The next week and a half passed by rather uneventfully. Buffy tried not to concentrate on the fact that she only had one more week until she was to see William again. She even managed the time with only a few calls to Willow, and those were only when she allowed herself to think about it for any length of time.
During one of these phone calls, Willow suggested that maybe Buffy should call and talk through the awkwardness before it was time for William to come through town.
“WILLOW ROSENBERG!!! ARE YOU NUTS?!?!”
“Well, Buffy, now calm down…I only suggested that because if you’re feeling so strongly about this, it’s entirely possible that he is, too. It might make things a little more comfortable if the two of you could talk about it before he comes in town so you’re not sitting there wondering things when you see each other.”
“I guess I can see your point, but Jesus, Will, how could I ever make the move to bring up the subject?”
“Buffy, I know you can’t see it, but I have my resolve face on, and you know what that means, right?”
“Ya know, Willow, your resolve face isn’t nearly as effective over the phone as it is in person. I hope you realize that.”
“Buffy, as your friend, I’m asking you…pleading with you, even, to call him so things might not be so awkward when you see him. If you don’t go ahead and do this, when he comes through town and the two of you spend time together, it’ll be worse than if you go ahead now…or soon, anyway, and get it out in the open.”
Silence was Willow’s response.
“Buffy?” she said gently after a few moments.
“I’m still here, Willow. I just…I’ll do it…I just need to prepare what I’m going to say when I do.”
“That’s the Buffy I know! I know you’ll come up with what you need to say. In fact, I’ll let you go so you can start preparing now.”
“Will?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve really got to do this, don’t I?”
“Buffy, you don’t have to do anything, but I know you still care for him… a lot. Since I know this is weighing on your mind, I’d say it’s a really good idea to get it out in the open because nothing will ever be resolved if you keep it inside.”
“You’re right, Willow. You’re always right. Thank you for being my voice of reason through this.”
“Sure, Buff. Besides, someone’s got to think rationally in this situation since I’m pretty neither one of you will do it.”
“Hey!”
Willow chuckled gently, “You go and start planning what you’re going to say, and when you finally go through with it, I’ll be here to listen.”
“Thanks, Will, I just…I really appreciate it.”
“No problem. Talk to you later, Buffy.”
“Later, Will.”
Buffy hung up the phone and resigned herself to gather her thoughts and form them into exactly what she wanted to say to him. It was going to be a difficult task to say the least…how exactly do you tell someone you’re a little uncomfortable with seeing them because you’re still in love with them after years of not having any contact with them?
Buffy and William had been together for 8 months, and although they had their ups and downs, no major catastrophes had occurred in their relationship.
The school year was coming to a close, and one particular stressful day, Buffy was in need of some TLC. She was in danger of failing her English class after getting her 3rd F on one of the poetry exams. Not only that, but she had gotten in trouble in her Algebra class for trying to explain a problem to one of her classmates while the teacher had been busy giving their homework assignment. When lunch time finally arrived, she headed towards the library, where William had begun to disappear to instead of sitting at their table.
She walked in, almost in tears, and spotted William hovered over a book at one of the tables. He looked up when he heard the door open to see his girlfriend, obviously very upset. He knew his father was in the office, which was almost in plain view of where they were standing, but at that particular moment, all that mattered was making Buffy happy again.
He stood up to go to her, and she met him halfway. He immediately took her into his arms and smoothed her hair back from her face.
“What’s the matter, luv?” he said quietly, so as not to attract his father’s attention.
Buffy explained to him what was going wrong with her day, and he just stood and held her, letting her vent her frustrations. He let go of her, slightly, and said, “What can I do to ‘elp?”
Buffy was about to tell him that just holding her helped tremendously, but at that moment, Giles decided to come out of his office.
“Son, I wondered if perhaps…oh, sorry, dear, may I help you?”
“Da’, this is Buffy, my gir…good friend. Buffy, this is my da’.”
Buffy stuck out her hand and said, “Hi, Mr. Ellingson, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Lovely to meet you, too, Buffy. I wonder if I might steal my son away for a few minutes?”
William followed his father back into his office, and Giles closed the door behind them.
“William, please tell me, because it seems that this girl is much more to you than just a friend. And if my memory serves me correctly, that is a direct violation of the rules that I have for you.”
William was unable to meet his father’s eyes as he said, “No, Da’, she’s just a good friend, nothing more. I promise.”
Giles sighed, “Ok, son, I believe you. I know you would never lie to me. However, if this girl is only a friend, I would suggest that you be careful how much affection you show her. She might get the wrong idea, unless you show the same to your other friends.”
“Ok, Da’, I understand. Is that all you needed me for?”
“Yes, Will, that was all. I noticed the embrace out the window."
"She was jus' upset, Da'. I was being a good friend."
"Ok, Will, that's fine. I just wanted to make sure."
William stood up to leave, and Giles followed him back out into the library. He walked over to Buffy, and laying a hand gently on her shoulder, he said, “I have work I must attend to, but I wanted to say again how nice it was to meet one of William’s friends.”
Buffy smiled, knowing that William couldn’t be honest with his father about their relationship, but hearing him refer to her as just a friend still caused a little twinge in her heart.
She turned back to William and said, “I’m gonna go. I guess I’ll see you later?”
William smiled in acknowledgement and said, “Yeah, lu…Buffy, later.”
Buffy walked into the hallway and sank down against a wall, letting the tears she had been fighting finally fall.
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