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Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry about the long wait guys. The weeks got away from me a bit. The next three chapters are done in draft form so they won't be too far away.

Happy new year to all! I hope you enjoy the new chapter.
Chapter Thirteen

A week later Buffy and William were sitting on the back patio of Buffy’s house enjoying a glass of wine. Dinner with Buffy’s parents had been a more relaxed affair than usual. It seemed Joyce had taken Buffy’s promise to heart and was trying very hard to stop being over-protective; though she still insisted Buffy have her cell phone with her at all times – just in case.

Glancing at William, Buffy caught him opening and closing his mouth for the fifth time. He obviously had something he wanted to say and she decided she’d had enough of waiting. “What is it, William?”

“I can teach you to fight,” he blurted. At her surprised expression, he added, “If you want.”

Buffy was more than a little puzzled by this turn of events. “I didn’t realise you knew how.”

He shrugged. “I took up Tai Kwon Do in college. Now I teach a little.”

“You teach Tai Kwon Do?”

William cleared his throat, looking everywhere but at her. “Yeah. Just at the local gym. Tuesday nights. It’s no big deal.”

Buffy frowned at him. “That’s why you wouldn’t come to the movies with me last Tuesday?”

He nodded.

“Okay. So, if it’s not a big deal then why didn’t you just tell me?”

He didn’t look at her, obviously reluctant to explain. “I just...because of Spike alright?”

Baffled, she just shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

Suddenly rising from the seat, William started to pace. “He looks like me. He talks like me. He was a poet, I’m a writer.” His pacing stopped abruptly and looked at her with intense eyes. “I figured we already have enough in common. I mean, aren’t the lines blurred enough?” Turning away from her he leaned on the porch rail and spoke so quietly she had to lean forward to hear him. “Buffy, when you look at me. I want you to see me. Not him.”

“Oh.” Buffy stared out into the darkness, not sure how to react to his words. She understood what he was saying. She did still see Spike when she looked at him. How could she not? All the things that had made her care for Spike – his caring, his devotion to the people he loved, his bizarre sense of humour – was all still there. Inside of William. He was Spike. Why didn’t he understand that? Looking up into his face she knew she could never put voice to her thoughts. He hated Spike. It would hurt him too much to know that, to her, he was her Spike. In some ways he always would be.

Sighing, she stood up and walked over to him. “I don’t know what to say.”

He shook his head. “You don’t have to say anything.”

Buffy closed her eyes in a mixture of longing and frustration. He looked just like Spike did when he uttered those very words outside The Magic Box. Their first kiss.

Hoping to lighten the mood a little she asked, “Will you still teach me to fight?”

He glanced sideways at her, a smirk curving his lips. “Yeah. I’ll teach you.”

**********

Buffy screamed in frustration as she fell to the floor yet again. “Damn it! Why can’t I do this?”

William put out a hand to help her up. “You can. You just have to keep going.”

Even as she rose from the floor she attacked, using his distraction to her advantage. Lashing out violently she followed a fist to his jaw with a roundhouse kick directed at his stomach. Her foot met thin air as he dropped to the ground and swept the leg she was standing on out from under her, flooring her one more time.

“Slow down Buffy. Stop trying to force it.”

Lying on the floor still, Buffy took several deep breaths, trying to regain control of her raging emotions. She could beat him; she knew she could. She just had to stop ending up on the freakin’ floor!

“Up!”

At William’s barked command she sprang to her feet, moving immediately into a defensive stance.

“Close your eyes.”

Surprised, she just frowned at him.

He smiled that Spike smile that set her body to tingling. “Trust me.”

Reminding herself she was here to learn from him, not jump his bones like a big ho, she allowed her eyes to fall shut.

For a few moments she heard nothing but the sound of her own harsh breathing. Then his voice tickled her ear and she shivered. “I come at you from behind and try to grab you by the throat. What do you do?”

In her mind, Buffy saw herself grabbing his forearm, using his own momentum to pull him forward over her shoulder and down to the ground.

“Open your eyes.”

She blinked. When she felt the arm around her throat she moved instinctively. Suddenly William was lying on his back on the mat in front of her, a big grin plastered on his face. I did it, she realised suddenly. “I got you.”

“That you did love,” he chuckled as he rose.

He jumped forward then, his leg rising to kick her in the stomach. The movement was slow enough that she had a moment to recognise his intent and react to it. Grabbing his foot, she twisted it until he was forced to spin his body, again landing heavily on the floor.

Buffy felt a hysterical laugh rising in her throat. She was getting it.

“You can do this Buffy,” he said in a firm voice, coming at her again. “You know how in your head. You can see it in your mind’s eye.” She was deflecting his moves faster now, his words egging her on. “Every punch, every kick. It’s all there. Now you just need to let your body play catch up.”

“Then I can kick the crap out of you,” she gasped with an energetic kick that came much closer to connecting than it had last time.

Slipping behind her he yanked her back against him, holding her by the elbows. “That is the idea pet,” he purred into her ear.

Leaning her head back she looked up at him with a seductive smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll only make it hurt in all the wrong places.”

He practically growled as his mouth descended. Just as he was about to capture her lips with his own she threw her elbow back, jabbing him in the ribs. Delighting in his grunt of surprise she jerked around to face him, a wicked smile curving her mouth as she beckoned him forward to begin the sparring again.





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