Chapter 14:
William felt like a punk kid again as he tried to slide his credit card through the groves of the bathroom door to unlock it. Well, more like a rusty old punk since he was having trouble with the task. He could remember on one such occasion that he was able to unlock a door in ten seconds flat so he could beat up a dude on the other side for keying his car back in London. Picking locks back then was like reading the newspaper to him, he could have been a scholar at it if it was legal.
“Come on you damn thing.” William cursed his American Express card.
After pleading through the door with Buffy to let him in after Lindsey left and still getting no response, William decided he couldn’t wait any longer—he needed to know if she was hurt.
“Bugger…” he muttered when he realized his twentieth try had failed.
William stepped back from the door, his anger from Lindsey and his frustration with the door was taking a toll on him. He was ready to bust something, to hit something again. Earlier it felt so good to hit Lindsey that he wished the scum was still around so he could do it again…numerous times.
“Buffy…” he said loudly, “If you’re near the door get away from it…” he warned her. After listening for a moment and getting no response yet again, William took a deep breath and charged his right shoulder into the middle of the door, popping it open with ease.
He stumbled in and accidentally ran into the towel rack across the bathroom. After rubbing his shoulder in pain, William looked up to see that no one was there. A tiny window that even for a small child would have been hard to escape from was the only other exit he could see. As he glanced to the side he could see that the shower curtain was pulled forward to hide whatever was inside the tub.
“Buffy?” he whispered and gently pulled the yellow curtain back to reveal her.
William dropped down onto his knees to get a better look at her and notice that she was sleeping. Buffy had one of the fluffy towels draped over the lower half of her body like a blanket.
“Buffy wake up…” he reached inside the tub to shake her shoulder. When she didn’t stir he tried harder. Buffy’s head slumped to the side and her body started to slide down the side of the tub.
William quickly reached out and steadied her with of his hands. He glanced once outside the bathroom, checking to see if anyone had heard him bust open the door, before lifting her up out of the tub and shifting her in his arms.
‘Alright…’ he thought to himself as he looked down at her sleeping state, ‘What now?’
William just stood there in the brightly lit bathroom for a minute, thinking of what he should do next. When he looked down at her again he still didn’t have the answer, but instead he noticed how angelic she looked. He was sure if he had one of his hands free he would start petting her hair and caressing her cheeks.
‘O’Connor, you wanker, if I ever run into you alone you better watch out you son of a bitch…’ the little voice that sounded too much like his old self made that promise.
Buffy moaned and reached her one hand out to grasp William’s shirt.
“Alright love, looks like were going to hold up fort in one the rooms upstairs…preferably close to a bathroom.” He said, remembering that she consumed a large amount of alcohol and probably would be sick.
He briskly walked out of the bathroom, down the hallway, across the living room, and up the stairs of Buffy’s home. William listened to the first door he came to and heard moaning and heavy breathing coming from inside. After checking the next two he found that he running out of rooms to pick from.
‘Do they even have enough rooms to handle this party?’ William wondered as he came to the door at the end of the hallway. It was Buffy and Angel’s bedroom. When he noticed that no noises could be heard he didn’t hesitate to jiggle the handle and let himself and Buffy in.
Thankfully before his tired arms gave way, William sat Buffy on the king size bed. She let out a moan in protest as he laid her down and moved away from her.
“No…” she whimpered.
“Love, it’s me…William.” He reminded her.
“…don’t leave.” She said softly.
Even though William thought she didn’t sound drunk he remembered that she did in fact pass out in a bathtub and was in no condition to know what she was saying or doing.
“Do you need anything?”
”You…I need you…”
“Buffy, its William, remember? William Pratt?”
“William…William…” she kept muttering. “William Pur—pur…”
However, when it came to his last name she was having a bit of difficulty with the pronunciation.
“Pratt…”
”No, that’s not it.” She shook her head against the pillow.
William sighed and reached down to unbuckle Buffy’s shoes from her feet.
“Your—you’re you’re here…” she kept talking.
“Ya, love…for the party, remember?”
“You were late” she whined.
“Ya…Drusilla likes to dilly dally a bit when getting ready.” He muttered as he went for the other shoe.
“I thought you wouldn’t come.”
William paused and looked back at Buffy’s face, he could see through the darkness her lip was quivering.
“I said I was…” he told her, “I promised you …”
“You were late though…I—I was afraid you…”
“I wasn’t going to bail on you love…pet, I—I…” William stuttered; he was getting a little bit emotional from the fact that she was getting emotional with him. ‘How could she think I wouldn’t show up?’ He was practically pushing Drusilla out the door to go to the party. For days William worried that Buffy would change her mind about him, that she would be the one to bail on him and leave him behind. He prayed at night to the heavens to make her want to stay…to make her not forget him.
“I’m not going to leave you here with him…” he finally said, “We’re in this together…right?”
“Mmmm…” she moaned and shut her eyes, “Right.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~
Around three in the morning it started to rain. The silence inside the master bedroom was interrupted by the pitter patter of rain drops hitting the window ledge. William got up from his chair that he decided to call his bed and looked out one of the open windows. A flash of lightning lit up the dark sky and he was able to see everything outside Buffy’s house.
“Mmmm…”
William turned around and saw Buffy move onto her side to face him. As another flash of lightning erupted in the sky he could see her whole face and the pained expression that was painted on it. William walked over towards her and sat on the edge bed.
Buffy let out a sigh and her eyes fluttered open to find him staring at her.
“William?”
”Hi love.”
“What—what’s going…where am I?”
“In your room…”
She sat up and started to get a bit dizzy, “Oh…” she said as she noticed the familiar things around her.
“You okay?”
“My head hurts.” She mumbled as she lay back on the bed.
“Shouldn’t have drunk so much pet…”
“I know…” she whispered as she closed her eyes, “I guess I’m just lucky that you got me again as a partner.”
William let out a sigh, “Ya…”
When she reopened them she smiled up at him, “Sorry about my hideous dress…”
He looked down at her silver shiny dress for the first time.
“I tried to look as unattractive as possible to the men, but at the same time leave a dent on Angel’s credit card.” She explained.
When William looked up at her face he saw her messy hair and smudged makeup through the darkness.
“You look lovely pet…” he said softly.
“It’s alright William…I told you I was going for the ‘bad fashion victim’ appearance.” She said, telling him he didn’t have to lie to make her feel better.
“I see nothing wrong with it.” He said honestly.
“Whatever you say...” she muttered and then yawned, “Too tired to argue with you…”
”Sleep love…” he said as he got up from the edge of her bed.
”Wait…” she said, “Don’t go.”
William froze, this time Buffy wasn’t drunk when she said those words. “I’m just going to sit in the chair pet, let you sleep.”
”Don’t be ridiculous…” she shimmed over to make room for him, “You can stay here too.”
It would be the first time in a long time that he stayed in a bed with someone other than his wife. He had a policy with his past partners that he bunkered the night with—‘separate resting places’. It was the ground rule that he first laid out to all the girls and always stuck to it.
“I don’t know love…” he said with hesitation, he was tempted to throw his morals out the window and cave to her request.
“I won’t force you…but I don’t mind…I trust you.”
William looked back down at her for a moment before making a quick decision to climb over the covers and sit beside her. He was nearly a foot away from touching her as he rested his head back against the headboard.
“Shoes buddy…” she muttered as she took her bare feet and tapped the side of one of his black dress shoes.
With a smile, he let his toes press down on the heels of his shoes so they were off; he kicked them off the bed and heard them thump onto the floor.
“Better…” she said softly as she closed her eyes.
“Ya…better.”
*~*~*~*~*~
An hour later William had moved down away from the headboard so his face was right next to Buffy’s. He still hadn’t touched her but his hand kept lingering up, looking like it was going to reach out and caress her cheek. When Buffy let out a sigh and shifted closer to the warm body next her, William couldn’t take it anymore—he gave into his temptation and rested his hand on her arm. Pretty soon his thumb was rubbing her soft skin in gentle circles.
It was probably the most intimate moment he had in over a year.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The library had been unusually scarce of students that Monday afternoon. As the clocked hit the lunch hour, William went off into the stacks and sat at a study table by himself. He had been itching all weekend to write, and now that he was finally alone and away from Drusilla he let his creative mind free. He pulled out a pen and a notepad and started to write.
My soul is wrapped
in harsh repose,
midnight descends
in raven-colored clothes,
but soft...behold!
A sunlight beam cutting a swath of
glimmering gleam.
My heart expands,
'tis grown a bulge in it,
inspired by your beauty
William looked up from his notepad, something was missing. He closed his eyes and remembered the morning after the party as Buffy shared a little secret smile at him as he left with his wife.
His eyes flashed open and his pen placed down three dots and then wrote…
Effulgent.
TBC....of course the poem is not mind, belongs to William the Bloody Awful Poet :)