William walked into the living room with two cups of cocoa in his hands. Buffy sat talking on the phone. He had told her she didn’t have to, but she had insisted that she needed something to do. So here she was, making the phone calls to Faith’s family and close friends. She was on the phone with Hank at the moment. She had insisted on calling him, because she wouldn’t put her mother through that. William watched her closely and what he saw didn’t make him happy.
“Listen to me I don’t care if he is in a meeting or if he is simply giving you an ‘oral pep-talk’, I WANT TO SPEAK WITH HIM NOW ” William watched as her eyes narrowed. He figured whatever had been said wasn’t to her liking, because the next thing he heard was the phone slamming on the cradle. “Bitca.”
“I’m guessing you didn’t get through to him?”Buffy's eyes shot daggers at William and he backed up and brought the mugs up into view. “Peace offering?” For good measure he, added the puppy dog eyes. Hey, he’d admit it. He used them when they gave him the advantage. He watched as Buffy slowly gave up. She rolled her shoulders and he watched as the tension disappeared from her face.
“You know, that is cheating. I can never stay angry when you use the puppy look.”
William acted offended. “Well, I have no idea what you are talking about.”
Buffy just shook her head at him and pointed towards the cups in his hands. “Chocolaty goodness would be of the order, now, ” she said. She then raised her eyebrow at him, when he seemed to take too long to hand over the mug.
“As you wish.”
Buffy chuckled as she blew on her cocoa, trying to cool it down. She looked over the mug at him and said. “You've been watching The Princess Bride again, haven’t you?”
William smiled, “Maybe. And what if I was? It has great fights in it.”
“Uh huh, like that is why you actually like it.”
William just shook his head. “A man just can’t get any respect from you, Miss Summers.”
Her smile turned into a scowl. “Yeah, well there's one man that will never get my respect.”
*********************************************
Buffy stood by the grave as they lowered the casket into the ground. She had refused to leave when the minister had asked her to. William had stayed when Joyce had shown concern about leaving Buffy alone. Buffy couldn’t have thanked him enough, though. She had always seen herself as a strong woman, but seeing Faith lying in the casket earlier had done her in. As she had looked into the casket at the funeral home she could have sworn Faith was just sleeping, making Buffy wonder for a moment if it had all just been a sick practical joke. She knew, though, that Faith was dead. At that moment she broke, turning into the little girl she had been trying to hide all week. William had wrapped her in his arms like he’d done in Faith’s bedroom, and she had continued to cry. He had stayed close all through the funeral and gathering at the burial plot. She had refused to leave though. She swore she wouldn’t leave here until they had buried her sister. She seemed to get the inkling that William understood her feelings. He stood back and waited for her. She bent down when the last pile of dirt was patted down, and laid a rose on it. She had picked one which was a shade of the deepest red she could find, and made sure it was covered in thorns. In a gentle whisper, she reminded herself what Faith had said to her a few months back.
‘The beauty of life doesn’t come without pain, sister.’
Buffy walked back to William then, and kissed him gently on the lips. It wasn’t a kiss of passion though. It was a kiss that reminded her that the pain had been high lately but that there was still beauty in her life.
****************************************************************
Rupert Giles watched Joyce look out the window again. She had been doing the same thing every couple of minutes since they had arrived back at the house. He walked over to her, slid his arms around her waist, and pulled her to him. Laying his chin on her shoulder, he whispered in her ear.
“Don’t worry, she'll be fine.”
“How am I going to tell her, Rupert?”
Giles sighed. She had told him just days before about Buffy not being her biological daughter. “I think she’ll see that you made a promise and tried to keep it. I really believe you have to tell her. You have lived with this secret long enough, and she deserves to know.”
“What if she no longer wants me after she finds out?” Giles moved his hands from around her waist and stood up straight. He waited until she turned and looked at him. Cupping her cheek with his hand, he looked straight into her eyes.
“You will always be her mother, no matter what. I believe Buffy is smart enough to realize that, and if she doesn’t then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Joyce gave a small smile then turned her head and kissed the palm of his hand. He pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. “Now, stop worrying about her. She is with William, who is probably the best one to be with her right now. I think he took a small trip down memory lane today.”
************************************************************************
William stood with his back to the tree that shadowed Faith’s burial plot. Buffy stood about five feet away, silently crying as she watched the casket being lowered into the ground. As William watched, he was transported to four years before, but it was him instead of Buffy.
William stood next to a hole, and watched a baby blue casket , his mother’s favorite color, slowly lowered. Every inch it fell deeper into the hole. All he had wanted to do at that point was jump in there with it and let them bury him too. Then he had felt a slight wind brush across his face. When he looked in the direction from which it came, he saw Tara standing in the distance watching him. He knew then that he couldn’t do it; he couldn’t be the reason she lost another person in her life. Even if he did feel miserable.
Now he stood watching Buffy and knew he was thankful that he hadn’t given up. He hadn’t noticed back then that sometimes life was just worth living. That was what he was doing now. It had taken him a while to start living again, but if anything good had come out of this last week, it had been that. He was living again, not just walking through the days, but actually living them. It had taken thinking about Tara to remind him not to give up, but Buffy had caused him to see that he had to continue to live.
He was drawn back from his thoughts by Buffy. She had bent down to the closed grave and laid a rose on it. He watched as she whispered something and then stood. She walked to him slowly and as she reached her hand up, he bent his head down. When he was close enough, she kissed him. He could tell that there was a difference to the kiss, but he wasn’t sure why. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, and once again she cried on his shoulder. He waited until she had calmed down. “You wanna leave yet?”
“Not really... can we just sit a bit?” William took his gray overcoat off and laid it on the grass. He sat with his back against the tree and waited for her to sit. She maneuvered her skirt and sat down, leaning against him. After a long silence, he spoke up. “So, what’s bothering you?”
“Did you ever really love my sister, or was it just a safe relationship for you?” William wasn’t sure where this was going, but he wasn’t sure he liked where it might lead. “Why are you asking this?”
Buffy rephrased the question. “Did you love her in the beginning and then have your feelings change over time, or was it more of a friendship between you two from the begining?”
“I don’t know about her, but for me it was an attraction that never went past friendship. We played the couple, but not much more. Like I said the other day, it was safe, and I figured I wouldn’t get hurt.” William thought for a few more minutes then finished up by saying. “After everything with my mother, I never wanted to love again. So what Faith and I had was easy. I never had to lose someone I cared about again, or so I thought. When I first met her, I thought she was the person who I wanted to be with. Someone who didn’t care about anybody or anything. Then I realized that for her it was just a facade. Through the relationship, I think we both changed. I slowly came to the realization that you couldn’t live life without pain, and I wanted to live. Faith, on the other hand just wanted the pain to go away, and she didn’t care how she made it disappear. I figured that’s why she turned to drugs. I didn’t know for sure though. After that, we pretty much stopped talking to each other. Why is this so important?”
“William with everything that has been going on I’m just worried we’ll end up like you and Faith. You just staying with me so as not to hurt me, or us just staying together because it’s ‘safe’.” William was quiet for a long time. He mulled over what she had said and he knew exactly what he had to do.
“Maybe we should break up then?”
****************************************************************
In a small stone crypt a few feet away from Faith’s plot stood a shadow among the dead. It watched on with keen brown eyes and soaked up the pain that surrounded it. It had started this whole thing in motion and slowly things where falling into place. It watched as Buffy ran away from William crying. It loved the pain, but didn’t have time to just stand around, as there was much more to be done. The shadow would have its revenge and get what it was due. After William had gone after Buffy, the shadow made its way slowly out of the crypt. The sun had set below the horizon, so it was easy to stay hidden. The shadow skulked towards the dug up dirt where Faith lay beneath, and reached down to pick up the rose that lay there. Buffy would see this rose again and realize what pain really was. Slowly, the shadow receded into the darkness that permeated the cemetery, but not before whispering a farewell. Anyone listening could have heard it in the slight breeze.
“They all will feel pain for what they have taken.”
A/N: Well Following Shadows is back from it’s hiatus and I hope to be updating more frequently now. *crosses fingers*. Anyway I hope you all like this chapter, and let me know what you thought. I love feedback no matter if it’s good or bad.
[Reviews - 10]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 2210 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +