=Part Seven=
Run to Me
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If ever you've got rain in your heart
Someone has hurt you, and torn you apart
Am I unwise, to open up your eyes to love me?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy opened the door to her room, and flung
herself down on the bed, face first. Her
throat was aching from trying to hold back
her tears, and she was still horribly aware of
a lingering soreness between her thighs.
She cried and cried into her pillow,
then reached for Mr. Gordo and cuddled
him close. It didn't take her long to realize
that her poor stuffed piggy wasn't going to be able
to help this hurt go away.
The phone rang suddenly, startling her.
The last thing she wanted to do right now was talk
on the phone, but she knew if her mother was calling
she would be expected to answer.
"Hello..?" she said softly, sniffling.
"Hi, sweetheart. How are you feeling?"
She shot straight up in bed. "William?"
"Course, it's me. Told you I'd call, didn't I?"
She reached for a tissue and wiped her runny
nose, glad that he couldn't see her at the
moment.
"Where are you?" she asked.
"I'm in my car. Nearly home. Just couldn't
wait any longer to talk to you is all."
Buffy smiled widely, flopping back onto her
pillows.
"You feeling all right, love? I imagine
you're still a bit sore, huh?"
"A little, " she admitted.
"God, I'm sorry, baby."
"I'M not," she whispered.
There was a long moment of silence from the
other end of the line. For a moment she
thought he'd lost the connection going under
a bridge or something.
"I miss you already," he finally said. "When can
I see you again? Tonight?"
"Okay...yeah. I'd like that." **Understatement
of the century!**
"All right then," he said. "You get all dressed up
pretty and I'll pick you up about 8:00. And don't
eat dinner first."
She giggled. "Then I should warn you that I
get kind of grouchy when I'm hungry."
He laughed too. "You can have a little snack
or something but that's it! I'm taking you somewhere
special and I don't want your tummy all filled up, got
it?"
"Okay," she said, knowing she'd agree to
just about anything he asked of her.
"Get some rest today, sweetness..and I'll see
you tonight."
"Bye." She waited for him to disconnect, then
decided she was being way too high schoolish. As
she started to replace the phone in the cradle, he
spoke again.
"Hey, wait a minute..."
Beaming with glee, she put the phone back to
her ear. "Yeah?"
He hesitated for only a moment. "You're still my girl,
aren't you?"
Buffy was about to melt into a sugary puddle of pure
happiness. "Yes," she said softly. "I'm definitely your girl."
"That's good to hear. See you tonight, love."
"Okay...bye."
This time she was the one to call out.
"William?"
"What, honey?"
A sudden attack of shyness tried to clamp her mouth
shut, but she refused to allow it. "I...I love you," she
said quietly.
"I love you, too, sweetness," he responded instantly,
without having to even think it over. "Get some sleep, now."
When the phone was securely replaced in it's cradle, she
squealed and tossed Mr. Gordo into the air. Catching him,
she jumped to her feet and danced him around the room,
changing partners twice, and spinning giddily with Pooh Bear
and Eeyore.
The phone rang, and she practically dove for it.
"Hello?" she sang out happily. "Oh, hi, Mom...I wasn't
expecting anyone else...I do?....I don't know....Just in a
good mood I guess....Yeah, I went to bed early....I guess
I didn't hear it....No....I just forgot....Yeah, the machine is
on....I haven't been downstairs yet....A hamburger and some
fries...."
Buffy rolled her eyes. Here it was, coming straight at
her...Mom's Inquisition, given whenever she had to be
away from home for more than a day and customed
tailored to fit any given situation.
"I took them yesterday....Because I haven't gone down-
stairs yet....I will....Yeah, two vitamin Cs...I won't forget...
I don't have any....Just a French test on Monday....Willow's
helping me....I know....Um...well, actually, I have a date
tonight...No...I just met him....I will....Midnight?...Mom,
it's Saturday...Come on....William Hamilton....yeah, a
lot...."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Let it be like they said it would be
Me loving you, girl...and you loving me
Am I unwise to open up your eyes to love me"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After fending off phone calls from Willow and Xander,
she was tempted to take the phone off the hook.
But she couldn't quite force herself to do it. What
if he called?
In the end, she wound up with the phone next to
her in bed. Keeping her hand close to the receiver,
she drifted into a sound sleep completely devoid of
dreams.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Run to me whenever you're lonely
Run to me when you need a shoulder
Now and then, you need someone older
So, darling...you run to me.."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Her internal alarm clock sounded off at
exactly 6:15 p.m., bringing her instantly
awake.
The first thing she became aware of was a feeling
of excited anticipation. Less than two hours
from now, he would be there.
The second thing she noticed was that her
lower parts were not feeling as ravaged as they'd
felt that morning.
Oh, good.....
She rolled over in bed and punched Giles' number
into the phone's keypad.
After checking in to make sure that there were no
new disasters looming before her like a pissed
off cobra, she informed her watcher that she had
a date and would NOT be available. Tonight, the
world was on it's own.
Since he also had a date that night, he could hardly
object. Beyond a few mutterings about 'Sacred Duty'
blah-blah-blah; 'Shirking Her Responsibilities' blah-blah-
blah; and "Protection of the Tax Paying Citizens of
Sunnydale' blah-blah-blah...he hoisted his white flag
and surrendered without firing a shot.
Setting the phone back down, she stuck her tongue
out at it, then hopped out of bed and headed for the
bathroom, stripping her clothes off and letting them
lay right where she dropped them, choosing to ignore
the uneasy certainty that her 'Neat as a pin, with a
floor clean enough to operate on' mother could see
everything she was doing clear on the other side of
the country, and didn't much care for what she was
seeing.
She squashed a nervous impulse to call the hotel where
her mother was staying, making sure she was really
there and not just hanging around waiting to ambush her
when the first one of her commandments was broken.
In the shower, she washed her hair and shaved her legs,
then filled the sponge mitt with a lavender scented
body wash and scrubbed herself from head to toe.
After drying off, she plugged in her hot curlers and dried
and rolled up her hair.
Strewing the contents of her closet all over the room,
she tried on and rejected seven different outfits.
She stood in the middle of her room, hands on her
hips, frustrated beyond imagining with her teeny-
bopper wardrobe.
He had told her to get dressed up, but most, if not all
of her clothing couldn't even BEGIN to make the cut.
Feeling the unmistakeable signs of an impending tem-
per tantrum, she stamped her foot like a spoiled child
being forcibly dragged away from a playground by her
parents, who had the nerve to want her to go home and
eat her dinner.
As she stood there fuming, a sudden memory came
to her.
Ambling casually down the hallway, straightening the
pictures on the wall as she went, she accidentally/on
purpose nudged open the door to her mother's bedroom.
She felt a little silly for all the stealth, considering
that there was no one there to be suspicious of her.
Determinedly, she slid open the doors of her
mother's closet and began rifling through her
clothes, wrinkling her nose and making an "Eww"
face with each garment she rejected.
Dropping to her knees, she lifted the side of the
dust ruffle and looked under the bed.
Ah-ha!
With a softly muttered "Yes!" of victory, she
reached beneath the bed and pulled out a
box.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And when you're out in the cold
No one beside you
And no one to hold
Am I unwise
To open up your eyes to love me?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was wrapped in paper with a pattern of roses,
and there was a card on top of it with her name
on it.
Smiling, she shook the box gently, delighted when
she heard the soft rustle of fabric.
It had to be the dress. The one she'd tried on
while shopping with her mother, and had been
dropping hints about that were as subtle as an
anvil landing on a foot.
She felt a moment of guilt for what she was about
to do.
Not that she was about to let it stop her...
Carefully, she unwrapped one end of the box,
then slid it out and took the lid off.
There was a sheet of pink tissue paper laying
across the contents of the box. She removed it
and set it to one side.
When she saw the dress, she squealed with
happiness.
It was black and sleeveless, with a V-shaped
neckline and a hem that ended only an inch
or two above her knees. The fabric was silky
and it clung lovingly to her curves.
She'd known exactly what her mother was up to
when she'd parked Buffy in the food court of the
Sunnydale Mall, then excused herself to go to the
bathroom.
If what her mom said had been the actual truth
then, considering the amount of time it had taken
her, Buffy had figured that the bathroom must be
clear on the other side of town.
She took the dress back to her room, laying it
out on the bed, then sat down at her vanity and
pulled the curlers out of her hair. Wielding her
hairbrush, she ran it through her hair until it
was a soft cloud framing her face.
When she was satisfied, she made up her
face, expertly applying eye shadow, highlighter,
liner, mascara, lipstick and blush.
Donning a black lace bra and matching pan-
ties, she then slipped on her black garter belt,
clipping a new pair of stockings to it.
After smoothing the dress down over her hips, she
tossed a few odds and ends into a black clutch purse,
then grabbed her black shawl from where she'd
hung it over the back of her vanity mirror.
The half hour between 7:30 and 8:00 crawled by
with a maddening slowness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Run to me whenever you're lonely
Run to me when you need a shoulder
Now and then, you'll need someone older
So, darling...you run to me.."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC.....
Feedback would be wonderful.
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