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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you for the reviews and noms! Longer AN at the bottom...
Chapter 18:

 
The week passed too quickly for both William and Buffy's liking, and before either one had really noticed, the weekend had almost come and gone. Buffy had become quite busy at the gallery, while William had become entranced by everything that the internet could offer once he had been introduced to Buffy's computer and shown how to work it fairly successfully.

For the first time, he was able to fully catch up on what had changed in 122 years. He used what Buffy had called "Google" to search for new inventions, things from his era that had changed or fallen out of the public's use, and other little bits of information that William might need in order to successfully navigate through everyday life here in 2004.

It was weird to think that he was actually beginning to settle down here in Sunnydale, California, circa 2004. He had a somewhat offbeat, but clearly caring group of friends. And, what made this entire experience worthwhile was that he had the one person who had quickly become his world - Buffy. Even though he was permanently separated from his mother and sister, William was finding the abrupt change to his liking.

William spent much of his free time thinking about his family - wondering what they were doing without him there to care for the two of them, how mother's health was progressing, and if there would ever be a way to get in touch with them. Nevertheless, despite those melancholy thoughts, William forced himself to not worry himself over his family so he didn’t miss out on all of the pleasant moments he spent with Buffy and her friends.

On Sunday, however, everything else was put aside and that evening was saved especially for just Buffy and William. Buffy had jokingly called it "private Buffy and William time," when she had suggested having another movie marathon evening. This, of course, sent William into another embarrassed fit of blushing and stuttering at the implications of her words, which had made Buffy laugh. Even though they had come much further in a short period of time, a small part of him could not let go of the Victorian ideals he had been accustomed to since birth.

That Sunday, Buffy decided to have a Harry Potter movie marathon since the latest movie, The Prisoner of Azkaban, had just come out a few weeks ago.

William thoroughly enjoyed watching the movies. Although the story was set in England, this world was uniquely its own, and he was fascinated with the special effects and the original story line. As with The Lord of the Rings, Buffy realized that she would be making another trip to the bookstore very soon to purchase the Harry Potter series as well.

"Still enjoying it?" Buffy asked, looking over at him. She had her legs spread out at the end of the couch while William sat upright at the other end.

"Oh, yes indeed," he replied.

"Good." After a quick internal debate over whether she should or not, Buffy leaned over and rest her head against his shoulder.

Buffy felt his arm come up and gently rest against her back and lower shoulder, and she realized that this was the first time that William had ever initialized physical contact between the two of them. It was a small step, but it was definitely something major for a gentleman of the 1880s.

"And now it's even better," she said, smiling up at him.

"I couldn't agree with you more," he agreed, slightly rubbing his hand back and forth against her back.

Suddenly, the front door burst open and a tall, slender, brunette walked through the doorway carrying several heavily-packed bags on each shoulder and dragging an over-stuffed bag of laundry inside behind her.

"Whoa," she exclaimed, dropping the bags on the floor. "Buffy sitting with a guy. Sitting close to a guy. Wow. Am I in the wrong house? Did I travel through an alternate dimension on my way back to Sunnyhell?"

"Dawn?!" Buffy cried out, stopping the movie and rising from her seat on the couch. "What are you doing home? I thought you were coming back tomorrow evening after your last final."

"Well, they moved my exam forward to Friday afternoon so teachers could have the weekend to finish getting grades in. I decided to surprise you by coming home a night early," Dawn explained as she closed the front door behind her. "But here I am being the surprised one."

"Dawn-"

"But hey! At least you listened to my advice, bringing home a hot guy," Dawn said. She grinned and quickly added, "Way to go, sis."

"Dawn, please" Buffy groaned. "This is William Stafford."

"Oh...oh! You mean 'pen pal William'?" she asked excitedly, looking back and forth between her sister and the man sitting uncomfortably on the couch. "Seriously?"

William rose from the couch and walked up to Buffy's sister. He held out his hand for a handshake. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Dawn," he said. "Buffy has told me so many things about you."

"Well, don't believe everything she says, especially if it's anything bad about me," Dawn replied jokingly. She shook his hand, getting a chance to give William a good look over. He appeared to be a very kind, gentle-natured man, but then again, so had Warren at the very beginning. But one thing was for certain...

"See? I told you that his accent would be hot, Buffy," Dawn teased.

Both William and Buffy blushed, and Buffy couldn't help but think, God, she's getting as bad as Anya!

"Come on," Buffy said, directing the two towards the couch. "Let's all sit and talk a bit."

The three sat down on the couch with Buffy in the middle, neither one knowing who should start speaking first.

"So..." Dawn finally began. "When did you get here?"

"I arrived several days ago," William said. "Buffy and I finally decided that we did want to meet and spend the holiday season together."

"That's so great," Dawn said. "This way you won't be alone for the holidays when I go off for my skiing trip next week."

Oh trust me, Buffy thought, that thought has already crossed my mind. She would be lying if she said she wasn't thinking about spending the next week with only William and how things might progress. "We've been having a pretty good time together," she said. "He met the gang at the beginning of this week and then again on Friday night. They all seem to like him so far."

"And Buffy told me that you're a poet?" Dawn asked. "I was thinking about taking an English poetry class next semester, but wasn't too sure if it would interest me enough for an entire class on just poetry alone."

"I find English poetry very fascinating," William said. "I particularly enjoy poetry from the Romantic and Victorian eras."

Buffy and William smiled together and Dawn immediately caught the similar looks on their faces. "What?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing...William just specializes in that period of writing," Buffy tried to explain. "I'm sure that if you take a course on that, William will be able to help you. After all, it's like he read everything for the first time just yesterday."

William fought back a chuckle at how he and Buffy could joke about their situation. "If you ever do need any assistance, please do ask."

"Sure. Thanks, William," Dawn replied.

Dawn looked at her sister and then William, trying to pick up on any unspoken vibes between the two. It had definitely been a shock to see someone sitting so closely to her sister right when she had walked in the front door. Although Buffy had talked about William a few months ago, Dawn had never imagined that their friendship would progress to the point of William actually taking his time to come visit her. It must be really serious if Buffy had invited him to spend Christmas with them.

But when she looked at the two of them, and more importantly, how William looked at Buffy when she was unaware of it, Dawn knew why he had traveled so far just to see her and spend time with her - love. Dawn didn't know much about this William Stafford, but she could see one thing very clearly - he was absolutely crazy about her sister. And the fact that it looked like he would try to do any and every thing to make Buffy happy, suddenly placed William in a very good light in Dawn's eyes.

So many past boyfriends that Buffy had dated really weren't worth her time. They had been pleasant enough, sure, but they hadn't gone that little extra distance to really be a top-quality boyfriend. William, on the other hand, looked like he could come through and be it...the one for her sister, and Dawn couldn't help but be kind towards the man who was winning over her sister's heart.

"Do you want anything to drink, Dawnie?" Buffy asked, hoping her sister would say "yes" so she could give William and Dawn some along time to talk.

"Sure, a soda would be great," Dawn answered.

Buffy rose and walked into the kitchen, casting a smile in William's direction as she left the room.

The minute she was out of ear's reach, Dawn looked at William and asked, "So...what are your intentions with my sister?"

Now William really had to control his desire to laugh out loud. Here was this young, sweet nineteen year old girl, acting like an overprotective father in regard to her older sister. What had made it even more laughable was that what Dawn had asked was a phrase he had never expected to hear in 2004.

"I can assure you, Dawn, that my intentions towards your sister are nothing to be concerned about," William said. "I know of her past relationships with Warren Mears, one relationship and can guarantee you that nothing of the sort shall happen between the two of us."

Buffy stood behind the doorway with Dawn's drink in her hand, listening to their conversation and wondering where it would lead to. She mentally applauded William, glad that he was able to so easily defend himself against her interrogative sister.

Well...that was a good answer actually, Dawn thought, slightly taken by surprise with his clear and concise speech. "You say that now, but..."

"I would never hurt a lady. I wouldn't dare hurt the woman I...the woman that I care for," William said forcefully. He desperately wanted to get that point across, as he did not want something like this getting in the way of their possible friendship.

"And you do care, right? For my sister?" Dawn asked.

William lowered his voice to answer. "I love your sister. With all that I am."

Buffy's breath caught in her throat. While she knew that William had very strong feelings for her, she had no clue that it had gone quite this far. Hearing the words, even though he was simply explaining it to Dawn, made her heart leap and her breath quicken. The words echoed over and over in her mind, and, although she still had moments of worry and unease, she knew she was the luckiest girl on earth to have his love.

Dawn sat back, unable to argue that point. She could see the love burning in his eyes - eyes that are just way too pretty, she thought - and knew that he was for real. Unless he was the world's best actor William really was speaking the truth with everything he had said.

"Okay then," she said. "Congratulations, you passed the sister-questions-boyfriend's-motives test with flying colors."

"Oh thank goodness," William said, mock-wiping his brow.

"Buffy! You can stop hiding behind the wall now," Dawn shouted. "Get your butt out here so we can finish watching Harry Potter!"

 
~~~

 
The week before Christmas passed even faster than the week before. While Buffy finalized everything at the gallery since it would not be open throughout Christmas weekend, Dawn and William entertained each other at home and in town.

On Monday, Dawn decided to take William to see a movie at the Sun Cinema. Dawn ordered a large tub of popcorn, much to William's delight, several boxes of candy, and two bottles of water. She had told him that at least they would drink something healthy this afternoon if nothing else.

As they walked into the theater, William's main thoughts were over how incredibly ridiculous it was that people - and many people, from the looks of how crowded the theater was - were actually willing to pay $3.50 for a simple bottle of water and $5.00 for popcorn. In his day, $5.00 would have bought quite a lot, not just a snack for a two-and-a-half hour long movie.

That evening, the three of them went to the local Christmas tree lot and picked out a tree. The three started decorating the tree the same evening, singing to Christmas carols and talking about whatever came to mind. William was entranced by seeing what Buffy and her sister's traditions were and how they were both similar and different from his own family's traditions.

On Tuesday, the Dawn and William decided to go to the mall for the day - which, William reflected later that evening, had somewhat been a careless decision.

That morning, William had told Dawn that he wanted to get Buffy something for Christmas. Seeing as how he didn't have any money with him, he had asked Dawn for a small advance until he could pay her back. Dawn agreed and the two went shopping at the same mall Buffy had taken him to on his first day here. The two nearly managed to become separated several times - mostly due to William's distractions with all of the decorations and festive window displays, but they did manage to leave the mall with success.

On Wednesday, Dawn showed William around the entire town of Sunnydale, pointing out the Expresso Pump, the high school that Buffy, her friends, and she herself went to, and then ended the tour by taking a walk through the park. After Buffy got back home from the gallery, the three went to a grocery store to pick up everything that they would need to cook dinner for their friends on Friday evening.

Thursday, Dawn met with her friends for the afternoon, leaving William to fare for himself. He spent most of the day on Buffy's computer, reading over scanned newspaper articles and other world events, still trying to catch up to where everyone else was.

By the end of the week, William was delighted that he and Dawn had bonded so well together. He'd been worried at first that Buffy's sister wouldn't approve and wouldn't act friendly while he was staying with them. However, by the time Thursday evening rolled around, William and Dawn were already close friends. In fact, simply by looking at the two, one would have never guessed that they had only known each other for less than a week.

Likewise, Buffy was also thrilled that Dawn and William were becoming such fast friends. With each passing day, the thought of William returning to 1882 became less of a concern. He was right - they didn't write to one another anymore, and without using the desk, there probably wouldn't be a way for him to return to his time. And although only a couple weeks had passed, Buffy realized that she was beginning to depend on having William in her life.

Yes, she was a bit worried every once in a while that she might wake up to find an empty room, but Buffy knew that she had to live in the now - to take advantage of what she had in front of her. And with Christmas coming up, she planned on doing just that.

 
~~~

 
While the three were getting ready for bed on the night before Christmas Eve, Buffy pulled Dawn aside while William was in the bathroom brushing his teeth.

"What?" Dawn asked.

"So, after spending a few days with him what do you think?" Buffy asked, hoping to hear a positive response from her sister.

"I think...I think I like him," Dawn finally answered. "And he's obviously crazy about you. Everything I say your name, he gets all shy and stutter-y...and I think, from what I've seen this past week, that the feeling is equally returned, right?"

Buffy shrugged, not wanting to say more than she could at the moment. "I...he is very close to my heart," she finally said, hoping that would do for the time being.

"I think he could be good for you," Dawn said. "He will be good for you. SO much better than that Warren creep."

"I can't disagree with you there."

"And he is so...well mannered," Dawn continued. "You don't hear guys talk that well anymore these days."

"See? Perfect, polite gentleman," Buffy said. "I said it months ago, yet no one believed me."

"Well, I believe you now."

"Thank you, Dawnie," Buffy said, pulling her sister closer for a tight hug. "And you really don't mind that he'll be spending Christmas with us?"

Now Dawn shrugged, but she still didn't appear too upset at the idea. "I'm not crazy-excited about it, but it really will be nice for you to have someone here while I'm on my winter vacation. I don't like to think of you being all by yourself here, especially when everyone else in the gang has someone to spend the week with."

"You are just the best sister ever," Buffy said, thrilled that Dawn was giving William a chance.

"I know, I know. Keep talking the praise, please," Dawn teased. "Now, about William..."

"Oh boy, here it comes."

"You really do know how to pick 'em, don't you?" Dawn asked. "I mean, wow! I don't know if I should say 'cute,' 'hot,' or even 'beautiful' but you picked a real looker."

"Oh, I know," Buffy sighed, casting a wistful look towards the bathroom. "Damn, but don't I know."

 
~~~

 
TBC...


Thank you all for the reviews...I hope you all liked the new chapter! Please take a second and let me know what you thought of the newest chapter.

And this story picked up it's first award! Runner-Up at the Blood Ties Awards - so thanks to the people that nominated my story and to the judges! :) It's my first ever award for fan fiction, so I'm very proud of it!

The review count was a bit down for the last chapter - I was just wondering if I updated at the wrong time of day or you all weren't as happy with the chapter as you usually are. Your feedback and criticism is the only thing that lets me know what you think and how I should write this story - without any comments, it leaves me a bit confused and sad.

So, not that the review count was horrible, but please continue to let me know what you thought of the newest chapter. Read and review please, make an author happy! :) Your support has been amazing, I'm truly blessed to have such a following for this story. Thanks guys, you all are just the best.





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