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Author's Chapter Notes:
hope folks are enjoying this, plese let me know...and i enjoy the guesses about plot....
Sunnydale Mall was heaving with people and William felt a little lost with them all rushing around. Buffy had told him to meet her and some of her friends by the food court at 11 am. And he was there bang on time. He hoped that the blue jeans and a white tee were suitable: it had been a while since he’d chosen his own clothes. At university he’d been a copy of his dad, in tweed jackets and cord trousers; since then he’d been whatever Dru had wanted him to be.

Dru: now there was a mistake. She had been manipulative and deranged. It was her stalking, and what was laughingly called ‘The Incident’, that had finally pushed Giles into moving to America. Now the harpy was safely locked up in a secure prison and he was free from her wacky friends and cultish attitudes. He looked around for the blond he had met the Thursday before, wishing that he was taller, tall enough to see over the heads of the crowd. He scanned as much as he could before he spotted Buffy coming down the stairs from the upper level, using the extra height to look for him. William was delighted to see her waving at him, she looked so happy. William smiled to himself; she was beautiful, bouncing up and down, waving like mad. William waved back and Buffy hurried towards him, skipping down the stairs and heading straight for him.

‘You made it, I wasn’t sure you would come,’ she said a quiet voice, leaving William wondering who had hurt this wonderful woman in the past.

‘The girls said they’d meet us for lunch so you have me all to yourself ‘til then.’ She kept on talking, not giving him a chance to answer her. The grin on her face seemed to be threatening to split her in half and it was infectious. She turned her face up towards his, her hazel eyes brimming with mischief.

‘Yep I made it, and I’ll be delighted to squire you around until lunch, now where first? I’m yours to command, my lady and as I have no idea where anything is you will have to act as tour guide,’ he added with a smile.

‘Music shop. It’s mom’s birthday next week, and they have a huge collection of CD’s as well as, you know, music and instruments and stuff.’ Buffy told him, taking the offered arm and steering them through the crowds. She liked the feeling of him being so close; he didn’t impose himself on her space the way some boys did, but then he was a man not a boy. And far too old for you, warned her inner voice.

‘I could do with some new guitar strings: broke a few in the last few weeks. What are you after?’ William thought about the girl on his arm, she was just the right height for him, made him feel special, someone.

‘I want to get her the Greatest Hits of Janus, she’s still crazy about the band and the new album has only just come out, so Janus for mom, then I need some stuff from the book shop.’ She pointed out the shop, letting go of William’s arm, not noticing that William had stopped walking with her and that she was talking to herself. She looked round at him, wondering what had got his attention, but he looked more worried than interested in anything. Buffy walked back slowly.

‘What’s the matter? William? You OK?’ she asked quietly, stroking his arm.

‘Sorry? What, yeah, just spaced out for a moment… now, where were we headed?’

‘Music shop,’ she pointed at the shop in front of them again, the window covered in posters. William refocused and followed Buffy, just managing to grab the door before she could open it.

‘My mum raised a gentleman,’ he grinned and bowed her into the shop.

They took their time wandering around the shop. Buffy was delighted when she found the CD she had been looking for. The Greatest Hits of JANUS, the greatest band of the seventies: their anthems had been the soundtrack for a generation.
She read the blurb on the back:


Janus: rock music that defined a generation. Ripper, Ethan, Wolf and Hoffman: four musicians who spoke to and for the wild child generation. With their amazing costumes, fantastic light shows and extraordinary performances they mesmerised their millions of fans for nearly a decade and after 30 years they can still fill the biggest arenas. This is the ultimate collection of their greatest hits…

‘Mom will be stoked with this!’ Buffy squealed as she paid for it, picking up the bag and walking back towards William who had been filling a basket with CD’s ranging from The Ramones to Mozart.

‘William, I, I know its rude - but can you afford all that?’ she asked quietly as he handed over his American Express card and used the pin.

‘Yep, no problem.’ He answered giving her a grin, his tongue curling up behind his teeth and making her knees go weak. Stop it Buffy, she thought to herself, he’s not going to be interested in someone like you. But she smiled; the nice man was hers for the day.

The morning was filled with laughter and jokes. Despite the age difference Buffy had never met anyone that got her jokes as well as William did. He played the gentleman, carrying all the bags, no matter what Buffy said about being capable of doing it herself. They dived into and out of shop after shop and he never complained: just picked up the bags and smiled as she tried on jeans and tops. Eventually they made their way back to the food court and found a table in the heaving mass after having picked up a bargain bucket of chicken (including spicy wings) and a couple of cokes.
The smell made Buffy’s stomach growl and William laughed as she blushed.
‘Let’s get you fed before that demon escapes!’ he said, feeding her a fry. William was the one blushing though as she ate it and licked his fingers to get the last bit of the salt.

There was something about Buffy sucking on the straw that should have been outlawed around any red blooded male. William was getting quite uncomfortable and was glad his jeans were loose; the skin tight ones he normally wore would have been crippling him at that point. He looked around the mall: it was filled with strangers who looked all too familiar. People were the same all over the world, but he was trying to take his mind off the sight of a young woman sucking on that lucky straw. Buffy just watched William; his eyes were the most amazing blue, why he kept them hidden behind his glasses she couldn’t guess, and she wanted so much to brush the dirty blond curls off his forehead, to fuss over him, but it wasn’t her place and she wished it could be.

She was about to ask him where he wanted to go next when the cutting, whining voices of Harmony and Cordelia cut through her like a knife. The pair had made her life a misery during the whole of high school and college was proving no better.

‘Let’s go William, please?’ she asked, watching to see where the b’s were headed and unfortunately they were headed straight towards her and William. William looked at the panic in Buffy’s eyes and smiled reassuringly at her.

‘Course pet, no problem.’ He picked up the remains of their lunch and dumped it before holding out his hand to help her up. He managed to grab the bags just in time before Harmony dumped all of Buffy’s stuff on the floor; he couldn’t believe the bleached blond’s bad manners. He wanted to say something but the look in Buffy’s eye stopped him. He was already whipped by her, and he loved it.

‘So: where now?’ as he tried to get out of the way of the oversized football player who was walking straight through them. The man stood directly in front of Buffy and started talking.

‘Hello beautiful, how about going out with me this weekend? I think I can fit you in between practise and my girlfriend.’ He laughed at his own stupid comments and the other boys around him joined in as though he had made a huge joke.

William looked at Buffy. ‘Shall we leave, pet?’ he asked, holding out his arm to her.
Buffy grabbed hold like she was being rescued from drowning. She looked so small and scared. But the man kept tight hold on her upper arm; William could see his fingers digging into the flesh, bruising it.

‘Please let me go, Angel,’ Buffy whimpered. Her voice sounded lost to William.

He looked at the hulk; the man out-bulked him and must have been about 6’2’’. But William wasn’t worried; he just wanted Buffy safe. The couple tried to move around Angel (poofter’s name, thought William to himself), but the man wasn’t letting go. He pulled Buffy away from William and into his chest, completely dominating Buffy’s personal space. She whimpered again as his overlarge hand squeezed her arm even harder, and Buffy knew it would bruise… but William was now just smiling. Buffy felt disappointment stir in her soul; she didn’t know what she expected but William smiling wasn’t it. She could feel Angel’s hand gripping her tightly and wondered why a senior, the captain of the football team, would want to make her life hell, but he did. He hadn’t given her a break since she had been stupid enough to try out for the cheerleading squad at college back in September. She just wanted Angel to let go and stop hurting her. And for some reason she wished William would help her: why was he just standing there smiling?

William smile turned feral as he reached over Buffy’s shoulder and grabbed hold of Angel’s wrist; it seemed to be in slow motion as William twisted his own hand, taking Angels’ with it. The footballer was turning white as the slighter man took control of the situation. Buffy heard Angel whimper slightly as he let go of her.

‘Now we’re not going to have any trouble, are we?’ William asked, and Angel shook his head, and whimpered as the bones in his arm began to bend. He knew that his hand could easily be broken if the stranger squeezed much harder. Harmony and Cordelia said nothing, but watched open mouthed as Angel O’Connor was forced to his knees by a wimpish - looking man none of them recognised.

‘I think the lady told you to let go, so no grabbing again: you wouldn’t want to make me cross, would you?’ William whispered in his ear, before turning back to Buffy and releasing the wrist with a snap. Angel could barely whisper ‘no,’ his wrist hurt so much.

‘Now where next Pet, and is there a good book shop in town?’ William asked, walking away as though nothing had happened. Buffy nodded, stunned into silence by what just happened and they walked away through the silent group of people. The only noise was the background chatter from the mall and Angel’s whimpers from the floor.





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