William was quickly scouting for a snack in the kitchen a week later. He had only been leaving the sanctuary of his room for classes, food, and nature’s call. The brief run-ins he’d had with Buffy over the last week had been awkward to say the least. He didn’t know how to act around her and every time the image of her in a passionate embrace with Faith would come to the forefront of his mind. At that point he’d usually stutter something out, God only knew what, and rush away from her.
It also didn’t help that, that same image made it very difficult for him to fall asleep at night. It seemed to be the first thing he saw when he closed his eyes with a stereo of accompanying moans to fill his ears. He was a boy in his prime and it was sheer torture.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you William,” Buffy’s voice came from behind him and he jumped a foot high. He’d been so lost in thought and his search for something to eat that he’d failed to hear her come up behind him.
“Why didn’t you?” William turned around to face her. He had contemplated acting like he didn’t know what she was talking about, but decided at the last minute to hear her out.
She looked down at her feet, not able to meet his eyes, “I don’t know. I was stupid and wanted you to get to know me before I told you.”
William was slightly insulted by what she’d implied, “Did you think I’d judge you because of who you were with? That I’m that superficial?”
“NO! I’m sorry, this isn’t coming out right. Maybe I was worried of you judging me, but it’s not because I thought you were like that. It’s just I really enjoy your company and I was afraid you’d act differently if you knew. Since me and Faith got together we’ve gotten all kinds of different attitudes directed towards us. Not that I cared what other people think, but it did matter to me what you thought,” Buffy was finally looking at him and her eyes were conveying so many things to him; regret being the most prominent
.
“You were right, I would have acted differently,” William wanted her to squirm a little bit; he knew how harsh what he said sounded.
“Oh. I-oh,” Buffy was at a loss for words.
“I wouldn’t have been making moon-eyes at you for one thing. It wouldn’t have stopped me from living here though, or forming a friendship with you,” he said.
William’s eyes went a little wide when he realized what he’d just revealed to her. He’d been so upset by her assumption that he’d become another person completely for a minute. He’d said exactly what he was thinking and acted like it didn’t bother him, until his eyes betrayed him.
Internally, Buffy’s stomach did a little flip at him revealing he’d had a crush on her. She tried to push it aside and not be too disappointed at the fact that he no longer felt that way. She was with Faith, after all, and even though she’d always been aware of William, she would never betray someone she loved. She never would have guessed he’d liked her at all; that anybody would or did was shocking.
“Can you forgive me for not giving you the benefit of the doubt?” She hoped he would, she wanted to be a part of his life, if he still wanted to be her friend.
“I think so. I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you, I didn’t know how to act or bring it up because you didn’t know I saw you two at the party,” now William was a little bashful for not handling the situation all that maturely.
“Yeah, I was confused at first but then Willow said she was glad we had made up and that you had been the one to tell her.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, what did you need to make up for? You both had seemed fine before that.”
Buffy shook her head.
“Just another stupid thing on my part. I don’t know what’s wrong with me lately,” she said.
William let the subject drop at that, not wanting to pry.
“Well if we’re going to successfully do this being friends thing, know that if you ever need to talk, you can say anything to me.”
“Thanks, William. It’s more than I deserve,” Buffy was grateful for how amazing he was, “so do you want to order a pizza? I’m starving.”
Sure, she’d purposely kept her relationship from him for a little while and he’d been hurt by that, but he didn’t understand why she didn’t think she deserved to be forgiven or have a good friend to talk to. He refrained from commenting on it, and just made a note of it for the future.
“Pizza sounds good, luv.”
***
It was early October and William was puttering around the kitchen putting together his breakfast before he had to get to class. Time had seemed to fly after his conversation with Buffy and getting back into the groove of school work had taken up a lot of his time.
Things had certainly changed considerably for him, however. He had a standing X-box game with Xander on Sunday afternoons and other days they would play live with Oz. Around campus, all of his new friends would say hello to him if they passed by and that was something he really enjoyed. He had gotten used to never talking to anyone except teachers in class or customers in the bookstore. It was nice to have people that were happy to see him.
Finally, having gotten his bowl of cereal together with milk and a cut up banana, William sat down at the little kitchen table. He heard one door open and close, the sound of bare feet on the carpet, and then another door open and close. William knew it was probably Faith since Buffy didn’t have any morning classes on Fridays. They had gotten in late the night before from their shift at the diner. William had been in bed at the time but he hadn’t been asleep, so he’d heard their return to the apartment.
Buffy and he had become very close friends since they had made up over pizza and spent time together whenever they were free. They had their weekly TV schedule down pat by now. The best part of watching TV together was the heckling they did. In hindsight, they probably sounded like those two old men from the Muppets, but it wasn’t like anyone else was around to witness their behavior.
He heard the toilet flush down the hall and the sink turn on. He knew his quiet time was coming to an end but didn’t mind since it had become common for them to have breakfast before morning classes when Faith stayed the night.
“Hey there Will, how’s it hanging today?” Faith’s voice cut into his thoughts as she came into the kitchen and started pouring herself some cereal.
“I’m well, how are you,” William asked as he ate the last bite of cereal and let the spoon clatter in the bowl.
“Five by five. You doing anything tomorrow night?” Faith sat down across from him and munched on her breakfast.
“I don’t believe so. I have to work until noon, but that’s all.”
“Well B’s working from ten to six and then we were all going to the Bronze. It’s going to be a ‘before mid-terms start and we’re all incredibly stressed out’ kind of theme. Are you interested?”
William had never been to the only club in town, but he had friends now so why not? “Sure,” he answered as he brought his empty bowl to the sink. Mid-terms never were a cause of stress for him, but he figured he’d just go along with it.
“No offense, but you’re not gonna wear those baggy clothes, are you?” Faith said bluntly with her mouth full.
William looked down at his clothes but didn’t understand what her problem was with them.
“C’mon Billyboy, I’ve seen you walk back from the bathroom after a shower. You’re body is bangin’, why do you cover it up?”
William was thankful his back was to her since the knowledge of her checking him out had his face tinged red.
“Um-thank you?”
“It’s cool. But you can’t go to a club dressed like that is all I’m saying, besides the fact that you don’t NEED to act like you have nothing worth showing off. How bout tomorrow me and you have a little shopping adventure?” Faith walked over to him with her own empty bowl. They traded and she put his in the dishwasher.
“I guess that would be alright,” William said softly, he wasn’t sure what to do with all the compliments she was throwing his way.
“Don’t you want a girlfriend?”
“Well-um- yes, that would be nice, I suppose,” William had gotten used to Faith’s bluntness over the last month, but sometimes she said things that still caught him off guard.
“You suppose? Have you ever even gotten laid?” Faith asked crudely.
“Yes,” William said as a shadow passed over his face. Faith saw this and filed it away as just another piece to the puzzle that was William.
“Well then it’s settled, we are buying you a whole closet full of new clothes tomorrow and I will be your wing-gal at the Bronze!” With the conversation closed, Faith took her dish back from him, loaded it in the dishwasher and made her way back to Buffy’s room to get ready for class.
***
They had been in the mall for four hours by the time they decided to take a breather and get something to eat in the food court. William was relieved to be able to set down the many bags he was carrying. When Faith had said closet full, she hadn’t been exaggerating.
“Can I mention again how hot you’re going to look tonight?” Faith said as she approached the table with a tray full of food for both of them.
“If you say so,” William said off-handedly, past tired of shopping.
“When we get back I’ll lay out which outfit you should wear and then I’ll help you do something with that hair.”
William was getting a little aggravated, he wasn’t a toddler, he could dress himself. And there was nothing wrong with his hair! It wasn’t overly long, just a little floppy in the front.
“I do appreciate what you’re trying to do, Faith. But don’t you think you’re going a little overboard?” William asked between clenched teeth.
Faith gave him a big smile; she liked the spark she was getting out of him.
“Now that you bring it up, we have one more stop before we leave. We are getting you contacts,” Faith said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Now, why do I need contacts? I like my glasses! They-well they’re functional!” William winced at how lame that sounded.
“You need contacts because you have the bluest eyes I think I have ever seen and your glasses hide them,” Faith explained patiently as if she were talking to a four-year-old, “that is just a sin in itself.”
William grumbled and continued eating his lunch. He didn’t want to admit that maybe she was right about the glasses thing.
***
Buffy was exhausted from spending the last eight hours on her feet. All she wanted was to curl up in bed and take a nap until it was time to get ready for some bronzing.
As she passed William's door she heard what had to be him and Faith arguing about something. Faith had told her about their shopping trip today and Buffy couldn’t have been more proud of her girlfriend for spending some time doing something nice for William.
Normally she’d probably be curious about what they were so vocal about behind his closed door, but at that moment she was too tired to care. She made it into her room, stripped herself down and flopped into bed.
She was having a nice dream about being a waitress in the future where you’d wear jets on your feet so you didn’t have to walk when she was pulled away from it by the feel of someone kissing her.
She opened her eyes and smiled at her girlfriend who had moved under the covers to join her.
“Wake up sleeping beauty, it’s time to get ready,” Faith whispered in her ear as she was simultaneously feeling her up.
“But I don’t wanna,” Buffy pouted, “I’m comfortable right here.”
Faith gave her another kiss and then jumped out of the bed before they got distracted.
“Nope, it’ll be time to go soon and I have done too much work on Willy today to end up not going.”
“What did you do to the poor guy? I vaguely remember hearing you two fighting when I came in,” Buffy got out of bed and headed for her closet to look for something to wear.
“Oh, he was just being a wimp about putting in the contacts.”
“Contacts? You made him get contacts?” Buffy was surprised and attempted to picture what he’d look like without his glasses on.
“Of course I did. Those baby blues are going to be his ticket into numerous girls’ panties. You know, once he realizes he has the power to make that happen,” Faith didn’t see the look of dismay which passed over Buffy’s face at her words.
“I know you mean well, babe, but don’t be too hard on him. He’s a good guy,” Buffy dropped her outfit on her bed and went over to her vanity to start applying make up.
“That’s exactly why I’m doing this. He deserves to be happy and get his freak on, just like everyone else.”
Faith admired her girlfriend as she got herself ready for a night out. She had already applied her own make up so after she had gotten out of Buffy’s bed all she’d had to do was put her clothes on. Now, she was lounging on the bed as Buffy finished up, wearing tight leather pants and a red tube top. Her red heels had been kicked off at the foot of the bed.
“He’s waiting out in the living room with the gang; they arrived right before I came in to wake you. I can’t wait till you see his transformation!”
If Buffy was honest with herself, she couldn’t wait either. She pulled on a short denim skirt and then a green sleeveless top with a plunging neckline. In order to enhance the neckline even more she put on a long silver necklace the looped at her neck and came straight down to rest between her breasts. She gave Faith a nod towards her door, signaling she was ready, as she stepped into her nude color heels that made her legs look miles long. Before she could turn the doorknob, Faith turned her around for a searing kiss.
“I love you, you know?” Faith said before letting her go. She had a strange look in her eyes though, almost as if she were apologizing for something.
Before Buffy could analyze it, it passed and she responded, “Of course, I love you too.”
They exited Buffy’s room together; her heartbeat picking up in anticipation of seeing what William looked like.
***
William felt like a git. He was sitting on the couch, waiting with Xander, Willow, Oz, and Anya for the girls to finish getting themselves ready. Even though everyone told him how great he looked, he felt vulnerable and stupid. Faith had made him wear a pair of tight, dark blue jeans with a form fitting black wife beater and a plain silver chain around his neck. He didn’t feel like he had enough clothes on; even Xander had on what looked to be a bowling shirt. Okay, so maybe he didn’t have it that bad after all.
The contacts had bothered his eyes at first, but now he barely noticed them and he did have to concede that losing the glasses wasn’t such a bad idea.
She had slicked back his light brown hair with some gel, but let a few stray curls fall onto his forehead. He didn’t look half bad, but he was uncomfortable with all the praise. He was certainly not going to boost up Faith’s overly inflated ego by letting her know she may have been correct on all counts.
He heard the door open down the hall and Faith shout out: “It’s time people!”
He turned towards the hallway and sucked in his breath at how amazing both girls looked. It definitely was not fair to mankind to lose out on that kind of beauty. Buffy looked at him and stopped for a minute to take in his new look.
The most beautiful smile he’d ever seen spread across her face and she said, “Wow, William, you look really good.”
“Oh course he does! He got schooled by the master,” Faith said before he could reply to Buffy’s compliment.
Faith came over, put her arm through his, and led him to the door. As they walked out she leaned over and whispered to him, “Brace yourself for a wild ride.”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry for the slight delay. I was on vacation last week in North Carolina, and can I say what a beautiful week it was? I realize how lucky I am not to be there for the hurricane this week. I didn't think I'd have this chapter up till at least Friday, but I worked on it most of today and here it is! Hot off the presses! I hope you all enjoy it and thank you SOOOOO much for all the wonderful reviews. Made my vacation even better! Thanks to Minx Delovely for all the help she gives me. None of my chapters would be anywhere as good without her input! I'm serious, they wouldn't lol.
Chapter End Notes:
Thoughts?
So I decided to also put a fun random fact in the end notes from now on. Did you know that kangaroos are incapable of jumping backwards? Weird right? Well now you do!
So I decided to also put a fun random fact in the end notes from now on. Did you know that kangaroos are incapable of jumping backwards? Weird right? Well now you do!