[Reviews - 247]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 5318 times

- Text Size +



Special thanks to Edgehead for the lovely banner and to Cordykitten for letting her know that I was in need of a pretty


Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks everyone who has been reviewing-you guys rule!
“Everything’s been delicious Ms Sum…Joyce. Thank you again for having me.”

Joyce smiled. “You’re welcome William. It’s nice having company. Buffy gets bored listening to all my stories about the gallery; it’s great having a new victim to inflict them upon.”

veryt“Oh no, surely…” William trailed off when he noticed that both women were bubbling with laughter.

Buffy spoke first. “She’s just teasing.”

William smiled and nodded. He really wasn’t used to be on friendly teasing terms with anyone but his mother. Buffy’s mother seemed quite kind though and they both seemed to genuinely want his company, so he tried to relax. “I enjoyed hearing about your gallery; I would never have realized gallery work was so…” he paused trying the select the right word “well creative, I guess. I’ve been thinking as you’ve shared your anecdotes that many of your artists owe much of their success to you. Certainly they share their talents but if you failed to display it to its best effect, then the entire meaning of the piece could be lost on the audience.”

“Thank you William; but now I’m thinking that you’re just kissing up to get another piece of cake.”

He grinned. “It was very good cake.”

Buffy giggled as she watched William charm her mother. It was nice; she and her mother had always been very close but she knew her mom didn’t think very highly of most of her friends. There was a comfortable feeling that came with having William over; she wasn’t worried that he would say something to offend her mom or that would result in another after-school special style mother-daughter talk. She was also enjoying watching him loosen up as the evening progressed. He still generally seemed rather shy, but occasionally she got a glimpse of his apparently dry and sarcastic sense of humor. She liked it and hoped it would become a more standard part of their friendship.

She smiled at that thought. It had only been a week, but she really felt like they were friends or like they were becoming friends anyway. Buffy suddenly felt that despite the many kids at school she generally considered friends, she just didn’t have anyone she was that close with. Well, except Angel of course, she amended. He was her boyfriend after all. When she heard William start to insist that he should help with the dishes she grabbed his arm.

“You’re a guest. Guests don’t do dishes. More importantly, you’re my excuse to not help clean up since I’m going to be sooo busy showing you around Sunnydale.” She grinned at her mom.

Joyce nodded and gave a small laugh. “Go on; get out of here. You’ve spent enough time entertaining me; you should go listen to too-loud music or do something else that will lose its appeal once you get old. Have fun.”

Buffy tugged his arm again and William let her lead him into the other room. He decided on the spot that he should play up his reluctance to things a bit more so that he could enjoy the sensation of her hand on his arm as much as possible. He then blushed guiltily.

Buffy saw the change in his expression and paused. “Is everything okay?”

He nodded. “Fine.”

“All righty then William. I thought we’d start with the Bronze. It’s not really great, but it is the only club in town that lets in us underagers.”

He shrugged. “I’m eighteen actually.”

“Right but not twenty-one”

His eyebrows came together for a moment. “Oh I’d forgotten. The drinking age here is twenty-one isn’t it?” He shrugged. “I’m not really much of a drinker.”

“Well they probably wouldn’t serve you anyway, not without a good fake ID, but we can get in to check out the band, dance…that kind of thing.”

“Do you have one?”

“A fake ID?” Buffy shook her head. “No, definitely not. My mom would be big with the killing. But Angel does and a few of the other guys on the football team.”

“Oh”

“So does that sound like a good first stop?”

“I’m sure you know best. Whatever you like will be fine with me.”
*********************************************

Following her into the dark, crowded and noisy club a little while later he pondered the truth of his words. He felt way too conspicuous; he was sure that everyone was looking at him and knew that he didn’t belong there. When she turned to him and said “Cool right?” he nodded with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.

She led him to a table towards the front. “Oh I’ve seen these guys before.” she motioned towards the band. “They’re pretty good.” She glanced around for a moment. “There are waitresses, but if we want a drink any time tonight we should probably go to the bar.”

“Oh of course, I’m sorry. What would you like to drink?”

Buffy shook her head. “I didn’t mean that you should buy my drink William.”

“Please. It’s the least I can do…to…to thank you for showing me around.”

She took in his pleading look and smiled. “Ok, I like Diet Coke.”

He nodded once and started to make his way to the bar.

Buffy watched him for a moment before turning to look around the club. She was looking at the band and didn’t notice Angel and a couple of his football friends until they were at the table.

Angel leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Hey I thought you were busy tonight.”

Buffy nodded. “I am. I’m showing a new friend the sites. I figured the Bronze counted. Barely.”

“Oh. Well where is she? You girls could join us; we could show her the sites.”

One of his friends nodded in agreement. “Is she hot?”

Buffy laughed. “She is a he and he went to get drinks.”

“You’re here with a guy?” Angel didn’t sound jealous as much as bewildered.

Buffy nodded. “William. He just moved here from England and he’s my history partner. You’ll like him, he’s really nice.” Even as she said the words she couldn’t actually picture Angel and William hanging out.

“History partner, like homework?”

Buffy nodded.

As William returned to the table, he was surprised to find Buffy surrounded by four large guys. He immediately recognized one as her boyfriend and seriously considered heading back towards the bar. He scolded himself to at least try and act like a man and walked the rest of the way. He handed Buffy her soda and placed his own on the table. He didn’t get a chance to speak before Angel did.

“Hey you must be Will; Buffy’s been telling all about how smart you are. It’s so nice of you to help my girl out with her history stuff.”

William shook his head. “Oh but no. Buffy doesn’t need…”

Angel laughed. “I know; I’m just messing with you. My girl gets like straight A’s. I don’t know how she finds all that study time.” He shrugged “she’s a sweet girl yeah, showing you around as thanks. I was just telling her that I was sure you’d like it even more if she introduced you to some of the guys.”

Twenty minutes later it had become clear to William that Angel and his friends were not planning to move along. They’d all said hello, and then after a few half-hearted attempts to find common ground, they’d pretty much ignored him. He was well aware it could have been worse. In truth he wasn’t sure he’d have been so nice if the tables had been turned, if Buffy had been his girl and he’d found her out with another man. But he supposed that the idea that he was competition seemed so far fetched that it hadn’t even occurred to them. So he’d sat there trying not to watch Angel touch Buffy. That was especially hard once Angel decided that he and “his girl” could share a seat. Buffy looked vaguely uncomfortable and tried to ease the situation with a forced cheerfulness.

It had been a half an hour. Buffy decided that surely that was long enough. She didn’t try to analyze her feelings. She just knew that she had been looking forward to talking with William and that was definitely not happening here. She decided to take the coward’s way out. “You know. I think I’ve had enough of this band.”

Angel looked confused. “Really? I think these guys rock.”

“Maybe it’s just a headache.”

“Oh” Angel nodded. “Well I guess I could take you home and then come back to meet up with the guys.”

“Oh no! I mean I’m sure William wouldn’t mind taking me home.” She turned. “Do you?”

William stood up eagerly. “Of course not. If you’re not feeling well, I’d be more than happy to…”
Buffy turned back to Angel with a big smile. “See. You should stay with the guys. I’ll be fine.” She stood up and then gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.

Angel nodded agreeably. “Okay. Call me tomorrow?”

“Of course.” Buffy agreed easily as she headed toward William.

As soon as they were outside, William touched her arm gently. “Are you okay? Do you feel sick or…”

Buffy shook her head. “I’m fine. I…I actually don’t really have a headache. It just…it just didn’t look like you were having any fun and…”

“Oh but you don’t have to worry about me. If you want me to leave…”

“No! I want us to hang out okay?”

William nodded dazedly. Had she really just chosen to spend time with him over Angel? “Of course, what would you like to do?”

“Maybe…maybe we could just go back to my house and watch a movie. Ooh I can make popcorn.”

His heart leapt. “That sounds perfect.”

And it was, William decided an hour later. The movie was fairly awful, something clearly designed to focus on the costumes and attractiveness of the cast more than on believability, but it was passably funny and he was enjoying watching Buffy giggle.

She turned to him and found him smiling widely. “See I told you. It’s funny right? And don’t you just want them to realize how perfect they are together?”

“Absolutely, pet.” He responded in a quiet and husky voice.

Buffy grinned and nodded. Pet, she thought and tried to ignore the strange warm feeling the affectionate term caused. She rationalized that it was just a sort of blanket term that British people used with their friends. She decided that she liked it, just as she liked being William’s friend.

It had slipped out before he could catch himself. William watched Buffy closely for her reaction. She seemed happy, he thought with a quick sigh of relief. He started to let himself relax.





You must login (register) to review.