Putting the car in park, William turned to Buffy. “You sure you don’t want me to stay?”
Buffy smiled, “I’ll be fine, William.”
“What about me? Aren’t you worried about me all alone in my big house?” he pouted.
Buffy laughed and he grinned. Taking another deep breath, Buffy reached for the door handle to climb out, but William placed a hand on her arm, stopping her.
“What?” she asked.
He smiled, leaned in and kissed her quickly, “That’s all.”
Blushing, she nodded and climbed out. William followed to help her and she shooed him away. “I can do it William. The longer you stay. . . “she didn’t allow herself to finish that thought.
“The longer I stay, the harder it is to let me go?” William supplied. “Or to be let go?”
Buffy ignored him as she slung a bag on her shoulder. She faced him. “I will call you if I need you. Thank you, kind sir, for putting me up for the past few days.”
He grinned, “I’m not kind.”
She giggled, “Yes, you are. You are hardly the bad rude man you call yourself.”
“Just wait, kitten,” he said and winked.
Shaking her head and smiling, Buffy made her way to what seemed to be her fate, but really felt like a gigantic thorn in her side. How was she going to stay in England when the house that was supposed to be her home made her feel so unwelcome? For one thing it was a monstrosity, for another, it was only inhabited by servants and her…and ghosts. This place was not her.
“You’re back Miss,” Edina greeted her as Buffy entered.
Buffy smiled wanly, “I’m back.”
“How was your stay with Master William?”
“Nice. Peaceful. Thank you. Look, I—I’m sorry if I frightened you.”
Edina held up a hand and shook her head. “It’s quite all right Miss.”
“I’m not like my sister. I don’t welcome them with open arms.”
Edina smiled graciously, “Miss, if I may be so bold?”
Buffy waved a hand in her direction, “Bold away.”
“You are not your sister. You are your own person and nothing says you have to follow in her footsteps. You make your own way in this world and it does not have to coincide with the one your sister led.”
Buffy nodded thoughtfully, “You’re absolutely right.”
“And Miss?”
“Yes?”
“My niece, her name is Tara, she lives in town and owns a shop named Hecate’s Cauldron. She’s a witch, Miss. She’s been studying spirits for some time now. As you have probably figured out, this area is rife with them. She’s found a way to cohabitate with the spirits who haunt her home and shop. They do not bother her much. Perhaps you could speak with her and learn how to handle the ones here and . . . . elsewhere?”
Buffy smiled, “I’d like that. What can it hurt, right? Would you take me to see her?”
“I can have her come here if that would be more convenient, Miss.”
“Yes, I think that would work even better,” Buffy agreed. “She won’t…hurt them?”
“Miss?”
“The spirits. She won’t hurt them? I know it sounds ridiculous considering my attitude toward them, but I really don’t wish them harm, just to leave me alone…”
Edina shook her head, “She won’t hurt them. She’ll only give you tips, pointers.”
“Great. Well, when you talk with her, please set up a time that she can come out to meet with me. I’m pretty much open to whenever. Soon, preferably.”
“I will speak with her tomorrow, Miss.”
“Thanks, Edina.”
“Shall I help you with your things?”
“No, I’ve got them. Thanks.”
Walking up the stairs to her room, Buffy sighed heavily. Having to say “thank you” and be so incredibly polite all the time was exhausting. Come to think of it, she was actually pretty exhausted all around. Sheesh, this feeling thing took a lot out of a person. Why did anyone even bother?
It was quiet. Almost too quiet. Buffy felt either she’d ended up scaring the spooks or they were planning something. A ghost intervention to get her to talk to them. She giggled at the thought. Wow. I’ve been doing that a lot lately. Giggling. Laughing. . . Must be William’s influence. Or maybe I’m growing a heart.
“What if I’m broken?” she asked.
“Oh Buffy, you’re not broken,” William said passionately, and came over to her, taking her hands in his. She yanked them back, but he would not be deterred. “You’re not broken,” he continued, “Because you feel those things. If you were broken, you wouldn’t feel them at all. You’re afraid of them is all. Buffy, you have a soft place to land here, I told you this already, you can tell me; you can talk to me. I won’t push you for anything…”
Staring at the mansion before her as she sat on the fountain the backyard, Buffy’s thought inevitably drifted back to William. That’s where they always seemed to go, unbidden. And she felt this smile spread across her lips. . . it was the strangest thing. It’s the endorphins being released she reasoned, but it was an empty reasoning. She was adept at rationalizing her way through feelings, but even she was finding it hard to do this time – not to mention finding it rather exhausting to do.
“Miss!” Edina shouted bustling across the lawn.
Buffy jumped up from her spot, startled, “What is it? Something wrong?”
“No, Miss, not at all, I apologize for—“
“Edina just get to it, please.”
“I believe she wishes to introduce me.”
Edina spun to face the voice and Buffy smiled as she looked past Edina and found William, with a big smile on his face making his way to her.
“Master William, forgive me, but you should have waited until I asked Miss Buffy if she –“
“Edina, it’s all right,” Buffy assured her, placing a comforting hand on her maid’s arm. “Unless I tell you otherwise, Mas—I mean, William, is always welcome here, all right? And he does not need to be announced.”
Edina huffed a bit. “Very well then. Don’t forget Miss that my niece will be coming up within the half hour.”
Buffy nodded, “Yes, I remember.”
Edina nodded briskly, gave the once over to William and marched off. Buffy and William burst into laughter as soon as she was out of earshot.
“She really does not like you!” Buffy said, pointing at William.
“She likes me all right. She just hates that I don’t wait ‘to be announced’.”
Buffy giggled and sat back down. Looking up at him, she asked,” What are you doing here?” at the same time William said “Why are you meeting her niece?”
“I missed you,” William said simply, sitting down next to her.
Buffy smiled. “Edina’s niece—“she stopped when William put his finger across her lips. He smiled teasingly at her.
“Can you say you missed me too?” he asked huskily.
She met his azure eyes for a brief moment, then dropped her gaze, took his finger from her lips and nodded once in the affirmative.
“I’ll take what I can get,” he said gently and then cleared his throat, sitting up straighter. “So, Edina’s niece?”
“She’s a witch. Owns a shop in town and Edina was telling me that she has learned to work with spirits. She’s learned to cohabitate with them successfully and she suggested I meet with her. I figure why not.”
William stared off at the house. “Maybe if you acknowledged them? Talked to them?”
Buffy sighed, “William. I’m not going to do what my sister did. That’s . . . that’s not me.”
“No one said you had to –“
“Yes, you did. You think I have to. This whole town thinks I should.”
“I just don’t see the point in fighting them. If you’d just—“
“Yeah, everyone has a suggestion for me on what I should do. There’s a lot of things I should do and don’t. I’m tired of everyone wanting me to be just like her.”
“Buffy, I’m not saying that you have to be like her!”
“Aren’t you? You’ve been wanting me to accept my gift since I got here,” Buffy said, standing and facing him. “’Just talk to them Buffy’, ‘Stop fighting them so hard Buffy’. You want me to be just like Dru. And I’m not her. I want to cohabitate with them peacefully, but I do not want them to rule my life. That was her, not me. If you’re looking for her, then . . . well, I’m sorry.” Shaking her head, Buffy started off and William grabbed her, having stood, and brought her up against him forcefully. He kissed her hard, and she shoved him off. “You can’t just do that and expect me to fall into your arms all the time, William.”
He let her go. “I wasn’t trying to do that. I was trying to show you that it’s you I want.”
“Then please stop telling me what I should do all the time. Can’t I figure those things out for myself? I’ve spent most of my life denying that I can talk to the dead and ignoring them at every turn. You asked me to give living here a chance. So I’m looking for ways to stay that’ll make me happy. Not saying that I’m going to do it, but if I’m going to consider it, then I need to explore my options, right?” She finished her explanation, smiling sweetly at him, knowing that throwing his own words back in his face wouldn’t give him much room to argue with her.
He groaned, “Crafty, Summers, crafty. Perhaps you should have been an attorney.”
She laughed, “I’ve never been good at lying.”
“Oi!” Grabbing her once again, he hugged her to him, burying his face in her neck. “Point taken, luv.”
Slowly, she wrapped her arms around him, but said nothing.
“Buffy?”
Disengaging, the pair turned to find – “Hi, I’m Tara. I’m here to help you with your ghosts.”