Twenty-eighth. Mad dogs and Englishmen
This dog and man at first were friends;
But when a pique began,
The dog, to gain some private ends,
Went mad and bit the man.
Oliver Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield
It’s dogs that bite that do not show their teeth.
Chinese proverb
Will woke slowly, the feel of warm teasing fingers circling over his erection and nibbling kisses trailing over his chest. His eyes opened and he barely noticed the darkness surrounding them, his vision caught by the sight of his new wife’s hair barely hiding eyes lit with an impish fire.
“Oh god Buffy.” Her mouth closed around one of his nipples as her hand tightened fractionally around his cock.
“You woke me up.”
“I woke you up?” Will lifted his head from the pillow, bemused confusion swimming in his eyes. “Seems like you’ve got that backwards, pet. You woke me up.”
“Nahuh. You woke me.”
“How on earth did I do that?”
Her teeth closed around his nipple then and a moment later she let go, blowing her warm breath over it. “Well, part of you woke me up.”
“Ahuh. Which part of me was that?” Will reached for her, brushing the hair back, then running his hand down her flank.
Buffy blushed, squeezing her hand rhythmically around his cock, twirling up and down. “You were poking me.”
“Was I now?” Will flipped them over trapping her beneath him. “Guess I’ll just have to make it up to you.”
It was his turn to rain kisses over her face, down her neck and over her collarbone, licking and nibbling as he went. “You’re gonna have to try really hard, Will, coz I was sound asleep.”
Will eased up, wedging his legs between hers, his cock nudging at the folds of her pussy. Looking down at her, he was struck almost speechless at her expression and he leaned down to kiss her.
“I love you.” His whispered admission made her smile and his genuine grin changed into a leer, as he pushed further into her welcoming depths. “I really, really do, even though I’m pretty damn sure you woke me up.”
It took her a moment, but when she realized what he’d said, her pout made him laugh, forcing him even deeper.
Buffy’s hips arched up and the mood went from playful to serious in an instant. “Oh god. . . oh Will!”
Lifting her hips up further, Will drove into her, fingers digging into her soft flesh. His panting breaths broke over her and Buffy could feel every flex of him within her, every flick and twist of his hips against hers. Buffy braced her hands up over her head, pushing into him. His thrusts gained speed, pounding into her.
“Fuck. . . . gonna. . . . ready?”
She mewled out something in response, gasping and panting for air. “Please, Will. . . . please.”
“Come with me baby . .. . . c’mon.” She stiffened beneath him, and he could feel her tighten around him and Will froze, his back arching. The rush hit them simultaneously and Will growled out her name.
Sweat pooled between them and mindful of her gravid state, Will rolled to the side, pulling her into his arms.
Buffy murmured softly, brushing a kiss on his jaw, then curled into his side.
Before long they were both asleep.
Dinner was romantic and wonderful and everything Buffy had imagined after a long day of sightseeing and shopping. She hadn’t really been paying attention when they’d ordered, her mind on her husband and their return home.
“I wish we didn’t have to go back.”
Will chewed slowly, his eyes watching her carefully. “Any particular reason?”
Her sigh was deep and she paused before answering him. “I don’t wanna go back and have to face everything there just yet.” Buffy avoided his eyes for a second, staring down at her plate. “It’s been easier, you know, just us, and going back means dealing with reality.”
Composing his thoughts, Will continued eating, wondering if she was going to elaborate more. Before he had a reply, she was speaking again.
“I wanna finish school, but I don’t want to go back there. I’m worried about my Mom coz she hasn’t even tried to find me, and I’m scared too, Will, that someone’s going to try and break us apart.” She finally looked up at him, crystal tears pooling in her eyes. “I can’t let that happen. I can’t. I don’t wanna be without you.”
He was out of his chair before her tears fell, crouching down beside her. “Oh baby. Don’t cry, please. I can’t stand it when you cry.”
Will’s arms encircled her and he pulled her close. Buffy sniffled a bit, letting her head drop onto his shoulder. “Baby, you don’t have to worry about school. You can get your GED and enroll at UC Sunnydale if you want. That’s easy.”
He brushed his hand down her back, laying kisses on the top of her head. Thinking quickly, Will pulled back a little, lifting her head from his shoulder.
Buffy stared into his eyes while he wiped away her tears. “Sooner or later, kitten, we’re gonna have to face your mother. But I promise, you, it won’t be alone, we’ll do it together. I’ll be with you for everything.” Taking a deep breath, Will said, “An’ if it looks like we’re in trouble, we’ll head to England.”
“England?” Confusion filled her eyes and Will knew he needed to explain.
“Won’t have any problems there, or not the same ones, anyway. Seventeen is legal there, sweets, and we’d already be married, so I doubt anyone would care.”
She stared at him for a few moments, processing his reasoning. “You’ve thought about this a lot, haven’t you?”
It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her how close he’d been to switching plans completely and just leaving permanently, but Will held his tongue. Instead he told her about the other thing he’d done. “Thought about this a lot. In fact, I’ve already sent out my resume to a couple of different schools.”
“You did?” Buffy rested her hand on his shoulder, fiddling with the collar of his shirt. “I thought you liked it there?”
“It was the first place I could get hired and that only happened because Giles put in a good word. Had a bit of a past to get over and some schools weren’t as eager to deal with what looked like could have been anger management issues.” He shrugged, not hiding any of his past from her. “I spent a year of university doing nothing but drinking and fighting.“
“When your mother died.” It wasn’t a question and they both knew it.
“Yeah, then.” He wasn’t ashamed of it, that had been a rough time for him, his only lifeline Drusilla and sometimes contact with his uncle Rupert; it had come back to haunt him when he’d settled down and gotten his act together.
“What about the house?”
“It’s just a house, sweetheart. We can always buy another.” He paused, his eyes scanning her features. “Made you a promise, kitten, an’ I’m not breaking it. You’re my wife and I’m not letting you go.”
“Hey, possesso-guy, that’s kinda caveman, isn’t it?” She had a teasing glint in her eye, lightening the mood a bit.
His low chuckle eased the aching pain in her chest, which occurred whenever she thought about them being separated. Will made a fist and thumped his chest twice, growling low under his breath, and his posturing brought a smile to her face, which was his aim. The soft giggles let him know his ploy had worked.
With a quick kiss on her forehead, Will returned to his seat.
One crisis averted. . . . . But how many more are we gonna have to deal with before this is over?
“Bloody hell. What is this mess?”
Giles had dropped Jenny off at her house before heading over to Will’s to take care of the dogs. Upon his arrival, only the basset hound had met him at the door, waiting patiently to be let outside. Making his way through to the kitchen, Giles understood why the other one was hiding. Garbage was strewn all over the floor, half eaten foodstuffs, papers, napkins and other debris all over the place. Stepping inside the room lightly, Giles headed for the backdoor first, in order to let out Clem. He didn’t bother looking for Kennedy, knowing the destruction was all the work of the high-strung terrier.
Muttering curses under his breath, Giles set about cleaning the mess up.
Both flight and drive home were problem free, even Buffy’s stomach behaving. Long before she was ready to be back home, Will was pulling into the driveway, nudging her into full wakefulness. “C’mon sweets, we’re home.”
“Can we leave it til morning to unpack?” She didn’t bother to hide the yawn and dropped her head down onto Will’s shoulder as she fought against getting out of the car.
“Sure. I’ll get the bags in the morning.” He opened his car door, pausing when he caught sight of Giles’ car parked at the curb. “Buffy? M’uncle is here.”
Her eyes popped open and she gaped at him. “Giles? He’s here? Why is he here?”
“My guess is he’s here taking care of the dogs.” Will got out and closed the door behind him. Moving around to her side of the car, he held the door opened for her. “I did ask him to do that.”
“What are we gonna tell him?” There was real fear in her eyes and she gripped his hand tightly.
He stared down at her for a few seconds, lost in thought. He could brazen it out, lie to his uncle, telling him he’d been out looking for her all weekend and he’d finally found her, but he didn’t want to do that. His uncle, his only blood relative alive, deserved to know the truth – even if it came back to hurt him. Besides, she was old enough and they had been married. Leaning down toward her, Will said firmly, “I’m gonna tell him the truth.”
“We are.” She gave him a half smile, then got out of the car. “Together, right?”
His smile was crooked, but genuine. “Yeah.”
They were halfway to the door when she remembered something. “Oh, gotta get the cheesecake.”
She turned back to the car, grabbing that and one of the other bags, then turned once more to face her husband. “You sure we can leave the bags out here tonight?”
He cocked his head to the side, watching her fidget with the bags, realizing she was making a poor attempt to avoid going inside the house. “Buffy. . . it’s gonna be okay. Rupes won’t get too upset.”
“You sure about that? I mean, really, really sure? He’s not gonna wig on us is he?” Despite the seriousness of her questions and her fears, Will found himself smiling at her childlike expression.
“He’ll probably lecture me about taking advantage of a young girl and whatnot, but none of that is really gonna matter, kitten.”
“Why?”
“Because,” he stepped close to her, close enough to pull her into his arms and leer down at her. “You’re mine, kitten, signed and sealed by the State of Nevada, an’ nothing short of the world ending is gonna take me from you.”
By way of response, Buffy wrapped her arms around his waist, stretching up to give him a soft kiss.
“Right then, in we go “
He hugged her tight, taking the packages from her hands. Shifting them into his right hand, Will grabbed her with his left, pulling her toward the front door.
“What the fuck?”
As prepared as he was to see his uncle, Will was not prepared to find him on his hands and knees scrubbing the living room rug.
“Hello Will.” Rupert lurched upwards, almost knocking over the bucket of water at his side. His glasses slipped down his nose, and as he pushed them back up with a sweaty forearm, he caught sight of the figure behind his nephew. “Buffy? Is that you?”
With a nervous glance up at William, the girl stepped out from behind him, smiling warily. “Hello Mr. Giles.”
“Oh dear god. Are you well?”
Struggling to his feet, Giles dropped the rag into the bucket, uncaring of the dirty water splashing up and over the sides.
“I’m okay.”
Before he could ask anything further, Will’s voice broke the awkward silence. “What happened?”
With a look of extreme distaste, Giles indicated the spot on the floor. “Evidently, Kennedy was displeased with your disappearance. She got into the garbage and managed to knock over the dry dog food as well.”
“Oh no.”
“Where is she?”
“She hasn’t. . . I haven’t seen her since my arrival,” he looked down at his watch. “About two hours ago.”
Will let loose an ear piercing whistle and yelled out the dog’s name half a second later.
He handed off the bags to Buffy then moved into the dining room, calling for the dog.
Rupert was staring at her, a thoughtful look on his face, which was beginning to make her a bit uncomfortable. Trying to direct his attention away from her, Buffy spoke. “How bad was it?”
Shaking his head visibly, Giles knelt on the floor again. “The entire kitchen was a mess. She gorged herself more than once and threw up a couple of times.”
They could both hear Will walking through the house, his voice preceding him as he searched for the dog.
Fixing the older man with a semi-smile, Buffy picked up one of the bags and headed toward the kitchen. “I’ll be right back. Gotta put the cheesecake in the fridge.”
Just nodding his head in acknowledgment, Giles turned back to his self-appointed task.
Something was going on, Rupert wasn’t that dense – he just wanted clarification of what it was before he commenced with the lecture.
The evidence of Kennedy’s displeasure was strewn in places throughout the house. Will had collected dirty napkins and paper towels and the remains of whatever other garbage in his trek through the rooms, but when he found the first set of Buffy’s panties chewed to bits, his temper frayed.
Wandering into the kitchen, he could hear the low murmur of their voices, the two people he cared most about conversing too softly for him to discern their words. He strained for a moment, but when neither the volume nor the flow changed, he relaxed and went back to his original task. Grabbing a garbage bag and some rags, Will headed toward the hallway, almost afraid to look into the bathroom and bedrooms.
*****************************************************************************
Giles was surprised when she returned, a fresh bucket of warm soapy water and several rags in hand, more than prepared to help him finish. Her smile took him by surprise and he found himself returning it.
She looked remarkably well rested, the stress and strain almost gone from her eyes and he hoped it had everything to do with her being here with Will. Her presence hadn’t been expected at all, thought he should have at least entertained the possibility. Will was, when he put his mind to it, an incredibly persistent person, and fairly stubborn to boot.
Watching her from the corner of his eye, Giles held back all the questions that were dancing on the tip of his tongue, wanting to have them both in the room when he heard the story of their whereabouts.
It was as bad as he thought it would be. Kennedy had gotten into the bathroom and there was dog poop and pee on the floor. Will grit his teeth, muttering under his breath, while he cleaned up the mess.
Damned dog is gonna spend the next week outside. Not gonna put up with this shite, even if the bitch belonged to Mum.
He was wiping up the last of the smelly urine, preparing to bleach the floor when he spotted the damage done to the shower curtain. The entire bottom of the white linen panel was shredded, parts of it hanging by mere threads, and Will felt his temper rising higher. Getting quickly to his feet, he stripped the curtain down, rolling it into a ball and tossed it into the garbage bag just outside the door.
Dumping some undiluted bleach onto the floor, Will headed into their bedroom.
And promptly roared.
They both jumped at the sound of sheer, unadulterated rage echoing through the house. Buffy was the first to her feet, heading for the source, with Giles close at her heels. She stopped short when Will wheeled into the hallway, his fists clenched at his sides.
“Will?”
“I’m gonna kill that fuckin’ dog.”
“What happened?”
She moved to go around him, but his hand on her arm stopped her. “Don’t sweetheart.”
“Will? What’s going on?” Rupert’s voice reminded Will they had an audience, one that didn’t know everything going on, but he could at least get his assistance.
“Need your help, Rupes. Have to move the mattress out.”
Taking advantage of Will’s momentary distraction, Buffy snuck around him and darted into the bedroom.
Her groaned “oh no” brought both men into the room behind her.
Kennedy had attacked the bed, ripping the mattress and blankets to shreds, destroying pillows and sheets and everything else on the bed in the process. Feathers were all over the floor, covering the dark rug in a wash of white.
“Oh my.”
“Not exactly what ‘d hoped we’d come home too, pet.”
Buffy spared him a glance, noting the ticking muscles in his cheek and the wild look in his eyes. She sighed and his attention focused on her. “Sorry kitten. If I’d known, I. . . . “
“So not your fault. Neither of us figured she’d do this.” She picked up one of the destroyed pillows, a sad smile on her features. “I really wanted to crawl into bed.”
“We can sleep in the other room.” His answer was quick, forgetting they had an audience.
“I’ll get the vacuum.”
“You will not.” Giles realized his tone was harsh when she flinched and he relented somewhat. “It’s too heavy for you to lift up the stairs. I’ll get it. Will, we’re going to need garbage bags.”
“On it.”
Buffy started stripping the linens from the bed while the two men headed off to their appointed tasks.
She was shaking her head, trying not to cry at the destruction of their bedroom – and her brand new pillows. This wasn’t how she wanted their homecoming to go. Buffy wanted to snuggle up in Will’s arms recuperating from their whirlwind weekend and just bask in the glow of togetherness until he had to go to work in the morning.
Instead – they had to face Giles – and deal with this mess. Sniffling hard, Buffy fought off the tears unsuccessfully.
Giles was back in the room quickly, trailing vacuum parts behind him. He stopped in the doorway, watching Buffy quietly. It was obvious, by the set of her shoulders she was crying and Giles was moved to pity.
“Buffy?”
Her head whipped up and she furtively wiped away her tears. “Yeah?”
“Are you all right?”
She tried to lie, but the turmoil and her hormones caught up with her. “Yeah. . . “ and when her breathing hitched she shook her head in denial. “No. Not really. I’m tired and I just wanted to go to bed and I wasn’t ready to see you yet . . . . and Will promised. . . . and maybe we should just go to England.”
“Oh dear.” Giles moved into the bedroom, his brain trying to decipher what she’d just said. He had the sinking suspicion Will had done something rash – without thinking everything through. Knowing his nephew, he’d set his mind on one path and then been unwilling to see any alternatives.
Regardless of his personal opinions on the matter, Will and Buffy had done something – Giles was loathe to admit what exactly – and he would do his best to wait before he unloaded harsh realities on them.
He rounded the bed, coming to Buffy’s side as he made the decision to wait, his hand lightly touching her shoulder. The poor girl crumpled before his eyes, leaning into his awkward embrace heavily. “There, there, dear. Everything will work out.”
“Buffy?”
Will’s concerned voice sounded seconds before he almost charged into the room, prepared to rescue her from his uncle. Her face was covered with streaky tears and Will fought against the pounding of his heart.
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay, no more tears, please, kitten. You know what that does to me.” She wrapped her arms around his waist, holding on tightly, afraid to look up and see the disapproval she felt coming off his uncle in waves.
“Will, perhaps it’s time you told me what was going on.”
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