When Buffy returned home, she said good-bye to Clem and raced into the apartment, eager to put the horrible events of the night behind her. Quickly, she packed a duffle bag with a change of clothes, called for a taxi, and paused to write a note for William before she left. She needed to distance herself from the situation for a while, needed time to think and fully absorb the newly discovered and rather disturbing information William had revealed mere hours before.
Scribbling quickly, and wanting to get out of there as soon as possible before William returned home, Buffy finished up her thoughts. Hoping that she was doing the right thing, she left
the note in clear view on the kitchen table.
Then, without further hesitation, she was gone.
********
William arrived home an hour behind Buffy, pulling the DeSoto into the usual parking space and having to practically drag himself out of the car as exhaustion thoroughly set in, along with a tightening in the pit of his stomach as he dreaded the inevitable confrontation.
He knew he should have told her the truth from the beginning. She deserved to know what a horrible person her father truly was from the moment he found out. But he had been too much of a coward to tell her until it was all over. He'd had the insatiable need to be the one to put Hank in prison, to see firsthand that justice was being given for what had been done to his family. And the knowledge that he had indeed succeeded in putting Hank behind bars gave William much satisfaction. Though the anguish he felt over knowing his lies hurt Buffy even worse far outweighed the positives. He still couldn't have told her about his involvement with the police until the time was right, because he knew she would have tried to stop him. But he'd let his desire for vengeance blind him to the fact that Buffy deserved to know the truth about the accident from the get go.
William took the stairs two at a time, digging for his keys in his pocket before letting himself inside the cozy apartment. Shedding his duster along the way, he entered the bedroom in order to see if Buffy was already asleep, knowing she must have been every bit as tired as he felt.
However, his heart sank when he was greeted by an empty bed, the sheets still neat and untouched.
"Buffy?" William called, anxiety apparent in his voice.
Silence was his only answer.
Swallowing hard as dread began to consume him, William proceeded to check the bathroom and, once again coming up empty, he made his way to the last possible option: the kitchen. Flicking on the light switch to reveal an empty room, William knew with gut certainty that Buffy had left him. Though for how long, he didn't know.
Something caught his eye, however, and he sucked in a sharp breath when he realized there was a note waiting for him on the table. Praying to God it wasn't merely a Dear John letter, he picked it up with shaking hands as he began to read:
William,
I'm staying with Willow for the time being until I can figure a few things out for myself.
My life has been unexpectedly turned upside down and it's just too much for me to take all at once, so I need to distance myself from the situation, just for a little while, so I can
have a clear head to think this through. I hope you understand why I have to do this.
Please believe that I'm not running away, because that's not what I'm trying to do. I want
things to be right between us, but I need some space, and time, before I can let that happen. I love you Will, with all my heart, and I hope that we can someday rebuild the trust between us that has been shattered.
Love always,
Buffy
As William finished reading, he squeezed his eyes shut, letting the paper fall back to the table as he reached up a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. His fears had been confirmed; Buffy had left him.
Suddenly, it didn't seem as though things could get any worse.
*****
Buffy spent the next few hours crying her eyes out on Willow's couch, her friend just patting her back and offering words of sympathy. Buffy had broken down and told Willow everything she didn't already know, simply needing someone to talk to in her time of need.
In the course of one night, she'd been attacked, learned that her own father had betrayed her worse than she could have ever imagined, and that William had been lying to her. It was too much to handle, too much for one person to cope with alone.
"He's a poophead!" Willow exclaimed indignantly as Buffy's tears subsided slightly. "He never deserved you as a daughter, you're too good for him. That big, dumb... giant poophead!" Buffy sniffled, managing a small watery smile at her friend's attempt to comfort her.
"Yeah," Willow continued, "Someone should turn him into a big, horned toad. Or something. And-and then, we could all... stomp on him!"
Buffy looked up at the redhead, wiping in vain at a few more stray tears.
“I feel like I’m dying, Will,” Her voice was heavy with sorrow, throat so constricted with emotion she felt like she could hardly breath. “It’s just too much… everything all at once. I can’t…” Trailing off as she took in a deep breath, Willow remained silent as she realized Buffy was about to say something else.
“My father’s one thing… of course it hurts to know what he did, but deep down I always knew he was scum anyway… But William…” Buffy shook her head, then looked down at her lap. “The man I love, the one I thought I could trust more than anything in this world, lied to me. All this time…” Tearfully, Buffy looked up again with wide, desperate eyes, as though Willow held all the answers to her problems.
“What do I do, Wills?”
“Well, do you want my honest opinion?” Buffy simply nodded, urging her friend to continue. “Ok, I think that William was just trying to protect you. He probably should have told you the truth, but it sounds like he really thought he was doing the right thing.” Noticing the slightly skeptical look on Buffy’s face, Willow continued. “Buffy, he loves you, more than anything. He’d do anything for you. And unlike your father,” She paused, “He’s not a poophead.”
“No,” Buffy agreed. “William’s not a…” wrinkling her eyebrows together as she echoed Willow’s interesting word choice. “Poophead.”
Her face again grew serious.
“But he lied to me, Willow. How do I get past that?”
Willow smiled sympathetically.
“You go and talk to him,” She said, “Try starting there.”
Buffy looked down, contemplating the suggestion.
“Besides,” Willow continued, giving Buffy a playful nudge with her elbow, “You guys are just too cute together to be apart.”
Buffy allowed herself a small chuckle at that, smiling fondly. She looked at Willow gratefully.
“Thanks for being here, Wills,” She said as she gave Willow a hug.
“No problem,” Willow smiled. “That’s the job of the best friend.”
TBC...
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Hey, I’m back with another update! Hopefully, it doesn’t suck... But it’s Independence Day weekend, so it’s been a bit busy and I wanted to have this update out ASAP. Also, in the chapter, I wanted to have Willow in the story again, and I thought she’s always best as the friend talking sense, lol. Hope you like it! Next chapter will be the reunion between our fave couple. Anyway, thanks so much to lacey, BuffyandSpikeForever, shelly, Caitie, and Sevvy_O for your reviews. I won’t lie, I needed to have my ego boosted a bit because someone said some pretty nasty things about my writing on another archive. My feelings are easily bruised, lol. I don’t mind constructive criticism: in fact, I welcome it, because as an author I always want to try to improve my writing. But to more or less get told that I shouldn’t be writing fanfiction is definitely something that hurts my feelings. So thanks to everyone who had been reading and reviewing my story (and offering constructive criticism.) I really do appreciate it. :-)