Chapter 17
“Sure you don’t want to join me?”
“Positive.” William sat on a bench and pulled a notebook from his bag. “Just don’t forget about me while you shop.”
“Yesh, how long can I take at the drug store?”
“I’ve seen your eyes glaze over at the hardware store, pet. It doesn’t matter what kind of store you’re in.”
“Ha ha. I’ll be back as soon as I get mom’s prescription. Need anything?” She took her wallet out of her backpack before dropping it at William’s feet.
“What—don’t leave that with me!”
“Why not?”
He looked at Buffy’s hot pink backpack and wrinkled his nose. “It’s like holding your purse, Buffy.”
“It’s a backpack.”
“It’s a pink backpack with too many key chains and all those girlie patches on it.”
“It’s heavy, William. I’m not asking you to wear it on your back, just keep it at your feet. Do we need anything or not?”
“We?”
“What would ‘we’ need? Gosh, are you dumb today or what?” Rolling her eyes and muttering under her breath, Buffy left William on the bench.
***
Buffy and William walked side-by-side with Dawn trailing behind.
“This is cruel and unusual punishment,” Dawn grumbled. Her arms were crossed and she made a gagging noise each time the couple playfully kissed and touched each other. “I should be at home and learning the error of my ways. God, it’s so embarrassing. What if someone sees me with you guys as you slobber all over each other? It’s bad enough that everyone knows my sister because she’s the counselor, but now she’s macking on the new English teacher!”
“I thought you were our little cheerleader, bit?” William held his hand to the small of Buffy’s back and snuck under shirt to occasionally caress her skin. “Where’d our cupid go? I thought you wanted us to get back together?”
“That was before she got grounded,” Buffy pointed out with a smug grin.
“So, Buffy, if you’re dragging me to the carnival tonight, what’d you do all day? You left the house so early and you returned looking all disheveled. I get in trouble for just talking to a guy and you have a day of boinking and do you get in trouble? Of course not, because you’re old and somehow that makes it all okay—what a load of crap!”
William felt Buffy stiffen and before she could growl at Dawn, he beat her to it. “Can I talk to you for a minute, Dawnie?” Buffy and Dawn looked at him strangely, both wondering what he was up to. “It won’t take long, girls. No need to get worked up about it. Come on,” he motioned to Dawn, “let’s take a little walk.”
***
“I dumped her because she was a prude. I know she’ll get desperate and come crawling back on her knees—if you know what I mean.”
William looked up from writing to see Angel snicker with another boy from school. He quickly averted his eyes, hoping that they’d pass by without speaking to him.
“Hey, Will. We haven’t seen you around for awhile.”
With a discreet sigh, he closed the spiral notebook he had been working in. “I’ve been busy.”
“Busy with Buffy? Did you get her to put out yet? She’s one hell of a kisser, but I think she’d make you work just to feel her up.”
“I don’t see why I should tell you, it’s none of your business.”
“He gets this way every time I mention kissing Buffy. You see, I was her first kiss and it pisses William off,” Angel explained to the guy next to him. “He’s jealous that I got to try her out first and who knows, maybe if I’m lucky, I could do her first too.”
“Don’t talk about her like that,” William growled, jumping to his feet.
“Look at him trying to defend his girlfriend as he guards her purse.”
“It’s her backpack, you sod.”
“You wound me. We were best friends once—even though he was more pathetic back in the day. I just used him until somebody better came along.”
Silently, William glared daggers at Angel’s laughing face.
“Can’t believe Buffy actually dates him, bet she’s waiting around for someone better too. Hey man, can you give her my number? She’s a hot little thing and--.”
Seeing red and unable to control his anger, William pulled back his fist before hitting Angel in the face.
***
“Fight! Fight!”
“Bet it’s just a bunch of hoodlums,” Buffy muttered as she searched the shelves in the drug store. She looked left and then right before quickly grabbing a box and tossing it into her grocery basket.
That wasn’t so bad, she thought, ignoring the fact that her heart was pounding as she went to the counter. Now for the hard part…
***
A group huddled around the bench where William had been sitting. With a paper bag hugged to her chest, Buffy looked for him in the crowd.
“You bloody asshole!”
“Oh God,” Buffy gasped, pushing between the bodies that were in her way. “William? William!” She knelt on the ground and winced, seeing Angel straddling him. Both of the boys had bloody faces and they continued to take jabs at each other. “William, stop it!”
Without a second thought, Buffy clenched her teeth and charged at Angel. “Get off my boyfriend!”
***
“You’ve got to stop this.”
“Stop what?” Dawn asked innocently, fluttering her eyelashes.
William narrowed his eyes and fought the need to shake a finger at Buffy’s younger sister. “You were wrong for having that guy in your room and you know it.”
“Why should I let Buffy yell at me when she did the same thing constantly when she was my age?”
“Because she’s your mom--.”
“She is not,” Dawn snapped.
“You know what I mean. And it’s not like you were unreasonably punished, Buffy’s not treating you badly.”
“Says you.”
“Dawn--.”
“What’s it to you if I think Buffy’s a bitch? Why are you acting like some kind of father figure?”
William’s mouth became a thin line and he returned Dawn’s glare. “Something tells me you need another week added to your grounding.”
“What? No!”
“You should apologize to her then; your sister didn’t deserve to be called that.”
“But--.”
“I’m just waiting for you to stomp your feet and scream that you aren’t being treated like an adult.”
“Hey, how’d you know I was about to do that?”
William smirked, “Because Buffy did, remember?”
“Oh my God, she did it all the time,” Dawn said with a laugh. “And then mom would always say if she wanted to be treated like an adult she’d have to act like an—hey! Is this some kind of hidden lecture? Are you teaching me a lesson?”
“You know, most adults get off easier for good behavior.”
“Oh really?”
William nodded and they headed back to where they had left Buffy. “You should be happy that Buffy’s been in your shoes, kitten. Instead of making her upset, you should be working on her sympathies.”
“Are you giving me advice?”
“No, no, you didn’t hear a word from me.”
“I see,” she said slowly. “But you are trying to be some kind of peacemaker, am I right?”
“I’d rather not have my two favorite girls at each other’s throats.”
“Okay, but if I play nice, you’d better make sure the grounding gets cut in, like, half.”
“So, you’ll be on your best behavior?”
“I guess.”
“Even if, for example, I stayed overnight, would you be a brat about it?”
“Are you blackmailing me?”
“No, we’re compromising, Dawnie. We’re making a friendly agreement.”
“That Buffy doesn’t need to know about?” When he didn’t answer, Dawn started to giggle. “You’re heading for trouble if you lie to her. Big, big, nasty, trouble.”
“I’m not completely dumb. I know your sister--.”
“So, you’re pretty much saying if you can see my sister, I can see Connor?”
“Within reason, yes.”
“And if Buffy finds out--.”
“I’m going to tell her.”
“If she’s against it, I’m saying that you promised.”
“Great.”
“Oh, this is a nice friendly agreement,” Dawn said with a wide smile on her face.
***
Buffy took a handful of Angel’s hair between her fingers and pulled until he started to scream. With him distracted, William was able to sit up and get a few punches into his stomach before he got to his feet.
“Buffy, let go,” William said quietly. “He’s had enough.” He pried her fingers open and helped her to her feet. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
“Jerk!” Buffy yelled, kicking Angel in the leg.
“Buffy, come on!”
“It wasn’t that hard.” Shrugging, she put on her backpack and ran to catch up with William as he walked quickly towards their house. “What was that all about?”
“He was being an idiot.”
“So you beat him up?”
“He was asking for it!”
“Hey calm down!” He was almost up the driveway before Buffy pulled him in the other direction. “You can’t see mom like that. She’ll freak out. We need to clean you up.”
“But--.”
“You have a key to Giles’, right?”
“He’s at work.”
“That’s why we need your key.”
***
“You didn’t get hurt at all, did you?”
“No.” Buffy cringed, dabbing the cuts on William’s face with a wet washcloth. “Ow. You’re going to bruise.”
“Yeah, but did you see peaches? He’s got two black eyes and I’m sure that I knocked the wind out of him! You made him nearly bald--.”
“Peaches?”
“Long story.”
“So, what’d he say?” Buffy asked softly as she stood between his knees. William was sitting on the kitchen counter and she looked up at him. “I thought he was your friend.”
“He talks a lot of shit, Buffy.”
“You couldn’t ignore him? We haven’t had to team up and kick butt since middle school.”
“He was pushing me. He brought up Spin the Bottle and wanted to know if you’d put out—he said that you were practically using me as filler until you could find a better guy.”
“You got into a fight over that?”
“Well...yeah! He’s a dick!”
“You should’ve just told him that I was in the store and buying us condoms--.”
“What?”
“It was supposed to be a surprise,” Buffy said. “Mom’s doing a school thing with Dawn on Thursday; they’ll be out of the house from eight to four. I figured one of us could play sick and the other could ditch class that day.”
“That’s great, pet.”
“I know.” She cleaned the last bit of blood off his face and searched his eyes. “Did what he say really bug you that much? I’m not waiting for a better guy, William. I think you’re the greatest to begin with, I love you and as for Angel being nosy...he can guess all he wants about if I’ve put out or not, but only we two will know the truth. That should stay between us, don’t you think?” When William nodded, Buffy smiled and gently kissed his broken lip.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have...”
“It’s okay.” She wanted to hug him, but instead she lifted his shirt. “Any other cuts I need to look at?”
“I’m alright.” He scooted off the counter and pulled her into his arms. “It was nice defending you though. Made me feel...manly and all that.”
“We’ll see how manly you are when you face mom.”
“You had to ruin my moment, yeah?”
“Fighting is bad, William.”
“I know.”
“It doesn’t matter if you know, be ready for a lecture,” she sang before kissing his cheek.
“Maybe she won’t notice?”
Buffy looked at his developing black eye and fat lip. “Ah, let’s just go home,” she said, patting him lovingly on the back.
***
“Hi, Buffy! Did you miss us?”
“She’s perky. What did you do?”
“About that...”
“William’s going to tell you all about the joys of compromising while I get some popcorn! You guys want anything?”
***
“What happened to Mister ‘you’re the adult and she’ll just have to deal with it’?”
“Well, she was being a brat and--.”
“She’s always a brat. It’s a full time job for her. I think she just took a few days off because she was excited to see you.”
“Is it really such a bad idea?”
Buffy sighed and leaned into William’s side. “She can date, that’s fine. She’s always been able to do that. I just don’t want them doing anything in the house...that’s what they made cars for.”
“I said ‘within reason,’ see, that’ll cover us. It’s not like they’re going to get away with sleepovers. That is not ‘within reason’.”
Buffy held back a smile, “You’re really back in the family, aren’t you?” William shot her a funny look, as if it were crazy for her to ask such a question. “You’re wonderful, William. Just...wonderful.”
“Hey! More kissing?” Dawn exclaimed, returning with her hands weighed down with food. “I can’t leave you for more than a few seconds and you’re all over each other! Shesh! Scoot over. This is better,” she said, sitting between William and Buffy. “I’m starving. How about you guys?”
***
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Author's Chapter Notes:
A/N:
The last update for today!
I’m super proud to announce that This Girl, That Boy has received 3 nominations at the Love’s Last Glimpse awards for Best WIP, Romance, and Fantasy! I also got a nom for Best Author and nominations for another one of my AU stories, Little by Little (the revamped version). Big, huge thanks to my secret nominator!!
The last update for today!
I’m super proud to announce that This Girl, That Boy has received 3 nominations at the Love’s Last Glimpse awards for Best WIP, Romance, and Fantasy! I also got a nom for Best Author and nominations for another one of my AU stories, Little by Little (the revamped version). Big, huge thanks to my secret nominator!!