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Buffy tried to move out of William’s lap, knowing the impending conversation would make them both more than a little uncomfortable, but he wasn’t having it. When he felt her attempting to distance herself from him, he tightened his arms around her waist, effectively halting her movements. Knowing it was a lost cause, Buffy instead shifted slightly and settled in for what would be a long an mostly unpleasant revelation. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against William’s chest as she prepared to tell her story, drawing in a deep breath to attempt to clear her head.

“Will, I-I think someone is stalking me,” She began, pausing when she felt William tense and tighten his arms around her possessively. “That phone call wasn’t a wrong number. I could hear someone breathing on the other end, and then they hung up. And this morning when I went into to the kitchen, I noticed all the petals were missing from the rose you gave me last night. Someone . . .must have broken in, because . . . .I – I don’t think I was alone in the apartment last night after you left.”

“Jesus, Buffy!” William gasped in horror, suddenly grabbing hold of her arms so he could distance himself slightly to look at her, his eyes scanning her body frantically as if to assure himself that she was really there, that she was not hurt. He shook his head in disbelief, worry exuding from his eyes, “I knew I should have stayed last night! What if some asshole had tried to kill you, or rape you? God, I never –“

Buffy held a finger to his lips, effectively silencing him.

“Will, I’m fine,” She assured him quietly, “You couldn’t have known. And besides . . . .I – I think I know who it is . . . .” She chewed on her lip vehemently as she tried to gain some focus, noticing William knit his eyebrows together in confusion, his face a mask of uncertainty as she continued, “It all made sense. The flower petals. . . . it was done out of jealousy, obsession. Wanting to destroy something you gave me, because it wasn’t from him” She practically spat the word, sighing loudly and hesitating only a moment longer before dropping the bomb, “Angel.”

William, who had tried to maintain his composure, finally burst. “ANGEL?!!” He roared as he jumped to his feet, inadvertently dumping Buffy off his lap and onto the floor. A weak protest of ‘ow’ escaped her lips as her hip slammed into the coffee table on the way down, powerless to do anything except watch William continue his rant.

“That wanker that called about the date?!! The date that was SUPPOSED to be about business?! I KNEW IT!!”

A disgusted shake of his head accompanied a threatening growl as he paced the room manically, hands clasped tightly behind his back and jaw clenched so tightly Buffy was sure all his teeth must be chipped. William payed no attention as Buffy slowly stood and rubbed her sore hip, observing his tirade quietly. He muttered strings of, “Bloody fucking ponce”, “I knew she was lying”, “Soddin nancy boy,” and “How could she?” along with various other expletives and accusations Buffy had no time to decipher as she struggled to gain hold of the situation.

Buffy finally stepped in, half fearing he would give himself a heart attack if he didn’t stop his antics, “Will,” She approached him cautiously, “Please let me finish. Let me explain. It’s not what you think.”

William halted his movements abruptly as he absorbed the meaning of her words.

‘Calm down, you soddin idiot!’ He mentally scolded himself, his heart raced a million miles a minute. After taking a moment to compose himself, he acknowledged her with a slight nod and plopped back onto the couch stiffly. A myriad of different emotions littered his face as he struggled to contain his outbursts; worry, jealousy, anger, frustration, uncertainty.

He held up a hand. “Hold on, ” He mumbled gruffly, “I really need a fag right now.” As he said this he reached into his duster and pulled out his trusty lighter and a pack of cigarettes, knowing full well he wasn’t supposed to smoke in the apartment. Buffy didn’t bother reminding him of that fact either, knowing it would be a lost cause as William was obviously not in the mood to heed any rules, especially under the circumstances. So she bit her lip and kept her mouth shut as he lit up, taking a few long drags to calm his nerves, before finally nodding at her to signal he was ready for her to start explaining away.

Buffy played with the collar of her shirt nervously.

“I’ll tell the story. But promise me you won’t interrupt until I’m completely done. Please, there’s . . . . there’s a lot that needs explaining, and I have to get it all out before it kills us both-“ she paused briefly, “When I’m finished, then feel free to do what you want, say what you want. Yell at me, hit me for all I care. I probably deserve it for keeping this from you for so long,” William looked at her, shocked by her words, though she didn’t notice as she hung her head in shame.

“No, Buffy,” He protested, shaking his head vigorously, “I would never-“

“Please, Will, just let me finish, ok?” Her words were whispered, anguished, and when William saw her eyes were glassy with unshed tears, his heart clenched. He nodded his agreement and watched as she sat beside him on the couch, though at the opposite end from where he remained glued in place.

“I wasn’t lying when I said I was meeting Angel for business. That’s exactly what it was – he . . . . said he was interested in making an investment. A big investment. Said he wanted to buy some of our most valuable pieces to display for his clients. He made all these big promises, and he seemed legit enough, sincere at least. He said his father owned some big law firm so I figured he must be pretty well-to-do, and that if we played our cards right we could make business at the gallery really boom. I wanted to make my mom proud.”

She sucked in a sharp breath and tried to collect her thoughts, forcing undesirable memories back in the scope of her consciousness, “He called again, a couple weeks later, to talk about buying some other pieces. So I agreed to meet with him again. I had no reason to think he was a fraud. I mean, he walked out the door with priceless paintings, handed me the check and everything. I even cashed the goddamned thing,” She shook her head regretfully.

“I started to get a little suspicious when he wanted to meet a third time. He’d bought a few paintings, sure, but he hadn’t yet mentioned any of his so-called clients since that first day, or buying out the gallery, or any of the crap he talked about during that first meeting. That’s when I started to question his . . . . intentions,”

Buffy glanced at William to try to gauge his reaction but his face remained impassive, set like stone, though she could tell he was trying very hard to bite his tongue and not interrupt. She continued, “But I went anyway. And sure enough, my instincts had been right. He . . . . asked me out on a date. A real, non business date, which of course I told him no. That I was married, to a man I love very much, and he said he understood. So I thought everything was fine. I didn’t hear from him again for a few weeks, until one night I went to the Bronze with Willow and Xander to blow off some steam and take my mind off of things,” William nodded solemnly in understanding as he listened intently, “And Angel just happened to be there. He spotted me first, so I acted cordial, you know, the usual ‘Hi, so how about the weather’ kind of thing. But later that night, when I was coming out of the bathroom, he pushed me into a dark corner, against the wall . . . . and – and he . . . .stuck his tongue down my throat and started to grope me.”

“He what!” William roared, instantly flying up off the couch. “I’ll kill him. I’ll kill the bastard!” He yelled, so loud Buffy was sure the entire neighborhood heard every word.

Buffy placed a hand gently on his arm. “Will, please calm down. I haven’t finished yet,” She pleaded softly. Her touch seemed to once again ground him and he reluctantly nodded, though his chest was still heaving from his outburst. He practically collapsed on the couch under the weight of his emotions as Buffy continued speaking.

“I pushed him away from me and slapped him across the face, said ‘How dare you,’ and stormed off. I thought that would be the last time I ever saw him, but after that night, I started getting phone calls. Most of the times I’d only hear someone breathing on the other end, and then they’d hang up. But other times he’d call me a slut, or a whore, or something to that effect. I noticed his car parked in front of the apartment, many times, just sitting there. Well apparently, he was stalking me. I guess he’d been coming to the gallery for months, checking me out, though I never noticed him before. He was obsessed with me, or something. I don’t know how, or why, but he was, and it started to really scare me,” Buffy sank back in her seat, her voice starting to waver slightly.

“I ran into him again at the Bronze, quite literally. He was drunk, bumped into me and cornered me, calling me names and shouting that I was a dirty little whore, that I knew I wanted him. He was delusional, and he tried to force himself on me again, but thank God there was a roomful of witnesses who intervened before he could do any damage, and I was able to get a restraining order against him,” She sighed, “I thought he would leave me alone after that. And he did, until you came back home. He must have known somehow that you were coming,” Her voice trailed off as she finished her story, and she turned to face William with a tortured look haunting her delicate features, the tears that had been pooling in her big emerald eyes now threatening to spill over. “That’s the whole story, I swear it. I said before I would never cheat on you, and I didn’t. I WOULDN”T.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?” His question was soft and unaccusing, but full of hurt and uncertainty, “Why did you lie to me?”

“Because I know you, Will. If I told you, you’d have been on the first plane back to Sunnydale,” He remained silent, unable to deny what she said was true. “All telling you would have done is make you worry, or upset, and I didn’t want to put that on you while you were trying to get better. You didn’t need that . . . . And besides, I thought I had it all under control with the restraining order, that I could handle it myself. I didn’t want you to have to deal with my problems on top of yours, especially when we said we had to deal with our problems on our own before we could fix our relationship. I’m sorry – I never wanted to lie to you. I just . . . .I wanted you to get better, so you could come home to me. I love you, Will, so much. Please believe me,” She finished tearfully.

After a moment's pause, “I believe you,” He stated sincerely.

Her eyes widened, “You do?” William reached for her hands and encased them with his own.

“I still wish you would have told me the truth from the beginning. But I realize I acted like a jealous ass before. And if we’re gonna make this work between us, I have to trust you, which is something I never fully learned. You’ve always trusted me without question, and I need to do the same for you.”

Buffy sniffled and offered him a watery smile, giving his hands a gentle squeeze. “Thank you,” She whispered. “Let’s make a deal – you learn to trust me more, and I learn to open up to you more.” William returned her smile and gently wiped her tears away with the pads of his fingers.

“Sounds like a plan.”

She rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes, completely relieved and feeling the heavy burden of this painful secret finally being lifted off her shoulders.

“One more thing, Kitten, and no arguments.”

“Hmm?” She responded sleepily.

“I’m moving back in.”

Buffy’s eyes flew open at that and she sat straight up to meet his gaze.

“Don’t, Buffy,” William silenced her as she opened her mouth to protest. “I know this may . . . . complicate things a bit, but we can still take things as slow as we feel necessary. I’ll sleep on the couch – I’ll stay in the bleedin closet if I have to, but I’m staying here. At least until this Angel ponce is out of the picture.”


“Will-“

“I’m moving back in here, and that’s final!” Buffy’s eyes widened slightly at his harsh tone, and his expression instantly softened. “You’re in danger, and I can’t lose you. I – I almost lost you once . . . .” His voice trailed off, and Buffy suddenly understood exactly what he was feeling - she didn’t want to lose him, either.

She placed her small hands on either side of his head, pulling him towards her so she could plant a gentle kiss on his hairline and rest her forehead against his. Looking into her eyes, he brushed his lips across hers softly in the lightest of kisses, tasting strawberry lip gloss and vanilla. When he broke away, Buffy lovingly cradled his head against her breast, feeling his tears dampening her shirt as he wrapped his strong arms around her waist. They held onto each other for a long while, feeling that they had accomplished another milestone in rebuilding their relationship: learning to trust and overcoming yet another obstacle.

Buffy felt William smile against her chest, nuzzling her breast with his cheek as his anguish faded and he began returning to his usual self.

Buffy raised an eyebrow. “And just what do you think you’re doing?”

“Enjoying this.” He replied and nuzzled her breast with his nose again to emphasize his point. She flicked him lightly on the head in response.

“Perv,” She accused, smiling all the while.

He met her gaze and smirked, curling his tongue behind his teeth.

“You know you love it, baby.”

Buffy rolled her eyes, her smile betraying her mock annoyance.

“You’re insufferable.”

“So I’m told”

She shook her head, “What am I gonna do with you?” He raised an eyebrow at her suggestively. “You know what, don’t answer that.” This earned her a chuckle from William, like music to her ears.

“I’m supposed to go out with Willow and Xander tomorrow” Buffy offered, “Want to tag along, for old time’s sake?”

“You bet your luscious ass I do.”

Smack
She slapped his chest and stood up. “C’mon, let’s go work on that dinner you promised me earlier.” William stretched and followed her into the kitchen with a huge grin on his face, all thoughts of Angel momentarily forgotten.






A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. I was suffering from a major case of writer’s block that just stubbornly refused to go away, lol. But anyway, I hope you like this chapter. So it was Angel, and Buffy didn’t cheat. And of course, we haven’t heard the last of Angel, either. (Muahahaha)
And again, thanks so much for all the great reviews! I really love reading them, and the more I get the more inspiration I have to write. So special thanks to Caitie, BuffyandSpikeForever, Bint, Sevvy_O, Kimber, dreamgirl4eva, and jenny for all your reviews. Keep ‘em coming! :)






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