Chapter 16
“Fuck man, you look like hell. Where’ve you been?”
“Ah, around.” William scratched his eyebrow with the nail of his pinky and wondered if Xander really had no clue where’d he been for the past few weeks. “Harris, I need your help, I…I need a place to stay.” He looked at him and hoped Xander would spare him from begging. “I won’t stay for free of course, I’ll try to find some work, it’d have to be under the table but I’m sure I’ll mange something.”
“What happened to your place?”
“I was evicted.”
“Aw, that sucks.”
“Yes it does. Hey, if you don’t have the room just tell me and I’ll be on my way. I don’t want to intrude.” William felt uncomfortable and started to back away from the Harris’ home.
“No. You can stay here. I’m usually at Anya’s anyways.”
“Anya? Oh Anya.” William nodded, remembering Xander’s girlfriend. “You sure? You want me to stay?”
“Yeah. What are friends for anyway?” Xander shrugged and opened the door to the house wide. “Come in, my parents are out of town so we can raid the fridge.”
“God, mate, you have no idea how much this means to me. I owe you one.”
“Yeah. Yeah.” Xander shook off William’s appreciative smile and led him into his new home, the basement.
***
Everything was just how she remembered it. She drove past the housing projects, factories, slums and burned-out homes. Without any money in her wallet, at the last drop of gas, Buffy pulled over and abandoned the pickup truck. She followed the path she always took as a kid, through the dry river, past the field and into the trailer park. She waded through piles of trash, dead cats and dirty children, her hands carrying the brown paper bag of her and William’s things. Halfway down a dirt path, Buffy found what she was looking for, her mother’s home.
****
“Buffy,” tears sung Joyce Summers eyes, “how long has it been?”
“About eleven years in September.”
“That long? Come in, I’ll make us some hot chocolate.”
“With little marshmallows?”
“I bought some yesterday.”
“That sounds good Mom.”
***
“And how is that father of yours? Foul piece of shit.”
“Probably the same,” Buffy shrugged, as she sat in the tiny living room on the couch, surrounded by piles of dated newspapers and magazines, “I haven’t seen him recently.”
Joyce fluffed the collar of her faded pink terry robe and lit a cigarette. “I’ll tell you a story about your father--.”
“The dog and blender—I already heard it.”
“That puppy did nothing to hurt your father. He had no reason to--.”
“Mom, stop. I have something to tell you.”
“On our wedding night--.”
“He wore socks in bed. I know.”
“He wore socks in bed with another woman. I tell you, my girl, your conception was practically a miracle. Lying, cheating son-of-a-bitch, I hope he rots in hell.”
“I killed two people. Two women.”
“These things happen.”
“Is that all you can say?”
“Maybe it was an accident.”
“It was deliberate. I shot one and shoved the other out of a car.”
“Why?”
“It’s complicated. They were going to hurt someone I care—I cared about. There were guns and--.”
“Stop. It’s self-defense. You don’t have to say another word, not one single word. You were defending yourself and your loved one. If either of them were alive, you’d be suing for assault. Now why don’t you tell me about this guy?”
“What guy? Buffy was caught off guard. “There’s no guy.”
“Yes, there is, Buffy. There’s a guy you’re not telling me about.” Joyce smiled with pride and affection. “A mother knows, Buffy, a mother knows.”
***
“Daddy, this is William, the reason why we can’t have sex in Xander’s basement anymore.” Anya held Xander’s hand and pointed to William. “He wants a job so he’ll earn enough money to go home.”
“Home?” Al Jenkins looked William up and down. “You’re the kid from the news, aren’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I don’t want any trouble.”
“I don’t want to be any trouble for you Mr. Jenkins. I can work at night; I’ll do the graveyard shift even. I can make your diner spotless. I’ll even change my name if it makes you feel more comfortable. I just need enough money for a one way ticket back to England.”
“You don’t mind cleaning?”
“Not at all.”
“Yeah, I can vouch for him, Al,” Xander added. “We worked at Summers together for ten years. He’s a great worker.”
William looked at Xander and decided he owed the guy the world.
“You know how hard it is to get a kid to clean nowadays? They’ll cook because of the hats, but will they clean? They get a mop and their own supplies and they turn up their noses.”
“I like to clean, sir.”
“Have you ever worked in a diner before, William?”
“No but I’m a fast learner.”
“Well, you can call me Al. You’re hired.”
***
“Fuck!” William got up and paced the basement. He couldn’t move as fast as he wanted because of his limp, his leg was healing but it was not good as new. “Nothing feels right anymore! Nothing! I can’t write the damn story without her!”
“Her?” Xander turned up the television and only paid attention to William’s tantrum because his show was taking a commercial break.
“Yes, her.” He shook his head and stopped directly in front of the TV, blocking Xander’s view. “What I had is brilliant, fucking brilliant. From the day Buffy starts at Sunnydale High school to the moment I kill her in her huge heroic moment. It’s so brilliant, and why is it brilliant? Because she helped me write it!” He made a noise out of frustration and sat next to Xander on the couch. “My story has gone to hell without her. I can’t—I was inspired by her. I could bounce my ideas off her.” William rested both palms on his forehead and he groaned. “It is brilliant because she is brilliant. I can’t even begin to rewrite what we had, it was incredible.”
“That’s a lot of brilliants. But Buffy? What kind of name is that?”
“Knock her name and I’ll knock you in the head. Her name is perfect.”
“Yesh, man, you’re going insane.”
“I know it.”
“Why don’t you call her then?”
“I can’t call her—damn it, I’ve tried. I don’t know where she is. Worse than that I don’t know what I’d say if I could get a hold of her.” William sighed and stared up at the ceiling, “I miss her, Xand. It’s been too long. Fuck, it’s only been a few weeks but I can’t stand it.”
Xander wasn’t sure who William was talking about but he gave him a sympathetic grin before offering him a potato chip.
“Thanks.”
“Sure.” Xander and William stared at the television in silence accept for the crunching of the chips. “Hey, if you killed her, wouldn’t your story end there?”
“I was bringing her back from the dead. Her friends were going to do it and it was going to fuck the girl up royally. She was yanked from heaven and she was really pissy about it.”
“Hmmm.” Xander nodded. He had learned his lesson about asking William too many questions about his work. Xander didn’t want to be socked in the face.
“We were about to bring her back not exactly to her old self but as close as possible. She was going to help me.”
“Why’d she leave in the first place? The girl you’re missing, why’d she go?”
“Because I told her to.”
“Ouch.”
“Shut up, I had a very good reason.”
“Does it still matter? You seem miserable.”
“I am miserable.”
“I bet she is too.”
“You think? It’s a nice thought but I don’t know. She can be very difficult, you see.”
Xander shrugged and brought his attention back to his TV show.
***
Buffy eyed the crumpled bag with distaste and longing. She had been avoiding it for days but most of the time she pretended as if it wasn’t there.
“What the hell?” Buffy shrugged one evening and opened the sack. She dumped it out and took a deep breath.
“He must be killing himself over this. I bet he’s writing the whole thing over again from memory. Again. Bah.” She picked up his notebook briefly before putting it aside.
I should send it to him. Crap, I don’t know where he is.
Buffy’s eyes watered and she picked up his uniform shirt. She inhaled the scent of the fabric before covering her face with it when she lost the ability to breathe.
***
“God.”
Buffy’s body tingled and she rolled over in bed. Her eyes filled with tears but it didn’t bother her because lately all she seemed to do was cry.
“He’s so good.”
She held her breath and read William’s passionate words. It was strange to read about his slayer, Buffy couldn’t help but see the connections between her and the fictional character. Buffy carried the notebook with her at all times, rereading passages and just gazing at his beautiful penmanship. The notebook had become her lifeline to William.
I miss him, so much.
***
“You let her get away? You found out that she was working with the fucking kidnapper and you let her get away?!” Hank fumed and tossed his stress ball at Riley’s head. “She killed my bounty hunters. How will the people like that? Hank Summers, father of double murderer. Oh and I had to cover up a robbery. She didn’t get a dime but she tried to rob a fucking bank!”
Hank ignored Riley who tried to sputter out an explanation. He picked up the phone and dialed, pounded into the buttons. “Why didn’t I do this before? Ah, yes. Rupert? I have a job for you.”
***
“Buffy?” Joyce was shocked to see Buffy out of her room. She frowned seeing that Buffy was still wearing William’s clothing. “Are you alright, dear?”
She said nothing and wiped her puffy eyes with the sleeve of the uniform shirt. She was wearing his black shirt underneath and his pajama pants.
“Buffy?” Joyce was shocked, never seeing Buffy so out of it. Her eyes were glassy and her hands were loaded with small rectangle boxes. “Oh God, Buffy.”
“Yeah.” She sobbed once and held her breath, looking at the ceiling she tried to calm herself down. She walked to the trash. “I’m pregnant. I’m leaving tomorrow. I need to see him. I need to tell him.”
***
Buffy ripped out the page in the Yellow Pages and kissed her mom goodbye. “He mentioned a friend named Alexander Harris. I’ll look for him first, but if William’s smart, which I know he is, he’ll be hiding out somewhere.”
“Don’t stay away so long this time. Bring your William around so I can meet him and I want to see my grandchild.” Joyce smiled and waved. “Don’t worry about returning the car.”
“I’ll be back, Mom, I promise. Thank you for everything.”
***
“Tonight was good even with the rain, yeah?” William mopped as Al cleaned off the counter.
“It was. Can you break down the boxes in back before you close up?”
“Sure.”
William didn’t pay attention to the knocking at the front door, knowing Al would take care of the person.
“Hey, lady read the sign, we’re closed!”
Buffy banged on the door again, she was freezing and soaking wet.
“What the--.” Al went to the door and recognized the young woman as Hank Summers’s missing daughter. He opened the door. “William, I’m off. Lock up when you’re done. It’s nice to see you, Miss Summers.”
Buffy smiled at the man and scanned the room. When she saw William, stopped.
“I have your story. I tried to keep it dry.” She pulled the notebook out from where she had it against her stomach. “But the damn rain, it’s ah, wet.”
“Buffy?”
She stepped deeper into the diner and gave him a nervous grin. “Yeah. I hope I waited long enough; I wasn’t sure how long you planned on thinking. God, that sounded snotty. I’m not trying to be, I just--”
“How’d you find me?”
“I remembered you mentioning Xander and I went to every Harris in the LA area, you never mentioned that he lived in a basement, not that I’m complaining, it just would have been more helpful.” She smiled, knowing she was rambling. “Please stop me.”
“Where’ve you been? You look good.”
“Thanks. I went to my mom’s.”
“Oh?”
She nodded and placed the notebook on the nearest table. “It’s really good. I hope you’re proud of it.”
“You read it?”
“I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. Thank you for bringing it to me. That was thoughtful of you.”
Buffy looked down and gasped. “Oh, shit! I’m dripping on your floor. I’m sorry.”
“You should take off your coat, ah, that’s what’s dripping. But that’s only if you plan on staying, of course. Do you plan on staying?”
“Would you mind if I did? Just for a little while? I don’t like driving in the rain.”
“It’s dark too.”
“Yeah, double the scary.” She awkwardly struggled with the raincoat. “Sorry.”
“I’ll help.” He touched her shoulder and Buffy jumped. He inhaled deeply as if craving the scent of her. “Buffy.”
“Yeah?” Her eyes filled with tears and she brushed them away. “Um, where—where should I put my jacket?” She panicked, fearing what she’d do with him so close. Once she saw a coat rack near the door, she practically ran to it.
“We can sit if you’d like. I can get you a drink. Would you like anything?”
“No, thank you.” She sat at a booth and waited for him to follow. “I have something to tell you.”
He nodded and sat across from her.
“On the way over here I thought of all these creative ways that I could tell you, but they sounded so dumb, I’m just going to say it, alright?”
“Go ahead.”
“I know you still hate me, I still hate me too but that’s beside the point.” She sniffled and William provided her with a white handkerchief. “Thank you, see what I do without you, William? All I do is cry.” She laughed and avoided his eyes. “I’m pregnant.”
“You’re what?”
“You heard me.” She finally looked into his eyes. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“Is it mine?”
“God, I guess I should have seen that coming.” She hiccupped and wiped her nose.
“Well?”
“Maybe this was a mistake.” She blew her nose and started for the door. “Maybe it was too soon or something.”
“Buffy--.”
“I haven’t slept with anyone but you since we’ve meet. Sure, I gave Parker a blowjob but do you really think I did it by choice?” She stopped to catch her breath and she continued on in a quieter voice, she never turned to face him. “He was going to turn you in, William. Parker said he wouldn’t work for free. I did it because I didn’t want you to leave me, see how it all went to hell?” She stopped, when he said nothing after a long pause, Buffy grabbed her coat and she ran out into the rain.
***
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