Title: Boys Like William

Author: Nicky

Written For:Jo (Spikesbabyblues)

Summary: Buffy Summers has it all. She is head cheerleader, prom-queen and officially the most popular girl in school. But a project forces her to spend some time with geek-to-the-core William Giles, who’s life seems to be crumbling around him. Can she help? And more importantly…why does she want to?

Rating: NC-17 (If you’re patient…)

Warnings: The only real warning that I have is that this is a WILLIAM story. At NO point, will Spike appear. Give it a chance, but if you REALLY can’t stand William/Buffy relationships then don’t read…otherwise, enjoy!

Distribution: As always, if you want it, have it, just let me know, and don’t change a damn thing.

Disclaimer: You think that I’d be writing fictions if the characters belonged to me? I’d be making movies….lots of Buffy/Spike movies. (Not rude ones of course…:P)



This fic was written for the William Ficathon held by eurydice72, and was written for my wonderful friend Spikesbabyblues. Hope you all enjoy it! I love writing it.




Chapter One

As always, the atmosphere was like a scene from a movie, in the open grounds of Sunnydale High. Cheerleaders flipped, jocks watched and whistled, geeks and nerds sat and read books, and of course the ‘stoners’ sat on the benches smoking hash, while the ‘norms’ just grouped together, talking about the normal things going on in their overly normal lives.

William Giles wasn’t really sure where he fit in. He wore glasses and let his wild, curly hair stand free. He read books and wrote poetry. He practically lived in the school library (which was conveniently run by his Uncle Rupert)…all these things pointed out the obvious conclusion that he was a geek. The only thing that told anybody otherwise was his friends.

Willow was a geek, with her long read hair, striped tops, dungarees, and the fact that she always had a book on her, anywhere she went…but she had a cool side too, and many of the other kids took notice of that, registering her as one of the ‘normal kids’.

Xander was just as hard to place. Although he didn’t smoke, he was often referred to as a ‘stoner’ due to his lack of intellectual ability, and his dumb comments. He was the class clown, and so was in a reference of his own anyway, so the other students enjoyed his company and often-trouble-making sarcasm.

William was just…William.

Sometimes he seemed to be screaming for attention, while other times he would shrink into himself and hope that he would go unnoticed.

Like now for instance, when Angel O’Connor was approaching him.

Angel was The Jock. He was the leader of the popular pack, even though he was even less endowed in the education department than Xander.

He came up with stupid comments, stupid ideas, and stupid insults, and still all the popular students worshipped him. Angel always liked fights too…mostly with people who wouldn’t hit back…and that normally meant William. That’s why he liked to shrink anytime Angel was near.

“Hey, Giles.”

Upon hearing his name leave the jock’s mouth, William closed his eyes and hoped that it was only an insult coming his way.

“Ugh…yeah?”

“I have something for you.” Angel laughed, slowly walking towards him.

“You do? What is it?” William whimpered, knowing very well what little ‘present’ was in store for him.

“This.” It was then that Angel’s fist came into contact with William’s face. The harsh noise of skin hitting skin echoed around for only a moment, before it was interrupted by Angel’s cackling.

William looked up at him then, the blank expression on his face contrasting perfectly to the one of utter joy on Angel’s. He felt Xander’s arm come around him, pulling him away from the bully, and he sighed, thankful of Xander’s presence.

* * *

As always Buffy Summers stood back and watched, trying not to look as mortified as she felt watching the sandy-haired boy stumble away.

Once her boyfriend turned back to her she tried to look nonchalant.

“I swear Angel…one day he’s going to hit you back.”

She heard her boyfriend laugh as he placed his arm back in its place around her shoulder. “Nah…that pussy? Course he won’t.”

“Whatever. I’m just saying, you should lay off of him…what’s he ever done to you?”

Angel took his arm from around his girlfriend’s shoulders and sighed. “Do you have a thing for the geek or something Buffy? Because…I can’t see your problem.”

“Well, that’s just because you’re a big jerk. You think you have the right to bully people just because you’re on the football team.”

“Get a life, Buff. Go and nurse your little boyfriend better. Go on, I saw him run in the direction of the library.”

Buffy shook her head and rolled her eyes. “God, you’re such an asshole.”

Although he was pissed off at her, Angel couldn’t help but tilt his head and study her ass as she walked away, confidently shaking her hips.

Without even looking around, Angel addressed his friend.

“Hey, Gunn. You coming or not?”

The tall, black boy looked over at his friend. “Not currently, but I’m working on it.”

The girl he was trying to impress only giggled, even though the comment was obviously directed at her. Angel sighed, knowing that Buffy would have found that comment an insult. She was getting so uptight lately.


* * *

For a while, Buffy did actually look for William Giles. Poking her head in the cafeteria, some empty classes, looking around the back of the buildings where he might be hiding from Angel. She’d even spoken to his friend Xander, but he said he wasn’t sure where he was. Just as she decided to look in the library, someone shouted her over.

Turning around, she saw her best friend. “Cordy, hi.” She smiled, walking over to the leggy brunette.

“Hey. What’re you doing?”

Buffy sighed. “Looking for William Giles. Angel hit him before, and I feel kind of bad about it.”

Cordelia snorted. “What would you say? ‘Sorry that Angel hit’s you…duck next time?’. Come on Buffy. We both know that Angel’s going to do it again. You really shouldn’t bother.”

Buffy considered this, looking around one last time. She didn’t see him. “Ok. I guess you’re right.”

The other cheerleader giggled. “Hello? Of course I am.”

Shaking her head Buffy smiled and walked to her next class with her best friend.


* * *

2 Minutes Earlier

“Oh God, Xander. Don’t let her see me.”

Xander Harris rolled his eyes. William always talked about how he wanted Buffy Summers to notice him, and now she was near, and he was hiding.

“She can’t see you. Oh god, wait…she’s coming over.”

Before Xander could convince him to stay, William ran into the nearest empty classroom.

Xander rolled his eyes again.

“Hi, I’m looking for William Giles. Do you know where he is?”

Xander grinned. Alright, Summers was popular and stuck up…but there was a reason behind it. She was HOT!

“Hi, Buffy Summers, right?”

The cheerleader nodded. “You know where he is?”

Xander clapped his hands together and looked around. “Why?”

Buffy closed her eyes, placing her hand on her forehead. “I don’t know. It’s hard to explain…oh, you know what? Never mind. Don’t even tell him I was looking for him.”

Then she walked off, leaving Xander to watch her butt without anybody noticing. He could get banged up well and good for looking at Angel O’Connor’s girlfriend.

“What did she say?” William asked, his hair askew and out of breath.

Xander smiled. “Nothing. She was looking for you, but she didn’t say why.”

William grabbed his books from the floor where he’d dropped them in his hurry and then looked at Xander.

“Yeah, she was probably coming for a laugh. ‘Hi, just wanted to see what my guy did to your face THIS time’.” Then he sighed and looked down at one of his books. “God, Xan. I just wish she’d notice me.”

The brunette shook his head and slapped his friend on the back.

“Well, you have English with her now, right? Why don’t you talk to her then?”

William looked at Xander as if he were an alien. “Yeah, as if that’s gonna happen.”


* * *

“Buffy Summers, do you have a problem?”

The cheerleader’s eyes widened with surprise as she turned toward the teacher. She smiled guiltily. “Um…no?”

“So, why do you feel the need to talk over me?”

“Well, Kendra just asked why I was arguing with Angel, so I said-”

Rolling her eyes the teacher stopped her. “That’s enough Buffy. I’d like you to come and sit here at the front please.”

When her eyes fell upon the seat she had to sit at, and the person in the seat next to it, Buffy felt a wave of guilt wash over her.

Oh god…

She did as she was told, collecting her stuff, miming ‘tell you later’ to Kendra, before shuffling around the class to take her new seat.

* * *

William had been listening to Jonathan talking, trying to ignore the teacher having a conversation with a student. It was Buffy Summers. Pretty as hell, but probably more stuck up than the rest of the populars put together. She was head-cheerleader, and William had, had a crush on her right through his early teens, only getting over the fantasy that he actually had a chance once her boyfriend had started using his face as target practise.

…but now the teacher was pointing in his direction and he turned, looking up. She
wasn’t pointing at him, but at the seat next to him…and Buffy Summers was heading his way.

Oh god…

He turned back to Jonathan now, hoping that she’d leave him alone if he faced the opposite way. His hopes, however, were dashed when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He cautiously turned, fixing his glasses as he went.

“Hi. You’re William Giles right?” Buffy asked sitting down next to him and smiling widely.

“Um…well…ugh, I mean yeah.”

Buffy laughed. He was cute. All stuttery and glasses-fixy. “Well I’m Bu-”

“Buffy Summers. I know.”

“Yeah, of course you do. My boyfriend is the reason for your permanent nosebleed.”

William smiled slightly, knowing there was more to it than just that, but deciding to agree.

“So you um….you get in trouble back there?” he asked, trying to make conversation before awkward silence took its hold.

“Oh, yeah. Tried to tell Kendra why me and Angel were arguing, but I got caught.”

This, even to him – a library-loving-geek – was interesting news. “Really? You and Angel?”

Buffy sighed. “He’s a jerk…”

William had to try hard not to nod in agreement. “Oh?”

“…but I guess you’d know first hand, huh?”

“I guess.”

Buffy sighed again. “I was kinda looking for you before. I just wanted to see if you were alright. I saw him hit you.”

William didn’t know why he was so touched. She was only seeing if he was ok, but to him it seemed like an incredible gesture.

“Well…yeah, I’m fine. Didn’t bruise this time…see?” He pulled his glasses from his face, pointed to his left cheek and smiled, looking at her from under his long eyelashes.

“Yeah…” she nodded “At least you have that.”

“MISS SUMMERS! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS ABOUT CHAPTER 54!”

Buffy raised her eyebrows at the teacher before turning back to William and whispering.

“So…you know anything about Dickens?”


To be continued....

 

 

Chapter 2

After English class Miss Baker had asked Buffy to stay behind. They’d spoken about her behaviour and how she really must stop talking in class. Buffy had apologised, agreed, and promised not to do it again. Then she had left.

“Buff, what took you so long?”

She groaned. “Leave me alone, Angel.”

The jock only laughed and fell into step next to her. “Come on, Buffy. Don’t be like that; it’s never bothered you before.”

She abruptly stopped and turned to him, placing her hands on her hips. “Yes it has. You’ve just never asked. God, do you know how much of a bitch I must seem to him?”

“Why do you care? It’s just William Giles.”

“You don’t even know him.” It was a growl.

Angel was getting angry now too. “Let’s not pretend that you ever took the time of day to stop and talk to him. Face it, you’re just like me. All you care about is being popular and cheering on the football team like a good cheerleader should. Get over this whole ‘red cross’ phase, before you find yourself without a boyfriend.”

She didn’t want him to know how upsetting that was, she she crossed her arms over her chest and smirked. “Wow, that must be the biggest speech you’ve ever given. Well done.”

“I’m serious, Buffy.”

Staring up at him, Buffy said each word slowly, as if talking to a child. “So am I. Stop hitting William.”

Another laugh and Angel raised his hands up in surrender. “Fine, whatever you say. I’ll stop hitting William. Just get off my back.”

“I have cheerleading practice. I’ll see you later.”

Even before she could warn him not to even bother trying to kiss her he’d pulled her against him and crushed his mouth to hers.

There was no point trying to fight him, and she almost sighed in annoyance as she was forced to stand and take the torture.

Alright, Angel was a good kisser…hell, he’d had all the practice one person could need, but she was still pissed off at him. She wasn’t sure if she even liked the person he’d become…or, if the person she’d become liked the person he’d always been.

It wasn’t the first time she’d notice the change she was going through.

* * *

“You talked to Buffy?”

William shrugged. “Miss Baker made her sit with me, it wasn’t as if she just thought ‘ooh, I know, I’ll sit with William Giles’. It was nothing.”

Xander nearly spat out his food. “Nothing? William, you’ve been her secret admirer for…what? Four years?”

William just shrugged and began to pick at the side of his book. “We just talked about Dickens.”

With an incredulous look on his face, Xander banged his head against the table, then suddenly sat up, cradling it.

“What did you do that for?”

The brunette only gave his friend and annoyed look. “You got the hottest girl in school into a conversation…and you talked about Dickens?

“She asked about it. Jeez Xand, what d’you think I am, retarded?”

His friend just gave him a sheepish look. “Well, it’s not as if you have practice in the department…I don’t mean it in a bad way, it’s just…”

As Xander trailed off apologetically, William nodded. “You’re right…I’m doomed.”

* * *

The bell rang to signify the end of lunch, and Buffy picked up her bag and threw it over her shoulder, waving goodbye to her friends.

She was kind of hoping that the teacher would ask her to sit with William again, partly because he seemed alright, and partly because she wanted to get on well in her final year. Her Mom was always on her case about her bad grades, and before it had just seemed like her Mom liked to nag, but now she felt really serious about doing the right thing to secure herself a good life.

She couldn't be a cheerleader forever.

* * *

"Hey, Miss Baker."

Buffy shouted as she entered the classroom, letting the teacher know that she was there, ready to be told to sit by William.

However, Miss Baker just smiled and then carried on with her conversation. Buffy sighed. Looked like she was sitting with the populars.

"Hi guys." She let her eyes pass over them

Instead of sitting down she stood at the end of the table. She was contemplating something.

"You sitting, Buffy?" Kendra asked, pulling out a chair for the head-cheerleader and then looking back at her expectantly.

With a smile, Buffy shook her head. "Ugh, no. Miss Baker wants me to sit at the front from now on."

They all gave her sympathetic looks.

"Aww, too bad."

It wasn't bad at all. Buffy smiled. "Yeah. Too bad."

* * *

He wasn't exactly concentrating on his work. That was unusual for William, but he just couldn't keep what Xander had said out of his mind.

Xander was right. He was totally doomed when it came to women. Especially if he kept falling for girls like Buffy Summers.

He was the total opposite of popular. Why couldn’t he find a nice, normal girl who would at least notice him?

Just as he was thinking that, Buffy pulled the chair next to him out from under the table and dropped down onto it.

"Hi Will. I can call you Will, right? Unless you don't like it..."

Looking up, William's eyes fell upon the babbling cheerleader. Her head was tilted to the side and she was looking at him expectantly for an answer, but he hadn’t even heard the question.

"Sorry?"

She smiled, and sighed, shaking her head for a moment before looking back up at him and asking, "Can I call you Will?"


Nobody called him Will. Ever.


"Sure, of course you can."

She gave him a bright smile, before turning to the front and opening her bag. She was trying to find a pen when he asked.

"So, Baker is making you sit here again?"

Without even thinking about it, Buffy lied, "Ugh...yeah. She said I worked well here."

It was one thing to lie to her friends, but the lie to William had just slipped out. Something about him knowing that she wanted to sit there made her nervous, so she just palmed him off with the same lie as the others.

It was only a little white one.

William sighed inwardly, kind of disappointed –but not surprised- that Buffy was only sitting next to him on teacher’s orders.

Looking over at her again, he handed her his spare pen and then turned back to his work, trying his hardest not to watch her from the corner of his eye.


She was delicately humming to herself as the lesson settled down, tapping her pen against the table.

It was cute.

He could almost picture her dancing round her bedroom with pigtails and a hairbrush. Of course, in his imagination she was only wearing a tank-top and knickers, but still…

Looking over at William, Buffy noticed that his ears were pink. Intrigued, she leaned over his work to see what could possibly embarrass him on the page, but there was nothing out of the ordinary there.

“What are you blushing about?” she teased

With his gaze still remaining on his work, William whispered, “Umm….nothing?”

Giving him an ‘oh yeah’ look, Buffy turned back to her paper, trying to work up a smart-sounding sentence to write, when she noticed Mrs Baker walking towards her.

She looked up and smiled, hoping that the teacher would let it drop, but she didn’t.

She gave Buffy a delighted, though surprised, look and then walked away.

Buffy saw William watching the display, and sighed. He wouldn’t need to be a rocket scientist to analyse what had just happened. He was giving her a look.

A clearly amused look.

“Oh, shut up.” She whispered, putting her head down again to continue her work.

* * *

“So, she’s sitting with you totally and completely out of her own free will?”

William nodded. The fact had come as quite a shock to him, but the look of surprise on Mrs Bakers face had given Buffy away totally, and he’d actually felt his heart swell.

He’d been buzzing from it all day. Beyond ecstatic. Since he’d found out in class that she was there because she wanted to be, she’d been leaning over to read his work and whispering questions in his ear. The first thing he did when he found Xander, was tell him everything.

“And she’s calling you Will?”

Again, William nodded, smiling as he pushed his food around on his plate.

“We had a joke about it, because she’d tried to pretend that she was being forced to sit there.”

Xander waggled his eyebrows. “Maybe she likes you.”

William sighed and nodded. “Or maybe, she just wants to buckle down and get her work done while she still has the chance to make something of her life.”

That theory did make more sense, but Xander didn’t let things lie so easily.

William was going to be mocked.

* * *

A few days later, Buffy was wandering aimlessly around school during her free period. Angel, Cordy and the others had left the school-grounds, but she didn’t want to, and she suddenly found herself very alone.

Sometimes a little alone time was alright, but right now she felt like sitting and talking with someone.

It must have been ten minutes of bored wondering later when Buffy found herself in front of the teacher’s pictures which were hung up by the faculty lounge. She studied them, giggling at the funny looking ones, and skimming over the boring ones. That’s when she came across Rupert Giles’s picture. He was the librarian. William’s uncle.

A smile spread across her features as she turned in the direction of the library. She’d bet that’s where William was.

* * *

The library was quiet. He liked it there for that reason. Ok, it was filled with books, but that really was just a bonus. He liked to be on his own, and as his Uncle was the librarian, this was the one place in the school where he felt really welcome. Where he belonged.

It was rarely visited by other students, so he could sit and do as he pleased. Right now, he was trying to concentrate on his English work. He enjoyed literature, so he often found himself doing extra work for Miss Baker- just because.

The whole place was quiet right now, even Rupert was across the school, no doubt flirting with the new computers teacher Miss Calendar, so William jumped when he heard the door creak slightly.

“Wow…this place is huge!”

Turning quickly to the voice, William’s eyes widened.

“B…Buffy? What are you doing here?”

She continued to look around for a moment, before finally turning to him and answering: “I came to see you actually.”

He frowned. “You did?”

Walking further into the library, Buffy let her hand brush along the wall as she approached him. “Yeah. I was thinking about you…about how fun it’d be to come and study with you in the book-palace.”

Up until the last part, William had believed her. “Fun? To study?”

She rolled her eyes, letting her bag slip from her shoulder as she sat down opposite him.

“Well yeah. I mean, we don’t HAVE to study…we could just talk.”

Closing his book, William pulled his glasses off and began to clean them. Buffy remembered his Uncle doing exactly the same…and so she smiled slightly.

“Something on your mind?” William asked, as he placed the glasses back on the bridge of his nose.

Buffy remained silent for a second, analysing her brief time with William, and wondering if he was someone she could really talk to. He seemed quiet enough, and nice enough to keep her secrets…but her mother had always said, it was the quiet ones you need to watch out for.

She mulled this over for a second, but finally she slumped in frustration.

“Angel’s getting on my nerves. I wish he’d leave me alone.”

Their conversation in class, aside, this was one of the last things William expected her to say, and he raised his eyebrows above the frame of his glasses. “Really?”

Buffy nodded, but when her eyes met his, they gave away a lot. Through the frustration, William could see that Buffy held memories of Angel dear to her, and that drifting away from him was hurting her.

He wanted to say something to comfort her, but instead he stayed silent and let her continue.

“Yeah.” She nodded, her expression determined. “He’s a big, dumb jerk and I wish he’d just jump off the planet.”

William smiled, tilting his head. Her expression had become rather sour and it made him want to laugh. Unconsciously, a smirk settled on his face.

Looking up, Buffy saw his expression and pouted. With a giggle, she leaned over the table and pushed his shoulder.

“What are you smirking at? I was expecting sympathy!”

She giggled as she sat back down, placing her hands on the table and looking around, her eyes gradually falling back on him.

“I like this.”

Her statement was rather vague. She could have meant she liked the library, or she liked their talking, or just being able to talk to someone about her problems.

“You like what?” he ventured, hoping that he was at least an element in what she enjoyed enough to blurt it out like that.

She smiled, her eyes dancing delicately as she leaned forwards towards him

“This. You and me. Just us, being ourselves without everybody else. Talking together like friends.”

Like friends. That part of her sentence stood out, causing William to wince and almost feel angry for his hopeful thoughts. Raising an eyebrow, he whispered, “Aren’t we?”

Her nose scrunched up in a cute bunny-like way and she frowned. “Aren’t we what?”

Simply, he said, “Friends.” And waited to see what she answered.

However, she didn’t straight away. Instead she sat and looked at him for a moment, as if trying to decide upon a sufficient answer.

“I’d like to be.” She sighed, still trying to bring her thoughts to words. “I’d like to say, that I know the ins and outs of William Giles – but I don’t. Although you’re shy, you pretend to be all ‘come as you are’ and obvious…but you’re not. You’re over-flowing with secret and mystery.”

This answer surprised William. He expected either a ‘no’ or a simple ‘yes’ that was either truth or bullshit, but instead he got a psychological examination.

He smiled. “Something tells me that you’ve given this a lot of thought…but another part of me tells me that I’m not important enough for that.”

“…you’re also over-flowing with self-doubt and the inability to be yourself in a social environment.”

His smile widened, and he nodded. “So…psychology will be your major in college then?”

Buffy giggled, shaking her head. “I don’t know. I never even considered college until recently…I was cheering, jumping around with my pom-poms in front of the crowd, and I suddenly realised that my life consisted of trying to figure out what rhymed with Sunnydale, and cheering Angel to score.”

“Yeah. I like the outfit though.”

Seeing a glint in William’s eye, Buffy sat up in false-shock.

“William Giles! I knew you had a saucy side.”

A blush covered his cheeks, making his ears pink, and Buffy smiled, resting her chin in her hand.

Reaching over the table, she picked up William’s book.

He watched her closely as she ran her fingers over the old leather, a small smile coming to her lips even as she tried to read the faded title.

“What book is this?”

Shrugging, William explained that it was just an old book he’d found on one of the shelves that was out of sight, and that although he couldn’t read the title or author, the poems and drabbles he’d found in it had inspired him.

Hearing this, Buffy stroked the book a little more, seemingly growing more attached to it as he spoke.

“Do you mind if I borrow it?” she whispered, either unsure of his answer, or unsure of her own want to read it.

Almost blushing a little, William nodded. “If you want to…but some of the drabbles and are somewhat…rude.”

This made Buffy wonder what exactly William had been inspired to do after finding the book, and a sudden rush of images entered her brain.

Shaking them off, she smiled at him from under her lashes and sighed.

“I’ve never understood poetry. I mean, beyond cheering I’ve never had a need to make words rhyme…” she shook her head and smiled at herself. “…but I’d like to say that I can appreciate it. Maybe even one day, something -or someone- will inspire me to write my own.”

William couldn’t ignore the way his heart raced as she said someone, and he couldn’t ignore the wistful look on her face.

In that moment, he really wanted to be that man…


…he wanted to inspire her to write poetry.


To be continued...

 

 


Chapter 3

It had been two weeks since that day in the library, and Buffy had taken her seat by William Giles everyday without even mentioning it. In truth, she enjoyed his conversation, and the subtle ways he’d hint for her to get on with her work and stop distracting him. The more time she spent with him, the more she realised how cool he was, and she even felt a little attracted to him at times.

Okay, he wasn’t universally good looking. His glasses were big and his hair fell awkwardly around his forehead, but his eyes were phenomenally beautiful, and his smile was just the cutest thing.

Every time he smirked or laughed at something she said she felt herself get all blushy, and it caused major annoyance.

This wasn’t supposed to be happening. Cheerleaders do NOT fall for William Giles’s. As a rule. So she decided that they’d settle with friendship. Not that that was strictly permitted either.

Mrs Baker had informed them of their new projects…Romeo and Juliet. Buffy had groaned and banged her head against the desk a few times, before William had placed his hand on her shoulder and told her that it was ok…Shakespeare was cool.

She’d had to fight a snort of laughter.

In the past few weeks, Miss Baker (seeing how much Buffy’s move was helping) had rearranged the whole class, making sure that everyone was sitting next to someone that they only knew briefly, if at all.

She had decided on a new plan of action…one that would ensure she got a well-rounded amount of essays handed in by the end of the month.

“Ok, now…take a good long look at the person next to you.”

Everyone – including Buffy and William – did as they were told.

“Alright, that is the person that you’ll be doing your summer projects with.” There was a loud groan, but Buffy only smiled a dazzling smile at Will. She really had no problem with the arrangement. Will was nice and cute, and he actually seemed kind of confident in himself when you brought up the right subject and you were in the right place.

That day in the library, she felt like she’d been talking to a whole other person.

Miss Baker continued. “I know, I know. You want to do the project with your friends, you don’t want to spend your time with mere acquaintances, but kids, school’s over soon and I think it’s time you started breaking away from your inner circles. There’s a whole world full of people out there, and soon you’ll have to step out into it. So…this is a good way to get your work done and broaden your horizons at the same time.”

Will watched Buffy from the corner of his eye, waiting for her to pull a face or mime to one of her friends about how bad her chosen partner was, but she didn’t do either. Just started jotting down notes and asking questions.

At the end of class, Buffy turned to Will and handed him some paper.

“Hey, give me your address, I’ll come over tonight or something. We can start it, before I forget what we have to do.”

She giggled – making him gulp – and smiled.

“But tonight’s Friday.” William pointed out.

Suddenly her smile faded and she bit her lip. “Oh, if you have plans I can wait. I’m sure I won’t have forgotten it by next week.”

The geek stumbled over his words now. “Oh, no. I didn’t mean…I meant…no not me. You. I thought you’d have plans.”

Now she crinkled up her nose. “Nah. Everyone will just be going to The Bronze, I don’t really fancy it. But hey, if I come over early I can bring a movie or something, as a treat for when we’re done. I really can’t work if I don’t have something to aim for. If I aim for a movie, then I’ll work.”

William had stopped listening the minute she mentioned a movie. Buffy Summers wanted to watch a movie in his house? What kind of world had he been sucked into? And when had said sucking happened?

“Will? Is that alright?”

“Um…yeah. I’ll see you at eight?”

The dazzling smile returned and she hopped up, grabbing her things and taking the paper from his hand.

“Wow, neat writing. You can write the presentation if you like…mine’s all scribbly…”

Then, with a toss of her hair she left, and Will realised he was the only one in the classroom still.

As he was about to leave, the teacher touched his arm. “Um, William. About Miss Summers? Don’t let her take advantage of you, and try not to let her procrastinate. She can be a good student when she’s void of distraction.”

He nodded, but she stopped him again.

“Also, if she isn’t putting the work in, don’t do it for her. Just do your half, and I’ll know that at least you did something.”

“Ok, thanks.”

* * *


“Buffy, did you like the red dress or the black one?”

Pulling herself out of a day-long reverie, Buffy blinked and turned to her friend, who was looking at her expectantly. “Huh?”

Cordelia sighed, shaking her head. Buffy had been so distracted lately. “Which dress did you like?”

Raising her eyebrows, Buffy tried to remember which dresses Cordelia had been looking at. Trying to sound convincing she replied, “Umm…the short one?”

Cordy rolled her eyes. Buffy obviously wasn’t listening to her. “Hello? There was no short dress…I’m picking for Prom…remember?”

Rolling her eyes and picking at her nails, Cordelia sighed.

“Ugh, I think I’ll get the black.” Cordy looked around. “What are we doing in here?”

The shelves were stocked with videos to rent, and Cordelia stood and watched as Buffy picked a few films up and read the backs, before putting them back down again.

“What kind of film do you think someone like Will would like?” she suddenly asked, turning around to Cordy with an interested expression.

Scrunching her nose up in confusion, Cordelia shook her head. “Who the hell is Will?”

Buffy sighed and turned to her friend. “William Giles.”

Again, confusion struck Cordy’s features and she replied, “William Giles, the geeky kid who gets beaten-up by Angel?”

When Buffy nodded and picked up another video, Cordelia ripped it from her hand and placed it back on the shelf, demanding Buffy’s attention.

“Why would you care what kind of movie he likes? And since when did you start calling him Will?”

Shaking her head at Cordelia, Buffy walked over to the desk and waited for the assistant’s attention.

When she got it, she smiled and leaned over the desk on her tip-toes. “I was just wondering if you could help me pick a movie.”

The guy seemed pleased, and Cordelia rolled her eyes at the obvious flirting Buffy was doing to get her own way. They used to do it all the time, flirt with bouncers to get into clubs, salesman to get free samples, even once a teacher to get the grade they wanted.

“Sure. What kind of movie are you looking for?”

Buffy shook her head, huffing as she settled back on her heels. “See, that is just it. I don’t know which kind of movie this particular person would enjoy. I want to get something that will let them know I was thinking of them when I got it.”

Again, Cordelia noted the way Buffy worded her sentences. She said ‘them’ instead of ‘him’ just to make sure that the sales assistant didn’t realise he had no chance with her in reality.

“They’re sweet…kind of geeky - probably into sci-fi in a big way. They like books, poetry mostly, and are kind of shy.” She paused, closing her eyes and picturing William. “I’d like to rent something that we’d both enjoy though…so don’t give me Star Wars or something, alright?”

Nodding, the sales assistant smiled. “He’s a writer, huh?”

Buffy was about to answer, when she realised what he’d said. “I didn’t say it was a he.”

“Yeah, but I could tell, because you got this goofy-smile on your face as you spoke about him. That’s how I knew you were talking about your guy.”

At this, Cordelia giggled slightly, walking up to the counter and pointing at the assistant. Looking at his name badge, she nodded. “You are so right, Jake. She did get a goofy smile on her face didn’t she…but see,” Cordelia smirked over at Buffy. “…she always gets that goofy smile when she talks about her lover-boy.”

Looking over at Cordelia, Buffy shook her head. “No, he’s not my guy, or my lover-boy…and I didn’t get goofy, we’re just friends.”

Cordelia nodded. “Whatever.”

Grinding her teeth, Buffy shook her head and turned back to Jake. “Look, can you help me pick a movie or not?”

With a quick nod, and one last look at Cordelia, Jake stood up and walked into the back room. A few seconds later, he walked out with a red box.

“This is Spiderman 2. It isn’t released until next week, but you can have it tonight.”

Buffy thanked him, and reached forward to the box, but he pulled it out of her reach. “Hold on, you only get it on one condition.”

The two girls exchanged slightly worried glances, but Jake shook his head and smiled, once again leaning closer to Cordelia.

“Let me take you out. One night. We’ll eat, we’ll dance…if you don’t like me, we never have to see each-other again.”

For the first time in forever, Cordelia blushed. “Listen to you, smooth talker.”

Glancing at Buffy, Cordelia saw her friends desperate expression, and she sighed, looking back at Jake. “Alright…” She scribbled her address onto the back of a leaflet and then handed it to him.

“Pick me up at 7.30 tomorrow night – if you are even one minute late, I won’t even answer the door.”

Jake smiled, placing the address into his pocket and handing the DVD case to Buffy. “You get this free, I can’t ring it up otherwise they’ll know I’ve let you take it early…I need it back early tomorrow.”

Buffy excitedly bounced on her toes and thanked then both, before grabbing Cordelia’s hand and leaving the store.

* * *

8.00pm

Glancing around his house one last time, William made sure that nothing was out of place, and nothing was on show that could embarrass him.

With a deep breath, he opened the door and was met with the most dazzling smile he’d ever seen.

“Hey, you.” Buffy giggled, stepping into the house and looking around quickly before turning back to him. “This is a nice house.”

Although he wasn’t sure how sincere she was being, William thanked her anyway and then took the bag from her hands, pulling out the movie she’d brought.

“I hope you haven’t seen it. The guy at the store thought this would be your kind of film, so…” when he smiled, Buffy let out a breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding. “I brought popcorn too…I just figured that we might as well make a night of it. Maybe, if it’s not too much trouble, you could drive me home afterwards.”

William smirked at the cheeky expression on her face. “Of course. I’d love to.”

Again with the dazzling smile. “Good.”

William led her into the kitchen, watching as she sat down and began to read his notes. She smiled, raising her eyebrows a few times.

“So, I’m guessing that you understand the play then.”

Sitting opposite her, William nodded. “Yeah. I read Shakespeare a lot anyway, so I pretty much understand the language.”

“That’s good, because I have no idea what the hell is going on throughout most of it.” Placing the notes down, she looked up at him with a grin. “I’m glad we got paired for this.”

That came as a shock to William. He’d expected that maybe she was okay with it – content even – but glad?

“You are?”

Buffy nodded. “Yeah. I think we get along. We don’t really have a lot in common, but as friends, we work…right?”

Smiling and nodding, William waited for Buffy to get her books from her bag, before they settled down to work.

* * *

As the movie drew to a close, Buffy sat up and sighed. “Tobey McGuire is beyond hot.”

“You think?”

“Yeah…and with those little glasses…” She then paused and tilted her head to the side as if in deep thought. “Not that I’d say ‘no’ to James Franco.”

William just nodded, reaching for the remote to stop the movie. He picked up the empty popcorn bowl and took it into the kitchen.

Buffy took the book that she’d lent from William out of her bag as he sat down next to her again. She opened it at a bookmarked page and passed it over to him. Leaning close, she pointed to a certain poem in the book, written in old English, almost like Shakespeare.

“Before I go home, could you tell me what this means?”

Reading over the passage once, William leaned back and sighed, understanding the poem completely but trying to find a way to explain it to her.

“He’s talking about the woman he loves.” William looked up and found her staring at him. “How he can’t seem to stop thinking about her – even though he should. There are obstacles that will always stop them from being together…and yet she is all he sees, all he breathes. She’s part of him.”

Buffy’s skin was hot and flushed as she listened to him speak, her heart fluttering as it absorbed the passion that William was speaking with.

If the book hadn’t been so old, Buffy would have thought that he’d written the poem himself. She could see that he felt the words, and understood the poem completely.

“I…wow…” Buffy coughed, shaking her head and taking the book from his hands. “I think I need a glass of water.”

William let out a nervous laugh, nodding. “Well…it’s getting late. Shall I give you a ride home?”

“Yeah.” Buffy nodded.


* * *

As they pulled up outside Buffy’s house, he sighed and looked out of the window. Her house was a lot bigger than his, and a lot neater. The lawn was short and full of plants, and the cars in the drive were perfectly gleaming.

“Thanks for tonight.” Buffy whispered, “I’ll see you in school on Monday?”

As William nodded, Buffy leaned over and kissed him on the cheek; her lips brushing his skin lightly.

Eyes wide, he felt himself blush, but she only smiled and opened the car door.

He watched as she walked up the path, waiting until she was inside before he drove away.


To be continued...

 

 

Chapter 4

The next day as Buffy walked to meet Jake outside the rental store, she passed the theatre, and something caught her eye. It was a poster for Romeo and Juliet. The clothes were wonderful, Juliet wore a flowing white gown, the sleeves hanging down over the balcony as she beckoned Romeo from below.

Checking her watch, she ran inside to pick up some leaflets for it, before continuing on her way to the store.

* * *

William trudged through the school. He hated Mondays. He also hated the fact that he hadn’t heard from Buffy since Friday night.

Alright, it wasn’t like he really expected to hear from her – but after that kiss…he’d kind of hoped…

Shaking his head, William sighed, continuing on his way to class. He ignored everyone around him, tried his hardest not to capture parts of their conversation when he passed – gossip wasn’t his thing – but when he heard the familiar sound of cheerleading – he paused.

Walking over to the window of the gym, he looked inside.

There she was.

Her little yellow skirt was shorter than any school in England would allow. It bounced up revealing pretty yellow hot-pants underneath every time she jumped into the air. She was facing the team, so he could only see her back, but still he felt as if it was more than he should ever see.

An odd thought, considering she wore that outfit to bounce and twirl in front of the whole town anytime The Sunnydale Demons played a home game.

Shaking his head again, William turned and headed in the direction of his classroom, trying to erase the images of her in that outfit from his brain.

* * *

“Alright everyone, great practise.” Buffy panted, throwing her pom-poms down onto the floor and picking up her water. “I think we’re ready for next week’s game.”

“So can we hit the showers or what?” Cordelia asked, stepping up next to her friend and taking a sip from the bottle.

Buffy nodded, watching as all the girls filed out into the locker-rooms. She loved this; training all the girls, making up cheers. It used to be what she lived for – and even now she knew that it would be hard to give it up.

These girls were her best friends. She’d spent the last few years of her life solving their problems and letting them in on hers. They were like a unit. A family.

Cheerleading was something she would do for as long as she could.

Sighing, she grabbed her towel and threw it over her shoulder, following the other into the locker-room.

* * *

“So…I decided to go out with Jake again.” Cordelia gushed. “He is really nice. He is handsome, he can dance, he has money…”

Harmony sighed dreamily. “Wow…”

About to reply, Buffy slipped her hand into her coat pocket and felt something cold. Pulling it out, she smiled down at the Romeo and Juliet leaflet.

Looking over at Cordelia and Harmony, she decided that ‘Jake’ could wait. “Hey you guys, I’ll see you later. I have to go and talk to someone a second.”

Cordelia sighed. “If it’s that geeky William Giles guy, you better reconsider!” she shouted after her friend’s retreating form, but Buffy just waved over her shoulder and continued to run.

“God, WHAT is her malfunction?”

* * *

William opened his locker, pulling his books out of it ready for Chem-class. All day he had been thinking about Buffy.

About her dancing around in her cheerleading suite – about that kiss.

Alright, it was only on his cheek, but a kiss is a kiss, right?

Just as he was mulling this over, Xander nudged him. “Oh hey, here comes Buffy.”

Zoning out as he watched her approach, William didn’t notice Willow’s overly-dramatic groan.

Buffy waved at him, smiling as she reached them all. “Hey Will.”

Trying to be casual, William smiled back. “Hi Buffy. Anything I can help you with?”

“Actually, yes.” She pulled a leaflet from her pocket and handed it to him. “So, I was shopping the other day, and I saw sign poster for a Romeo and Juliet production at the theatre. I was thinking that maybe we could go, so we can see what it’s like and maybe add something about it into our presentation. What do you think?”

Buffy missed the raised eye brows of William’s friends, but William didn’t.

“Yeah, alright. Sounds good.”

Buffy touched his arm. “It will be. It’ll be great. I’ll book the tickets tonight. What night do you want?”

At his questioning look Buffy giggled. “Ok, it’s on all week. You think maybe…Thursday?”

“He can’t.”

Buffy was so wrapped up in asking William, that she hadn’t even noticed the redhead’s presence. It was now that Buffy looked over at her.

She was probably slightly taller than Buffy, but not by much. She was wearing a striped t-shirt and jeans. Buffy had to admit she’d never really noticed the girl before.

“Oh. Who are you? Sorry, kind of bad with names and stuff.” She smiled politely and waited for the reply.

Doing little to hide her distaste, Willow replied, “I’m Willow. William’s friend.”

“Hi, I’m Buffy –”

“-Summers, I know. I’m NOT bad with names and stuff. Also, I kind of remember you standing and watching every time your boyfriend punched William in the nose. So…”

It was strange. No-one had ever spoken to Buffy like that before. This girl looked like she hated Buffy. She was glaring at her with a look on her face that just screamed ‘DIE CHEERLEADER DIE!’.

The redhead continued. “…And I was just saying, how he’s busy on Thursday. Too bad.”

William had watched the conversation between the two girls with a devastated look on his face.

Willow had to have her first confrontation ever, right now? With Buffy Summers? And right when she was asking him out too. Ok, not asking him out on a date, but asking him to go out with her for the night…and that was something right?

“Yeah. Too bad.”

The cheerleader was speaking quietly now with her head down. It was obvious that she was upset by the red-head’s tone of voice. She was turning to leave.

“Uh, Buffy. I’m free on Wednesday.”

Buffy turned back, her eyes flicking from the still-angry Willow to William.

“You are? Oh that’s good. I’ll call and book them tonight then. I mean…only if you want to. Don’t think that you have to go just because I want to. You’ve probably seen it like a million times, you don’t have to-”

“Buffy. I want to go.”

Taking a breath, Buffy began to smile again. She’d gone all stuttery and nervous just because one of Will’s friends obviously disliked her. That had never happened before. Buffy usually took comments with a pinch of salt and either answered back or flipped them off. But not this time…

She again wondered when everything had become so different.

“Alright. I’ll speak to you tomorrow.” She smiled, looking him in the eye for just a little bit longer than an attached girl should, and then turned and walked down the hallway, once again swaying her hips.


Once Buffy was out of sight, William spun on his friend with an angry face.

“What the bloody hell was that all about?”

Willow shrugged. “I don’t appreciate my friends being used is all.”

“And why are you so sure she’s using me? Does it seem that impossible to you that I could actually get a girlfriend?”

Trying to defend herself, Willow didn’t realise what she said until she’d said it.

“Well come on, it’s Buffy Summers. You aren’t exactly up to her standards…I would’ve thought all those years of her ignoring you may have proved that.”

Xander, who was still playing the part of ‘observer’ saw William’s jaw tighten with anger.

Buffy’s previous rejection of him was still a sore spot, and it had hurt more to realise that, in truth, she’d never even really noticed him until recently. Neither man could believe that Willow had just said that.

“No, you’re right. I don’t suppose I’m up to anyone’s standards am I?”

Looking over to Xander and muttering ‘bye’, William slammed his locker door closed and stormed away.

Xander looked at the little redhead. “Ouch, Willow.”

The red head whimpered. “Well, Xander…I think it’s a bet. Buffy must have a bet going…I mean, come on. He’s William Giles for Christ’s sake.”

As much as he wanted to disagree, she had a point. “Let’s just…see how things turn out, alright?”

Willow nodded, watching as William walked angrily away.

* * *

Wednesday Night

All week Buffy had been nervous about the play. William was due to pick her up in fifteen minutes and she still wasn’t sure that she was dressed right for the theatre.

She’d never been before.

Angel’s idea of a date was an hour at The Bronze, then home for a quick roll in the hay. The only real date Buffy had ever had was the meal he’d taken her to for Valentine’s day…two years ago.

Looking in the mirror once more, she walked downstairs to wait for him at the door.

A few minutes later his car pulled up, and Buffy waited for him to knock before opening the door. She didn’t want to seem too keen.

“You’re early.” She smiled, studying his outfit.

He was wearing brown trousers, a brown suede jacket and matching suede shoes. He looked smart…and kind of sexy.

His hands were tucked in his pockets, and she noticed that he was studying her clothes too.

“You look really nice, Pet.”

That was all the convincing Buffy needed that she was dressed right. She was sure that William had been to the theatre hundreds of times.

Twirling, Buffy showed off her clothes before picking up her bag. “Come on, let’s go.”

* * *

To William the play passed in a blur. He’d seen it so many times that he knew it word for word.

The costumes were beautiful, and the acting was almost phenomenal, but William felt so closed to the play, that he kept looking from the stage to Buffy, making sure that she was enjoying it.

He was pretty sure that she had a crush on the person playing Romeo- her eyes lit up every time he came on stage. She gasped once or twice, holding her hand to her chest as the title characters kissed. Her eyes narrowed during the fight scene, and she looked over at him in disbelief when Mercutio died.

She seemed enthralled, and even cried at the end.


She was still sniffling slightly as they gathered their things, and he smiled at how cute it was. She had mascara stains on her cheeks and he stepped close to her, wiping them away with his thumb.

She giggled and thanked him, pulling her coat around herself as they got ready to step out into the cold.

His car was several blocks away, so they had to walk a little bit. He almost asked her did she want his jacket – but that was senseless considering that her coat was bigger than his jacket.

He was wracking his brains, trying to find an excuse to stay out with her longer.

Halfway down the road, though, she turned to him and asked, “Do you want to go for something to eat? I’m kinda hungry…”

William smiled, thankful that he’d grabbed a few extra dollars when he left the house.

“Sure, that would be great.”

* * *

Sitting in the booth at a nearby McDonalds, William waited for Buffy to sit down before starting up conversation.

“So…did you like it?”

Buffy nodded. “Yeah. It was kinda depressing though. Made me think about my relationship with Angel.”

This wasn’t exactly what William wanted to hear, but before he could try and change the subject, she continued,

“I mean…I’m so tired of it. There is never any romance anymore. Not that there was a lot to begin with. It was just ‘Angel’s a jock, you’re a cheerleader…that’s a good match’.”

William nodded as she sighed. “I thought that I was in love with him once – but I don’t really think that I’ve ever been in love. Not the kind of love that Romeo and Juliet had…and I know it’s just a play, but I want that, you know?”

I can give you that… William thought to himself, but he remained quiet…

...he wouldn’t risk scaring her away now.


To be continued....



The next chapter is much fun. - The Sunnydale Charity Auction. For one night, any girl can have any guy she wants - for a price.

 

 


Chapter 5

Willow sat quietly at their lunch table, waiting for William.

She’d been walking on eggshells all week. It had only taken William two days to forgive her for upsetting Buffy, but he’d warned her that next time he wouldn’t be so forgiving.

She was still trying to figure out Buffy’s game. She was beyond sure that it had to be some kind of bet or something. All his school-life William had been secretly ‘in love’ with her, yet it was only now that the cheerleader paid any notice.

She sighed, resting her chin on her hand as she waiting.

Xander was off school. He was always off school a few days before ‘the big event’. Every year without fail, he would call her up and tell her he was too busy ‘preparing’ to bother with schoolwork.

She smiled as she saw William approaching. She needed a favour.

As he sat down, her saw the odd look on her face and smirked slightly. “What can I do for you Willow?”

She gave him the puppy dog eyes and leaned forward excitedly. “I know you won’t like the idea, but I really need you to do something for me.”

He asked her what is was, groaning inwardly before she even asked. This couldn’t be good.

“I need you to put yourself up for auction at the charity auction tomorrow night.”

As soon as she said the words ‘up for auction’ William had begun shaking his head vigorously, trying to stand up from the table.

“William, sit down…please? I need you to do this for me!”

Her friend did sit back down, but he was still shaking his head. “No, Willow. That is one situation I promised I would never find myself in.”

Willow knew this, but what could go wrong if she was guaranteed to bid on him? “Yeah, but I want to do my part. Give money to charity…I just don’t want to bid on Angel or any of his goofy jock-friends.”

William was adamant that he wouldn’t do it. Every year as he watched the jocks strutting around up on stage, he would think about how embarrassing it would be to have to do that, and so this was one favour that she would have to do without.

“So bid on Xander.”

Willow shook her head. “I bid on Xander last year.”

William shrugged. “What’s your point?”

Last year when she’d bid on Xander, he had been upset. He got to spend all his time with Willow, he’d hoped for a night with another girl for once…like a date. Once again using her puppy-dog eyes, Willow pouted.

William was unable to stand it. “You know what? Alright…but I swear Willow, anything goes wrong up there…you’re dead.”

* * *

Angel opened his wardrobe door and stood in front of the mirror. He winked at himself once, before turning round to face Buffy.

“Well? How do I look?”

Without even looking up from her work, Buffy replied, “Wonderful.”

Angel walked over to her and grabbed the book from under her, throwing it across the room.

Looking up at him, Buffy tried to hide her frustration. “Sorry, I was just…writing stuff for the project.”

Angel nodded. “Seriously babe, do I look good, or do I look good?”

With a false smile, Buffy nodded. “You look good, Angel.”

* * *

Walking quickly up onto the stage, Robin Wood leaned forwards towards the microphone and coughed one, testing that it was on. As his cough echoed, he smiled and looked over the crowd.

“Ladies! Welcome to this years Sunnydale High Charity Auction!”

There was a deafening eruption of screams and whistles, and he winced, trying his hardest not to cover his ears.

This was his favourite time of year. Not only was it great to make so much money for charity, but it was wonderful to see the girls in charge of the boys for a night.

He just hoped they kept it legal this time.

“Alright, alright, Ladies. Calm down so that we can get this show on the road.”

* * *

Angel opened the curtain slightly, looking out at the crowd of excited girls.

He grinned, remembering last year’s auction. He’d made the most money for the charity, and had been top of the list for most bids. He loved being popular.

Gunn watched his friend, and smiled. “Don’t you worry that you’ll get won by some geek and have to spend the evening doing what she says?”

Shrugging, Angel shook his head. “I’m not worried …I know for sure that Buffy will out-bid anybody in this crowd.”

Gunn nodded, poking his head out of the curtain slightly before pulling it back in with a wide grin. “Well…I heard that Faith Daniels was bidding on me.”

Looking over at his friend with an appalled expression, Angel scrunched up his face, fixing his bow-tie. “Man, that chick is scary.”

Shaking his head, Gunn corrected his friend. “No…she is slutty. She won’t be able to walk when I’m through with her.”

The pair laughed, Angel looking around the other guys that were getting ready to go onstage. He spotted William Giles and frowned.

“What the fuck is he doing back here?”

* * *

“I can’t believe you’re actually doing this.” Xander chuckled. William’s eyes had been wide all day.

Taking off his glasses to wipe them clean, William shook his head. “Me neither.”

He could hear the screaming girls on the other side of the curtain, knowing that they were screaming for the popular boys. He had the distinct image of himself on stage, surrounded by silence as all the girls just stared at him.

“Aren’t you worried?”

Placing the glasses back on his face, and blinking a few times for his eyes to focus, William shook his head and lied, “No, I’m just nervous. What am I supposed to do while I’m up there?”

Wiggling his eyebrows, Xander checked that the Velcro on his trousers was firmly closed, ready for his surprise strip-show.

“I don’t know. Be sexy.”

Rolling his eyes, William crossed his arms over his chest, deciding to kill Willow for this.

* * *

Willow stood right by the stage, holding her money tightly in her hand. According to Xander, William was going to be auctioned-off after him.

She was thinking about exactly how much money to give, when suddenly she heard a loud shrieking. Looking up, she saw Oz, a member of the school band standing at the foot of the stage with an electric guitar slung over his shoulder.

Willow hardly knew him, but she had been crushing on him for the past few months, watching band practise on the benches. Neither William nor Xander knew of her crush.

“Daniel Osborne everyone!” Principle Wood shouted. “Can I hear twenty dollars?”

As soon as he said that, girls started shouted prices from all directions. It went from twenty dollars to seventy in what seemed like a matter of seconds.

She looked around, her eyes widening at the way the other girls were looking at Oz. She suddenly felt possessive, and before she knew it, her hand was in the air.

“One twenty!”

Oz, Principle Wood and all the other girls looked over at her shocked.

“One thirty!” Someone challenged, but Willow shook her head and once again raised her arm.

“One forty!”

This time, the other girl didn’t reply, and Principle Wood smiled. “SOLD! To Miss Willow Rosenberg for one hundred and forty dollars!”

* * *

Cordelia, Buffy and Harmony watched the display, Cordelia smiling at Oz before he walked off stage. She knew him quite well – she’d dated his friend Devon last year.

“Isn’t this wonderful?!” Harmony yelled. “We get to have any guy we like for a whole night, and he has to do whatever we say!”

Although Buffy smiled and nodded, she had quickly become bored. This would be much more fun if she was single, but just waiting out here for her boyfriend to come on stage was tedious.

“Angel always looks so sexy dressed as James Bond.” Harmony gushed.

You’re welcome to him. Buffy thought to herself, looking at her watch and sighing. Angel always insisted on being auctioned-off last.

* * *

William and Xander had just come back from the changing-room when Xander’s name was called.

He grinned as William patted him on the back, before opening the curtain and walking out onto the stage.

The music ‘You Can Leave Your Hat On’ by Tom Jones started to play, and as all the girls starts to scream, William pictured Xander ripping his trousers off.

Shaking his head with distaste, he laughed.

* * *

Buffy was almost dying from laughter as they watched Xander do his strip-tease. He really seemed to be enjoying himself.

So far, no-one had bid on him yet, but he was grinning like an idiot anyway.

Every girl in the whole place was clapping as she danced, boogying around the stage like this was what he lived for.

“Fifty dollars!”

Buffy looked over at Anya Jenkins, the newest girl in school – and renowned for her endless talk of orgasms and interlocking bodies.

She was waving her money in the air and screaming like a mad woman.

Cordelia leaned over towards Buffy. “Looks like Xander made an impression on Anya!”

The two girls giggled as Xander continued to do his thing. Principle Wood was unsure where to look as Xander slowly shed his shirt.

“Go Xander!” Buffy yelled, clapping as more and more girls started to bid on him.

Anya wasn’t giving anyone else a chance though, challenging every price. Soon they were up to one hundred and forty dollars and it became obvious that no-one was willing to even try and outbid Anya now.

With a smile- and a thank to God that Xander was finally leaving the stage- Principle Wood declared Xander ‘Property of Anya Jenkins’ for one whole night.

Xander seemed pretty pleased, to say the least.

* * *

William had grown increasingly nervous. His hands were shaking as Xander came backstage with an enormous grin.

“Who’d you get?” William asked, trying to take his mind off his own nerves.

“Anya Jenkins!” Xander replied, reaching into his bag and pulling out a new pair of trousers… “Pretty good, huh?”

William only nodded, watching as Gunn walked on stage.

* * *

Cordelia and Buffy both clapped and whistled for Gunn, seeing the look on his face when Faith Daniels won him.

“You not bidding on anyone?” Buffy yelled in Cordelia’s ear, trying to shout over the music.

Cordelia just shook her head no and mouthed ‘Jake’ as an answer, causing Buffy to smile at her smitten friend.

Looking back at the stage, Buffy waited for the next name, knowing that there couldn’t be many more left now. She just wanted to get away from there.

“Alright ladies…you need to give a warm welcome to our next boy…he’s a first-time auctionee, and needs your support. Give it up…for William Giles!”

Her eyes widening, Buffy stood open-mouthed as William nervously stepped out from behind the curtain.

He looked no different than normal, wearing light brown trousers and a chequered top. His hair was no different, and his glasses remained in place.

He seemed to be looking around for someone.



Not seeing Willow in the crowd, William just decided to stand mid-stage letting everyone clap while he waited for Willow to bid.

He almost felt tempted to sway to the beat of the music, but didn’t. The last thing he wanted to do was embarrass himself anymore.

As the time drew on, he began to look around for Willow again, this time bringing his hand up to shade his eyes from the spotlight that was on him.

He didn’t see her.

She wasn’t there.



Buffy looked around, seeing the panic on William’s face as the time drew on. A few people were clapping, sure…but no-one was bidding.

“What the hell are you doing up there?” she whispered to herself, looking down at the money in her hands.

Angel had given her this to bid on him. It was wrong to spend it on someone else….wasn’t it?



Looking around, William had never felt more humiliated in all his life. A flash of red hair caught his eye, and he focused on Willow. Behind her, stood Oz, a member of the school band – and around his neck was a sign that read “Property of Willow Rosenberg.”

Her eyes were wide like she’d only just remembered about him, and William felt bile rise up in his throat as he realised that no-one was going to bid on him.

The girls in the hall had all been clapping to the music when he’d walked out from behind the curtain, but they were just in the spirit of the auction, none of them had actually planned to even consider bidding on him.

The clapping now was beginning to dissipate and the music seems to get quieter. William’s earlier image was coming true, and his heart was beating in his ears.

In a desperate hope, he looked once more around the girls, begging them silently to bid on him, and although some of the girls looked sympathetic, not one of them even attempted to raise their hand.

His chest hurt from the embarrassment and the betrayal he felt. He really was as unpopular and undesirable as he thought he was. This was his proof.

Turning around, William nodded at Principle Wood, grinding his teeth to stop his lips from trembling as he began to walk slowly back towards the curtain.



“Two hundred dollars!”

Holding her arm up in the air, the bidder waved her money around to make sure that Principle Wood could see it.

Unable to believe his ears, William spun around quickly with a frown. Squinting beyond the lights and into the crowd, William spotted the bidder.

“Going once…going twice…SOLD to Miss Buffy Summers for two hundred dollars!”

* * *

Angel turned to Gunn with a frown. “Did I just hear what I think I heard?”

* * *

“Last but not least, we have Liam ‘Angel’ O’Connor. Thought we’d save the best until last for you lucky ladies tonight. Here he is, come on out Angel!”

Angel wiped the sour look from his face and placed his sunglasses on, once again straightening his tie.

As he walked out from behind the curtain, a riot of screams and whistles started. Anyone else would be slightly disturbed, but Angel only smirked and walked to the end of the cat-walk, grinning like the Cheshire-cat at any girls who caught his eye.

“Come on ladies, don’t be shy. Do I hear thirty dollars?”

“Thirty!”

“Fifty!”

“Seventy Five Dollars”

“Eighty Dollars!”

“Eighty five dollars!”

“Eighty Six Dollars!”

“One Hundred and Fifty Dollars!”

“Do I hear One-Seventy? One-Sixty?” Looking around the crowd, Principle Wood laughed and shook his head. “Then Liam O’Connor is SOLD to Kathy Newman for one hundred and fifty dollars!”

Hearing the name, Angel turned around to the curtain to see Gunn laughing.

“Oh no…”

* * *

Buffy waited by William’s car. She hadn’t seen him yet, and was nervous about it.

She knew that he was going to ask why she’d bid on him – and it was something she was wondering herself. Although she was unsure what it meant – Buffy had been upset by the hurt on William’s face.

That didn’t forgive the fact that she’d bid with Angel’s money though. She’d have to repay him. He’d probably be really pissed, but right now her nerves where out-weighing that worry.

Hearing Anya’s loud voice, she saw Xander and William coming out of the school. He looked up at her for a second before looking down at the floor again. Xander shouted goodbye, but William just waved, without looking up.

As he approached, Buffy put a smile on her face. “Well Stud, looks like you’re mine for the night.”

William nodded, and she could see his brain ticking – he was obviously desperate to know why she’d bid on him.

“…and before you even ask why I bid on you, don’t. I forbid you from doing so…and as you’re my property until the clock strikes twelve…you have to do what I say.”

William replaced his pensive look with a smile, and opened his car, walking around to open the door for her.

She thanked him and climbed inside, buckling herself in and waiting for him to do the same.

“So, Miss. Where would you like to go?”

With a grin, Buffy turned to him. “Cordelia is having a pool-party…we could go there for a little while. Angel was supposed to be there, but I heard that Kathy Newman won him, so I think that is out of the question.”

William looked a little uncomfortable. “I’m not really the ‘strip off all my clothes and have a party’ kind of person.”

Buffy had suspected so, but she pushed on anyway. “Well, Anya will be there with Xander, so we could go for a little while. I won’t make you strip-off…girl scouts honour.”

She clapped and ‘yayed’ as William turned on the engine and pulled out of the parking-lot in the direction of Cordelia’s house.

* * *

William was in awe as Cordelia opened the door to her massive home. He’d never seen the inside of these posh houses, and it was everything he’d expected.

The décor was mainly emerald green with gold lining, and deep-cherry wood flooring. It seemed as if each room could fit his whole house inside it.

Buffy smiled at his wondering eyes, before saying ‘hi’ to Jake.

“So…this is Spiderman.” Jake smiled.

William looked confused, but Buffy gave a little giggle and nodded. “Yep. My hero.”

Butting in, Cordelia handed both William and Jake a glass of whiskey each, before shaking her head. “No, more like you’re his hero. You really saved his ass tonight.”

Buffy agreed, taking a sip from the Martini Cordelia had handed her. “He’s owes me.”

She nudged William to let him know she was kidding, accidentally making him spill his drink down himself.

He looked up at her wide-eyed, then at Jake who had begun to chuckle slightly. “Man, I would kill her if she did that to me.” He joked, indicating Cordelia.

“I am so sorry!” Buffy squeaked with her hand over her mouth.

She grabbed his glass, placing it down on the table as she dragged him towards the bathroom.

He let himself be tugged up the stairs still trying to wipe at his soaked shirt. They stopped outside the bathroom and Buffy began knocking, getting more and more frantic as she was ignored.

“Hey! Get your ass out here!” she yelled, crossing her arms over her chest as a couple opened the door looking slightly embarrassed. Buffy huffed, whispering “Can’t you get a room?!” as she stomped past them, pulling William with her.

“I really am sorry about this. I normally have wonderful co-ordination.” She pulled on the roll of tissue-paper until she had a bundle of it in her hand, and then she passed it to him.

“It’s okay, really.” He stated, taking it from her and beginning to wipe himself down.

Watching him, Buffy felt really bad. Trying to help, she pointed out, “You may need to take your shirt off if it won’t dry.”

William looked up at her for a moment, then tilted his head to the side, narrowing his eyes playfully.

“I thought you said that you wouldn’t make me strip-off.”

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the pair descended the stairs, William’s shirt was looking no better than when they had gone up.

“Fifteen minutes…not bad, a lot of guys are finished in two.” Cordelia giggled as William blushed. “I’m just kidding, book-boy.”

Buffy sighed deeply. “We’re gonna go, Cordy. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

With a wink, Cordelia smiled. “Bright and early.”

She saw the pair out, waving as the car pulled away, before returning back inside to Jake, who’d refilled her glass.

“Why bright and early?” he asked, holding it out to her.

“Cheerleading Practise.” Cordelia smiled, accepting the drink from him.

It was early morning before anyone else left the house, despite the fact that the “dates” officially finished at midnight.

* * *

In the car, Buffy looked over at William, who was quiet. “I’m sorry that we didn’t get to see Xander at the party.”

He shook his head, glancing over at her.

“It’s alright, he was probably in the pool anyway, showing off his body…again. Besides, we had a nice meal, didn’t we?”

That couldn’t be denied. They’d left in search of food, and had found a nice little Italian place that was practically empty.

They had eaten quietly, indulging in conversation about random topics while waiting for their food to arrive.

Afterwards they had gone for a walk by the docks, despite the fact that it was kind of cold there…and then Buffy had looked at her watch and sighed.

It had been 11.45.


William pulled his car into Buffy’s drive, walking around the car to open her door for her.

Looking at her watch again, Buffy smiled. “You realise it’s one minute past twelve…you didn’t have to open my door for me.”

Frowning for a second, William smiled. “You thought I was doing that because I had to?”

Realising that she should have known better, Buffy smiled back and began to walk up her path. He hesitated a moment, before following her.

She smiled as they stepped onto her porch. “I had a really nice night. Thank you.”

Shaking his head, William looked up from the floor of her porch. “No. Thank you.”

“I don’t mean to sound…well, I mean….what where you doing up there tonight?”

William sighed, shaking his head as he looked around. – He didn’t know. The same thought has been running through his own mind for the past few hours. How could he have done that to himself?

“Willow asked me to do it. She wanted to do her part…give money to charity, but she didn’t have anyone to bid on…so she persuaded me to do it.”

“Where was she?”

It was after Buffy’s question, that she remembered Willow bidding on Oz.

“I don’t know. When I couldn’t see her in the crowd I almost fainted.” He paused, looking around for a second.

“I saw her bidding on Oz.” Buffy stepped closer to him, placing her hands in her pockets and moving from foot to foot – something that William associated with nervousness.

“She looked really into it. I’m sure that she never meant to leave you up there like that.”

William doubted it…and Buffy could tell by the look on his face.

“Will, I’m serious. She’s your friend. Maybe she just really likes Oz.”

Although he nodded, Buffy knew he was just trying to shut her up. He obviously didn’t want to talk about it. She still remembered the look on his face when he’d realised that Willow had already bid on Oz.

“Why’d you bid on me?”

It was direct, straight to the point – and really unlike him. Buffy sighed, taking her hand out of her pocket to squeeze his wrist. She didn’t look into his eyes.

“Was it pity?”

He knew he was pushing her – but after tonight he’d decided upon a “no more Mr. Nice-Guy” approach, and so right now, he didn’t care if he was scaring her away. He just wanted an answer for once.

“No. It wasn’t pity. I mean…I did feel sorry for you, but so did everyone else. I just bid on you because…I kinda care. You’re my friend. I could see the hurt in your eyes, and it hurt me. I don’t know what that means…I’m confused about a lot of things right now.”

Nodding, William sighed. “About me.”

“No.” Buffy countered, shaking her head. “About me. I shouldn’t feel the way I do…about you, about school…about anything. It’s like I’m a completely different person. I just want to jump into anything to deep before I even figure out who I’ve become. I could drown.”

Placing his hands on the railings of her porch, William tried not to blurt it all out, but it didn’t work.

“I already have drowned. Can’t you see? You make me feel alive, Buffy. I’ve never felt warmer than when you look into my eyes.”

Buffy had become silent. She had suspected…but never would she have imagined shy, vulnerable William confessing all of this to her. She thought that she’d have enough time to analyse her own feelings before he even attempted to clue her in on his own…but there it was. There he was, and she could take it or leave it.

Angel had never said anything even resembling those words to her, and she felt her heart opening to William before she could even think about what letting him in would cause.

In a few steps she was in front of him, her hands on his face as she stared into his eyes.

Their lips were inches apart, their eyes closed, their hearts open…and then just before their lips met, an image flashed inside Buffy’s head.

Angel.

Wide-eyed, she drew away quickly, her heartbeat quickening. Her heart almost crumbled in her chest when she saw the look on his face. It was the second time that night she’d seen that emotion in his eyes. Hurt, embarrassment…betrayal.

“I’m sorry. We…we can’t do this.”

It was then that she realised it…all this friendship would bring them was hurt. They were both so obviously attracted to each other, but their relationship was forbidden. They were like Romeo and Juliet.

Neither of them would be able to handle the consequences of a relationship, no matter how hard they were willing to try – and even their friendship was dangerous.

“I have to go.” She whispered, pulling her keys from her pocket and walking over to the door. Without looking back at him, she began to speak as she tried to open the locks.

“I can’t believe we almost did that. Don’t you see what you’re getting yourself into? This is bad, I’m bad. You need to stay away from me, before something like his happens again.”

Shaking his head, William lost all his bravado and his eyes became wide. She was trying to lock him out – not just out of her home, but of her life.

He stepped forwards. “I’m sorry…alright? Can’t we just forget about it and go back to the way things were?”

Shaking her head, Buffy finally got the door open. “No…you’ll just end up getting hurt.”

Stepping inside, she turned to him, and as much as she tried to avoid his gaze, their eyes met and her heart stumbled in her chest. She began to close the door but he put his foot in the way and grabbed her arm. “Buffy…”

Almost in tears, Buffy wrenched her arm from his grasp. “Get off of me!”

…and William stood alone in the porch as she locked the door behind her, not even sparing him a glance from behind the diamonds of frosted glass.


To be continued…



Nicky: Okay, so I said NO angst of this kind...but...it is serious angst, and it does get worse as the story continues.

Hope you liked it, and PLEASE review. XXX

 

 

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