Chapter 15
“Mom! I’m home!” Buffy yelled as she pushed open the door. “Mom—wow.” She froze, seeing that the living room was decorated with balloons and streamers.
“Hi, honey. How was your trip?”
“Is all this for William?”
“I figured we could celebrate his birthday tonight since we missed it. Can you help me?”
Buffy put down her suitcase and helped her mother tie a bundle of balloons to the back of a wooden chair. Once she was done, her mom hugged her.
“You never said if you had fun, Buffy. What did you decide about William?”
“Um,” Buffy bit her lip with her chin resting on Joyce’s shoulder. “I think we should go a little slower. We, ah, William and I, need to...”
“Oh, honey, I know how difficult it is to talk about this with your mother. I’ve been thinking a lot this weekend too and I know you’ll make the right decision. You’re a smart girl; I know you won’t have sex until you’re ready and we both know that’s years from now.”
“Exactly,” Buffy said, swallowing. She pulled away from Joyce and looked around the room, needing to avert her eyes from her too-trusting mother.
“You should wrap William’s present before he comes home. I expect him within the hour.”
“Present?”
“Buffy,” Joyce scolded. “You didn’t buy William a gift? Shame on you. I guess if you go now, you can run to the store and get something. Giles will be here for dinner. He has a special surprise for him.”
“Surprise? What? Tell me.”
“I can’t,” Joyce said with a sly grin. “I’ll just say that Rupert is a very kind man.”
“Mom,” Buffy whined. “Tell me!”
“No, run to the store.”
“But--.”
“Go.”
***
Buffy was waiting second in line for the cash register when she saw William walk past the storefront.
“Oh! Wait!” she yelled, even though he couldn’t hear her outside. “Wait!”
Buffy dropped her things on the counter and said sorry to the cashier before running out of the store.
“William!” Her feet slapped against the pavement and seconds later she leapt into William’s arms, knocking his bags to the ground, wrapping her legs around his waist and kissing his face. “You’re early,” she squealed, hugging him tightly.
“The awards ceremony was shorter than expected. Buffy, you’re already shopping?”
“For you,” she grinned and kissed him again.
“Why?”
“Mom doesn’t think I got you a present, she chewed me out and everything.”
“Little does she know—she doesn’t know anything, right?”
“Mom’s throwing you a belated birthday bash. I’d say she doesn’t suspect a thing.”
“Thank God.”
“But she did make me feel so guilty earlier.”
“How so?” William asked, narrowing his eyes and gently lowering Buffy to her feet.
“Mom told that I’m smart and that I always make the right decisions.”
“You are smart--.”
“Do you think she’d be happy with the decisions I made this weekend? Not only did I lie, I stayed in your hotel room and then there was all that other stuff. Sure, I thought they were great, wonderful choices but will mom think the same way? Not so much.”
“Maybe she was intentionally giving you a guilt trip? Maybe she does know but she’s not saying anything,” William said hurriedly with his eyes wide. “She wants us to give ourselves away! That’s probably why she’s giving me a party!”
“Hey, calm down. William, I don’t think she’d do something like that. I’m just saying...you saw how she acted with us kissing; do you think she’d be so calm if she knew what went on this weekend?”
He grimaced, “Buffy, she can’t find out.”
“I know,” she said, giving him a hug. “We’ll just have to keep it a secret.”
“And for a very long time, too. Until she’s old and gray...and preferably hard of hearing.”
***
“Mom! Look who I found!” With one of the suitcases in her hands, Buffy held open the door for William.
Joyce came from the kitchen smiling and with Dawn trailing behind her. “Your teacher called and told me that you were sick off and on all weekend. Are you feeling better? I called the night of your birthday and when you didn’t pick up, I assumed you were sleeping.”
As Mrs. Summers pulled William into her arms, Buffy and William exchanged awkward glances. “I think it was a twenty-four hour bug. I feel fine now, Mrs. Summers.”
“But sick for your birthday? That’s horrible! It was bad enough that you were in Los Angeles.” She patted him on the shoulder and moved back so Dawn could give William a hug too.
“Hey, I don’t remember all this welcoming when I came home,” Buffy said. “The brat didn’t even come downstairs to wave at me.”
“I like William more than I like you.” Dawn stuck out her tongue and Buffy returned the gesture with a roll of her eyes. “I missed him, not you.”
“Missed you too, Dawine.”
“Now that everyone’s home, we can get moving. Buffy and William, you take your bags upstairs and then we’ll go to Rupert’s house.”
“We aren’t eating here? Are we eating out? Do I have time to change? Will the place be fancy?”
“Buffy, we can’t be here for another hour. You look fine in what you’re wearing.”
“But mom!”
“William, tell Buffy that she looks fine.”
He looked from his girlfriend’s defiant stare to his surrogate mother’s frown and sighed, “There’s no place like home.”
***
Buffy and William followed Joyce and Dawn leisurely as they crossed the street. Their arms were hooked and they playfully gave each other kisses each time Mrs. Summers turned her back.
“Giles didn’t tell me anything about buying a new car,” William commented seeing a black car parked in the driveway with temporary tags.
“Maybe someone’s visiting?”
“I don’t know...”
“Or maybe—oh my God! Oh, my, God!”
“What? What?”
“Mom! Did Giles get William a car?”
***
“It’s mine? Seriously?”
“You’ll have to pay for half but yes, it’s yours.”
William stared at the De Soto in a daze. “I can’t even drive.”
“I’ll teach you,” Giles said with a grin. “Joyce and I decided you could handle the responsibility. But William, the car is used so it may require some work.”
“Alright. I…thank you.” William stepped towards Rupert and they struggled, clumsily trying to hug until they settled with patting each other on the shoulder.
“If you’d like, we can take your car tonight. You can sit in the passenger’s seat.”
William grinned, the keys to his new car clutched in his hand.
“Mom?” Buffy said as the girls got into the backseat. “Does this mean that I’m getting a car for my birthday too?”
“Yeah and what about me?” Dawn demanded, elbowing Buffy so she could look at Joyce. “If Buffy gets one, I get one too!”
“Girls, the car is a gift from Rupert to William. I don’t owe either of you a car. William’s just a lucky boy with a very generous uncle.”
“God, can William get any more for his birthday?” Buffy crossed her arms but grinned when he looked at her with excitement in his eyes.
***
“You may have to work more to pay for the car,” Joyce suggested as they sat around the table, about to eat their dinner at William’s favorite restaurant.
“I don’t know. I can put some money now towards what I owe. I got quite a bit of money this morning.”
“You won more? Why didn’t you say anything?” Buffy asked.
“I didn’t want to gloat, pet.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Buffy saw her mother look up once she heard the nickname. “So, eh, what did you win?”
“Another scholarship and it’s a big one.” William beamed as he told them the amount. “There’s a few hundred in spending money, so…”
“It’s up to you, William,” Giles said. “There’s no hurry to pay me back. With all the recognition your writing is getting, have you considered publishing any of it? I have some friends back east that you could run a poem or two by. And then there’s always college—William just think of all the universities that’ll be begging for you to apply.”
“I’m only a freshman. I’ve never thought about the future that much--.”
“When you come to work tomorrow, I’ll show you our collection of college guides and directories.”
William nodded, “I’m sure Buffy would be interested in looking too. Right, love?”
“Sure, I guess it’d be fun to look,” Buffy said with a shrug. “I heard it’s never too early to start looking, so count me in.”
***
“Mom, is he still outside?” Dressed in her pajamas, Buffy came downstairs and plopped on the couch next to Joyce. “We’ll have to drag him in tonight or he’ll sleep out there.” She gave her mom a brush and two hair ties. “Can you French braid the pigtails, please?”
“I think William enjoyed his birthday, don’t you? I feel terrible that I couldn’t make it down to LA to at least see him receive the scholarship.”
“Don’t worry, he totally understands.” Buffy closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of the brush running through her hair.
“This was his first birthday without his mother and I wanted to make it memorable.”
“It was, mom.”
“Because he got a car--.”
“No,” Buffy turned to face her, “even without the car and if he didn’t go to LA, William would’ve had a good time. He likes it here, mom. We’re his family and even if his birthday had sucked, he’d still love us, all of us, even Dawn, who isn’t all that lovable.”
Joyce tried not to smile as she continued to braid Buffy’s hair. “When did you get so grown up?”
“I’m not. But when it comes to William…I just get him, okay?”
***
Buffy knocked on the window and William manually rolled it down. “Can I come in?”
“Sure.” Leaning over, he pulled up the lock on the passenger door. “It’s getting late, isn’t it?”
“Yup, tomorrow’s a school night,” Buffy said, sliding onto the bench seat and closing the door. “I can’t believe you have a car.”
“I know. The seats are real leather and they’re not even torn up. The car’s in great shape—from what I can tell anyway. Giles said it used to belong to a little old lady who babied her.”
“Her?” Buffy laughed.
“Cars are typically called girls,” William said matter-of-factly.
“Are you going to name it?”
“No.” William put his hands on the steering wheel. “Want me to turn it on?”
“As long as you don’t wreck anything.”
“I’ll just turn on the radio.” He turned the key and found a clear station. “Come here.” With a curled hand, he beckoned her forward. “Aren’t bench seats great?” he asked once Buffy was at his side. “This car is going to be bloody fantastic, Buffy. We can come in here to hide from Joyce and when I learn how to drive, we’ll take a trip together. It’ll be like this weekend, only better.”
“I want to learn how to drive too.”
“I’ll teach you, pet.”
Buffy rested her head on his shoulder while she played with the radio. “That’s better. I love this song.” Sighing dreamily, she snuggled into William’s side. “Where would we go?”
“On our trip? Anywhere, Buffy.”
“It wouldn’t have to be someplace far.”
“And to save money, we could sleep in here. The backseat’s gigantic.”
“So, it’d be a road trip?”
“Oh, yes,” William wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled the side of her face, “with the windows down and the radio blasting. The first stop would be getting you a slushy and all that junk food. Then we’d pick a direction and just drive.”
Buffy laughed softly as he brushed her skin with kisses. “You’re getting me excited. You’d better learn how to drive soon, mister.”
“I’ll bug Giles about it first thing after school and then we’ll gang up on him at work.”
“William,” Buffy said, as their kisses grew more heated, “it’s a school night and mom, she’ll be out her any minute. I told her we were moving slower and this,” she moaned as William’s hand slipped up her shirt, “this is not...slow.”
“Okay, okay,” he sighed. “We should go inside.”
“Yeah.”
He turned off the engine and slipped out of the car. He offered Buffy a hand. “All that freedom we had in Los Angeles, it’s long gone, isn’t it?”
“I think so.” Buffy closed the car door and they walked towards the house.
“I’ll miss you tonight.”
Buffy took a deep breath, “I’ll miss you too.”
“Think I could sneak in?”
“In my room?”
“Just for a change,” he shrugged. “Unless you don’t want me in your bed.”
“I do. A lot, but Dawn’s room is just next-door...”
“She’s a heavy sleeper. You planning on making a lot of noise, Buffy?” he asked with a smirk.
Buffy grinned, pushing William inside the house. “I’ll be waiting,” she whispered before running upstairs. “Mom, I finally got him out of the stupid car!”
***
[Reviews - 183]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 1837 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +