn’t believe it was happening. He groaned when she began softly brushing her lips across his. He was tempted to deepen the kiss immediately, but he held himself back. She’d said it was her turn and he was determined to see where she would lead. He brought his hands jerkily to rest gently upon her upper arms. He wanted to pull her body against his own. He wanted to press her hard against the wall.

Buffy could feel the tremors running through William’s body. She smiled against his mouth and tangled her fingers in the soft curls at the nape of his neck. When he groaned again she fisted the shirt at his chest in her hand and boldly thrust her tongue between his lips.

He froze, uncertain in the face of what was, for him, an unprecedented action. He slowly, tentatively brought his tongue to meet hers. When the hand in his hair grew more forceful, William pushed past her lips and began to explore her mouth. When she whimpered, he pulled back to gaze at her in shock. “Why?”

Buffy gave him a confused little frown. “Why?”

“Why did you break up with Angel? Why…why are you kissing me?”

Buffy’s eyes widened with surprise and she suddenly saw him as he’d been the day they met: anxious, shy, even a little terrified. She smiled and moved her hand down to cup his cheek. “Gonna have to spell this out for you huh?”

He nodded quickly. “Yes that would…that would probably be good.” He blushed deeply and gave her a sheepish smile. “Please pet.”

She slid her thumb slowly along the sharp edge of his cheek and gave him a warm smile. “I broke up with Angel because he wasn’t the one.” Her eyes shifted to the scratches on his face. She traced one slowly. “I can’t believe she did this.” She murmured distractedly. She raised her eyes back up to meet his. “I wanted to scratch her eyes out.”

William’s mouth opened slightly in surprised at the vehemence in her tone. “Buffy?”

Buffy shrugged slightly. “She hurt you.” She said defensively. “I don’t like that. I…you’re…” Seeing the unspoken plea in his eyes, Buffy swallowed hard. “I really like you William and I…I want you.”

William wouldn’t have been more shocked if she’d turned blue. He gaped at her for a moment. “You want me?”

She nodded.

He nodded back. “Oh, well that’s....that’s good. Yes…I…Brilliant…”

She cut off his sputtering with a giggle. “I’m glad you approve. Maybe we could get back to the kissing now?”

He wanted to feel only the thrill her words brought, but her eagerness worried him too. He couldn’t help but wonder if she was just upset over her break-up. William wanted only one thing more than he wanted to be kissing her at that moment; he wanted her to really be his girl. He knew that he couldn’t afford to risk his chance of that by rushing things. He chuckled softly and dropped a kiss on her forehead, before stepping back. “I know I’m a right git for bringing it up…I should just…but…I heard you Buffy. When you were talking with Faith last Monday about…about how you wanted to…wanted Angel; I heard you.”

Buffy paled for a moment before shaking her head. “You couldn’t have.”

He nodded. “I did. It wasn’t my intention to invade your privacy, I just happened to…”

“No.” Buffy shook her head. “I mean you couldn’t have heard that because I didn’t say it.”

He frowned. “Pet, I…”

“Faith and I, last week, we weren’t talking about Angel.” She said it firmly and then watched as the meaning of her words sunk in.

“You weren’t?”

She shook her head.

“But…”

“You.”

He just stared.

“Faith was giving me advice on how to… to seduce you.”

Buffy watched him process the new information. The blush wasn’t a surprise, neither were his two aborted attempts to talk. She was surprised when he started laughing.

He couldn’t stop. William laughed so hard he gripped his stomach and tears came to his eyes.

“William?”

He looked up while wiping some moisture from his cheek. “I’m sorry pet it’s just…”
He trailed off when he couldn’t hold back his chuckles.

Buffy reached over and swatted his arm. She frowned. “William!”

He struggled to regain some composure before trying to answer her again. “It’s just the idea of it.” He shook his head before meeting her eyes head on. “Kitten, you don’t need advice; if you get any better at making me want you, you’ll probably kill me.”

She gasped and swayed slightly at the impact of his words. Her whole body felt warm. He wasn’t even touching her. His words and gaze alone had brought her to an arousal she hadn’t known she was capable of. Her legs shook as she stepped closer.

William reached out and pulled her into his arms. He bent to give her a warm kiss. When he pulled back he stuck a finger under her chin and raised her face up to his. “I mean it luv. You’re so bloody gorgeous. Sometimes…I can’t even breathe when you’re near.”

Buffy smiled while wrapping her arms around his waist. She rested her cheek against his chest. “But I like being near you.”

He chuckled hoarsely. “I like that too.”

Buffy pulled back suddenly and gave him a shove towards the bed. “Go. Sit.”

Rarely one to resist her orders, William walked the few steps and sat on her bed. He barely had time to look up before she flew into his lap.

Buffy grinned as she wrapped her legs around his waist. She threw her hands around his neck and kissed him enthusiastically. After a moment she pulled back and gave him an impish grin. “Much better.”

William groaned when she moved, both at the loss of her mouth and the increased pressure against his now full erection. “That so?” He croaked.

“Yep.” She popped the p. “No more neck strainyness. It’s a good thing, since I want to kiss you a lot more.”

He closed his eyes and nodded. “More…good.”

Buffy giggled softly at the thought that she’d reduced the rather verbose young man to caveman speak.

He made a sound like a growl deep in his throat and pulled her lips back to his own. He thrust his tongue into her mouth and groaned when she began sucking on it.

Buffy could feel the hard length of his erection pressing into her. She shifted her hips to rub against him. “This is good too.” She whispered saucily as he growled again. She knew that even with her virgin status she was more experienced than William and she realized that meant she was going to have to take the lead. She was a little surprised by how turned on being bold made her. Before she had time to question herself, she scooted back towards his knees and reached down to tug on his shirt. She quickly pulled it up to his arms. “Please William; I want to touch you.”

He gave her an awed look before helping her pull his shirt over his head. He tossed it aside and looked back at her shyly.

She smiled as she reached between them to run one hand gently over his chest. When she looked up, her eyes were bright. “You’re so beautiful, William.” Her voice was soft, almost breathless.

He ducked his head before shaking it in denial. “I know I’m nothing much to…”

“Stop.” Buffy took his face in her hands. “I don’t know why you think that. You are the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.”

His eyes widened when he saw by her expression that she was serious. “Buffy.”

She blinked a couple of times to hold back the tears his earnest look brought to her eyes and gave him a grin. “You’re pretty and I like looking at you, deal.”


William shook his head and laughed. “I’ll try but…pretty…Oi pet that wounds the Y chromosomes a bit.”

Giggling, Buffy snuggled closer. “Oh no, maybe I should kiss it better.” She bent to drop a row of kisses along his shoulder.

“Umm…that…that would…yes…”

She kissed his neck. “Better?”

He nodded. “A little…I might need a few more.”

Buffy adopted a serious expression before nodding solemnly. “Hmm I’d better kiss you all over just to be safe.” She smiled when he gaped at her and gave his shoulder a gentle shove. “Come on, scoot on more.” When he didn’t move she climbed off his legs and moved to the middle of the bed. She patted the blanket. “Over here.”

William turned slowly and looked first at her hand patting the mattress and then up to her teasing pout. He wondered suddenly if he was dreaming. Surely she didn’t actually mean to kiss him all over, he thought. His pants, already uncomfortable, tightened even more as he considered her words.

Buffy watched him stare at her with glazed over eyes for a few seconds. She watched his blush deepen and smiled. “William,” she waited for his gaze to clear, “don’t you want to come over here so I can kiss you some more?”

He nodded fervently.

She waited a beat before holding out her hand. “Come here.”

William studied her hand for a moment before looking back up at her. “I’m…that is, I’ve never, I haven’t…umm…I’ve…”

“Sweetie, are you trying to tell me that you’re a virgin?”

He quickly averted his gaze and nodded once.

Buffy held back her giggle since he was clearly mortified. She thought for a moment, wanting to choose her next words carefully, so as not to cause him any more embarrassment. She finally settled on “Good; I was kind of hoping you were.”

It worked; William looked up at her in surprise.

She really was, she realized; he was like uncharted territory that only she could explore. She grinned. “I am too you know. I was thinking…I think we can figure this stuff out together.” She gave a little shrug. “Pretty much everybody does it; it can’t be that hard.”

He took her hand then and moved to kneel next to her on the bed. “I just don’t want to mess this up luv,” he whispered.

“You won’t.”

He looked skeptical. “But…”

“I’m gonna like whatever you do because it’s you doing it.” When he raised an eyebrow she continued. “Okay; if I don’t like something I’ll tell you and I promise not to get mad. How’s that?”

He smiled. “Good.”

“All right, now will you please lie down so that I can get back to ravishing you already?”

William started to lie down and then surprised her by tugging her down beneath him. He pinned her hands down on either side of her head and kissed her hard. “God but you’re a bossy little thing.”

She jutted her lip out in an exaggerated pout. “Too bossy?”

He shook his head. “Perfect bossy. Buffy bossy.” He nuzzled her neck and kissed the soft skin behind her earlobe. “You’re always perfect luv.”

Just like that, Buffy was on fire again. Every inch of her skin felt suddenly too hot. She wiggled and he released her hands. She quickly sat up a bit and tugged off her shirt. The air only cooled her for a second before she felt his heated gaze. She met the lustful look in his eyes with one of her own. “Touch me.”

“Yes.” He watched her lie back against the pillows and moved to lie alongside her. Propping himself up on one elbow, he brought his other hand to her cheek. He brushed his knuckles against the softly rounded skin there. “I always want to touch you.” With a single finger, he traced the contours of her lips. William paused to give her a hungry kiss before bringing his hand to her shoulder. His finger followed the slight indent made by her bra strap down to her chest. He took a moment to simply appreciate the sight. Her bra was red cotton and covered with big pink polka dots, cute and sexy without really trying too hard. Just like she is, he thought as he started to draw his finger along the tops of each cup. When she gasped, he replaced his finger with his tongue. “I want to taste you too,” he added once he reached the other side.

She nodded desperately and reached out to dig her fingers into his hair. When he shifted to move over her again she arched her back and pulled his head lower.

William eagerly lapped her hardened nipple through the fabric. He settled himself between her knees and tentatively rubbed his denim-clad erection against her hot center. When she immediately brought her hips up to meet him, he began moving against her with a steady rhythm.

She whimpered. “So good… William…so good.”

He pulled her nipple into his mouth and gave it a hard suck.

Buffy came with a surprised shout. “Oh my God William!”

He pulled back quickly unsure. “Did I hurt you pet?” When Buffy shook her head dazedly, his eyes widened. He could feel himself grinning as he realized what had just happened. “Really?” He cocked his head to the side.

“Oh yeah.” She nodded.

His expression was a mix of awe and self-satisfaction. “Just like that?”

Buffy giggled. “Apparently.”

He knew he shouldn’t ask, but he couldn’t help himself. His voice dropped low. “Always?”

She shook her head. “No. Usually I can only come when I…well I have a toy,” she admitted with a blush. “But it usually takes a lot longer; last night it…” she trailed off, her eyes widening when she realized what she’d just said. She ducked her head. Great, she thought, now he’s going to think you’re like a big slutbag. She looked up slowly, trying to prepare herself for the shock and dismay she expected to see on William’s face.

He grinned. “Last night? When you were so tired and had to go to bed early? You were…brilliant.” He shook his head and chuckled. “Brilliant.”

She bit her lip as she asked, “You don’t think I’m a major nympho now?”

He shook his head. “No.” He paused and gave her a considering look. “Well maybe a little but only in a ‘damn and aren’t I a lucky bloke’ kind of way.”

Buffy giggled in relief and gave him a light swat. She smiled suggestively. “How about you lie back and let me make you feel really lucky?

His mouth went dry as he followed her directions and lied back against the pillows. “I’m feeling pretty lucky already luv.” He’d meant it teasingly, but his look was completely earnest.

She giggled and moved to kneel next to him. “I’m feeling the same way.”

She bent over to give him a quick kiss before taking a long look at his well-formed chest and stomach. “Now where was I before you interrupted?” She gave him a playful expression of mock thoughtfulness. “Oh that’s right; I believe I was planning to ravish an utterly sexy man.” She made a show of looking him up and down while licking her lips.

William laughed hoarsely at her antics. “Any chance that I could convince you to stick with me instead?”

Buffy pouted. “I told you to stop saying things like that. Now I’m just going to have to punish you by doing an extra-thorough job of the ravishing.”

He was quite sure that the memory of Buffy threatening to punish him with sex would stay with him forever. He sent out a silent thanks to whatever god, goddess, guardian angel or fairy godmother had set this up for him and promised them a life of eternal gratitude. “That’s…that’s fair; only way I’ll ever learn.”

Buffy grinned and quickly stepped off the bed.

“Pet?”

She smiled. “Just want to get more comfortable for the job.” She hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her jeans and waited until she saw understanding and lust on William’s face. She slid her hands around and slowly unbuttoned and unzipped. Buffy swallowed hard before pushing the denim down her hips and thighs so that it pooled at her feet. When she stepped away from them she stood before him wearing only her polka dotted bra and matching bikini bottoms. She forced herself to pause for a moment and to accept his hot gaze before stepping back to rejoin him on the bed. Placing a knee on either side of his hips, she straddled him.

“Oh god but you’re perfect pet.”

Buffy leaned back and sat on his thighs. “I don’t know…I think this is going to get in the way.” She reached her hands behind her back and undid the bra hook. Before William even had time to process her words, she had the bra off and was dropping it to the floor.

His hands seemed to rise of their own accord. He paused with his fingers barely brushing the skin beneath her breasts. He dragged his eyes up to meet hers with a silent question and waited for her approval before moving to cup her breasts in his hands. “Perfect,” he murmured “you’re a goddess, luv.”

“Wow,” Buffy giggled. “A goddess; that’s certainly not something….” She gasped when he brushed her thumbs across her pert nipples. “Oh that’s good.”

“Yeah?” He smirked.

“Mmmm…” She nodded as he repeated the motion and then quickly pushed his hands away.

William whimpered at the loss.

Buffy leaned forward, pushing his hands up to rest near his head. “You can play again later, but now it’s my turn.” Her nipples brushed across his chest, making them both shiver and she froze for a second. Once she could, she moved down his body slowly, dropping kisses across his chest and stomach. When she reached the waistband of his jeans, she looked back up at him with an exaggerated pout. “No fair,” she said “I took off mine.” She spoke like a siren, but her fingers trembled and betrayed her nerves, as she reached for the snap.

He thought to warn her a second too late.

She gasped. She’d barely touched his zipper when his erection pushed its way free. “William.” She looked at him in surprise. “You’re not wearing any…”

He blushed and shook his head. “The…the pants you chose are all so tight…they…they made my boxers bunch up and all, so I…I just…”

She giggled at the realization that her straight-laced William had been going commando for months. “So you just don’t wear any.”

He nodded.

“There might be a bit more bad boy in you than I thought.”

“Is…is that good?” Their lack of clothes was making speech very difficult for him.

“Mmm hmm...sexy.” Looking down, she suddenly realized that her new boyfriend was startlingly well-endowed. She bit her lip. She knew that it was supposed to be a great thing, but couldn’t help but worry that it would complicate matters. The thought that he might not fit jumped into her head. She pushed it away and focused on the moment. He’d made her come with barely a touch; she was determined to return the favor. Reaching up she gripped the denim waistband and tugged his jeans down. When she’d pulled them to about mid-thigh, William sat up and helped pull them off the rest of the way. They joined hers on the rug.

When she reached over to push him back down on the pillows he tugged her into his arms instead. His hands threaded through her hair and he held tight while he smashed his mouth into hers. She stopped resisting immediately and allowed him to deepen the kiss. She felt like she was being washed away and her fingers dug into his arms in an attempt to stay grounded. William kissed with an intensity she hadn’t known existed. When he finally pulled back she was panting.

“I can’t get enough of you luv.” He loosened his hold on her hair and brought a hand around to gently rub her cheek. “It’s…it’s like you’re air and… and I’ve been drowning for so long…I…I…” He blushed at his own dramatic words and ducked his head.

“William?” Buffy shifted so she could see his face.

“I just want you so much Buffy.”

His expression made her tremble. “I want you too,” she whispered. She pressed against his shoulders. When he didn’t move she tried again. “Please; I just want to make you feel good. Let me.”

He didn’t know what she intended and his nerves very nearly got the better of him, but he forced himself to lie back again.

Buffy ran her eyes quickly down his body. He’s gorgeous, she thought with a touch of awe. She wanted to simply watch him for a while, but knew that he was already becoming uncomfortable and settled instead for a self-promise to take a better look later. Calling forth her courage, she boldly reached out and caressed him.

He groaned. When she moved to encircle him with her small hand, he squeezed his eyes shut, clenched his jaw and fisted the blanket in his hands.

She brought her thumb to the tip and swirled it through a drop of moisture there. When he groaned again she smiled widely. Buffy had never felt more beautiful or more powerful. His reaction to her touch thrilled her. She slowly pumped her hand, studying his face and prizing the need she found in his expression.

When her lips touched his tip, his eyes flew open. He watched, awed, as she took him into her mouth. It was too much, too hot, too good; he pushed her away with a strangled yell. “Buffy don’t, I’m…”

She watched with surprise as he rode out the waves of his climax.

He looked up a moment later. “I’m sorry luv, I…” He shook his head.

Buffy frowned. “Why are you sorry?”

His eyebrow arched and he gestured to his now sticky stomach.

She giggled. “Well yeah, that was the idea.”

“But I almost…I almost came while you were still…”

She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. “That was the idea too.”

His eyes widened. “You wanted to…you wanted me to…to…”

Buffy reached over, touched her finger to his stomach and brought it to her lips. She sucked on it gently before continuing. “Yummy,” she decided. She raised her eyes to his and found that he was speechless. Kissing him again, she giggled. “If you don’t like it we can do it your way, but…” she gave him a grin “my way is less messy.” At his sheepish look, she continued. “Of course now we get to take a shower together to clean up.” She smiled brightly.

“Together?”

She nodded and quickly hopped off the bed. “Come on.”

He awkwardly followed her into the bathroom and watched as she started the shower. Once she had the water adjusted to the right temperature she quickly pushed off her panties and stepped in. William felt glued in place.

Buffy let the water cover her for a moment before pushing her hair back and sticking her head through the space between the shower curtain and the wall. She grinned at William. “Well come on, this is supposed to be sexy fun. I can’t do that all by myself.”

He laughed as he joined her. “And we both know that’s not the case.”

She splashed him and pretended to be upset.

He laughed again and pulled her against him. “I just meant that you’re plenty sexy and plenty fun all on your own; don’t need me for that.”

“But I need you for this.” She whispered before pulling his head to hers for a kiss.

William growled and pushed her against the tile wall. He plundered her mouth, exploring and claiming her as his own territory.

When the water began to cool Buffy pushed him away and reached for a bottle of body wash. “We should do this quick before the water turns to ice.” She poured some on to her palm and reached over to soap up his chest and abs.

“Oi! That’s all fruity luv; you’re going to make me smell like a girl.”

She rolled her eyes and began rubbing the soap against him. “Don’t be a baby; I’m going to make you clean.”

He smirked and touched the tip of his tongue to the roof of his mouth. “Sure you don’t want a dirty boy pet?”

Buffy’s knees nearly buckled. She gasped at the flood of heat between her legs and gripped William’s arms for support.

He grinned. Apparently, he thought, my girl likes a little naughty talk. He realized that the water was indeed getting cooler and stored the information away for use later on. “Come on. Give me that girly stuff so we can get you all cleaned up too.” He let her pour some of the pink bubbles onto his hands and quickly set about soaping her all up. The quickly cooling water made him move faster then he’d have liked. “Next time I’m doing this first,” he whispered near her ear, “I love feeling you all slippery.” When he moved to soap her breasts for a third time, she pulled away and rinsed off before stepping out.

William followed her out and helped her wrap up in a towel before doing the same himself. They stood there, shivering and staring at each other, for a moment before they both started giggling.

Buffy stopped first. “Are you hungry?”

He looked surprised for a moment and then nodded. “Starving.”
“P.J.’s and left-over pizza?”

He nodded again and followed her out of the bathroom. He watched her walk into her room before heading down the hall to get his stuff from the guest room. Yanking on a pair of athletic pants and a tee-shirt he soon headed downstairs to heat up the pizza.

Buffy joined him a few minutes later.

Taking in her sushi-printed flannel pajamas, William couldn’t hold back his grin.

“I know,” she said sheepishly; “they’re not very sexy, but I was cold.”

He walked over and kissed her forehead. “You look perfect.”

Smiling, she snuggled against his chest for a moment. “I have to tell you something.”

William pulled away slightly and looked at her, his head tilted slightly to the side. “Oh yeah?” He tried to keep his voice neutral even though his stomach was flipping Olympic-quality somersaults.

“Yeah.”

He waited.

“You kinda smell like a girl.”

William’s jaw dropped for a moment and he shook his head. “You are such a brat.”

Buffy smiled. “Yep. But you like it.” She giggled and she snuggled in closer again.

“Yeah,” he agreed, “I like it.” Of course I like it, he thought, I like everything about you; I’m in love with you. “I like it,” he said again before brushing another kiss across her forehead.

Cleaning up the marshmallows still scattered about from their earlier antics led to another marshmallow fight. That, in turn, led to some fairly heated kissing on the kitchen floor and some moderately burnt pizza. They ate it anyway.

“So where do stand on pineapple?”

William frowned. “Fairly certain I couldn’t stand on a pineapple.” He gave her a grin, he knew that she hadn’t meant it that way but he wasn’t entirely sure what she was trying to ask either.

Buffy giggled and rolled her eyes. “God you’re a dork.”

His smile widened. “Yes, but I’m your dork.” His heart stopped. Was he, he thought suddenly, she had said she wanted him; she hadn’t ever really gave their relationship a name.

“Yeah you are,” she said enthusiastically.

William gave a quick sigh of relief and a small chuckle at his own insecurities. “So what’s this with the pineapple?”

“Do you like pineapple on your pizza?”

He shrugged, “Sounds good.”

“You’ve never tried it?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Well that settles it; tomorrow we get pineapple on our pizza.”

“So it’s pizza again tomorrow?”

Buffy grinned. “That’s one of the perks of having my mom away on business. As long as I get rid of the boxes, she has no idea that all we ate all weekend was pizza. Besides, I don’t want to waste time cooking. I already have to be at school for the game all afternoon. There’s no point in wasting time when we could be doing more fun stuff.”

William frowned. He’d forgotten that Buffy had to cheer the next day. He was going to head over to the school with her and put in some library time to try and get caught up on the assignments he’d missed. It had all seemed like a good plan when they’d made it that morning. Now, less than twelve hours later, it seemed like a dreadful way to spend their last parent-free day together.

“Is pizza a problem?” She took in his frown.

“What? No,” he shook his head; “Pizza is fine.”

Buffy nodded, bounced out of her chair, grabbed their plates and brought them to the sink. She gave him a big grin and pretended to yawn. “Wow,” she said; “I’m really sleepy.”

Laughing, William walked over to her. “Well then, I suppose we’d best get you to bed pet. It wouldn’t do to have you all tired tomorrow; if you fall off the pyramid and get hurt your mum might not leave me in charge next time.”

She leaned against him and stretched like a cat. “Hmm…does that mean you’re going to tuck me in?”

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck. “’Course luv, someone has to check the closet and under the bed. I can’t have some big bad nibbling up my girl, can I?”

Buffy felt a thrill run through her body and warm her heart when he called her his girl. They were the best words ever, she decided. “Definitely not,” she agreed.

“Of course I may have to do a bit of nibbling myself.” He pulled her earlobe between his teeth and nipped at it.

Buffy giggled. “If you’re still hungry there’s more pizza,” she teased.

“You taste better.” He traced her ear with his tongue. When she trembled, he said “Hmm you must be tired, you’re shaking; we’d better get you upstairs.” Without waiting for a response he scooped her into his arms and headed towards her bedroom.

She squealed in surprise. “William! I can walk you know.”

“This is more fun.” He carried her into her room and dropped her on the bed.

Buffy reached up to wrap her arms around him as he joined her. She immediately slid her hands down his back and under his tee-shirt. “You know when I packed those pants for you; I was hoping you’d wear them without a shirt.”

William couldn’t hide his pleasure. He beamed. He was still shocked to find that she found him attractive at all; hearing her acknowledge thinking about him like that was almost overwhelming. He pressed his lips to hers for a hard and fast kiss. He tugged the shirt over his head and tossed it onto her desk chair. Turning back to her, he fought the urge to duck his head and forced himself to instead smirk and meet her gaze head on. “Yeah, I knew you wanted me.”

Buffy brought her hands to stroke along the muscles on his torso. “No you didn’t.”

“No… I didn’t,” he agreed with a soft laugh. “Actually, I was rather certain you didn’t even notice I was male half the time.” He gasped as her fingers brushed across the smooth skin of his stomach.

She brought a hand up to cup his cheek and focused her green eyes on his blue ones. “I always noticed.”

He ducked down to kiss her again, this time more slowly, and circled her waist with his hands. He slid his hands beneath the top of her pajamas and pushed it up to reveal a sliver of golden skin. William shook his head in awe as he ducked to kiss her hip. “You’ve such gorgeous skin luv,” he whispered hoarsely before bringing his lips to her stomach. “I want to kiss it all…just want to worship you.” He reached for the bottom of her pajama top and began undoing the buttons. He moved up slowly, half-expecting her to stop him. She didn’t.
Buffy wriggled with impatience but held her tongue, wanting to let William set the pace for a bit. She’d have simply yanked her shirt off over her head, but he was clearly set on opening a single button at a time. She watched the lust and emotion clear on his face each time he bared another inch of her skin.

When he finished with her buttons he slowly, reverently, pushed the sides of her shirt open. He studied her for a moment before meeting her gaze with his own; his eyes glistened with the emotion he was barely keeping under control. He couldn’t trust himself to speak, so he kissed her again instead.

She was adrift once more, caught up in the swirling waves of William’s kiss. She knew for certain now that she had never been in love before. Everything she had experienced before this seemed to be such a pale imitation, a shadow perhaps of this heart wrenching need to bind her heart to his. He was her soul mate, what had always seemed like a romantic but ultimately silly notion was suddenly realized.

William put all the things he was still too scared to say into his kiss. He thought about the first time he’d ever seen her, the day she had first spoken to him and how much his life had changed with her in it. He thought about how very much he loved her and about all of his secret fantasies for their future together. When he finally lifted his head, he felt as if he’d bared his soul for her appraisal. He dipped his head to the side and looked at her questioningly; he was hopeful that his kiss had said enough, that she understood him and that she would love him back.

Buffy lifted her hands to frame his face. “William,” she said simply before stretching up to lay a whisper-soft kiss on his swollen lips. She studied his face for a quiet moment. “I want…I want to make love with you, William. I want you to be my first. Do you…do you want…” She trailed off as she watched the storm of emotions pass over his face.

His eyes widened and he smiled, but then he shook his head. “No luv.”

Buffy’s eyes widened. She was too surprised to think about pulling away. “Y…you don’t want…,” she bit her lip and finished in a small voice; “you don’t want me?”

Seeing her confusion, William realized his mistake. “That’s not…of course I want you,” he smiled at her; “Where have you been all day?” He waited for her smile of relief before continuing. “I want you so much…apparently there’s not enough blood flow left to my brain to allow for speech…I just…” He trailed off as he struggled to finds the right words. Shifting his weight to one arm, he lifted a hand to trace the side of her face. “Buffy, luv I don’t want to just be your first, though that’s surely an honor I don’t…I want to be it for you. I want to be your only one. I can’t imagine ever wanting anyone else.” He dipped his head to the side and settled his earnest eyes on hers. “You’re the one for me, Buffy; I know that as surely as I’ve ever known anything. So I don’t want a taste; I want all of you.” Once he opened the floodgates the words just kept coming. He spoke quickly, fervently. “I know I’m a right selfish git. It’s just…I don’t think I could ever let you go, not if we…if I ever really have you, I won’t be able to give you up; I love you too much.” He turned away and struggled visibly to regain control of his emotions.


Buffy was crying by the time he finished. “William.” When he didn’t turn back she tried again. “William?”

He looked over at her quickly and then back away.

“William, it was just dumb words. I didn’t mean that I’d want another…you’re the only one I’ve ever wanted like this.” She threaded her hands through his hair and tugged his face closer to her own. “I love you too, William.” She watched his eyes widen in surprise and nodded. “I only want you.”

His mouth crashed down on hers and his hands came to pin hers to the bed just above her head.

When he thrust his tongue between her lips, Buffy moaned. Her body arched, instinctively seeking more contact with his.

William brought his mouth to her neck, kissing and sucking on the rapidly beating pulse point he found there.

She whimpered and pulled her hands from his. She pushed downward on his shoulders and arched her back again, rubbing her breasts against his chest.

Understanding, William moved lower. He slid his hands beneath her back and rubbed his thumbs along her sides. “Like this?” he asked hoarsely, bringing the tip of his tongue to flick across her right nipple. She gasped. “Or more like this?” He pulled her nipple between his lips and sucked gently.

The hands on his shoulders tightened their grip.

“Buffy?” He repeated both actions. “What do you like luv?” He asked gently.

Buffy looked down to see him watching her, his mouth a few scant centimeters from her breast and trembled. “Both. Anything…Oh God William!”

He pulled her nipple back into his mouth and twirled his tongue around the tip. When she started to dig her fingernails into his back, he switched to her other breast and gave it the same treatment.

After a few moments, she pulled his mouth back to hers for a kiss. She ran her hands down his back and gripped his hips so that she could pull him closer.

He ground his erection against her and groaned.

Buffy watched him throw his head back and clench his jaw when she reached lower and squeezed his butt. She giggled. “I love when you get all groany; your whole body is all tense and hard.”

He gave her a pained look.

“It’s sexy is all.”

He reached behind his back and pulled her hand around. Pressing it towards the waistband of his pants, he pleaded “Touch me.”

She complied, eagerly slipping her hand beneath the material and around his hard length. “Is this for me?” She asked teasingly as she began to slide her hand up and down.

William let out a swift burst of breath. “No one else.” He dipped his head so that his forehead rested against hers and closed his eyes. “God luv; the things you do to me. You make me hurt all over, but it feels so good.” After another moment, he reached down and gently pulled her hand away. He looked at her with a shy grin. “Just don’t want things to be finished too soon.”

Her thumbs slid under his waistband and pushed the pants down his hips and her feet slid up and down his calves insistently.

He shifted his weight to one arm and reached down to help her push his pants down. When they reached his knees he quickly kicked them off. He turned back and placed his hands on the bed on either side of her head. Breathing hard, he studied her face for a moment and then kissed her lightly.

Buffy watched as he rose up on his knees and reached down to tug off her pants. She lifted her hips up and wiggled her legs to try and get them off faster.

William pulled the pants over her small feet and dropped them on top of his. He moved to kneel between her knees.

She blushed under his intense gaze. “William,” she squirmed anxiously.

He pulled his eyes up to look at her with matching pink cheeks. “I want to touch you” he said simply.

“Touching is good.”

He didn’t want to tell her that he was nervous, that he wasn’t sure what to do. He finally decided that she undoubtedly already knew and that he was just going to have to move slowly and hope for the best.

He was looking at her the way he looked at math problems, she decided, she bit her lip and tried to stay patient.

His touch was feather-light as he tentatively explored her folds. He listened carefully to her every gasp or sharp intake of breath, learning how and where she most liked his fingers and when she began to jerk her hips up from the bed he brought his lips back to her breast.

She writhed. “Oh William!” Buffy scraped her nails up the length of his back and gripped his head tightly.

Carefully, he slid his finger into her warmth. He closed his eyes, imagining how her heat would feel surrounding him in a different way. A shudder ran through his body.

Buffy pulled his face close to her own. “I want you. I want to feel you inside me.”

He nodded. “Oh yes.”

“Now.” She whispered while nodding her head as well.

William froze. “Buffy…” he shook his head “protection?” He took a deep breath. “I don’t have any…”

She gave him a hard kiss. “I’m on the pill; I have been for a few years and were both …it’s our first time so we’re good.”

“Good, right,” he nodded again. “Brilliant.”

Buffy started to pull him towards her, but he stopped her. She looked at him with confused and frustrated eyes.

“You on top,” he said quickly; “I don’t want to hurt you luv, that way you can decide how much and when and…you can decide.” he shrugged.

The surprise was clear on her face, she hadn’t expected that. She considered it for a moment and nodded once in agreement. It was a good idea; she was certainly more than a little nervous about his size. “Okay,” she said finally “but I’m not real sure how…”

William chuckled softly as he moved to lie back on the bed. “We’ll figure it out together right?”

Buffy smiled and moved over him. She rested her bottom on his thighs and leaned forward to give him a kiss.

He cupped her face in his hands. “Say it again luv.”

“I want you.”

He shook his head. “No, the other part,” he ducked his head for a moment; “the best part.”

Her eyes glistened. “The part about how I’m in love with you?”

“That part.”

“I love you William.”

“I love you too pet.” He reached out to help her move into place and grinned. “I must say the view from here is really…really good.”

She laughed and tried to relax. She glanced down at his chest. “Mine’s pretty nice too.” She rubbed herself against him experimentally. It felt good and the moan the movement ripped from William brought a tightening sensation to her stomach. She reached down to hold him in place and began to slide down.

William’s hands tightened their grip on her hips as he struggled to fight the urge to simple press upward and into her, hard and fast. He shook with the effort. “Oh God Buffy,” he whispered hoarsely.

She lowered herself slowly, trying to adjust to the odd stretching sensation. It didn’t really hurt, but it took a moment to get used to feeling so full. She moved to take a little more of him inside her.

It felt like an eternity to William, but he was finally fully enveloped by her warm core. “Oh luv, my luv…you feel so…so good.” He tried to watch for signs of pain on her face. “Are you…are you?”

“Good,” she answered; “I’m good.” She lifted herself up slightly and then pressed back down. She slowly repeated the process. William’s hands began guiding her in a slow but steady rhythm.

“You’re so beautiful luv…feels so good inside you…love you so much…Buffy…” William whispered a constant stream of endearments.

Buffy felt herself relaxing as she listened to his voice. She quickly then began tensing with lust instead of nerves. “You feel good too.”

When she began to move a little faster, William gasped. “I won’t last long luv…feels too good…I want you to…I want you to be there with me.”

She reached down and grasped his hand and brought it around. She wrapped her hand around two of his fingers. “Like this,” she moved his fingers in a small circle against her most sensitive spot.

William took over quickly, gently mimicking the motion she had shown him. When he pulled his hand away to lick his fingers, she gasped. He brought his fingertips back to her and continued to pet her. “You taste good luv.” His voice was low. “I want to really taste you later. Will you let me kiss this pretty little button?”

His words sent her over the edge. With a shout, her inner muscles clamped down around him several times quickly bringing him to join her. He shouted her name as he finally found the release he’d been waiting months for.

Buffy lay panting on his chest for several moments. When she could, she lifted herself to look up at his face. “There’s definitely more bad-boy in you than I thought.”

He chuckled and pulled her up to rest her head under his chin. He tugged the blanket over them both. “That’s me baby; I’m a bad rude man.”
***********************************************************************

William woke up first and was delighted to find Buffy still snuggled up against him. He pulled her even closer and rubbed his cheek on the top of her head. He inhaled the sweet scent of her hair; he loved the strawberry shampoo she used and the deeper hints of cinnamon and spice that were uniquely Buffy. William placed a kiss on the crown of her head and whispered solemnly. “I’ll do anything for you luv; I’ll do anything to make you happy and keep you safe.” He glanced at her face to make sure she was still asleep before continuing. “Just, please don’t ever leave me; I couldn’t bear it luv.”

Buffy woke with a stretch. She giggled when her hands brushed along William’s face and hair. She brought them down to rest on his chest and propped herself up to look at him. “Hey there.” She gave him a smile.

“Good Morning kitten.”

“Were you saying something?”

“No…not really. I was just listing all of your most adorable characteristics.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “I’m sorry if I woke you.”

She slid her arms around him and kissed his chest. “That’s okay; this is a nice way to wake up.” She looked back up at him. “I like having you in my bed.”

“Rather like being here myself.” He laughed quietly. “After tonight, I don’t suppose we are likely to get this chance again soon.”

Buffy nodded her head. “You’re probably right. We’ll have to go camping.”
He frowned. “I didn’t really have you pegged as the outdoor adventure type.”

“I’m not.” She wrinkled her nose and giggled. “But camping is almost always a parent-approved weekend activity. We get a group of friends together for a camping trip and then we get to share a tent.”

“Ahh,” William nodded in understanding; “that’s very resourceful of you pet.”

“Maybe we can get your friends Xander and Willow to come; they seem like they could use a few hours alone in a tent together.”

Chuckling, William nodded. “You’ve noticed?”

“That she’s crazy about him and he’s clueless? Yeah I think the whole school knows.”

He laughed again and shook his head. “Do you think everyone knew about me? I mean do you think they…”

“I don’t think so. Faith noticed, well she noticed how I felt and said that she thought you were maybe interested too.”

Grinning, William bent to kiss her forehead. “That would be an understatement, but generally accurate.”

She giggled and raised her face more so that he could reach her lips.

They kissed good morning softly.

William cupped the side of her face and gave her a sober look. “How…how are you feeling? Are you sore or…” he shrugged.

“I’m okay. A little sore, but mostly it just feels like I got a good workout yesterday.”

He couldn’t keep the self-satisfied grin her words brought from sweeping across his face. “I gave you good workout did I?” His tongue came up to play across the tips of his teeth as he gave her a suggestive look.

Buffy blushed. “William!” She swatted him lightly. “Where is that stuff coming from?”

He gave her a confused look. “What stuff exactly?”

“The sexy talk stuff. You’re all shy one minute and then it’s like bam here comes a whole different William.”

He paled. “You don’t like it when I say…I’ll stop.”

“No. It’s not that I…I like it; it’s hot when you go all bad boy. I’m just surprised is all.”

“So you like it?”

“Obviously,” she smiled; “come on you’ve noticed how much it turns me on when you start up the sexy talk.”

His smile came back. “I thought so, but if you don’t like it.”

“I just said that I did.”

He nodded. “Good. I…I want to make you happy Buffy.”

“You do William.” She took in the shy look he was giving her and smiled. She marveled over the contradictions that formed the man in her arms and couldn’t have fought off the urge to kiss him if she tried. She didn’t bother trying.

He moaned when she pressed her lips against his and immediately slid his tongue through to greet hers. Gripping her shoulders, he turned them both and pressed her onto her back beneath him.

When he pulled his mouth off hers and brought it down to her breasts, she whimpered but pushed him away. “William, I’m…I am a little sore and I have to cheer today…maybe we shouldn’t…I’m sorry, I …”

“Shh luv,” he brushed his lips across hers; “Don’t ever be sorry for that. I don’t want to hurt you. If you’re feeling sore than maybe I should give you a little kiss to make you feel better.”

Buffy’s eyes widened and she blushed as his intent became clear. “You really want to?”

He nodded.

“I’ve never…you don’t think it would be too…”

“Hot.”

“Oh.”

“If you don’t want me to then I won’t pet; you have to know that I’d never do anything you didn’t want…”

“I know…it’s just…I thought that guys didn’t really like to do that.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know about other guys luv. I just know that I want make my girl feel good.” He lowered his voice to a suggestive whisper. “Don’t you think it would feel good?” When her only response was a shudder, he brought his mouth back to her breasts and gently suckled one nipple and then the other.

Her back arched as her fingers found their way into his hair. She gasped when she felt his teeth come down lightly on her nipple. “Oh!”

“Too much?”

Her head shook frantically. “No…no, it’s good.”

He ducked his head and began a trail of kisses down her chest and stomach.

Buffy clenched her eyes shut and tried to still her nerves as he gently pushed her thighs apart.

“So pretty.” He kissed the inside of each trembling thigh. “Every part of you is so pretty kitten.”

She could feel his hot breath against her. She whimpered.

William brought a single finger to caress her moist folds. He dropped a kiss on the top of the soft curls between her legs. “Just going to make you feel good luv, I promise.”

And he did.
************************************************************************

Buffy held up the bottle. “Come on; you know you want to give it a try.”

“Quite the opposite actually.”

She pouted. “Lot’s of guys do it.”

He grinned. “Bully for them.”

“William!”

“Shouldn’t you hurry kitten? You don’t want to be late.”

Buffy grumbled. “It’s not like I wanted to use the red.” She quickly finished painting her fingernails alternately red and black to match her cheering uniform and then began the shaking and blowing ritual that probably didn’t make them dry any faster. “Black nails are like punk. Plenty of bad boy types have punk nails.”

“I see,” he gave her a quizzical look; “you’re really rather stuck on the idea that I’ve got some kind on evil alter ego.”

“Not evil really, just… you know… a little bad,” she grinned; “and a lot sexy.”

“If you say so.” William turned away to hide his blush. For some reason he found that most of his boldness slipped away as soon as they got dressed. He turned back and looked at his girl, his girl, sitting cross-legged surrounded by nail and hair products on the bed that they had shared the night before and smiled. A few days earlier, he’d been sure that he was about to lose everyone he cared about and now his mother was set to come home from the hospital in the morning and the girl of his dreams said she loved him too. He felt like he was in a daze. He felt like he was too happy. He was waiting to find out that it was all a dream.

Forty minutes later, as they drove over to the school, reality stepped in.

“You understand right?”

William nodded. “Of Course. It’s fine.”

“It’s just…I only broke up with Angel like a week ago and some people don’t even really know yet. Everyone will think I’m like a giant slut-bag if they…”

“You don’t need to explain Buffy. If you don’t want anyone to know about… It’s fine.”

“Just for a little while okay?”

“Whatever you like.”

Buffy sighed. William hadn’t looked at her since she’d said that she thought they should keep their new relationship secret for a while. He said it was fine, but she knew he was unhappy. She just wasn’t sure what to do. Cordy and some of the others had already given her a hard time about breaking up with Angel and he had accused her of cheating. No one was going to believe that she and William had only gotten together that weekend.

He pulled in to the student parking lot. “Did you want me to drop you off where no one can see you getting out of my car?” he asked quietly.

“I get out of your car all the time; everyone knows we’re friends. We don’t have to pretend not to know each other, just like no PDA’s or big announcements for a little while.”

He nodded and grabbed his bag.

Buffy followed him out of the car. “So I’ll see you in a little bit.”

He nodded again.

“Hey maybe you can take a work break around half-time and visit me.”
He knew he wasn’t acting very mature. He understood that she had reasons and that it wasn’t meant to be a hurtful request, but all he could think about was that his girl had just said that she didn’t want anyone to know about them. She didn’t want him to touch her or kiss her if anyone else was around. He felt like a dirty little secret. He felt like she was ashamed of him. He was sure that if he met her eyes he’d start crying, so he didn’t. William gave her a shrug and headed towards the library.

Buffy sighed again as she watched him head off toward the library for a moment. She gave her head a quick shake and decided that it was a problem she would have to deal with later. She ran off towards the football field.

“Oh you came.” Cordelia actually managed to look surprised.

“Why wouldn’t I come?”

“I’m just surprised that you would want to be here cheering for Angel when you obviously think so little of him.”

Buffy just stared at her for a moment. “I’m a cheerleader; I cheer for the whole team. And, not that I think it is really any of your business or even important at all, but I think that Angel is a good guy and a great player and I have no problem with cheering for him.”

Faith watched Buffy’s response with a grin. Go B, she thought, don’t let her get under your skin. She walked over. “Hey Buff! Do you have a sec to run down that new pattern with me?”

The pretty blonde smiled gratefully in response. It was a fairly transparent excuse, designed to save her from dealing with Cordy, but she was happy to take it. “Sure.”

Buffy was able to stay busy with Faith until the game started. She went into auto-pilot at that point, her body moving smoothly through all of the routines without conscious thought. Which was good, she realized as things were wrapping up, since her mind was anywhere but on the game. The night before had changed her, she realized, and not in some cheesy now-I’m-a- woman kind of way. William’s love made her feel different; it was like she saw herself through new eyes. She felt clever and powerful and bold. And mostly, she felt lucky. She was thinking about how lucky she was to have found him when she heard Faith calling her. “Yo Earth to B.”

“Huh.”

“Wow. That must have been some daydream. Wanna share?”

“What? No. I was just…I was just thinking.” She couldn’t quite hold off her blush.

“Yeah?” Faith tipped her head to the side and studied her. “So how’re you doing with that bones-jumping plan? And do I detect an air of extreme satisfaction?” She smirked at Buffy’s increasingly pink cheeks and gaping mouth. She gave her a big smile. “I knew it. Go B! Is he as much fun as I thought?”

“Faith!”

“Oh come on. You can’t hold back on me now; I’m living vicariously.”

Buffy laughed at her friends mock pout. “All right, I’ll share but you’ve got to promise to keep it to yourself.”

“I’m a vault.”

“Ok so…”

“Hey Buffy can we…do you think we could talk for a minute?”

Surprised, Buffy turned to find Angel standing there with an anxious expression. She nodded. “Yeah. I guess that would be ok.” She turned to look suggestively at Faith.

“Oh hey I’ll um…I’ll just catch up with you in a little bit.” Faith turned to give Angel a warning glance before walking away.

“So umm…what did you want…”

“I was really out of line Buffy. The other day...I shouldn’t have…I was just really hurt, but that’s no excuse; I shouldn’t have said those things. I just wanted to say that.” He stopped suddenly and stood there looking awkward.

“I…thanks…I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I know.”

Buffy bit her lip. She felt like she owed him a little honesty in return. “I …you were a little bit right…I, I never cheated Angel, but I do have feelings for…”

“William.”

She nodded. “I didn’t plan it.”

William walked along the edge of the field his eyes seeking the small blonde girl that had so quickly come to hold his heart. The smile that stretched across his face immediately upon spotting her, faded just as fast when he noticed who she was talking to.

There were plenty of reasons that Buffy could be talking to Angel; some part of William’s mind knew this. But a much larger part of his brain went into an immediate panic. She’s going to leave me, he thought while the blood drained from his face. He wondered when she had changed her mind, if she had been pretending to enjoy their night together but had really been disappointed. He tried to stay calm, to wait until he had a chance to talk with her but watching her talk to her ex, all he could think about was her saying that she wanted to keep their relationship a secret. He wondered now if she had just been putting off telling him that she didn’t want him after all. He turned slowly and started heading back towards the library.

Buffy smiled at Angel, surprised at how well he had taken the news that she was now seeing William. She’d been worried about telling him given his earlier words, but felt that he deserved to hear it from her.

“I don’t think he’s good enough for you, but I hope…I hope that he makes you happy.”

She felt her eyes tear up a little. “Thanks Angel, he…he does.”

“All right, but if he ever gets out of line and you want me to beat him up…” He trailed off and grinned.

Buffy shook her head and laughed softly. “No thanks.”

“But you know that I could right…really I could take him no contest.”

She shook her head again. “Stop while I still appreciate the sentiment.”

Angel nodded, still grinning devilishly.

“I hope you find someone who makes you happy too. I…I really am sorry that I hurt you.”

“I know Buff,” he shrugged; “I think I knew, deep down, that it was coming for a while now.”

Not knowing what to say in response, Buffy nodded and looked off to the side. She spotted William walking away and frowned slightly. “Um Angel…I gotta…”

“Go on. I’ll see you around.”

Buffy gave him a quick smile before jogging off in William’s direction. “William!” She called out as she ran over.

William heard her calling and took a deep breath before slowly turning to see her running towards him. His eyes widened when she took a running leap and wrapped her legs around his waist. He took a few steps backwards and spread his legs slightly to maintain balance as she kissed him hard on the lips.

“You were heading in the wrong direction.” She said with an impish smirk.

“You…you looked busy.”

“Not too busy for you.”

He gave her a quizzical look. “Thought you wanted to keep this all quiet pet.”

“That was a stupid plan.”

“It was?”

“Yep. For one thing it’s not like I can keep my hands off you.”

William could feel the tension and panic rushing out of his body. “Is that so?”

She kissed him again. “Clearly. Also, I …I think it made you feel like I’m not totally proud to be your girl, which is really wrong ‘cause I am…totally proud.”

He gave her a bright smile. “Thank you luv, I needed that.”

Buffy giggled. “Well I need a shower and then I’ll be ready to head home. How about you?”

“I’m ready now.” He gave her a little smirk. “Maybe you should shower at home; I’ll even help.”

“Oh you will, will you?”

“I plan to take my responsibilities as your boyfriend very seriously.”

“And that includes shower assistance?”

“Oh yes.”

She giggled again as she loosened the hold her legs had around his waist and jumped down to stand next to him. “Let me just grab my bag and we can head.”

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

She insisted on showering alone despite William’s almost irresistible pout. Yesterday, everything had just sort of happened, tonight she wanted to take a moment to prepare a little. She wanted to do all the girl stuff: shave, moisturize, blow dry her hair. She wanted to put on something pretty and maybe even light some candles. William is a romantic, she thought with a dreamy smile; he deserves an evening with all the trappings.


“I will….I’ll see you tomorrow…yes… I love you, Mum.” William hung up the phone and shook his head. Once he’d given his mother a call, he’d been unable to resist sharing his news. Or at least parts of it; there are some things you don’t share with your Mum no matter how close you are, he thought with a grin. In truth, she’d basically figured it out herself. She’d heard the happiness in his voice and exclaimed delightedly that “something happened with Buffy”. He hadn’t bothered trying to evade her questioning and instead had shared that he was indeed thrilled to report that Buffy was now really his girl.

Still hearing the water running in the shower he’d been denied entry into, William picked up his guitar and began strumming quietly. As usual he quickly lost himself in the music and was startled by Buffy’s knock sometime later.

Looking up, William took in Buffy’s pale pink silk camisole and the matching bottoms.

She blushed under his gaze. “I just realized that I don’t actually own any lingerie. I wish I could…”

William’s eyes widened slightly. His voice was hoarse. “You couldn’t look more perfect.”

Buffy smiled and looked at the guitar in his lap. “Will you keep playing?”

He nodded once and patted a spot on the bed beside him. He waited for her to join him and then gave her a shy look. “I was…I could play you something my Da used to play for Mum.”

Buffy grinned and leaned towards him excitedly. “Is it romantic?”

Chuckling softly, he shrugged. “I’ll leave it for you to decide.” He repositioned his guitar and began playing a happy mid-paced melody. A moment later he started singing.

“Hey, little girl
I wanna be your boyfriend
Sweet little girl
I wanna be your boyfriend
Do you love me babe?
What do you say?
Do you love me babe?
What can I say?”

Buffy couldn’t help it; she dissolved into giggles. “This is the song your Dad used to get your Mom?” She sounded skeptical.

William laughed and adopted a wounded expression. “Are you suggesting that The Ramones don’t make you all melty for me?” He grinned when her giggles only grew. “Haven’t I ever told you that my Da was in a punk band when he met Mum?”

“Really?” She bit her lip to stop laughing.

“Yeah. Da could play but overall they were pretty rubbish.”

“You’re teasing me.”

“No luv; I can show you the pictures. They were called Muskrat Mayhem.”

That did it. Buffy shook with laughter. “I’m sorry…it’s just…your mom…I can’t picture…”

“Yeah,” he grinned; “She cleaned him up pretty fast, put him on the straight and narrow, but she never stopped liking it when he played for her.”

“I can see that.” Buffy said nodding. “Will you play some more?”

“I…I actually learned something…I sort of learned something for you.”

Her eyes lit up. “You did? When?”

“Last week I was hoping I’d work up the nerve to play it for you.”

She placed her hand on his knee and smiled. “Play it.”

He started picking out a slower rhythm, swallowed nervously a couple times and being careful to avoid the eye contact that he was sure would make it too hard to bare his soul, he began to sing.

“Though I've tried before to tell her
Of the feelings I have for her in my heart
Every time that I come near her
I just lose my nerve
As I've done from the start

Every little thing she does is magic
Everything she do just turns me on
Even though my life before was tragic
Now I know my love for her goes on

Do I have to tell the story
Of a thousand rainy days since we first met
It's a big enough umbrella
But it's always me that ends up getting wet

Every little thing she does is magic
Everything she do just turns me on
Even though my life before was tragic
Now I know my love for her goes on

I resolve to call her up a thousand times a day
And ask her if she'll marry me in some old fashioned way
But my silent fears have gripped me
Long before I reach the phone
Long before my tongue has tripped me
Must I always be alone?

Every little thing she does is magic
Everything she do just turns me on
Even though my life before was tragic
Now I know my love for her goes on”

Buffy had tears sliding down her face when he finished. “William.” She’d heard the song before, had liked it even, but realized now that she had never really listened to it before. Hearing William sing it was almost heartbreaking. She felt every emotion; all the fear, pain, love and longing were so clear in his voice. “William”

The blue eyes that rose to meet hers glistened with barely held back tears. “Buffy?”

“Oh William that was…beautiful. You’re beautiful.”

“You really liked it?”

“Oh yes.” She nodded.

He placed the guitar down next to him and shifted closer to Buffy. Cupping the side of her face, he tilted her chin up so that she’d look him in the eyes. “Why are you crying luv?”

“I don’t…I never thought anyone would ever love me like that.”

“I do.”

She smiled. “I know.”

“And…and it’s ok?”

Her eyes widened as she realized that he was asking if she minded that he loved her so deeply. “I just hope I can live up to it. You’re so…,” she shrugged; “William you’re the most incredible person I know; I don’t know how I got so lucky. I just want to earn it; I want to make you feel happy and loved and…”

William slammed his mouth on to hers for a hard kiss. “You do pet. You make me feel…you make me feel like I could do anything.” He pulled her closer to him and pressed her down on her back. “God I love you Buffy.”

Buffy woke slowly, the warm comfort of William’s arms lulling her one step back towards sleep for every two she took towards awake. She smiled slowly as she remembered the previous evening with William and pressed herself back against him. She giggled when he muttered in his sleep and then wiggled against him a bit more deliberately.

He moaned and tightened his hold on her.

Wiggling once more for good measure, Buffy turned in his arms. “Seriously, is it always hard?”

William chuckled drowsily and blinked his eyes open. “Pretty much whenever I’m with you.”

She giggled and lifted her face up to give him a quick kiss. “Good Morning.”

“Brilliant morning.” He leaned down to claim her lips for deeper kiss.

“Except...” Buffy pulled away slightly, “we have to be at school in a couple of hours.”

He nuzzled her neck and kissed her ear lobe. “Couple of hours…hmm have to move fast then.”

Laughing, Buffy shook her head. “Remember when you were all shy? What happened to that?”

“Found my calling I guess.”

“Your calling?”

William brought his face close to hers and gave a little nod. “Lovin’ my girl. I’m thinking it’s what I was made for.” He gave her another kiss.

“Mmm…I like the sound of that.” Buffy reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. “Also, I like your hair like this.” She gave the curls a little ruffling and giggled at William’s skeptical look. “The curls are so cute when it’s all messy; I’m thinking I should get you all rumpled more often.”

“I could use some rumpling right now.” He wriggled his eyebrows in an exaggeratedly suggestive manner.

Giggling, Buffy shook her head. “If we go again, I may not be able to walk today.”

William paled; his smile was immediately replaced with a look of concern. “Buffy are you…you didn’t say anything…if I’m hurting you…”

She stopped him with a quick kiss. “Relax.” She giggled. “Trust me; last night was totally worth a little soreness today.”

A smile flitted across his face for a moment before he again took a serious tone. “I just don’t like the idea of hurting you.”

“But it’s a good kind of hurt.” Seeing that he was once again about to argue, Buffy tried a different approach. “Seriously aren’t you a little sore too? I mean that thing you did when we were…you know… on the stairs, that had to be using a whole new set of muscles.”

William grinned at the memory. “That was…that was good, yeah?”

“Definitely of the good, but you can’t tell me that holding me up like that didn’t give you a bit of a work-out.”

He scoffed. “You’re tiny…was nothing.”

“William.”

He grinned at her skeptical expression. “You just can’t let me maintain my image of manliness here, can you?” At her head shake he continued. “Fine, yeah I’m a bit stiff as well.”

“Good.” Buffy nodded while adopting a smug expression.

“How’s that?”

“You’ll have an extra little reminder of me all day.”

He grinned. “You’ll have one too.” He leaned close. “Tell me pet; will you be thinking about all the things I could be doing to that lovely little body of yours when you should be focused on your class work? When the prof’s lecturing away will you be thinking about my tongue working its way down to your sweet little button? Will you be squirming in your chair thinking about my cock, your pretty pink…”

“William!” Buffy interrupted him with a gasp.

“No?” He asked with an innocent look. He shrugged. “I was just curious luv.”

Buffy shuddered, her entire body warming with arousal from his naughty suggestions. Reaching between their bodies, she smoothed her hand down his abdomen and grasped the base of his erection. At his groan, she grinned. “Just curious luv” she teased before sliding her hand slowly up and down his hard length.

William clenched his jaw. “That’s…that’s …just cruel.”

“Oh but I just wanted to know if you’d be thinking about me.” Her fingertip found a bead of moisture on his tip and moved in a sensuous circle, swirling it around.

He closed his eyes. “Always…oh…oh good…oh god…that’s…nice.”

Buffy pouted. “Just nice?” She tightened her grip.

“No…no...it is really, really, quite…”

“What? It’s really quite what William?” She hooked her ankle around his leg and slid it up to his thigh.

He gave a strange whimper-growl. “Please luv. Buffy…”

She pulled her hand away and placed it on his chest, giving him a firm shove. “On your back.”

Complying without argument, William was openly startled when she quickly swung her leg over him to rest astride his thighs. “Pet?”

She grinned. “Walking, it’s over-rated.”

William couldn't erase the grin from his face and didn’t bother trying. He walked the halls of the school in a daze. It was certainly the best day of his life; in forty minutes he would be sitting next to his girl in their final class of the day and an hour after that they would head over to the hospital to pick up his mother. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t even notice that Angel was heading his way or that they were the only two people in the hall.

“Willie-boy!”

Startled, William responded without even thinking. “It’s William.”

Angel laughed. “Yeah I know.”

William said nothing; he squared his shoulders and watched the larger man with a quiet new-found confidence.

After a moment Angel spoke again. “You stole my girl.” His tone held only a touch of accusation.

William nodded. “I didn’t think I could.” The words were out before he even considered them. Afterwards, his mouth opened and shut quickly in surprise.

He wasn’t the only one startled by the response; Angel’s eyes widened for a moment before he started laughing. “Well that I believe. I didn’t think you could either.”
Sighing, William considered his next words carefully. “I…I regret that you were…”

“But you’re not sorry.” Angel interrupted firmly.

William nodded. “No. I’ll never be that.”

“You love her.” It was statement. Angel was certain.

“Oh yes.”

“Buffy…she deserves…” He sighed.

William laughed. “She deserves better than either of us.”

Angel nodded. “She wants big things, you know? She wants to see stuff and know stuff. I…I’m Sunnydale. I’m a good football player, but I know I’m not going pro. I’ll play at Sunny U and then I’ll come back here and coach. That’s enough for me. You know? It’s not enough for Buffy. You’re like her I think, or she thinks at least. You gotta show her…” He shrugged then, done talking.

William didn’t know what to say. He nodded. “I’ll do anything for her, to make her happy.”

“Yeah, I know you will.” He nodded.

William smiled tentatively and offered the other man his hand. Angel was being remarkably civil and he figured that the least he could do was return the consideration.

Angel quickly shook William’s hand and then thrust his hands into his pockets. His expression grew serious. “I don’t need to tell you that if you ever hurt her, you’ll be dealing with me.”

“I ever hurt her, what you could do to me won’t compare to what I’d do to myself.”

“Fair enough.” Angel gave a little nod and finally a full grin. “Hey do you know anything about Faith?”

“Buffy’s friend? The scary chit?” He blushed lightly with his admission.

Angel grinned widely and nodded. “Yeah,” he said “that’s the girl. Hot.”

William shrugged. “I don’t…that is, I don’t know much about her.”

“Think she’ll go out with me?”

William’s eyes widened. “I…I think that you’re generally…” He laughed. “Won’t most girls?”

“Yeah.” Angel agreed easily. “But she’s…I don’t know how to describe her…feisty.”

William thought that he’d stick with scary, but he nodded companionably. “She’s certainly unique. I…I should be getting back to lab.”

Angel looked surprised to see William still standing there. “Yeah, right. See ya ‘round.”

Epilogue

Buffy opened her front door and grinned. “William, what’s with the jacket?”

He scoffed. “Who’s William? Sounds like a right ponce.” He thumped himself on the chest. “Name’s Spike luv. You’d best remember it.” He winked. “You’ll be needing it later.” He made a show of pretending to look over her shoulder and into the house. “This William, he’s not here now is he? I’ll show him a thing or two. He must be mad to leave a girl like you all alone and ripe for the taking.”

Buffy laughed at her husband’s antics. “I take it your mom was happy to babysit.”

The End.