Summery: Prolouge to the Blinded Love Story’s

A/N: I’m telling ya’ll right now that this is going to be a very complicated story, and also a very confusing story. But just stick with me, I promise that it will be good or you can curse my name till the end of time. :~)

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: So here’s how it goes. I went up to my friend Joss Whendon the other day, when they were secretly shooting another show, and asked him if I could borrow James Marsters so I could play with him for a little while and he said I will do no such thing. So I left and came back the next day and asked him again if I could have James Martsers to do anything I like with, and he said no. So when I left and came back the next day and asked him the same question again he said, “The only way I’ll let you have James Marsters, ESPICALLY JAMES MARSTERS is if we start world war 3. So I left and came back the next day, this time with a paper in my hand. When I reached where Joss was with the whole cast they were eating their lunch wondering why I’ve been coming by so much, when I walked straight over to Joss and handed them the paper that I had been holding in my hands. “What’s this?” He asked. “Oh nothing much” I said, “Just sign on the dotted line. It simply states that you have agreed to start world war 3 in exchange for James Marsters.” He finally gave up and told James to get up and take the rest of the week off and he’d give him a 15 million dollar raise. So naturally James got up and left, not one to pass up such an opportunity. So we had the best week of our lives, but then I had to give him back. The day after James returned to work I showed up to talk to Joss once again and the cast was their eating lunches. “See joss,” I said to him, “It wasn’t that bad giving me what I wanted now was it?” I laughed a he rolled his eyes at me. “Oh and by the way,” I said, just as I was about to leave the room and head back to my car, “I’ll be back with plans for world war 3 tomorrow.” “SOME ONE ESCORT THAT WOMAN FROM THE BUILDING AND MAKE SURE SHE NEVER COMES BACK!!!!!!” (P.S. I also don’t own any of the other Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel the Series Characters, nor do I have ghost of the robot as my personal sex slaves, much to my dismay, all songs are property of Ghost of the Robot also.)
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Buffy Summers was sitting some paperwork at her uncle’s desk at the recording studio they worked at from the file she held in her small hands, when two larger hands came to rest on her hips.

“What are you working on luv?” asked a British voice from behind her.

“Just the usual I suppose” she replied quietly.

The British man spun her around to face him and she knew that he could tell that she was hiding something from him. She knew deep down that she shouldn’t have even attempted to try and lie to him; he always knew when she was lying. She hung her head and let out a small sigh.

“Fred’s getting married” she said in a small voice.

The British man removed one hand from her hips and hooked a finger under her chin to make her look at him, “That’s funny luv. I could’ve sworn I just heard you say that Fred is getting married.” By the smirk on his face, she could tell that he didn’t believe her.

But the look on her face made his smirk turn into a frown as she dropped her head again. “That’s what I said,” she replied quietly.

The British man dropped his hands and took a step back from her, shaking his head as if to erase the words she had just said from his mind.

“When?” He asked.

“They haven’t set a date yet, but…”

“Since when is she getting married?” he interrupted.

“Oh,” she said when it became clear what he wanted to know, “Since about three days ago.”

“Oh,” the British man said as he was trying to take it all in.

“Yeah,” Buffy then returned to setting the proper paperwork on her uncle’s desk while she continued talking with him.

“I was pretty upset myself when she told me the other day. We were always going to wait and get married together, you know? I mentioned the fact that everything else that we said we were gonna do when we were kids has happened exactly like we said they would, together.”

She stopped for a minute, remembering some of the things that they said they were going to do for their wedding. Then she remembered the fact that Fred was going to get married without her unless she did something about it and returned to telling the British man behind her the details of the conversation she and her best friend had shared the day before.

“She said that she was tired of waiting for me to wake up and realize the one that’s right for me has been in front of my face for some time,” she said finishing setting papers down and turning to face him. “She said that she would wait for me to make arrangements if I wanted to do it they way that we planned.”

“I see,” the British man said, just as Buffy’s cell phone started to ring.

She held up a finger in a “just a minute” gesture and turned her back to answer the call more privately.

“Hello.”

“Hey Buffy, it’s me.”

“Oh, hey Fred. What’s up?”

“Nothing much. I’m outside the studio, near your uncle’s office. I was just wondering if you’ve asked him yet or not?”

“No, Fred I haven’t. These things take time you know. I can’t just up and ask him if he’ll marry me, you know that.”

“I know sweetie, but I’m just nervous is all.”

Buffy rolled her eyes thinking she should be the one who should be nervous, not her friend. “I know. I’ll see you when you get here ok?”

“Ok I’m actually right outside the door now, see you in a second.” And with that she hung up.

Buffy closed her cell phone and looked behind her to see the British man had taken off while she was on the phone. Buffy once again hung her head, on the verge of tears this time.

“Is there like, a fire in here or something?”

Buffy looked up to see Fred standing in the doorway to her uncle’s office. She ran to her friend, tears freely falling down her face, and clung to her while her knees gave out and they both went crumbling to the ground.

“Shh sweetie it’s ok. What happened?” Fred asked

When more tears were her only answer, Fred pulled back and looked at her and asked again, “Buffy, what happened?”

“He left,” she simply said.

“I saw that, but why did he leave?”

“Because I told him that you were getting married and that we were supposed to get married together and that you said that you would wait for me if I finally woke up and asked the man I’ve been in love with since forever if he’d marry me and then you called and when I turned around he was gone, just like I said he would be,” she said in one breath, then buried her face in her friend’s hair to return to crying.

“Oh Buffy,” Fred said trying to calm her tears, “you really don’t get it do you?” She asked with a smile on her small face.

“Get what?” Buffy asked as she pulled back from her friend and saw that she was smiling.

“I love you Buffy, but sometimes you are so dense,” The look in her eyes let Buffy know that she was only playing.

“What do you mean?” Buffy asked while she dried her face with her hands, removing any evidence that she had been crying not two minutes ago.

“He didn’t run away cause he’s scared of what you were saying.” At Buffy’s confused look she continued, “He left because he thinks your getting married to someone else.”

“That’s stupid Fred, Why would he….” She trailed off as she realized that her friend was right.

“Oh my God, what am I going to do now Fred?”

Fred’s smile widened, “Run Buffy, Run”

Buffy hopped off the floor and ran out the door yelling “SPIKE!!!!”

A/N: I know it might seem a little childish, but trust me; this in needed to see where the story will go. There should only be a few chapters that are like this. These chapters are needed to get the hate the characters have for each other going.

Disclaimer: So here’s how it goes. I went up to my friend Joss Whendon the other day, when they were secretly shooting another show, and asked him if I could borrow James Marsters so I could play with him for a little while and he said I will do no such thing. So I left and came back the next day and asked him again if I could have James Martsers to do anything I like with, and he said no. So when I left and came back the next day and asked him the same question again he said, “The only way I’ll let you have James Marsters, ESPICALLY JAMES MARSTERS is if we start world war 3. So I left and came back the next day, this time with a paper in my hand. When I reached where Joss was with the whole cast they were eating their lunch wondering why I’ve been coming by so much, when I walked straight over to Joss and handed them the paper that I had been holding in my hands. “What’s this?” He asked. “Oh nothing much” I said, “Just sign on the dotted line. It simply states that you have agreed to start world war 3 in exchange for James Marsters.” He finally gave up and told James to get up and take the rest of the week off and he’d give him a 15 million dollar raise. So naturally James got up and left, not one to pass up such an opportunity. So we had the best week of our lives, but then I had to give him back. The day after James returned to work I showed up to talk to Joss once again and the cast was their eating lunches. “See Joss,” I said to him, “It wasn’t that bad giving me what I wanted now was it?” I laughed a he rolled his eyes at me. “Oh and by the way,” I said, just as I was about to leave the room and head back to my car, “I’ll be back with plans for world war 3 tomorrow.” “SOME ONE ESCORT THAT WOMAN FROM THE BUILDING AND MAKE SURE SHE NEVER COMES BACK!!!!!!” (P.S. I also don’t own any of the other Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel the Series Characters, nor do I have ghost of the robot as my personal sex slaves, much to my dismay, all songs are property of Ghost of the Robot also.)

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I

Buffy Summers, her mother, Joyce Summers, and her baby sister, Dawn Summers, had moved to Sunnydale a few months back, after her mother divorced her father, Hank Summers, and they moved here to live with her uncle by marriage, Rupurt Giles.

Once Giles heard of the Summer’s girls moving to Sunnydale, excited wasn’t the word to use. He was almost overjoyed at finally being able to spend more time with his family and having someone else around, that he had immediately invited them to stay with him until they found a place of their own, since he had been a lonely widower since his wife Jenny Summers died a couple years back.

Grateful that she wouldn’t have to be troubled with finding a place right away for her and her girls to live, Joyce moved Buffy and Dawn into her brother-in-laws place to live while she got her business going which Giles’ joined in on.

Her mother started up her own art gallery and Giles’, needing something to do with his time besides sit around and read all day, started a record store right besides the gallery. Together they were the newest thing in town which everybody was wanting to go out and see. The gallery supplied pieces of artwork from famous painters and sculptors, as well as local artist’s that were very good and simply needed the chance to become known, which Joyce was providing.

Giles’ store on the other hand, provided music for every type of person. From jazz, to country, heavy metal, to opera, rap, to hits from the forty’s, there was nothing one couldn’t find in his store.

There was always work to be done, and Joyce found that with all the work, it was hard for her to find time to raise her girls properly. She offended worked long hours and sometimes late nights since she was the only worker there for the time being.

Buffy, being the oldest, took to looking after her sister who was six and half the age as she was. Even though Joyce didn’t feel completely safe letting Buffy watch after Dawn when she was only twelve herself, it seemed like she had no other choice.

The shops were located in the heart of Sunnydale, which only took thirteen minutes to walk around, but to Buffy and Dawn it was like walking the streets of LA by themselves whenever they wanted, and since they were always out walking around town, all the shop owners knew them very well.

On nice days, Buffy would take Dawn down to the city park and they’d play on the swings and jungle gym until nightfall. On warmer days, they’d walk down to the ice cream shop and watch tv and play board games their under the air conditioner until her mother came and picked them up to go home. And on rainy days, Dawn would stay at the gallery, drawing pictures of whatever she saw around the show cased rooms, trying to imitate them, while Buffy went and helped out Giles’ with whatever he needed to be done around the shop, at the end of the day both girls would be rewarded with whatever cd they chose from Giles’ store.

It went on like this every day until it came to the time when school was about to start. Buffy would be going into the seventh grade, while dawn would be going to school for the first grade.

One day when Buffy planed on taking Dawn to the park, her mother surprised her by handing her two twenty dollar bills and a ten.

“What’s this for?” She asked. Buffy had been given an allowance since she started middle school, Dawn on the other hand only had to ask mommy for what she wanted and Joyce would get it without thinking twice. Buffy sometimes got jealous of Dawn for getting whatever she wanted, while Buffy on the other hand had to earn everything she got, or at least she did until her mother reminded her that she used to get everything she wanted as well, until it was time for her to grow up learn about responsibilities. When Buffy still got jealous Joyce told her that one day, Dawn would have to earn everything she got as well.

So even though her mother handed her money for her weekly allowance, she still was never allowed to handle such a sum of money.

“I want you to take Dawn to the stationary supply store down the street. They are having a sale on back to school supplies and will be closed by the time I’m done here tonight, so I want you to go and get the stuff you and Dawn will need for school. I have tomorrow off, so I’ll take you girls clothes shopping then, but the stationary store is only having the sale today.”

“Ok,” Buffy said as she grabbed her sister’s hand and bolted for the door.

“Oh, and Buffy?” Her mother stopped her just as her hand was reaching for the door. “I want to see School Supplies for you and Dawn, and nothing else.”

Even though Buffy was trusted with money her mother knew when she was without supervision with enough money to buy whatever she wanted, she didn’t always think of her sister and spent it on something she wanted instead of what it was given to her for.

Buffy rolled her eyes at her mother before reaching for the door once again. “Whatever, mom,” she said as her and Dawn walked out of the gallery. “I mean it Buffy!” she heard her mother say before the door closed softly.

“I thought we were going to the park?” Dawn said as they started walking to the stationary store.

“Change of plans, Dawnie.”

“So where are we going?”

Dawn looked up just in time to see Buffy’s face left upwards in an evil grin, “Shopping.”

A/N: I promise that there will only be a couple chapters of the pre-teen years to go, just need to tell the history before we can move on. I’d really love some reviews at this point to let me know what you guys think. Like I said, I promise it will pick up soon. :~)

Disclaimer: See chapter one

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II

As Buffy and Dawn neared the stationary store, the evil grin was still on Buffy’s face, as she was going over the list of things to get in her mind.

The store usually only supplied decorative papers, pens, and pencils. But once the beginnings of fall came around, they ordered everything a student of all ages would need.

Once they arrived at their destination, Dawn immediately headed down the aisle of backpacks, in search for the one she had previously picked out. Her and her sister had come here when they first moved to Sunnydale, and she had spotted the bag she wanted for school, even though she had almost two months to wait. Now with only three weeks left, she was finally getting that one that she wanted.

With Dawn gone, Buffy was able to concentrate on what she would actually spend the money on. It was a constant battle of tug-o-war in her head.

‘Should I spend the money on what I want or……..spend the money for what it was given to me for and make mom trust me more? Decisions decision’s’

Then Buffy spotted a dress in the window of the store across the street, looked down to her own purple tank top and blue jeans, then back up at the window display across the street and her mind was made up. ‘Mom would never let me get a dress like that. And I could always tell mom that we got robbed.’ As Buffy thought over this idea she quickly dismissed it in thought of her mother worrying to much and never letting her and Dawn leave her and Giles’ side again. ‘Plus Giles won’t believe me. Need to think up a real excuse.’

Just then, Dawn returned with her multi colored tie-dye backpack. “Do you think we can get the matching lunchbox as well?” Dawn asked with wide, hopeful eyes, filled with such innocence, that all thoughts of lying to her mom and Giles’ with an excuse to get a dress that was way to old for her disappeared as quickly as they got there. ‘Even though she’s a pain, I still can’t say no to her.’

“Yeah, sure kid. Let’s go see what they got.” When Dawn smiled and turned back around to run down another aisle, Buffy rolled her eyes. ‘Can never say no to her. I’m becoming as whipped as mom and Giles’ are.’ Buffy took one final glance across the street at the dress she probably would never own, ‘that is, if mom has anything to say about it, I won’t’

She once again became lost in thought and the sound of the bell above the door, followed by a lady in her late forties, brought her back to the present, and she turned around to go in search of her school crazy sister.

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William followed his mum down the street towards the stationary supply store, dragging his feet the entire time.

“Oh, come one Will,” His mother Anne said. “I don’t see why you are so reluctant about going back to school, your so good at it.”

William continued to follow his mum into the dreaded store while mumbling under his breath, “Just cause I’m good at it, doesn’t mean I like it.”

Anne smiled at her son as she made her way over to the casher whom she knew to talk for a bit while she told William to go ahead and find what he wanted.

Sighing at his unfortunate luck of not being able to talk his mother into home schooling him this year, he headed towards the backpack aisle and quickly found a red power rangers backpack and red lunch pail as well. After he had these things, he headed towards the back of the store to find binders that would hold his homework in them.

The store was fairly empty so he didn’t have to worry over anyone important hearing him argue with himself over the multiple selections the small store offered. Or so he thought.

“Always liked green,” he mumbled to himself, again thinking no one would care, much less hear, him talking. “Although, if I get red it would match my backpack and lunch pail.” Long pause. “But then again, black does go with everything, as does gray and white.”

“Talk to yourself often?” A voice asked from around the corner.

Startled, William jumped a little and gasped.
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“Do you hear something?” Buffy asked when she thought she heard a faint whisper going on somewhere near where they were standing in the middle of the pens and pencils aisle.

She knew that there where other people in the store besides them, but she found it weird that someone would be whispering that low if they were talking to someone.

“Umm, no?” Dawn replied even though it sounded more like a question, even to her own ears.

“Shh,” Buffy retorted, wanting to know if she actually heard something, or it was her own mind playing tricks on her again.

“Although, if I get red, it would match my backpack and lunch pail.”

“Ok,” Buffy said after a second, “That time I definitely heard someone.” Buffy thought for a second before curiosity got the better of her. “Dawn, wait here until I come back. Pick something, but nothing to expensive, I still have to get my stuff to.”

Buffy waited until Dawn had nodded her head, even though she thought she was acting more like a sounding board if the look on her little sisters face was any indication. ‘Buffy’s tip on how to keep your annoying little sister occupied, put her in an aisle filled with pencils with pretty designs on them.’ Buffy silently thought, as she left the aisle and snuck down the back. She walked two aisle’s over and peeked around the corner. What she saw made her put a hand over her mouth to make her giggles keep from coming out.

There, in the middle of the binder aisle, stood a semi tall boy with dark curly hair, wearing a pair a blue jeans and a white t-shirt, talking to himself over……colored binders?

“But then again, black does go with everything, as does gray and white.”

This time, Buffy couldn’t hold back the laughter that was threatening to over come her. “Talk to yourself often?” She asked the cute boy with a small giggle finally bubbling over the surface.

When the boy jumped back like he’d seen three ghosts from Christmas past, present, and future, Buffy let the full amount of laughter take over her like it had been dying to do since she saw the intriguing boy with a mop of dark hair.

William put a hand over his heart, as if in an attempt to stop it’s heavy pounding against his chest. “Jesus Christ girl, would you like to scare the living daylights out of me?”

Still Buffy didn’t stop laughing.

“Glad you find my, almost heart-attack so bloody entertaining, pet.” William rolled his eyes at the girl, although he stopped to take in her lovely face as it was filled with her laughter, even if it was at his expense.

Buffy giggles finally subsided into a big smile that was, in Williams opinion, so beautiful she stole it from the sun. ‘Don’t even know the girl, and I’m already off acting like a nancy boy.’

William was interrupted from his thoughts as he heard another giggle escaping from the girl.

“What’s so funny now, luv?”

When she pointed a finger at him his face paled and he knew what she was about to say before she even said it. “Your talking to yourself again,” she managed to spit out in between giggles.

She once again settled down, but couldn’t stop the occasional giggle from escaping from between her lips every few seconds from the look on his face.

“I-I,” William stopped and swallowed hard once before continuing, “I actually said that out loud?” When she nodded, he looked up at the ceiling before yelling out to whoever was watching this and was obviously laughing at him, “BLOODY HELL!!!”

“You talk funny,” Buffy commented as she once again fought for control over her body when laughter wanted to surface within her again, “Are you not from around here?”

William looked over at her as if she had just realized the most obvious thing in the world.

“What?” Buffy asked in a whinny voice with a shrug, “Was just wondering is all.” She was barely able to finish her sentence when Williams mother came running towards them from the other end of the aisle, with a worried expression on her face.

“William,” His mother cried out, afraid he might be hurt or in danger, “Are you okay, baby?” Without waiting for a response, Anne took hold of his face and started moving his neck in circles checking for any injuries that might have caused his sudden out burst.

“Moooom!” William exclaimed at the embarrassing treatment his mum was giving to him. “Will you stop? Your embarrassing me!”

When Anne looked at the other end of the aisle she saw two girls standing there. One looked to be about William’s age while the other one looked like she was a younger sister. Both girls where giggling and William was turning beat red.

“Sorry Will,” Anne had the decency to look sheepish as she tried to offer her son an explanation for why she had just caused him great embarrassment in front of girls it looked like he didn’t know. “I heard you yell and I thought you might be in danger or hurt or something.” Anne thought for a moment before asking, “You are okay aren’t you?”

William rolled his eyes, “Yes mum.”

Buffy had a grin on her face, while Dawn, who had yet to learn how embarrassing parents could be in situations like this, laughed. Buffy elbowed her in the stomach lightly, wanting to spare the boy further embarrassment, Dawn immediately quieted down.

Anne smiled at her son and then at the girls before she walked away, now sure that her baby was okay.

“Sorry ‘bout that” William offered the girls a smile, still embarrassed beyond belief. And with his mother leaving him to confront the situation by himself, he also felt incredibly nervous. He didn’t have much experience with talking to girls, any in fact, so he was worried that he would say something stupid, or start talking to himself again. ‘Oh well,’ he thought, ‘can’t get any worse then it already has.’

Dawn, still not seeing how shy the boy was, started laughing again. Buffy, now getting annoyed, asked, “I thought I told you not to leave the aisle until I returned to get you?”

“I’m sorry Buffy, but I just wanted to make sure that you weren’t in danger or hurt,” Dawn said in a mocking voice, making Williams face heat up again.

If Buffy had ever wanted to strangle her sister in her life, it was now. She just couldn’t take into consideration anyone else’s feelings ‘sides her own. And if that ment someone had to suffer to bring her entertainment, then so be it.

“Dawn,” Buffy said though clenched teeth, as she tried to keep her cool around her sister that didn’t really know any better, “Why don’t you go and see if you can find a couple binders that you like, while I go get my stuff, ok?”

Dawn shook her head in agreement as she bounced off towards the front of the aisle they were all currently standing in to find the “kids” section.

Buffy rolled her eyes then smiled towards William who returned it before ducking his head.

Buffy took one final look at her annoying sister, who was now back in the land of “school is awesome!” then grabbed Williams hand and head back to the pencils and pens aisle.

William, never having any contact with a girl, other than his own mother, blushed even harder when he felt the girls small hand slip into his in an effort to pull him along with her.

Once she reached her destination, she dropped his hand and grabbed what she wanted before heading down the next aisle, thinking he would follow her. When he just stood there, looking in the direction she had headed off in, she stopped, turned around, and once again flashed him one of the smiles that he considered heaven sent.

“Are you coming?”

‘Even her voice is beautiful’ he thought, as she sweetly asked him if he would be following her on her shopping journey. He had a feeling that if he decided to not follow her on his own will that he would be drug around till he finally gave in. So instead of fighting the inevitable he walked towards her without answering her question.

“Your quiet.” She commented.

“You always ask obvious questions, pet?” he replied with a small smile appearing on his face, this time, without a blush.

“It wasn’t obvious,” she said with a smile on her own, wanting to tease him without embarrassing him. “It was noticeable.”

“Same thing, luv.” Chuckling at her cuteness.

‘He’s cute when he laughs’ she thought dimly. She thought it was strange that the sound of his laughter made her feel good inside.

“So… is your mom always that embarrassing?”

Once again he chuckled, and once again she wondered why it made her feel warm inside. “That she is, ducks.”

Dawn decided that it was the perfect time to come looking for her big sister, and found her and the cute boy standing in the backpack aisle.

“Buffy,” her sister said, when they both came into her view over the large pile of stuff she was carrying. “I got everything mom told me to get. Are you almost ready to go yet?”

Buffy looked away from where she had been staring at William, over to the back end of the backpack aisle to what she thought was her sister. One couldn’t tell from all the stuff she had piled in her little arms.

Buffy giggled at the sight of Dawn and walked over to her, where she sat all her stuff down on the ground and then helped Dawn to do the same. Once she could see more then just a tiny circle in front of her, Dawn looked over to William and smiled in his direction.

“Sorry bout earlier,” She said with total confidence.

William, who had been standing by the whole time watching the sisters with genuine interest with a grin on his face, simply said that it was ok.

Finally it was Dawn’s turn to blush as she let her long shinny hair fall around her face. Buffy stared at her sister in shock. ‘Wow,’ she thought, ‘Maybe she knows more then I give her credit for.’ Buffy shrugged before returning to the middle of the aisle to pick out the backpack of her choice, a swade purple bag with black shoulder straps.

“Cute choice,” he said with a tiny smile appearing on his lips, ‘Must like the color purple’ he thought looking down at the light purple that covered the upper half of her body.

Buffy raised a brow and then looked in the direction of his own choice in a backpack. William blushed again when he realized what she was looking at and his smile disappeared, but Buffy simply laughed for a second then turned and went back to where they had first met, minutes before. William hung back, every intention of following her, but not before he had exchanged his red power range backpack with a solid green one, the fabric much like her own. He continued to juggle his own school supplies as he headed after the two girls that had his curiosity soaring.

Buffy and William almost collided when he turned into the aisle he knew she would be in. “Where’d you go…… you know, I never got your name. I’m pretty sure that your mom said it and all, and it’s not like I wasn’t listening, not that I was trying to, you know, ease drop or anything, you guys were just there, and she was talking a little loud. I’m pretty sure that’s why Dawn said that she came over from when I told her to stay put and all, cause I was gonna come back and get her after I found out who was talking….”

“William.”

“Huh?” She said when she thought she might have heard someone say something.

“My name, luv, is William.” He said with a smile.

‘Bet this girl could talk on for days without stopping’ he thought to himself. In all honestly when people talked to much, it tended to annoy him to no end. But when she did it, it was almost cute. She had a way with her this…… come to think of it, he didn’t know her name either.

“And what does the world call you, pet?”

For the first time since they’d met, she blushed. “Buffy,” she said quietly.

“What was that, luv?” Surely he couldn’t have heard right….did he?

“Her name is Buffy, and I’m Dawn. Now can we please go?”

Buffy rolled her eyes at her sister, as it appeared that she had lost what little charm she had in her whether quickly. Buffy turned toward her sister so that William wouldn’t have to see the annoyed look on her sister’s face, as she once again fought to control the sudden urge to distribute pain on her sister.

“Yeah, just let me grab a couple binders then we’ll go. Why don’t you go put your stuff on the counter and wait outside and I’ll meet you out there in a little bit?”

“Ok.” Dawn said, her innocence seemingly reacquainted itself with her body.

As she headed off towards the front of the store, Buffy’s eyes looked behind her without turning her head so that he wouldn’t know she was looking at him, and found him staring at the back of her head. Deciding to have a little fun with him again, she took a few steps forward to examine the colored folders.

“Hmm,” She said with a wicked grin on her face. “Always liked green,” she did an imitation of scratching her chin while looking in his direction, the twinkle in her eyes letting him know that she was just playing around with him.

When he saw the look she was giving him it let him know that she was joking and not really making fun of him and he returned her small smile with a small one of his own, even still, he couldn’t help but blush. Although this time it didn’t stop him from replying to her teases.

“Sorry pet,” He said as he walked over to her and picked up three green blinders. “Greens taken.”

She smiled when she noticed that he was catching on and lightning up a little bit. “Well then, maybe black or white,” she turned back to look at the different colors, “Or maybe gray since they do go with everything.”

“Talk to yourself often?” At this point they couldn’t contain the laughter any longer, and almost fell to the floor from laughing so hard.

“You almost ready Will?”

They both stopped their laughter instantly and looked to the end of the aisle where Will’s mum was standing, apparently waiting to check out and leave.

“Umm, yeah sure.” As he started to follow his mum to the checkout stand, he glanced back at Buffy who was pretending to contemplate the different colored binder selections when she was secretly watching him leave.

“Coming Buffy?”

Buffy finally turned her head fully to look at him and noticed he had a smile on his face. Anne, who had been watching the two since the girl’s younger sister left, was also smiling.

Buffy slowly caught on, and smiled in return. “You go ahead, I’ll catch up once I pick out some binders.

William shook his head at the girl, trying to figure out whether or not she was serious or teasing him again, and walked in front of her, grabbed three purple binders that matched her bag, handed them to her, then took her by the arm a pulled her with him and his mother to the checkout stand where Dawn’s stuff was.

Buffy glanced outside the window to check on her sister, and found that she was in deep conversation with one of her friends from the park.

After the trio had made their purchases, they went to walk outside to find that Dawn was once again sitting on the sidewalks edge by herself.

Buffy looked to the right and saw that Christine was walking on the sidewalk with her mother, so they must have just left.

“How ‘bout we go get some ice cream?” Anne asked the trio in front on her.

Buffy looked doubtful for a second. “I don’t know,” Buffy said, the way she was holding her lower lip hostage in her mouth gave away the fact that she was nervous about going somewhere with people she didn’t really know all that well.

“Yeah, can we Buffy? Pleeease,” Dawn whined.

“Come on Buffy. I promise we’re not mass murders or anything like that.” William said as he noticed her hesitation.

“Now Will, It’s her choice. After all she doesn’t really know us all that well and she’s probably thinking of her sister as well.” Anne turned to look at the girl in question. “I respect your responsibility, dear, but Will’s right, you have nothing to be worried about. But I will completely understand if you don’t want to.”

Buffy thought that she sounded sincere, ‘And she does seem really nice, although mom will have my head if she finds out.’ When Buffy looked away from Anne’s face towards her sister’s and saw a pout spread out all over her babyish features. Finally she turned her head again to look towards William. He as well had a small pout covering his face, but with a smile tugging at his lips. ‘Oh well,’ she thought, ‘I can only die once.’

“Ok,” She finally said, a smile finally taking over, both her and William’s face.

“Yay!” Dawn yelled in excitement, jumping up in down clapping her hands in delight.

“Well then,” Anne said, “Let’s get going, treats on me.” She smiled as Dawn started walking down the sidewalk towards the ice cream paler, kicking a stone as she went, her shopping bags in hand. Buffy and William picked up their own bags and then followed after her, with Anne heading up the back end, keeping her eyes on them, smiling as they went.

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

A/N: There should only be one more chapter after this one with them being kids. Also please keep in mind that Buffy and William are right in the middle of puberty and don’t really know what would be considered “going to far.” :~)
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After saying goodbye to his mum, William opened the door and walked into the music store.

“Ah, good mourning, Mr. Dradgen,” Said Giles’ as he walked into the main section of the store, from behind the beaded curtain that Buffy insisted he get for privacy to his office. “I take it your looking for Buffy?” Giles’ had become familiar with the young boy who came by a lot to play with the girls he thought of like the daughters he’d never had, and found him to be a decent kid.

“Actually I’m here to pick up a record that my mum ordered a coupe weeks back. And please, for the millionth time, call me Will.”

“Oh,” Giles’ blushed a little and did the traditional British thing to do, took his glasses off from where they were perched on his nose and polished them with a rag found in his shirt pocket.

“And then I’m meeting Buffy and Dawn.” He cracked a smile, as Giles did the same. Over the past two in a half weeks Will had become used to the diverse family that Buffy and Dawn were part of, and the adults responsible for the kids found the three youngsters to be inseparable.

William came by almost everyday to pick them up to go to the park or just walk around town for something to do. Other days he they would meet him at a spot they chose the night before, and on Sundays, him and his mum would come over to the Giles, Summers’ home and have dinner with them and after the kids would go swimming while the adults talked.

Luckily, it had only rained once in all the time they had known each other, and that was five days ago. That day, Anne had to work overtime at Sunnydale hospital, since she was a nurse there, and William had stayed at the music shop helping Buffy out with her rainy day work. At the end of the day he was surprised to find that Giles’ had allowed them both to take home two CD’s instead of just the one that Buffy had promised. ‘Two CD’s for two worker’s for eight hours is a CD per hour,’ he had said. Buffy had complained for the rest of the night that when she worked by herself at the shop for eight hours at a time she only got one CD…not four.

Buffy and Will had been calling each other every night since the day after when they went out for ice cream. They stayed on the phone for an hour every night, discovering new things about the other. Unfortunately for William, the day Giles’ had given them two CD’s each, he was the one who had to listen to her rant and rave non-stop, not Giles’.

William really liked hanging out with the Summer’s girls, but sometimes he wished it could only be him and Buffy walking down the street to go somewhere. William found it weird how his stomach tightened up when she smiled at him, or laughed with him, or even at him was ok with him as long as he got to hear the glorious sound of her laughter. He’d had this weird feeling of wanting to hold her hand when they were walking side by side with Dawn ahead of them by just a little, but knew that she would think he was weird or something. He just found a friend, a girl who actually talked to him like a human being and not a freak that’s off his leash, and in no way was he going to do anything to mess it up.

Giles’ went behind the counter to search for the record in question, right when the bell over the door rang, announcing to everyone in the room that another customer had come on…or not, it was just Buffy and Dawn. Definitely not paying customers.

William smiled and then turned his attention back to Giles’ who had found the record his mum had ordered and gave him the cash that she had given him to pay for it. Giles’ rang up the sale and handed Will the bag.

“Thanks, Giles’,” He walked over to where Buffy was waiting by the door, “So, where to today, pet?”

Right when she was about to answer, Dawn, who was currently looking at the newest boy group posters, spoke up for her, “Park,” And with that she put the poster back and walked over to Buffy and practically pulled her out the door. Buffy grabbed Will’s hand and pulled him along as well, and a faint “Bye, Giles. See you tonight,” Could be heard right before the door closed and the trio left the sight of Giles as they disappeared down the street.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Let’s do something, different.” Dawn said, from her spot beside Will. They were all currently sitting on the swings at the park, with Dawn to Williams left and Buffy to his right.

“Like what, Little Bit?” He was the only one who could call her a miniature Buffy and get away with it, without having to hear the young girl yelling in defense.

“And nothing cheesy,” Buffy piped up as she sat up on the swing she had been trying to lie down on.

“Oh yes, I forgot, Buffy only plays big girl games now.” She started to laugh as Buffy glared daggers at her across from William.

Will looked back and forth at the two and started laughing.

“You think this is funny?” Both girls said at the same time, then glared at the other again, which only intensified his mirth that much more.

“You two are so much alike it’s funny,” He said as his chuckles subsided.

“We are not,” they said. He once again laughed.

“Whatever,” This time, Buffy got to say something without an echo, “Can we just find something to do, I’m getting bored.”

“How bout Truth or Dare?” Dawn suggested.

Will groaned at the mere thought of that game.

“Not bad, Dawnie. Mature yet childish.” Dawn beamed over at Buffy at the sound of her praise at her idea. As much as she hated to admit it, Dawn really did want Buffy’s approval with the things she did in her life. But of course she would never tell anyone that, especially Buffy. Unbeknownst to her, William had already figured that out.

“So who wants to start?” Dawn asked, ready to get the game going. She had hoped that Buffy would like her idea, because she already had a few questions for her that would embarrass her in front of Will. Hey, just because she wanted her approval, didn’t mean that she couldn’t take pleasure in embarrassing her at every opportunity. She was first and foremost a little sister to Buffy, and she had to take the responsibility that role meant, and if that meant making her face look like the tomatoes their mother put in salads then so be it.

“Can I sit this out?” Will asked. Under no circumstances did he want to play this game. Never did, and probably never would.

“No!” they both said. They each rolled their eyes, but this time, the thought of the torture that was about to be put upon him dissolved any chance of making him laugh.

“Ok, I’ll go first,” Dawn announced. “Buffy, Truth or Dare?”

“Dare.”

Dawn knew that her sister didn’t think that she had anything to worry about with her choosing her Dare, and she wanted to make sure that she changed her mind quickly. She looked around the park towards the jungle gym and noticed the firemen’s pole and an evil grin appeared on her face.

She turned her head back towards her sister, and Buffy finally got the evil look in her eyes that let her know that she shouldn’t have underestimated her baby sister.

“Are you still wearing your bathing suit, Buffy?”

“Umm,” ‘Should I tell her the truth?’ She wondered, ‘Or should I lie and tell her no?’ After a few seconds of weighing her options in her head, she finally decided to go with the truth and take whatever her sister had in mind for her. Even if it meant she might be embarrassed, which she had a feeling she was going to be. “Yeah I do, why?”

“Good,” Dawn said. Her smile was getting bigger with each passing detail that was falling into place. “You see that fire pole over there?”

Buffy shook her head yes. ‘Should have figured it was something childish,’ Thinking that her sister was going to make her tie her bikini top to the top of the fire pole.

“Your Dare is for you to climb to the top of the jungle gym, then do a strip tease to take your shirt off, throw it to the ground and pole dance down the pole and dance around it for ten seconds after you land. And Will? You’ll be doing the counting.”

William blushed furiously and looked down at the ground studying the patterns he was drawing with his foot on the ground, apparently shy for the first time since the first day they had met.

Buffy on the other hand stared at her sister with an open mouth, completely in shock of the words that just came of her six-year-old baby sister.

“Where did you learn those words, Dawn?”

“Raven,” Was all she said. And it was all Buffy needed for everything to fall in place. When their family lived in LA with their Father, Raven was Dawn’s babysitter. She, herself, stayed over at her friend, Jasmine’s, house. Raven was the complete opposite of what parents would consider “The Perfect Babysitter.” In fact she shouldn’t even be allowed to call herself a babysitter at all. It wouldn’t come as a surprise to her that Raven allowed her to watch a porn movie, which would explain where she got the idea for the Dare Bufy now had to do. Raven had let her do whatever she wanted to do, so Dawn never told their Mother, only Buffy. Joyce didn’t like what Buffy told her about Raven, but was left with no choice since Hank liked the teenage girl. Come to think about it, it’s probably where Dawn got the idea of how to play Truth or Dare.

She sighed, resumed to the fact that she had to do this. It wouldn’t be a good example to Dawn if she backed out. ‘Might give her the idea that she can back out of things that she doesn’t want to do Good God, now I’m hearing Mom’s voice in my head!!’ She stood up to walk over to the jungle gym and heard Dawn clapping her hands like a three year old would when u give them a cookie. Before she could get very far though, William grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him again.

“Your not actually going to do it, are you, Buffy?”

“It doesn’t exactly look like I have much of a choice, Will. The Dare has been placed and I must follow through with it.”

William stood up and pulled her a little further away from where Dawn was still sitting. “Pet, aren’t you making this a little more complicated then it has to be?”

“Look, she looks up to everything I do. If I back out of that then if you or me dare her to do something then she’s gonna think that she can back out of that to. And if we keep letting her back out of things she’ll think that she’ll always be able to get out of things that she don’t want to do.”

Will shook his head, understanding what she was talking about. Didn’t mean that he wanted her to do it. ‘Or do I,’ that little voice in the back of his head argued. “Besides,” She continued, “You don’t want to see me up there doing a little dance?” His face immediately turned thirteen shades of red, as she asked the question the little devil in his head was asking himself.

She laughed a little but made sure not to over do it to cause him too much embarrassment. She cupped his cheek in her small hand, running her thumb over his sharp cheekbone. That simple gesture had chills running down both of their spines.

She gave a weak smile and then pulled her hand back and then turned and walked towards her doom, the fire pole. ‘Oh God,’ She thought, ‘Why me?’

Will returned to his spot on the swing next to Dawn’s and sat down to watch the show, while trying to keep the redness in his cheeks down to a minimum.

Buffy reached the small ladder that would take her up to a fate she had no desire to do. She climbed up and went over the little shaky bridge, stepped up two steps, and went through a tiny tunnel, and when she reached the other side she was faced with two options, slide or fire pole.

Unfortunately for her, the fire pole was directly in front of the swings, so that William and Dawn had a perfect view of everything she did.

“Ok Buffy, “ Dawn yelled out, “ Take your shirt off, throw it to the ground, pole dance down to the floor, and then dance around the pole to Williams count of ten.” She repeated the second half of the Dare so that she couldn’t find a way to back out.

Buffy sighed and moved her eyes away from Dawn to look at William who, she noticed even from the distance, still had a hint of pink on his cheeks. She crossed her arms at the base of her shirt and slowly pulled it up to expose more and more skin and then finally reveled her halter bikini top.

Dawn looked over at William and realized his eyes were as huge as cockroaches. ‘Well that did the trick,’ she smiled inwardly, but outwardly let out a fake yawn trying to come across as bored out of her mind.

Once her shirt was finally off her body, Buffy decided to have a little fun with this, and bent her knees a little while moving her hips in a circular motion, while grabbing the end of her shirt and twirling it over her head.

She un-bent her legs just as slowly, still moving her hips, and when she was at her full height once again, she bent her right leg and threw the end of the shirt she wasn’t holding onto behind her to come in between her legs, grabbed the other end and then at an excruciatingly slow pace, used her left hand to bring it to the front of her body and then straightened her arm and swung the shirt over her head a couple more times before she threw it to the ground.

At this point, Williams face was one of pure lust as he watched the erotic dance the goddess above him was doing.

Even Dawn was in shock. She hadn’t meant for it to go this far, but by the look on Will’s face, things couldn’t be going better if she wanted it to.

Once the shirt was on the ground below her, she turned around so that her back was to the swings where Will and Dawn were sitting, and bent her knees again, then slowly stood up, swirling her hips when she went down and when she came back up.

She spun around, and jumped out to grab the pole with as much arm strength as she could while wrapping her legs around it as well, trying to keep her body from becoming a prisoner to gravity to soon. She wanted to make this good, and she was having fun as well and didn’t really want this to end to quickly.

Once she had a firm grip with her hands, she loosened her legs a little and used her hands to spin her around as she slid down the pole, with her head thrown back.

When she reached the bottom of the pole, she looked over at Dawn who nodded her head and then smacked William on the leg to bring him back from the daze she had put him in. She saw him shake his head a little as if to clear it and she smiled, pleased that she had this effect on him.

She saw him start to move his lips signaling that he had started counting, and for the next ten seconds she grabbed the pole and was grating and dipping her hips against it.

She knew that he didn’t count the average ten second count, it was actually more like thirty, but she didn’t really mind much.

Dawn finally called out “time,” so she let go of the pole and started walking back to the swings, still moving her hips to a song only she could hear. She stopped to pick up her shirt and then got an evil grin on her face. ‘I wonder how far I can take this,’ she thought.

She continued the walk towards where her sister and best friend sat. Once she got close enough, she threw her shirt onto the swing that she had previously been sitting on. After her hands were free, she walked straight to Williams swing and grabbed the chains that were covered with rubber, and sat her left foot on his right leg and used the support his leg gave her to hop up a little and swing her other leg over the swing. Once she had her right leg settled in, she lifted the foot she had rested on his leg and wiggled her leg a little bit so that she sat straddled on his lap, and started, once again, to grate her hips, causing him to feel a strange stirring in his lower regions that he had never felt in the presence of a girl before.

‘What the bleeding hell does she think she’s doing?!?!?’ William thought, as he was trying to figure out what she was up to. He could not believe that this was happening to him, and with the girl that he adored to top it all off with.

After a few seconds of teasing him to know end, William had had enough and placed his hands firmly on, what he had miss-thought, to be her hips, and accidentally grabbed her butt cheeks and squeezed, which pulled her center closer to his crotch. This seemed to shake since into Buffy as she finally realized what she was doing and, more importantly, who she was doing it to.

Her face instantly turned scarlet and she buried her head in his shoulder, and stayed there for a few moments until Dawn cleared her throat loudly.

“What have I done, Will?”

William could hear the tears in her voice. “It’s alright, pet. You didn’t do anything wrong. Just inappropriate in front of, Dawn, but I’m pretty sure that she’ll live.” He kissed her neck softly, not really thinking about what he was doing anymore, just running on instinct.

Just the faint brush of his soft lips on her neck made her want to turn into melted butter. She took a deep breath and then leaned back and let her hands slide down the rubber covered chains and then let them fall to the ground. She loosened her grip on his waist and lifted her legs, using her arm strength to lift herself into a back walkover.

She then grabbed her shirt off of the swing she had been sitting on and pulled it back over her body, then sat back down, this time on her own swing.

The silence was heavy and uncomfortable under till Dawn broke it. “So… Buffy, I believe that it’s your turn.”

She gave a small smile, and then looked at the other two with an evil eye. “Truth or Dare, Dawn?” William noticeably sighed, relieved that once again he has been saved from having to pick telling them about an embarrassing moment, or doing something that would become an embarrassing moment.

Dawn knew that Buffy was trying to get back at her for what she made her do, but she was almost positive that she could take whatever she could dish out. Besides that, Buffy couldn’t really do anything to bad. She was the baby after all, and she could always tell mom. ‘But then again mom will be mad that we’re playing Truth or Dare in the first place. Let alone the fact of what I made Buffy do.’ She sighed, ‘Guess I have to face my payback with no back up.’ “Dare.”

‘Oh thank you, Dawnie. Your giving me the perfect opportunity for payback.’ She knew that her sister was afraid of heights, and while she had been up on the jungle gym, she had realized the new telephone poles that the city had put in had little spikes sticking out of the side for telephone workers to climb up to fix problems. ‘It could also be used as a scare tactic to get back at a spoiled little sister who thinks that she can get way with anything without there being consequences.’

“Ok, Dawn, you see that telephone pole over there?” Dawn nodded her head yes, all the color in her face disappearing, seemingly already knowing what was coming next. “You Dare is to climb to the top of that telephone pole using the spikes that are sticking out of the sides.”

‘Oh God,’ She thought. ‘Why me?’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eight minutes later she was back from her little voyage, glaring daggers like no other at her older sister who decided to scare the living daylights out of her.

After a few seconds of regrouping, she was ready to pass the torture onto someone else. “Ok William, Truth or Dare.”

Just the thought of being asked that question was enough to make William groan and think, ‘Oh God. Why me?!?!?’

“Mom let’s go!!” Buffy screamed from the bottom of the stairs . She and Dawn where waiting by the door for their mom to come down to wish them good luck on the first day of school. Only problem was that their mom had an important meeting with a potentially new client this afternoon and couldn’t decide on what to wear.

So they waited. Once again Buffy looked over towards the clock that sat on the mantle above the fireplace. She realized that they only had about twenty minutes to get there AND find their classes on time.

“MOOOOM!!! We’re leaving now. With or without you,” Dawn pitched in.

“Alright alright I’m coming already.” Their mom suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs. She was dressed in a tight fitting black dress that reached all the way down to the floor. She had a headband in that matched her hair color so it looked like there was nothing keeping it pulled back, little make up, and a small silver watch with tiny diamonds. And to top the outfit off she had on black half inch heels on her feet. All in all she looked like she was going out on a date instead of meeting a new client.

Buffy was the first one to say something after the shock at seeing her mother dressed up for work wore off. “Mom, are you sure that this is just a client?”

“Yes honey of course. What else would he be?” Acting completely innocent and unaware of what had her daughters in such a state of shock. “What you didn’t think that your old mom could look nice?”

“Look nice, yes.” Buffy argued for her case. “Dress up for work? Not without an ulterior motive involved.”

Joyce smiled and walked down the stairs to join her girls. “I thought that you were concerned with making it to school on time?”

“I am.”

“Then why are you so interested in my choice of clothing for my business meetings.”

“Whatever,” Buffy said as she turned around, opened the door, and walked outside.

After she was gone and in the car Joyce turned to her second born. “And the teen years are about to arrive.”

Dawn rolled her eyes and reached up to give her mom a hug. “Well I think that you look pretty.”

“Thank you baby, but your sister’s right. Should get you girls to school before your late,” She said just as the car horn beeped from where Buffy was growing continually inpatient.

She smiled, grabbed her keys, and said “Lets go.” as the two Summers girls made their way out of the house and towards the beginning of their new days.

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Buffy walked though the hallways of her new school looking for her locker. She was told everyone in the 7th. Grade had a locker in the same hallway…she just couldn’t find the one that was to be hers. Even more importantly she hadn’t been able to find William either. They hadn’t made plans to meet up anywhere, but it would have been nice to see a familiar face.

She finally found her locker, #763. She quickly figured out how to unto her lock and was putting away the extra stuff that she wouldn’t need right away in the small metal compartment when someone to her right said, “Hey, you must be new.”

Buffy turned her head to look at the girl standing behind her. She was about Buffy’s height, if not a little taller. She had long black hair that went down to her waistline, and a very tan completion. She was wearing a white fitted top that had bell sleeves a multi-colored blue jean mini skirt, and matching stiletto high heels. Her smile was a little to big and her make-up a little too perfect. Buffy got the impression that this was most likely one of the popular girls.

“Umm yeah, just moved her about a month ago actually.” She finally replied to the girl.

“Well, since my locker is right next to yours, and we’ll be seeing each other a lot, I’d be happy to show you around and get you some friends.” If possible the girl’s smile got even bigger as she nodded her head as if Buffy would copy her so that she would agree.

Buffy gave a hesitant smile and said, “Thanks, that would be great.” Still a little unsure as to what she was getting herself into. But her mother had given her the pep talk in the car after dropping Dawn off and told her to be outgoing and daring. So that’s exactly what she was gonna do. Even if the girl in front of her looked like she could give Barbie a new meaning to the word “Plastic.”

“Great,” She said, hoping up a little and clapping her hands together three times, making the shinny silver bag attached to her left mid arm swing back and forth and hit herself in the side. She seemed unfazed by this, however, and once she calmed down a bit she stuck out her hand. “I’m Cordelia Chase, but you can call me Cordy,” She said brightly.

“Buffy Summers,” she replied, also offering the girl her hand. Each gave the other one firm shake before returning their hands to their respective sides.

Just then four other girls that were dressed up almost exactly like Cordelia came striding through the halls from the direction of what Buffy assumed to be the Cafeteria. Only, instead of looking fake and happy, they looked mean cold hearted.

“Hey girls,” Cordy hollered.

The girls looked their way and started over towards them. All the while, Buffy’s smile grew smaller and smaller with each step that brought the foursome closer.

“Hey Cordelia,” They chorused almost together, now with equally bright, fake smiles plastered over their equally plastic looking painted faces.

“This is the new girl, Buffy Summers,” Cordy said. “She’s gonna hang with us, see if we can fit her in the group.”

“Hey Buffy,” They once again chorused, this time while waving their hands and turning their factory faces in her direction.

“Hey guys,” Buffy said softly, she then turned her attention back to Cordelia. “Look, you don’t have to do this, ya know.”

Cordelia just waved her hand in Buffy’s direction, “Don’t worry about it. Every new girl has a chance until she proves herself unworthy by trading us in for some loser wanna-be friends…like those.” She pointed over to wear a red headed girl and brown haired boy where walking in their direction laughing at something the other said.

“Trust me Buffy, you want to fit in around here, stay away from those two. There’s another one around here to, but don’t know where he scampered off to.” She shrugged her shoulders, “Oh well, it’s not like it’s my job to keep up with the losers of this town.” When none of her posse quickly agreed with her, she let her smile drop and a look of death appeared on her face, letting everyone around her know that even though she was in a good mood, she was not to be tested.

“Right?!?” she demanded.

The other girls quickly caught up with their mistake with what had gotten the supposed “leader” angry at them and they quickly tried to cover up for their lack of paying attention. A bunch of “Oh year’s” and “Your so right’s” were heard coming from the four girls. Cordelia’s smile was quickly back in place.

“Right then, let’s go.” She announced to the girls. She then turned back to Buffy to give her the instructions she wanted her to do. “we’ll catch up with you later. But right now we have some business from last year that we need to see to.” Cordy gave her a look like she was waiting for a reply.

Buffy, not wanting to anger her new friend or put her new found spot in her troop in danger said “ Oh yeah, no problem. I’ll just see you guys in class later.”

This seemed to be what Cordelia had been waiting to hear so she quickly put her fake smile back on and said “Great. Catch ya later’s Buffy.” And with that she turn around and the girls departed a few of them saying “Bye Buffy,” could be heard before they turned the corner and headed off to torture someone else for a time.

Buffy let out the breath she didn’t realize that she had been holding, turned around closed her locker, locked it, and then headed off to her first class.

When she finally found her first class ten minutes later, the first bell had just rung once she entered the class room. The teacher didn’t seem in a hurry to start class, he must have figured on some kids being late so she decided to look around the classroom. What she saw had her standing frozen in the doorway. William was sitting in the front row having looked up from the book he was reading and smiled at her.

Buffy, unable to stop herself, smiled back at the boy she was beginning to develop after knowing for such short a time. However, she was pulled out of her thoughts by someone calling her name. Correction, a group of somebody’s calling her name.

Pulled out of her musing thoughts, she looked over at the group of Cordettes as she was taking to calling them.

“Hey Buffy,” the ring leader of their little gang called over to her, “We saved you a seat.” Cordelia sat with her hand on the seat next to her in the back with her four followers.

She hesitantly smiled over to them and then looked back to where William was sitting. He had dropped his eyes from her and it appeared that he was staring at the floor near her feet, looking completely abandoned.

It finally occurred to her that William probably didn’t have that many friends. It would explain his behavior when they had first met, how her and Dawn where the only ones he seemed to hang out with, and how no one was sitting near him or talking to him.

As the little facts became apparent to Buffy, her heart silently broke for him. She quickly noticed there was an open seat next to him in the front. So she now had a decision to make…sit with Cordelia and her posse in the back, or sit with William in the front.

Buffy laughed at herself in her head as she realized that she didn’t even need to think twice about that. She walked over and sat next to William, throwing her purple backpack under her seat while grinning at the glimpse of shock she had seen on the Cordettes faces.

When she realized that William hadn’t even acknowledged her presence since she sat down, she thought a moment to her self for a way to draw her friends attention to her. Once she was satisfied, she smiled at her own cleverness.

Speaking quietly as not to spook him but loud enough so that the Cordettes would get the hint she said, “Hey Cutie, whatcha reading?”

William finally turned his head to the seat next to him, and when he realized that Buffy was sitting next to him, gave off a shy yet charming smile that Buffy was incapable of not returning.

“I…ah…I’m reading…,” William stammered, still entranced by her presence. “I…I…shouldn’t you be back with your friends?” He was finally able to spit out as he nodded his head behind his right shoulder, his smile disappearing but the wonder still sparkling in his eyes did not go unnoticed by the small blonde girl next to him.

“What you mean the ‘Toy R’ Us’ store back there?” she said in a softer tone then before this time so not to be overheard by the mechanical soldiers that were trying their hardest listen to their conversation but make it un-obvious.

William couldn’t hold back his mirth at the comment and let out a small chuckle of amusement which caused Buffy to do the same. She looked down at her desk for a moment and when she looked back up, still smiling, she noticed that only a small smile remained on Will’s face. His head was tilted and his blue eyes held a look of astonishment in them and she longed to know what put it there but did not ask.

It was ten minutes into class and the teacher finally announced that it was time to start the class since there was only 40 minutes left of this class.

“OK then…” the teacher started. Drawing William and Buffy attention to the front of the class. Buffy was the first one to break eye contact and turned face foreward to pay attention to the teacher with William following her example short after.

“I’m Mr. Fidellen,” he continued, “And I’ll be your Social Studies teacher. Why don’t we go around and introduce ourselves. Starting with…this corner over here.” He said pointing to William.

“Umm…ok.” Even though he’d done this time and again, he was still at a loss for what to say. Buffy sensing his reluctance to start off the introductions, leaned over and whispered “I’ll go first and save you this time, but your going next.”

He nodded his and smiled his thanks to her as she stood, turned around, and faced the class.

“Hi,” she began giving the class a small wave. “My name is Buffy Summers. I just moved her about a month ago with my sister, Dawn, and my mom. I’m 12 years old and will turn 13 in January and would love nothing more then to have my sister’s vocal cords permanently silenced.” At this the class laughed, especially William who personally knew Dawn and why Buffy would want something like this. But he came out of his self pondering thoughts as his best friend started speaking again.

“Favorite activities would include Never having to do this again when I don’t know anybody in the room, embarrassing people to think that they are to full of themselves,” At this she paused to stare over at Cordelia. “And hanging out with my best friend,” This time, instead of sending glares to someone in the room, she sent a warm hearted smile over to William who was already smiling back at her.

“And I suppose that’s it,” she said and gave the class a small smile before turning around and sitting herself in her seat.

“Thank you Miss. Summers.” Mr. Fiddellen said, all the while leading the class into giving her a round of applause.

She smiled her appreciation at the teacher then turned her bright, hazel eyes to Will. “Your turn,” she said in a soft solitary voice.

His smile from his pride for her faltered. “Umm…ok,” He said. And stood to give his five minutes in hell speech.

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

Buffy grimaced, but slid her try along dutifully after a slight push on her right side to move along from William. It was lunch time and the pair had just gotten out of math class. Buffy had been praying that the cafeteria food in Sunnydale would be better then the food in LA, but apparently that wish was not granted.

In fact, it looked almost worse then the food at her old school in LA.

Finally she came to the end of the line, paid and then waited for William to finish up behind her. Once he was done she looked out at the crowd of people sitting down and catching up with their friends and suddenly felt a little left out.

She felt a hand on her left solder and then a soft voice floated into her ear. “We’re right over there, Pet.”

Buffy looked to where William was pointing and noticed the brown haired boy and the red headed girl that Cordelia had warned them about. But then again, she didn’t seem to like her friendship with William either. Buffy decided just to go with it and see if she could make some new friends, it’s not like she had signed her life away to Cordy and her little gang of Nazi fashion victims. Plus she was intrigued to meet some of Williams friends.

With his hand still on her left shoulder, William guided Buffy through the throngs of kids in the cafeteria and straight to the table with the two kids that were smiling brightly at them with easy going looks on their faces.

“William, William, William. Back for another year of café bashing I see.” The boy said while shaking his head while smiling at the boy behind Buffy.

“Not entirely, mate. Thought I’d bring my friend Buffy here over to meet some real friends instead of being bothered by the Cordettes over there.” At the mention of Cordelia and her pep squad, Buffy looked over at where the Madonna rejects were staring over at her with looks of shock on their faces. Their leader, Cordelia, with a look of death directed to non other then herself.

Buffy decided to be unfazed by their presence and enjoy the time she had with William and his friends. She turned around, set her tray down, then proceeded to sit herself at the rectangular table next to William who had already been seated.

After she was seated with her bag once again beneath her, William started with the introductions. “This here,” he began, pointing to the boy, “Is my friend Xander. Next to him we have Willow, or Red as I call her.”

The boy gave off a goofy grin. He held a look of laughter in his chocolate brown eyes, and Buffy could tell that he would prove to be a comedian.

The girl had given off a smile at first, but once the mention of William’s nickname for her came up she dropped her eyes and turned a brilliant shade of red. Buffy just smiled warmly at her to show that it was ok and she didn’t need to be embarrassed by it. Slowly, but more hesitantly then before, the girl’s smile reappeared. William also threw the girl a soft smile to let her know that he was only joking with her and he hadn’t meant to embarrass her like he had.

“So Buffy,” Xander said, breaking the awkward moment of silence that had settled over the group. “Give us news from the outside world. How was the food at your old school? Better then the hunk of junk the feed us here?”

Buffy giggled a little. “ Umm, the food there isn’t that bad, but compared to this?” She dipped her spoon into the green and yellow blob that was supposed to pass as potato salad. “It was a gourmet meal from a five star restaurant.”

Xander just stared longingly at Buffy’s tray not really seeing it. Buffy figured that he was probably imagining the food back in LA. He was suddenly back in Sunnydale Middle School and he sighed as he glanced down at his own tray.

He picked up his fork to begin to separate what was edible from inedible. He shot Buffy one more smile which quickly turned into a frown when he realized who was walking in their direction behind Buffy’s back.

Buffy realized that Xander was staring at something behind Buffy’s back that had also drawn Willows attention so she turned her head to look behind her. It didn’t take her very long to realize what had drawn Xander’s attention away from the less then devouring meal in front of him.

The Cordettes were well on their way over to their table with their leader, Ms. Chase, leading the way. By this time, William had noticed that something behind him had caught his friends attention and also witnessed the wanna-be superstars walking their way.

Buffy turned back to face foreword and noticed that everyone was watching her. They obviously knew that whatever business the Cordettes had over here had to do with her. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and let it out slowly, mentally preparing for the verbal showdown that was about to happen.

When Buffy turned around again she had a fake smile on her face to welcome her not-so-much friends, which she realized had come to a halt behind her. “Hey Cordy, what’s up?” She asked innocently. Although if she had to guess what had shoved a stick up the all ready stiff brunette, she had a pretty good idea.

“Buffy,” Cordelia started slowly as if talking to a small, dense, child. “I thought we talked about associating with these losers and how it shouldn’t be done.” Cordelia said in her best snobbish voice.

“Oh,” Buffy started, “And here I thought you talked and I half listened. And being the half wit that you are, I’m guessing that you choose to remain oblivious to my lack of interest in anything you’ve said to me so far.”

Everyone within hearing distance gasped in shock at Buffy’s bold choice of words in front of the most popular girl in school. Even the ice-bitch herself had the decency to look fibergasted. The on lookers at nearby tables were either staring opened mouthed at the new girl and her sharp tongue or they had their hand over their mouths to try and retain their laughter at seeing Cordelia Chase chopped down in front of so many people that despised her.

“How dare you!” Cordelia finally said after the wanna-be blonde recovered from the insult. Something no one else in the town dared to do. “I never did anything to you! In fact, I tried to be nice to you! And this is how you repay me?!?” Cordy said in outrage.

Buffy laughed a little at her comment and rolled her eyes. “Good god Cordelia. Stop acting like you the Crayola Crayon factory’s gift sent to earth in human form, alright? Your not queen Barbie. More like the swan princess who turns into an ugly hag without her make-up. And these,” she continued cheerfully pointing to the four girls behind Ms. Low Carb Diet, “Are your faithful town shop keepers who do what you say every time you squawk at them. Just like a bunch of sheep.”

Buffy stood up to prove she could be as tall as Cordelia. “You might think that you’re the big bad wolf here to scare us all with you circus clown make up and your tight wire walking clothes, but I’m here to tell you something.” By the time, all the fakeness in her voice was gone. She was no longer even remotely worried about not fitting in any more. Cause if these were the people she had to hang with in order to be popular, then popularity obviously couldn’t pay the bill on real friendships.

“The next time you,” she continued, mocking Cordelia’s earlier ways of talking slowly to get the point across, all the while pushing a finger off Cordy’s shoulder, “Decide you want to talk to or about either Xander, Willow, or especially William or I hear that you were putting them down in any way, your gonna be dealing with me,” she finished, pointing at herself.

Cordelia turned around and ran out of the café with her hands over her face. Buffy just stood her ground in case one of the farm animals decided to be brave and stick up for their leaders fallen pride. None, however, had the guts to.

As soon as Cordelia had fled the room and the doors had shut securely, Xander started clapping loudly which was quickly followed by William and Willow. Soon after the whole room was erupting with applause for the girl who put Cordelia Chase in her place for the first time. The firmer posse girls filed out soon after.

Once it quited down some, one of the kids to the left of where Buffy and her friends were sitting asked, “Who are you?”

Buffy just smiled then replied, “I’m Buffy Summers, the girl who put the poster-child for fake and heartless down on the level of reality. “After she said all she wanted to say, Buffy sat back down and was immediately enveloped in a hug by William.

“That was amazing, Pet,” he congratulated her, as the rest of the room settled down for the rest of their lunch period and to talk about what just went down more.

No one except Xander and Willow saw the kiss William placed on Buffy’s already blushing cheek. It also didn’t go unnoticed by the two new friends of the blonde girl who was quickly becoming the new “Miss Popular” of Sunnydale, that William didn’t appear the least bit embarrassed by his actions.

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