Disclaimer: BTVS and Angel characters are not, but Mr. Franchot and Jean-Jacques Colar, along with all other characters of my own imagination. THE LONE RANGER does not belong to me. Neither does the featured poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning from SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE.
Distribution: BA_Fluff.
Spoilers: None.
Special thanks: To Karine, who helped me with French phrases, as well as Valeries.
Dedication: Junior, Number 8
Premise: Buffy and Angel are co-workers who can't leave each other alone at an international company. What happens when their boss decides to intervene?
Feedback is always nice and appreciated.

Buffy Summers stepped out of her small red sportscar. It was a twenty-third birthday gift from her father. Years after Mr. and Mrs. Summers' divorce, Buffy's father Hank still used gifts to compensate for years without a father. Buffy slammed the door and slipped the strap of her purse over her shoulder and gripped her briefcase tightly in her hand.

On the other side of the vast parking lot dotted with vehicles was Baker and Reynolds Printing and Distribution, or BRPD. It was the largest printing firm on the West Coast. They printed everything from menus to sports programs, from in-flight manuals for airplanes to Korans for mosques. BRPD printed things in thirty-two languages and had some of the best graphics around.

Buffy had been working for BRPD since she was twenty. She had started working for the CEO as an assistant, but after she got her degree, she received a raise. Over three years, she had gone from aide to marketing. She was happy where she was working and had no intention of leaving her job any time soon.

She crossed the parking lot, her high heels click-clacking on the wet asphalt. She stepped up onto the sidewalk and followed it up to the front door. An ID screening box was next to the door, and no one could enter the building without slipping an ID card through the slot. Buffy brought her purse around her body so she could easily access the zipper. She held the ID card in her teeth as she zipped up her purse. Once she got the card in her hand, she ran it through the thin slot in the verification box. A tone sounded and a small green light on the box lit up.

Buffy reached for the door handle and caught the door with her hip. As she was stepping into the building, someone behind her caught the door. Buffy spun around to see whom the person was.

"You can't do that," Buffy told the trespasser. He was tall and handsome with dark hair and broad shoulders, definitely yummy.

"What do you mean?" asked the handsome man. He looked at her with blank eyes. "Free country. I can come into a building if I want to."

"No, I mean you can't come into the building without an ID card. And you certainly can't take a free ride on mine." Buffy tossed a lock of blonde hair behind her shoulder as she glared at the man.

"Look, lady, I just got hired yesterday and I don't have an ID card yet, okay? My name is Liam Angelus O'Malley. I work for Mr. Giles, who's head of marketing, clerical, and distribution."

Buffy gave him a look of disbelief. "Nice try. If you don't step back out of this entryway in five seconds, I'll call security, Mr. O'Malley."

Liam raked a hand through his hair. "Fine. Call security. Call Mr. Giles if you want to! I don't give a damn. I'm an employee here, end of story."

Buffy spotted her close friend and security guard Faith Hopkins coming up the walk. Faith and the other security guard, Charles Gunn, switched shifts every two weeks. It was Faith's turn to work mornings when she had previously worked nights.

"Faith!" shouted Buffy. She waved her arms so Faith would see past the beefy male bulk in front of her. "Faith! Get in here!"

Faith hurriedly ran her ID card through verification and entered the foyer where Buffy and Liam were standing. "B? What's going on?"

"This man says he works in marketing. He tried to get in on my ID card. Can you call Giles in marketing and ask him if he hired a new employee? His name is…" Buffy's voice trailed off. She looked to Liam.

"Liam. Liam O'Malley," he provided.

Faith gave Liam an appraising look and dug into her pocket. She pulled out a small silver cell phone and dialed the number for marketing. "I need to talk to Giles. It's Faith, I'm at the front entrance."

Buffy watched and tapped her foot impatiently while Faith talked on the telephone. Faith finally switched the cell phone off and nodded to Buffy.

"He's legit, just hired yesterday. Giles wants to see you-both of you- in his office."

Faith gave Liam a tight-lipped smile and opened the door that led into the lobby. Buffy followed the handsome man up the stairs and down the hallway to Giles' office. Giles' office was located at the end of a long hallway that went past huddles of tan cubicles. Buffy raised her hand to knock on his door. Before she could knock, the door swung open.

"Buffy, come on in. You, too, Mr. O'Malley. Have a seat."

Giles was a tall, handsome British man with graying hair. His wife, Jenny, made some of the best Romanian food for office functions. On his nose were perched a pair of silver-rimmed glasses. He wore a suit coat over a tweed vest and business shirt. Giles pulled a kerchief from his back pocket and began to wipe off his glasses.

Buffy sat down in one of the large chairs on the other side of Giles' desk. Liam took the chair next to hers. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his black trousers and looked up at Giles expectantly.

"Buffy, Liam really is my employee. You know that when Forrest left we had a position to fill. I met with Liam yesterday and hired him. I understand why you didn't want to let him in on your identification card; it's not protocol here at Baker and Reynolds Printing and Distribution."

Giles slipped his glasses back onto his nose and looked at Liam. "As for you, Liam, you made a faux pas. You will receive your own ID card if you go down to personnel. You're dismissed, Liam. Buffy, stay here."

Buffy watched as Liam, who was impeccably well dressed, walked out of the office. Buffy stood up and looked at her boss.

"Don't make his life a living hell, Buffy. I know you like to test the limits of our new employees, all of you do, but don't do it. This is the only warning you will receive. Am I understood?" Giles asked.

"Yeah. Can I go?"

"Yes, fine, go." Giles looked down at a stack of papers on his desk, leaving Buffy to let herself out. She stepped out into the hallway and wove her way around cubicles and potted plants to find her cubicle, which was located by a window, a pretty lucky position. Upon arriving, she straightened her Velcro-attached nameplate and then stepped into her small box of an office. After putting her purse securely in the locked drawer beneath her desk, she watered her small potted plant with water from a Styrofoam McDonalds cup.

"Hey, Buff. What's going on?" asked a booming voice from the cubicle across the hall.

Buffy smiled at the sound of Xander Harris' voice. "Not much, Xander. Did you just get here?"

"Yeah," replied Xander from inside his cubicle. "Got stuck in traffic on the 404. Willow is on her way in." Xander finally made an appearance as he stepped out of his cubicle. Several unruly locks of black hair hung in his smiling eyes.

Buffy pushed her rolling chair backwards so she was in the doorway of her cubicle.

"Did you see the new employee?" Buffy asked. She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, I met him on my way up. You gonna make his life miserable?" Xander asked with a laugh.

Buffy shook her head and replied, "No. Giles told me that I couldn't and just to leave him alone. He even said that it was my only warning." She sighed and looked down the corridor to see Willow Rosenberg heading towards them.

"Hey, guys," Willow said as she gasped for air. "I hurried all the way up the stairs. Am I late?"

Buffy smiled. "Always worried about your unblemished record. No, you're not."

"We've got fresh meat," Xander informed her with a wry grin. "And Buffy can't bug him to death. Giles says no."

Willow ducked into her cubicle, which was on one side of Buffy's. On the other side of Buffy's cubicle was an empty one, just waiting for an employee. Willow shook the tiny droplets of rain out of her shock of red hair and stepped back into the hall, her travel mug of mocha in her hand. She and Xander began to talk about a new ink that graphics was going to be using.

Buffy checked her watch just as the minute hand clicked onto the twelve. It was now nine o'clock and the workday was ready to start. As she rolled back into her office, she heard someone running down the hallway. Coming towards them was Liam, who was hurriedly tucking a plastic card into the back pocket of his black slacks, which hugged his backside just so. Willow craned her neck to Buffy and waved her hand, motioning as if it was hot in the room. Buffy rolled her eyes. She watched with interest as Liam stopped at the office next to Buffy's.

He scowled and said out loud, "Just my luck. I have to be next to the bitch of the west."

"Ooh," moaned Xander from his seat at his desk. "Burn."

"Trust me, honey, the feeling is mutual," snapped Buffy as she took a seat at her desk. She pressed the button on her monitor down and a flash of blue color filled the computer screen.

"I seriously doubt it. You like me already, Buff." replied Liam in a singsong voice as he walked into his cubicle. "I saw you look at my ass when I walked down the hallway."

Buffy snorted as she clicked away on her mouse. "Please, quit flattering yourself before it gets embarrassing." She opened her email account and opened the compose window. From her address book, she inserted Willow's email address. Sending emails back and forth was easier than instant messaging for Buffy. Her fingers began to hop along the keyboard with lightning speed.

//WILL: CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS GUY? // Buffy typed. She hit send and waited for Willow to reply. A moment later, the reply popped up on the screen.

//NO. BUT YOU HAVE TO ADMIT THAT HE GOT YOU GOOD. HE'S NOT TOO BAD ON THE EYES, THOUGH, BUFF. HE'S A CUTIE. //

Buffy laughed and typed, //CHANGING SHIPS, HERE, WILL? I THOUGHT YOU AND OZ WERE IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL? //

//WE ARE, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT I CAN'T LOOK. IT ALMOST LOOKS LIKE HE WAS FLIRTING WITH YOU. //

Buffy rolled her eyes and hesitated before typing. She felt someone standing behind her. She turned around to see who was there. There was no one standing there, watching her. Buffy spun around in her rolling chair and saw no one.

//HE WAS NOT! I SWEAR THAT THERE WAS SOMEONE WATCHING ME. DID YOU SEE N E ONE? //

//NO. HEY, I HAVE TO GO. G-MAN JUST EMAILED ME WITH SOME QUARTERLY REPORTS. LUNCH AT THE CAFETERIA LIKE ALWAYS? W. //

Buffy read Willow's email and hit delete. Her hair stood up on end as she felt someone watching her again.

"What do you want?" Buffy asked blindly without turning around.

"What, Buff?" asked Xander from his cubicle.

"Nothing," Buffy called back. She rubbed the bridge of her nose, knowing it was going to be a long day.

**

In the cafeteria, Buffy stood at the salad bar, building her own salad. Willow and Xander had gotten in the ala Carte line, but Buffy had just started a new diet and felt like having rabbit food for lunch. She didn't, however, know that Liam was in line in front of her. After getting her salad, Buffy picked up a bottle full of low fat ranch dressing and squeezed it. The lid fell into the salad and ranch dressing fell onto her plate in a mess.

In front of her in line, Liam laughed. He had been watching her out of the corner of his eye. Buffy realized that he was the one who had unscrewed the lid to the salad dressing.

"Ass hole," Buffy muttered as she held her dressing covered plate away from her body. She stepped out of line. "You're a super-maxi jerk, you know that?"

"I was just getting you back for my warm welcome this morning, Buff," replied Liam with a grin as he stepped away from the salad bar. He tucked his receipt into his pocket.

"Were you watching me earlier?" Buffy asked unexpectedly as they walked into the dining area.

"No," Liam replied, confused. "Why?"

Buffy shook her head. "Not important."

"You are the biggest flake I've ever met," sighed Liam sadly as he walked towards a table out on the courtyard. He left Buffy standing in the middle of the dining area.

"Hey, Buff," said Xander. He plopped his tray down on the table that Buffy was standing by. "You really like salad dressing huh?"

"No, that jackass Liam unscrewed the lid so when I squeezed the bottle, dressing went everywhere." Buffy clapped her tray down on the table and ran an exhausted hand through her hair. "I'm usually the perpetrator here, not the new employee. But he's gotten me once already today, not to mention his *lovely* remarks this morning."

Xander plucked a cooked carrot from his stir-fry. "Don't know what to tell you, Buff, other than to let it go. You know that Giles has zero tolerance for this kind of stuff, and he warned Liam."

"Giles didn't warn him, he warned me."

Willow, who had joined the conversation at the midway point, looked up from her chicken salad sandwich. "How did this all get started, Buffy? I mean, it seems like you had done nothing to him."

"I wouldn't let him in the building this morning. I even had Faith come and check it out. He didn't have an ID card and tried to get into the building with me. I guess I really pissed him off." Buffy shrugged her shoulders and looked down at the mess on her plate. "So, he got me back by giving me a swimming pool of dressing on my plate." She rubbed her hands together and stood up.

"I'm going to buy something at the vending machine and go on up. I have to review the order for Detroit before they send it out tonight." Buffy grabbed her purse and tray and marched out of the cafeteria.

She bought a bag of honey-roasted peanuts, a package of Starburst, and a can of diet Coke in the break room before heading to her cubicle. By the time she got there, Liam was sitting at his cubicle.

"How was your salad dressing?" Liam called out. Buffy sat down at her desk and ripped open the bag of peanuts. A few spilled onto the tabletop.

"I wouldn't know. I didn't eat it, Liam. What do you take me for, an idiot?" Buffy asked. She popped a peanut into her mouth.

"Well, I wasn't going to say it…" Liam told her, his voice trailing off.

"Do you like the yellow ones?" Buffy asked suddenly, ignoring his insult.

"The yellow ones what?" Liam replied as he tapped away on his keyboard.

Buffy toyed with her now opened package of Starburst. She hated the yellow ones and always had her friend and former co-worker Forrest eat the yellow ones. Forrest was gone now; he'd been called to active duty with the National Guard and had left several days earlier.

"Starburst. I hate the yellow ones."

There was a thick silence.

"Sure."

Buffy got out of her chair and walked to Liam's cubicle. It looked just like Buffy's structurally, but he had added his own personal touches. There was a swimsuit calendar on the wall and a Red Wings clock on the desk by his computer. Buffy stepped into his cubicle and pressed three yellow fruit chews, still in their wrappers, onto his desk.

"They're not contaminated, are they?" Liam asked her as he looked up at his keyboard. He looked up at Buffy and then down at the yellow candy on his desk.

"No." She spun on her heel and reached the entryway before Liam called out to her.

"You know, Buff, you probably have a nice body, but you just hide it in those business suits." Liam spun in his chair to look at his co-worker, ogling her.

Buffy glanced down at her plum colored business suit. It had a professional jacket with nondescript buttons up the front. The skirt stopped at her knees and there was only a tiny slit. On her feet were plum shoes. Sure, the outfit was modest, but it was also professional.

"Then again," commented Liam with a smirk, "it's probably just wishful thinking."

"Well," replied Buffy slowly, "you'll never get to find out." She continued walking out of his cubicle and walked into her own. She collapsed into her chair and popped the tab on her diet Coke. A small smile crossed her face as she began to formulate a plan.

**

Fridays were always casual at BRPD. Buffy kept that thought in mind as she climbed out bed the next morning, the day after her encounters with Liam. Blindly, she went to the bathroom and began to run the water for a quick shower.

After a shower, she put on her makeup and slid on the dress she was planning on wearing to work that day. Over the dress, she slid on a trenchcoat that tied around the waist. Buffy thought for a moment that she looked like Dick Tracy, but the trenchcoat did the job she wanted it to. Following her shower, Buffy ate a piece of wheat toast and gulped down half a cup of coffee before she had to head to work.

The parking lots, like always, were filling with vehicles. Buffy had never met one eighth of the seventeen thousand employees of BRPD, but she had definitely seen most of their cars. She looked down at her watch. It was just past eight.

Xander caught up with Buffy at the entrance. He noticed the coat she was wearing immediately. After they scanned their ID cards at the entrance, they got in the elevator and headed to the top floor mezzanine where the company café was located. It wasn't until they had stepped out of the elevator that Xander worked up the courage to ask her about her outfit.

"What's up with the jacket, Buff?" Xander asked as they moved towards the counter. "Two frozen cappuccinos, please."

"And a bagel with strawberry cream cheese," chimed in Buffy. She looked at her close friend. "A present for Liam."

"Do I even want to know?" Xander asked as he paid for their cappuccinos. "Are you at least wearing something underneath that trenchcoat?"

"Yes, silly, I am." Buffy placed three one-dollar bills on the counter and picked up her bagel and cream cheese. She stuffed the change into the large pocket of her trenchcoat. The pair sat down at a circular table next to one of the large bay windows.

"I wore that plum business suit yesterday, remember? Well, Liam told me that I probably looked awful in anything else, and that it would be a dream if I actually looked good. So, I'm going to prove him wrong."

"Are you wearing Bronze apparel?" Xander asked, referring to the club in downtown Sunnydale, not far from Buffy's home.

"No, it's almost worse than Bronze apparel."

With arched eyebrows, Xander sucked on his straw. "Don't you think you're taking this a little too far?"

"Xander, it's just a dress. A dress that will shut him up, preferably indefinitely; and besides, I'm not breaking any of Giles' rules. I'm not hazing him or anything."

Buffy looked down at her watch. It was eight thirty. "I'll just eat this in my cubicle. I need to get up there and see if the Detroit team got their shipment out all right. It's some kind of petition about the Lions, and it needed to be there by midnight."

She put her bagel and cream cheese in her spare trenchcoat pocket, picked up her coffee, and followed Xander to their floor. Once inside her cubicle she tugged on the straps of her jacket, which had been knotted at her waist. It was going to be fun to toy with Liam, get him back for everything that he had done the day before. Should he continue to harass him, Buffy would just work the magic she knew how to work: that fun sexual tension factor.

Crossing her legs, she swung her feet back and forth casually, toying with the straw of her drink. It was eight-forty five, and Liam had been in his cubicle since Buffy had arrived on the floor. Xander had informed Buffy that Willow had called in sick, and Buffy was kind of upset that her friend wouldn't be present to see the look on Liam's face.

Buffy signed into her email. The first email on the list was from shipping. The package to Detroit had been printed and shipped at six-thirty and expressed to Michigan. She was glad that the petitions had been sent. If the group had failed to send the shipment, then Buffy would have been in some hot water. She worked in her cubicle until noon, when Xander emailed her that he was going downstairs, but that Liam had mentioned at the Xerox machine that he would be staying upstairs for lunch. Once the rest of the office had left, Buffy stood up and walked over to Liam's cubicle, her trenchcoat tight around body.

"Liam? Are you busy?" Buffy asked.

Liam spun around in his desk chair. "No." He spun back around and picked up his bottle of Snapple. He took a long swig and continued to type out a report on earnings for December of the previous year.

Buffy began to untie the straps at her waist. "Would you mind turning around for a moment, Mr. O'Malley?" Once Liam had turned around, Buffy pulled the tie away.

The trenchcoat fell to the floor. **

Liam's eyes grew large and his mouth gaped open. Buffy's appearance had rendered him speechless. She had chosen well. She wore a tight purple dress that ended mid-thigh and was bordered with black lace. The dress hugged every possible curve, ones that Buffy didn't even know existed. She looked at him, enjoying the look of pleasured shock on his face.

Buffy took several slow, leisurely steps towards him, then bent down and placed her hands on her knees. This provided him a perfect view down her top. She ran a teasing finger down her sternum until it disappeared beneath the tight fabric of her dress.

A slow, easy smile spread across her frosted pink lips. "Now. Do you think that it's still wishful thinking?" She placed a hand flat on his chest, feeling the muscle beneath the fabric of his shirt.

"N-no," stammered Liam, looking up at her in a worshipping manner. "Not wishful thinking."

"Be very, very careful around me, Liam. I'm the queen of games and I don't like to be toyed with."

She stood up and began to walk away. In a flash, Liam darted out of his chair and pressed her against the wall of his small cubicle office. He pinned her arms to her sides and looked down at her, his dark eyes smoldering.

Liam looked down at her, studying her very carefully. Then he kissed her, roughly and passionately. When he pulled away from her, he noted that her face was flushed and she looked astounded.

"If you are the queen," Liam told her in a husky voice, "then I am the king."

He turned away from her and sat down at his desk. He started to type like nothing had happened.

Buffy peeled herself off of the wall and shakily picked her trenchcoat off of the floor. She slipped it over her body and when she returned to her chair, she was still shaking. She had expected him to do many things when he saw her in the tight dress, but Liam kissing her was not one of the options. She'd never felt anything like that one kiss in her entire life. It was like someone had electrocuted her.

Xander popped his head into Buffy's cubicle after lunch.

"How'd it go?" Xander asked innocently.

"He kissed me," whispered Buffy, "he kissed me better than I've ever been kissed in my entire life." Xander's jaw dropped. "Whoa, Buff, hop off the hormone train. You do know that this is the guy you hate more than life itself, right?"

"I don't hate him. But I am certainly not having fuzzy bunny feelings for him. I'm just…in shock that's all. He pressed me against the wall and kissed me." Buffy rubbed her forehead and sighed.

"I gotta know. How was it?"

"On a scale of one to ten?" Buffy replied as she took a bite of her bagel. "An eleven, possibly a twelve. But it was over so fast that I…how was lunch?"

Xander smiled at Buffy's quick shift in gears. "Fine. Lonely without you and the Willster, but fine. Faith and I sat together. She told me some stories, one that involved her, naked, and a priest hugging in a street. I didn't even want to ask what she was doing naked with a priest. I kinda just let it go."

Buffy forced a smile on her face and replied, "Faith's a firecracker." She turned away from Xander and attended to her computer. She prayed Xander got the message that she didn't want to talk anymore.

"Well, I'm just going to go, then," Xander told her. He tapped the edge of the cubicle and walked to his own.

Buffy put her head down on her desk. Damn Liam! Damn him for kissing her! Damn him for giving her these bubbling feelings, ones that she'd never felt before. She closed her eyes and fought down the longing in her stomach.

Part Two

Two weeks passed and Buffy and Liam didn't interact at all. Willow had noticed the strange behavior of the two coworkers, and Xander had been forced to explain the whole situation in detail.

Exactly two weeks to the day of her first and only kiss with Liam; Buffy arrived at the office to find a long white box sitting on her desk. Buffy approached it slowly and lifted the lid on the box. Inside were twelve long-stemmed white roses. Her curiosity getting the better of her, Buffy picked up a rose and held it to her nose. It smelled absolutely wonderful…for about twelve seconds. Then her nose started to burn. She threw the rose away from her body as she began to sneeze.

Buffy fumbled for her box of tissues. The tissue reached her nose as she sneezed for the fifth time. Tears were running down her face. It was then she realized that there was a card on top of the flowers: as if she didn't already know who sent the flowers. Buffy reached forward and picked up the card.

"Achoo," she read out loud. "Liam." She threw the card down and stormed into the cubicle next to her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Sending me pepper-tainted flowers?" shouted Buffy. It was then that she noticed he was sitting casually in his boxer shorts and watching her with a grin on his face.

"You're in your underwear," Buffy said after sneezing. Liam nodded and stayed silent. "Why?"

"Well," Liam said, standing up slowly, "you found me undesirable, just as I found you undesirable. And now, Buff, what do you think?"

Buffy sneezed again and then bit down on her lower lip. Well, he sure looked fabulous in his cherry red boxer shorts. He had a washboard stomach and gloriously muscled arms. She tried to keep her eyes averted, but it was so hard when her despicable co-worker looked like a Greek god.

Buffy mustered up a straight face and said, "Well, it's nothing to write home about." She shrugged and walked out of his cubicle, knowing that Liam was silently fuming.

"Liam, what on earth are you doing in your underwear?" asked a British voice.

Giles had busted Liam in his underwear. She had to hold onto the edge of her desk to keep from laughing out loud.

"I, uh, well, sir…" Liam said, his voice trailing off.

"I spilled coffee on my shirt and pants. I'm quite uncoordinated. So, I'm waiting until lunch to pick up some clothes from my house."

"You can go now, Liam," Giles reassured the boxer-clad employee. "It doesn't set a good example if you're in your in your undergarments at work." He cleared his throat and walked away from Liam's cubicle.

"Willow?" Buffy called out. "Can you come in here for a sec?"

Willow poked her head into Buffy's office. "Sure, what's up?"

"Can you run to the drugstore on the corner and pick up something for me?" Buffy asked, leaning in close to her friend.

"Sure, what is it?" Willow asked.

Buffy moved her mouth next to Willow's ear and whispered something into it. Once she had pulled away, she added, "For Liam."

A grin spread across her conspirator's face. "Okay, no problem. You're so evil." **

After lunch, long after Liam was wearing clothes and Willow returned from the pharmacy, Giles called a meeting for Buffy and her friends in his conference room. Buffy and Willow came in together. They sat at one end of the conference table and saved a seat for Xander.

Liam walked in a few minutes later, and he was met with a scowl from Giles. Xander was the last to join the group.

"Now that we're all here," Giles said, "I want to talk about the hazing going on as of late."

"I didn't do anything!" Buffy shouted.

"You've all but confessed now, Buff," snapped Liam. He took a drink of his Coke.

"Why don't you shove it up your ass?"

"Only if you do it for me, baby," Liam shot back.

"Quiet!" barked Giles. He pounded his fist on the conference table. "Enough is enough! I'm tired of you two-" He gave Buffy and Liam a pointed look- "and your childish behavior. If it doesn't stop-and it *will* stop, I'll have to make it an executive matter. And I seriously doubt that either of you wishes to speak with Mr. Snyder about this."

Giles looked at Buffy. "I understand, for the most part, that Liam has been victimizing you. But I know that your apparel on Friday several weeks ago was inappropriate and aimed at Mr. O'Malley. I know that you feel it is necessary to initiate new employees of this department, Buffy, but you need to grow up. This is not high school; this is a corporation. I have already warned you once and next time I *will* take it to the CEO."

Giles turned his gaze on Liam, who was fidgeting in his seat uncomfortably.

"I want you to stop harassing Buffy. I want it to stop this instant. You are older than she, Liam, and I expect mature behavior from you."

Liam was fidgeting more severely, shifting from one leg to the other. His actions piqued Giles' attention and he stopped his tirade momentarily.

"What *is* it, Liam?" Giles asked irritably.

"I have to go!" he shouted. He raced towards the door leading to the hallway and pulled on it. The door swung open and Liam raced down the hall and towards the bathrooms.

Buffy and Willow started laughing uncontrollably. Giles lowered his glasses and looked at the girls.

"What. Did. You. Do."

"We slipped a laxative into his Coke."

"YOU DID WHAT?" shouted Giles. His deep voice boomed through the room.

"He sent me peppered flowers this morning, Giles, and I sneezed for half an hour! When I went to confront him, he was in his boxers sporting more wood than a lumberjack! Come on, I had to get him back!"

Giles slipped his glasses farther up his nose and closed his eyes, a deep sigh erupting from his chest. Then the sigh turned to a laugh.

"You gave him a laxative? That is quite clever," Giles said. His face turned to stone. "Don't do it again. Please, I'm asking- no, I'm begging of you." He looked at his watch. "I have a meeting right now, you can all go back to work."

Buffy followed Xander and Willow out of Giles' office. As she was walking into her cubicle, she felt someone pull on her arm. Buffy was spun around and ended up looking right into Liam's dark, passionate eyes.

"Clever," he told her in a hoarse voice, "so very clever, my queen." He graced her cheek with the back of his hand and sauntered off, giving Buffy a perfect view of his butt, which was lovingly graced by a pair of tight leather pants.

"Those must have been a bitch to pull off," Buffy told him as she sat down at her desk.

"Maybe one of these days you'll find out," Liam said in a seductive voice.

As Buffy was preparing to reply, and email popped up on her screen. It was from Willow.

//WAS HE PROPOSITIONING YOU? //

// POSSIBLY. HE DOES HAVE A NICE ASS, THOUGH. // Buffy heard Willow laugh. A moment later, a message was up on the screen.

// WOULD YOU SLEEP WITH HIM? //

// I HAVE NO CLUE. MAYBE THAT'S WHAT HE WANTS. BUT YOU KNOW I'M NOT LIKE THAT. //

//I KNOW. ARE YOU GOING TO LEAVE HIM ALONE LIKE G-MAN SAID? //

//HAVE I EVER BEEN ONE FOR AUTHORITY? //

//NO, NOT EVEN IN HIGH SCHOOL. SPEAKING OF, I RAN INTO HARMONY AND CORDY AT THE MALL YESTERDAY. //

// STILL VAPID AND BRAIN DEAD? //

//SURPRISINGLY NOT. ARE WE STILL MEETING AT YOUR HOUSE TONIGHT FOR MONOPOLY NIGHT? //

//HELL, YES. DO YOU THINK I'D MISS OUT ON AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE BOARDWALK AND PARK PLACE FULL OF HOTELS? I THINK NOT. // **

Buffy had been curled up on her living room couch since returning home from work. She inherited her mother's house when her mother had died of a brain tumor. That had been two years earlier, and Buffy hadn't messed with many of the house's objects, especially those that reminded Buffy of her late mother Joyce.

Joyce's reading glasses were still by the recliner she once read in. A TV Guide from the week Joyce died still had the small crucifix bookmark in the spine. Pictures hadn't been moved in years, and Buffy had played around with the idea of sealing off Joyce's bedroom. Instead, Willow, Xander, and Oz had cleaned out Joyce's bedroom three months earlier, in March.

Buffy clutched a pillow to her chest and had a blanket pulled up to her chin. Beneath the blanket, she wore an oversized U.C. Sunnydale sweatshirt and a pair of ratty old jeans. On her feet were socks with many holes in them. It was her 'comfy' outfit. There was caramel corn and sodas in the kitchen, and two pizzas were on their way. Willow, Xander, Oz, and Xander's girlfriend Anya would be arriving for their monthly Monopoly tournament, and then they would all head out to the Bronze for over-21 night.

Jeopardy was playing, muted and in closed captioning, on the TV set. Joyce had watched Jeopardy like that when her medication caused her headaches. Buffy had just fallen in the habit of watching it that way and hadn't stopped even after Joyce had died. The doorbell interrupted Final Jeopardy.

"Just a second!" Buffy shouted. She got off of the couch and opened the door. The whole gang was standing there with Xander holding two pizzas.

"You brought pizza? It's usually my job to get the cheesy goodness," Buffy said in confusion as she opened the door wide enough for them to enter.

"No," Xander said, "we intercepted the pizza guy outside."

"You owe us twenty-two dollars and sixteen cents," Anya informed her. She held out her hand. "I will accept cash or check."

Buffy took one of the pizzas from Xander as he said, "Anya, honey, Buffy feeds us and pays for the food every month. I think we can afford to pay for the munchies."

Buffy carried the pizza into the kitchen and started to pull out cups and plates. Willow joined her in the kitchen and filled a bucket with ice.

"You'll never guess who caught up with me today in the parking lot," Willow told Buffy. She shoved a pair of tongs into the bucket.

"Liam," said Buffy in exasperation.

"How did you know?" Willow asked as they walked into the living room.

Buffy juggled the pizza and plates. "Wild guess. What did Mr. Congeniality have to say?"

"Only that he's been offered an opportunity to do business in Europe with one of the sister companies," Willow said, "and that he wanted you to know."

"Why did he think I care?" Buffy asked, dropping the pizza and plates on a coffee table. She sat down on the loveseat and watched as Xander and Oz put up the card table.

"You know you care," Willow told Buffy. "And he has to care or he wouldn't have mentioned anything."

"Can we change the subject? Not that I mind talking about Liam, because really I don't, but I don't want it to ruin Monopoly night," Xander said as he picked up a piece of steaming pizza.

"Sure. So, Oz, how is the band coming?"

**

After Monopoly was over and Oz had won it all by owning hotels on practically every property on the board, the group headed out to the Bronze. Buffy had changed out of her sweatshirt and jeans and into a black leather skirt, knee high boots, and a blue tank top. The whole ensemble was very different than what she wore to work. Xander had been so pleased by her outfit that he licked the tip of his finger, pressed it on Buffy's forearm, and made a sizzling noise. The bouncer let the whole group in without paying the door fee because of Buffy's outfit.

"Maybe I should dress like this more often," Buffy said as the group commandeered their normal table.

"Maybe not," said Willow. "Even the women are looking at you."

Xander kissed Anya's cheek and volunteered to pay for everyone's drinks. Oz and Willow wanted cokes, Anya wanted a beer, and Buffy wanted a strawberry daiquiri. Those sweet, fruity drinks had always been her weakness.

When Xander returned with the drinks, Buffy plucked hers from the tray and stuffed the straw in her mouth. She rolled it around in her mouth, testing her theory that if the straw was warm that the icy liquid wouldn't get stuck in it.

She felt an arm slip around her waist and her nostrils were filled with the scent of familiar cologne. She looked at Willow and Xander, who wore identical masks of shock. Buffy felt someone lower their face towards her hair and suppressed a moan as shivers trailed her spine.

"Dance with me," insisted the man. Buffy resisted leaning back in his embrace.

Buffy knew then that it was Liam. She put her drink down on the table and let him pull her off of the stool where she had been perching. Buffy felt his arm twine around her waist as they got onto the dance floor. The rich scent of his cologne engulfed her nostrils.

"Been gone from your street corner long?" Liam asked.

Buffy pressed herself flush against him. "I take it you approve of my outfit."

"I'd pay for your services, if that's what you mean," Liam told her as he ran his hands along her back seductively. The lights above them pulsed with the beat of the music.

Buffy shivered and said, "Maybe I wouldn't make you pay." She began to grind against her dancing partner in a slow, rhythmic, seductive manner "Are you going to Europe?"

"Willow *does* deliver messages," Liam noted, trying to ignore the affect she was having on his body. "I'm considering. Why? Will you miss me?" His hands reached down to cup her behind.

"Possibly," Buffy told him as she straddled his hip. She looked up at him and smiled a slow smile. "If you're lucky."

Liam slipped a hand underneath her shirt and placed his hand flat on the small of her back.

"All this time, you thought you hated me," Liam said in a low voice, "but you don't hate me, do you?" "No." His hand slipped up a little farther and reached for the eyehooks of her bra. "I don't hate you. And I'll, uh, miss you when I go to Europe." Instead of releasing the eyehooks, he simply slipped his hand beneath the back strap and let his hand rest there.

"You'll miss terrorizing me," Buffy said. She pulled away from him as the song ended. "Thanks for the dance. Have a good time in Europe."

Buffy walked away from him then, still shivering slightly from his touch. He made her feel as though she was on fire. Every cell, every membrane in her body was screaming out for more. She shook the feeling away and sat back down, toying with her straw as if nothing had happened. Maybe if she kept telling herself that she felt nothing, the longing in her stomach would go away.

Part Three

"Buffy," said Giles as he passed her in the hallway the next day, "do you have a moment?"

Buffy turned to face her boss. "Sure I do. What's the what?" She leaned up against someone's cubicle and looked up at her boss, who was holding a briefcase in his hand.

"You know that Liam is going to Europe to be with our sister company. I was wondering if you would be willing to go to Europe as well," Giles said.

"You're trying to get rid of me, aren't you?" Buffy asked as hot fear shot through her veins.

"No, good heavens, no. You're a good employee, Buffy, and you could be of great use to one of our sister companies," Giles told her. He touched her shoulder gently. "There will be a position for you when you return from Europe."

Buffy shrugged and said, "Why not? I'm in." She gave Giles a broad smile. "Just email me with the information, 'Kay? I really should get back to work." Giles curtly nodded and Buffy sprinted to Willow's cubicle.

"Giles asked me to go to Europe!" Buffy squealed. "Europe! Oh, gosh, I've always dreamed of going to Europe!"

"Are you going with Liam?"

"God, I never even considered that," Buffy said. She sank into Willow's spare chair.

Liam, who was walking past, heard his name and stopped walking. He told himself he wasn't eavesdropping as he listened to their conversation. He told himself it was just casual interest.

"Would you mind?" Willow asked.

"I don't know. Like I said, Will, I don't hate him, but I don't have any fuzzy bunny feelings for him."

"But when you were with him on the dance floor, Buff…"

"He couldn't touch me enough. God, I felt like I was on fire." Buffy raked a hand through her hair. "I've never felt that way before. Not even with Spike, and you know our relationship was all about sex. But could you see us together for weeks, possibly months? Someone would could home in a body bag."

Willow laughed aloud. "Well, I'm happy for you. It'll be fun. Where are you going?"

"No clue. Giles will let me know. I hope it's somewhere like Paris."

Liam walked past the cubicle where Buffy and Willow were conferencing and tried to slow down his racing heart. Had Buffy really said that his touch made her feel like she was on fire? Didn't she know that was the same for him? How he'd wake up in the middle of the night, longing for something and not knowing what it was? The night he'd pulled her onto the dance floor was the culmination of days of wondering, of daydreaming. He just let his body take control and though he'd only touched her lips once with his, he could still taste them. Now they were going to Europe and might end up together.

"Not gonna happen," Liam said as he walked into his own cubicle. "Giles knows better than to put us *anywhere* together. We'll rip each other to shreds."

**

Two and a half weeks later, Buffy received airplane tickets in the mail. One was from L.A. to New York and from New York to Paris. The other was from Paris to New York, New York to Chicago, and Chicago to Sunnydale. The dates on the tickets were two months apart. Buffy would be spending two months in Paris.

The thought of two months in France was positively mind boggling for several reasons. Buffy had never been to Europe before, and she'd never been away from home for longer than a month. She didn't speak French. She would miss her friends. And, as much as she hated to admit it, she'd miss Liam. He hadn't told her where he was going in Europe, there were other two sister companies besides Paris. There was one in Moscow and another in Berlin.

Buffy spent two days packing boxes and sending them to the address enclosed. She had been told she would be rooming with an American in Paris who spoke fluent French. She would be leaving on August twelfth and it was August tenth. Liam had been gone for two weeks and Buffy didn't want to admit that she missed him.

She missed seeing him in his cubicle. She missed how at lunch he'd look over the rim of his coffee up at her in such a way that Buffy wanted to make love to him right there. There was so much passion in his deep brown eyes sometimes that it made her ache. She missed how he'd sing along to Barry Manilow in the morning to get energized. She missed running into him at the worst possible times, including one time where she had a toilet seat cover stuck to her shoe.

Buffy put a picture album aside and looked around her bare bedroom. She would be leaving most of her clothing there because Hank had sent her a large sum of money to buy new French clothing while in Paris. What she had sent were the things on a list that had been enclosed with tickets. It was mostly pots and pans and household items like that, not to mention things that Buffy thought were important enough to take to France.

"Buffy? Are you here?" called out Xander from downstairs.

"I'm in my room. Come on up!" Buffy shouted. She was sprawled on her bedroom floor with personal items scattered around her room.

"Packing, Buff?" asked Xander as he looked around her room.

"You could say that. I'm so excited! It's going to be so much fun. But I'll be kind of lonely. You guys will be here, and I will be there. Gosh, what am I going to do?"

"Send emails. Lots and lots of emails! You had better take a whole bunch of pictures, because at the rate I'm going, I'll never get to Paris. You know what they say- Paris is for lovers. I have no lover."

Buffy looked down at her folded hands. "I'm sorry about Anya. I never thought that she'd leave you."

Xander swallowed. "I know. Maybe it was for the best, though, you know? And get this- I saw Cordy at the Bronze last night and we're going to dinner tomorrow night. After we drop you off at the airport, as a matter of fact."

"That's great, Xand. I'm glad you are moving on."

"What about you? You've been lusting after Liam for so long you've not even been on the field," Xander told her.

"I'm not lusting after Liam." Off of Xander's look, she insisted, "I'm not. I've been a little distracted by him, and I miss him, but it's not like I won't be functioning without him."

Xander nodded and picked up a book Buffy had tossed aside. He thumbed through it and then set it back down. "Willow and I will be here to pick you up at noon, all right? I have to go, but I'll see you tomorrow." Buffy nodded and returned to her packing. She was so engrossed that she never heard Xander leave.

**

The flight to Paris was long, even though Buffy was in first class. She had been wined and dined and slept quite well for it being such a long flight. On the way home, she would be flying on the Concorde, but for now she had to settle with a regular airplane.

When Buffy arrived in Paris, it was a flurry of sound a color. People whizzed past her, speaking in rapid French that she didn't understand. Luckily, many of the signs were in French *and* English. Buffy had little trouble navigating to the baggage carousel. Once she had located her two suitcases, she rolled them out to the taxi stop.

In her halting, kindergarten-level French, she managed to hail a taxi. When it arrived, she simply shoved the address in the cabby's face. He understood and sped through the streets, going at what seemed like a million miles an hour to an exhausted Buffy. All she wanted was to find a bed and collapse, sleep forever.

The taxi pulled to a screech in front of a tiny house on a cramped street corner. The cabby got her luggage out of the car and Buffy slipped one too many Euros into the man's hand. He smiled widely and pulled away from the corner. Buffy dragged her rolling suitcases up the cracked sidewalk and knocked on the door.

There was noise inside the house, and then the front door swung open. A disheveled Liam, with his belt unbuckled, lipstick on his collar and shirt untucked, stood in the doorway of the Parisian house. His eyes grew large as he realized exactly who his co-worker and roommate happened to be.

"B-Buffy?" Liam choked out. He reached down and buckled his pants.

"Liam?" called out a third, female voice. She had a French accent overlaid a shrill speaking voice. A moment after the voice was heard, a leggy brunette with cascading brown-blonde curls appeared in the doorway. She was wearing a baggy dress shirt that obviously belonged to a man. "Who…who is she?"

Buffy quirked an eyebrow. She let go of her suitcases and took a step forward, placing a flattened hand against Liam's chest.

"Am I interrupting something, sweetheart?" She looked up at her co-worker in a worshipping manner and fluttered her eyelashes. Then her gaze slipped over to the woman in the doorway. Her tone went from adoring to angry.

"Who is she? I thought you loved me! But no! You just cheat on me the minute you get away from me with some French floozy, is that it?"

"Buffy, come on, let's be rational," Liam insisted. He raised his hands up in self-defense.

"You be rational, you rat bastard!" Buffy eyes flashed golden-green with feigned anger. "I give you the best…six years of my life…I even shaved your back! And for what?"

"Oh, my god," said Liam in embarrassment. He shook his head.

"Yeah! That's right. Be ashamed!" She raised her palm and slapped his right cheek, a rosy tint tingeing his pale complexion.

With narrowed eyes, Buffy looked up at the French woman who was standing next to Liam in the doorway. The woman, who could have been a model, stepped around Liam. She gave Buffy a snooty smile and pushed past her. In just a man's dress shirt and sandals, the woman walked down the sidewalk.

"Antoinette! Come back! Please, I can explain…" After his attempt to bring his paramour back failed, Liam pulled Buffy into the house by her arm. He slammed the door, abandoning Buffy's luggage on the front walk.

"What the hell was that?" Liam demanded in an angry voice. "I don't shave my back!"

"Of all the things that just happened, you're upset because I claimed to have shaved your back? You're such a vain asshole!" Buffy shouted.

"Damn it, Buffy. Why'd you have to scare her off like that?"

Buffy opened the door and stepped outside. She grabbed one of her suitcases and flung it in the living room.

"Why'd I scare her off? Because I don't want to hear a headboard banging for the next two months, that's why!"

"You mean you aren't just a little bit jealous of her, Buffy? Because I was with her and not with you?" Liam shot back.

"Please. The only way I would sleep with you…well, there isn't a way I'd sleep with you! I wouldn't sleep with you at all! You *disgust* me, Liam O'Malley! You're a cretin, the scum of the earth!"

Liam grabbed her arm and pulled her roughly against him, looking down at her as he had done before, in his cubicle. "I disgust you? Dream on, schoolgirl. That day when you came into my office looking like you belonged on a street corner and *not* an international corporation still gives me nightmares."

Buffy smirked up at her gorgeous housemate. "You only wish that I'd dress like that everyday. You were sporting the biggest wood I've ever seen…and you'll only be able to *dream* about what I could have done to you then." She spun on her heel and walked into the bedroom, sashaying ever so slightly.

"Buffy!" Liam called out. "That's the only bedroom!" He looked at the couch sadly. "I guess it's just you and me tonight, buster."

**

The next morning when Buffy awoke, she found Liam standing at the stove. He was watching bacon sizzle and pop in a skillet. He was wearing a knee-length apron over an otherwise naked torso. His hair was wet, but not coifed to its usual perfection. He wore gray sweatpants; his feet were bare.

A slow smile spread across Buffy's face as she walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning," she said to him.

Liam just grunted in reply. He wasn't in the mood for conversation of any kind, whether it was flirtatious banter or an argument.

"Not talking this morning, huh?" Buffy asked. She sat down on the kitchen table and casually swung her legs while she watched him cook. "That's okay. I'll talk to anything, whether it's a fern, the TV, or your cute little behind, my *king. *" She leaped off the tabletop and grabbed his rear end, squeezing for all it was worth.

Surprised, Liam jumped with a yelp and his spatula went flying into the air. Buffy caught it with ease. When Liam turned to look at her, it was then that he saw exactly what she was wearing. Her outfit wasn't really an outfit at all…it was a flimsy blood red kimono with only a pair of Victoria's Secret panties beneath.

When Liam had managed to lift his tongue from the floor, he spoke. "You little slut."

"Please," Buffy sighed in boredom. She flipped her hair and then rolled her eyes. "I didn't wear this for you. And, so what, you don't like my outfit… well, that's not quite true." She motioned towards the crotch of his pants with her plastic cooking utensil. "*Some* part of you likes my outfit."

Buffy walked up to him and pressed her body against him, taking her sweet time peeling herself off of him. She winked at him and said, "See you in a few. I'm going to take a shower…a nice, hot, soapy shower." She sighed. "Too bad you'll be out here with your frying pig parts, huh?"

When he heard the door to the bathroom shut, Liam slammed his spatula against the stove. It was going to be a *long* stay in France, that was for damn sure. Liam looked down at his desk calendar. It was September 1st. Buffy had been playing games with him once since the night that she walked in on he and Antoinette. He wanted so badly to explain that he and Antoinette were old friends; they had met during Liam's travels in Europe before college. They had kept in touch over the years. Yes, Buffy was right in her assumptions. She had interrupted something, yes, but toying with him sexually was not the way to go.

His co-workers began to clear their desks and pack up to go home. He knew it would be another quiet night with a quiche and late night French television. His back was beginning to ache from days of sleeping on the couch. Some nights when he couldn't get comfortable, he'd take his pillow and blanket and sleep on the floor of the bedroom just to hear Buffy breathe. Often, he'd stand by the side of the bed and watch her sleep.

One of Liam's English speaking colleagues, Jean-Jacques, stopped by his desk. Jean-Jacques braced himself against the desk's edge and gave the American a wide smile.

"Liam, how is the Quiet American today?" Jean-Jacques asked Liam as Liam packed up to go.

Liam smiled at Jean-Jacques' nickname for Buffy. "She's fine. She's using my toothpaste again, but she's just fine." He snatched his briefcase from beneath the desk and followed Jean-Jacques to the elevator. He leaned forward and pressed the down button on the direction panel and then Liam stood and waited.

"I would be…what is the word, glad? To take the Quiet American off of your hands, Liam," Jean-Jacques informed Liam.

Liam nodded and said, "I'm sure you would,Jean-Jacques. She'll come around."

"Sure she will, monsieur." Jean-Jacques winked. "Let the mademoiselle know that I am willing to take her out after work one afternoon."

"Will do," lied Liam. No way in hell would he let Buffy know that Jean-Jacques was interested in her.

With a ding, the elevator doors opened. The two men stepped inside and the door shut. Liam looked over at the handsome Frenchman, who was popping his knuckles as the elevator went down to the bottom floor. When the elevator reached the ground floor, Liam stepped out and walked out the entrance.

On the short walk from the affiliate office to the small house he and Buffy shared, Liam stopped by the small florist shop. He bought a bouquet of violets, which were on sale that day. After paying for a bouquet of the beautiful flowers, he walked home, only to find that his key was inside the house and the door was locked.

"Buffy!" shouted Liam, banging on the door. "Buffy, damn it! Let me in!"

A moment later, the door swung open. Buffy, with a bottle of water in her hand, looked at him expectantly. "What?"

"I forgot my key. Here, do you like these?" Liam asked as he shoved the bouquet towards his roommate. He didn't even wait to see the look on her face; he just walked into the kitchen and swung open the door to the old-model refrigerator. "Did you go to the store? Obviously not. There's nothing in here."

Liam angrily slammed the door shut. "Is it too much to ask if you could just buy some fucking food?"

"Do I look like the maid? Or was that what you had your French hussy do for you? Did you role-play? Were you the pool boy and she the lonely yet married homeowner? Or was she the maid and you were the frustrated millionaire?" Buffy said with a grin.

"Shut up, Buffy. I just…don't want to deal with it tonight. I'll go buy some food. I don't care what you do with the flowers; you can put them in water or you can pitch them. I'm tired of trying." He breezed past her and out of the house.

Buffy looked down at the beautiful, yet wilting flowers in her grip. It was a wonderful thought and extremely kind of him to buy her flowers. She searched the kitchen for something to put them in and finally found a green glass pitcher. She filled it with water from the tap, placed the flowers in the water, and carried the flowers into her bedroom. After putting the pitcher on her highboy, she reached for her laptop and plugged the wire into the phone jack after attaching the special power converter.

She logged into her email and opened the only message there. It was just twenty minutes old and it was from Willow.

// BUFF! WE WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT WE MISS YOU. HOW IS LIAM? ARE YOU DONE TOYING WITH HIM YET? LET IT GO, GIVE HIM A CHANCE TO EXPLAIN. HE WAS RIGHT. YOU WERE JEALOUS OF THAT FRENCH GIRL HE HAD IN YOUR HOUSE. TALK TO HIM. DON'T LET THIS FESTER. LOVE FROM US ALL. //

Buffy exited out of her program and set the laptop aside. Her eyes traveled to the violets, a peace offering from Liam. She wasn't ready to talk to him yet, though, no matter how much Willow poked and prodded. Seeing him with Antoinette had hurt her deeply. It broke her heart and made her very jealous. She had almost admitted to having some kind of feelings for him, but this twisted her heart to see him with that other woman.

She heard a door shutting in the distance. She got up and padded across the room. Looking through the tiny slit between the door and wall, she watched as Liam unloaded the groceries in silence. He pulled a spinach quiche from the bag and a fork from the silverware drawer. Then he walked over to the TV, flipped it on, and began eating his quiche. The room was full of voices and sounds. The colors on the screen flashed against the darkened wall.

Buffy slowly pushed the door shut and it came closed with a click.

Later that night, Liam woke up with a start. Someone was screaming in the bedroom. Buffy! He tossed his quiche plate and blankets from his body and bolted into the bedroom. He climbed onto the bed and shook her shoulders. Her head was flailing from side to side and she was screaming. Her legs kicked.

"Buffy! Buffy! Wake up!" shouted Liam as he shook her. Buffy stopped kicking and slowly opened her eyes. She reached up and grasped the fabric of his shirt in her hand.

"Liam?" Buffy asked slowly. "What's going on?"

Liam graced the side of her face with the back of his hand. "You were having a nightmare. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Buffy said, dropping the shirt from her grasp. "You can go back to sleep. I don't need you."

"Are you sure?" Liam asked as he backed away. He held his hand out to her. "I can stay…"

"Go. I'm fine."

She turned her body away from him. Liam stared at her back for a moment, not wanting to leave, but not knowing what to say.

"Buffy, please, we need to talk, I want to explain to you about Antoinette."

"I don't *want* to talk about her, Liam. Can't you tell? I don't want to have anything to do with you," Buffy growled from her place on the bed.

Liam sighed and let his hand drop to his side. "Fine. Make it difficult for yourself, okay? Be immature about it." He crossed the room and grabbed the door handle, then opened the door. Yellow light flooded the otherwise darkened bedroom.

"Fuck you, Liam," Buffy mumbled from the bed.

"I wish I had enough hatred and envy to say the same thing to you," Liam shot back. He slammed the door behind and in the process snuffed out the light.

Buffy sat up and stared at the closed door. She heard Liam shuffling into the bathroom and a moment later the pipes groaned. Any minute a tiny trail of water would trickle down the wall and land in a small dish on the floor. She rubbed her eyes dry with the palms of her hands and rolled over with the comforter tight around her.

**

Part Four

Jean-Jacques was in Buffy's small cubicle when she arrived at work the next morning. She was an absolute mess. She hadn't managed to go back to sleep after her nightmare. She spent all night on the floor of the living room, watching Liam sleep. Right before dawn, she pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead and retreated into the bathroom. She never saw his eyes open and follow her out of the room.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle," Jean-Jacques said in greeting. "You look tired, no?"

"I am very tired, Jean-Jacques." Buffy dropped her stack of papers on her desk. "What do you need?"

"Did monsieur Liam keep you up all night?" Jean-Jacques inquired as he ran a hand through his light blond hair.

"No" was Buffy's curt reply. "If all you plan to do is inquire about my sex life, can you just go back to your cubicle now and save me the trouble of calling the boss?" She rubbed the side of her face sleepily.

Jean-Jacques took a step back. "Fine, fine. I was going to ask you to join me for lunch."

"Sorry. No." Buffy sat down in her chair and began sorting through her messages.

Jean-Jacques stepped into the hallway, where he ran right in Liam. "Oh, Liam. Hello."

"Hi, Jean-Jacques. What are you doing?"

"Walking," said Jean-Jacques. "For coffee. The Quiet American is not so quiet today." He was, of course, referring to Buffy's quiet at-work demeanor.

Liam moved his shoulders. "Had nothing to do with it."

"To your dismay, no, Liam?" Jean-Jacques asked with a coy grin. He elbowed Liam in the ribs playfully.

Liam scowled and pressed his hand against Jean-Jacques chest. "Your French hospitality is wearing me thin *very* quickly. If you can't be polite to me or to Buffy, then I ask that you keep your mouth shut. Got it?"

Jean-Jacques backed up against the wall of Buffy's cubicle. He brushed Liam's hand away from his chest. "Do not touch me, monsieur. I can leave you alone, but you cannot keep me from speaking with the Quiet American."

"She has a name," Liam insisted. "Your little nickname was cute for a while, Jean-Jacques, but she has a name. It's Buffy. Learn it." He pressed down on Jean-Jacques' chest one last time and walked off, balling his fists to ward off anger.

**

When Liam arrived home that evening, Buffy was cooking at the stove.

"What are you making?" Liam asked. She simply held up a box. Liam frowned when she didn't reply. Sure, she'd been giving him the silent treatment for a day or two, but Liam didn't think she'd take it this far. "Spinach fettuccine. That's a change."

Buffy simply nodded and stirred the noodles in the pot. She walked past him and pulled a saucepan from the refrigerator, then flipped on the burner. After she had placed the saucepan on the burner, she sat down at the small kitchen table and flipped through her Chanel catalog.

Liam lifted the lid from the saucepan and stuck a finger in the pot, then stuck his finger in his mouth. The sauce was a whitish-yellow and absolutely wonderful. He replaced the lid and watched as Buffy read her catalog for a moment. When she looked up at him, Liam busied himself looking for a strainer.

"My day was great," Liam said. "Jean-Jacques was an asshole today in the hallway, there was no soap in the restroom, and I couldn't fax a progress report back to Sunnydale. Other than that, my day was just fine." He placed a large metal strainer inside the sink.

Liam's embittered statement caused Buffy to raise her head from her catalog. She stared at him with wondering green eyes. A moment later, she returned to her Chanel book. Liam looked down at his hands and twisted a ring around his finger.

"Make some kind of noise when dinner's done." Liam walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. When he had departed, Buffy stood up and turned off the burner beneath the pasta. She carried the pot to the sink, strained the pasta, and placed the strainer on top of the pot.

"Come and get it before I dump rat poison in the sauce!"

A moment later, Liam was standing in the kitchen wearing only a white muscle shirt and a pair of black sweat pants. Buffy couldn't stop staring at his well-muscled arms. She even paused to study the tattoo on his shoulder that shifted every time he moved.

During dinner, they sat in silence as they ate. Buffy couldn't decide whether or not to say anything to Liam. She wanted so badly to speak to him, just to ask him how he was. Her wounded pride refused to let go of the small offense, but everything else inside of her was screaming to speak to him, just to touch him gently, look into his eyes.

"Are you…are you ready to talk?" he asked slowly. He pushed his plate aside. Buffy began to toy with her napkin. "Did you mean to hurt me?"

"I didn't mean to hurt you," Liam whispered.

"Well, you did."

"Antoinette was nothing to me. Nothing."

"Then why did you ask her to come back? Huh? Why?" Buffy asked, choking as she spoke. Her through was tightening and hot tears were welling in her eyes. Her posture curved as her shoulders slumped. Buffy's napkin slipped from her hands and fluttered to the floor. Liam reached out for her, but he let his hand fall when she recoiled from his touch.

"I was afraid you'd never come around, that you'd never see how I really...Don't hate me," Liam pleaded with her. "I don't know what I'd do if you hated me."

Buffy sighed and looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. "I don't hate you." She shakily pushed her chair away from the table and moved into the living room. Liam quickly followed suit. Buffy felt his arms loop around her and she felt her body being pulled briskly against his chest.

"I'm sorry, baby," Liam whispered as he lowered his face into her blond hair. "I'm so sorry." He turned her body around so he could look at her. Their lips were only centimeters apart.

"Liam," Buffy sighed. Her hand traveled up to his shoulder as he pulled her tight against his body. She felt his lips gently brush hers and at first, she was startled. Then she was clinging to him, needing him like oxygen, craving him. Finally, when it became too much for her, she pulled away from him and gasped for air.

"Stop, Liam. Stop."

Buffy pulled away and rested her forehead against his.

"I'm sorry if you weren't ready."

Buffy's face flushed with pink and she looked down at the floor. "I've never...I'm not...I don't know how to..."

Liam gave her a sweet, swift kiss and then pulled her by the hand to the couch. Buffy sat in his lap and she stretched out. His fingers twined in her hair and then settled. Buffy leaned her head back and let it rest on his broad chest.

"Did you miss me while I was in California?" Buffy asked him as her eyes were slowly closing.

"Of course I did," Liam reassured her. "Those first couple days all I wanted to do was get on the first flight back home."

Buffy reached for his free hand and twined their fingers together. "I missed you like crazy. I even missed your stupid Barry Manilow CD."

"You even missed Barry, huh?" Liam asked playfully.

"Did you sleep with her? Did you sleep with Antoinette?" Buffy asked. She felt Liam tightly squeeze her hand.

"No," he answered truthfully. "I couldn't even think of sleeping with her. I can't think of being with anyone but you."

"Do you really mean that?" Buffy asked, tilting her head up so she could look at him.

Liam pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Yes, I really mean that. Ever since the day you wore that damned purple dress to work."

Buffy smiled. "I'm sorry I was so mean to you. You just made me so mad. Especially after you gave me those flowers."

"Those roses…when I bought them I thought a million times, 'if I don't put pepper in them, she'll know something's up.' So I bought them, peppered them, and put them on your desk."

"It was still very sweet. So was seeing you in your boxers."

Buffy craned her neck and gazed up at him, her heart swelling at the sight of the adoration in his eyes. She could press it, if she wanted, and find out exactly what he felt for her, but Buffy didn't want to. Right now, she just wanted to bask in the emotions his gaze brought her. She'd never felt so loved, even though he'd never said those words to her.

Changing positions, she put her cheek against his heart and listened to its rhythmic thump thumping. She placed one hand on his ribs and the other reached up to twine with his.

"Are you comfy now?" Liam asked her as he held onto her small hand.

"Very. You?"

"Never better," Liam replied honestly. "Does this mean I don't have to sleep on the couch again? My back is killing me."

Buffy took a moment to consider his request. "I guess you can sleep in the bed. I mean, I'd feel really bad if you had to go to a chiropractor until you're fifty just because I made you sleep on the couch for a few weeks. You have permission to sleep in the bed with me."

A look of concern fleetingly crossed Liam's face. "Are you sure?"

"Sure I'm sure," Buffy replied. She sat up and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips, then bounded off to the kitchen. "I only messed with you because I was upset…and jealous. I wanted you to like me more than you liked Antoinette."

"I know." He paused. "Buff, what are you doing?" Liam called out. He could hear pots banging around in the kitchen.

"Cleaning up the dishes. They'll get all smelly and gross if I don't," Buffy told him over running water.

"Do you want to go to the Eiffel Tower tomorrow, Buffy? It's Saturday; we have the day off."

The water abruptly stopped running. "Sure, that sounds great. We can have a picnic on that big patch of grass that's in front of it. You know the one that they always show on TV? It will be a lot of fun."

Liam sat up on the couch. "Yeah, it will be. Then you can go shopping, how's that sound?" He ran a hand through his unkempt dark hair. As he stood up, his knees popped. With a groan, he headed into the kitchen. Buffy was leaning over the sink, up to her elbows in dirty, soapy dishwater.

"Here, let me help you," Liam volunteered. He grabbed an orange-and-brown dishtowel from the handle where it had been hanging and began to wipe off dripping plates. When all of the drying was done and the silverware, dishes, and pots had been put away, Buffy wiped her forehead off with the back of her soapy hand.

"I'm so tired," Buffy complained as she wiped a few suds from her skin.

Liam, who was standing behind her, bent down to her neck. He planted soft, long kisses on the curve of her neck. When he felt her shiver, he stopped his pleasurable torture.

"You better go on back to bed. Unless you want me to keep on going…"

"No," moaned Buffy, "stop, please. I want you to do that to me forever. And I know that you can't…" Liam released her from his loose hold and tapped her behind. "Bed. Now. I'll be in there in a while."

He watched as she dragged her feet going towards the bedroom. Liam went into the living room, found a pen, and pulled out a piece of paper. Poetry of his own had never been something he was especially proud of, but he knew of some poetry that would make her smile. **

When Buffy awoke the next morning, the sun was cheerfully shining into the bedroom. She sighed and snuggled deeper into the arms she was encased in. She had not woken when Liam joined her in the bedroom the night before, but Buffy knew it had been late when he finally did come in to sleep.

She stretched as her eyes sought the clock. Finding it sitting on the highboy, she squinted with sleepy eyes to make out the numbers. It was just after ten in the morning. Buffy carefully moved herself from the circle of Liam's arms. With a final pull, she pulled away from him and looked down at his sleeping form. He made a slight noise, rolled over, and proceeded to bury his gorgeous face in a pillow.

She tiptoed from the bedroom and walked into the bathroom. It was a funky little bathroom. The sink had two long, slender, metallic legs holding it up to the wall, where it was firmly bolted. The walls and floor were covered in yellow and red tiles. On the ceiling was a mural of a brilliant looking sun. Buffy looked into the mirror and expected to see her reflection staring back at her. Instead, a piece of white paper covered in swirling calligraphy was taped to the mirror. She reached up and gingerly peeled the tape from the mirror. The poem was one she vaguely recognized.

//A heavy heart, Beloved, have I borne
From year to year until I saw thy face,
And sorrow after sorrow took the place
Of all those natural joys as light worn
As the stringed pearls, each lifted in its turn
By a beating heart at dance-time. Hopes apace
Were changed to long despairs, till God's own grace
Could scarcely lift above the world forlorn
My heavy heart. Then thou didst bid me bring
And let it drop adown thy calmly great deep being!
Fast it sinketh, as a thing
Which its own nature doth precipitate,
Which thing doth close above it, meditating
Betwixt the stars and unaccomplished fate
-Elizabeth Barrett Browning, XXV, Sonnets from the Portuguese

Buffy's hand rose to her heart. Liam had written out this beautiful poem by hand for her. Joyce had loved Elizabeth Barrett Browning, but had yet to completely pass on that love to her daughter. With the poem still in her shaking hand, Buffy retreated to the bedroom. Liam was sitting in bed, propped up with several pillows. His eyes were on her as she walked through the door.

"I love it," Buffy gushed, holding the poem out for him to see. She crawled across the bed and climbed into his waiting arms. The paper in her hand crinkled as she tried to grasp both the poem and Liam's arm.

"I wrote it from memory," said Liam. "When I was a teenager, I memorized all of these love poems and I had no one to read them to, or to share them with. Now I do."

Buffy pressed a kiss to his lips and looked into his eyes. "You can share them with me now, Liam." She shifted so she was more comfortable. "What were you like in high school?"

"Fun," Liam said, "I was the party guy. Tailgate parties, after-prom parties, you name it I held it. I didn't date a whole lot; I liked variety in my women, more of a, er, one night stand." He tapped the end of Buffy's nose and brought a smile to her lips in place of her bothered smile. "And you?"

"A bookworm," Buffy said, "with no time for fun. You wouldn't have liked me very much."

"I seriously doubt that," Liam told her, "I like you now, Buff. That's all that matters. Here and now."

Buffy smiled and began to pull away from him. Liam caught her by the arm and held her against his chest, she was not ready for her to leave his side just yet.

"I have to shower, Liam," Buffy insisted. "I can't be smelly for the Eiffel Tower. Then I'll make us some breakfast."

"You shower, I'll cook. Got it?" Liam asked as he climbed out of bed. He moved to the highboy, pulled on the bottom drawer, and began sorting through clothing.

"We've got to stop at a Laundromat or something. I'm turning my underwear inside out."

"I wondered what that smell was!" shouted Buffy playfully from the bathroom. Liam could hear the water running into the tub and tried not to picture her bathing. They weren't up to that level yet, and he planned to keep it that way for a little while more at least.

"Hey! I thought that was you!" Liam called to her as he walked through the living room and into the kitchen. He heard the door to the bathroom click shut while Buffy laughed. A moment later, Liam began making scrambled eggs.

When Buffy stepped out of the shower, the bathroom smelled like an apple orchard. She slipped on a shirt and skirt and lastly towel dried her hair. Ten minutes later, she stepped out of the steamy confine and padded across the living room and into the kitchen. Liam was scooping yellow eggs onto two plates. He abandoned the fluffy yellow eggs momentarily and kissed her wet hair.

"Mmm, apples." He smiled widely at her and forced a green plate into her hands. "Eat. You're skin and bones." Buffy smirked at him and sat down at the table, making sure to keep her robe closed.

"You were in there a while. Have a good time?" Liam asked as he sat down across from her.

"Yeah, I guess. Showers really aren't high up on my entertainment-o-meter." She stuffed a forkful of eggs into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. "These are so good. You're a good cook."

Liam, who had cleared his plate quickly, put his fork down. "Thank you. My mom died when I was in junior high school and my dad taught me how to be self-sufficient. How about your parents, are they as wonderful as you are?"

Buffy looked down at her plate. "My mom's dead. She died of brain cancer two years ago, right before Christmas. My dad left when I was little, I couldn't have been more than five. That was eighteen years ago."

"I'm sorry about your mother. I know what it's like to lose your mom." He sensed Buffy's discomfort and changed the subject.

"You're really twenty-three?" Liam asked. "I never bothered to ask how old you were. Are you going to ask how old I am?"

"Forty?" Buffy teased as she put a final forkful into her mouth.

"Funny. I'm twenty-eight. I'll be twenty-nine in May."

Liam collected their plates and put them in the sink. He was about to rinse them when Buffy put a hand on top of his, which rested on the faucet. His eyes traveled up her terrycloth-clad arm and up to her face, where they rested.

"You need to get ready. I'll rinse these off, get dressed, and pack the picnic lunch. I just hope that we have a basket." She smiled in reassurance and pecked him on the cheek. She proceeded to bang her hip against his, pushing him away from the sink and in the direction of the entryway.

Liam flicked his dripping fingers onto her. Buffy turned and blew him a kiss, then returned to her dishes. She thought about the time they had spent in Paris together. A month earlier, she couldn't imagine going a day without seeing him. Now she saw him everyday, she got to hold him, got to whisper in his ear while watching television in a language she didn't understand.

It wasn't until she got to France that she realized her real feelings for her handsome co-worker who loved to bother her with his pranks. Every annoying thing he'd done, every smutty comment he'd make only seemed to endear Liam a little bit more to her. Before, where she'd seen only an annoying, immature boy, she saw a handsome, caring man.

She knew now why her heart hurt so badly when she saw Liam and Antoinette together at the house when she arrived in Paris. She was jealous, and it seemed that Liam had had her pegged since the moment they met in the entryway of Baker and Reynolds.

Part Five

As she washed the dishes, Buffy's hand slipped from the dish she was washing and it plummeted into the sink's lukewarm water. A stabbing pain traveled trough her hand and she bit down on her cheek as the pain intensified. She pulled her hand upwards, dislodging whatever had settled in her hand. Buffy slowly raised her hand out of the sink to see blood coating it. There was blood in the water, turning it a dirty rust color.

"Oh god. Oh god," said Buffy in a shaking, shocked voice. She cradled her bloodstained, crimson hand against her chest and walked to the bathroom with shaky legs. Her uninjured hand raised up and pounded on the flimsy wooden door.

Buffy voice came in a shrill, terrified scream, "LIAM!"

Hearing his name, Liam shut off the showerhead and slid the shower door open. His hand reached for his Kelly green bath towel, which was hanging on a rack Hurriedly Liam wrapped the towel around his waist and opened the bathroom door. His eyes widened when he saw Buffy cradling her hand, which was profusely bleeding, against her chest.

"Help," Buffy mumbled, her eyes rooted on her wounded hand. "There's so much blood."

"Hold on," Liam said, moving past her. "Let me get dressed and I'll take you to the hospital. Take the hand towel from the bathroom and wrap it around your hand."

He rushed into the bedroom and began to change, unabashed by his nudity, knowing that Buffy was too focused on her hand to notice a brief flash of skin. A moment later, Liam had reemerged dressed in jeans and a button up shirt that wasn't buttoned correctly.

"Where's the hospital?" Buffy asked him as they rushed through the house and out the door.

"I don't know," Liam told her as he flagged down a taxi.

"Taxi. Vous êtes libre?" Liam inquired of the taxi driver.

"I asked him if he was free. He is. Get in."

Buffy climbed into the backseat and Liam followed. He made sure the hand towel was wrapped around her hand, though he was worried by how fast the blood was soaking the white hand towel. Buffy heard him speaking in a flurry of words in French to the cabby. He was speaking so fast and fluently that Buffy didn't bother to ask what he was saying.

What seemed like a century later, the cab pulled up to a large, bustling building. Liam shoved a handful of money into the cabby's hand. "Merci, monsieur. Au revoir."

"Huh?" Buffy asked, completely bewildered.

"I thanked him. Come on, Buff, the emergency room is this way." Liam took her by the crook of her elbow and led her through revolving doors.

"J'ai besoin d'aide! Ma petite amie est blesse!" shouted Liam. 'Is there a doctor we can see? My girlfriend is hurt!'

A nurse hurried over to the pair. She and Liam spoke in a flurry of words and then the pretty nurse turned to look at Buffy.

"Est-ce qu'elle parle francais, monsieur?" asked the nurse, who looked familiar to both Buffy and Liam. Liam glanced down at his feet guiltily for a moment.

"Non, moi oui, mais pas elle," Liam replied. 'No, she doesn't but I do.'

"You do not speak French? That is okay, I speak English. Follow me. My name is Antoinette, I think you both, ah, know me,"

"Liam, please, come with me," Buffy asked, holding out her healthy hand to him. Liam grasped his hand and let Buffy pull him through a series of winding hallways. Finally the reached an examination room closed off by tall curtains attached to rods. Buffy took a seat on the bed.

Gently the nurse took the wrapping off of Buffy's hand. A second person, a handsome blond man, joined the trio in the small room. He had a stethoscope around his neck and wore a pleasant smile. Buffy assumed he was a doctor.

"Bonjour, monsieur, mademoiselle," said the amicable doctor.

"The patient does not speak French," the nurse told the doctor.

The man's friendly smile slipped just a little bit. "Ah, well, that's all right. My name is Doctor Francois Renaud. What happened here…" Dr. Renaud's voice trailed off. "I don't know your name."

"Buffy. Buffy Summers," replied Buffy, who was still looking at her hand.

"And the man? Your husband?"

"He's…he's not my husband. His name is Liam O'Malley."

"What happened, Buffy?" asked Dr. Renaud. He gently nudged the nurse aside and gingerly held up Buffy's right hand. The nurse had cleaned off the wound, which was so deep it went all the way through Buffy's hand and came out the other side.

"I was washing the dishes in the sink and my hand slipped. I felt some pain and I pulled something from my hand. When I brought my hand out of the water, I was bleeding. I got Liam from the bath- the other room, and he got me here."

"You're a very brave young woman. And very beautiful as well."

Liam cleared his throat and glared at the attractive doctor.

"I think that when your hand slipped, you stabbed yourself with a knife. Purely accidental, I'm sure. Are you returning home any time soon?" Dr. Renaud inquired of Buffy. He didn't take his eyes from his young patient.

"No. I'm here on business for another month. Why should I go back to California?" Buffy asked.

"Oh, no, you don't have to go home. I was just asking," said Dr. Renaud. "France is a lucky country to have you here for a while longer." He moved out of his crouching position. "I will have Antoinette work on your hand, then Monsieur O'Malley can fill out some paperwork."

Buffy gave a weak smile to Dr. Renaud and watched as he left the examination room. She felt Liam's hand gently squeezing hers in a calming fashion. She rested her head on his shoulder, looked up him, and then laughed.

"What is it?" Liam asked, looking at her.

"You have little sudsy bubbles on your neck. At least you got your hair clean," Buffy teased. She did the best she could to ignore the pain in her hand as Antoinette worked on it. Twenty minutes later, the nurse was done. She looked over at Liam.

"Suivez-moi, monsieur ja'i besoin de vous pour remplir la paperasserie necessaires," Antoinette said quickly. She put her hand on Liam's back and ushered him out the room. Liam looked back at Buffy before he shut the door.

"Paperwork," he said softly, "I'll be back."

Liam followed Antoinette out to the main desk, where there was a stack of paperwork waiting.

"She is very special, no?" Antoinette asked as she passed several pieces of paper across the desk to Liam. He picked up a pen and began to sign off on things.

"She is," Liam agreed. "I'm just glad she is okay." He spent several more minutes signing off on various papers.

"Liam? Do you love her?" Antoinette asked. Liam put the pen down on the stack of hospital forms. "Is it that obvious?"

After he was done, he slipped the papers back to the nurse and retreated down the hallway he'd gone through a moment before. He found Buffy sitting quietly on the bed.

"Ready, Buffy? We can still go to the Eiffel Tower today, if you want."

"I'm fine," Buffy replied. She gathered her things and they walked out of the hospital. "I still want to go to the Eiffel Tower. I just don't want to have a picnic. Is that okay?"

"That's fine, Buff. Whatever you want. You're injured, I'm not," Liam told her as he hailed a taxi. He told the driver to take them to the Eiffel Tower.

Buffy put her head against Liam's shoulder. "I'm leaving next month, Liam."

"I know you are," Liam told her, "and I'm going home with you."

"There's something I'm worried about," Buffy told him. She picked up two of his fingers and absentmindedly began to play with them.

"What?"

"Remember what you said at dinner about Jean-Jacques and how he likes me? Well, what did you mean by that?" Buffy asked. The cab made it's way towards the Eiffel Tower.

"He's been nosing around. He's been nice to me just to get near you. It's not like he came out and said anything, Buffy, it's just something that I picked up on."

The cab pulled to a stop at the sidewalk. Liam paid the driver and they walked towards the Eiffel Tower. On the way, Liam plucked a free Tower Guide from a stand. He handed it to Buffy, who started reading aloud.

"It was built from 1887 to 1889. Wow, it's really old. And it's not even named after the architect. It's named after the contractor. Did you know that?" Buffy asked. She snuggled up to Liam's side as they strolled the lawn leading to the tower.

"Nope. What else does that thing tell you?" Liam asked.

"Well, there are 2,500,000 rivets and 18,038 pieces of steel. It was the world's tallest structure from 1889 to 1930. Get this. When the Germans invaded France, their flag was raised on the Eiffel Tower on June 14, 1940."

Liam scratched his neck casually and said, "I didn't know that the Nazis raised their flag on the Eiffel Tower. You learn something new everyday, don't you?"

"You sure do," Buffy replied. She stopped short at the base of the tower and looked up. "Wow. It's big. And brown."

"And here I thought you were going to make some comment about the striking architecture of the structure," Liam teased her. He planted a gentle kiss to her crown. "Do you want to go up?"

"No, that's all right. I'm really not that big a fan of heights," Buffy admitted. "Are you afraid of anything?"

"Well…chickens. They freak the shit out of me," Liam admitted with an embarrassed grin. "Let's walk around. We can shop, have some croissants, and then go back home. Do you feel up to that?"

"Would I ever say no to shopping? I don't think so." After a candlelit dinner at a café near the Eiffel Tower, nearly a thousand dollars of Hank's money spent at the Chanel store, and a run-in with a mime, the pair went home.

"What a day," Liam replied.

The two were in the bedroom changing into their pajamas.

"Yeah. I stabbed myself, we went to the Eiffel Tower, and we were attacked by a mime," Buffy replied as she crawled into bed. She watched as Liam pulled a shirt over his head. His flexing back muscles riveted her. Liam sat down on the edge of the bed and untied his shoes. "We were not *attacked* by that mime, Buffy. You provoked it."

"I did not," Buffy shot back. She began fluffing her pillow by whacking it with her hand.

"You mocked it. You pissed it off and it yelled at you. You're lucky we're not locked in a French jail right now," Liam told her. "But it did not attack you."

He pulled the sheets down and climbed into bed. His arms snaked around Buffy's body and he clutched her possessively against his chest. "Go to sleep now, all right?"

"All right. Good night, Liam."

"Good night, Buffy."

Part Six

Buffy looked down at her wristwatch. Liam was two hours late coming home from work. They both knew he had to work late that night, but eight was a little too late. She'd been home since five and had prepared chicken and baked potatoes for dinner. She'd put the chicken into the oven to keep warm and it had dried out. The potatoes were becoming leathery in texture.

They had been spending as much time together as they could, but since Liam went into work later and came home later, Buffy spent hours alone in the house. It had been three weeks since her accident in the kitchen, and their behavior had changed. No longer did they fight about stupid things or irritate each other, instead they spent time snuggling and watched incomprehensible French television.

Buffy reached up for the temperature knob on the oven and switched it off. She rubbed her face drowsily and sat down on the couch. She pulled a plaid blanket over her form and curled up with a pillow and the cordless phone.

"I'll just stay up until he comes home," Buffy said in a tired whisper. She stretched out, her length covering the couch.

Twenty minutes later, she was asleep.

Liam stood in the elevator at the office, tapping his foot. The passenger elevator was going incredibly slow. The stupid thing only had to travel six floors, but it was moving like a snail. Liam looked at his watch and sighed, he'd be lucky to make it home before nine. The elevator doors opened with a chime and Liam stepped into the lobby.

The building was practically deserted save for the custodial crew. They were cleaning the windows on the far end of the lobby. Liam gave a small wave and walked out the rotating door. He clutched his briefcase in one hand while his other hand buttoned up his trench coat. It was freezing outside and a light misty rain was falling from the sky. He moved to the edge of the sidewalk and looked down the long street that ran past the building. Not a cab was in sight. Liam sighed, knowing he'd have to travel a maze of alleys to get home.

He hardly ever used the alley route; he only took it when there was not a cab to drive him back to the house. He didn't want to risk taking the main sidewalks to the house: the area by the house was extremely seedy. Liam made his way through a third connecting Backstreet, one behind Tulles Fish Market. The strip of pavement was littered with cardboard boxes, scraps of paper, fish bones and carcasses of carp long past their demise.

If he squinted, Liam could see the lamppost that shone light on his street. It was barely a golden glow, but it showed him the way home. Liam continued behind the bakery next to the Fish Market.

Clomp.

Liam paused as the hairs on his neck stood on end. Slowly, he turned to see if there was someone behind him. There was no one, but he still called: "Hello?" There was no reply. Liam picked up his pace, moving as quickly as he could. A low creaking noise came from behind him. He stopped again and turned. Relief spread across his face.

"Oh, it's just you. What--"

The dim alley light, and the alley itself, disappeared.

**

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Buffy awoke slowly, her eyes clouded with sleep. She rubbed them and lifted her watch close to her eyes. It was one in the morning. Someone was pounding on her door in the middle of the night. Buffy swung her legs from the couch and padded across the room, doing her best not to slip on the wooden floor.

She unlocked the deadbolt and swung the front door open.

"Liam?" Buffy asked. "Oh my god. What happened?"

Liam stood on the doorstep, leaning against the side on the house. His blue business shirt was torn and ragged, his trenchcoat was gone. Blood dripped from a cut above his eyebrow, various black and purple bruises were becoming pronounced on his face and torso, and his lip was bleeding onto his chin.

He reached out for her weakly, and Buffy caught his arm. She pulled him into the house and helped him sit down on the couch. He groaned as his sore, beaten body made contact with the couch.

Buffy ran a careful hand over his eyebrow, her fingers becoming wet with his blood. She left him sitting and went into the kitchen. She grabbed the First Aid kit and set it aside. After opening several drawers, she found a washcloth and wet it, then brought it into the living room.

"Hi," Liam whispered. "Sorry I'm late."

Buffy shook her head. "I don't care that you're late. I care that you're here." She pressed the damp cloth against the cut on his forehead. Liam hissed in pain. "Sorry, baby, but I've got to get you cleaned up."

Once the bleeding had stopped on his forehead, she tenderly turned his face from side to side and checked the bruises marring his face.

"What happened?" Buffy asked as she unbuttoned his shirt to get a look at the damaged underneath. She pulled the ragged cloth remains away and put them aside.

"I was walking home, taking the…back alleyways…and I got attacked," Liam said.

"Oh, no," Buffy said, her fingers gracing a bruise that was quickly turning green. Liam looked down at her hands and then across the room. "There's more. I know who did this, Buffy." Buffy's hand dropped away from his abdomen and she put her hand on his arm. "Who was it?"

"It was Jean-Jacques Colar," Liam said in a steady voice. "He wants you all to himself. He thought that by getting me out of the way that you would just fall into his arms."

"That scumbag," Buffy hissed. She uncapped a tube of antiseptic cream and rubbed it into the cut on his brow. "He thinks he can beat you up…and…god…" She put her arms around him and placed her cheek against his chest.

Liam reached up and put his hand in her hair, his fingers played in it as she sighed.

"I'm all right," Liam said, "I'm a little bruised, but I'll live." He kissed her crown. He moved to get up, and Buffy did her best to hold him down. "What…?"

"Don't leave me right now, Liam," Buffy said in a muffled whisper, for her face was still against his chest. "I just want to reassure myself that you're alive." Liam squeezed her tightly and held her in his arms. That bastard would pay for what he did.

**

Two days later, Liam returned to work. Most of his facial bruises were fading; they were brown, yellow, and green instead of purple and black. The cut on his forehead left a little scar above his eyebrow, and his lip had mostly healed.

Buffy clung to his hand as they walked down the hallway to cubicle row. Seeing Jean-Jacques, she dropped Liam's hand and ducked into the nearby copy room. Liam rose to the occasion and held his shoulders high.

"Why, it is Liam. So good to see you! Did, ah, you bring your lover with you today?" Jean-Jacques asked, leering at Buffy's backside as she went into the copy room. "Or has the little slut left you at long last?"

Liam's balled his hands into fists. They were so tight they were white.

"She's not a slut."

"No? She looks like one because she is with you, Monsieur."

"Shut your mouth, Jean-Jacques," Liam said. "You hit me…but that doesn't mean I can't hit you back."

Jean-Jacques gave a haughty laugh. "Oh, please, Monsieur, you are so funny. You hit *me*? You would lose your precious job. And then Buffy would be alone with me and she would forget about you."

Liam clenched his fist tighter.

"But, maybe I do not want such a tramp."

That was it. Liam's fist flew and struck Jean-Jacques square in the nose. The Frenchman doubled over and raised his hand over his nose. Blood spurted from behind his hands and it dripped on the floor.

"Get out of here, you French bastard," Liam shot as Jean-Jacques ran for the elevator. Liam retreated to his desk and went to work like nothing happened.

Mr. Franchot, Liam and Buffy's boss, found Liam at his cubicle a while after he hit Jean-Jacques.

"Liam, do you have a moment?" Mr. Franchot asked as he peered around the corner of the cubicle.

Liam stood up, pushed his chair away from his desk, and followed Mr. Franchot into his office.

"Please, Liam, take a seat," Mr. Franchot said. He motioned to one of two chairs that were in front of his large desk. Liam did as his boss asked and looked up at him expectantly.

"I've been on the phone all day long with Mr. Giles in Sunnydale," said Mr. Franchot, "concerning your work here in Paris."

"I suppose you heard about my fight with Jean-Jacques. Really, Mr. Franchot, I can explain," Liam insisted. A frown spread across Mr. Franchot's face.

"You hit Jean-Jacques? Jean-Jacques Colar?" The frown on Mr. Franchot's face was replaced with a grin. "You have spunk. I like that. You are a good employee and I like that as well. As a matter of fact, I have a proposition for you…"

Buffy sat outside the main office building perched on a large cement planter. She looked down at her watch. It read five thirty and she agreed to meet Liam at five. She looked longingly at the rotating door of the building. Finally, Liam made his way out the door. He reached up for his tie and loosened it slightly. He smiled widely at Buffy and accepted her into his arms though his mind was somewhere else.

They reached the small house that they lived in a twenty minutes after leaving work. Liam hadn't said two words since they left work. Wordlessly, Liam dug around in his side pocket for the brass house key. Silently, he slipped it into the lock of the door and walked inside the house.

Several silent hours passed between the pair. Liam stayed in the bedroom, thinking, while Buffy prepared a makeshift dinner of sandwiches. She was trying to get rid of most of the food in the house so they wouldn't leave anything behind when they went back to California. Later, when the sandwiches had been prepared and the drinks poured, Buffy poked her head into the bedroom. Liam was sitting on the bed, his fingers pressed against his temples.

"Liam?" Buffy asked softly, "dinner's done."

Liam looked up at her and gave a small smile. "Okay. I'll be right there." He rubbed his face sleepily. He sat down at the kitchen table and pushed his sandwich around his plate. When Buffy reached across the table and touched his hand, he jumped in his chair.

"What's bothering you, Liam?"

"I talked to Mr. Franchot today," Liam admitted.

"What did you guys…ah, talk about?"

Liam looked down at his plate, then up at Buffy. He grasped one of her hands with both of his before speaking.

"Mr. Franchot wants me to stay in Paris for six more months," Liam said, "and I accepted."

Buffy ripped her hand away from Liam's and in doing so, knocked her plate to the floor. She fell to her knees and began to pick up the pieces of meat and bread from her sandwich. Shakily, she dumped the soiled food into the trashcan and sat back down at the table.

"Why did you agree to stay in Paris, Liam? Is this why you didn't want to talk about going home?" Buffy asked in a small voice.

"I agreed to stay because I'll get five thousand dollars tacked onto my pay as a bonus. It's a big sum of money…and I have plans on what I want to do with the money."

"What, you want a yacht?"

"No, not a yacht. I want to spend it on something more special than that." Liam took a deep breath. "Can't you stay with me?"

"No. I can't just *stay here. * I'd *lose* my *job* back home. I miss my friends, Liam. I miss my fish! I hate the television, the dirty streets, and the snails they eat! I just want to go back to California."

Liam sighed in disappointment. "Can you try to understand why I'm staying here?"

"I *do* understand. You're staying for the money," Buffy told him. She pounded her fist against the table. "You're just a greedy sonofabitch!"

"I love you, Buffy! I want to live with you!" Liam shouted over her cries.

Buffy stopped her shouting. "You love me?"

"I love you," Liam said in a sigh. "I love you. I didn't plan to…then I couldn't help it…and now I'm so in love with you I can barely go five seconds without thinking about you, or wanting to touch you, or needing to look into your eyes. You don't have to love me back, I understand if you don't, really I do."

Buffy grasped his hand across the table and said, "I love you. Of course, I love you, you Silly Willy! Why wouldn't I love you?" She looked up into his dark eyes. "But…you want to live with me? Again?"

"I want to live with you. I was planning on asking you our last night in Paris, but now I don't think I'll ask at all. Not if you think I'm a greedy sonofabitch."

"I didn't mean it, Liam," sighed Buffy. "I just can't stand the thought of you staying here for six months while I'm back home in Sunnydale."

"I can't, either. That's why I asked you to stay here with me. And, I understand that you have a job back home. I just thought that maybe you would stay here with me," Liam said sheepishly. "I'm sorry for putting you on the spot."

"It's okay," Buffy said. She got out of her chair and pulled herself onto his lap, her arms wrapped around his neck. "I'll go crazy without you. I'll have no one to warm me up in the middle of the night, no one to plant kisses on my neck while I type out reports, no hold me the way you do."

"I'm coming home, Buffy, I'm not going to stay in Paris forever. I refuse to."

"Liam," Buffy whispered, "will you show me how much you love me? Please? Give me something to remember when I'm home without you?"

Liam looked down at the table. Buffy put her small hand against his cheek and brought his eyes to look into hers. Before she could speak, Liam placed two fingers against her pink lips.

"Buffy, are you sure you want to do this?" Liam asked as his hand rubbed her back soothingly.

Buffy pressed up against him and whispered in his ear, "Please. I feel like I'll explode if you don't touch me…please…a fever…I love you, Liam…please."

Without saying anything, Liam stood up and carried her in his arms to the bedroom. He shut the door with his back and gave her a long kiss.

**

//Two weeks later//

The airport in Paris was bustling with people, even at the early hour of six in the morning. Buffy and Liam walked through the terminal towards Buffy's gate. They had disposed of her luggage at the check-in desk a while earlier and were looking for a coffee bar to sit at for a while. Buffy held on to Liam's hand tightly, not wanting to let go until she absolutely had to. Liam sensed her fear and dread.

"I don't want to leave," Buffy told him.

"You have to, baby. You need to go home. I'll be with you soon," Liam said, "and we can live together in your mother's house."

"Why don't we move in with you?" Buffy asked. The pair walked into a coffee shop and sat down at a small round table.

"I live in a studio apartment," Liam said, "and anyway, my lease ran out and all of my stuff is in a storage unit. I guess we could move into the storage unit if you like the backyard shed look."

"No, that's okay," Buffy said. "My house it is." Buffy looked down at the menu spread out before her.

"Did you choose something to drink?" he asked her with a smile.

"Tea," replied Buffy. "Nothing heavy and nothing really sugary. I'm going to sleep on the plane."

When the waitress came, Liam gave them their orders. He saw that Buffy was already tearing up. Gently, he wiped her tears away with the pads of his thumbs.

"You're not gone yet," Liam told her as he cupped her face with his hands. "You're still sitting here with me. You know that you can call me whenever you want. If I'm home, I'll answer."

When Buffy's tea and Liam's banana nut muffin arrived ten minutes later, Buffy was still crying. Her tears actually dropped into her paper cup of tea.

"Now, come on," Liam said softly, as if he were speaking to a child. "You'll be just fine. I'll be home and we'll be fighting over wallpaper patterns before you know it."

Buffy smiled and sniffled. She pushed her cup of tea away. "Can we go to the gate now? I just want to sit with you for a while."

"That's fine," Liam said. He left some money on the table and led her toward the gate. They found two chairs by the window. Buffy reached across the armrest and grasped his hand. Their eyes met, and this time it was Liam who was fighting tears.

"Le vol 1888 a John Kennedy maintenant a la Porte 16," came a female voice over the intercom.

Liam's face became grave. "That's your flight, sweetheart." He stood up, their hands till entwined.

Buffy pressed her forehead against his. "I love you."

"I love you. Wait for me, Buffy. I promise I'll come home to you," Liam said, his voice tight as his eyes clouded with tears.

Buffy clutched him tightly, then pressed her lips against his. A second later, she was pulling away from him. Soon, the only part of their bodies that touched was their fingertips.

"Good-bye," Buffy sobbed. "I'll call you."

Liam nodded and mouthed the words 'I love you'. Biting her lip, Buffy turned away from her lover and shoved her boarding pass at the attendant. The woman ripped part of the pass and handed it back to Buffy.

"Merci de voyager avec Air France," said the woman with a large smile.

"Escargot to you, too," Buffy said in choked voice. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and headed down the walkway without turning around to look at Liam. In her seat, she stared out the window and up at the French skies, knowing that those same skies would take Liam home, as well.

Part Seven

When Buffy arrived at the Sunnydale Airport after a connecting flight at LAX, she found Willow and Xander waiting for her. Dropping her small carry-on bag, she raced towards her best friends. They embraced her and once again, tears streamed down Buffy's face.

"I really need to stop crying," Buffy said as she wiped the teardrops away. She smiled at her redheaded friend. "I have so much to tell you. I'm in love with Liam!"

"No way!" shouted Xander. He had snatched up Buffy's bag and was returning to the gaggle when heard he Buffy's confession.

"Oh, Buff, I'm so happy for you!" exclaimed Willow, hugging her friend. "Does he love you?"

"Of course he does," Buffy said. She rolled her eyes and squeezed Willow again.

"Where *is* Liam?" Xander asked of Buffy. The trio started to walk towards the baggage carousel.

"Still in Paris," she said sadly. "He has to stay for six more months. When he comes home, we're moving in together. Well, he's moving in with me."

Willow squeezed Buffy's hand, then held out her left hand. A beautiful diamond ring was catching the yellow light from above. It was a square diamond in a gold setting. Around it were several green emeralds, the same color as Willow's eyes.

"Oh my god, is that an engagement ring?" Buffy asked, holding up Willow's hand to get a better look at the magnificent ring.

"It is. Oz asked me to marry him two days ago," Willow told her.

"I'm so happy for you, Will. Oz is such a sweetheart. What about Cordelia, Xander? How's that going?" Buffy asked. They watched as luggage began to circle on a conveyor.

"Still together. I thought that we were doomed for destruction after our relationship in high school, but this is so much better. I think I love her," Xander said. "Oh, wow, did I actually say that?"

"Our little boy is all grown up," Buffy said sadly to Willow. "Come on, you're going to hate carrying my suitcases to the car. I bought you guys so much stuff! Of course, we lived near a little bookstore with gifts, so I bought you guys a lot of junky souvenirs."

"We're just happy to have you home," Willow told her. "Oh, while you were gone, we had this temporary named Fred. And Liam's had a temp, too. His name is Riley."

"Lovely," Buffy said. "Does he sit at Liam's cubicle?"

"Yes, but we made sure he didn't touch anything," Xander told Buffy.

"Good. Did you guys know how I felt about Liam before I left for Paris?" Buffy asked them.

"I had a hunch," Xander admitted. "You guys were just way too mean to each other."

"I knew," Willow said, "that night at the Bronze, when you were dressed like hooker Barbie? I knew there was something going on with you."

"I didn't look like hooker Barbie. Porn star Barbie, maybe. But not hooker Barbie."

Xander moved to the carousel and grabbed up Buffy's two suitcases. He began to roll them towards the doors that led to the passenger pickup.

"We're going to eat. How does Don Pablo's sound?" Willow asked.

"Any restaurant that has a menu in English sounds good to me."

**

In three weeks time, Buffy had unpacked all of her luggage and most of the boxes that Liam had sent from Paris. She fell back into the normal routine at work and even met Riley, Liam's replacement.

In the cubicle next to her at work, sitting at the cubicle that Liam belonged in, was a dorky blond man from Iowa named Riley Finn. He seemed amicable enough, but Buffy was chilly towards him because he was in Liam's seat. She constantly reminded Riley that when Liam came back from Paris, that Riley would be out of a job.

"Buff, been here long this morning?" asked Xander as he came into work.

Buffy drove a pushpin through the top of a picture of she and Liam at the Eiffel Tower. She didn't bother to look up at Xander until she had finished the task at hand. "About twenty minutes."

"Are you adding to your wall?" Xander asked, motioning to the wall full of pictures from France.

"I sure am," Buffy told him. She wiped her hands on her skirt. "We spent two hours last night on the phone. He sounded tired."

"Well, you probably woke him up early in the morning," Xander reasoned. "I'm going to go get some coffee, do you want some?"

"Sure, thanks," Buffy replied. She sank down in her desk chair and turned on her computer. As she was about to log into her email account, her phone rang. She snatched it up and held it to her ear.

"Buffy Summers speaking," Buffy said into the mouthpiece.

"Hey, baby. How are you?" asked the voice on the other end.

A large grin split Buffy's face. "I'm okay. It's so good to hear your voice. I know we just talked last night on the phone, but…it's still nice."

Buffy heard Liam laughing in the background, followed the tinny sounds of a television show. An audience was applauding someone or something

"You're watching TV, aren't you?" Buffy asked him. She began to type out her email password.

"I sure am. I took the day off, bought some fruit and a present for you. Now I'm in my boxers watching The Lone Ranger dubbed in French," Liam told her.

"You spend your time so well. Do you miss me?"

"Of course I do," Liam told her. Buffy heard the TV shut off, followed by the sound of bare feet on a wood floor. She knew he was shuffling around the room.

"You'll be home in six months, right? Mr. Franchot isn't making you stay longer?" Buffy asked him.

"Six months on the dot. I'll be home in late March," Liam told her. "I've all but confirmed the flight."

"Okay, I will keep my eyes peeled," Buffy told him.

"Buffy?" asked a voice.

Buffy spun around in her chair to find Giles leaning against the wall of her cubicle.

"Do you need to talk to me Giles?" Buffy asked of her boss.

Giles nodded and said, "Say hello to Liam for me. Then come on inside the office. I've gotten your performance report from Mr. Franchot."

"Damn," Buffy mumbled. "Liam, Giles says hi. I'll talk to you later, okay? Enjoy your day off, baby." Dropping her voice, she added, " I love you."

"I love you, too. Bye."

Buffy hung up the phone and walked down the corridor to Giles' office. She opened the door and stopped in front of Giles' desk. Reaching down, she straightened his crooked nameplate. Giles looked up at Buffy and motioned for her to sit down.

"Well, before I get to the progress report, I want to know how your stay in Paris was," Giles asked. Buffy moved her shoulders and answered nonchalantly, "It was fine."

"And Liam?"

"What about Liam?" Buffy asked. "You're pretty sneaky for putting us together in Paris."

"I had to end the feuding somehow," Giles told her with a sly smile. He looked down at a fax on his desk and tapped the paper thoughtfully. He picked up his silver-rimmed spectacles and put them onto read. "I'm glad you had a good time. I assume that you and he are a couple now. If you don't mind me asking."

"Yes, we are. I don't mind you asking," Buffy told him. "What did Mr. Franchot have to say?"

"Nothing bad," Giles reassured Buffy with a smile. "Just that you worked extremely hard, and he's glad to know that your hand will heal properly. Which brings me to the question of, what happened to your hand?"

Buffy raised up her gauze-wrapped hand for him to see. "I stabbed myself with a knife- you know those kitchen accidents. I'm having the sutures removed soon. Anything else, Giles? I've really got to get back to my desk. I'm kinda waterlogged with work."

Giles lifted a white mug to his lips and took a sip. "No, that will be all. You may go."

On her way back to her cubicle, Buffy peeked into Xander's office. He was fiddling with some online computer game.

"Whatcha playing?" Buffy asked.

Xander gasped and dropped the computer joystick in his hand. "Jeez, Buff, didn't anyone teach you to knock? I'm playing virtual racing." He looked away from the screen momentarily to give Buffy a sheepish look. "How's Liam?"

"Just fine. Did you hear me talking to him on the phone?" Buffy asked. She leaned up against the wall of Xander's cubicle while they talked.

"Yeah. You've got it bad." He gave her a weak smile. "Are you joining Willow and I for lunch today?"

"Yeah," Buffy replied. "Do…do you think I should invite Riley? He eats alone everyday at lunch and he makes my heart hurt."

"Buffy, I know that he sits in Liam's cubicle, but he's not the big guy," Xander told her gently.

"I know that," Buffy snapped, growing cross. "Stupid comment. I'll ask him to eat with us and leave it as an open invitation."

Buffy found Riley sitting at his desk, going over quarterly reports. Soft jazz played from a small portable stereo that was on the desk. Liam's calendar was still tacked to the wall; the month of June had not yet turned into the month of November; it would be November soon. Liam's pictures were still on the desk, only they were pushed slightly out of view. Buffy imagined Liam's things were still in the drawers of his desk. She was being ridiculous, treating him like he was dead. Liam wasn't *dead,* he was just gone.

"Hi, Riley. That…is, uh, your name, right?" Buffy asked softly.

Riley turned spun his chair around and looked at Buffy shyly. "Yeah. Hi, Buffy."

Buffy smiled widely at him, taken back by his soft voice and shy demeanor. "Would you like to join my friends and I for lunch?"

Riley looked down at his feet. "That would be…very nice. Thank you. Do you eat in the company cafeteria?"

"We do," Buffy told him, "see you then." She backed out of Riley's cubicle and into her own.

Riley joined Buffy, Willow, and Xander for lunch at the cafeteria. He caught up with Buffy in the salad line, the same place Liam had played a cruel practical joke on her months before.

"Hi," Riley said softly. He picked up a plate and began to load it up with lettuce, eggs, onions, tomatoes, and bacon bits. Buffy looked down at her lettuce, egg, and cheese salad that she'd doused in honey mustard dressing. Her plate looked very naked compared to Riley's.

"Hi. Glad you could join us," Buffy said warmly. She forked a five-dollar bill and her staff ID card to the cafeteria worker, who quickly made change and handed Buffy her ID card. She waited at the end of the line for Riley. Together, they walked into the dining area.

"Did you like Paris?" Riley asked her. They navigated past groups of coworkers and tables full of men and women. Buffy put her tray down at a small rectangular table.

"Yeah, I did. It was fun. They have really good food in Paris," Buffy told him. "And mimes. I attacked a mime. Liam and I were by the Eiffel Tower, and it just leaped out at me. He says that I provoked it, but I didn't."

Riley, who was chewing on some greens, gave a closed-lip smile to his co-worker. A moment later, he said, "Then it attacked you if it jumped out at you."

"We never thought of it that way. Where did you work before temping here?" Buffy asked. She pushed her salad around her plate.

Riley swallowed and replied, "A small recording company in Los Angeles. Have you heard of Capitol Records?"

"You worked for Capitol Records? Wow. They're huge," Buffy noted. She took a bite of salad and flagged her friends over. They had been scanning the dining area for them.

"Are they? I just worked in the jazz section, so I have no idea who recorded there," Riley told her. He had polished off most of his salad by the time Buffy had taken five bites of hers. Willow and Xander joined them at the table with steaming plates of food.

"Hey, Riley, Buffy. Did Liam call you this morning?" Willow asked.

Buffy smiled and nodded as she lifted her bottle of water to her lips. "Yeah. He sent me something. I can't wait to find out what it is."

Xander shook his head. "I don't know how you're going to make it until March when he comes home, Buff. You may be hooked up to life support."

"Liam's not the only thing in my life. He's the most important thing, but he's not the only one. I've got my friends, my job, and my health. Sure, he's in France. But right now, we've got Riley here to be friends with."

"Speaking of friends, Faith mentioned something about Christmas. She and Gunn are in for a celebration, who's hosting?" Xander asked after he'd eaten a mouthful of chicken ala king.

Buffy looked in embarrassment at Riley. "I am. And Riley, you're more than welcome to join us. We have a Christmas party at my house, a Secret Santa deal. We get drunk on spiked eggnog and last year we played strip charades. *That* was interesting."

"You're just bragging because you were still dressed at the end. I swear, she cheated," Willow informed Riley with a smile. "We do the drawing on the twenty-third of December, and then everybody gathers at Buff's."

"It's fun, Rye. Promise," Buffy told him reassuringly. She reached across the table and patted his hand. **

Christmas Music played over the sound system at the Sunnydale Mall. Buffy was browsing several Pre-Christmas sales, one of them in a Bullock's. There were only five days until her Christmas party on the twenty-third. She still had to pick out a gift for her Secret Santa, who was Willow, and a goodie basket for Liam. She had already taken several Polaroids of herself dressed in a skimpy elf outfit. She'd even put the elf hat in the box with the Polaroids. She had considered sticking a note in there, telling Liam she never got the gift he sent her, but it wasn't worth it. Faith, who had accompanied Buffy to the mall, stopped at the music store to pick up the 50 Cent CD for Gunn. She'd accidentally run over his first one with her car (or so she claimed) and was buying him a new one for Christmas.

Buffy looked inside a jewelry case. A necklace had caught Buffy's eye as she was passing. It was a simple silver chain that held a shining black pearl.

"Excuse me," Buffy said to the saleswoman, "how much is this necklace?"

"One hundred dollars," replied the saleswoman. "A special sale for Christmas. Are you interested?"

"I am," Buffy said. "I'll take it."

Faith came up next to Buffy and leaned against the jewelry case. From her hand dangled a purple bag from the music store. "Buying Liam a pearl necklace? He'll love it. It matches the bra-and-panty set I bought him for Christmas."

"Very funny. It's for my Secret Santa," Buffy said. She motioned to the bag in Faith's hand. "Gunn's 50 Cent CD?"

"Yeah. God, I hate this stupid CD. Maybe I'll bury this one in the backyard," Faith grumbled.

The saleswoman took Buffy's American Express card and ran it through the machine. Buffy watched as the woman packed up the necklace and handed it to her. Buffy took the small bag and they continued walking.

"Figure out what to get Liam yet?" Faith asked as they strolled the aisles of the store. She pointed to a pair of handcuffs on the belt of a passing cop. "How about handcuffs? Those will come in handy when you two move in together."

"Come on, Faith, be serious. He's my boyfriend and I love him. I want to get him something sweet," Buffy told Faith. "Something that says, I miss you."

"You already got him those scantily clad Polaroids. What else do you need?"

"I don't know, but I'll find him something."

Part Eight

December twenty-third was a busy day for Buffy. She had ordered the snacks from a local grocery store, stocked up on eggnog with Jack Daniels in it, and had shipped off Liam's Christmas box the day before. Willow had helped Buffy clean the house so it was spic-and-span. In the middle of the living room stood a tall, natural Christmas tree. The whole room smelled absolutely wonderful. Buffy had strung popcorn and had even received some handmade French decorations from Liam for the tree, but nothing from Liam gift-wise.

Willow took a step back and looked at the beautiful tree with its shining ornaments and twinkling lights.

"The tree looks great," Willow told Buffy, who was pouring eggnog into a punch bowl. The punch bowl and glasses were on a table on the far end of the room. Willow had painstakingly organized snacks with tiny bulbs spread out among the food.

"Thank you. Did you see the Eiffel Tower Liam sent me? I put it up by the star," Buffy told Willow, not stopping what she was doing.

The doorbell rang and Willow moved away from the tree. She peered out one of the front door's three rectangular windows. Xander and Cordelia stood on the step, bundled up and holding presents.

"Hey, guys. Come on in. How are you?"

"Cold," bit out Cordelia. "We waited long enough."

"Boy, I'm so glad Xander asked you to join us," Willow bit out bitterly. She took their presents and put them beneath the tree. "Buffy has the eggnog poured and the snacks are all ready. Xander, did you bring the Charlie Brown Christmas CD?"

"Yeah," Xander said. He put the CD case in Willow's hand and helped Cordelia take off her coat.

The doorbell rang again and Buffy deserted her refreshment table. Riley and a pretty brunette were standing on the doorstep. Buffy opened the door and ushered them into the house.

"Hi, Buffy. This is Fred. She was your temp while you were in Paris."

"Hi, Fred."

Fred extended her arms and held out a small square box wrapped in festive holiday paper.

"Thank you. Whose gift is this?" Buffy asked as she put it beneath the tree.

"I-it's a-a h-hostess gift," Fred stammered nervously.

"R-Riley has the Santa gift. He's putting it underneath the tree."

Soon, she whole group had gathered: Willow and Oz, Faith and Gunn, Cordelia and Xander, and Riley and Fred. Buffy was the only single non-single at the party. Her other half was thousands of miles away.

"Secret Santa time," Willow announced excitedly. A sudden ring of a cell phone broke the pandemonium of people diving for gifts beneath the tree.

Xander looked down to see the lights on his phone flashing. He looked quickly at Willow, then glanced at Riley. Willow gave a small nod. "Excuse me." He ducked into the bathroom and took his phone call.

Buffy grabbed her two gifts from beneath the tree. She opened the hostess gift from Riley and Fred. Inside the small white box was a slip of paper with two lines of typed letters.

"Turn every new ornament on its head, put the letters in order to form words. There you will find a special holiday message," Buffy read out loud. "Huh?"

Xander came back into the living room and sat down in the recliner he had shared with Cordelia. No one bothered to ask who was on the phone. Oz leaped up from the sofa to put a different CD in the stereo. A choir was singing holiday tunes, and the beautiful sound filled the room.

Buffy was ransacking the tree for every new ornament she had. There were eleven brand-new ornaments in total, that much she knew. Once she had located all eleven, she put them on the floor and began to arrange them to form words. Willow and Cordelia joined her, and soon they had sorted it out.

"Open…the…odor?" Buffy asked, squinting. "Switch the 'd' and the 'o', Cord."

Cordelia did as she was told.

"Open…the…door," Buffy read aloud. She stood up and looked around the room. "Which door, though?"

"Try the front," Xander suggested with a smile. He motioned casually to the front door.

"Okay," Buffy said. She walked over to the door and swung open the front door, only to find a snow-covered Liam standing on the front porch. "LIAM!" Buffy threw her arms around her snow-sprinkled lover. "Liam, oh god, you're here." She slapped his upper arm. "You creep! You planned this, didn't you?"

Liam kissed her forehead. "I sure did. Thank Xander, Riley, and Willow for their sneakiness. Do you like your Secret Santa gift?"

"I *love* my Secret Santa gift," Buffy told him as she pulled him inside. "I'll always love my Secret Santa gift." She gave his large hand a big squeeze. When Liam was inside the living room, she pointed to him. "Look what I found!"

"Merry Christmas!" the whole group chorused together. Tears sprang up in Buffy's eyes as she clutched Liam, whom she hadn't seen since the beginning of October. "You guys are the best. Oh, I love you guys so much! How did you know that this was what I wanted?"

"Well, duh," replied Xander.

"Why are you covered in snow, Big Guy?" Faith asked Angel. She pointed to the white flakes that were dusted on his body and hair.

"It's snowing outside. When I stepped out of Oz's car, I could see my own breath," Angel told them. "It's just little flakes."

"You were in Oz's car?" Buffy asked as she pulled him over to the loveseat. "How long had you been hiding there?"

"A good hour, at least," Liam told her. He pulled her onto his lap. "I flew in two hours ago and I'm dead tired. But I'm here for Christmas, and that's all that really matters, isn't it?"

"I was so convinced I'd have to wait until March to see you. Now I only have to wait less than four months instead of six," Buffy whispered in his ear. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Now tell them to hurry up and open their gifts, beloved. We have a game of strip charades to play."

"Come on, Liam. Please don't make me play strip charades," Buffy begged.

"You don't have to be embarrassed in front of me," Liam replied with a teasing grin. "I've already seen you naked."

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Willow's eyebrows arch like two red caterpillars. Buffy tightened her lips and shook her head in the negative; she didn't want to explain her sex life to all of her friends during a Christmas Party. Faith, who had been standing at the window, turned away from it.

"Isn't anyone interested in the snow?" Faith asked. She motioned out the window with her thumb. "There's probably half an inch on the ground right now, and it doesn't look like it's going to quit falling any time soon."

Gunn came up behind his girlfriend and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Faith asked Gunn. She was still watching her friends, who had formed a cluster of onlookers.

"It sure is," Gunn agreed. "If it keeps snowing, there might be enough for a snowball fight."

"We used to have those in Boston," Faith told the group. "Snowball fights, I mean. Whole blocks would just wage all-out war. This…this is so cool. I didn't know it snowed in Southern California."

"It usually doesn't," Xander reassured the brunette. "I guess it's just one of nature's little quirks." He draped his arm around Cordelia's shoulder and they looked out the window together.

Buffy and Liam were still silently snuggling on the loveseat. Everyone else was talking in a flurry of words about the snow falling outside, but Buffy didn't feel that words were necessary at the moment.

"I'd like to see what everyone got for Christmas," Riley spoke up after many minutes. He looked over at Buffy, who seemed at peace in her boyfriend's embrace. Riley tightened his arm around Fred and moved towards the tree.

"Good idea, Riley," Willow agreed. She put down her cup of eggnog on the coffee table. "Everyone get settled!" She helped Riley and Fred pass out gifts.

Xander stretched out on the floor next to Cordelia's dining room chair. Willow and Oz along with Faith and Gunn were on the sofa. Fred sat in Joyce's recliner and Riley sat at her feet. Buffy and Liam were still curled up on the loveseat.

"I'm sorry I don't have anything for you, Liam," Buffy told her boyfriend, "I sent most of it to France. You'll probably get to open it when you return to the house."

Liam squeezed her hand and told her, "I don't need anything. This is perfect."

"We'll start with you, Riley," Willow said. She had taken over the job of master of ceremonies.

Riley ripped into his hastily wrapped present. Inside of the wrapping was a coffee mug with his name on it. "This is perfect, I need a coffee cup for the office. Who gave me this?"

Oz raised his hand. "Me. Functional gift."

"Very. Thank you," Riley agreed. He put his coffee mug next to Fred's glass of eggnog.

Willow went next, opening the jewelry box from Bullocks. She cried upon opening the box and seeing the pearl necklace Buffy had bought her. Xander was Buffy's Secret Santa. His gift for her was Liam, who he'd bought the tickets to Sunnydale for. Cordelia got Fred a white cashmere sweater. Fred bought Xander Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles DVD set which made his day. Riley purchased Cordelia a bottle of her favorite perfume, Forever by Alfred Sung. Willow bought Gunn a second copy of his 50 Cent CD, knowing that Faith's copy for him would be mysteriously disappearing soon. Faith bought Willow a package of CD-R's for her new CD burner. Gunn was the last to go, and he bought Fred a set of candles and candlesticks.

After the gift opening, the annual game of strip charades was skipped over in favor of Frank Capra's masterpiece 'It's a Wonderful Life'. By the time the video was over, it was almost midnight. Willow and Oz, who had formally announced their engagement after the gift opening, stuck around to help Buffy and Liam clean up.

"Bye, Will. I'll see you on Wednesday," Buffy said to her friend. She gave Oz a final wave and shut the front door. Exhausted, she leaned up against the front door for a bit of support.

Liam came downstairs from the bathroom clad in an old UCLA sweater and his usual black sweatpants. He stopped short when he saw Buffy dozing against the front door. "Are you asleep?"

"No," replied Buffy, though her eyes stayed shut. "Just thinking of sleeping."

Liam came over to her and pulled her away from the door. He turned the deadbolt and shook her shoulder. "Beloved, you have to show me where to go. I don't know where your bedroom is."

Buffy smiled at him as they climbed up the stairs. "Our bedroom. You'll be leaving here soon, remember? Turn right at the end of the hall."

Liam pushed the white bedroom door open to find a nice, homey bedroom. The walls were covered in tan-and-mint striped wallpaper. The carpet was thick and soft, it was the kind that one's feet could sink into. On the wall were various pictures in frames and several silk butterflies frozen in flight.

"Don't ask about the decorations," Buffy told him. "I haven't redecorated since I left for college five years ago." She took her shoes off and pulled her black knit sweater off. "Could you grab a t-shirt from the dresser? Just open the top drawer. There are a million of them in there."

Liam pulled open a drawer on the antique dresser and grabbed a gray t-shirt from the top of a folded stack. He tossed it to Buffy, who caught it with ease. She pulled it over her head and got into bed, deciding not to worry about taking off her makeup. Liam flipped off the overhead light and got into bed next to her.

"Good night."

"Good night."

**

Liam stayed in Sunnydale until December thirtieth. That was the day he had to fly back to France. He would be back at work on January second and work straight through March. Buffy helped him pack and drove him to the airport in her Jeep. Together, they stood at the terminal. Their good-bye resembled their first parting at the airport in Paris.

They had done a lot during Liam's excursion in Sunnydale. They went to Monterey and saw the manatees; they went to the Sherman Williams to pick out pain and wallpaper for their upcoming decorating. Another day, Xander and Willow went with them for three days to Las Vegas, where Liam lost three hundred dollars at the blackjack table. The rest of Liam's trip was spent inside the house. Rather, in the bed.

While they waited for the plane, Liam popped a menthol cough drop in his mouth. He was seriously sick, nursing what Buffy assumed was the flu, and didn't really want to fly.

Buffy watched as Liam's plane pulled up to the gate. She touched his arm. "Are you ready to go back?"

Liam nodded but did not look down at her. "I'm ready." He reached up and brushed several tears from his cheeks.

"Looks like I'm the one crying now."

The flight desk announced it was taking passengers with disabilities and passengers with children five and under. Liam knew they would be calling coach class soon. He bent down and picked up his travel bag and Sports Illustrated. After he noticed a Kleenex in Buffy's hand, he took it from her and shoved it in his pocket.

"You had better board now," Buffy told him. She reached up and wiped a few more tears away from his pale cheeks. "I'll talk to you soon. Behave in Paris, you hear me?" She sniffled. "I'm so glad that you were able to come home."

"I am, too," Liam said.

He kissed her cheek swiftly, then began to back towards the gate. He gave her a forced smile and mouthed his love to her. Buffy nodded and bit down her lip to keep from crying. She watched as he gave the attendant his ticket and then disappeared down the long hallway to the plane. Buffy sank down in one of the black airport chairs and watched as Liam's plane taxied down the runway. She kept her eyes on what she thought was his plane until it disappeared into the cheerful blue sky.

The drive home was long for Buffy. She kept the thought that Liam would be coming home again soon in her heart, though something was nagging at her. Buffy pulled into her driveway and went inside her house. She paused in the foyer and slammed the door behind her. Buffy's eyes traveled to the calendar on the wall. She picked up her black permanent marker and slashed a big black X through December thirtieth.

A ringing phone had just woken Buffy from a wonderful dream. She opened her eyes and looked at the alarm clock. The large red numbers on her clock read 5:16 a.m. Buffy blindly reached for her phone and found it sitting on the table by her lamp. She pressed down the 'on' button and held it up to her ear.

"Hello?" Buffy asked groggily.

"Is this Buffy Summers?" asked an unfamiliar male voice.

"Yes. Who's, uh, who's this?" Buffy asked. She sat up in bed and turned on the lamp on the bedside table.

"I'm Kelman O'Malley, Liam's father." Buffy noticed then how shaken Liam's father sounded.

"Is there something wrong with Liam? Did he get to Paris?" Buffy asked. She heard her heart beating like a jackhammer in her ears.

"No, no he didn't. Buffy…Liam's plane crashed fifty minutes ago in Cherbourg, France."

Buffy felt her heart stop in her chest.

Part Nine

Buffy and Mr. O’Malley sat in the Air France office at Sunnydale Airport. They were waiting for a phone call from the airport nearest the crash site. Firefighters and rescue personnel had been sent to the crash site, but there had been no word from Cherbourg or from the airport in Paris. The major news stations had been broadcasting the tragedy for nearly forty-minutes, and many family members of those on board found out via CNN.

Mr. O’Malley glanced at Buffy, who was wearing a brown leather jacket over Liam’s UCLA sweater and a pair of plaid pajama pants. On her feet were black flip-flops. Her hair was still tousled from sleep. Mr. O’Malley reached over to touch Buffy’s hand.

Buffy slowly looked up at Liam’s father. She didn’t attempt to smile at the man who had been Liam’s sole parent for years and years. Instead, Buffy took her pink Kleenex from her lap and wiped away the tears that wouldn’t stop flowing from her green eyes.

"I wish a damned representative from Air France would get here already," Buffy said from behind her Kleenex. "I just can’t handle all of the waiting."

"They’re getting a list of survivors, Buffy. They can’t tell us what they know until they’re sure. They don’t want to tell a person’s family that their loved one is alive and be…be wrong," Mr. O’Malley told her, his voice catching on the word wrong.

"Can’t you just cry?" Buffy asked, her disbelief and grief turning into anger. "You’re just sitting there like a statue."

"I refuse to cry until I know," Mr. O’Malley told her in an emotionless voice. "No point in it." He saw the tears build up in his son’s girlfriend’s eyes. "I didn’t mean to insult you. I can’t imagine what you’re going through."

Buffy shook her head in disagreement. "Liam told me that your wife died years ago. I think you can imagine what I’m feeling right now." She put her head against his arm and heard the cotton scratching beneath her ear.

A few minutes later, an airline representative walked into the room. Her face was impassive. Buffy looked at Mr. O’Malley, and together they stood up. She slowly shook her head negatively; the strawberry blond hair that framed her face flew about wildly.

"He’s…dead?" Buffy choked out.

"He’s missing." The woman sat down behind the office’s large oak desk. "Only half of the people on the flight have been identified so far. Their…dental records are identifying most of them. They have found three survivors so far, a German woman, a French woman, and a young boy. But they are in critical condition."

"How many people were on the flight?" Mr. O’Malley asked.

"One-hundred and one," the woman replied calmly.

Buffy looked down at the Kleenex in her hand, the same Kleenex she’d torn into tiny shreds during the wait. She rubbed the side of her face and let out a sob. Mr. O’Malley gathered Buffy in his arms and let her cry out a fraction of her pain.

"Please, let us know if you hear about my son," Mr. O’Malley said calmly as the woman walked out. She said nothing, just simply nodded.

**

Willow, Kelman O’Malley, and Xander sat with the Buffy-zombie in the living room. Liam had been missing, presumed dead, for a week. Kelman had been in constant contact with the airline, which was still recovering bodies, luggage, and various other items. There were twelve survivors so far, but none of them were Liam.

Buffy hadn’t spoken in days, not since the airline representative told her that Liam was missing. She barely had enough will to take care of herself. Willow had to pry her jaw open on several instances and shove the food into her mouth. She was seriously grieving and nothing could snap her out of it.

The news hadn’t been told to anyone at the company, excluding friends. Giles let Buffy take grief leave knowing that she would need some time to get over Liam’s death the best she could.

Spread out in front of Willow, Xander, and Kelman was a catalog from the local mortuary.

"I like that headstone," Kelman mentioned. "I like the black stone. We could have something engraved onto it. He liked hockey."

"Did he?" Willow asked. She looked over Kelman’s shoulder and at a nice black granite stone. "Yes, we could have a hockey stick on there."

"I looked at Restfield yesterday," Xander piped up. "There’s a nice plot available under a weeping-Willow tree."

Kelman glanced at Xander and gave the best smile he could. "Thank you. I’ve, uh, picked out the casket. A cherry casket with a nice, shining finish."

"You won’t be burying anything," Buffy said softly.

The room’s other three occupants looked up at her.

"Huh?" Xander asked without tact. He was too shocked that Buffy had actually spoken to say anything intelligent.

"You won’t be burying anything! Because there’s not a body! Because my Liam isn’t dead!" Buffy shouted. She got up off of the couch.

Willow stood up as well. "You’re right, there isn’t a body to bury. But it’s not a burial per se. We’re simply honoring Liam’s life…and…his spirit. He’s dead, Buffy. He’s really, truly, gone."

Buffy’s head whipped around to look at her long time friend. "He’s not dead, though, Willow. I can feel it in my heart. If he were dead…I would know."

Kelman moved from his place on the sofa to grip Buffy by the arms. "Please Buffy, you need to accept it. Liam-my son- is dead. He’s not going to walk through that door anymore. He’s gone, he’s in a better place."

"But he’s not!" Buffy shouted. "He said once that there was no better place on earth than with me! So wherever he is, even if he were dead, isn’t a better place!" She ripped her shoulders away from Kelman’s grasp and bolted for the staircase. Kelman matched her quick, fluid steps and soon he was right behind her.

"Buffy, please. Please, let the ghost go," Kelman begged her.

Buffy slammed her hands over her ears. "NO! SHUT UP! NO! I’LL NEVER LET HIM GO!" She ran up the rest of the staircase and made into her bedroom. She shut the door with a heavy slam so her sobs could not be heard.

With a heavy heart, Kelman came down the stairs. He sat where Buffy had been sitting earlier. "She doesn’t even try to understand what I’m going through. He was my son and he’s dead. He was my only child. He was supposed to outlive me, not the other way around." He put his face in his hands and tried not to cry.

Xander closed the catalog from the mortuary and looked up at Willow apologetically. "Maybe we should have waited a while before organizing the vigil. We’re all still grieving."

Willow sat down next to her friend. "It’s just hard for her. All those years she never had a boyfriend. She finally meets the one and he dies. Liam didn’t deserve to die like that."

Xander, the voice of clarity, said, "No one deserves to die like that, Will, not just Liam."

"I wish I had Buffy’s optimism," Kelman bit out from behind his hands. "I wish I could believe he was still alive somewhere. But…it’s been a week and they’ve decided he’s dead. Maybe if I knew for sure, if I saw some…remains…maybe I could put it at rest. It’s the hardest part of all of this, knowing that there’s nothing there to tell us he’s really dead. We just believe someone’s word."

Buffy opened the bedroom door and walked to the top of the stairs. She heard Willow, Xander, and Kelman talking in the living room in hushed tones.

"She loved him very much, didn’t she?" Kelman asked.

Willow replied, "She did. She had herself convinced he was scum of the earth, and it all changed when they got to Paris. She just fell in love with him, she knew he was the one for her. Damn it. Why? She’ll never get over this. Never."

Buffy turned back around and went into her bedroom.

**

The day of Liam’s service was an overcast day, and an occasional thunderclap could be heard in the distance. There were many mourners. Some of them were from work, including Mr. Franchot, who had flown in from Paris. Buffy’s friends were all there, as were some of Liam’s college friends.

Buffy took the role of the grieving widow. In her black knee-length dress, she stood away from the other mourners. No one dared come near her, not even her close friends. Her face was indifferent, her green eyes glassy, her mouth unmoving and still.

The wind blew harshly around the congregation of mourners. It howled like a wolf separated from the pack. The pastor’s words were muted as the wind lamented around them all, the pastor’s mouth moved but no sound came from his words.

Buffy watched, motionless, as the pallbearers began to lower the empty cherry casket into the ground. Shovels were grabbed and several men began to shower dirt on her beloved’s empty coffin. Her mouth opened, but her tongue lay still. Silent tears, just two of the millions she had cried since the plane crash, slipped from her eyes as the shovels hit the ground with four solid thuds.

She steeled her jaw as the pastor raised his hand vertically and made the sign of the cross over the empty coffin. She felt her body turn and her legs give out. She felt thin arms surround her body. She heard the sobs rise up, tasting like salt and blood and death. She felt the warm tears coursing down her cheeks; she saw the masses gather around her. She looked past them and to the hallowed ground where the "spirit" of her only love was encased forever.

She turned.

She fled.

Part Ten

Her home, the same house that was to be Liam’s home, was silent and still when Buffy entered it. Softly, Buffy closed the door behind her. Her gaze traveled to the wall calendar. The last day marked off was December thirtieth. A New Year had come, the old one had gone, become memories, and Buffy still hadn’t pulled the calendar down.

Slowly she climbed the stairs and walked into her bedroom. On her dresser was a package from the photo developer, unopened. In the package were photographs from Liam’s final days, the days he’d spent with her in Sunnydale. The memories were still too real, still too tender, to be relived. Buffy moved on to the bathroom. Liam’s bottle of Stetson cologne still sat on the bathroom counter where he had forgotten it. In the trash can was a razor he’d used to shave. In the laundry room were several pieces of his dirty laundry. In the kitchen were paint and wallpaper swatches he liked, they were the same colors Buffy would color her home eventually.

Buffy looked at her reflection in the mirror and thought the looking glass had cracked. Her mascara and eyeliner had run, creating long black streaks down her cheeks. Her eye shadow had smeared; her lipstick had rubbed off. Buffy reached up to touch her reflection, but her fingertips stopped just before contact. Her fingers sought out the Kleenex box. She pulled one from the cardboard container and gently wiped the black streaks from her face.

The doorbell rang, and her soiled Kleenex fluttered to the ground. Buffy took the steps one by one, far too shaken to run down them. Her hand grabbed the doorknob and prepared to open the door. She knew it was Liam! It had to be! Buffy pulled the heavy door open.

"Liam, I--"

Buffy’s face fell. Liam was not standing in front of her. Instead, a UPS man carrying a box beneath each arm was standing on the stoop. He put one of the boxes down and handed Buffy a pad. She signed her name across the bottom and wordlessly took the boxes from him. Without speaking at all, she shut the door.

Buffy pulled the boxes into the living room and ripped them open with the aid of a pair of scissors. The first box was the box she’d sent to Liam for Christmas. His gifts lay inside, untouched. There were cookies in a decorative tin. Under that was a large stuffed panda bear that said ‘I love you’ when you pressed it’s stomach. There was a photograph of them at the Louvre she’d had specially framed. There were the Polaroids in the skimpy Elf outfit. Buffy shoved the box aside and moved onto the second one.

This box was considerably smaller than the other one. It had Liam’s address in Paris written on it. Buffy’s name was scrawled in beautiful calligraphy. She didn’t know what this box could be; she’d received her Christmas gifts from him on the twenty-seventh. Intrigued, Buffy pulled the flaps away. Wrapped in packing paper and bubble wrap was a videotape. With shaking hand, Buffy took the tape from the box and put it in the VCR. The TV flashed on and then the videotape started. The date on the corner told her the tape had been filmed on December 21.

Liam was sitting on the couch in the house in Paris. He wore a white t-shirt and his usual black sweatpants. Because he had severe animosity towards his feet, he had pulled socks on. There was a strand of blinking, multi-colored Christmas lights strung up behind the couch.

Buffy bit down on her knuckle, Liam looked gorgeous.

"Hi, sweetheart," Liam said. "I’m making you this tape in the hopes it will get there in time for Christmas. It may not, but another special gift *will* be there by Christmas."

Buffy pulled a Kleenex from the box next to the sofa.

"There’s not a whole lot I want to say to you, because I’ll get the chance to say it someday. I just wanted to show you how I was instead of telling you." The camera was picked up, and the scene changed from an interior to an exterior. Liam showed Buffy his street, which was dusted with white powder. "Snow, baby. Snow."

"I miss having you here with me in Paris. There’s so much left for us to do, to share and experience. I’ll be home in March, March twenty-seventh to be exact. There’s something important I wanted to ask you then, the moment I got off the plane, but I know that it can’t wait. At the bottom of the cardboard box is a smaller box wrapped in newspaper."

Buffy paused the tape and went over to the box. From the bottom, she pulled a small square box wrapped in French newspaper. She brought it over to her seat and waited till he gave the go ahead to open it.

When Buffy started the tape again, Liam was laughing. "You waited to open it, didn’t you? Go ahead, open it."

Buffy ripped off the newspaper. She felt the soft touch of velvet beneath her fingertips. Slowly she opened the box, having a hunch on what was inside. Tears sprang up in her eyes as a small diamond ring caught in the overhead light.

"So, how about it? Can I make an honest woman of you? Buffy, will you marry me?"

The ring box in her hand began to shake wildly. She willed herself not to drop it as she pulled the ring from the box. Buffy held it in her palm for a moment, contemplating whether or not to put the ring on.

"Well, I hope that was a yes and you’re kissing the TV screen right now," tape-Liam said with a grin. He brought two of his fingers to his lips, kissed them, and brought them right up to the lens though he did not press down. "I love you, Buffy Anne Summers. I want to marry you. I’ll see you soon."

The tape ended there and the TV picture became snowy.

When Willow and Xander arrived home from the wake after the vigil, Buffy was still sitting in the living room. The engagement ring was still cupped in her palm and snowflakes of black and white danced across the TV screen.

"Buffy, what is it?" Willow asked. She turned off the TV set and the videotape popped out of the VCR. She didn’t bother with the tape; she just looked at her best friend. "Buff?"

Buffy clenched the ring between her finger and thumb and held it up for her friend to see. "Liam sent me a tape…I just got it today…he asked me to marry him. He didn’t mention it when he came to visit over Christmas…he must have known the box hadn’t arrived."

Willow’s mouth gaped open. "When?"

"December twenty-first. I’ve been sitting here since the tape ended. I don’t know whether or not to put the ring on."

Xander walked up beside Willow and looked down at his sitting blonde friend. "I know. Buffy, if you put that ring on you’ll be engaged to a dead man all your life. You know and I know that you’ll never take it off. You’ll never give anyone else a chance because you’ll feel like you’re tied to a man that you’ll never see again."

"It doesn’t matter what I do with the ring," Buffy told them softly, "because I’ll be tied to a dead man all of my life anyway." She pulled the ring over her left-hand ring finger and began to walk from the room. Xander called out to her as she went up the stairs.

"So, that’s your decision? Give up whatever chance you had at life to mourn Liam O’Malley?" Xander shouted.

"If you can’t deal with it, Xander, get the hell out of my house," Buffy called to him. She slammed her door shut.

Willow put her hands over her nose and took a deep breath. "She might as well have been on that plane with him, Xander."

A week after Liam’s funeral, Buffy returned to work. Riley had taken Liam’s position indefinitely. The only reason Riley would not take the position permanently would be if Liam by, some grace of god, returned. And rising from the dead was only something that happened in cheesy sci-fi flicks.

Buffy stared at Liam’s cubicle from her standing position in the middle of the hallway. Riley had asked her politely to clear Liam’s personal belongings from his desk. Buffy had yet to do so. There was half an hour until the rest of the employees began to filter in, and Buffy had summoned enough courage to finally take Liam’s personal belongings from Riley’s cubicle. She couldn’t blame Riley for wanting them gone; it would be hard for anyone to look at a dead man’s belongings everyday. Except for, of course Buffy, who looked and touched Liam’s belongings at least once a day. She’d bought a bottle of Stetson just like Liam’s and had started to dab it on the pillow next to hers. That way, it smelled like him even though he wasn’t really there.

Like a ghost, she moved into Riley’s cubicle and began to clear away Liam’s belongings. She pulled his smutty calendar from the wall and lifted the Red Wings clock from the desk. She gently picked up the framed photographs from his desk and placed them in the box she’d brought with her. Buffy opened the bottom drawer where Riley had put Liam’s other belongings. Pens, a Day Runner, an energy bar, and a back-up squeeze bottle of hair gel followed the other objects into the box.

Buffy moved into her own cubicle and pulled a large Ziploc baggie from her back pocket. Painstakingly, she pulled twenty-eight pins out of twenty-eight photographs and put the photos in the bag. The baggie was the top object in the box.

Finally, Buffy took a framed photo of Liam from her desk. She pressed her lips against the glass and whispered, "Good bye." She put the framed picture in the box and put the lid on it.

Then the phone rang.

Buffy sniffled a little bit as she reached for the phone.

"Buffy Summers," she said into the phone. She reached down and began to twist her ring from Liam around her finger.

"Miss Summers, I’m Julia Morgan from Air France," said a polite voice on the other end of the line.

"Oh my god. Is Liam…did you find him?" Buffy asked. She waved Willow, who had been passing by, into her cubicle. Willow did not fail to notice how Buffy’s face lit up like a string of Christmas lights.

"Not exactly, Miss Summers. We have ten missing passengers, you see, and we wanted to see why they were missing. It turns out three of them never boarded their original flight. Two more were found later, having forgotten about their tickets. We identified the remains of four more, which leaves just one."

"Liam," breathed Buffy. Her throat was constricting her airflow.

"Liam, exactly. When we went back to find out about Liam’s whereabouts, we learned something very interesting."

"What? Damn it, can you just tell me already? I don’t…I can’t…" her voice broke, leaving the line silent.

"Liam never boarded his connecting flight at Heathrow Airport."

**

Part Eleven

The phone in Buffy’s hand slipped from her grasp and hit the countertop with a smack. Buffy started to shake. To keep the lines of connection open, Willow snatched up the phone and put it to Buffy’s ear.

"Miss Summers?" asked Julia.

"H-here. Just…shocked, that’s all. Well, if Liam never got on his connecting flight, where did he go? I mean, you didn’t fly over the Bermuda Triangle or anything, did you? Was…was he on the plane at JFK?"

"Yes," replied Julia. "He boarded the plane at John F. Kennedy International Airport and flew to London-Heathrow. That’s where we lost contact with him."

"You mean to tell me that your office *fucked up* and I buried a fucking empty casket for nothing? You people are fabulous, you know that? You just now get around to finding out where the missing passengers went. Well, you could have saved me and the others a lot of trouble if you just would have looked into it."

"I understand you’re upset--"

"Upset doesn’t begin cover it. I grieve for what seems like *eons* and you people are out, putzing around, picking up *teeth* and you don’t have enough consideration to call me and let me know he never boarded the plane? How long have you known?"

"Three and a half days," replied Julia in a frightened voice.

Buffy sighed and ran a hand through her hair. When the clasps of her diamond ring caught on her hair, she simply pulled and the snags were released. "Keep me informed. I want you to find him…please. Please."

Julia’s voice sounded relieved. "I will. We’re working on it. We have your home phone number, and we’ve already contacted Liam’s father. We’ll let you know the minute we get the information."

Buffy put the phone down on the receiver and started to cry for the umpteenth time. But this time, the tears weren’t of grief and sadness. They were of hope and happiness. She threw her arms around Willow.

"He’s alive, Willow. Oh, god, he’s alive," Buffy sobbed into Willow’s hair.

"We don’t know that," Willow said, hating to be the one to burst Buffy’s bubble. "Something…an incident…may have occurred at the airport. Something bad."

"I told you he wasn’t dead," Buffy continued, disregarding Willow’s comment. "I felt it. I’ve never been so happy. Soon I’ll see my Liam…my Liam."

Xander poked his head in the office and said, "Buffster? What’s going on?"

"Liam never boarded the plane to Paris," Buffy said in a muffled voice. Her voice was muffled. "Never got on it. He didn’t die Xander! He wasn’t on the plane *to* die!" She finally looked up at her friend, who looked dumbstruck.

"That’s…that’s…the best news I’ve ever heard," Xander said as he joined the group hug.

Buffy and Kelman sat by the phone later that same night. After Julia had called Buffy at work, Buffy had taken the entire afternoon to be at home with the phone. She took the cordless with her everywhere she went. Willow and Xander seemed to doubt Liam’s safety, but Kelman and Buffy still believed.

When the phone did ring, Kelman snatched it up.

"Kelman, this is Julia from Air France. We know where Liam is," said Julia. "He’s alive."

Kelman threw his arms around his future daughter-in-law in joy.

"Kelman? There’s more!" shouted Julia. She had to shout to break up the celebration. "Liam was severely ill when he left California. He had pneumonia and it had progressed to the state where Liam fell unconscious twenty feet from the gate at the airport. Liam was robbed of his wallet that held his identification, but the doctors found a half-ripped business card in one of his pockets. That’s how they I.D.’d him. He’s still a little under the weather and won’t be able to travel for a while."

"I don’t care," Buffy said into the phone. "He’s alive."

Kelman patted Buffy’s shoulder in a fatherly manner. "That’s so wonderful. I want you to know how grateful we are. Is there any way we could talk to him now? Do you think he can be home by the end of the month?"

"Most likely," Julia replied. "I’m not a medical expert by a long shot. I don’t know if you want to fly out to London or not, but the doctors think it’s likely Liam will be able to fly home soon. His vital signs are excellent, according to his doctor."

"Thank you, god," Buffy said in a whisper. "Thank you for my Liam."

Kelman and Julia finished up their conversation, and then they hugged for a long time.

"I’m just so happy…" Buffy said, trying to will away the tears gathering once again in her eyes. She glanced down at her engagement ring. "And now I can actually say that I’m marrying Liam, not just attached to his ghost."

"Were you ready to be attached to a ghost for seventy years?" Kelman asked gently as he put the phone away.

"Yes, oh yes," Buffy replied. "I fought hard enough for him. I tormented him endlessly, slipping laxatives into his soda, coming to work scantily clad. And do you know what he did? He sent me flowers. Peppered flowers, yes, but they were beautiful white roses."

Kelman shook his head while he laughed. "He got that from his old man. Liam’s mother Caitlin and I tormented each other endlessly before it hit us that we were in love with each other. I’m glad someone beat him at his own game."

Buffy ran a hand through her dark hair. "I’m not sure if I exactly beat him at his own game, but still." She smiled at Kelman and got up to call her friends. As soon as she had touched it, it rang.

"Hello?" Buffy asked, putting the phone to her ear.

"Buffy?" asked a weak voice on the other end. "Is that you?"

"Liam! Oh god…I thought I’d never hear your voice again. Are you…are you okay?" Buffy asked. She felt her heart melting at the simple sound of his breathing on the other end.

Liam gave a sickly laugh and said, "Better. Not good enough to go a few rounds in the sack with you, sweetheart, I’m sorry to say. We lucked out, didn’t we?"

"We sure did." Buffy glanced down at her engagement ring, pondering whether or not to tell him her reply yet. She looked up at Kelman, who was vigorously shaking his head no. "I’m glad you passed out at the airport. If you hadn’t have…you’d be dead. Everyone thought you were dead but me. I knew that you weren’t."

Liam said, "I was unconscious for a few days…two or three. The doctors said that your name was the first word out of my mouth when I woke up. Did you get the box I sent you from Paris yet?"

"No, not yet," Buffy lied. "Hey, your dad is here with me. Why don’t you guys talk while I make some dinner? I love you and I’ll see you soon, hopefully." Buffy handed the phone off to Liam’s father and began to cook dinner. She could hear Kelman laughing and talking excitedly to his son.

She’d spoken to him, she’d heard his voice, and it all felt like a dream. But it wasn’t. It was real; Liam was alive and well. Soon she could hold him in her arms and tell him that she wanted to marry him.

**

A week passed, a week that Buffy spent on the phone with the mortuary. They refused to dig up Liam’s coffin until they saw the actual Liam, alive and breathing, standing in their offices. Even though they’d buried nothing but air, the people at the funeral home were convinced that it was all some kind of trick.

Kelman and Giles arranged for Liam’s return trip to the United States. They had expected for the young man to be afraid to fly, but it was actually quite the opposite. He was jittery, yes, but not afraid. Liam took the events at the airport as an omen. It put his whole life in perspective. He didn’t regret anything he’d done with Buffy, not even bidding a good-bye to her with eyes full of tears. He hoped and prayed that she’d received the box that he had sent her from Paris and watched the video.

They had arranged for Liam to fly one-way right into Sunnydale from Memphis after catching the company jet in New York City. They didn’t want him under any kind of strain, they treated him like a sickly child rather than a full grown man who’d just had pneumonia.

Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Kelman sat at the Sunnydale airport, waiting for Liam’s arrival from Memphis. It was just after three in the morning, and the only thing that was moving was one of those Billy Bass singing fish on a plaque that a tourist had left by the gate. Buffy twisted her engagement diamond around her ring finger nervously. She wouldn’t believe Liam was safe until he was right there with her. It was unlikely that she’d fly again or let him fly after this debacle.

Willow was the one who spotted the plane first. It was practically the only plane in the sky, and she saw its lights flashing as it landed on a far away runway. The landing was bumpy, and Buffy could just imagine being one of those passengers who was being bumped all around. It took the plane ten minutes to arrive at the gate. One by one, the passengers filed from the hallway. The bright overhead lights caused them to squint and rub their foreheads.

"Where is he, where is he?" Buffy mumbled. She looked at the faces of every person getting off of the plane.

"He’ll be here," Xander reassured her. He patted her arm in an affectionate manner.

"There he is!" yelled Kelman in the voice of a child. It took all of his self-control not to run to his son and throw his arms around him, thanking whatever higher being there was for Liam’s safe return. It was then Kelman realized that taking care of his son was no longer his job. It was Buffy’s.

Buffy pulled away from Xander’s grasp and waited to see Liam walk through the entryway. When she saw the tip of that first coifed Spike, she let out a yell and dropped her purse on the ground. She ran towards him faster than she thought her legs could take her, reaching him before he got all the way out of the entryway.

"Liam! Liam! You’re really here," Buffy sobbed as she threw her arms around him. She felt his arms tighten around her body.

"Oh, Buffy," he sighed into her hair. He pulled away from her and looked her over, as if his eyes had been deprived of her like lungs to oxygen.

Slowly Buffy raised up her left hand, and watched as Liam’s eyes caught the ring on her finger.

"You said yes?" Liam asked.

"I said yes. I said it to a videotape, but I said yes," Buffy said, embracing him once again.

Liam took her hand and led her into the airport where their friends were standing. After he had embraced Willow, Xander, and his father, he pulled Buffy back into his arms.

"You came home to me," Buffy said as they walked from the gate.

Liam dropped a kiss on the crown of her head.

"I always told you I would be coming home to you."

Send feedback to Aurora

Back to the Fanfiction Archive