[Reviews - 144]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 3150 times

- Text Size +




Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks as always to my reviewers.

I'm not putting my wonderful banner up, becaus it keeps failing....but thanks for it Sotia
Buffy knew whatever her Mom wanted to talk to her about was serious by the fact that she had started the conversation before dinner. Buffy just didn't want it to be about sex. William had asked her to meet him later and he said that he needed to talk as well. After the day she'd had at college she just hoped it wasn't a goodbye speech he had planned. She'd been chased around the campus by some weirdo who gave her the creeps. She just wanted William.

Dinner was all her favourites: the news just had to be bad. Buffy knew it in her heart and soul. Mom wouldn't go to all this trouble for good news, would she?

'I need to talk to you about Giles,' Joyce started to say, before picking up her wine and taking a sip, a large sip, and playing with the liquid in the bowl. Joyce just didn't know how Buffy was going to react to the news.

'You're moving in with him!' Buffy gasped, jumping to the most obvious conclusion.

Joyce finished the rest of her wine with a gulp. 'What? No, at least not yet, no... that's not what I need to tell you.' Joyce took a deep breath. 'You know that album you bought me for my birthday?'

'Janus,' Buffy said nodding for her mom to go on. The pasta was really good.

'Yes, Janus. Well they are playing in London later this month and Giles wants to take me to see them: his treat,' Joyce explained slowly.

Buffy choked on her food. 'Wow! He really must care for you to spring for two tickets to that, it was sold out months ago!'

'One ticket,' Joyce replied quietly.

'So your're... what? Supposed to watch alone? And what's he doing? Going to some stuffy book shop?' Buffy couldn't understand why her Mom seemed so excited about going to a concert alone, unless of course Giles hadn't been able to get a second ticket.

'Playing,' Joyce whispered quietly, as though the words weren't quite her own.

'Playing what? Golf?' Buffy asked as she helped herself to another piece of garlic bread.

'Guitar.' Joyce told her, looking straight in her eyes.

'Mom, you're not making any sense.' Buffy was trying to understand what she was being told. She knew what each word meant but they didn't seem to be adding up to make a whole sentence.

'Rupert Giles is Ripper Giles, lead singer and guitarist for Janus' There, she'd finally said it. Joyce had found it hard enough to believe herself, but when she said it out loud it really made no sense whatsoever.

Buffy burst out laughing. 'Mom, its not April 1st, and I'm not falling for that one!'

'There's no falling to do Buffy, I promise you it's the truth. I didn't believe it myself. Giles, well, when we went to dinner, he explained. God this is harder than I thought it'd be.' Joyce took another deep breath. 'I feel like I'm an overwrought, hormonal teenager and I'm trying to explain to my mom why I want to stay out late!'

'No drinking, no boys and be in by 11pm,' Buffy told her with a perfectly straight face.

'Yes, Mom.' Joyce told her, before they both burst out laughing.

'So Rupert Giles is actually the guy you drooled over during all your high school years?'

'And college,' Joyce added.

'And college years, the one in the feather boa and the corset. Well at least you'll get the album autographed.' Buffy told her thoughtfully.

'Oh!' Joyce's face lit up, 'would you believe I hadn't even thought of that? I'll ask him tomorrow. But that's not the best bit: the best bit for me is that he really wants me to go to London and see them play. Would you mind? I'm taking 10 days off from the gallery, they wanted someone to go and look at a new artist's stuff in New York, then we'll fly on to London and the O2 Arena with backstage passes and everything!' Joyce sounded almost giddy.

'Well I hope he gets a backstage pass or there'll be real problems,' Buffy grinned. 'So do you want me to look after the house? And will you be back for Faith's fund raiser? You promised...'

'Yes, and yes, I'll leave you money, and God help me the car keys, please don't smash up the car,' Joyce begged with a smile on her face.

'I won't,' Buffy groused. She wasn't that bad a driver.

'And we'll only be away for ten days, back in plenty of time for Faith's party. And as I'll pick up a new dress for me in London, you can go shopping on the credit card here and choose something tasteful.'

'Yes mom,' Buffy grinned again before helping her mother to clear the plates away.
'I've got to dash, William is picking me up and we're heading to the Bronze,' Buffy said as she noticed the time. It was later than she thought. The talk had taken nearly an hour.

'Have fun!' Joyce called from the kitchen as she started clearing up the mess they had left. That had gone better than she'd hoped.

'Will do, mom: 'bye,' Buffy shouted as she raced out the door. She needed time to think about what Joyce had told her: she liked Giles, but that was a big secret to keep. Yep, she really needed time to think about what she'd learned.

William didn't drive them to The Bronze in his newly renovated DeSoto. Instead he headed out of town towards the small diner they had been to a couple of times. William was quiet and almost subdued, he even let a car overtake them at one point. Pulling up in the car park and switching off the engine he took a deep breath.

'William, what is it? It's not like you to be so moody: I thought we were friends.' Buffy put her hand on his arm and could feel him shaking.

'I need to talk to you, Buffy. And it's tough. I want to tell you everything, and my mates have turned up from London and they need my help and I don't know where to start.' She could hear the tension in his voice.

'The beginning is a good place.' She wanted to try and break the tension. 'Are you finishing with me? 'Cause that's something I don't want to hear. I've had enough what with my mom trying to pull some gag on me earlier,' Buffy told him flat.

'No, its nothing like that.' William turned to face her. 'Listen, Buffy: I have never lied to you, not once. I've kept stuff hidden because I couldn't face it myself and I didn't want to change the way you looked at me.'

'Nothing will do that, William, nothing. I, I, I think we have something special and I don't want to spoil it.' She leant across and kissed him with butterfly softness.

William took a second deep breath and let it out slowly.

'My name really is William Giles, and I have never lied to you. That's important Buffy, but I have kept a lot secret.'

'You said that already.' Buffy told him as they watched another car draw into the car park and its lights turn off. A young man and his girlfriend got out and snogged as they crossed the gravel to the door of the diner.

'I was in a band called Vampires' Kiss. The one that Willow likes. We were doing really well in Europe and things were going great.' The words came out in a rush, as though once they'd started they couldn't stop.

'And?' Buffy prompted him to continue.

'And we picked up this groupie. She wouldn't leave us alone. I fell for her big style, she became my world and dragged me into a world of drugs and sex.' William felt ashamed as he started to explain where his life had fallen apart.

'So you had an old flame? Has she come back into your life?' William hated how small and frightened Buffy sounded when she asked.

'God, NO!' he shouted, 'no way! I wouldn't piss on the psychotic bitch if she was on fire!' He was vehement in his denial. 'My mum came to a gig, she was so proud of me; Dad was there as well. After the gig was over mum came over to give me a hug and Dru went loco. She pulled a knife and stabbed me mum right in front of me.' William broke down in tears. All Buffy could do was wrap him in her arms as he cried for his mother.

'There was nothing any of us could do. It all happened so quickly: one moment she was telling me well done and the next she was lying in a pool of blood, dead.'

Buffy's heart broke. How had he carried the pain of that and still been normal? She wrapped her arms around him even more and held him close into her body, feeling the sobs wrack his.

'What happened next?' She asked gently after he had cried himself out. They must have sat in silence for twenty minutes just holding one another.

'They put her away in a mental home and she'll stay there for life. The band broke up, I couldn't face anyone. I got clean. I promise: I am clean now.' William was desperate for Buffy to believe him and to believe in him.

'I trust you, William.' Her voice soft and gentle, soothing his troubled soul.

'Well, dad got the job here and we moved, and I met you,' the man continued. 'He wanted me to get back to basics. That world had killed my mom and nearly killed me.' William managed to get a grip on his tremulous emotions.

'So you gave up music? You can't do that William, music is a part of you, you might not realise it but whenever you are happy or sad: you sing. When you work on the car, you sing. Music is a part of your very soul.'

'I know that now, it's the same for dad. He's missed it as well and has a gig next month. He said Joyce was going to tell you.' William 's breathing had seemed to settle a little. He seemed more in control of his raging emotions.

Buffy stopped moving her hand. 'I thought she was joking, I didn't believe her. I, oh God: your dad really is Ripper Giles, isn't he?' She started laughing hysterically, unable to cope with what she was being told. 'My boyfriend's dad is one of the biggest rock stars on the planet and I'm such a dork I didn't notice!'

'Boyfriend, pet?' William smirked. 'You've never called me that before.'

'Well, I didn't want you to get big headed.' she managed a watery smile.

'Never,' he smirked at her. 'So, back to the big news...'

'You mean you and your dad being in bands wasn't the big news? William, what else is there? I'm not sure I can take much more...'

'The band want me back. We've got another chance to make it to the big time. Dad has said he'll let us open for Janus in London, and that's huge. There is a new CD coming out of all the stuff we recorded before I did a runner.'

'And?'

'And what?'

'And you haven't said what you want. I've heard what other people want: what do you want, William?'

'I knew I loved you for a reason.' William grinned.

'You love me?' Buffy gasped.

'Well yeah, was going to tell you when I took you out for a dinner after about six months of dating: fell in love with you that first day and haven't changed my mind yet.'

Buffy leant forward and kissed him softly. 'I don't need the dinner, William: thank you for telling me.' Buffy knew it was too soon for her to say the words, and so did William - but he could see the love blazing in her eyes. 'You didn't answer the question, William: what do you want?' she continued.

'I don't want to lose you. I'm not going to do anything that would risk that, you mean too much to me.'

Buffy looked at William. 'I honestly think I'm more at risk of losing you if I hold you back. I'm at college here, and I want to finish it William, so I can't follow you around the world. But I can and will wait for you. I will support what ever you decide to do. I want to train as a counsellor, I want to keep helping out at the Magic Box: will you support me in that?'

'Of course,' William answered sharply, 'I'd support you in anything you do.'

'Well that's how I feel. I will support what ever decision you make. But it has to be what you want to do. Heart and soul, what you want to do.'

William nodded and pulled her in close. They sat in the car for another half hour, just watching the lights from the traffic, before heading into the diner for coffee.


Chapter End Notes:
well???
worth the wait?



You must login (register) to review.