**Disclaimer in effect**
William walked into his law firm with a bounce in his stride. He had talked to Buffy last night and things were back on track for them. There was nothing that could bring him down from the cloud he was on.
“Morning Tara,” William greeted with a bright smile.
Tara blushed as she looked up at her boss. “Morning Mr. Giles.”
William noticed the blush that tinted Tara’s cheeks and knew exactly what had caused it. “Bloody hell, you saw the magazine didn’t you?” William groaned as he rolled his eyes.
Tara blushed even more as she nodded her head. “Some of the girls from the office brought them in,” Tara confessed.
“Them? How many is there?” William asked in shock.
“Three,” Tara answered meekly.
“Three!” William exclaimed with wide eyes.
“But don’t worry, I grabbed them from the break room and have them put away in my desk,” Tara quickly assured him.
William rubbed his face in aggravation. “Tara can you bring them to me and a cup of coffee?” he asked as he walked away to his office.
“Of course Mr. Giles,” Tara agreed.
William plopped down in his chair and let out a heavy sigh. He knew this was more than likely to happen and he had to keep reminding himself that it wouldn’t last forever. Eventually it would become old news and someone else would become the latest dirt.
Tara walked in her boss’s office, coffee and magazines in hand. Setting them on his desk, she smiled shyly. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
William smiled gratefully at his secretary. “No Tara, you have been more than helpful this morning. Thank you for confiscating this garbage,” he said gesturing to the magazines that still lay face down on his desk.
“Well I figured you wouldn’t appreciate personal photos of you floating around the office,” Tara replied sympathetically.
William let out a sigh. “So tell me, how bad are they?” he asked hesitantly.
Tara looked down at her feet, wringing her hands. “Well let’s just say that if you were looking for a date, you would have no problems getting one,” Tara replied shyly.
“That good huh?” William asked wryly.
“I didn’t see personally, but from what I heard, yeah,” Tara admitted, looking up and blushing even more.
William shook his head and let out an exasperated sigh. He could only imagine the things that were floating around the office about him right about now.
“Thank you again Tara for at least confiscating this crap.”
“No problem,” Tara replied with a shy smile as she turned to go back to her desk.
As soon as the door was closed, William picked up one of the tabloids and began to flip through it. He was just about to the last page when he saw a picture of himself in nothing but a towel letting Buffy into his apartment.
“Oh bloody hell,” he groaned tossing the magazine back on his desk. And to think he was worried about his neighbors seeing him. He was about to pick up the next magazine when Tara’s voice came over the intercom.
“Mr. Giles, you have a call on line two.”
William thanked Tara and picked up the line. “William Giles.”
“Well William I must say it was quite the shock when a woman at the bookstore came to the counter with a magazine with you half naked on the cover,” Giles relayed to his son.
William clinched his jaw. “Da’ I don’t need this right now.”
“What is going on? Are you and Buffy back together?” Giles asked, ignoring his son’s request to drop things.
“Yes…..well not exactly,” William fumbled. He wasn’t exactly sure what word you would use to define what was going on between them.
Giles was thoroughly confused. “William it’s either a yes or no.”
“Da’ it’s complicated right now,” William sighed exasperatedly.
“Well did you file for divorce?”
“Yes.”
“So you’re not together then,” Giles said trying to see if he followed correctly.
“No, I mean yes, I mean…oh bloody hell, now I’m confused,” William grumbled, frustrated.
“So let me see if I can figure this out. You are divorced, but you’re still together?” Giles asked confused.
“Sort of,” William answered still not sure if that’s what the situation was.
“Bloody hell boy,” Giles huffed, frustrated.
“Da’ I told you it was complicated.”
“Well all I know is that there are some very compromising pictures of you and Buffy in the tabloids,” Giles sighed.
“Oh believe me I know,” William agreed.
“So how did this happen?” Giles asked curiously.
William let out a sigh. He might as well confess everything now before he read something that was far from the truth in some article. “Buffy had to fly to LA for the hearing last weekend. Well we ended up settling outside of court and then later that night Buffy came by to talk,” he explained without going into the details of him and Buffy sleeping together.
“Well that still doesn’t explain why you are sans shirt and Buffy apparently seems to be wearing said shirt,” Giles inquired.
“That’s none of your business,” William snapped defensively.
Giles let out a sigh. “I know it’s none of my business son, but I just don’t want to see you get hurt is all. You and Buffy have a lot of issues to work through and I just don’t see having a physical relationship as a good idea,” Giles said gently.
“I know you’re worried Da’, but Buffy and I are handling it,” William assured his father.
“So how are you doing with all this?” Giles asked with concern.
“Well when I first found out I was right pissed, but now I’m just ready for it to all blow over,” William confessed.
“What has Buffy had to say about all this?” Giles asked
“She called yesterday and tried to warn me, but I was in the grocery store and some woman came at me flinging her magazine in my face begging for me to sign it before Buffy had a chance to explain.”
Giles couldn’t help but laugh. The mental image of his son in the middle of the grocery store with crazed women all around him was too much.
“Da’ it’s not funny,” William groused.
“No William you’re right, it’s bloody hilarious,” Giles managed between fits of laughter.
William couldn’t help but chuckle himself. When you thought about it, it was somewhat amusing. “Alright old man, that’s enough,” he scolded his father.
Giles managed to compose himself and sighed. “Oh William, only you.”
“Yeah well if you were the loving father you claim to be you’d pull all the damn magazines from the shelf,” William huffed.
“What and lose all those sales?” Giles teased.
“Nice to know I’m just a profit margin to you,” William sulked.
“Well William if you and Buffy are whatever you are then this is something you’re going to have to get used to,” Giles informed his son.
“That’s what Buffy said.”
Giles waited a beat before he asked, “So this thing with Buffy, is it serious?”
“Don’t know? We decided to start over again and see where it takes us,” William explained.
“But you still love her,” Giles commented knowingly.
“Yes I do,” William admitted honestly
“And does Buffy know this?”
“Have I said it to her? No, but I know she knows,” William replied.
“Well William the only advice I can give you is to be careful.”
“I know Da’, I’m not going into this blind. I know things won’t always be easy, but I love her, and I’m gonna do everything I can to get her back,” William said determinedly.
Giles knew that his son was determined, but he couldn’t help but be concerned. He hadn’t really talked to Buffy in quite some time, but from what Joyce had told him of her daughter, she had changed. Buffy was no longer the passive girl William had fallen in love with all those years ago. She was now a woman who had taken her dreams and made them a reality.
“Well William I hope things work out the way you hope they do, but if you need someone to talk to, you know I’m always here,” Giles told his son lovingly.
“Thanks Da’, that means a lot to me,” William replied gratefully.
“Well Son, I must be going, I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Alright Da’ take care, bye,” William said and then hung up.
He was glad his father had called and honestly knew that he would be there for him. He just hoped that he wouldn’t have to be there for him too much.
************************************************************************
Buffy sat in the recording studio just staring off into space. It had been a long day and she was ready to just go home and curl up on the couch for some quiet time. Her publicist had made her statement about her break up with Lindsey that day so there were tons of reporters fighting for answers on the new man in her life.
She knew that sooner or later the truth would come out as to who William was, but she wanted to protect him for as long as possible. Guilt had racked her ever since she had found out about the pictures that had been released of them together. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of him, she just wanted to keep her personal life out of the spotlight until she could figure out what was really going on with her and William.
Buffy jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. With startled eyes, she whipped around to see Lindsey standing in front of her.
“Buffy can we talk?” Lindsey asked softly.
“Uh, sure I guess,” Buffy answered as she settled back in her seat.
“I saw the pictures of you and Will at his apartment,” Lindsey said in a sad voice.
“Lindsey you already told me that,” Buffy replied somewhat confused.
“There’s more Buffy,” Lindsey informed her, looking at her with sad blue eyes. He knew there was no hope for them, but it still hurt to see her with someone else, especially the one man he knew he could never compete with.
Realization hit Buffy. “Oh, that picture,” she replied knowingly. Willow had brought her copies of all the tabloids that were now in circulation.
“Yeah that one,” Lindsey chuckled sardonically.
“Lindsey nothing happened between me and Will while we were together,” Buffy assured him.
“I know Buffy,” Lindsey replied. He knew that in all the time they had been together Buffy had never cheated on him physically, but he knew that her heart had always belonged to another, even if he hadn’t wanted to see it.
“So what’s this about then?” Buffy asked gently. She knew Lindsey was hurting but it was over between them now so she had nothing to feel guilty about.
“Buffy I know it’s none of my business, but did you sleep with him?”
“You’re right Lindsey, it is none of your business,” Buffy replied heatedly. Lindsey had no right to ask her things about her and William.
“So I’ll take that as a yes,” Lindsey said, letting his jealousy bubble to the surface.
“Why do you want to know Lindsey?” Buffy asked exasperatedly.
“Because I want to know the truth Buffy.”
“The truth about what?”
“How you could give me up so easily. That you could sleep with me and then not even two weeks later sleep with him,” Lindsey asked bitterly. He no longer tried to hide the hurt that was inside. He wanted Buffy to know just how much she had hurt him.
“Lindsey it’s not like that,” Buffy tried. She felt so bad for hurting Lindsey the way she had and she knew if she told Lindsey the truth that it would only bring him more pain.
“Buffy it’s a simple question. Did you or did you not sleep with William?” Lindsey pushed.
Buffy couldn’t take it anymore. If Lindsey was so determined on having his heart broken then she was going to do just that. “Yes Lindsey, I slept with Will, are you happy now!” she shouted throwing her hands in the air.
Lindsey knew already it was true, but to hear it out loud was what he needed to finally start letting go. “No, but thanks for being honest,” he said quietly.
Buffy was surprised at Lindsey’s reaction. She had expected him to blow up and say hurtful things, but he had simply thanked her. “Lindsey I never meant to hurt you,” she admitted honestly
“I know, it just happened that way,” Lindsey shrugged and then walked away.
Buffy watched as the man who had been there for the last five years walk away. She really did feel bad about how things had turned out between them. “Lindsey?” she called out to him before he walked out the door.
“Yeah?” Lindsey said as he turned to the woman that would always have a place in his heart.
“No matter what, I’ll always care about you,” Buffy told him with a soft smile.
“And I’ll always love you,” he confessed with a sad smile.
Buffy shook her head. “No you won’t, one day you’ll find someone who truly deserves you.”
Lindsey let out a soft chuckle. “I don’t know, but any woman that comes in my life has some serious competition.”
Buffy laughed and shook her head. “Good night Lindsey.”
“Night Buffy,” Lindsey said and then walked out the door.
Buffy sighed as she gathered her things. She knew that things would never be the same between her and Lindsey. There was too much history between them for them to ever be friends and they were always going to be involved in each other’s lives because of business. Maybe one day things might actually be easy for her, but from the looks of it, not any time soon.
Thanks for Nicki, willowmouse, Raspy_Luv, SarahandJamesFanatic, Spikeshunny, DaniD, kim, MidnightGirl, vitalis, Debbie, Kimber, and Gotkona (My lovelovely beta! whom I adore!) for the awsome reviews. Y'all seriously rock! Kuddos!
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Well here is the new chap as promised, enjoy!