Chapter 17: Apologies
As he stepped out of the room, Elizabeth was nowhere to be seen. He had a feeling that she wouldn’t go far, therefore he figured the servant corridor would be the best bet to find her.
Checking no one was around, as he didn’t want to create a name for himself or for any of the servants, he slipped quietly through the little door in the wall. However, it appeared that his suspicions were wrong, as Elizabeth didn’t appear to be here either. Deciding he had nothing better to do, he turned right and started walking along the corridor, determined to find Elizabeth.
It turned out this place was like a little maze, he didn’t know how the servants did it every day. As he turned another corner he ran into Willow, nearly knocking her off her feet. William quickly made a grab for her arms keeping her steady.
“William! Thank you.” Suddenly Willow did a double take; if William had been in the right frame of mind he would have found it comical. “Wait, William? I mean Master William! What are you doing here? This is servant quarters, Sir.”
“I know that, Red. Look, you aren’t to tell anyone I was here. Is that clear?” He asked and Willow nodded. “I need you to tell me where someone is, ok?” Again Willow nodded, already having an idea who he was looking for. “Where will I find the servant with blonde hair, her name’s Elizabeth.”
Willow was slightly taken aback, for some reason she had assumed he would be looking for Cordelia. “Umm, she was with you, Sir.”
William tried to stop himself from getting aggravated, it wasn’t Willows fault he’d messed up, there was no point getting angry at Willow. “I know that, but she left about five minutes ago, so where will she be now?”
“Well, she hasn’t reported back to Maggie, I know that because I’ve been in the kitchen the whole time, so I just assumed she was still with you.”
“Well, she’s not.” William tried to keep the frustration out of his voice. “Ok, Red, so if she isn’t with me and she isn’t on a new chore, where is she likely to be?” he noticed Willow seemed hesitant to answer. “Look, Red, no one’s going to get into any form of trouble. It will be like I was never here. Please just tell me, it’s really important to me.”
Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, Willow quickly surrendered. “Well, she might be in her room, she only goes there for a few moments sir, it’s not like she’s shirking her responsibilities. Or at least that’s where she went after Master Li…” Willow quickly stopped herself, her eyes widening at her near slip.
“…Liam did what he did to her.” William finished for her. Willow’s eyes widened further as she looked at him. “It’s ok, Red, I know and believe me I’d love to beat him senseless for it, but trust me we aren’t all like Liam. One last question … which one’s her room?”
Willow let a little smile pass her lips at the insecurity in his voice. “Well, sir, you go up to the servant rooms, and her room is the one at the very end on the right. Ok?”
“Thank you. Oh, and one last thing?”
“Haven’t seen you, don’t know where you are.” Willow gave him a knowing smirk.
William gave her a warm smile back. “Thanks, Red, you really are a good friend to Elizabeth.” They gave each other one last glance before turning and walking separate ways.
***
William found the room without too many problems, now here he stood in front of her door. He considered knocking lightly, but knowing that she wasn’t suppose to be here in the first place he knew she would probably just ignore it and pretend she wasn’t in the room. A knock would probably scare her in the long run anyway, so instead he very quietly opened the door and let himself into the room. Elizabeth didn’t even look up as he entered. She was sat on the end of the bed looking towards the window. He quietly went and sat next to her, carefully studying his feet. Neither said a word. It was William who broke the silence first.
“I’m really sorry, love, for the way I acted down there, you have nothing to be jealous about. I’d never go for that bint Harmony.”
Elizabeth still didn’t look round at him. “I’m not jealous, William.”
“Then what is this, pet?” It did not go unnoticed by William that she had called him neither Master William nor Spike, it was as if she was searching for some form of middle ground.
“I was hurt, but I’m not jealous of her. And I do have a name, I thought we had established that.”
“Fine, Buffy, I didn’t ever mean to hurt you.”
“Well, you did, and you have no right using that name, we aren’t friends. My names Elizabeth.”
William was trying hard not to get frustrated with her but she was making it so difficult. Clenching his teeth to stop himself from shouting, he focused all his attention on her. “Will you just look at me?”
“Why?”
“Well, for a start I’m sick of looking at your back. For a second, I want to look at your face and I want you to look at my face and believe that I am telling you the truth.”
Slowly Elizabeth turned to look him in the face, he could see the hurt swirling in her eyes, eyes that always held so much emotion.
“I thought yesterday had meant something to you as well as me, William. I guess I was wrong and I am just a servant to you after all, you certainly proved that with Miss Fancy downstairs.”
William felt joy over her admitting that yesterday had meant something after all, and yet at the same time he felt complete sadness in his gut at the thought of her being hurt, and him the cause of it. William knew he had to make this right. She deserved to be treated much better than how he had done. After everything she had gone through in the last few weeks, she was still standing, she was a much better person than he ever would be and she deserved to know that.
“Oh Elizabeth, I’m so sorry. I’m just a bad, rude man. I never once meant to hurt you, please believe me. I guess I just don’t think sometimes. I’m an idiot. Can you forgive me; because god help me it’s all about you. You are so much more than a servant to me, you’re wonderful, and you have unbelievable strength and such a warm heart. No one even comes close to you. Just thought you should know that, and don’t ever forget it. Yesterday meant the world to me, and if you’ll let me I’d like to do it again and again. Say tomorrow for example?” William gave her a shy smile as he ducked his head.
Elizabeth simply nodded, before William suddenly found his arms full of her, her scent and her touch overpowering his senses. Quickly adjusting to the surprise, he tightly wrapped his arms around her, and could just make her out saying into his chest. “Thank you, Spike.” He didn’t need to ask what she was thanking him for, he just knew.
“Does this mean I can call you Buffy again then, love?”
Elizabeth giggled as William lightened the heavy mood that had settled round them. The sound of Elizabeth’s giggle was like music to his ears as he slipped a slither of hair behind her ear that had worked its way out of her bun.
Pulling out of his embrace, she looked into his eyes, eyes which seemed sapphire as the burned with emotion. Looking at him for a beat longer before she quickly looked down watching her feet, she was un-used to being shown such affection. William decided to lighten the heavy growing mood again.
“So this is your room then, love?”
She scowled at him for the use of the pet name, but didn’t say anything. “Yeah, there’s not much to it, but then again I don’t spend a lot of time up here, it’s not like we get much free time.”
William cast his eyes around the sparse room, and they came to rest on the open book on her bedside table. It was the book he had given her yesterday.
“Are you enjoying the book?”
“Are you kidding? I’m loving it! I’ve nearly finished it already, I couldn’t put it down once I started it last night, its brilliant! I’m sad it’s nearly finished.”
“Well, we’ll just have to sort you out with another one then won’t we?” he gave her a wide smile as he glanced up from the book to see her smiling back at him, clearly liking that suggestion.
“I should really get back before Maggie starts to wonder where we have disappeared to.”
“Ok, love, tomorrow?” he stood and made his way to the door, his hand hovering over the handle.
“Tomorrow, sweet William” Elizabeth placed her hand over his on the handle, both looking up into each other’s eyes, seeing the unspoken words there.
With that they both left the room, with large smiles on their faces and their hearts feeling warm. Both looking forward and anticipating what tomorrow may bring.
TBC…
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Author's Chapter Notes:
I am really really sorry this has taken longer than normal to post.. everything has been really busy here... Thank you to the people who have nominated me at award site.. it means a lot to me and has encouraged me to write faster.. so a big thank you... huggles to everyone... please keep reviewing so that i know people aren't losing intrest.. Thank you everyone.. well best stop now or the AN will end up longer than the chapter!!!