“Bye, Mom! Don’t wait up!” Buffy held her breath as she grabbed William’s arm and headed for the front door, praying that her mother would take the hint and let them leave the house without any further embarrassment. But unfortunately, Joyce had other ideas.
“Not so fast, honey. I’d like to have a word with you before you go.” Joyce smiled at William before giving her daughter a firm look. “It’ll only take a moment.”
“Mom! We really have to go!” Buffy cringed at the whiny note in her voice and glanced at William, who only seemed to be amused. She let out a sigh and followed her mother into the kitchen. She should have known that it had been too good to be true; it was no secret that her mother had hated every single guy Buffy had dated back in LA, but for some reason, she and William had seemed to get along just fine so far. Strangely, her mother had seemed to be smitten by William from the moment he had walked through the door to pick Buffy up for their date. Then again, William was nothing like those other guys.
In the kitchen, Joyce made sure the door to the living room was closed and turned to her daughter, lowering her voice. “Buffy, I have to ask. I couldn’t help but notice…” She gestured towards her eye and glanced at the door, a concerned look on her face. “William is not a trouble-maker, is he? I mean, he seems like a nice boy, but…”
Buffy sighed, suddenly annoyed. Of course her mom would notice William’s huge black eye, and of course she would assume the worst. Next thing she knew, Joyce would probably ask if William had a criminal record. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her mother. “William’s the sweetest guy I’ve ever met. He would never start a fight. It was not his fault.” She paused. “If you don’t believe me…”
“Of course I do, sweetie.” Joyce looked relieved. “I was just a little concerned, that’s all. You know I only want what’s best for you.”
“You don’t have to worry, Mom.” Buffy smiled. “I don’t think I could ever find a better boyfriend than William.”
Fifteen minutes later, Joyce was standing by the door, watching them leave. She blinked away a few tears and smiled to herself. Her daughter had looked so beautiful tonight; all grown up. Of course, Buffy had been out on dates before, lots of times, but this was different. William was such a nice, normal boy; he and Buffy made a perfect couple. And one day, William would be a wonderful son-in-law. Her smile grew wider. Some people might say that it was way too soon to think like that, but Joyce didn’t care. She knew she was right. There were certain things a mother just knew.
“I’m so sorry about the third degree earlier.” Buffy glanced at William as she took a sip of her diet coke. They had arrived at the restaurant about an hour ago, and so far, everything had been absolutely perfect. But she still felt the need to apologize for her mother’s behavior. Sure, William hadn’t seemed to be offended at all, and Buffy thought he had handled the situation very well, but she had been beyond embarrassed when her mother had insisted on him spilling practically his entire life story.
William gave her a shy smile. “I like your mum, she’s a nice lady. And you can’t really blame her for wanting to know a bit about the bloke who’s suddenly dating her daughter. I don’t mind.”
Buffy rolled her eyes. “At least she didn’t ask you about your intentions.”
For a moment, they just sat there in comfortable silence and enjoyed their dinner. Then William spoke up. “Um, if you’re not busy or anything, my mum would like for you to come over to our house for dinner some time next week.” He looked a little embarrassed. “Guess she wants to get to know you. But if you think it’s too soon…”
“No.” Buffy gave him an assuring smile. “That’ll be great.” She was a little surprised, though, having gotten the impression that William and his mother weren’t very close. But maybe they were both trying to change that. She really hoped so.
“Good.” William looked relieved. He was quiet for a moment. “Look, about what happened at school…” Then he hesitated, not sure of how to go on. He had told Buffy all about the fight with Liam, but for some reason, he had a feeling there was something she wasn’t telling him. And that made him a little nervous.
“Do we really have to talk about that?” Buffy grimaced. “We’re having such a great time; I don’t wanna ruin it by bringing up bad things. And I’m getting angry just thinking about that jerk.” She reached out a hand towards his face, gently running her fingers over the bruised skin around his left eye. “I can’t believe he did that to you.”
“Yeah, well…” William shrugged, not wanting to meet her eyes. “I bet he doesn’t look much better than I do right now.” Liam hadn’t exactly gotten away from the fight unharmed, either. But Buffy already knew that.
Buffy smiled a little, still stroking his face. “You’ll always look handsome to me. Even with your face covered with bruises.” She blushed. “In fact, it makes you look kinda sexy. Dangerous.”
William rolled his eyes, a teasing note in his voice. “So nice to hear that me getting my ass kicked turns you on.”
Buffy’s smile disappeared. “That’s not what I…”
“I know, I’m sorry.” He interrupted her, giving her an apologetic look. “Was just kidding. Bad joke.”
“Really bad.” Buffy pouted a little. “You know I can’t stand the idea of you getting hurt.” She paused. “But it’s over now. He’s not gonna touch you again.” Seeing the look on William’s face, she hurried to add; “I mean, you showed him, right? Now he knows better than to mess with you again.” She smiled.
William wasn’t as convinced, but didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to upset Buffy, but he was quite certain that nothing had changed. Sure, maybe Liam would leave him alone for a couple of days, but sooner or later, things would go back to being just the same as before. Liam and his friends would keep tormenting him until the day they would all graduate, and there was not much he could do about it. Sure, he could keep trying to defend himself, but as long as he didn’t have any friends and Liam was one of the most popular guys in school, he just didn’t stand a chance.
Buffy was unaware of William’s depressing thoughts, wishing he could have seen the look on Liam’s face when she had left him. Of course, she felt a little bad for not telling William what she had done, but she figured it was for the best. She just wasn’t sure he would react very well if he found out. Sure, she had just wanted to help him, hopefully succeeding, too, but maybe his pride would get hurt and she didn’t want that. Because she was pretty sure no guy wanted to be saved by a girl.
TBC