Buffy stood at the closet, staring, with a look of utter disbelief on her face, at what she saw in front of her. While Willow had just stopped screaming, Buffy couldn't hold her laughter in any longer.
Amidst her giggles, she turned to look at Willow. "Why in the world were you screaming over that?"
They both turned and looked at the ball of fluff that sat amongst some of Joyce's old coats. It was a puppy that looked back at them with big brown eyes. Buffy watched as a hat that had fallen on its tail at some point would swish back and forth a couple of times and then stop, just to start again. Buffy smiled as she looked down on the helpless little creature. She turned then to look back at Willow, and only then did she realize that Willow still held the lamp in her hand, poised to strike.
"Willow I think it's safe to say that the puppy isn't here to attack us, so do you mind putting down the lamp?"
Willow gave her a sheepish look and set the lamp on the floor. Buffy then got down on her haunches so as not to scare the little dog when she went to pick it up. As she reached in the closet for the puppy, it ducked out of her reach, so she tried again. This time she caught it. She cuddled it to her bosom and began to talk to Willow.
"So where do you think she came from?" There was a sharp bark from her arms and she looked closer at the dog. "Oh sorry. Willow where do you think 'he' came from?" When she looked back to him she could have sworn that he was sporting a self satisfied grin, but Willow spoke and Buffy forgot about it.
"Well I would say he is probably what came in the box. I had actually been wondering what you would need a leash for. Well then again you are dating William.... Nope I was right the first time, what would you need with a leash?"
Buffy could not believe what she had just heard. "Willow did you just imply what I think you did?" Buffy watched as a blush formed on her friend’s face, before they both burst out laughing. The puppy, which had been trying to fall asleep in her lap, was jostled by Buffy's laughter. Buffy watched as the dog gave her the evil eye and jumped from her lap to the floor. He walked off to a corner not far from her and laid with his back to her. Buffy soon turned from watching the puppy, and started taling to Willow. "Okay, now back to where this little guy came from."
"Like I was saying there was a leash, and some other puppy things, and there might have even been a note but I didn't get that far."
Buffy got up and walked over to the box and started looking in it. Just when she was about to give up she noticed something white attached to the inside flap of the box. She pulled it off and found it was an envelope. She opened it and found a note inside.
Hey luv,
I know by the time this little gift reaches you I'll be on a plane for England, or at least I hope I am. I saw this little guy yesterday and remembered that you kept saying something about being, lonely. I hope he will help a little, just remind him you’re my girl and he can't have you.
Please don't be too lonely while I'm gone. I'll call you later tonight. Remember I love you, and I miss you.
Love Always,
William
PS. Don't worry ‘bout your mom… she already knows.
Buffy folded the note back up and put it in her back pocket. She quickly wiped the few tears that had fallen as she read the note. Once she was sure she'd wiped them away she turned back to Willow.
"So from William, huh?"
Buffy was surprised. "How'd you know?"
"Well for one, the thousand watt smile."
Buffy didn't reply to that but did to Willow's original question. "Yeah that little guy is from William. He got him so that I wouldn't be lonely."
The conversation moved on to puppy names and fits of giggles. They were oblivious to the world around them or they might have realized they were being watched again. Instead they remained obliviouse to the killer who had been so close to them.
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Willow parked her car in the space at the end of the apartment building. She hated parking down here because there were hardly any lights, but there was no other spaces open closer. She had stayed out late with Buffy at the Bronze. They had decided to hang out there for an hour but soon it had turned into three hours. Willow wasn't regretting it though, because it had been great just to have a girls’ night out; well almost. Tara had gone into L.A. earlier that morning and when they'd called to see if she wanted to join them no one had answered. Willow and Buffy had a great time though - it had been fun just to hang out.
There just hadn't been much of that lately and Willow knew she would soon have to confess to Buffy that they wouldn't have much time left together.
Willow still hadn't figured how she was going to tell Buffy that she wasn't staying in Sunnydale for college. She had just gotten the letter the other day saying she'd been accepted to Berkeley which was almost six hours away. Willow still wasn't sure what she was going to major in, but she wanted to get out of Sunnydale. She had never thought she would get to, and now that she had the chance she couldn't give it up. It still didn't help her to figure out just how to tell Buffy, or Xander for that matter.
She got out of the car and locked it up. Willow paid close attention to her surroundings as she walked towards the entrance to the apartment complex. It was a habit she had picked up from her brother, the cop. She was only half way there when she heard a scuffle and then some yelling. She would have ignored it and hurried the rest of the way but the one voice had sounded suspiciously like Xander. Willow turned back towards her car and rounded the building. Although it was dark, she distinctly made out Xander's form standing bent over by a tree. As Willow watched, another person came up behind him, but she couldn't make out who it was. The man, or what she guessed was a man by his body shape, started to manhandle Xander. Willow stood back, figuring that Xander could take care of himself, but he was soon overpowered by the guy.
Willow didn't think about what she did next. She just ran up behind the guy and jumped on his back.
"You leave my brother alone!" She screamed. She had her hands covering his face as she tried to scratch him. It was the one time when she wished she didn’t bite her nails. She did manage to cause the guy to lose his balance though, because he soon fell over. The only thing Willow hadn't thought about was that she would go down with him when he fell. They both landed with an oomph, and Willow knew that she would have bruises in the morning. As she looked toward where the other person was, the moon came out from behind the clouds and she was able to see the other person’s face.
"Oh no, I'm so sorry Richard! I didn't hurt you did I?"
"No, but remind me never to get on your bad side."
Willow suddenly remembered what she'd seen moments before and the fire rekindled within her. "Yeah, well manhandling my brother around would cause you to be on my bad side. So would you like to explain yourself?"
"It wasn't what you think Willow - I found Xander down at Willy's."
Willow realized what he was saying and sure enough when she finally looked over towards where Xander had been he wasn't standing anymore. He was passed out next to the same tree he had been leaning against. Willow sighed a long daunting sigh. "He's drunk isn't he?" She watched as Xander’s friend and co-worker nodded his head in confirmation.
"I was trying to get him into the apartment. Figured it would be better if he slept it off at home. He had actually started to bother Willy's other customers, and that's when Willy called me. I even got Willy not to press charges for the broken mirror."
"Broken mirror?"
"It seems Xander went into a bit of a rant. Willy said that he kept yelling at the mirror that it was his fault. Finally he just threw his bottle at the mirror. I paid the damages, so don't worry."
Willow tried to give him a smile but she figured it probably looked strained. All the happiness from earlier had quickly slipped out of her when she'd realized Xander was drunk. She started to stand up; instead she was lifted to her feet. She looked back and came face to face with Richard's brown eyes and a tender smile spread across his features.
Willow quickly averted her eyes as she felt her cheeks fill with heat. His hands seemed to linger a bit too long on her waist, but when she looked back at Richard, his smile was gone. She figured she had just imagined the hand thing too, because he now had a determined look on his face. She quickly pushed the warmth that had started to take over her body down; this wasn't the time or place. Most likely it would never be the right time or place.
"Thanks."
He nodded his head in acceptance of her thanks and then moved towards Xander's sprawled body. She watched Richard throw Xander’s arm over his shoulder and lift. He soon was dragging Xander's passed out form toward the apartment entrance again.
Willow rushed up on the other side of Xander and tried to take some of the weight of her brother off of Richard's shoulder. Once again she was graced with a genuinely tender smile from Richard and this time she couldn't push the feeling away, and really she didn't want to.
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Joyce peered into the living room through the doorway in which she was standing. Buffy had fallen asleep on the couch waiting for William to call, like he'd said he would. Joyce silently walked toward her daughter’s sleeping form and reached over her to remove the afghan from the back of the couch, before covering Buffy’s resting figure. As she tucked her daughter in like so many times when Buffy was younger, Joyce couldn't help but feel grateful. After telling Buffy the truth, Joyce had figured she'd lose her remaining daughter, but instead it had really made them closer. Joyce found herself cherishing their time together more. She knew if Buffy wanted to, she could leave and never look back, because in all reality all they had ever had in common was one man. Hank Summers.
Joyce couldn't stop the bitter taste that entered her mouth whenever she thought of her ex-husband. The only good thing he had ever done was give her Faith and Buffy. Joyce couldn't stand the man, and she hoped she never reached a point in her life where she ever could. She had forgiven him years ago for his deceit and cheating, but she could never forgive him for turning his back on his daughters. Joyce had realized then that he was a selfish idiot. If anything, his absence at Faith’s funeral proved that. Joyce had hoped Hank would at least make an appearance; but all she had received was a check explaining he'd pay all the funeral expenses. Joyce had promptly torn the check up and trashed it. She wanted nothing to do with Hank ever again if she could help it.
Joyce had a man that loved her now and she couldn't ask for anyone better. Giles had stuck by her side during all of this. A lot like William had stuck by Buffy’s side. Giles had been a life saver this last month and Joyce couldn't help wondering how she would have ever gotten through it without him. He had been able to see right through every facade she'd put up and had made her open herself to him, not allowing her to keep it all bottled up inside. Joyce had cried more than she had ever cried before, and for once she didn't feel as if she had to be the strong one. Giles had done that for her; had become the strong one and shared her burdens through all of this.
Joyce leaned down and placed a kiss on Buffy's forehead. As she stood back up, the afghan started to move and a little white head popped out from underneath.
Joyce whispered "What are you up to?"
The puppy yapped at her and she quickly picked it up, trying to quiet it. He snuggled into her arms and quieted down. Joyce turned her attention back to Buffy and watched as she stirred, but fell back asleep.
"Now Little Willy you must be quiet. We can't go waking up Buffy." Joyce started to leave but took one more look back at her daughter. She really hoped she never lost Buffy, because she didn't know if she'd make it.
Joyce had no sooner left the living room, before the phone began to ring. She peeked around the corner just in time to watch Buffy jump awake and reach for the phone. Joyce heard Buffy’s opening remarks as she was walking away.
"Yeah, William. It’s me. No I wasn't waiting up….umm…just had the phone by my bed."
Joyce couldn't help but chuckle.
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Willow slumped onto the small love seat which was located in the living room. The room wasn't big enough to hold a normal sized couch, so Xander had picked out a navy blue velour love seat. Willow loved how comfortable it was. It was her favorite place to sit in the whole apartment. Willow tried to figure out how she would talk to Xander in the morning. She had actually thought William had straightened him out. Although William hadn’t told her what was wrong, he had seemed to think that Xander would be fine. Now Xander was coming home like this.
Willow leaned her head against the back of the love seat and closed her eyes. The next thing she felt was a blanket drapped over her. She groggily opened her eyes and realized she must have dozed off. As she looked up, she saw Richard standing over her.
"Oh! I'm sorry Richard. Didn’t mean to fall asleep." Willow yawned and tried to sit up, but a hand held her back.
"Don't worry about it. I'm just leaving anyway. When I saw you'd fallen asleep, I decided to cover you up. Instead I woke you up." Richard backed off then and started walking for the door. He stopped and picked up his keys off the side table.
"That's okay. I really should head off to bed anyway. This love seat may be my favorite place to sit, but it does awful things to my back if I try to sleep on it. I learned that one night when Buffy and I had a movie night." Willow got up and walked to open the door for Richard.
Richard chuckled at that. "Buffy is that little blonde, right?"
"Yeah. But she's taken, so no funny ideas." Willow tried giving him her best evil eye. She was now standing at the door holding it open for Richard. "I'm not trying to get rid of you and yet I am. I really need to get to bed."
Richard laughed again. "Yeah, I understand. Anyway, talk to you later. Tell Xander I'll see him at work." Willow had nearly shut the door before opening it again when Richard continued to speak. “Oh, Willow as for liking Buffy well....."
Willow nodded her head for him to continue.
"Well don't worry about that. I’m more partial to redheads." Willow watched as Richard winked at her and then walked away. She was left standing in the open doorway, shocked.
Had he just flirted with her? Willow quickly shook her head and closed the door. She was not awake enough to think about this tonight.
No matter how tired she was, Willow found it hard to fall to sleep that night. She kept hearing Richard’s words over and over in her head. When she finally did slip into dreamland, though, it was with a smile on her face.
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