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Author's Chapter Notes:
Okay, so again I’m very sorry for taking so long to update this story, but this chapter was very difficult to write and you’ll find out why soon enough. Anyway, even with as difficult as it was to write it, I’m feeling a bit better about it now that MarzBar said she liked it, although she wasn’t too sure you’ll be too keen on the ending. *wide evil grin*

I have some good news, with the help of my dear friends Im_bloody_English and Yani, I have outlined the next ten chapters or so of the story and my muse seems to be in angsty mode, so I think I’ll concentrate on this story for a bit. The not so good news is that we’re in for a bit of Spuffy angst beginning in this chapter; however, I can promise that I won’t drag it any more than I have to and it will be mostly resolved in 2 or 3 more chapters. It’s too exhausting to write angst and I’m not looking forward to the migraines that are to come because of it. So, that said, I really hope you’re still with me with this story.


Thank you, SarahandJamesFanatic, teasha, jt, DK, Amelia-Jane, Kimber, MidnightGirl, SpaceLord and Irene, for reviewing. I know I’ve been very bad with answering reviews lately, I promise I’ll try to do better in the future. And of course, as always, a huge thank you to MarzBar for betaing this chapter for me.
Chapter 40. Curiosity Killed The Cat

Buffy and Spike stood side by side on the threshold that led from the anteroom into the bedroom, each of them wearing almost identical astounded expressions, but their reasons for them couldn’t have been more different if they’d tried.

For Buffy it had been as if the sight of the massive four-poster bed propped against one of the walls, had finally lifted the haze that clouded her mind whenever William was nearby. She was horrified for what she would have allowed to happen if he’d not stopped when he did, for being the one that actually initiated it, for feeling all these peculiar emotions that were coursing through her veins and that made her body tingle in all sorts of odd places.

It had all happened too fast, from the moment he’d burst into her life he had swept her off her feet and Angel, her sister and everything in between had disappeared. She had completely forgotten how she was supposed to behave, all she’d been taught since she was a little girl, all she’d believed in for so many years. She’d forgotten everything, except how wonderful it felt to be in his arms, how wonderful it felt to be in love and be loved in return and how much she wanted to become his wife.

And now here she was, in William’s room, alone with him, and if anyone other than María were to find them there, especially with her looking as thoroughly kissed as she imagined she looked right now… She shook her head, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath, as she tried to calm herself, which was not an easy feat since her eyes were still fixed on the huge bed—the mute witness of what she almost did, of what she could have probably done if William hadn’t stopped them when he did—all the while moving backwards until her back was pressed against the front door, the very closed front door. The same door that had closed when she pushed him into it as they’d come inside the room. ‘Uh-oh,’ she thought, bumping her head against the door.

*~*~*

Spike, for his part, was so impressed with his new quarters that he hadn’t even noticed that Buffy was no longer by his side.

He didn’t think he’d ever been in such a luxurious room in all his life, especially considering he’d spent most of it living aboard the Satan and before that in his stepfather’s house where he’d been relegated to the servant’s quarters. He’d been in Campo Real for only a day before his father died and he’d spent most of that day playing with Angel; so he really hadn’t had the chance to explore the house back then and never imagined that any of the rooms could be so magnificent. His eyes lingered on the four poster bed and the gorgeous mahogany furniture that complemented the room.

He wasn’t sure what he’d expected to find when Doña Darla mentioned that he’d be placed on the East Wing of Campo Real, but it surely hadn’t been this. He’d never expected that she would actually place him in what had to be a guest room, rather than in one of the servants’ quarters. Maybe the woman wasn’t as bad as he remembered from his childhood? He almost laughed aloud at that. No, Doña Darla was still the same cold, manipulative woman he’d met twelve years ago, of that he was sure. His father’s widow had to be planning something, and those plans must include him and Buffy in some way, otherwise she wouldn’t have sent her to show him his room and unchaperoned at that. He didn’t have that much knowledge of how people behaved themselves in their social circles, but the astonished looks in the faces of his future mother-in-law and María told him that it wasn’t commonplace to do that.

He heard a little thump and it was then that he realized Buffy was no longer by his side. Frowning, he turned towards the noise to find her there, almost plastered against the door appearing almost… panicked; her eyes fixed in a spot beneath him as her chest heaved, as if she was finding it difficult to breathe.

He took a step towards her and that movement seemed to wake her up from whatever stupor she was in, she glanced towards him and before he knew what was happening, she was opening the door behind her and escaping through it.

*~*~*

From the corner of her eye, she saw William take a step toward her and the suddenness of the movement shook her from her almost trancelike state, finally allowing her to tear her eyes away from the bed and set them in his. The confusion she found in them, only added to her own. She knew he couldn’t understand what was happening, but she was too baffled by her behavior at that moment to even think of explaining it to him. Her only clear thought was that she needed to escape, to run away from his room before anything else could happen, before anyone could find them there alone, before the walls of the room closed in on her and left her trapped inside. She moved her hand blindly as she tried to find the doorknob, and as soon as she felt it she opened the door and escaped through it, running as fast as her dress let her toward the exit and into the garden.

*~*~*

Spike froze for what could have been seconds, but felt like hours to him, unable to fully grasp what had happened, until he spurred himself into action. It didn’t matter what had happened, what mattered was what the bloody hell was he still doing in his room, when he should be running after Buffy and finding out exactly what had spooked her, because if there was anything he could be sure of it was that she’d been unmistakably afraid when she looked at him. Of what? Well, that’s what he would find out as soon as he found her. He stepped out of his room and was about to walk down the hallway to find the closest exit when he felt a hand on his arm halting him. He turned intent on lashing out at the person that had dared interrupt him from finding out what the hell was wrong with his Buffy, only to find a frowning María standing by his side.

“What happened in here, William?” she asked threateningly, ready to defend her charge if needed, as she glanced between the now empty hallway and him. “I just saw mi Niña run away as if she’d seen the devil.”

He sighed miserably, casting a hand over his hair. “Hell if I know. We were alright one minute and at the next…she just ran away.” And now he wouldn’t find out what had happened any time soon, not if the damned woman didn’t let him.

“Just like that? You didn’t tell her anything that might have upset her,” she pressed, thinking he might have told her beloved Niña about his relationship with Aimée. She toyed with the idea of going after the girl, but decided that the conversation she needed to have with William was long overdue as it was. She could find her Niña after William had confirmed or denied the relationship she suspected he had with Aimée; and if he confirmed it, she would make sure he told Elizabeth about it or she would do it herself.

“No, nothing,” he replied unsurely, as he wracked his brain, replaying everything that had happened since they entered the room and he found nothing that could have made her act like she had. “She was showing me the room one moment and on the next, she was running out of the room.”

“Hmm, that’s odd. It might be for the best though; you and I have a conversation pending.” She smiled inwardly, enjoying his obvious discomfort at the prospect of their ‘talk’. She knew she couldn’t do anything to stop their wedding, especially not now that she’d learned of Doña Darla’s plans, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t make sure that her beloved Niña entered this marriage with her eyes wide open about any involvement her future husband might have had with her sister.

He swallowed visibly, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he did; it seemed the time for the dreaded conversation had finally come. Knowing there was no way he’d get out of this, he nodded and followed María into the anteroom again, this time leaving the door open in case Buffy returned.

The older woman entered the room, sitting on one of the chairs, taking her time to accommodate the skirts of her dress on it, while making Spike nervous as hell over what she might want to talk about. He had the slight suspicion he wouldn’t like it one bit. He sat on the chair directly in front of her, waiting for the Inquisition to begin as he nervously thrummed his fingers on the armrest.

“So, William, I want to know what kind of relationship did you have with Aimée?” she asked after a few minutes of silence.

“You don’t beat around the bush, do you?”

“It’s a waste of time, in this case, mine,” she threw him a pointed look. “Now, answer.”

“Erm, well,” he inhaled deeply before continuing, knowing how much hanged on his answer and María’s reaction to it. “I-I thought of marrying her before I met Elizabeth.”

“U-huh, and?”

“And then I met your Niña and we fell in love and I asked her to marry me instead, and that’s all,” he answered, hoping against hope that the older woman decided not to press him into tell her anything else.

“And?”

“And what? I’ve already told you that’s all.”

“Yes, I heard you, but I also know that that’s not all. I want to know exactly what you had to do with Aimée for her to have to go to the lengths she had to in order to pretend she was still a virgin on her wedding night when she wasn’t anymore.”

“I-I…”

She sighed wearily. “Look, William, I heard rumors in Galveston that Aimée and you were involved, so don’t even bother denying it.” She waited with bated breath for his confirmation or denial; she truly didn’t want him to confirm her suspicions, and she hadn’t wanted to put all her cards on the table all at once, but she needed to know the truth.

“All right, all right, I had an affair with her, that what you wanted to know?” He lowered his head in shame. He should have known that his past indiscretions would come and bite him in the ass. He should have told Elizabeth when he had the chance, now it was too late and who knew how she would react to this?

“Er, yes,” she cleared her throat, closing her eyes dismally. Oh God, yes, she’d wanted to know, but now that she did…now, what should she do now?

Spike looked at her then, something in her voice had sounded odd and her expression only confirmed his suspicion. “And you didn’t know, did you? You tricked me into telling you.”

“Well, yes, you were being difficult,” she answered matter-of-factly. “And truly, Aimée and you weren’t exactly discreet, as it is you should be thankful Elizabeth didn’t hear any of the rumors circulating in Galveston. Because… she doesn’t know about that, does she?”

“She knows I thought of marrying her sister before we met.”

“So, she doesn’t know that Aimée was yours?” He shook his head no. “You have to tell her, William. If you don’t, I will, and believe me, for as bad as it can be when you or I do tell her, it would be a thousand times worse if she hears it from Aimée.”

“She wouldn’t dare.” He paled. “Would she?”

María laughed humorlessly. “My dear boy, you’re so naïve. If Aimée has the opportunity of hurting her sister in any way, she will take it, consequences be damned.”

*~*~*

In the meantime

Buffy had stopped running as soon as she reached the garden, breathing erratically due to the run and her inner turmoil, clutching a hand over her heart because it was beating so hard that it felt as if it was about to escape from her chest. She sat on one of the garden benches, trying to gather her bearings and decide what she would do now. As her breath and heart slowly regained its rhythm, she began calming down, thinking about what had happened in William’s room, as she started to wonder if she hadn’t overreacted.

Yes, she was a well-raised lady and as such she had to observe a certain code of conduct, even with or rather, especially with, her fiancé. But at the same time William didn’t seem to mind that she acted like that with him; if anything, he’d seemed pleasantly surprised that she wasn’t as shy with him as she’d been before. Maybe all she needed was to tell him how she felt; yes, that’s what she was going to do and there was no better time than the present to do it.

Feeling much better with herself after her resolution, she walked back into the house, but as she neared his room, she heard voices coming from his room. Curious as to who he could be talking with, she got closer to the door, mindful of not letting William or the other person see her.

“It’s a waste of time, in this case, mine,” she heard. ‘María? What’s María doing…’ she asked herself. Oh, that’s right, she’d told William she wanted to talk to him.

Buffy hadn’t meant to eavesdrop on their conversation, she truly hadn’t, but then she’d heard her sister’s name and she hadn’t been able to help herself. She listened to her nana telling William that Aimée hadn’t been a virgin when she married Angel. She listened to her nana confronting him and daring him to deny it, and all the while she waited, she prayed, she begged to God and every Saint she could think of, that he would deny it. That William would say that it wasn’t true, that they were all lies, only that. But he didn’t.

Her heart broke in a thousand pieces as she heard him say instead, “All right, all right, I had an affair with her, that what you wanted to know?”

Unable to listen to anything else, she did her best not to do make any noises as she walked back to the garden and once she was outside the house, she ran and ran until she finally reached her room, her haven. The only place where she could be alone and cry, scream, tear her heart off her chest so it wouldn’t hurt so much, beg that this was only a nightmare or pray that somehow she could travel back in time and prevent herself from listening that Aimée, as always, had taken what she considered hers before she had a chance to.

She was panting when she finally entered her room, closing the door behind her as she thanked God that no one had stopped her on her way; because if they had, she wasn’t sure how she would have reacted then.

She was about to let the first tears fall when she heard, “I was wondering when you were going to return, sister.” Aimée got up from the chair she’d been occupying while waiting for Buffy and walked toward her. “You and I need to have a little heart to heart.”

“A heart to heart?” Buffy repeated, startled as she realized that she’d been so caught up in her misery, that she hadn’t even seen her sister until she talked. Well, at least, she hadn’t been crying when she entered the room, she refused to let her sister see her broken.

“Yes.”

“I don’t think we can, because you don’t have one.”

“Oh, Elizabeth, you wound me. How can you say something so evil to me, your own little sister?” Aimée said, with a mocking smile in her face.

“What do you want, Aimée? I don’t have time for your petty games,” Buffy gritted through her teeth.

“Oh, temper, temper. Are you sure they didn’t throw you out of the Convent because of it?”

“Ha, ha, you’re too funny. What do you want, Aimée?”

“I just wanted to do you a favor, but if you’re going to be like that, I’ll...”

“A favor? You want to do me a favor? Please. As if I’m going to believe you.”

“Well, think of it as a friendly advice then.” She shrugged at Buffy’s incredulous stare, before saying, “I saw how William was looking at you in the living room.”

“And what does that have to do with anything?”

“I just want you to know that he’s only paying attention to you to make me jealous. He wants me back, you see? And he’s willing to do anything to accomplish it.”

“I see and why do you care if he pays attention to me if you’re so sure that he’s not interested in me? And anyway, didn’t you tell me that he was just an insane fisherman, and that you had nothing to do with him? Why would he go to that much trouble for a mere acquaintance?”

“Fine, you want to know the truth? I was his.” She smiled evilly. “He and I were lovers and we will be again, that’s why he’s here and you’re nothing but a distraction so no one will notice.”

“You said you loved Angel.” Buffy clenched her hands into fists; she didn’t think she’d ever be as close to hitting someone as she was to hitting her sister at the moment.

“And you believed me?” She laughed humorlessly. “I love Angel alright, I love his riches, I love his properties, but I’m not entirely sure I like him. But I love William, I love the way he makes my body sing when he makes me his and he’ll be mine again, make no mistake about that.”

“I thought he was the one trying to get you back, wasn’t that what you said, sister? Or is that just another one of your lies?”

“You can think what you want, I don’t care. The only thing you can be sure of is that no matter what you do, William will never be yours because he was mine first and he’ll always be.”

“I-I’ll tell Angel.”

“Try. Who do you think he’ll believe, Elizabeth, his loving wife or you, the scorned sister-in-law, the same that’s still in love with him and will do anything to create problems in his marriage?”

“I’m not in love with Angel!”

“Sure, he’ll believe that,” Aimée rolled her eyes at her sister’s naiveté. “He will believe anything I tell him, my dear sister,” she said, her voice laced with false sweetness. “And you won’t be able to prove anything, not now, not ever.”

Sure that Elizabeth wouldn’t dare tell Angel about their conversation, Aimée walked out of her sister’s room and closed the door, never noticing the person hidden on an alcove on the hallway and that had heard their entire conversation.

tbc

*hides*





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