Chapter 2:
Take me back to the house in the backyard tree
Said you'd beat me up, you were bigger than me
You never did, you never did
Take me back when our world was one block wide
I dared you to kiss me and ran when you tried
Just two kids, you and I...
Oh my my my my
Buffy was brought out of her trance when the front door was roughly shoved open and slammed closed. She glanced up from her position on the couch, photo album clutched tightly to her chest and watched as William stalked into the house.
He didn’t say a word to her, didn’t even glance her way as he stomped up the stairs and into their room to gather what Buffy assumed were his things for work.
She heard a few things clatter to the floor and cringed hearing glass shatter. The only object in their room that had glass in it was Buffy’s vanity table and a photo of William and her at their wedding.
Buffy let a tear slip down her cheeks knowing it was the photo of them that now lay in shatters on the hardwood floor and not her mirror. The photo was of the two of them in mid kiss as the pastor pronounced them man and wife.
Buffy’s face fell, when minutes later he walked back down the stairs, without uttering a word to her and left again. A lone tear fell down her cheek and onto the photo album in front of her.
‘My marriage really is falling apart.’ her mind whispered, her head lowering in defeat.
For moments she stared at the photo album in her hands before hesitantly flipping the page.
Buffy let out a strangled laugh at the photo she was met with. She looked to be about nine years old, making William eleven years old.
She was standing with William and Xander at the bottom of the ladder leading to her tree house. Xander was doing the bunny ears behind her head, while William poked his tongue out towards her, she stood smiling brightly, oblivious to their antics, her blonde hair in two piggy tails.
Buffy smiled sadly, shaking her head as the memory of that day flashed into her mind.
………………………………...............
16 years ago
“But it’s my tree house,” Buffy’s nine year old voice whined as she held onto the edge of the wooden ladder that lead up to her tree house. Her face was creased in a frown, which quickly turned into a glare when William spoke.
“Yeah, but me and Xander are playin’ in it.” William smiled, folding his eleven-year-old arms across his chest, blocking Buffy from climbing the ladder.
“No girls allowed,” yelled Xander, popping his head out from one of the three windows of the tree house.
Xander was William's best friend at school and the two often spent every weekend together. Xander's parents were alcoholics and the boy had come to feel somewhat like a brother to William. The brother he never had but had always wanted.
“I’m allowed to play in it if I want to,” Buffy growled trying to push William out of the way. William however, decided otherwise. With his arms, he grabbed Buffy around the waist and pulled her away from the ladder.
Buffy could hear Xander laughing all the while, taunting her.
“No girls allowed.”
“OW!” Buffy wrenched her arms free of William’s grasp and glared at him. Xander was still giggling from up in the tree house and Buffy shot him a glare.
“Tha’s wha’ you get for trying to get into our boys only tree house. I’ll do it again.” William poked his tongue out at Buffy, before turning to walk back to the ladder.
Buffy beat him to it and started to climb as fast as her little legs would go.
“Hey!”
“William!” William cringed hearing his mother’s stern voice calling from the Summers’ back door. “You let Buffy play as well, young man; you too, Xander.”
“Yes, Mrs. Giles,” Xander sighed out, glaring at Buffy as she stepped through the door, a wide grin spread across her face.
“Why’d you have to go do tha’ for?” William sighed, as he too stepped through the doorway and into the tree house.
“It’s my tree house,” Buffy pressed. “I’m allowed to play here if I want,” she said defiantly, crossing her arms across her chest.
“Yeah, but now it’s going to be boring,” Xander whined, pouting slightly.
“Would you kids like some snacks?” Joyce yelled from the bottom of the ladder.
There was a hasty rush and a few stumbles as Buffy, Xander and William scrambled down the tree house.
Joyce had laid an array of snacks out on a small fold out table. Jenny was sitting in one of the many chairs Joyce had brought out, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“William, don’t throw your food,” Jenny sighed softly, moments later; her son was so hard to control some times.
“This is no fun.” William grumbled, sliding further into his chair as he glanced at Xander who nodded his agreement.
William spared a glance at Buffy, who seemed perfectly content, munching on a biscuit, its crumbs falling across her lap and the tabletop.
“Buffy, would you like a photo?” Joyce asked, a camera in her hands.
“Yes!” Buffy exclaimed ecstatically, clambering from her chair. Joyce smiled, shaking her head, still not understanding Buffy’s adamant fascination with photographs.
Ever since she could remember Buffy had been attracted to film and often made Joyce document everything. More often than not Buffy would have at least 3 photos taken everyday of her doing something, from riding her black horse Cole or sitting on her father’s four wheeler motorbike, to standing at the bottom of her tree house.
“William, Xander, would you mind getting in the photo too?” Joyce asked, standing across from Buffy. Both boys grumbled and reluctantly trudged over to where Buffy was standing, a smile on her face.
“Well that’s definitely a keeper.” Jenny laughed, making Buffy turn around, glancing at the two boys behind her. Her features creased into a glare when she saw what they were doing.
Her eyes narrowed and she poked her tongue out at William before stomping back to the fold out table to finish her biscuit.
………………………………....................
Present day
Buffy shook her head, smiling to herself as the memory faded. Reluctantly, she stood up with the photo album like glue in her hands and made her way up the stairs to have a shower. Friday was her day off work and she was looking forward to relaxing after the night she’d just had, the fight with William still fresh in her mind.
After her shower and not feeling like going outside, she dressed in her red silk nightgown that stopped mid thigh and slipped into bed. The photo album lay on her bedside table, and for a few moments her eyes lingered on it. Her hair was still damp and slowly soaking her pillow but Buffy didn’t care as her eyes drifted shut, heavy with sleep.
Buffy tossed and turned in a restless sleep, dreaming of times when everything was simple, when her life made sense. When she knew who she was and what she wanted to be.
More importantly she dreamed of who she wanted, who she lived for. William was her light when all other lights had gone out. In darker times he had held her above everything.
Buffy didn’t realise that she had subconsciously reached out to gather William’s pillow into her arms as she slept, breathing in his scent deeply.
She woke hours later, stretching her arms above her head as she stretched the kinks out of her body. Buffy did a double take as she quickly glanced at the clock on William’s side of the bed, eyes not believing what it read. Was it really 6 o’clock? She’d slept the day away.
She was jolted out of her hazy state by hearing running water coming from the bathroom. William was home and in the shower. Her heart rate sped up. What was she going to say to him?
Not wanting to deal with the situation at present, Buffy reached for the photo album and propped a few spare pillows behind her back so she could sit up. She flipped to the page she had reached last and smiled, briefly remembering the tree house again before turning the page and letting out a laugh.
She stared down at her younger self; she was about eleven years old in this particular photo and had a look of horror and uttermost shock on her face. Buffy traced the outline of a thirteen year old William, a soft smile tugging on the corners of her mouth.
Looking back now, things that had once seemed so confusing in her life were now so simple.
William’s hands were resting on Buffy’s shoulders as he puckered his lips, leaning in for a kiss. Buffy had screamed in his face and started running down to the back paddock. Her father- Buffy shook her head smiling to herself at the thought- had taken this candid photo, laughing to himself the whole time.
“Now there’s a smile I haven’t seen in a long time, Pet,” William whispered from the doorway, his British accent coming out thick, a soft smile marring his face.
Buffy glanced up from the photo and her heart stopped. No matter how many times she saw William in a towel, water droplets falling from his wet hair and down his chest to his chiselled abs and then down lower to the small line of hair that left little to the imagination as to what lay beneath it, she always seemed to be stopped speechless.
“I found some photos,” was all Buffy could say, her gaze still taking in his glorious form. She lifted her gaze from his abdominals to rest on his face and blushed when she saw him smirking. It had been weeks since either of them had touched each other.
Most nights when they went to bed, they would both roll to their respective sides and not move towards the other all night. Buffy sighed sadly thinking how utterly pathetic her life had become.
‘How could I be so stupid?’ her mind whispered.
“Photos of what?”
Buffy’s eyes bugged out of her head as he walked to their dresser and turned, his back facing her and pulled the towel from his hips. She was met with two extremely white buns and a blush crept up her face. Even his backside was sexy.
It had been a while since she’d seen those. What had her mother said to William last night to make him so confident towards her?
“Pet?”
“Huh?” Buffy shook her head, breaking from her thoughts. “Just photos of us when we were younger.” She tilted her head to the side, watching as he pulled on a pair of boxers.
‘Definitely worth looking at from different angles,’ she thought to herself, smiling.
“Ah, to be young again.” William smiled, slowly walking over to the bed and hesitantly sitting down next to Buffy. “Can I see?” He held out his hands, waiting for her to pass him the photo album. Waiting for her to either accept him or reject him.
Buffy nodded and handed him the photo album, staring at his face and watching as his shoulders visibly relaxed.
His laughter broke Buffy once again from her thoughts and she looked down to see the photo he was at. It was the same photo she had been, minutes before laughing at too.
“I remember that,” his whisper was soft like velvet and held the smallest hint of a smile in it.
“I dared you to kiss me,” Buffy smiled, glancing at his face. Her heart rate sped up when she saw he was smiling back at her.
Smiling. He hadn’t smiled at her like that in a long time and it sent a wave of butterflies through her stomach.
All thoughts of the fight they’d had the previous night left her mind; leaving the two of them completely alone.
William hesitantly raised a hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, his hand resting on her cheek for the briefest moment before he spoke.
“And when I tried you ran away.” Buffy laughed softly, her mind racing, her heart beating a million miles a minute.
“What if I dared you now?” Buffy whispered, meeting his gaze. William’s hand stroked her cheek as he lowered his face down to hers.
“Will you run?” he whispered, shifting closer to her.
Buffy’s heart was racing as she answered him in a whisper so soft he almost missed it.
“No.”
“Buffy-”
“I’m sorry about last night, I just-”
“Don’t ruin the moment,” William interrupted, placing his forehead against hers.
“I’m sorry,” Buffy whimpered, her eyes rimming with tears before William’s lips crashed down to meet hers in an urgent kiss.
There was no gentleness about the kiss, it was hard and forceful and full of so much passion Buffy thought she was going to explode from it all.
Buffy wound her arms around William’s neck, pulling him closer to her. Her heart was racing and her stomach fluttered. Too many nights had she gone without his sensual touch that caressed her body. She vowed to herself then that she would not let her marriage fall apart. William was too important to her.
“I love you,” she said impulsively, feeling like she hadn’t in months. She gently kissed his neck and his shoulders and was met with silence. Hesitantly she pulled back, her stomach dropping at the thought of him rejecting her love.
“Do you know how long I’ve waited for you to say that to me again?” William whispered, kissing her lips softly.
“Too long,” Buffy whispered placing a hand softly on his cheek. William nodded in response and captured her lips once again in another searing kiss.
They had slipped down the bed from their once sitting position and were now lying side by side, facing each other. Buffy gasped when he lifted her left leg and pulled it over his hip, his groin coming into contact with hers. He kissed his way to her neck and suckled on her earlobe, kissing the tender flesh behind and beneath her ear.
He’d always known how to push her buttons.
“I’m sorry about last night,” Buffy gasped into his ear as the hand on her thigh moved to caress her rounded cheek, slipping her red silk nightie up and over her hips.
“Me too,” he huskily whispered into her ear. “I don’ want to scare you away, Pet. You mean too bloody much to me.”
Buffy’s response to that was a smile as she brought his hand to her face. “You mean more to me than anyone ever has, William,” she said before bringing his lips down to meet hers. Their tongues came out to play and Buffy slipped the leg over his hip higher and let out a moan at the intimate contact his body made with hers.
William cupped her backside and rolled onto his back allowing Buffy to sit astride him, straddling him. This only made them both moan in pleasure at the new position.
Without uttering a word Buffy started to lift her nightie off, only to be stopped by William’s hands on hers. His eyes spoke ‘let me’ and she did.
He sat up, his hands slipping the nightie up her stomach and smiled when she lift her arms, allowing him to remove the garment from her body and fling it to the other side of the room.
Her hair caressed her shoulders and she let her head drop back when William took her nipple into his mouth. Her hips rocked against his, fuelling both their fires all the more. Buffy reached down with her hands and grabbed the edges of his boxer shorts.
William laid back down and lifted his hips, allowing Buffy to slip his boxer shorts effortlessly down his hips. Once he was free of his boxers William flipped them over, kissing his way down her body until he reached her knickers.
He always did like the lacy scraps of material she covered herself with and Buffy couldn’t help but smile when she heard him breath in her scent before he slipped the offending garment down her thighs.
Before Buffy could utter a word of protest William was licking and suckling her quim, making her gasp. It wasn’t too long before she pulled him up her body and helped him position himself at her entrance.
Their lovemaking was hard and fast, both wanting to fuel the fire that had been burnt out for weeks and even months before. After they both climaxed they laid side by side smiling at each other. Buffy’s hair was stuck to her sweaty forehead and William brought his hand up and brushed it from her face.
“I love you,” Buffy whispered, kissing William softly on the lips one last time before pulling away.
“I’ve always loved you.” His words spoke volumes and Buffy closed her eyes briefly remembering the photo album that lay somewhere amongst their now messy floor.
“We were just kids.”
“I’ve loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you.” He kissed her cheek. “And I doubt I’ll ever stop.”
Their kiss this time was slow and languid and Buffy couldn’t help but let a lone tear slip from her closed eyes as she finally came to understand the lengths which Williams love for her reached.
She would try to fix things, repair the damage that had been done. Buffy vowed that over the weekend she would spend every possible moment with William, rekindling their marriage and turning it into the relationship they’d once had.
Something that had been so passionate and consuming was not something to be thought of lightly and Buffy wanted that passion back.
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!