Buffy was feeling nervous. More than nervous, really. In fact, nervous didn’t quite cover it. Her stomach was in knots, she felt as though she would throw up, she felt jumpy; like a live wire.
Smiling as her guests departed to explore the English countryside in her little town, Buffy heaved a deep breath. No way did she think this day would ever come. Course, she never thought in her wildest dreams that she’d have all that she had at that moment: a gorgeous house refurbished to her standards, her own business; The Bed and Breakfast she’d opened under the name of Otherworld Inn, that did hint strongly of possibly having a ‘ghostly’ encounter while staying on the brochures and ad’s. Not to mention a gorgeous boyfriend that she fell more in love with with each passing day, and friends, real friends that she could count on.
Her ghosts had become quite the attraction for the Inn, and once in a while they’d pop in and give a show before popping back out. She’d even chatted with a few of them a few times. The more she did, the less spooked she was. Dru popped in and out at times, having been ‘promoted’ in the spirit world as a guide. In fact, she had become Buffy’s while she studied The Craft under Tara. And, Buffy found she had quite a knack as a witch. She was a natural at it, and had a thirst for knowledge to keep learning more, more, more. She also took secret delight in the fact that sometimes; she was able to spook William with her abilities.
Tara had reopened her store with Buffy’s help, and had settled into a relationship with a fellow witch named Willow. She had completely cut ties with Darla and Edina, and the two bad seeds had left England together, heading to the States to ‘start over’. True to Tara’s word, they hadn’t remembered a thing when they’d awoken, but they had an unsettled feeling overall, and Edina had barely batted an eye when Buffy fired her. She almost seemed…dazed. Tara assured her it had less to do with the magic’s she’d used on her, and more to do with what she’d dabbled in with Darla. Darla, on her part, according to Tara, was completely burnt out.
True to her word, Buffy had put herself in therapy and it had been quite a roller coaster ride. She found she had a lot to muddle through, and at times it had been extremely hard to wade through. At times, it had strained her relationship with William and Tara, but they stuck by her and as William had promised, did not give up on her.
And now, the object of her affection and nervousness was jogging down the stairs, giving directions to a couple of American newlyweds on the best spots to hit in town and beyond. He’d taken the day off from work to be there with her going over some business ‘things’ that needed tending to.
Coming over, he smiled broadly and kissed her. “Hey, baby.”
“Hi,” she said, somewhat breathlessly.
“You all right? You seem a little on edge today.”
”I’m fine, just…you know, loose ends tend to make me crazy.”
He grinned. “No problem, how about we go through all that now?”
“Sure,” she agreed, but knew she was never going to be able to retain anything they went over.
Later that evening, when everything had been squared away, Buffy had insisted on making dinner for the two of them, shrimp with linguini in alfredo sauce, with a red wine, and served it in her bedroom, having enough room in there for a table, which really was their bedroom. Sure, he still had his house, but it wasn’t often that he went there, preferring instead to stay with Buffy. They had discussed living together at one point, but Buffy had not been ready, having been deep in the throes of therapy and not ready for a full on commitment of that caliber. Now though, now she was feeling ready…. for many things.
“This is great, Buffy,” William told her over dinner, sipping his wine. He grinned, “I taught you well.”
She smiled, “That you did.”
Setting her wine glass down, she started chewing on her bottom lip as she studied him.
“Luv? What is it? You’ve been tense all day and many times today I’ve found you just staring at me.”
Heaving a deep sigh, Buffy turned her chair so that she was facing him fully, and gestured for him to do the same. Now he was the one who was nervous, she could tell. He looked worried.
“Buffy,” he said, “You’re scaring me now. You’re not….?”
“Not what?”
“Breaking up with me.”
“Oh, God no.”
William let out a sigh of relief and took her hands in his and kissed them. “Then what is it?”
“I…I want you to marry me.”
He stared at her, expressionless, for a long while. Then, “What?”
Now, she felt a lump form in her throat. Did he not want to, or was he just in shock?
“I want you to marry me. Me to marry you, for us to marry each other.” Shaking her head, she stood up, “This is not coming out right, is it?”
“No, Buffy, I—“ and she watched as he fumbled in his pocket and produced a small velvet box. “I’ve been carrying this around for a long time now, just waiting for the perfect moment—“
“Oh my God,” Buffy breathed, “That’s my--?”
He smiled, reached out and tugged on her hand to sit down. She did so with a hard ‘plop’. Opening the box, he took the ring out and presented it to her. “I wanted to ask you so many times already, and I chickened out so many times already. I didn’t know if you’d ever want to marry me and I would have been perfectly content to just live in sin,” he grinned teasingly, “but then you went and asked me…” his expression took on one of awe. You love me, yeah?”
“Oh, so much,” she whispered. Holding out her hand, she gestured for him to slide the perfect stone on her finger. It was just the size she wanted it. Not to big and not to small with a silver instead of gold, band.
“You will then?”
“I asked you first,” she said, gazing up at him.
He smiled, “Yes, Buffy, I’ll marry you. I’ll marry you a thousand times if you want.”
“Yes, William, “I’ll marry you.”
Standing together, they embraced and kissed passionately, and William started pushing her backwards to the bed. “Need you,” he gasped.
Landing on the bed, he stood before her while she propped herself up on her elbows, watching him. He discarded his clothes in record time, and she grinned. “I like this. I get to be fully dressed, and you get to be naked. Maybe I’ll make you my sex slave instead.”
He smiled and started discarding her clothes, kissing all that he uncovered. Soon, she was mush; putty in his hands. When she was clawing at him to enter her already, he nudged himself inside and settled there for a beat, looking into her eyes.
“I love you, my soon-to-be wife.”
“I love you, too my soon-to-be husband.”
That got him moving and soon he was pounding inside her, and she was pushing back, both of them hurtling towards their release.
After, they lay side by side, limbs entwined, gazing at each other.
“How weird will our wedding be?” she murmured.
“What do you mean?”
“Half the guest list is a bunch of ghosts.”
William chuckled. “Going to ask Dru to be the maid of honor?”
Buffy grinned, “Nah, she can give me away.” And they shared a laugh. “In all seriousness, William, I wanted to tell you that I love you so much. You’ve done so much for me that you don’t even realize, the top on that list being patience. You’ve had to have a lot to deal with me and not a day goes by that I’m not appreciative.”
“You’ve had to put up with a lot from me too, luv.”
“Yeah, I know.”
He swatted her behind and growled into her neck.
“But, you,” she told him when she gained his attention once more. “You brought me to life. You took me out of the dark I was living in and brought me into the light.”
Brushing some hair from her face, he smiled tenderly at her; “You did the same for me, Buffy. You don’t even know.”
“So, we’re still even, then?”
“Seems to be.”
“Well, allow me to up the ante a bit,” Buffy murmured and pounced on him.
The End