[Reviews - 135]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 3636 times

- Text Size +




Willow gave William a few minutes to wash up before going up to the guest bedroom. He was lying on his bed, looking out the window while he rested a towel filled with ice cubes on his nose. She knocked on the door quietly, but he didn’t look at her.

“Can I come in?” Willow asked meekly. He didn’t answer her, so she cautiously took a few steps towards him. “Can I get you anything?”

“How about a restraining order?” he mumbled, his gaze still fixed on something outside. She smiled slightly. “Your friend sure packs a hell of a punch, although I daresay I didn’t deserve it.” He looked at the redhead with a sad expression. “I swear I didn’t do or say anything to her. I don’t understand why she punched me.”

“Buffy and guys don’t tend to mix well,” Willow replied, walking forward to sit on the edge of the bed. “And you probably startled her when you caught up to her and grabbed her arm. I know I would’ve freaked out, too.”

“But would you have instantly slugged the person who grabbed you?” he asked, shifting the ice on his nose and wincing.

“I don’t know, maybe,” she shrugged. “Besides, she’s lived in L.A. for the past year- I’m sure she had to be pretty defensive when walking the streets alone.”

“In broad daylight? Practically in front of her friend’s house?” he asked, looking at Willow. She frowned.

“I agree that her reaction to the situation wasn’t exactly good, but I don’t blame her, and I don’t think you should, either,” Willow said. “Buffy was just trying to protect herself.”

“She had no reason to be scared,” he muttered, looking outside again. “It’s not like I was attacking her or something.”

‘Attacking…Buffy’s nightmare,’ Willow thought, her mind beginning to process things. ‘She always said it was a Billy Idol clone who was hurting her…oh god.” She looked at the man beside her, and things began falling into place. ‘Xander told me that he looked like a British punk rocker once…and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to put the puzzle pieces together.’ She frowned. ‘He has no idea about this, any of this. And I really need to talk to Buffy.’

“William, just trust me when I say that Buffy’s kind of sheepish about guys, especially strangers,” Willow said quietly. He looked at her, an eyebrow somewhat raised. “She had a psycho for a boyfriend in high school, and ever since…she’s had problems with men.”

“I’m not a bad guy,” he replied. “I didn’t mean to scare her. I just wanted to make sure she was okay and offer to walk her home.” He frowned. “And now I’ve got a potentially broken nose because I was trying to be nice.” She gave him a sympathetic smile.

“I know you’re a good person, William,” Willow said, patting his hand. “Just give her time. I’m sure she’ll warm up to you.”

“After how many more injuries?” he asked, managing a weak smile. “An estimate would be nice.”

“I guess we’ll just have to see,” she replied, standing up. “If you need anything, I’ll be in the next room.” She got to the door and heard him speak again, causing her to turn around to look at him.

“I’d like to see her again,” he said. “You know, to apologize for what happened.” She smiled at him.

“I think that can be arranged,” she replied. “And besides, I’m sure she’ll be nice out of the guiltiness of her heart when she sees how bad your nose looks.” He made a face before getting up to look at one of the mirrors in the room.

“Bloody hell,” he said, staring at his reflection. She smirked and went to her room, shutting the door and grabbing her cordless phone before sitting on her bed.

“Time to work on part two of damage control,” she said to herself, sighing before dialing a familiar phone number.

* * *

When Buffy picked up the phone, Willow felt relieved at the thought that Buffy had made it home safely.

‘Not that Sunnydale is crime central, but I still worry about her,’ she thought, sighing.

“So, I saw that you took some aggression out on my houseguest,” Willow said, her tone light, trying to mask the concern that was laced in it.

“He hates me now, doesn’t he?” Buffy asked sadly, flopping down onto her bed and resting her head on a pillow.

“He just was shocked,” Willow replied. “And maybe a little bit hurt by it. He didn’t mean to alarm you.”

“I know,” Buffy said. “But I…I’m just used to being all panicky when something strange happens to me.”

“He looks like the guy from your dream, doesn’t he?” Willow asked, deciding to face the problem head-on.

“He is the guy from my dream,” Buffy answered, shutting her eyes. “I just don’t get it, Willow. I don’t understand why this is happening to me.”

“Come on, Buffy- there are so many girls out there who would die to meet the man of their dreams,” Willow replied sheepishly, trying to keep some humor in the conversation to keep Buffy from flipping out any more than she already had.

“You’re not funny, Will,” Buffy replied sternly, causing Willow to frown. “What the hell am I supposed to do?”

“Maybe try getting to know him before you pass judgment on him because of what you’ve dreamed,” her friend answered. “You’ve said it yourself- dreams aren’t real. They’ll only be reality if you make them that way. William’s a really great guy, and I think that if you talk to him and learn more about him, you won’t be skittish of him. In fact, maybe it’ll make the dream go away.” She paused. “Buffy, you’ve tried every other trick in the proverbial book. Why not give this a shot? I mean, what’s the worst that can happen?”

“He becomes the monster from my nightmare,” Buffy replied sharply. “What then?”

“Buffy, I can’t make you any promises that the dream will go away, but William’s not that kind of guy,” Willow said. “I swear on a stack of Bibles that he’s not going to be like the man you’ve dreamed of. He’s better than that.”

“How can you swear on Bibles when your religion doesn’t believe in the second half of it?” Buffy asked, raising an eyebrow. “I thought the Jewish faith didn’t like the New Testament?”

“We’re not getting into the logistics of religion, Buffy,” Willow replied. “It’s the sentiment that counts. Now, are you willing to see him again and maybe try getting to know him?” There was silence on Buffy’s end of the phone line. “Buffy?”

“Fine,” she answered after a moment. “But if something goes wrong, you’re the first person I’m going to blame.”

“I can live with that,” Willow replied, seeing William walking around his room, muttering British curses. “Besides, it’s better to regret something that you tried than something you didn’t, right?”

“Yes, oh wise one,” Buffy said, smiling slightly. “You were always the smart one, Will.”

“I try,” the redhead replied, smirking. “Now, will you come over tonight to give William a chance?”

“Yeah yeah yeah,” Buffy said, waving her hand around dismissively, even though she was incredibly nervous and worried on the inside. “I’ll come over, but don’t forget who’s to blame if this all blows up.”

“Right,” Willow said. “You can pin the tail on me, the Jewish donkey.” Buffy giggled slightly.

“Right, on the jackass,” she smiled before hanging up. Willow looked at her phone with a shocked expression before shaking her head and hanging it up.

‘She should be so lucky to have a friend like me,’ she thought before heading towards William’s room again. ‘Now I just have to make sure that everything will go smoothly from here on out.’
***************************************************************************


A/N Well, here's my situation- my mom is having surgery tomorrow (Tuesday), so I can't promise an update in the next 24 hours. Maybe if I get an extremely high number of reviews, I'll write the next chapter whenever I get the time tomorrow. I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last 2 chapters- you're the reason I keep on writing more. Also, it was brought to my attention by two people now that a sequel for Just a Job would be nice to see. I'm willing to write it if more people want to read it. Tell me what you think please, and reviews are really nice to read:)





You must login (register) to review.