Chapter I – Moonlight and Skinnydipping
The moon shimmered above the trees, and thousands of stars shone faintly, mirroring in the smooth surface of the lake. The light breeze made the treetops sway, as black silhouettes, dancing before the eerily illuminated night skies. A grass-area led up from the lake to a small cottage. It was all surrounded by tall pine trees, and behind them, snow-covered mountaintops were visible in the distance.
A girly squeal sounded from within the cabin, and a few moments later the door burst open to reveal two teenagers, one chasing the other towards the lake. They laughed and smiled, while they both ran as best they could. She was doing her best to escape her follower, but she could hear him close behind her, he was catching up.
She whined playfully as she felt his fingers brush her waist, and fell over in the soft grass. William’s hands were firmly planted on her hips as he landed on top of her. They laughed harder, and William extended his hand to help her up. She laid her hands in both of his, and let him pull her up from the ground. The air was comfortably still, as the valley was protected by the tall mountain walls on all sides. Only the tops of the trees were swaying in the breeze.
Buffy sent William a high beam smile, and dragged him towards the still waters of the lake. They stepped out on the small ramshackle landing stage, no doubt home built. Buffy pulled him with her, and they sat down at the end of it.
She let her legs dangle over the edge. William felt a slight tremble come over him, and he desperately tried to sink down his nerves.
“Wh-when are your parents coming back?” he asked, looking at the small mountain cottage that Buffy’s parents had rented for the summer. Buffy looked up at him and smiled.
“They are spending the night at my grandmother’s. My dad says she always cooks so much food he doesn’t fit into the car.”
William felt a strange jolt of tingles run through his body. His mum had let him spend the night with Buffy so that she wouldn’t be alone while her parents visited Joyce’s mother, but he was sure it was only because she didn’t know that they were going to be gone all night. He, himself, had only figured they would be gone until two or three, tops. His stomach heated through. He was going to stay with Buffy for the night, in an empty house.
Buffy could feel that William was nervous. She smiled slightly; a nervous William was not uncommon. She could feel him beside her and knew he was looking at her. His warm breath was tickling her neck, sending shivers down her spine and making little Goosebumps appear at its contrast to the chilled night air. As she watched the stars mirrored in the blank surface of the water, she imagined what he would look like if she turned her head right now. He would have pushed up his glasses, so that they sat high on his nose, and his hair would fall down in waves, slightly hiding his piercing blue eyes. His head would be tilted to one side, and his mouth would most probably be just the tiniest bit agape.
She closed her eyes and smiled. When she turned her head to look at him, she giggled quietly. She knew him so well. He raised an eyebrow at her, obviously wondering what she giggling about.
She stretched her hand out to him, and he took it in his, still looking at her with eyes that said he didn’t understand. She felt his hand tremble, and felt like teasing him. She leaned in close to his ear, and purposely breathed out softly before she whispered to him.
“Close your eyes William.”
Her breath tickled his ear, and a lump formed in his throat at her words. He did as he was told, and closed her eyes, all the while wondering what she was up to. He felt her stand up. Excitement and nerves took over.
Buffy soundlessly stepped out of her shoes, and opened her jeans. Folding them neatly she laid them down on the wooden floor, and started on the buttons of her top. When all her clothes were lying in a neat pile next to her shoes she took a second to brace herself, before quickly jumping in the water. When she came to the surface, William had opened his eyes, and was staring at her clothes. It was clear that he was confused.
“You can look now!” she grinned, and ducked her head under the water again. She was adjusting to the temperature of the water, and though it wasn’t warm in any way, she found it was warmer than the air. “Come down here…”
William listened as Buffy moved around on the landing stage. He had no clue as to what she was doing. When he heard a splash, and felt the landing stage wobble his eyes shot open. He stared at the water where Buffy had jumped in, and then at her clothes. Her clothes… ALL of her clothes! he noticed, as he saw her bra and panties sticking out from under her shirt.
He looked at her head that had now emerged from the waters, and was telling him to join her. He felt confused, and his nervousness had risen to a whole new level. His heart beat hard and fast underneath his ribcage. He didn’t realise Buffy was talking until he saw that her lips were moving. He looked at her dumbly, and she rolled her eyes with a grin. She repeated her question.
“Do I need to turn around, so you can undress?” she asked again, amused by his reaction to the situation. She saw his face go red, as he mumbled something. She let her grin turn into a soft smile as she decided to stop teasing him, and turned around so that she faced the other way.
William kept asking himself what he was doing and why, as he opened his pants and let them fall down around his ankles. He was grateful that Buffy was turned away, because a certain part of him had reacted a little quicker than his brain to seeing Buffy in the water, and knowing that she was naked. He slipped his shirt off over his head, and his boxers down, and jumped into the water. No going back now…
She had swum around a little, letting the water slide over her naked body, feeling freer than she ever remembered to have felt before. She ducked her head under the water, to wet her hair. When she came to the surface she noticed William.
She grinned at him, and splashed water in his face. Letting go of the nerves, he sent her an evil grin back, and was quickly by her side. Gripping her waist, he tickled her mercilessly, and she giggled and writhed in his arms. William froze as one of her nipples, hardened by the chill of the water, stroke his arm. Buffy seemed to have noticed it as well, as her cheeks reddened violently, her eyes widened in shock. He quickly released her, but couldn’t stop himself from staring at her.
That certain part of his body seemed to have awakened once more, and was growing fast in spite of the temperature of the water.
He sent her a frightened glance, thinking she had somehow noticed, but the water was dark and she was not so close that she would have felt it. His mind was going a mile a minute, trying to think of something to say to break the uncomfortable silence. Buffy beat him to it however.
“So… you want to go for a swim?” she asked him awkwardly, and he nodded, more than ready to oblige. She smiled at him and began swimming towards a small island in the middle of the lake. He followed her, and for a while they just swam with each other, racing a bit, every once in a while stopping to splash water at each other, and then swimming again. As they got closer to the island, William could feel the bottom beneath his feet, and stopped. Buffy stopped too, sending him a smile.
They watched the stars for a while, and William showed Buffy the different star signs. Slowly, William turned his attention towards Buffy. Her wet hair was shining in the moonlight and the still water around her mirrored the starlit sky. She turned her head to look at him, and their gaze locked. It’s now or never…
She swam a few feet towards him, and put her arms around his neck. He looked surprised, but never stopped her. Instead he moved his head closer to hers. Eyes locked on hers he sought her permission. He could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He almost closed his eyes, but found he couldn’t.
Her eyes were big and wide, curiousness, insecurity, lust and veneration clearly written in them, and across all her features. He could feel her, trembling with anticipation, or was that himself? Just looking into her eyes made his stomach heat through, and warm tingles advanced throughout his entire body as he closed the distance between them and he finally let his eyes fall closed just before he caught her lips with his.
Buffy’s heart rate sped up, until all she could hear was the fast unsteady beating. She could feel every beat throughout her entire body, and her brain was numbing.
As much as he tried, William simply couldn’t comprehend all the new feelings he was experiencing. Not only was it his first kiss, with a girl he had been in love with for almost three years, but she was naked, her hot body pressed against him in the water.
The kiss was not hungry, but sweet, tender, soft… when William pulled back he was met with a warm smile on Buffy’s face. Her eyes were still closed, as if she was putting the kiss to memory. He rested her forehead against hers, and slid his arms around her waist, holding her tighter against him.
Buffy could feel his ‘excitement’ press against her thigh, and experimentally stroke it. Looking up at his face she revelled in how his eyes were closed in pleasure, as a small moan escaped his lips. She put her arms around his neck again, and wrapped her legs around his waist. In oppose to him, she was out of her depth, and had to cling onto him to stay still in the water.
A shiver ran down her spine, and William looked up at her. He’d felt her shiver, and noticed that her lips were turning just the slightest bit purple.
“Buffy you’re freezing.” he let her slide down, and took her hand in his. She smiled warmly at him, and let him lead her back to the wooden landing stage. They got up from the water and hurried into the cabin with their dry clothes.
Once inside, Buffy retreated to the bathroom to get them towels. William didn’t catch many glimpses of her body, as she quickly slipped her clothes on under the towel. She smiled shyly at him when she noticed that he was watching her. She hadn’t meant for it to turn out the way it had, when she had initiated their skinny-dipping, and she was getting nervous now that the settings had changed, and the stars weren’t there to enhance the romantic mood. She had never known of any romantic feelings he had for her, and it made her wonder if it had just been that – just a moment in the mood, they had both been naked after all.
She busied herself with making hot chocolate for them. She pulled out a bag of mini marshmallows, and put on the floor with the cups of chocolate. They settled down in front of the open fireplace.
William had noticed her withdrawing behaviour, and was lost in thought. Hadn’t she meant it? The kiss, the best feeling he could ever remember having, had it just been a… a spur of the moment thing for her? He was saddened to think that she might regret it, and he didn’t exactly feel like asking her. If she wasn’t regretting, then why this awkward mood all of a sudden?
They sat for a while, lost in their own thoughts, sipping their hot chocolate with marshmallows.
F L A S H B A C K
Buffy was brushing her hair, and doing the finishing touch of her make-up when she heard the door-bell ring. She sighed, as she heard her mother greeting the guests.
Anne Lewis-Thornton was her mother’s best friend, whom she had met when she had studied art history at the University of Oxford. They rarely saw each other now, due to the fact that Anne still lived in England, and Buffy had never met her. Now she was visiting them at home, and had brought her son. Buffy knew it was going to be her job to entertain the boy that was one year older than her, and probably an uptight, tweed-clad, tea-drinking Englishman stereotype, just like the high school librarian.
She finished off her look by adding a tid-bit of pink gloss to her lips. She smacked them and enjoyed the sweet strawberry taste. She then went down to greet the guests.
William’s first thought as he laid eyes on Buffy was that she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had golden hair that fell in waves around her shoulders and stopped just beneath her shoulder blades; she had round cheeks and all in all had a healthy glow about her. And then those eyes. He couldn’t decide their colour. One moment they seemed hazel, the next emerald green.
He smiled shyly at her, but turned his gaze away as her eyes went to meet his.
Buffy wasn’t impressed by William’s looks. Okay, so he didn’t wear tweed, but the oversized t-shirt and regular blue jeans didn’t cut it either. He was very thin, and almost looked scrawny, but the oversized clothes could have deceived her. His hair was sandy and curled, and he wore glasses.
She extended her hand to greet Anne, and caught William looking at her from out of the corner of her eye. She looked his way and just barely caught a glimpse of his shy smile, before she looked up into his eyes.
His penetrating blue eyes that made her heart beat just that little bit harder!
E N D F L A S H B A C K
She looked up at him. His eyes were distant, as if he was far away somewhere in his own little world. She smiled softly.
“Will?” she tried, not sure she wanted to break the silence. He looked up from whatever he had been staring at. He smiled at her, but she noticed it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Mm?”
Buffy took a deep breath as she prepared herself to say what she wanted to say. She didn’t really know how to phrase it. She knew it was going to sound lame no matter how she said it, but she wanted him to understand that she was serious. She sighed, giving up on finding a better way to do it.
“I don't really know how to say this, and I've thought really hard about it and have come to the conclusion that I should just come out and say it... umm, yeah. So here goes,” she took a deep breath, "I-really-kinda-like-you!"
She breathed out again, feeling the weight that was lifted off her back as she told him. When he didn't say anything, she grew nervous though.
"Of course, I don't know if you feel the same way, and I'm not trying to force anything on you or anything, I just thought you should know that I do, and now that I have told you I'll just go... take care of... that thing I have that needs to be.."
Buffy was silenced as soft lips pressed against her own, and her heartrate took off again.