Summerhaven

Chapter 9

Buffy made a decision before William climbed the trellis to her room that she wouldn’t tell him of the baby. It would only make him want to stay with her and she couldn’t let him as much as she wanted to. Buffy wiped at the tears that started to stream down her face.

She heard pebbles hitting her glass doors and scrubbed at her face so he wouldn’t see that she had been crying.

She dragged her sleeve across her face once more and opened the doors. William stood there looking haggard. She didn’t notice it before but it was pouring outside. He was soaked to the skin. His clothes hung, stuck to his body, his face pale. His usual curls hanging in long straight tendrils around his face.

Buffy held a tremble within and silently told herself she could do this.

“William,” she nodded and swept to the side to allow him access to her room.

William said nothing and walked in, water falling as droplets onto the hard wood floor.

“I saw your father this afternoon,” he said gruffly not looking at her.

Buffy turned away from him and wrung her hands together.

“He is sending me away.”

“I know. It’s for the best really. You don’t belong here. You deserve better,” she said looking at his face. William’s clear blue eyes met hers and she had to turn away from the intensity in his gaze.

“I belong with you,” he said grabbing her arm and yanking her against his body.

“William..”

“Tell me to stay Buffy. I’ll go anywhere you ask. I won’t leave unless you ask me too. I’ll come back. No one can keep us apart,” he said desperately holding onto her, his grip becoming painful.

Buffy laughed a dry laugh and wrenched herself away from William’s embrace.

“William go. I don’t want you here. What we had was nothing. This love you thought I felt for you was nothing. Twas not but a bit of practice. I am now ready for an real man now.”

“Buffy I love you,” William said defeated.

Buffy looked at him one last time, trying to memorize everything about his face, his hair, his body. She knew if he touched her again she would crumble and beg him to stay.

“Go William. I don’t want you, you are beneath me,” she said cruelly.

William’s eyes widened with shock making Buffy cast her gaze downward. She balled her hands into fists, her nails leaving little welts in her palms and silently begged him to leave. When she looked up again he was gone.

Buffy crumbled to the floor in a heap of brocade and tears. She wept bitterly, her tears her only voice of her heart breaking. She wanted to run after him and beg him to stay but knew her father would make that impossible. She got up and ran to her balcony in time to see his retreating back fade into the shadows.

“William!  I love you!” she whimpered when she couldn’t see him anymore.

*~*

It had been a little over a month since William left and Buffy was still a mess. She was undoubtedly with child. She would cry at the drop of a hat and hid herself in her room. She couldn’t be consoled and refused everyone. She was barely eating, the food promptly being brought back up by her grief.

Her father had glossed over her attitude and her demeanor making it look like she was a spoilt brat. Her mother tried to comfort her but knew her presence wasn’t wanted. Even Dawn tried to be there but Buffy wanted to be alone. She hadn’t left her bedroom since William left Summerhaven.

She would huddle in her window seat overlooking the garden and dream of all the times they played in the maze of hedges and flowers. She would sigh longingly when she peered near the stables. She sat there and dreamed of their child growing within her. She would pat her belly and tell it all about it’s father. What a great man he was and how he would always love them even if he wasn’t able to be there.

It would always make her break down miserably and she would cry with heartbreaking sobs that shook her body.
She was sitting in her window seat when a piece of paper was pushed underneath the door to her room. Buffy turned when she heard the rustle of the paper scrape across the floor.

“What is that?” She said aloud as she got up and walked over to the door.

On the outside of the paper it said ‘Milady Buffy’. Buffy bent down and picked it up. She fingered the paper gingerly and opened it.

Mistress Buffy,

I write this with the most caring of hearts. I know you are heartsick and inside I know you didn’t want William to leave. I know you have always done what is best for him. I also know how very much you love him.

I wanted to let you know that I have received word from him this very day. I wanted you to be the first to know. If you would meet me in the stables later I would gladly share the news with you.

Your ever faithful servant,

Giles Leslie


Buffy read and re-read the slip of paper in front of her. She didn’t even realize she was crying until her tears fell onto the paper smudging the ink. Her hands started to shake and her face felt hot.

“I need to know how he is,” she said as she flung open her door and raced out into the hall. She was running so fast that she tripped over her long skirt and fell down the stairs leading into the main entrance hall.

Her frightened scream echoed through the house as she tumbled headfirst down the flight of stairs, the sound of her shriek being cut off as she landed in a bundle at the bottom of the stairs.

“William,” she whimpered just before darkness overcame her.

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