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Twenty minutes later William followed Buffy into her house. “I found a couple of books at the library that should prove useful.”

Buffy gave him a frown. “But we’re supposed to do the work together. You weren’t supposed to start without me.”

William’s eyes widened. “I didn’t think you’d…I just found a couple of books on the topic; I didn’t read them or make any decisions. I’m sorry if I offended. I certainly never intended…”

Buffy shook her head. “I know. I’m sorry; I’m over-sensitive. Everyone acts like just because I’m a cheerleader I’m some kind of ditz or that I will try to con people into doing my work and it just makes me so…”

“Oh no! I would never think that. You’re…you’re not…”

Buffy grasped his arm. “I know. I’m sorry. Please forget about it. Let’s go do a fridge check. I’m in serious need of some thirst quenching.” She tugged him in the direction of the kitchen.

William remained glued in place. “Please. Buffy. I…”

Buffy turned and took in his still horrified expression. “I know. Please forget my little psycho moment.” She smiled warmly. “Come on. What do you like to drink?”

When she tugged his arm again, William let her guide him into the kitchen. He watched as she bounced over to the refrigerator and surveyed the contents. She didn’t seem upset with him now, but he was still concerned. He vowed to be more careful in the future. He didn’t really think he ever stood a chance of being anything more than friends with the beautiful girl in front of him, but he certainly didn’t want to lose his chance at that.
He politely accepted a soda and followed her into the living room.

Buffy’s mother, Joyce, found them there an hour later surrounded by notes and books. Buffy’s laptop sat on the floor between them and they were, she realized with a surprised smile, debating whether the internet or the library was a better source for history facts. Joyce watched them for several minutes unnoticed. Buffy was vigilantly supporting the internet as the bearer of all truth while the young man next to her was quietly upholding that books and journals have a more stringent fact-checking regiment and are more likely to be written by an expert with education and experience on the subject. Joyce had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the unusual scene. She found herself very curious about the boy who’d gotten her daughter involved in such an academic discussion, his hair and clothes certainly didn’t match his quiet manner and she was fairly certain she’d not seen him around before.

“Hi Sweetie. I don’t want to interrupt your homework session here, but I wanted to let you know that I’m home and see if guys were hungry.”

Buffy looked up, startled to see her mother standing in the archway between the living and dining rooms. “Oh hi Mom, you’re home early aren’t you?”

Joyce shook her head. “It’s a little after five.” She shrugged. “Pretty normal time.”

Buffy’s eyes widened and she glanced at the clock, sure enough it was after five. “Wow. I didn’t realize…” She looked over to see William, who had stood up and was now looking at her expectantly. She frowned slightly before realizing that he wanted her to introduce her mother. “Oh Mom this is William. He’s my partner for the Revolutionary War project, which is totally neat because he’s British.”

Joyce laughed and raised her eyebrows slightly when the young man reached his hand out towards her. She shook his hand and smiled. “Well then, it’s nice to meet you British William.”

William blushed slightly. “It’s Pratt, William Pratt and it’s very nice to make your acquaintance Ms Summers. Thank you for…for umm…having me in your home.”

Delightful, Joyce thought with a grin. If he hadn’t been so earnest seeming she would have found his manners suspicious. But she took one look at the boy’s pink cheeks and averted gaze and was charmed. “It’s Joyce William, and you are quite welcome. In fact, I hope you’ll stay for dinner.”

“Oh I couldn’t, thank you but I…”

“It’s no trouble, I always make too much for just the two of us; it’s nice to have a man-size appetite to cook for now and again.”

“My mother… that is I told my Mum that I’d cook tonight and I don’t want her to be alone. But thank you very much for the invitation.”

Buffy and Joyce responded in chorus. “You cook?”

At his nod, Joyce nodded. “Well I certainly wouldn’t want you to upset your mother. I hope that the two of you can both join us for dinner sometime soon though.”

William nodded again. “That would be very nice.”

“All right I’ll leave you two to finish up. Dinner in…about an hour?”

“Sounds good Mom. We should wrap up for today soon.

*************************************
The rest of William’s week followed a similar pattern. He continued to attract an unusual amount of attention, but most of the whispers and comments stopped after the second day. He supposed that people were getting used to his new look. He was surprised to find that he too was getting rather used to it. At times he even thought that he might like to be the person his new look suggested he was: bold, confident and little rebellious. The man in the mirror did not look like someone who hid in the library, but he still found himself there rather often. Several times he chatted with Willow and he was confident that he’d found a true friend in her. He began to suspect that she had rather romantic feelings toward a completely unaware Xander. He did venture into the cafeteria a few times to sit with the pair of them. If Buffy spotted him and waved, he waved back and then blushed at Xander’s teasing remarks. He went twice more to Buffy’s house after school in order to work and was delighted to find that she was clever and often had a unique perspective on their topic. Overall William was feeling quite upbeat Friday evening when he answered the phone.

“Pratt residence”

Buffy giggled. “William?”

“Yes.” He laughed. “Hello Buffy.”

“Hi. My Mom wanted to see if you and your mom wanted to come to dinner at all this weekend and well me too, I mean I want you to come to.” Buffy was surprised by how awkward she felt and by how hopeful. Jeez, she thought, you’re just inviting a friend to dinner; it’s no biggie.

William frowned. “Oh we can’t. That is, my mother is already gone. She has a business meeting in Los Angeles; she won’t be back until Monday.”

“Oh, but that means you’re all alone so you have to come. Tomorrow, come to dinner and then we can do something. I’ll show you the Sunnydale hotspots or the lukewarm ones anyway. Okay?”

William practically shouted his “yes”.

Buffy laughed. “Yeah I get lonely when my Mom’s out of town too. I usually have Cordy or someone stay over.”

William didn’t explain that his excitement had more to do with seeing her then with getting out of the house. She hadn’t really spoken much about her boyfriend, but he’d seen them together at school a couple of times. It was clear to him that they were still very much together. He laughed softly as though in agreement.

“Okay so why don’t you come over at say… five. Dinner will probably be at like six and then we can head out. Cool?”

“That would be very nice, Buffy.”

Buffy laughed. “You know you could just say cool or like…yeah.”

He chuckled. She’d mentioned that he could “relax already” as she put it a few times already. “Indeed.”

Buffy hung up a moment later and went to get dressed for her date with Angel. She smiled brightly as she chose an outfit and styled her hair, but she was mostly thinking about Saturday night.

When the doorbell rang a short while later she ran down to answer it. She generally avoided leaving Angel and her mother alone if at all possible.

He grinned when she opened the door and gave her a quick look over. “Hey beautiful. Are you ready to head? I hear there’s a good band at the Bronze tonight; the whole team’s going.”

Buffy smiled back and nodded. “Just let me grab a sweater.” She tried not to feel disappointed, but it seemed lately that the only time Angel wanted to be alone with her was when they were making out. She’d been hoping that tonight wouldn’t end up holding the pattern. As she reached into the closet she told herself that she was being silly. The guys on the football team were funny and there would almost certainly be some girls she knew there; it’d be fun she decided. She turned back to him with a cheerful smile and, shouting a goodbye to her mother, followed him out the door and to his car.





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