'Yes - very foolish: as if I took notice!' replied Catherine, in a peevish tone. 'And where is the sense of that?'
'To show that I DO take notice,' said Heathcliff. --Conversation between Catherine and Heathcliff
'We were quarrelling like cats about you, Heathcliff;' Catherine to Heathcliff about Isabella and herself
"Come on, Buffy. You should go," Buffy's friend Michelle wheedled. "You need a little fun."
Buffy was silent into the receiver, then said, "He'll be there, 'Chelle. You know he will be. Cordy said she, Harm, Angel and Tom were going."
"Yeah, he'll be there, but who cares. Riley and Parker are going with us and Kelly and Sean too. We'll get our own table. We don't have to sit with him. There's supposed to be a good band tonight."
Buffy sighed. "Ok, just give me an hour or so and pick me up then?"
"We'll be there!" Michelle hung up.
Buffy stared at her closet, unmotivated.
William was worried. It was going on eight o'clock and no one was home yet. He tried his mother's cell phone again - no answer.
The door closed quietly behind him and he whirled. "Jenny, what's going on? Where's Mum?"
Jenny took him by the shoulders and steered him over to the couch. "William-" she started.
"Where is she? What's wrong?" He didn't let her get very far, getting more agitated by the moment.
Jenny looked at him with compassionate eyes. "Your mother is in the hospital."
He shot up and headed for his keys, but she held his arm and pulled him back to the couch. "She's sleeping. There's no use going over to the hospital now. You can see her in the morning," she assured him gently.
"What's wrong with her, Jenny?" William asked her, eyes pleading for information.
Jenny sighed. "William, back in London, shortly before your father's death, she was diagnosed with a particularly invasive form of cancer. Your parents didn't want to worry you and then when your father died, well…"
A hint of tears glimmered in his eyes. "How could she not tell me? How could she? Is she-" William finished the question wordlessly, looking at his aunt.
"There's always hope, William," Jenny said carefully. "The doctors can't predict how things will progress in every person. Your mother had hopes-" her voice caught, then steadied, "she had hoped she would improve, but it's not looking good right now." She’d tried to break the news as gently as possible, but knew this was hitting William hard.
"Jenny, I can't…" William broke loose and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
Once in his room, though he'd stripped off his shirt and prepared to flop on his bed, he found he couldn't stop pacing. He paced and paced, nervous energy, frustration, anger and fear all coursing through his body. 'Can't stay here all night, mate. You'll go mad. Gym's not open, so that's not an option.' He made a snap decision, left Jenny a note on his bed, threw on one of his black workout shirts over his jeans and climbed out the window.
Buffy sat at the table surrounded by her friends, feeling lonely nonetheless. Her shiny blonde hair was loose around her shoulders, her makeup subtle, her new blue halter and not so new mini were perfect and her core group was fractured in two at her own hands. Angel and company sat at a table nearer the stage and she'd caught him shooting looks in her direction even as Harmony fawned all over him. 'Why did I agree to come?' She wondered miserably.
William found Dru a few minutes before she was due on stage. She kissed his cheek and then patted it fondly. "So happy you could come, William." She turned to the waitress nearby and said, "Would you set him up at that table I reserved?" The waitress nodded and guided William away.
He was seated at a table near the stage but off to one side and the waitress brought him something that looked like a coke. He supposed Dru had ordered it for him. He thanked her and sniffed it dubiously. 'What the hell,' he thought and drank it down. It tasted like liquid fire as it burned his way down to his stomach. 'Not sure what that was, but not much of it was coke.' He had momentary misgivings, but he quashed them and focused on the stage. The lights had dimmed and a spot shone on the middle. The waitress set another drink in front of him and he drank it absently.
Dru slinked out to center stage, wrapping her hands around the microphone. Tonight she was wearing a filmy black blouse, cut the same way as the other he'd seen her in, black leather pants and the seemingly ever present stiletto boots. She smiled in his direction and began. "I'm Dru," she purred into the mic, "that's Faith on guitar, Oz on bass and Devon on the drums." She waved her arm at each in turn and continued, "We're Haunted Exile." With that she started in on her first song. "This is Breathless." The music began, eerie, with a low beat behind it and she sang,
"You've stolen my breath
away
Brought me to death
and say
You don't love me and
I know
You hold me at hand
but don't
want me
You leave me breathless,
the poison in my veins
I can do nothing,
to ease its bitter pains
I lie there broken…"
Dru continued to croon out the sad lyrics in beautiful plaintive tones which seemed to strike right at the center of William's grief numbed heart, making him resonate with her desperation. She hadn't lied. They were good.
'Ugh, perfect. Depression rock,' thought Buffy. 'Isn't that just appropriate.' Several of her friends had gotten up to dance and glancing at the dance floor Buffy's jaw gaped open in shock. There was Cordelia, her best friend since forever, hanging all over her so recently ex-boyfriend. Angel's face was smug as he slid his hands over Cordelia's curves.
Buffy was beyond stunned. She felt the tears rise up and blur her vision. Suddenly, she felt a warm hand clasp hers. Riley said softly, "Would you like to dance?"
Buffy had never felt less like dancing in her life. She wanted to run from the room and all the way home to her bedroom to cry. "Sure," she said weakly and rose to go with him.
Suddenly William's attention was distracted from Dru's hypnotically sinuous movements by a flash of blonde hair. 'Buffy,' he thought, though it could have been any blonde really, he was starting to feel a bit hazy after so many drinks on an empty stomach. But no, it wasn't. It was Buffy. He edged a bit out of the booth and started to go to her, unthinking, and then he noticed the tall boy dancing with her. 'I thought she…' A muscle twitched in his jaw at her lie, but then her partner turned and he saw that it wasn't Angel. 'Oh Finn,' he thought bitterly, 'Give her a day and another one queues up. Throngs of bloody replacement git boyfriends on command.' He signaled the waitress for another drink.
Buffy was in the ladies room, where she'd retreated after several dances with Riley. She touched up the makeup around her eyes, carefully blotting at the tearstains. 'I won't let them see me cry,' she thought defiantly.
The door opened and Cordelia sauntered in. "Hello Buffy," she said casually.
Buffy's resolutions dispersed into sheer fury at her former friend. "Cordelia."
Cordelia began to reapply her noticeably smudged lipstick.
"Harmony wants him, huh, Cordy?" Buffy spat at her.
"Well, we know for sure that you don't," Cordy replied calmly, twisting the lipstick closed. "Why let a perfectly good guy go to waste?"
"How could you, Cordy?" Buffy said angrily. "There are- I'm pretty sure there are rules about this!" Her voice rose.
"Look, Buffy," Cordelia said, "You broke up with HIM. I like him. What's wrong with that?" She shrugged.
"Only everything and you can't see it," Buffy retorted and slammed through the door, where she bumped into William coming out of the men's room.
Not seeing who it was, she tried to go around him.
"Oh yeah, that's right. Can't be seen with me," William said bitterly. "Run away before someone sees."
She froze.
"Hey!" Riley shouted, "Leave her alone. Is he bothering you, Buffy?"
"Yeah, is he bothering you?" Angel appeared on William's other side.
"No…no…" Buffy stammered, but the tears were visible in her eyes.
The three men glared at each other.
William was oddly amused. He could see Riley was torn over who he wanted to hit more. William wanted to hit either or both, really anyone at this point, didn’t care who it was. "You can have her, bloody stuck-up bint she is," he said cruelly.
Fresh tears emerged in Buffy's eyes and Riley took a swing at William. William ducked easily and shot a jab at Riley's jaw. It connected and he went down.
'That's it, one at a time,' William had a second to think before he saw Angel move in his peripheral vision.
Even slowed by the alcohol, William was faster than the larger man. Angel's rush was evaded and as he swung around, maddened, for another try, William planted a kick in his midsection, sending him to the floor.
He dropped low and with a leg sweep took out Riley again. William was bouncing on his toes in glee, taking each as they rose from the floor, the fight becoming a violent dance in which he lost himself. He let himself go, freed from the last remnants of self control and damned if it didn't feel bloody good.
It only lasted a few minutes more before the bouncers broke it up, grabbing each standing participant and holding them away from each other. Angel lay on the floor where William had left him, clutching his head.
"Wow, dude, you spiked his head like a volleyball," Devon commented.
The fight left William and with it went all of his energy. He slumped a little, taking in the blurry sight of Buffy's tearful face and her hands on Riley's arm. Suddenly, he was glad he hadn't hurt Riley too badly, git only thought he was defending Buffy and William probably would've done the same in Riley's position. He was also glad that he had hurt Angel, as long as he hadn't done permanent damage. He stared at Angel dispassionately.
He felt blood trickling down into his eye and realized his glasses were broken. Cool hands wrapped around his bicep. "I'll take him, John," Drusilla said to the bouncer.
"Dru, we may need to call the police-" the bouncer said.
"Hey man, they attacked him, two against one, I saw it," Devon said.
The bouncer raised an eyebrow at William. "Yeah?" He looked around. "Ok then, Dru, but you've only finished one set."
Dru shrugged at him. "I'll make it up to you next week or whenever you want. Tell Ed we'll play for free." He nodded in acknowledgement and let William go.
"Come with me, my...Spike," Dru whispered softly, "let's get you home and cleaned up." She swiftly made arrangements for a ride with Devon and led him out.
Buffy watched them leave.
William let the darkness envelop him in the backseat of the car. He slipped away, stroked into unconsciousness by Dru's soothing touch.
End Note: Ok, so I know nothing about fights or martial arts so "go me" on making one of my characters adept at combat. Did my best, kindly pardon any mistakes :) Ditto with any medical info. Suspend disbelief please! Reviews are much appreciated!