Having no problem finding William’s house, Buffy took a deep breath before finally ringing the doorbell. She really hoped he wouldn’t mind her showing up at his doorstep like this, but she just had to go see him. Suddenly the door swung open, and a blonde woman – looking to be in her early forties – was standing in front of her. It had to be William’s mother, Buffy realized; the resemblance was impossible to miss. She smiled, nervously. “Um, hi. My name is Buffy Summers and I’m a friend of William’s. Is he here?”
The woman looked surprised for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, he is. Please, come in.” She took a step back, allowing Buffy to enter.
“Thank you, Mrs. Pratt.” Buffy stepped through the door, following William’s mother into what she realized was the living room and looked around. “You have a beautiful home.”
“Oh, thank you, dear. But I insist; please, call me Anne.” Anne smiled, although a little uncertainly. “Do you go to school with William?”
“Yeah.” Buffy nodded. “We’re doing a history project together. I was supposed to meet up with him after school, but…” She hesitated, suddenly not sure of what to say. Had William told his mother about what happened?
“I see.” Anne sat down on the couch with a sigh, understanding dawning on her. “I’m sorry, Buffy, was it?” Buffy nodded and she went on; “There was an incident at school today…” Now it was her turn to hesitate, clearly uncomfortable.
“I heard about that.” Buffy’s polite smile faltered a little. “That’s why I came here. I wanted to see if he was all right.”
“Oh.” Anne shook her head, suddenly looking a little annoyed. “You don’t have to worry about William, he is just fine.” A pause. “This is not the first time something like this happens. William has a habit of…” She looked down at her hands, folded in her lap. “… getting himself in trouble.”
Buffy frowned. “Mrs…” She corrected herself; “I mean, Anne. I’m sure what happened wasn’t really his fault.”
Anne looked up, a disbelieving expression on her face. “He punched another boy in the face, unprovoked!”
For some reason, Buffy was finding that very hard to believe. “Did he tell you that?”
“The principal called.” Suddenly Anne looked very tired, leaning back into the couch. “William never tells me anything.”
‘Did you even bother to ask him?’ Buffy wanted to ask, but decided against it. Instead she just said; “Can I see him?”
For a moment, Anne just looked at her, then nodded. When she didn’t say anything else, Buffy was just about to ask where to find him, but suddenly the older woman spoke again; “You seem like a nice girl, Buffy. Are you two close?”
Buffy wasn’t sure of how to respond to that. Of course, she wanted them to be, but truth to be told, she didn’t really know William that well. Yet. Seeing her hesitation, Anne gave her a sad smile. “I’m sorry; I realize that doesn’t concern me. I just…”
“No, that’s not…” Buffy suddenly couldn’t help but feeling a little sorry for her. “Actually, I haven’t lived here in Sunnydale that long. But William has been very nice to me so far. In fact…” She blushed. “I think William’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met.”
“Really?” Anne looked surprised, but at the same time a little touched. Then she cleared her throat. “Well, I won’t keep you any longer. William is upstairs; his room is the second door to the right.”
“Thank you.” Buffy took a step towards the stairs, then stopped. “What did Liam do?”
“Liam?” Anne got a confused expression on her face, then nodded. “Oh, the other boy? According to Principal Snyder, nothing.”
Buffy bit her lip, looking down at her feet. “And according to William?” When all she got was silence, she finally looked up.
Anne swallowed, looking ashamed. “I didn’t ask.”
Nodding, Buffy was quiet for a moment. She had suspected as much. “I think I will.”
The woman was just about to say something, when she started coughing. Gasping, she reached for a small bottle of pills on the coffee table and quickly swallowed a couple of them down. Buffy watched her, a concerned look on her face. “Are… are you okay?”
Closing her eyes for a moment, Anne struggled to get her breathing under control. Then she glanced at Buffy, giving her a strained smile. “I’m fine, dear. You just go see William.” Buffy hesitated for a moment, then nodded and headed towards the stairs.
There was a knock on the door and William looked up from the book he was reading with a frown. His mother never came up to his room anymore; ever since she got sick, walking the stairs was too much of an effort for her. “Come in.”
The door opened, slowly, and Buffy was standing in the doorway. “Hi.”
Eyes widening, William quickly shoved his book down in a small drawer in the bedside table. “Buffy? What are you doing here?”
Her face fell a little. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to impose. I can just leave, if you…”
“No!” He jumped up from the bed, taking a hesitant step towards her. “I was just surprised. How did you, um…?”
“Oh, I talked to Giles; he gave me your address.” Buffy smiled a little. “So, what were you reading?” For some reason, she could almost swear she saw him blushing.
“Nothing, just a book.” He glanced at the drawer, then quickly changed the subject. “I’m sorry; I know we were supposed to meet up after school. I…” He looked away, not wanting to meet her eyes.
“It’s okay, I heard.” Buffy took a step into the room. “Are you okay?” He looked up then, a surprised expression on his face. Finally he nodded. Buffy looked relieved. “What happened?”
William shrugged, not sure of what to tell her. He couldn’t help but wonder just exactly what it was she had heard. It couldn’t be too bad, he figured, since she was still here and all. Then again, maybe she had come to tell him that she didn’t want them to work together after all. He swallowed. “What did you hear?”
“Only that you punched Liam Angelus in the face and possibly broke his nose.” Buffy paused. “Is it true that you got suspended?”
He was silent for a moment. “Yeah. Only for three days, though. It’s only fair, I suppose. Did a stupid thing and now I’m paying for it.” He shrugged again, still not looking at her.
“Why?” He looked a little confused, so she hurried to explain; “Why did you hit him? What did he do to you?”
Walking over to the bed, he sat back down. “Doesn’t matter.”
Buffy frowned. “Of course it does.” Then realization hit her. “It was him, hurting you the other day, wasn’t it? When I ran into you outside of school?”
He felt ashamed when he remembered how he had snapped at her back then. And even more so when he realized she had just figured out the reason behind it. No point of denying, he thought with a sigh. “Yes.”
She walked over to the bed, sitting down next to him. “Was it the first time? I mean, has he hurt you before?” Suddenly she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer to that. She had a feeling she already knew. Hearing Anne’s voice inside her head – “This is not the first time something like this happens. William has a habit of… getting himself in trouble.” – Buffy felt a lump form in her throat. Maybe his mother was partly right after all. Only Buffy was convinced William was not the one causing the trouble.
William glanced at her. “Couple of times.”
“Oh.” Buffy was quiet for a moment, then made a decision. Taking a deep breath, she finally went on; “You wanna hear the real reason Mrs. French made me work with you?”
TBC