Chapter 6
“So, this weekend,” Buffy took a deep sip from her straw as they headed back towards the high school, “it’s Founder’s Day.”
“I know.”
“Do you want to come with Dawn and me?”
“You’re asking?” William’s eyes grew wide with shock. “Really, Buffy?”
“Well, I figure I’d beat you and Dawn at your little game. This way, I’ll know you’re coming instead of me being tricked.”
“Would we do a thing like that?” He smiled widely, “Founder’s Day was always fun when we were growing up. It’s still the same right? The picnic and the carnival and all that?”
“Yup, it’s just bigger and more like a county fair.”
“I’d love to go with you.”
“And Dawn. Remember her, William.”
“You’re going to hide behind her, yeah?” he smirked. “That’s alright, I love her almost as much as I love you.”
Buffy’s throat tightened, “William, I...”
“Sorry,” he said, looking into the distance and squinting, “I forgot that you hated me for a minute.”
“I don’t hate you. I’ve never hated you.”
“But you’ve sure screamed it from the rooftops more times than I can count.”
“Yeah, well it just comes out so easily.” She swallowed timidly and tossed her cup as they reached the school. “If you have more problems with the girls, let me know.”
“You’ll protect me?”
“Yes,” she said truthfully, not sure if he was teasing or not. “I don’t want them slobbering all over you...I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”
“I see...”
“And I don’t want to be jealous, alright?” Buffy glared and stomped into the building, leaving William behind.
***
“Long time, no see. Where’s your boyfriend?”
“Anya, I see you every day and every day I have to tell you that William’s not my boyfriend.”
“Whatever,” Anya said, rolling her eyes. “Where is he? You never eat with us unless he’s not at school.”
“That’s not true! Ok, well, maybe it is.” Buffy sighed, hating that her friend was right. “William’s got a really bad cold.”
“Oh?” Willow spoke up, her eyes big with concern. “When will he be back?”
“I’m not sure. He’s been such a big baby lately, always whining and saying that he’s going to die.” Buffy laughed, “You should see him with his red runny nose and scratchy voice...”
“You totally love him!” Anya said. “You get dreamy eyed whenever you talk about him. She never did that before, did she, Willow?”
“No,” Willow agreed softly. “Do you like him now?”
“I’ve always liked him...”
“Buffy, do you like him, like him?”
“Will,” Buffy said. “You sound just like Anya!”
“Sorry, Buffy, but you do seem different when you talk about him.”
“Do I really?” Buffy stared off into the distance. “I guess I do like him. Ever since I kissed him--.”
“You kissed him!”
“Anya, quiet,” Buffy said, laughing nervously.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Uh,” Buffy tried to think of an excuse. She didn’t want Willow to know that she was trying to protect her feelings. “It just slipped my mind...”
“Unslip it and tell us the details.” Anya scooted forward and looked interested.
“But, Willow, since you have a crush on him...”
“Oh, I don’t like him anymore.” Willow smiled, “There’s this new boy, Oz and he’s so smart and--.”
“Later, Will, Buffy, share, now. When? Where? Why? How?”
“Yesh,” Buffy laughed, biting her lip. “Is there anything you don’t want to know?”
“Nope. Did you like it? Was it good? Do you want to kiss him again?”
“Anya! You have too many questions!” Buffy blushed and put her hands in her lap. “It was at Harmony’s party.”
“That was months ago! You went through all of the summer without telling us!”
“Anya!” both Buffy and Willow cried.
“Sorry!”
“Okay. We ditched the party and I kissed him after we had a fight.”
“About what?” Willow asked.
“Eh, nothing. Anyway, we were standing under the outside light and he looked so...so, cute, you know? His hair was kinda standing up and his eyes...so shiny and blue. I kissed him right up against the garage. Twice. And they were both very good kisses.”
“Did you tongue kiss him?”
“Once, the last one,” Buffy sighed and ran her hands over her face. “And I want to kiss him again but it’s been forever and we haven’t even come close to more smoochies. At least he’s not avoiding me like before.”
“Before when? What happened?” Anya demanded.
“Nothing, Anya. God, you're so nosy! But ever since the party, we act kinda strange around each other. We stare all the time. I can’t help but look at him and he’s usually doing the same thing, but when I catch him, he blushes--.”
“And why isn’t he your boyfriend?” Anya asked and Willow looked as if she wanted to know the answer too.
“I’m too young to have a boyfriend.”
“You are not! You’re in high school now!”
“My mom says that I have to be at least sixteen.”
“You listen to your mom?” Anya laughed and rolled her eyes. “So, on your sixteenth birthday, what are you going to do, smother William with kisses?”
“I could. It’s a good idea, now that you mention it.”
“Have you asked your mom if it’s okay to date William? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind because he’s such a good guy.”
“Willow, I thought you didn’t like Buffy’s boyfriend?”
“He’s not my boyfriend!” Buffy said, interrupting Willow's answer to the question.
“And whose fault is that?”
“Shut up, Anya.”
***
“Mom?”
“She’s not home.” William answered and then started to cough. “She has a work thing so she took Dawn to a sitter. She left us money for take-out and movies to watch.”
Buffy nodded and sat next to him. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m going to die, Buffy. I can’t breathe, my eyes hurt, my head hurts and my nose hurts. It’s still red, isn’t it?”
“Just like Rudolph,” she teased.
William turned his head and coughed some more. “I’m in hell, pet.”
“Maybe I should sit somewhere else, like somewhere far, far away? I don’t want your cooties.”
“Fine,” he mumbled, looking hurt. “I’ve been looking forward to you coming home all day and then you threaten to leave me.”
“You’re such a baby," she said. She smiled and was happy that he wanted to spend time with her. "So, after I change, you wanna watch a movie?"
***
"You're squeaking. Stop it."
"I can't help it," William whined. He sat with his head back. "Does this help?"
"No," Buffy giggled as he stuffed a Kleenex in each of his nostrils. "You look dumb when you do that."
"But you can't hear anything, yeah?"
"But you can't breathe at all, right? Take them out of your nose."
"Ok, ok." He crumbled the tissues into little balls and added them to his pile that was on the coffee table. "Oh, my head, it’s stuffy too."
"Yesh, you should pick just one thing to whine about."
William rested on the other end of the couch, propping his head up with a pillow. "I can't get comfortable."
"Are you positive I shouldn't sit somewhere else? I could go on the floor so you can lie down?"
"No, no," he said, shaking his head. "I'll shut up. I just wish I could prop my head higher. I can’t breathe at all when I lay down flat."
Buffy watched as he grunted, constantly changing how he was sitting. “William! You’re annoying me!”
“Sorry,” he pouted. “I can’t...”
“Come here you big baby!”
“Why?”
“Just looking at you is making me feel uncomfortable so come here!” He gave her a funny look and inched closer. Buffy glared, upset that he seemed afraid of her. “I’m not going to bite you. I want to make you feel better.”
“How?”
She rolled her eyes out of frustration and patted her lap. “Put your pillow here and that way I’ll be near you; you can lie down and you can breathe. Bring your blanket too.”
“Buffy...?” Once she shot him another glare, he did as she suggested, awkwardly resting on her thighs.
“Better?” she asked, softly once he was curled up. “Comfy?”
“Yes, Buffy,” he answered in a whisper.
***
Buffy thought he was sleeping because he stopped grabbing a tissue every few minutes. She ignored the movie and slowly put her hand in his hair. When he didn’t stir, she combed his hair with her fingers.
“Buffy?”
“Oh, sorry.”
“No, don’t stop,” he pleaded, once she hid her hands. “It felt really good.”
“Ok.” Swallowing, she gently scratched his head. “I was afraid you wouldn’t like me messing up your hair. I’ve noticed you spend a lot of time on it, tons more than I do on mine.”
“You notice?” he asked, making a goofy grin.
“Oh yeah. It always looks real nice, William.” Buffy played until all his hair was standing up in spikes.
“That tickles, pet. You’re giving me goose bumps,” he whispered as her fingers ran against the back on his neck.
“William, can I ask you a question?”
“I guess so.”
“Are you mad that I kissed you that night?”
“No, are you?”
“I just was confused because we’ve never talked about it and...and we’ve never kissed again.”
William looked ahead and asked carefully, “Would you like it if we kissed again?”
“Yes,” she said softly.
“What did you say?” He turned on his back and looked up at her. “I couldn’t hear you; my ears aren’t working right either.”
Buffy sighed and licked her dry lips. “I want you to kiss me. I think about it all the time and I want to know if you’re even going to do it anytime soon. It’s driving me crazy.”
“I think about it all the time too but I was scared and didn’t know how you’d react. I’d kiss you right now if I wasn’t sick,” he said shyly.
“I wouldn’t mind, I think staying home is kinda fun.”
William looked at her, as if asking silently if she was serious. “Buffy?”
“It’s up to you.”
“My nose will run on you.”
“Blow it first and wipe it real good.”
“You’d really get sick just because you want to kiss me?”
She nodded bashfully.
“Ok,” William said, grabbing a handful of tissues. “Give me a minute.”
Buffy waited patiently, getting nervous. She gave him a little smile as he sat up and looked at her with his messy hair and red nose.
“We don’t have much time.”
Buffy nodded, swallowing. “Come closer?”
He scooted until the sides of their bodies were flush. “I never thought this would be so nerve-wracking.”
“Me neither.” She turned towards him and parted her lips slightly. “If you don’t do it first, I will.”
“Right, right.” William put his hand on the side of her face and grinned before pressing his lips lightly to hers. He kissed her repeatedly with his mouth closed. Buffy slowly relaxed, pulling him in against her. She sighed as his hands tangled in her hair and whimpered as he experimentally opened his mouth wider, causing her to do the same. Smiling, she hummed, as his tongue came in contact with hers. Their tongues mingled nicely, making Buffy feel like kissing William was natural and so much better than Angel’s sloppy first kiss.
Buffy was lightheaded as he gently closed his mouth and pulled back.
“Buffy?”
“Yeah?” she said, her eyes still closed.
“Did you like that?” he whispered.
“I feel tingly. It’s a good feeling and my heart feels like it’s gasping...that’s nice too.”
“Does that mean I can kiss you more often?”
“Maybe we should wait until you’re better.”
“Oh, sure,” he said, squeezing her into his chest once more before letting her go.
“When we’re at school...can you hold my hand, William? I see people doing that and...I want us to do that.”
“I would like that too.”
“Should we order the pizza now or do you want to lay down some more?”
“I’d like to rest.” William fluffed his pillow and put it in her lap. “I feel so much better, Buffy.”
***
“You asked him out!” Dawn bounced and squealed. “I knew you would crack sooner or later!”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Buffy moved her head left to right, trying to see around her sister. “Hey! I’m watching TV here!”
“Are you excited?”
“No and it’s not a date. It’s him, you, and me going together,” Buffy stressed, pointing at Dawn. “You should be on my side, Dawnie. Why do you support him so much? What he did to mom...”
“I told you so many times I thought there was a mistake with the mail. I’m sure he sent something and it got lost.”
“He could’ve called.”
“But you weren’t talking.”
“You were on speaking terms with him, weren’t you? Why didn’t he call to comfort you?” Buffy felt her heart race as old anger rose to the surface. “He was practically her son and he didn’t come back, not even once...not before or...after.” She took a deep breath, tears forming in her eyes.
“Buffy, you told him not to come back,” Dawn said softly. “I heard it...when you guys had that fight. You told him to never see us again.”
“I was mad, but he should’ve known I would’ve let him see mom. I’m not that bad of a person, am I?”
“No.” Dawn sat with her on the couch and pulled her close for a hug. “He doesn’t think you’re bad at all. He loves you.”
“I know,” Buffy whimpered. “He told me today.”
“Really?”
She nodded, crying harder. “He just said it and...God, I’ll always love him, Dawnie.”
“Duh,” her sister replied with a laugh. “Do you think I’m stupid or something? Yesh, Buffy.”
Laughing, Buffy pulled back and reached for a Kleenex. “Is it that obvious?”
“Buffy, it’s always been obvious, for as long as I can remember it’s been, ‘Buffy and William: super couple.’ That’s probably why I so don’t understand why you aren’t with him.”
“Things just went bad between us. I thought he should do something and when he refused, I did something bad that hurt his feelings. Then he did something equally bad...there was screaming and accusing and he left.” She sniffled and bit her lip. “And you know the rest. When he ignored mom and didn’t come to her funeral; that just...I want to forgive him, really Dawnie, but I don’t think it’s going to be easy.”
“Have you even tried, Buffy? Maybe you should talk to him instead of pushing him away all the time? Ask him why he didn’t come back when mom was dying and figure out what happened with all those stupid ‘some things.’ Have you guys even said that you’re sorry? Holy crap, who’s the counselor here? Maybe they should give me your job.”
“Funny, Dawn, but there’s more to my job than just butting into people’s lives.”
“Yeah right,” she snorted, “but I’m not butting in. I’m your sister, I’m supposed to be like this and William, he’s like my brother...oh, ew. Strike that, incest is bad.”
“Dawn!” Buffy laughed, “I get what you’re saying and I know you mean well.”
“So, you won’t kill me when I refuse to go to the Founder’s Day stuff with you and William?”
Buffy glared at Dawn for a bit, but then her eyes softened. “I guess not. I need to be alone with him. I need to talk to him.”
“Finally. Think it took you long enough to figure that out?”
“Shut up, Dawn.”
***
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