William sat with his back against the tree, holding Buffy. Her body had become rigid, and she sat up after he had spoken. He realized he should have explained it better, but it was too late now because she was already standing up and trying to run off.
William grabbed her by the hand though, and spun her around until she was pinned between him and the tree. The tree’s sharp bark bit into his hand but he ignored it, and didn’t move. He knew if he did she’d just run again and he couldn’t let her. She halfheartedly tried to push him away but soon gave up and bowed her head downward. She mumbled something but he couldn’t hear what she’d said.
“Buffy, what did you say?”
“I said I’m sorry for questioning if you loved me but I needed to know. I guess I do now.” She sounded so much like a child, whispering her statement out.
“No you don’t know Buffy, you di...”
She interrupted with an agitated lilt to her voice. “William, I know perfectly well what you meant, you said it pretty clearly.”
William just stared down at her, and couldn’t help the smirk that came to his face. He couldn't believe that she wasn't listening to him. She alwasy seemed to do that with him. William hadeted it when she wouldn't let him explain. “You always were quick with the assumptions. Buffy do you know what assume means?” He watched her look him in the eyes and saw the fury of fire that started to swelter in her eyes.
“No I don’t, but I’m pretty sure you will tell me. Won’t you?” She told with a small growl to her voice.
He knew his answer would piss her off more, but his brain couldn’t seem to stop his mouth from talking. “It means when you assume you make an ASS out of U and ME.” He watched her whole face turn a bright red as she started gnashing her teeth. He saw her knee too late though; she brought it straight up between his legs. She then turned in a huff and started running away. Before she got to the end of the first row of gravestones, she again faced him.
“William, you’re the ass. That’s for sure.”
Buffy quickly left the cemetery. William watched her retreat as he leaned against that same sharp bark trying to catch his breath and push down the emotional pain he was feeling. He wanted to run after her and apologize. Once again his mouth had gotten him into trouble. He had thought he was losing her and automatically started closing his heart up. In doing so, he’d become an arrogant ass once again.
He had acted that way a lot after his mom had died, mostly to cut the feeling out. He didn’t want to do that anymore, but he guessed old habits died hard. Once the pain had subsided a bit, he started to walk in the same direction that Buffy had traveled. He knew that his walk was quite the sight, as he was trying to keep as little movement as possible from affecting his private jewels.
*******************************************************
Buffy could not believe that arrogant asshole.
After everything that had happened that day he had the audacity to break up with her and then call her names. At least he had gotten one part of that comment right. He was an ass.
She tried to figure out what had happened. She had never seen him act like that. He had always been really sweet but now she could see what Faith had probably seen in him. She had always liked the asinine assholes. She had just never thought he could be one of them.
Buffy knew she had to calm down before she reached her house, or else she’d upset her mother. She slowed down a bit while also ensuring that William didn’t catch up. She felt a little bad about kicking him that way, but she had been pissed. Her conscience was beginning to get to her a bit, but she was adamant that after his comment, he deserved it. As she got closer to her home, she quickened her pace and decided to enter through the back door. Hopefully everyone would be preoccupied in the living room and wouldn’t see her.
She made it as far as the top landing leading to the upstairs before she felt the familiar hand rest on her shoulder. She knew who it was and she tried to suppress the tears that came to her eyes. As she turned and saw the caring face looking at her she couldn’t help it.
“Oh honey, what’s wrong? Where is William?”
Buffy looked into Tara’s eyes and thought about what to say. Maybe Tara could explain what was wrong with William. So she told Tara the story of what had happened. She watched Tara’s eyes grow wider as she continued and by the time Buffy had recounted her tale, the look on Tara’s face had hardened. Buffy wondered if Tara had been taking lessons from Willow. The face Tara was sporting looked as if it could counter Willow’s resolve face any day, which was something with which you did not want to mess.
“That bastard.”
Buffy heard Tara say something about not worrying about it, and that William would be back to his old self real quick. Then Tara turned on her heel, leaving Buffy standing there in shock. Buffy had never heard Tara swear or at least not without blushing. Tara was one of those people that just didn’t see the need to use profanity. For her to use it in that way meant that she was really angry and Buffy knew she didn’t want to be William. She felt bad about it for a bit but knew that Tara wouldn’t hurt William, or at least she hoped not.
*******************************************************
William walked through the gate into Buffy’s backyard. He leaned against it for a bit and tried to figure out how he could fix this. He knew that Buffy had probably already gone to bed, but he knew he had to straighten things out with her. William started walking towards the back door; however, before he could reach it, he was hit on the head. He turned to see who had hit him and found Tara glaring at him. Gone was the smiling face and easy going demeanor she usually sported. In its place was a mouth drawn in a grim line and raised eyebrows. He knew she was waiting for an explanation. He guessed she had talked to Buffy. He also knew if he didn’t answer correctly that the evening paper she was holding would find itself plastered to his head again.
“You had to go and pull your safety out again didn’t you?”
He bowed his head at her comment, because that’s exactly what he’d done.
“Oh no you don’t, mister. You are not getting any sympathy from me. You know Buffy was crying when she came in? You couldn’t keep your mouth shut could you?” She continued to lay into him and he continued to feel worse. “I will not let you fall back into this behavior again, is that understood? You did this after mom died and you will not do this again.”
He watched as Tara’s eyes slowly started to glisten in the moonlight. He knew he had hurt her too. He could just imagine what thoughts were going through her mind.
He pulled her into a hug, whispering, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me but I’m not going to be like that again. I promise.”
Tara nodded against his shoulder then leaned back and looked him in the eyes. This time, all William saw was the love and the worry that she had for him. Tara smiled.
“Now I think you have a big apology to make, and don’t botch it up.”
“I wouldn’t...” He was cut off by her raising her eyebrows at him. “Okay, maybe I would.”
Tara nodded her head and moved out of the doorway that led into the kitchen.
William stood back and looked at her. She was turning into such a beautiful woman and he couldn’t believe he had actually thought about giving up all those years ago. It seemed almost too long ago that those thoughts had run through his head. He realized she was waiting for him to make a move, and the longer he stood there the more irritated she became. William decided he had better go and apologize to Buffy. As he passed Tara, he mussed her hair and then continued on. He heard her huff and all he could do was smile. She may have turned into a beautiful woman, but she was still his little sis.
*******************************************************
When he arrived upstairs, William found Buffy in the hallway. She had changed her clothes and looked like she was ready for bed. The only problem with that scenario was that she wasn’t anywhere near her bedroom. She was sitting on the floor with her back pressed against Faith’s bedroom door. Once again she had the pig in her grasp. He watched her closely. Instead of her looking at him like he expected, she continued to stare at the wall in front of her. William was just about to walk over to Buffy and tap her out of her reverie, when she finally spoke.
“You know I don’t know what your problem was but I’m not in the mood to fight right now. So maybe you should just leave.”
“Buffy I came to apologize. I know I was an idiot, but please hear me out before you send me away.”
“Fine.”
“Buffy, in the cemetery I told you that maybe we should break up. Well, I meant it, just not how you thought.”
“William, you are not winning any points here.”
“Okay. To be more specific, I did not mean that I wanted to break up, but meant that we should put our relationship on hold for now.”
Buffy turned and looked at him with a quizzical eye. “What are you getting at?”
“I mean since I have to go back to England for a month and a half, we should hold off on pursuing our relationship any further until I return. That way we both get some time apart and figure out if this is what we really want. In the last week we’ve moved really fast. This way we can slow it down a little. I don’t want you to have any doubts about ‘us’ as a couple.”
“That’s fine and dandy. I mean you could have dropped the hint a little better, but I can agree with what you’re saying. That still doesn’t explain you being an ass about it all.” She answered with a hurt tone that had a sarcastic twinge.
William looked down at his hands and wrung them together. “Yeah, well see.... I have a tendency to act like a total pillock when I think I might get hurt.”
“Pi..whatever doesn’t even come close to describing the way you were acting.”
“Would kicking me in the balls again make it better?” William chuckled as Buffy shook her head and began to smile.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that but you just had me so pissed off.”
“I know that I went about it all wrong but I really want to still date you. I think it would be good if we just slowed down a bit. If anything, it will give you time to come to terms with Faith’s death and realize that whatever is happening between you and me has nothing to do with her.”
“I think you’re right, but I will miss you William.” Buffy’s voice sounded like an overly sweet little girl and she chuckled. When William looked down into her eyes he could see that she had forgiven him. He let out a breath of air at that realization. He had been so afraid that he had lost her. He didn’t know why she had forgiven him, but he was grateful she had.
“Buffy, do you know how much I love you?”
Buffy sat there for a few minutes just starring in his eyes. She could see how much he loved her, it was all right there. “Yeah William. I know.” She watched his shoulders relax with relief. He then turned around and sat next to her. She watched his hand grab hers and squeeze it.
“So what were you doing staring at the wall? I don’t see anything interesting there.” Buffy giggled as William got up an inspected the wall closely. “Nope, nothing interesting here.”
“I was just thinking. You know after this week, I don’t think anything will ever be the same.” She watched William sit back down in front of her and was drawn to the emotions playing over his face. She was aware that he wanted to put her at ease, but she got the distinct feeling he wasn’t sure how to do that. Slowly, though, a grin made its way onto his face. He nodded sharply and grinned.
“I think we need to get you medicated.”
“William, are you trying to be a jerk or does sticking your foot in your mouth just come second nature to you?”
“I’m not trying to be a big meany. I’m serious. You need medicine. The good stuff.” Buffy was slowly getting irritated with William. She didn’t think he knew when to shut up anymore. He started pulling on her arm to help her stand, but she acted like a pouty two-year-old and sat with her arms crossed, not moving. Finally he just reached under her arms and threw her over his shoulders, fireman-style.
“Gosh you’re....” She interrupted him.
“William if you value your life you won’t finish that statement.” Buffy smacked William’s butt hard for good measure though. She could do nothing but giggle as William carried her down the stairs. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, she heard several whoops of laughter come from the living room. She heard Giles next.
“Dear Lord William! What on earth are you doing.”
“Medicating Buffy. She’s too gloomy.” Although Buffy couldn’t see his face, she could hear the elation in his voice as he spoke to his father. Then Buffy felt William’s hand connect with her butt. “Ain’t that right Buffy?”
“Eep” After a quick giggle from her, he turned on his heels and headed for the kitchen. Buffy could hear her mother burst out laughing again and caught a glimpse of Giles just shaking his head. When William dropped her on one of the stools in the kitchen, Buffy looked up and saw he was smiling from ear to ear. She couldn’t help smiling with him.
He bent down next to her ear and whispered. “See knew I could get you to grin.” It didn’t take long until those who were in the living room began to congregate in the kitchen. Buffy noticed that the numbers had dwindled down to just those who were close to the Summers family. Most of them where friends that had turned into family over the years. Williow stood next to Tara and Buffy's mom, oppisite Buffy at the end of the island. While Xander and Giles stood by the door. She was glad they were the only one's there, when she thought back to the whole scenario that had just played out.
Buffy watched as William walked around the kitchen, pulling stuff out of cupboards and drawers. Buffy couldn’t figure out what he was doing, but the others were watching him with anticipation. William suddenly stopped though and looked like he was in deep thought about something.
“Mrs. Summers, where is the strawberry topping?”
Giles once again spoke up. “William, what are you up to?”
A look of nostalgia crossed Joyce’s face. “Rupert let him be and just wait.” She pointed to where it was stored. “William it’s in the cupboard over there.”
Buffy still wasn’t quite sure what was going on. As William pulled the chocolate ice cream out of the freezer, everyone in the room who was under twenty years of age squealed. Actually, Xander also made a noise which sounded suspiciously squeal-like, but quickly tried to cover it up.
William then asked, “So, who’s in the mood for a Bloody Sundae?”
Buffy heard her mother start laughing again. However, Giles was still standing by the door with a perplexed look on his face. Joyce then spoke up. “Why doesn’t everyone move back into the living room and let William make the sundaes.” Everyone except William and Buffy did as Joyce requested and moved to the other room. William started dishing out the ice cream. Buffy watched her mother walk over to William and give him a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks William, for making me smile.” Joyce then left the kitchen to join the others.
Buffy, who had been sitting on a stool, got up and pulled William into a kiss too, but hers was not quite as chaste as her mother’s. “Thank you.” Then she started to walk toward the door also.
“Hey! Wait a minute! Aren’t you going to help?”
“You’re the one that called me an ass, what do you think?” Before retreating into the living room, Buffy saw William shake his head. She couldn’t help thinking how much he looked like his step-father when he did that. It proved more so that they were father and son even though they didn't share blood.
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