A/N:
Hi! This chapter is nothing like the movie. ;) But I borrowed the name of the book.
Review please.

Chapter 2

“This is disgusting.” Buffy picked up a spoonful of food and let it slop back onto her plate. “My mashed potatoes are mingling with my other vegetables and my chicken smells like a hot dog.”

“It does not.”

“Yes it does.” Buffy picked up the piece of meat by stabbing it with her fork and put it under William’s nose. “Smell it. It smells and tastes like a hot dog.”

“You’ve had hot dogs before? The princess eats ground pig parts? I’m impressed.”

“I’m so not eating this.” Buffy shoved away her plate and crossed her arms over her chest.

William sighed and looked at his half eaten hamburger. “I guess…you can have mine if you’d like…”

Buffy wrinkled up her nose and batted his hand away. “Ew! You just stopped eating it. It has your bite marks and--.”

“Fine, forget I mentioned it, wouldn’t want you to choke on my cooties anyway.” William glared and continued to move food into his mouth. “I don’t know when we’re going to eat again.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full. I need to go on a diet anyway.”

“Whatever.” William rolled his eyes and drank his soda. “I’ll take over the driving for tonight. How much longer to you think we have?”

“Um, maybe…” Buffy looked up and bit her lip. “Like a few hours, more or less. I go by landmarks…”

“More or less? Landmarks?”

“Yeah.”

William shook his head and wiped his mouth and hands on his napkin. He caught the attention of their waitress. “Check please, miss.”
***

“What is your problem?!” Buffy ran after William as he walked angrily to his car. “Hey! Talk to me!” Buffy grabbed William’s shoulder and tried to spin him towards her.

“Get your hands off me!” William dug his hands in his pockets and unlocked the door of his car. He opened the glove box and pulled out a map and gave to Buffy. “Tell me you know where this place is.”

Buffy moved under the neon lights of the diner. “Of course I know where it is. It’s…” Buffy steadied the map and brought it closer to her face. “Um, it’s there.” She moved so William could look over her shoulder.

“There?” William tapped on the map. “Bloody hell.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “Well guess what, Blondie? We are here.” He pointed to a little spec that was other side of the map.

“Oh, well it’s only this much away.” Buffy measured out the distance between pointer fingers. “I must have made a wrong turn somewhere--.”

“You made a lot of sodding wrong turns. Get in the car.”

“What are we going to do?”

“Shut up and let me think about that. I’m driving from now on.”
***

“I’m cold.”

“You can use my uniform to wrap yourself in.”

“Ewww. I bet that thing is still wet with your sweat. Yuck.”

“Fine. Freeze then.”

“I hate you.”

“Mutual.”

“I’m tired.”

“You can sleep.”

“I can’t get comfortable.”

“Hop over the seat and sleep in the back. It’s comfortable.”

Buffy turned around in her seat and looked at the spotless back seat. “You really like to clean, don’t you? Do you sleep in here a lot?”

“No more talking. Sleep or shut up.”

Buffy turned back forward and sank down into the passenger seat and crossed her arms. She sighed deeply and looked out the window into the darkness. “Can we find a hotel or something?” She rubbed her hands up and down her arms for warmth and rolled her eyes when William didn’t answer her question. “What a shitty car. It doesn’t even have a heater.”

“It’s not cold, maybe if you wore an entire outfit you wouldn’t be chilled and don’t talk about my girl like that.”

“Your girl? Hello stereotype. And what’s wrong with my clothes?”

“For starters your skirt barely covers your ass and that’s just stupid. Your top is made out of a nasty thin white bit of fabric, it’s bloody indecent, and you’re flashing your goodies everywhere.”

“You pervert!” Buffy crossed her arms higher to cover her breasts. “Have you been checking me out?!”

“Believe me pet, I’ve seen enough of you to last me a lifetime and enough to know you’ve got a Wonder Bra under there--.

“What the hell are you taking about?!” Buffy sat up and turned towards William, ready to fight. “I’ve never seen you before today, there is no way that you could’ve seen me--.”

“Last night I lost my job because I stumbled in on you and your fucktoy. Didn’t you listen to my--”

“Fucktoy…oh God, you saw me with Angel?”

“Yup and that was an awful performance, sweetheart.” Buffy closed her eyes and mumbled under her breath. “What’s wrong? You don’t like that I saw your nasty sex capades? At least I didn’t have to get your ass print out of that wanker’s desk…hey, hey now I see that wobbling chin. You’re not going to cry, are you? Hey, pet I’m sor--.”

“I’m not a slut and I’m never having sex with you.”

“What?! I never—I don’t want to have sex with you. I--.”

“That’s good ‘cause it’s not going to happen!”

“Well—well I’m never having sex with you either!”
***

William didn’t know why her rejection bothered him, but it did. He turned up the radio, determined to get the girl out of his mind.

I hate her. It’s all her fault. That’s my new fucking mantra. Blame her, blame the girl, blame… Hell, I don’t even know her name. I’m not going to think about her.

I’ll think about…about my novel.

She sure got pissy thinking—knowing I don’t want her. I don’t want anything to do with her. I just don’t wanna go to jail. Besides she’s not my type. Her hair is too…shiny. Yeah it could sting a bloke’s eyes and her nose is bumpy. I hate deformed noses. Ok, it’s not deformed, just different. She’s different…

I’m not going to think about her! I hate her.
***

“What—where are we?” Buffy woke up from a nap and noticed that there was a large brown paper sack sitting between them. “What’s in there?”

“You can look if you’re curious.”

Yesh, he’s cranky. Buffy shrugged off William’s angry tone and searched through the bag by touch.

“Here.” Sighing, William pushed on the light that was overhead on the roof of the car. “And before you say anything nasty, I didn’t know what to get so I got a little of everything.”

Buffy was speechless as she pulled out the black sweatshirt that was on top of the bag. She pulled it over her head and fixed her hair.

This William…I don’t know about him. Could his not acting like an asshole just be an act to get into my pants or is he really a good guy?

Where did he stop? There’s food, toiletries, a spiral notebook, pens, a romance novel?

“Games of Love by Virilia Consuela?”

“It was on sale.” Buffy was certain that the darkness was shielding William’s blush. “Do you like the jacket?”

“Yes.” Buffy slowly opened a bag of pretzels. I guess I have to… “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”
***

“We’ll stay here tonight and then…”

“You should park in the back.”

“Right.”

“I’ll stay here so the motel people won’t see us together and that also means you’ll have to get a room with only one bed.”

“Ok. You ok with that?”

“I don’t really have a choice, besides I just want to sleep in a bed.”

“Oh.” Once the car was parked, William took the keys out of the ignition and put one foot out of the door.

He’s taking the keys. “You don’t trust me.”

“No, not yet.”

“I didn’t mess us up on purpose.”

“I know. Do you trust me?”

“I’d love to say no but that would be a lie.”

“Really?”

“But don’t get too excited, I’m just too tired to bitch at the moment. I’ll make up for it tomorrow, I promise. Just go get the room.”
***

“You’re always like this when you’re tired? You’re almost pleasant.” William watched Buffy closely since she had stepped into the dingy motel room.

“Almost.” Buffy laughed and set her purse on the cheap wooden table that was in the tiny room. “Are you waiting for me to complain about the room?”

“Yes, it’s disgusting. I asked for a non-smoking and smell it. Yuck. And I don’t even want to know where the stains on the floor came from. I’m pissing in my pants afraid to look at the bed sheets.”

“You’re not used to these kinds of places?”

“No, just because I’m—I was a janitor that doesn’t mean--.”

“Cool it, William. I wasn’t trying to be mean.”

“Are you saying you’re used to flea bag motels? Yeah right.”

“Let’s just say my mom isn’t from the same income tax bracket as my father.” Buffy ran her hand over the thin scratchy burnt orange bedspread. “But I’ll stop now, I have a reputation to protect.”

William stared at Buffy, not knowing how to handle her change in moods. I guess there’s more to the girl than I thought.

“You don’t have to a…pretend around me if you’d like.”

“Sure, William whatever you say.” Buffy laughed and pulled down the sheets of the bed. “See no stains and I think the pillows don’t smell and just so you know, I would’ve given you the nastier one.” Buffy laughed again at William’s confused face as she climbed into the bed. “You stay on your side and I’ll stay on mine and if we do that, I won’t have to beat you up.”
***

William came out of the bathroom with his shirt off but his shoes still on. He shook his head at the sound of Buffy’s light snores.

Thank God she didn’t force me to sleep on the floor. I’m not even gonna walk barefoot on that floor.

William took off his shoes and made sure his feet never touched the dirty floor before he got under the sheets.

Sighing William rested his head on the pillow and brought the covers high on his chest.

Maybe she’s not as bad as I thought. She’s still insane and I’ll still blame her but…

William rolled over so he faced Buffy’s back. She had taken off her jacket and she was only in her flimsy white shirt.

I guess there’s nothing wrong with her nose and hell shiny hair can be a good thing sometimes…
***

“Are you writing the ransom note?” Buffy propped herself on her elbows and peeked over at what William was writing in the spiral that he had bought the day before.

“No.” William quickly closed the notebook and looked guilty.

“What were you writing then?” Buffy rested flat on her stomach and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. He’s not too bad to look at first thing in the morning. She admired his lean and muscular frame. Too bad he’s not my type… “Is it a diary?”

“No it’s not a bloody diary.”

“Oh so you prefer the term journal.”

“No, I don’t, it’s nothing like that. If you must know I was writing my novel from memory. My usual notebook was left behind.”

“Do you write romances? That would explain the love book…” Buffy couldn’t keep a straight face as she teased him and covered her face to cover her laughter.

William wanted to leave her abuse but he didn’t feel like putting on his shoes and then if he did leave, he’d either have to hide in the bathroom or outside. “Laugh, I’m used to it.”

“Hey, don’t pout, it’ll spoil your good looks.”

“Carry on, you’ve mocked my writing and my face. Is there anything else you want to take a jab at?”

“You’re cranky in the morning. Not a morning person?”

“No.”

“Please tell me about your book. I’ll be nice, I promise.”

“You promise?”

“Cross my heart. I’ll prove that I’m trustworthy.” She smiled and sat next to him with her legs crossed and still keeping a gap between them.

“Ok.” He turned so he could face her.

Look at that. He has a nice smile, he must be really proud of this book. Be nice Buffy. Be nice.

“It’s a about a girl that protects her family, friends, city and the whole world on a daily basis from evil. What kind of evil? You name it. We’re talkin’ slimy fish demons, vampires, and mummy hands. Anything. Everything.”

“How does she fight all that stuff? Does she have powers? Like Batman or something?”

“Well she doesn’t prance about in a cape but she’s really strong and she has a few powers but she’ll develop them over time.”

“Hmmm. So it’s sci-fi?”

“Yes, it’s a mixture of every genre imaginable. I want it all, she’ll tackle it all.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad. Why did you think I’d laugh?”

“Because.”

Buffy caught a glimpse of embarrassment in his eyes. “What’s your wonder woman’s name?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Don’t know. Just curious.”

“That’s my problem; I’ve never given her a name. Nothing sounds right. What’s your name, pet?”

“You don’t know my name?”

“We weren’t formally introduced, remember?”

“Didn’t you get those awful company Christmas cards? With the picture? Hank sent one to all the employees.”

“Janitors don’t get bloody greeting cards.”

“Sorry.”

“Besides I worked there for ten years, did you ever see me with my mop and soap bucket?”

“No.”

“Well there you--.”

“But wait don’t think I didn’t mingle with the cleaning people. Who’s that guy? The balding one? Kinda shrimpy?”

“Snyder? He was my supervisor.”

“Poor you. What an asshole. He hit on me once. See I mingled.”

“I knew there was a reason I hated that guy.” William felt a pang of anger for Buffy. Why should I care if she got the wrath of Snyder for a second or too… “But look!” William excitedly showed Buffy his cracked knuckle. “I hit him the night I was fired, it hurt like hell but it was worth it in the end.”

“Well I’m leaving you with your war wounds. I’ll be in the shower and my name is Buffy.”

Buffy? William watched as she ran to the bathroom. Buffy the Vampire Slayer? That has a nice ring. She’d kill me if I used her name…

Buffy. It suits her.
***





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