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Part forty....

I Want To Spend My Lifetime Loving You (cont..)



~~~~~~~~~~
"Though we know we will never come again
Where there is love, life begins
Over and over again.."
~~~~~~~~~~


As the sun made it's first full appearance in the eastern
sky, Buffy fell into an exhausted sleep.

It hadn't been an easy thing for her to do. Despite William's
efforts to put her mind at rest and instill a little confidence
and security in her heart, her brain had refused to shut down
for the maintenance work it was in desperate need of.

As a last resort, she made herself lie very still and silently
quote all the opening dialogue and song lyrics from her mother's
cast album of Camelot, something she could do by virtue of
the 99,999 times she'd heard it.

Joyce was addicted to musical theater, and there wasn't a
thing a person could ask about that she couldn't discuss, from
the 'offest' Broadway production to the most lavish spectacle
ever to hit the stage.

From the time she was a very small child, Buffy had been able to
correctly answer all the questions in the "Broadway Shows" category
of Jeopardy, and she had no equal when it came to playing "Name
That Tune".

Along about the time King Arthur was hawking his proposal for
a new order of chivalry, she finally drifted off.

When Willow's mother rapped cheerfully on the door and
directed the three girls to "rise and shine", Buffy had less
than four hours of sleep in the past twenty-four under her
belt.

Cordelia and Willow, on the other hand, were fairly chipper. They
bounced around the room, dressing and performing their usual
morning rituals and chatting away about how great last night had
been, until Buffy wanted to tie them up and gag them in self
defense.

She sat up in her sleeping bag, massaging her temples as
though she were trying to hold her head together. Claiming
a headache as an excuse to stave off any more questions
about her disappearing act at the dance, she forced herself
to climb to her feet and make her way to the bathroom, more
by touch than by sight.

A few splashes of cold water brought her out of semiconscious-
ness. Giving her hair a couple of swipes with her brush, she
dressed and followed her friends downstairs to the kitchen where
Willow's mom was fixing them breakfast.

Cordy and Willow devoured mounds of scrambled eggs, strips of
bacon, and slices of toast.

Buffy sat down at the table and propped her chin on her hand, then
fell asleep immediately. When someone kicked her under the
table, her eyes flew open and she sat up ramrod straight in her
chair.

She ate mechanically, not really tasting the food, but hoping the
nourishment would give her enough energy to get her through the
morning. The conversation, she tuned out completely.

As she sat sipping cocoa so hot that it burned her tongue, the
telephone rang. Willow hopped up and answered it, and after
exchanging pleasantries with the caller, handed the phone to Buffy.

Something in her muddled brain warned her that it was her
mother on the other end of the phone line, and she had better stop
acting like a dying flower and start acting like a person who'd
had a full night's sleep.

It was difficult to get the gist of her mom's words, but she seemed
to be informing Buffy that "something had come up" and that she
"would be at the gallery all day" and did Buffy "need a ride home
first?"

Yawning, she asked Cordy if she could take her home, and
reported her friend's affirmative answer back to Joyce.

She trudged back upstairs and gathered her belongs, then sat on
the couch to wait for Cordy to do the same, which was a mistake,
because she once again fell asleep.

After thanking Willow's mom for everything, Buffy collapsed
into the passenger seat of Cordelia's little red Mazda. She
rubbed her eyes with a closed fist, and her ring caught hold of
a stray beam on sunlight, splashing tiny rainbows on the dash.

An idea suddenly popped into her head.

"Cordelia?"

"What...hey!...nice stop, MORON! I was at this intersection
first, you know!"

"Yeah, you totally were," Buffy agreed. "I was gonna ask you
to drop me off somewhere."

"I swear...they'll give anybody a driver's license these days,"
Cordy grumbled. "What did you say?"

Buffy sighed. "I asked if you could drop me off somewhere."

"Somewhere that's not your house?"

"Yeah. Could you please?"

"Whatever."


~~~~~~~~~~
"Save the night, save the day
Save the love, come what may
Love is worth everything we pay.."
~~~~~~~~~~



She directed Cordy out onto Ocean Front Road and
made her leave her at the corner. Waiting until the little
red car was out of sight, Buffy turned and headed down the
short frontage road towards the Sea Breeze Inn.

William's car was parked directly in front of 'their' cottage,
and she felt all the exhaustion drain away at the sight.

Newly energized, she tapped softly on the door.

No answer.

She made a fist and knocked a bit harder.

"Who is it?" a sleepy voice asked.

"It's me," Buffy replied. "Can I...."

Before she'd even finished the sentence, the door opened
and she was yanked in so hard that her feet momentarily
lost contact with the ground.

"Baby, what are you doing here?" he asked, wrapping his
arms around her and smiling. "Did you miss me that much?"

"I really did," Buffy said, nodding and nudging him backwards
until he fell down on the tousled bed, taking her along with
him. "I woke you up, huh?"

"Ask me if I care." He rolled her over until she lay beneath
him. "Did you get some sleep?"

"Some," she admitted, reacquainting herself with the hard
muscle of his back and shoulders. "But I really wanted to see
you again, so....ta-da! Here I am."

He smoothed her hair back from her face. "How'd you get here?"

"Cordelia dropped me off at the corner and then I walked." Un-
able to hold it back, she yawned.

"You should go home and get some more sleep, love," he
said, although he made no move to let her up.

Buffy made her eyes stay open wide. "It's an awfully long
walk," she replied. "I kind of thought maybe I could sleep here
for a while since you can't exactly drive me home."

"No, but I can call you a cab." His index finger wandered
across the petal softness of her cheek and tapped the tip of
her nose. "Isn't your mother expecting you?"

She gave him a jaunty grin. "Nope! She has to spend the whole
day at the gallery. Something got there too soon, or didn't get
there at all...I don't remember exactly what it was, but she won't
be home until tonight."

"I see." Leaning on one arm, he used his free hand to
remove the elastic from her hair. "So...you came here thinking
that I would let you sleep in my bed, did you?"

"Yes, I was hoping." As his hand spread her hair about on the
pillow, Buffy was feeling less and less sleepy. Her own fingers
crept up and buried themselves in his short curls. "Unless you can
think of something else to do," she said impulsively, blushing his
favorite shade of pink.

He smiled down at her, instilling just enough lechery into his
expression to make her color deepen. "I can always think of
something pleasant to do when you're around," he said, his
voice dropping a little lower in tone.

Buffy wasn't as easily flustered by his suggestiveness as she'd
once been. "Like what?"

William traced his thumb over the slight shadows beneath her
bright eyes. Hating to say it, he informed her that he was
definitely in need of a bit more sleep or he'd be no good to her
whatsoever. She didn't want him drifting off in the middle
of making love to her, did she?

Sighing, Buffy allowed herself to be persuaded. "Okay, let's
take a nap," she said, snuggling close as he arranged the
blankets around them.

William lay back and watched as she squirmed around under
the covers. A moment later, both of her shoes and her jeans
were tossed on the floor.

He shook his head and advised her to keep her shirt on,
telling her that he would not be held responsible for interrupting
her sleep if she insisted on lying beside him in nothing but her
bra and panties.


~~~~~~~~~~
"I want to spend my lifetime loving you
If that is all in life I ever do..."
~~~~~~~~~~


William turned her on her side, then pulled her back into his
embrace. With one arm around her waist, he buried his face in
her hair, taking in the familiar scent and letting it lull him into a
state of blissful peace.

He was nearly asleep when his ears detected the sound of
her murmuring something under her breath....


"When I was a young lad of eighteen years of age, our good
King Pendragon died, leaving nothing to succeed him but a sword
stuck through a stone and anvil. Below the hilt, in letters of gold
were written the words 'Whose pulleth this sword from this stone
and anvil is rightwise born king of all England'. A great tournament
was held so that all the knights could come and have a go at the
sword. I came to London as squire to my cousin, Sir Kay, and on
the morning of the tournament...."



William bit down on his lower lip. He had no idea what she was
doing but he wouldn't have interrupted it for anything.


~~~~~~~~~~
"I will want nothing else to see me through
If I can spend my lifetime loving you.."
~~~~~~~~~~


TBC......





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