I wanna be sedated. The steady beat blasting through the headphones helped keep the pace.
William loved to run. He did it every morning before work. When he was in London, he would run on the treadmills at the gym. However, it was not quite the same as the feeling of running outside. As he was working from the estate for the rest of the week, he took full advantage of the acres and acres that the Giles estate had. He loved it; the feel of the grass under his feet adding spring to each stride, the fresh air pumping through his lungs reminding him to give up smoking sooner rather than later. Most of all, he loved the freedom; the feeling that he could run away to wherever the mood took him. There were no deadlines or must-win cases to be won. With each stride, he felt more and more free.
Aside from the physical work out it gave him, it also helped clear his mind of clutter, to focus, and regroup to start each day.
His mind had been clouded ever since Buffy had entered it. She had entered his mind about two minutes after meeting her yesterday and had yet to leave. So many things about her annoyed him, her blatant disregard for any form of propriety was one, her ability to annoy him with just a look was another, and the way her hair shone as she flicked it from side to side. The list went on and on.
It was the reason he had gotten up before anyone else and had gone for a run. The Sex Pistols were helping clear his head. Nothing like a bit of Brit punk blasting the ear drums to gather your thoughts. He started singing along as he made his way back to the house.
He rounded the far corner of the garden on his way back to the house when he ran smack bang into what he was running from. Buffy.
They both fell to the ground with a thud. He quickly detangled himself from her and stood up. Brushing himself off, he offered his hand to her.
“I can do it myself.” Buffy stood up and her face was flushed. “You have, in one fell swoop, undone the last hour of yoga. I was relaxed and now I’m all not.”
“One more time in English please?” he asked.
“You have ruined all my hard work.” She placed her hands on her hips as her eyes narrowed.
He laughed. “Please, as if deep breathing is exercise. Should do what I do. Couple of laps around the estate, and then you will know what exercise is all about.”
“Yoga is more strenuous than running. It’s better for you too.” She walked over to her mat, inhaled deeply, and stretching her hands over her head, she exhaled as she bent over and touched her toes.
William tried to look away, but as her white tank top rode up and her black tights slipped down, they revealed a Celtic tattoo on her lower back and he had always had an interest in Celtic symbolism.
“I swear all the mung beans you have eaten have gone to your head,” Buffy look up at him.
“One way to prove it.”
~
“Ok, you win. Yoga is harder than jogging.” At this point, William would have said or done just about anything to get out of his current position. Buffy had literally spent the last half-hour bending and twisting him into a human pretzel.
“Told you so,” she sing-songed as she got up from her current pose.
William looked at his watch. He was late for work.
“I have to go. Work awaits.” He stood up and held out his hand for Buffy to shake. “Thank you for this morning. It was interesting at best.”
Buffy looked down at his outstretched and laughed. ”Is it all British people or just you?” She turned from him and started rolling up her yoga mat. “William, we have just spent the last half hour getting closer to each other than I got with my tenth grade boyfriend. I think we’re past shaking hands.”
“You have a point there.” They both started making their way back to the house.
“How come you have to work, anyway? The wedding is tomorrow. No one else is working today.”
“Hence why I have to. Someone has to earn the money for the wedding of the year.” He sighed as he ran his fingers through his sweat-drenched hair. ”Besides, it does not take me as long as it takes you ladies to look presentable.”
“Hey!” She punched his shoulder. “I take offence to that. So have you done your speech yet?”
“Yes, I wrote it last week. What about you?”
“No, I’m more a fly by the seat of my pants kinda girl. I’ll see where the mood takes me on the day.”
“You can’t do that. This is a formal occasion, you can’t just wing it.”
“What -- and have some boring toast to king and country and a boring Wordsworth quote? No, thank you. I’ll leave that to you.”
He stopped at her harsh words. His quote was from Shakespeare and was quite touching. ”I will have you know that the toast is to queen and country, and my quote is from Shakespeare not Wordsworth.” So there.
“You don’t get it, do you?” She turned around to face him. “Tomorrow is about love and passion, declaring undying love in front of God and the world. There’s nothing more beautiful than that.”
She had moved closer to him. He was starting to think there was something more beautiful than that and it was standing right in front of him.
“It has nothing to do with queen, king, country, or Shakespeare and everything to do with love.” She was so close. All he had to do was inch forward and kiss her. And so, he found himself starting to move to do just that.
“Buffy?” Angel called.
“Coming!” She called back.
With that, she turned and left.
William stood in the doorway watching his sister add the finishing touches to her wedding gown. She was glowing with happiness, the sense of excitement clear on her face. He wondered what that felt like. To know that you were starting the rest of your life with the person you loved. To have someone to love, laugh with, share the good times, shoulder the burdens.
“It’s a wedding William, not a funeral. Try not to look so serious.” He had been so caught up in his thoughts he had not noticed Drusilla had finished.
“Funny,” he smirked, “That’s what Buffy told me. I was making this more like funeral.”
Dru grinned, “Did she?”
Deciding to ignore the funny smile on her face, he changed the subject.
“You are glowing; I don’t think I have ever seen you this happy.”
“You could try it sometime.”
“Get married. I am not the marrying kind,” he looked at himself in the mirror. “Look at me Dru. I am not getting any younger and besides the rather large inheritance, I don’t have too much else to offer a women.”
“Don’t sell yourself short William. You are a hard worker, kind hearted, funny.”
“Not according to Miss Summers,” her harsh character assessment echoed in his mind. “I am the product of Nazi upbringing,” Dru laughed.
“She didn’t mean anything by it Will. She just likes to push your buttons.”
“I cannot see the pleasure she gets from it.” He walked over to Dru and took her hand in his own.
“They would have been so proud of you today Dru.” Whilst his father’s death had been sudden, their mother’s death two years previous had been a slow and painful one. Dru had nursed her mother during the latter stages of her cancer.
“If you make me cry today Will, I swear I will never speak to you again,” she turned and grabbed her bouquet.
She looped her arm through his. “Let’s go and get you married.”
~
“You actually have index cards for this?” Buffy asked, half-incredulous, when she and William met up after pictures to continue with their responsibilities.
“Yeah...” William said slowly, as if she were a half-wit.
She blinked. “I thought you were just, ya know, half joking about writing it out and – God, did you write a small essay on those cards or ...?”
William glared at her and she grinned back, only because she knew it would annoy him. If there was one thing she liked about William, aside from how pretty he was to look at, it was to annoy him, ruffle those refined feathers of his and make him crazy. The man needed crazy in his life -- if for anything than to get the pole out of his ass.
He snatched the cards she was holding in her hands. “You have something in mind to talk about when it’s time to toast? Still insisting on pulling something out of your ass?”
“I’m going to talk about the love I saw up at that altar today. The devotion and the wealth of affection radiating off Angel and Dru. I’m going to talk about how love like the one they have doesn’t come around everyday, and when it does, you have to hold onto it and never let it go. I’m going to talk about how alive and animated my brother has been since he met your sister -- as if he came to life when she came around.”
She took pleasure in the wide-eyed look William gave her and his frown when he glanced down at his cards. He looked back up at her and she patted him swiftly on the back.
“I’m sure you’ll do fine. Just think there’s only a roomful of people to embarrass yourself in front of. Think of all the great stories that could be told. You’ll be a legend.” She walked away smiling cheerfully, feeling his death ray glare on her back.
William could not take his eyes off her. She was so...effulgent. He hated to admit it, even to himself, and hell if he would admit it to her, but Buffy was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. In addition, it was not just her golden hair and incredible green eyes. No, it was the light inside her that seemed to shine from the inside and radiate out. She was so full of life and ---
Wait.
Now that was a damn good speech wasn’t it? It was a continuance of all she’d talked about and it complimented what she planned to say perfectly. He smiled and sat back, satisfied. Buffy would be proud.
Not that he cared in the least, however.
“And so, as Miss Summers, err, Buffy said, we should all be so lucky to have that kind of love. The kind of love that radiates inside us and projects out. The kind of love that changes our lives and the lives we come in contact with. I’ve spent a lot of time listening to my sister since she met Angel and I’ve come to realize that, and I believe the Beatles said it best: ‘love is all you need.’” Clapping ensued and William raised his glass, the toast having been made. Stealing a glance over at Buffy, he smiled giddily to himself at the look of awe on her face.
William Giles never did anything ‘giddily’.
Dru smothered him in a hug, and Angel shook his hand before they retreated to the dance floor together. Feeling proud of himself, he came over to Buffy.
She smiled up at him. “Feeling proud of yourself, aren’t you?”
“I am,” he nodded. “Would you care to dance?” He asked and extended his hand.
“You want to dance with me?”
“Yes, I do. We are family now, of sorts.”
“That we are,” she murmured. “Sure, I’ll dance with you.”
Taking hold of her smooth, delicate hand, William led her to the dance floor and gathered her up in his arms, breathing in her intoxicating scent and basking in the glow that always radiated off her.
She eyed him warily, “You’ve caught the bug.”
He blinked, “Excuse me?”
“You have that look on your face that people get at weddings. That dreamy, almost sedated look of wanting to be in love.”
“I have that look right now?”
“Yup. And you’re directing it at me.”
“Wh-What?” He was near sputtering.
“But it’s not real.”
He glared at her. “What the hell are you on about? You were just going on and on about true love and soul mates and all that other crap, you hippies like to spew about, and now you’re telling me it’s not real? Are you a pod person?”
“Despite what you may think Mr. Giles, I do have my feet somewhat planted on the ground—“
”Somewhat being the operative word,” he muttered.
She glared at him, but continued, “And I know your type. You’re the kind that doesn’t have the time to look for someone, and wants it to fall into your lap because essentially, you don’t have the time for a relationship. You think because you know me, because you’ve spent some time with me, and because you’ve seen how limber I am on a yoga mat, that I’m the obvious choice. Plus, it’s convenient for you because I’m Angel’s sister and it has to be convenient for you or otherwise, you would never bother. But it’s not real, and you’re just projecting. We’d probably have great sex, that I’ll give you, but that’s all it would be and I’m not looking to just get laid Mr. Giles—“
”It’s William,” he said through gritted teeth.
“I’m only saving you time and energy here; you don’t need to get upset with me.”
“You’re completely off your bird!” He growled at her.
“Or so intuitive it scares you,” she said matter-of-factly.
“I can’t wait to be rid of you,” he hissed.
She raised a brow. “Feelings mutual.”
When the dance was over, William Giles and Buffy Summers parted ways.