Title: Sweet Sixteen
Author: Pattyanne
snapkik@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: I only own the story
Feedback: Yes, please
Rating: Will vary. This part PG13
Summary: AU (my first) Everybody's
human. William and Buffy are teenage
neighbors, meeting for the first time.
AN: If you're trying to picture what William
looks like in this fic, think beginning season
7, without the tormented expression. I can't
help it, I just loved his hair that way. He may
bleach it later in the story..or he may not. I'm
not sure yet.
Part Three
~~~~~
"Today I'm gonna ride away
And feel the sun throughout my hair
Finally free to be who I want to be
Who that is, I don't really care.."
~~~~~
"Mr. Giles' nephew is certainly a handsome boy,
don't you think?"
Buffy paused in her unpacking, and stared out the
window for a moment. It was a hot and cloudless day,
and the sky wasn't nearly as blue as his eyes.
Joyce moved around the room, picking up each item
of clothing Buffy unpacked and tossing it into her
laundry basket. She smiled at the sight of her daughter,
who had apparently forgotten the rest of the world for
a moment.
"He's very polite, too," she went on. "Last week, he came
out and helped me carry all those bricks for the patio. He
wouldn't let me pay him, either. He's been well brought
up, you can tell."
"Mm-hmm," Buffy murmured, as she wandered over
to open her bedroom window. "He's...nice."
It was all Joyce Summers could do to keep a straight
face. She had seen Buffy's expression when William had
appeared on the scene, and had all but heard the twang of
cupid's arrow as it whistled through her daughter and nailed
that young man right in the heart.
"Do you think we should invite him to your birthday party?"
she asked, keeping her voice deliberately casual.
"Yes!" Buffy said loudly, turning to face her mother. "I
think we should. It's the...neighborly thing to do."
"I agree," Joyce replied. She watched as Buffy stared
out the window, and marveled at what a beauty her baby
was growing up to be. Beautiful, and sweet natured as
well. She'd had no worries whatsoever about bringing Buffy
to Sunnydale, and moving her away from everyone she knew.
Her daughter made friends easily, and Joyce was certain
that by the end of the first week of school, Buffy would
have a new group of kids to hang out and have fun with.
"Maybe we should have him bring some friends with
him," Joyce added. "He hasn't been here terribly long
either, but I'm sure he's met some of the kids around the
neighborhood."
"Good idea," Buffy said absently, then turned to look
at her mother. "Do you want me to do any chores today,
Mom? Anything?"
Joyce shook her head. "No, honey. You just relax and
get settled in. We'll worry about chores another day."
"Are you sure?" Buffy persisted. "I could...um...water
the grass, or..pull weeds or something. I don't mind!"
Buffy had never in her life volunteered so eagerly for
yard work, and it made Joyce smile inwardly, knowing
the reason behind this sudden burst of energy was a
handsome English boy with blue eyes and a charming
smile.
"Well," she said with a shrug. "I suppose you could do
a few things in the back yard, if you want to. The dandelions
are trying to take over the lawn, and you could trim the rose
bushes."
Buffy nodded. "I can do that! Just let me change."
~~~~~
"Cuz I've got friends who love me
Blue skies are above me
My blonde hair is everywhere
Sweet sixteen, gonna spread my wings
Sweet sixteen, it's my chance to shine
~~~~~
Buffy searched her dresser drawers for clean
clothes. She found a pair of black denim
shorts and pulled them on, then donned her
red halter top.
After touching up her make up, she brushed her
hair and tied a red bandana around it.
Satisfied with her appearance, she practically skipped
downstairs and out to the garage. She grabbed the
hedge trimmers and an empty pail, then headed for
the back yard.
Peeking through a gap in the fence, she spotted Mr.
Giles' nephew stretched out in a lounge chair by the
pool. He was wearing the same cut off shorts he'd had
on when she'd met him, but he'd removed his t-shirt
to sun bathe.
"Oh....wow." He was so cute. She loved those messy
brownish blond curls he'd kept pushing out of his
lovely blue eyes, and she'd been briefly envious of his
beautiful bone structure, especially the high arch of
his cheekbones. It was so much more attractive than
her own rounded cheeks which, to her mind, made her
look babyish.
But, now...with his shirt off like that...Buffy could see
that there was a lot more to admire about this boy
than his good looking face. He had a lean, but well
built upper torso, with a layer of muscle at his abdomen
that you could probably bounce a quarter off of. His
biceps were well developed, without being overly muscled,
and his arms looked strong.
She watched as he lifted a can of soda and took a
deep swallow. He had a soft and sensual looking mouth,
and she'd never wanted to kiss a boy so badly.
Forcing herself away from her little spy hole, she
began working at the weeds in her mom's garden. Ten
minutes later, when it appeared that William Darlington
wasn't noticing her presence, she grabbed the hedge
trimmers and went to work on the roses.
"Ouch!" she said loudly, deliberately pricking herself
on a thorn.
Her ruse worked, because a few seconds later, he
appeared at the back gate.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
He seemed sincerely concerned, and Buffy felt a brief
moment of shame for the subterfuge. A VERY brief
moment.
"Oh, yeah...I just stuck myself on a thorn," she replied,
continuing to work the clippers.
William reached over the back of the gate and pulled
the latch. He removed the clippers from her hand and
examined her thumb, wiping away the tiny drop of
blood. "Does it hurt?" he asked, glancing up into her
eyes.
"Um...no. Not really." Buffy shook her head.
With a smile, William lifted her hand and kissed the
small wound. "Poor baby," he murmured.
Buffy wouldn't have noticed, or cared, if she'd cut
her thumb completely off at that point!
"It's all right," he went on. "See..it's already stopped
bleeding."
Although she was tempted to give her thumb a good
hard squeeze to get the blood flowing again, she re-
sisted the urge. "Thanks," she murmured.
"You're welcome." His gaze captured hers, and a
mutual zing of electricity bounced back and forth
between them.
Buffy felt a drop of sweat tickle it's way down her
back, and she wiped her forehead with her free hand.
"It's really hot today," she said, falling back on inane
small talk about the weather.
"Yeah, it is," he agreed. "But I like it that way. I love the
sun. Didn't see a lot of it where I'm from," he added,
releasing her hand.
There was a brief silence, then William pointed across
the fence into his yard. "Would you like to come over and
use the pool?" he asked, mentally crossing his fingers
and toes in the hopes that she would say yes.
It worked. "Yeah, that would be great," Buffy said,
nodding enthusiastically. "Um....I'll go change." She bent
over to retrieve the hedge clippers, but he stopped her.
"I'll put it away for you," he offered. "In the garage?"
"Yeah, that's fine," she said, gesturing with her
hand. "So...I'll just...um...be right back...don't go
away!"
Although she walked calmly into the house, when
the door closed behind her she set an all time "Buffy
Speed Record" for changing. She dropped her discarded
clothing in the middle of the floor, and wriggled into her
white bikini. It was her favorite bathing suit, as
it contrasted so nicely with her light summer tan.
Pushing her feet into her sandals, she whipped off
her bandana and rebrushed her hair. Then, calling
out her intentions to her mom without waiting for a reply,
she pelted downstairs and found William waiting for
her by the patio door.
~~~~~
"Sweet sixteen, discovering
So much more to life
Sweet sixteen..."
~~~~~
They played in the pool for the rest of the afternoon.
The California sun beat down on them, heating their
skin, but the water was deliciously cool as they
swam and splashed about.
At one point, William went into the pool house and
came out with a cotton blanket. Spreading it out
in a shady spot on the lawn, he watched as Buffy
climbed out of the pool and picked up an over sized
towel to dry off with.
When Buffy had come out of her house wearing a
skimpy white bikini bathing suit, he had nearly
choked on his tongue, briefly surprised to find
that it wasn't hanging out of his mouth.
He'd actually been forced to jump right into the
water immediately, in the hopes of quieting down
the disturbance her appearance was causing in
the inseam of his cut offs.
She had kicked off her sandals and stood at the
shallow end of the pool, watching as he swam
clear to the other side of it.
After regaining a small amount of control, he'd invited
her to join him in the water.
Now, she plopped down beside him, squeezing her
wet hair in the towel, then dabbing up the drops of
water sparkling on her chest.
William dropped to his knees on the blanket.
Buffy smiled at him.
Slowly becoming aware that he was blatantly staring
at her, he shook himself out of his lustful intent. "Want
something to drink?" he offered.
"Sure," she nodded.
William swallowed hard. "Soft drink?"
"All right."
"Any particular kind?" Christ! He sounded like a
bloody waiter.
"Mmm...I don't know." She thought it over. "What
kind do you have?"
He searched his memory, trying to call up the image
of what he'd seen in the refrigerator earlier.
"Coke," he said. "Um...lemon-lime...some kind of
orange soda..."
"Coke is fine," she interjected.
"Right!" He jumped to his feet and nearly ran into
the house.
William rummaged around in the refrigerator, extracting
two cans of Coke. Forcing himself to return at a
slower pace, he saw Buffy laying prone on the blan-
ket, her cheek resting on her folded arms.
And...she had untied the back strap of her bikini top!
His brain function took an immediate nose dive, as
all the blood circulating through his body instantly
rushed to one highly sensitive location.
Taking a deep breath, he sat down beside her
and silently held out the can of soda.
Buffy lifted her head and smiled, accepting his
offering. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," he replied automatically. Popping
his can open, he downed a huge swallow of the cold
beverage.
"Your back yard is really nice," Buffy observed,
opening her can and taking a sip. "With all the
bushes and trees around the pool and all. Kind
of looks like a jungle."
"You can use the pool anytime you want," William
blurted out without acknowledging her comment.
"Oh! Well...thanks," she said, pleased by his
offer.
There was a brief moment of silence, then he
looked at her, studying her face. "So...you've got
a birthday coming up?"
Buffy nodded. "Yep. Sixteen at last." She
hesitated and said, "My mother's having a party
for me..."
"Yeah, so I've heard."
"She said I could invite you. Do you think you
would.."
Is the sky blue? Does the earth revolve around the
sun? Hell, yes!
"I'd like that," he said, smiling at her. "Sweet sixteen."
~~~~~
"Drivin' down to the club where we go to dance
Radio blastin' and the top is down
Ain't nothing in my way
Except the traffic of L.A. "
~~~~~
"Is it supposed to be this high?"
William laughed, treading water in the middle of the
pool. "It's not THAT high."
Buffy continued climbing the ladder to the top of the
slide. "I think I'm getting a nosebleed," she reported
as she sat down, holding on to the rails.
As far as she was concerned, the slide seemed
ridiculously high and way too steep. It was practically
straight down. Lifting one hand to shade her eyes
from the sun's glare, she peered out over the water.
"Are you still down there?" she inquired.
He chuckled again. "Just give yourself a little push.
It's not that bad."
"That's easy for you to say," she replied. "You're
already there."
She began to push off, then stopped. "I think I've
changed my mind."
"Come on," he coaxed her. "Where are your stones,
girl?"
"I must have left them in my other pants," she
said. "I'm gonna get down and go look for them."
"Chicken!" he called out teasingly.
She drew up one foot to begin standing, but it
slipped on the slick fiberglass. Losing her grip
on the handrail, she shot down the slide with a
loud yelp.
When she surfaced, William asked, "You okay, luv?"
Buffy could tell he was trying to not to howl with
laughter. Determinedly, she swam to the side of the
pool and climbed out.
"Buffy? Please, don't leave. I'm sorry I...."
"I'm not leaving," she said, heading back up the
ladder. "That was fun! I want to do it again!"
~~~~~
"I want to know what it feels like
I need to see it from the inside
I can taste a bit of what I will find
So much more to life
Sweet sixteen..."
~~~~~
TBC....
Feedback is so appreciated. Thank you.
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