July 9, 2008

Wednesday

7:00am

Once again in her own bed, and with William beside her, Buffy slept deeply that night, only stirring to change positions; her around him, him around her, them face to face, her head on his chest, his down to hers.

Early the next morning, William opened his eyes, a soft smile coming to him as he saw her face next to his, her arm loosely thrown around his middle. He stared at her for a while, occasionally his eyes darting to take in the room, which he'd only briefly seen last night. In the early morning sunlight, filtering in through the heavy drapes, he could just barely make out the shapes of the dresser, or the closet, bathroom, and bedroom doors.

He reached over and kissed her softly on the forehead, and watched as she stirred in her sleep, from his kiss, and mumbled, "Fishg, bglih you, William."

"Well, 'fishg, blglih,you too, Elizabeth," he whispered back, smiling at her bit of nonsequitur nonsense.

He closed his eyes and tried to drift back to sleep, but nature was calling strongly, plus the desire to do a bit of exploring, maybe make some breakfast for them, something to show that he could be useful to her, now that they were home.

He carefully slid out from underneath her arm, pulling a pillow under her arm, in his place.

Before going into the bathroom, he’d grabbed his jeans, and took his one clean shirt out of the top dresser drawer. Elizabeth had started to clean it out for him last night, but he had stopped her, telling her that for now, they could share it, after all, wasn’t like he had so much.

Once in the bathroom, he turned on the shower, but found only cold water. Elizabeth had said something about the water heater being outside. Reluctantly, he turned it off; he'd have to find out about that later. He washed his face, brushed his teeth, and shaved with the icy water. He dressed, then quietly went back into the bedroom.

As the sun had risen, the shapes in the bedroom had taken on distinctness. One of the things his eyes fell on was the bag on the floor. He grabbed his boots from the side of the bed, picked up the black plastic bag full of dirty clothes, and quietly made his way out the bedroom door. Before shutting it, he set the bag down, then went back into the bedroom and grabbed the wrapped packages off of the dresser.

He looked around the living room. There was a peacefulness to it this early, as the light through the shades blanketed the room in a soft glow. It felt right, somehow, the way this room looked, the way it felt to his senses.

He made his way into the kitchen and made some coffee. While it was brewing, he found the wash machine. Reading the directions on it, on the soap, and on some of the tags of their clothes, he started a load of darks. At least he wouldn't need to worry about using warm or hot water for those.

Next, he unwrapped the packages he'd brought into the kitchen, carefully pulling off the newspaper they were wrapped in. They were the pots they'd bought in Mesa Verde. He went back into the living room and placed them on either side of the mantle, above the fireplace. He'd let Elizabeth decide where they should be displayed best, later.

Satisfied, he went back to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. He found a new carton of milk in the refrigerator and a box of sugar, in one of the cabinets. He fixed his cup, then sat down at the table, looking over the kitchen, while he drank.

Ten minutes and a second cup of coffee later, he decided to have a look around the outside. He put on his boots, laced them up, picked up his mug, and went out through the back porch.

William walked toward the barn. He stopped to have a look inside. He saw piles of tools, rakes, hoes, hoses and the like, first. Next, as he came nearer the center of the barn, he saw some steps leading up to a loft area. He went up those and saw a punching bag, some hand wraps, some gloves, and some powder. He wasn't sure what to make of any of those. Perhaps they'd been his.

From the loft, he could look out at the house. As he looked, he noticed what appeared to be large number windows, if he was seeing it correctly, belonging to an attic or second floor. He hadn't noticed any stairs leading up to another floor, so he supposed it must be some sort of attic.

Outside again, he walked around the barn and saw the black DeSoto that Elizabeth had said was his. It was a fine looking car. It looked like the windows had some sort of black material on the inside. He opened the door, and found that it was only a pull-off heavy black plastic. Sitting down in the driver's seat, he put his hands on the wheel and tried to remember what driving felt like, but he couldn't. Of course, he'd seen everyone he knew, over the past 4 weeks, do it at one time or another, but he still hadn't any memory of himself having drove. Of course, he knew he must have, even if in his own faulty memory, cars hadn’t even been invented!

"Well, best get back to the house and make me lady some breakfast," he said, closing the door to the DeSoto.

Buffy stirred and yawned, her hand went upwards to feel William's warm skin.

Suddenly, her eyes shot open, and she looked at the pillow next to her.

"Huh?"

She sat up and looked around. Everything was as she remembered it.

As she remembered it.

As she remembered it from…?

Looking at the floor, she realized there was no black plastic bag. She then looked at the dresser, no packages. Leaning over the edge of his side of the bed, she down at the floor, no boots!

"NO! NO! OH GOD NO!" she said, her heart pounding and her eyes filling with tears. "SPIKE!"

She'd had so many dreams of him over the years, but never like this, never this long; this real! It couldn't be a dream! Could it? She looked around again, sitting on the side of the bed. Her heart felt like it was going to break; a twenty-ton weight upon it. All this, this...everything...Chicago, Fuller's, her friends, the road trip, the RV, all a dream?

She rose heavily from the bed and went over to the dresser; slowly she opened the top drawer and looked in. Just as she remembered! There was no shirt.

Tears were now streaming down her face, and a sob hitched in her chest, spilling out, making her cries sound harsh and loud in the room. She looked at the bathroom and closet doors. Which should she open next, to further prove that he wasn't here, had never been here with her? She walked over to the bathroom door and could barely seeing the handle, for her tears. She stood there shaking, crying, afraid to open it.

William had just walked back into the kitchen from the porch, when he heard her cry, "SPIKE!" with such anguish in it; he nearly dropped his coffee cup. He ran to the bedroom.

Just as she’d started to turn the handle on the bathroom door, the bedroom door burst open, and William had come running in, an alarmed look on his face.

The bed was empty, he turned and saw her standing by the bathroom door, tears streaming down her face, shaking and sobbing as if she was going to break.

"WILLIAM!" she cried, as she flung herself into his arms, "Are you real? Are you? Oh God, Oh William" she said, hugging him so tight, he thought he was going to break, kissing every square inch of him she could reach.

"What's wrong Elizabeth? What happened? What's wrong?"

She laughed and cried at the same time, tears of relief now, "I woke up and you were gone. Then I looked over and saw everything was gone - the laundry bag, your shoes, the packages on the dresser, the shirt in the drawer," she said, still crying. "I thought I'd dreamed it all, I thought that you were still gone, that you'd never been here, that it had all been a dream. Chicago, Fuller's, the trip here...I thought I had woken up and it had just all been a dream, that you weren't real, a dream," she said, repeating herself, still clinging to him.

"I'm so sorry, Elizabeth, it’s all my fault. I woke up early, so I thought I'd make myself useful. For you. I took the laundry out of here and started a load. I unwrapped the pots and put them on the mantle, started some coffee and see," he said, pointing to his shirt and the boots, "even got dressed," he said, sheepishly.

"I'm so sorry, luv, I didn't mean to give you such a terrible scare. But see? I'm right here, real and everything," he said, brushing the hair back out of her face and kissing her softly, "I'm here, Elizabeth, not going anywhere, here with you, okay?"

She nodded, sniffling and kissing him, "I'm sorry, I feel like a big idiot now..."

"No, never! You're not an idiot, I was inconsiderate, I mean, I had these good intentions of making breakfast for you and doing laundry, but I left and should've told you first."

"I was so sure, so scared, that when I’d open that bathroom door, I wouldn't see any of your stuff on the counter. That's when you came in, just as I was getting ready to really fall apart, when I would see that you were never here, weren't...here. Oh, God, I'm so..."

"Lovely. You're so lovely, that’s what you are," he said, kissing her, holding her tightly. He reached down and picked her up and carried her back to the bed, setting her gently down, he lay down beside her and kissed all her tears away.

"I’m so sorry," he said, again and again, as he stroked her face and hair.

"Nothing to be sorry for," Buffy said, "you were just doing normal stuff. I’m the one who freaked out. I’m sorry, I…" she stopped suddenly, as a thought so foreign, so alien, came to her that she was scared all over again.

"Did you say you did laundry?"

END CHAPTER 86

William looked up at her, "Yeah, laundry," he said, putting a stray piece of hair behind her ear, "not a complete git; read the directions and all that. Darks together in cold, that’s what I did."

Buffy let out a sigh of relief, "Well, good. Thank you, it was just unexpected, but in a good way, except for the mind numbing fear. Who would think not seeing a bag full of dirty laundry could send me into a panic?" she grinned, but shuddered none-the-less at the memory.

"Did you say there was coffee?" she asked.

"Yep, might due with another pot though, it’s probably a bit old by now."

"Old is fine."

"How about I get you a cup, then start a fresh pot?"

"Sounds great," she said, smiling.

He left the room and she let out a big sigh. She got up to use the bathroom, this time not afraid to turn the handle. Buffy smiled at seeing his things, swearing to herself that she’d never make an issue, if he didn’t cap the toothpaste and left dirty socks all over the place.

"Thought you were really losing it," she said to her own reflection.

She was reminded of the hot water heater, by the icy cold water that ran out of both faucets.

William was coming in with the coffee as she was coming out.

"Going somewhere?" he asked.

"Um-hmm," she said, taking the cup from him and gratefully drinking down some. "I need to light the water heater if we want any hot water today."

"Yeah, was gonna take a shower this morning, but didn’t fancy a cold one," he said, "though took plenty of those in Michigan, before…"

"You weren’t the only one," she said, lightly running her fingers up his arm.

He gave her a huge grin, with just a hint of a blush. One thing she’d discovered over the past month was that William could be, not only serious and romantic, but quite cute and endearing. A dangerous combination! When he smiled like that, all problems were forgotten, all things were possible.

"Wanna come?"

"Definitely, need to know how things work around here."

She grabbed a box of matches from one of the cabinets and they made their way to the side of the house where the hot water tank stood. She showed him where the pilot light was and the handle to adjust it. He struck the match and heard the ‘whoosh,’ of the gas, as he lit it and the heater kicked on. Closing the door to where the handle and pilot were, he stood up, looking pleased.

"Not a bad start, William," she said, smiling at him approvingly, "you made coffee, did some laundry, and lit the hot water heater. Not a bad start at all." She reached up to give him a kiss on the cheek.

He put his arm around her and hugged her to him; "I went to the barn earlier, too. I saw the DeSoto on the other side."

"You did? What did you think?"

"Looks nice. Still don’t remember how to drive, though."

"You’ll learn again."

"When?"

"Well, not today."

"Tomorrow?"

She looked at him, mouth open.

He laughed at her expression, "I’m just kidding, Elizabeth, don’t want to learn to drive tomorrow. Think I’ll need a little more time to get up my courage. Washing machine is one thing, a car, quite another. Besides, where would I go? Don’t exactly know my way around here."

"I’ll be happy to teach you whenever you’re ready. Um…maybe Clem can help with that, too."

They went back to the house. Buffy insisted on making breakfast, after first showing William how to start another load of laundry, light colored things this time, and how to use the dryer.

"French Toast okay?" she asked him.

"Great, want me to do anything?"

"Looks like there’s a new bottle of papaya juice. You could pour…"

"What’s papaya?"

"A fruit, native to Hawaii. It’s pretty good, but if you don’t like it, I think there’s some orange juice," she said, looking into the refrigerator. "Spoke too soon, just papaya. Sorry."

He poured himself a little glass and tasted it, holding it in his mouth for a couple of seconds, "Not bad. Pretty good, actually," he said, pouring the juice into two glasses.

Buffy found some bread from Dudley’s Bakery. She smiled; knowing Clem had gone out of his way to go to Santa Ysabel to get it for her. She beat some eggs, adding nutmeg and cinnamon to the mix, before placing the bread into the mixture.

A few minutes later, she had it cooking away on the griddle.

"Smells good," William said, coming over and putting his arms around her waist, pressing gently into her.

"Better not do that," she said, smiling, as she pressed back.

He bent over and kissed her on the neck, before pouring himself some more coffee and sitting down at the table and watched her.

A few minutes later they were digging into their breakfasts.

"Good?" she asked.

"Um-hmm. Very," he said, between bites, "reminds me of how my mum makes it."

She smiled, missing the present tense of the word; "I remember you telling me that. You’re the one who made it for me this way, the first time we were here."

William’s hand froze in mid-air, holding the fork, when he realized what he’d said. He’d all but forgotten about his mum, about finding out that she was dead now. How could’ve not remembered? A look of pain crossed his face, as the realization hit him, that he would never see her again. Almost worse still, that he didn’t even know how she’d died, or if he’d been there by her side when she had.

"William? What is it?" Buffy asked, then suddenly it sunk in, the French Toast, his mother. For William, she realized, unlike Spike, it wasn’t that his mother had died over 100 years ago, but as though he had just received the news. Again.

She got up and came around the table, putting her arms around him, "I’m sorry, William, about your mum," she said, stroking his hair.

"I don’t remember. How can I not remember such a thing?" he asked her.

"I don’t know," she said, "but I do know what it feels like, I lost my mom, too. About 7 years ago."

He looked up at her, "I’m sorry, Elizabeth. How did she…"

"Brain tumor. Actually, they got the tumor, but she had an aneurysm, caused by the surgery. It ruptured," she said, quietly, "it was quick, at least. I came home and found her on the couch…" she said, clearing her throat.

"I’m sorry," he said, stroking her arms that were around him.

"Her name was Joyce. You liked her; she was fond of you, too. You used to come over and talk to her, back before we were together, when you…well, I think you just wanted to be around her and Dawn, hoping I’d show up. Anyway, she used to give you hot cocoa with little marshmallows to drink, as you talked."

"I just…I wish I could remember how my mum died, if I was there to take care of her. I remember her being sick…I just don’t remember…" William said.

"I’m sure you did what you thought was right for her in the end," Buffy said, "I’m sure you were a loving son."

He nodded, "I hope so."

He cleared his throat and patted her hand, "I’m okay now…just had a…you should go and eat, before your food gets cold."

"Here, let me just warm these up for a minute," she said, taking their plates. Buffy sighed silently, as she stood by the microwave, remembering. The death of his mother, had been something so painful, so horrible, that The First had been able to trigger him, by using that memory, back in those dark days in Sunnydale. She hoped that he would never have to face that kind of pain again, the pain and sorrow of all the wrong things he had done. All the losses he incurred; those he had caused.

FLASHBACK:

END FLASHBACK

The microwave bell dinged, and she brought their plates back to the table.

Having already caused Elizabeth a great scare that morning, William was determined not to let the pain over his mum bring her any more on his behalf, so when he got his re-warmed breakfast back, he changed the subject to other things, and their mood lightened.

She watched him, as he talked about the house, about the pots he’d placed over the mantle, about the barn, and other little things. And she couldn’t help but be in awe. Awe that he was actually sitting there, across from her, having breakfast, as if it were the most natural thing. As if, five years hadn’t passed, as if he hadn’t died and come back as his formerly human self.

Buffy didn’t realize that William had stopped speaking a while ago and was now just looking at her gawking at him, with a quizzical expression on his face.

"Oh, sorry."

"Bored you silly, eh? Prattling on? I do that sometimes, have to learn not…"

"I wasn’t bored."

"No? Figured I’d lost you about 3 minutes ago, from the look on your face."

"I was just…appreciating you," she said, smiling.

"Appreciating me, huh?" he laughed softly, "haven’t done much to be appreciated for, really. Though I suppose the laundry gets me brownie points, as Dawn would call them."

Buffy shook her head, "Not for something stupid like laundry. Even though doing laundry is a good thing. A very good thing."

She got up from her chair and slowly came over to his. She motioned for him to pull his out, and as he did so, she sat down, straddling his lap.

Her arms went up around his neck, and her eyes looked into his, "I love you," she said, kissing his forehead, then his eyes, "I love you," she repeated, as she rubbed noses with him and found his lips and kissed those softly.

His arms tightened around her, as he deepened the kiss, moaning as she ground into his lap, "I love you too, Elizabeth. So much, so much," he murmured to her, his hands slipping up under her top.

Buffy let out a whimpering sound, as his clever, fine hands expertly cupped a breast in each, fingers and thumbs teasing her nipples, as his mouth made other promises that her body responded to.

"Remember what I told you we’d do the first day?" she whispered, as she ground down on his lap, feeling his hardness underneath her.

"Sex, eat, sleep," he said, grinning.

"Hold on," he said to her, and stood up, with her still around him. He got his balance, but not before knocking the chair over. She squealed as he almost stumbled backwards onto the downed chair.

"Lemme down!"

"No! I’ve got you right where I want you," he said, holding onto her legs, which wrapped around him, as he made his way to the bedroom.

END CHAPTER 87

RATED R KIDDIES!

William half dropped, half set Elizabeth down on the bed and tumbled forward himself, landing on top her. He kissed her, as he pulled her top off, while she was busy trying to do the same to him.

Laughing, kissing, hard and hungry, they quickly discarded the rest of their clothes.

"I want you inside me now, William," Buffy said, pulling him on top her.

He kissed her, looking at her, as he did, as he slipped into her warmth, her heat, her body. His heaven, his home.

"God, I love the way you feel around me," he said, as he slowly thrust in and out of her, He marveled at the way her eyes closed, when she arched her body to meet his thrusts. "Love the way your body molds to mine, the way you hold onto me."

What he didn’t know was that she closed her eyes, not just from the physical sensation that made her want to shut them, but from the intensity of his gaze, looking down on her, into her. His blue eyes, silently pleading, demanding entrance into her, into her soul, into her very being…sometimes it was just too much, she had to look away, afraid to get lost in them, afraid…and so she held back, a little bit of herself. Gave him all of what she could, prayed it would be enough.

"Oh, God, William. Yes, yes, love you, love you," she said, her whole body tensing, then releasing, as she clamped down around him, body arching into his, as she came, pulling him in more, more, until he thought he was going to explode from the intensity of her orgasm. As it subsided, he regained his momentum, thrusting into her again and again. She whimpered from the post-orgasmic sensitivity as she felt him grow harder, stronger, harder still. She couldn’t believe it was building again inside her, from the inside out. She clamped down on him, automatically, her body in the driver’s seat, as she did, William could hold on no longer, he came, moaning her name, almost a cry upon his lips, spilling inside her, until he was spent, until they both were.

A couple of hours later, she woke up for the second time that morning. This time she smiled, as she saw him next to her on the pillow. Here. Real. Not a dream.

She wrapped herself around him more, finding her niche in the space between his arm and shoulder.

Sleepily, he pulled her in tighter, as his hands roamed down her back, resting on her hip.

In turn, her hand grazed over his chest, down to his lower stomach, then to his hip, also. It was one of her favorite places to rest her hand. Intimate, possessive, reassuring. She smiled to herself as she felt him squirm slightly, a couple of inches lower than where her arm rested. She accidentally-on purpose, adjusted her arm, so that it just lightly brushed against his cock.

He lay there straining to get her arm to touch him again. She had to know he was aroused, didn’t she? Hmm, he thought, two can play at that. Slowly he brushed his fingers over her hip area and over her behind, letting his fingers fall just south of her cheeks, resting on the soft skin just below. Now it was his turn to smile, as she moved herself closer, so that his fingers might have more contact.

They both played the game like this for a while, each trying to get the other person to give in, beg for the others touch.

So far, William was winning this one, but not by much. Finally, Buffy, having been teased by the lightness of his touch for too long, grabbed him like she meant it. He groaned as she reached down, taking his balls into her hands, massaging the sensitive area beneath them, and finally wrapping her hand around his length, pumping it from the head to the shaft.

In turn, his fingers now massaged the soft skin that was the uppermost part of the back of her thighs. She adjusted herself, giving him access, and his fingers found their way inside her. He stroked the inside of her with them, as she moved up and down on them, panting, lost in the delicious sensation of his touch. In little time, she was once again, riding the crest of yet another orgasm.

Wincing a bit, because she’d gripped him tightly when she’d been in the throes of her orgasm, he gently lifted her hand off of him. Instead, he pulled her on top of him. She could feel the moisture wiping across his thighs, as she spread her legs to straddle him. His hands held her up a bit by her hips, as she reached down to position him.

They both gasped as she slid down his length, enveloping him inside her.

"God, you’re so hot, Elizabeth," he gasped.

She smiled at the double entendre, "So are you, William, so are you," she quipped.

She leaned over, lying down on top of him. He kissed her mouth, hungrily, as his hands pulled at her hips, controlling their motion. She knew he liked it best this way sometimes, her on top. She twined her fingers into his hair, as her tongue twisted and entwined with his. He was now pulling her hips down faster and faster. She moaned into his mouth, making his drink her in even more. Faster and faster his hands clasped and unclasped at her hips. Finally she had to break from his mouth, putting her head onto his shoulder, his neck, as he thrust up into her harder and harder, until she heard him cry out, felt him explode inside her, filling her, completing her.

His breath settled after a couple of minutes and he released his death-grip on her hips, instead, putting his arms around her back, massaging her.

She stretched out her legs, still on top him, and kissed him, "Good?"

"Oh, God!" was all he could say, that and his gentle kiss said it all.

Reluctantly, she rolled off of him. He turned toward her, so that he was on his side.

"What are you thinking?" he asked her.

"I’m thinking I should probably get up and fix us some lunch before we starve to death from all the calories we’ve been working off."

"Know what I’m thinking?"

Oh, she bet she knew! She was turning him into a sex bot!

"What are you thinking?"

"Just that I wish we never had to get up from this bed. Just me, you, and the bed. Maybe some water would be nice, too. Make love to you all the time, day, night, afternoon. For an eternity, again and again. Never get tired of you, of loving you, of making love to you. That’s what I was thinking," William said smiling.

"Me, too," she said, kissing him.

"Never get tired of you, all the ways I’d find to make love to you, to make you scream," he said in a low, sexy voice that reminded her of Spike.

Her sex twitched. Jesus.

He watched as her chest hitched up slightly at his words, how her hips instinctively shifted closer to him.

"Never get tired of kissing you, your mouth, your breasts, your stomach, your thighs. Kiss the inside of your thighs so gently, just below your…"

Her sex twitched again, pulsed with need, as his honey-filled voice made could make her feel him right there…

"…beautiful, ripe, delicious…"

He smiled at her in the most decadent way now, aware of what his talk was doing to her. He could see her chest heaving as he described exactly what his tongue would do to her.

She started to put her hand between her legs, but he stopped her.

"Too much talk, eh? Want me to show you instead?"

She could only numbly nod her head as he crawled with a panther like grace over her, kissing down her body as he went.

Only Spike had ever been able to claim her this way. And now William was doing it, too. Her body became his instrument to be played again and again. His slightest look, his touch, his words bringing her from zero to wanton slut in nothing flat.

Her sweet, innocent William of a month ago, had now come into his own as a man. Her mind blurred the distinction even further, between the two, as his talented tongue slid into her, teased her, licked her, and once again, made her scream his name as she was brought over the edge. Lights, camera, ecstasy, all rolled into one.

Another couple of hours passed and she lost count of how many times they’d made love, napped, gotten up to grab some yogurt (who had known that yogurt could be so much fun?) to eat and some more juice to keep up their energy. Her body was now in a state of sexual delirium, over aroused, sensitized to the slightest touch, look, word from him. She didn’t realize it was even possible to have that many orgasms in one day! Orgasms that seemed to be getting stronger with each next one, rather than weaker.

William looked down at Elizabeth with concern, she seemed to be state of…?

"Elizabeth? You okay?"

"Um-hmm," she said, kissing his already swollen lips.

"You seem…maybe we should take a break."

"Thought we were taking a break," she said, stretching, "but done ‘breaking’ if you are," she smiled at him, a lascivious grin on her face.

"No, I mean, maybe we should get up, take a living room break or kitchen break,"

She was about to protest, when her eye caught the time, "Oh crap! I was supposed to call Dawn today. Probably should call Clem, too. Okay, we’ll take a break, complete with clothes and everything."

"Clothes?" he pouted, "naked is good, too."

"No naked. Naked means more sex, which is good, but not if you want us to take a break," she said, smiling, smacking his bottom.

She squealed, as he pulled her back as she attempted to get up. He kissed her hard, making her moan again. Then he released her, a big smirk on his face.

She loved it when he smirked. She started to kiss him again. Felt his hands roaming over her body.

"No, no. Kissing bad. Never get up. Oh, God, yes, there, oh…"

END CHAPTER 88

A/N Okay, had to have a fun, Spuffy, sexcapade chapter, didn’t I?

I figured these guys deserved an interruption free day to carouse and carouse yet some more. For those of you that have ever indulged in such a thing, well, you know how much fun they can be…J ….

"That was great," William said, having just finished his lunch.

"It was only canned soup and a sandwich," Buffy said.

"I don't care, it was great!" he said, smiling.

She giggled, "You were starving, huh?"

He nodded, munching a mouth full of potato chips.

"See, I just have to wear you out to such a weakened state all the time, that you'll never notice my lack of culinary skills. Be thinking that a bowl of cereal is the best thing since sliced bread," Buffy said, laughing.

"Speaking of bread, that bread is exquisite! Where did you say it came from?"

"Dudley's Bakery, in Santa Ysabel, where we got off the highway, about 4 miles back."

"Oh, I think learning to drive a car, just to be able to go over there might be motivation enough to get over my fears."

"Oh, wait until you see the grocery store."

"Why? Is that as good as Dudley's?"

"No, but I hate grocery shopping, you obviously like to eat, so you can shop, we'll get Clem to cook, and we'll be set," she teased.

"What about you? What do you like to do, then?"

"Oh. Me? I'll work up your appetite," she grinned.

"I see," he said, and got up from his chair and started stalking around the table towards her.

She screamed and took off running toward the living room. He gave chase, finally catching her by lunging at her over the couch, pulling her backward on top of him. She giggled and screamed as he tickled her in all the right places.

"No, no, no," she gasped, "need to call Clem, Dawn!"

He released her, giving her a swat on her bottom, "Okay, I'm going to go take a shower, while you call, okay?"

"Okay," she said, blowing him a kiss.

She smiled, staring after him, as he walked into the bedroom. This had been the third best day she'd ever had here. Maybe the best, since the other two had been with the knowledge that they would have to return to Sunnydale and face The First.

She shook her head, clearing it and went to retrieve her phone. She turned it on and saw that there were 6 voice messages. Oops!

Three of them were from Dawn, one from Willow, and one from Clem, and one from Mrs. Carpello at Montessori. That was from yesterday. She frowned at the last one.

She called Clem first.

"Hello?"

"Clem, it's Buffy."

"Buffy! How you doing? How's…he doing?" he stopped, short of saying Spike. Finding the other name hard to get out.

"We're fine. I wanted to thank you for the soup last night, it was great. Oh, and for the groceries, and for carrying our packages to the porch."

"No problem."

"I saw you."

"I know. What are you guys doing today?"

"Well, William's taking a shower right now. We didn't have any warm water earlier, the pilot was out. We've just been...hanging, getting used to being here with each other again."

"He still doesn't remember anything?"

"No, not really. But still, things are good. Great, actually. Listen, why don't we plan on seeing you for lunch tomorrow, if you're not working, that is."

"No, that would be great, I'm off for a few days."

"Oh, do you think that you'll be able to..."

"Look human?"

"Um...yeah. I hate to ask, but William doesn't..."

"I know, Buffy. It's not a problem. I just want to see him again."

"I know you do, and I'd invite you over today, it's just..."

"No, totally understand, you just want to be with him by yourself today."

"Um, yeah. I haven't really gotten the chance to do that since I found him. I mean, Willow and Dawn were with me from the beginning, then when we drove across country there was Xander, his wife and two kids, Willow, Dawn, me, and William. Lots of people..."

"That is a lot."

"Well, we dropped off Xander's wife and kids in Kansas, but still…not that I minded. I mean, I really liked them, and I love my friends, you know...babbling now."

"You don't have to apologize Buffy, for wanting to spend one day alone with Spike, um, I mean William. Oh, and if I call him Spike by accident is he going to get upset or something? Because I keep thinking of him as Spike, even though I know you call him William now."

"No, he won't get upset. We've all called him Spike on occasion. I think that once you get to know him, that he'll seem more William-like to you, than Spike-like, and maybe you'll just start thinking of him that way, then."

"Um...maybe."

"Oh, one more thing. Please be very careful about the time line thing."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you and he start talking about how long it took you to build the house, or how long you've known Edna...see, William only knows he's 28, almost 29 years old. He doesn't know...so if you start talking about what happened 50 years ago, he's going to be very confused."

"I see. I'll try to remember all this, but I can't promise, Buffy."

"I know. And we've all sort of goofed up, too. Trying to not let on what we know about…well, everything. It’s just I don’t want him getting upset. Sometimes he’s…still fragile. Don't worry; just do your best. "

"But you make me worried!" Clem said, exasperated.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. Just...what time do you want us to come over or do you want to come over?"

"1:00ish? Here?"

"Okay, we'll be there at 1:00ish tomorrow, then. Thanks, Clem. For everything you do for me, that you've done for us."

"See you tomorrow Buffy," Clem said, hanging up. He sighed. There sure were a lot of things to worry about when seeing and talking to Spike again. His name being the least of it. He walked into the kitchen, petted the calico kitten on his table, and munched absently on his seventh hot and spicy chicken wing for the day.

Buffy still heard the shower running. Well, better call Mrs. Carpello then, while William was still in the shower. With any luck, she'd only talk to her answering machine.

The phone rang three times and Buffy was beginning to feel lucky.

"Hello?"

"Um...Mrs. Carpello? This is Elizabeth. Elizabeth Worthington."

"Oh, hello, Elizabeth. I've been trying to get in touch with you."

"I’m sorry, I’ve been out of town."

"I see. Well, the reason I'm calling is to tell you that the meeting that was supposed to be Friday, has been postponed until Monday."

Buffy had totally forgotten about that, "Oh, what time Monday?"

"10:00am, at the school."

"Do you know how long it might last?" she asked.

"I'm not sure, you should probably plan on being here at least a couple of hours," she said, briskly, "why, did you have plans?"

"Um, no. No plans...it's just," she took a deep breath, she hated dealing with the headmistress, who wasn't always the most understanding of people, "there's...I need to talk to you about something."

There was silence on Mrs. Carpello's end, as she strummed her fingers on her desk. Sometimes she wished she hadn't hired Elizabeth. She was great with the kids, but there was something about her that was unreachable, something that resisted the rules and order she tried to bring to the Montessori environment. It wasn’t that she’d even gone against them, she just recognized the type, given half a chance.

"Well? What is it? Have you found another job? Is that what you're trying to tell me, that you won't be back this fall?"

Buffy was shocked by the outburst, "No, that's not it...at least not the way you put it, but there's been a change in my life that I need to address...my priorities...that's why I need to talk to you, in person."

"Are you pregnant?"

"What? Am I what?" Buffy laughed. The way her and William had been going at it, that wouldn't be totally out of the question, except that they'd been careful. She sobered up quickly, "No, I'm not pregnant," she said. "Can we talk, before the meeting?" she asked. If Mrs. Carpello was going to be difficult about her situation, she didn't know what she was going to do, but she figured she had about a 50/50 chance of not even needing to go to the meeting afterwards.

"Elizabeth!" William yelled from the bathroom, "where are the towels?"

"Um, excuse me a minute," she said, putting her hand over the mouthpiece.

"They're in the cabinet above the toilet," she yelled back.

"Okay! Thanks!" he yelled back.

She smiled, thinking of his nice shower-warmed naked body for a moment.

"Sorry, I'm back."

"Why don't you come about an hour early and we can talk, Elizabeth," Mrs. Carpello said.

"Okay, thanks. Then I'll see you at 9:00am on Monday."

"Very well. Good-bye, Elizabeth."

"Good-bye, Mrs. Carpello," Buffy said, clicking end on her cell. Great. Just great. Couldn't have one day...oh bloody hell! She would so have her one day! Nothing was going to ruin this! She smiled, as she started toward the bathroom and a nice shower-warmed William.

Mrs. Carpello hung up the phone, taking a moment to look at her black lab, sitting by her feet. "So, what do you think, Duke?" she asked, "Elizabeth took up with some guy over the summer?"

She sighed, thinking of the man she had long ago loved and lost.

"Come in," William said, hearing Elizabeth knock on the bathroom door.

She looked at him, and made a pouty face, "Aww, you’re dressed."

He smirked, "Isn’t that what people usually do after showers?"

"Um, I don’t know…there’s people and then there’s people like us."

"I see, going to ravish me again?"

"Something like that," she said, as they met in the middle of bathroom. Arms, lips, legs.

He picked her up, setting her on the bathroom sink, "Make your phone calls?" he asked, between kisses, as he was pulling her pants down.

"A couple of them," she gasped, holding on to him, so she wouldn’t fall over, "still need to call Dawn and Willow."

Her mouth found his again, as he pulled her top off and she was busy unsnapping and unzipping his pants.

He made a frustrated sound, as he kicked his pants away, and pulled her off the sink, onto him. Once he was inside her, he grabbed a towel and placed it on the sink, so she would have something soft to lean back against.

"Love you, love you," she murmured, kissing his clean, soft neck, as he drove into her.

"Gah, Elizabeth," he mumbled, "feel so good, so hot for me, always make me feel…." He stopped talking, as she clamped down on him, once again. He followed a few seconds later.

He gently put her down, holding onto her, as her legs seemed wobbly, "You okay?"

She nodded, "Never better. Um…since I’m here and I’m all sticky, maybe I should jump in the shower."

"Okay, I’ll be out there. Somewhere," he said, motioning to the house beyond their bedroom.

"Okay," she said, kissing him on the cheek, and handing him a washcloth, which he’d asked her for.

William, dressed once again, went out into the living room. He was just going to take a look at the desk, when the phone rang.

He looked around and found it on the couch. He opened it up and looked at the buttons, trying to figure it out. The ringing had stopped.

"Hello? Hello? HELLO?" said a voice.

He tentatively put it to his ear, "Hello?"

"William?"

"Yes, who’s…Dawn?"

He heard laughter, "Yes, dummy, it’s me!"

"I’m sorry. I…Elizabeth’s in the shower."

"I’m sorry, I’m just teasing you. How you guys doing? I called like 3 times already today."

"Oh, you did?"

"Yeah, Buffy probably didn’t have her phone on, or you guys were too busy to hear it, huh?"

He was quiet for a minute. It was one thing to be having lots of fun with Elizabeth and feeling quite free in doing so, it was quite another to be discussing it with Dawn.

He ignored her comment; "Did you go to the airport to get your car yet?"

"Yeah, early today. You know Xander, he wanted to be back on the road at like 5:30am! I could’ve killed him, but he really wanted to get an early start, so I was down at the airport and back home again by 7:30am."

"I thought your boyfriend was going to drive you today."

"I couldn’t get in touch with him last night. He was probably at the hospital or something…"

William thought she sounded a little worried, "He’ll be happy to see you, Dawn."

"Oh, I know he will…I just…nevermind. Anyway, I think Willow called you guys, too. At least she said she was going to, before they got up in the mountains on the way to Arizona again."

"I’ll have Elizabeth call her. You, too, when she comes out of the shower."

"Not necessary, just checking in. Just tell her to call me in the next couple of days, okay? Oh, hold on!" she said, suddenly, leaving him to wonder what happened.

"William!" Dawn was back, "I gotta go, that’s John calling me, give my love to Buffy, you too."

"Okay, I will. Bye, Dawn," William said, wondering if he should be pressing any buttons now that the conversation was over. He saw an end button and pressed that. The light switched off. That seemed right. He flipped the cover, closing the phone.

"Dawn called," William told Elizabeth a few minutes later, after she came out of the shower. She’d dressed, so he put away his thoughts of her nice warm, smelling shower-pretty body, for the moment.

He told her their conversation, ending with what he’d done with the phone.

"Well, you got most of it right, but instead of just disconnecting the call, you also turned it off, so we can’t receive calls either. Which isn’t a bad thing, actually. But not usually. Here, let me show you," she said, and proceeded to show him how to only press quickly to end, but to hold it down in order for it to just disconnect the call.

"Or, in the case of this phone, all you have to do is just flip it shut to end your phone call, or open it, when it’s ringing. But say for some reason, you’ve got it open and it rings, then just press any button and you’ll connect."

"I think I was almost understanding that, until the last part," he said, shaking his head.

She went over it again.

She tried to explain digital.

Even wished Andrew was around. Well, she wasn’t quite sure about that. He could explain all that tech-y stuff to William, if he really wanted to know details, which he really didn’t need to know, just to make a call. Anyway, she wasn’t 100% sure she could trust Andrew, and even if 90% of her did, the other 10% would always be leery of his former connection with Wolfram & Hart, and Angel. No, best to keep them apart. That and he’d always had the hots for Spike. She didn’t know how William would take to being flirted with by another guy. It was one thing to be tolerant of Willow, but quite another…

"Elizabeth?"

"Oh, sorry, off in my own world."

"Show me something else, okay?"

"What? You mean the luminescent sparkle of cell phones is waning?"

He laughed, "Funny, very funny."

She took his hand, "Want to take a walk?"

"Yeah, could do with a spot of fresh air."

She laughed; "God, I missed how you talk, your voice…" she blurted out, then blushed, thinking of the other things that voice was capable of making her feel.

"That right?" he asked smiling, "Like the accent and all that rubbish?"

"Um-hmm…among other things," she batted her eyelashes at him.

He grabbed her and pulled him to her roughly, "Like when I tell you all the things I love to do to you? Or that you’re so beautiful it blinds me? Like me to tell you that just looking at you, thinking of you makes me so hard?" he whispered in her ear, taking her hand and putting it on the front of his pants, to emphasize his point. His warm breath and his words turning her knees to jelly.

"Oh God, William, oh, God!" she gasped, as they tumbled to the couch, pulling each other’s clothes off once again.

"What happened to the walk?" she asked, between thrusts.

"Later…don’t think I’m in any position to walk right now, do you?" he asked, thrusting into her.

"Uh-uh, no position at all…" she moaned and laughed at the same time.

Half an hour later, they were finally on the trail.

"Shady trail," William remarked.

"Yeah, it is," she said, remembering how Spike had told her how he’d used Indian thatching techniques and fast growing trees to make the area even denser, so that he could walk around, without fear of catching on fire. Over the years, some trees had naturally gotten older, and fallen, and so there were spots that the sunlight now filtered into, but they weren’t in the area they were now in.

They came up over the ridge and Buffy motioned for William to follow her through some brush to the overlook he’d first showed her.

"Wow!" he said, "I didn’t realize we were that high up, or that you could see the desert from here."

"Guess Julian is about four-thousand some feet above sea level. I don’t usually even think about it, the being up high part, unless I see this. You know how it is; everything just seems normal, the town, the house… unless I was actually living on the side of a mountain and could see down it everyday…am I babbling?"

He just looked at her with a raised eyebrow; "I get it, I get it."

She led him back to the trail, "Want to introduce you to someone. Someone you’ve met before."

"Clem?"

"Nope, *Tree," she said, pointing it out, "Tree, meet William, William meet Tree."

He looked at the tree and then at her like she’d lost her mind, "And I’m the one suppose to be starkers?" he asked, shaking his head.

She laughed, "No, really, despite all evidence that I’ve lost my mind…oh, just let me show you," she said, and took him around the back of the tree. There carved into the bark, inside a heart were the words, "W Loves E."

"I do that?" he asked.

She nodded, "Yes, the last time we walked here…right before we left," she said, her eyes getting a little moist.

He pulled her to him and kissed her softly, "I do love you, Elizabeth. I wish…wish I hadn’t lost all those years I could’ve been here with you, all that time…"

"Shhh," she said, putting her fingers to his lips, "you’re home now. Here. With me, right?"

He nodded, "That I am. Not going anywhere ever again. I promise you, I…"

She silenced him with a kiss, that became more insistent, deeper, "Let me show you what else this tree is good for," she said, leaning her back on it, as she pulled William closer. She unzipped him and he moaned, as he pulled at her pants, too.

"Crap!" she said, trying to hook her arms around the lower branches, "Damn thing grew! I used to be able to…"

His eyes grew wide with knowing, "Oh…I see. Wait then, got an idea," he said, quickly zipping his pants and going over to the other side of the trail. He came back with a couple of pieces of wood, piling them up under the tree. "Here, step on these," he told her.

"Better," she said, pulling him back toward her.

Her legs went up around him, as he entered her. His hands cupped her bottom, so that she didn’t rub against the bark, and she hung onto the lower branches.

"Ooh…oops!" he said, breaking contact, as his feet rolling off of the wood he was standing on. "Bugger!"

Buffy unhooked her arms, laughing, "Forget this, guess the tree idea wasn’t so hot."

"No, no, it’s not that…it’s just. Know what, We have some extra wood in the barn, right? I can fix up something out here. Something that won’t have us rolling off…"

"Or, we could find another tree, right?"

"I don’t know, Elizabeth, another tree might be fine, but this is ‘our tree,’ right?"

She nodded.

"Very well, then. We’ll fix this up, so we can…make love right here, whenever we want."

She walked up to him and put her hand on his cheek, "I don’t care where we make love at, just as long as we do, lots and lots, and that we’re together."

They walked a while longer; then they turned back. They had almost gotten as far as the place near to where the cave was, below the trail, through the brush. She wondered if she could find the exact spot.

**The cave, and the wonderful hot spring. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to go this far in all the years she’d been here, couldn’t even bear to see The Tree, after a while. She’d have Clem go and check it out sometime, see that it was still fit inside, then maybe someday…

They warmed up the pot roast that Clem had told her about. She had fixed herself a salad.

"Pffft!" William said, making a face, when he saw her eating it.

"Did you just pffft my salad?" Buffy asked, giving him a dirty look.

"What kind of eating is that?"

"The healthy kind," she said defensively, "whereas, red meat…"

"Yeah, got that from all of your lot earlier in the week, but you can’t expect to replace all those lost calories that I’ve been making you lose with rabbit food!"

She sighed, it would take a bit of work to turn William’s Victorian ideas of eating around.

"No, I suppose not, I’m just trying to balance my meal, okay? I’ll have some pot roast, just not too much, okay? Not really a meat fan."

He sighed, she was really so thin, though maybe a bit less so, than when he’d first seen her. Probably weighed 2 lbs. more. He’d have to work on her 21^{st Century idea of what constituted a healthy diet. From what he could tell, there was way too much processed, worthless food, which people ate too much of, while staying away from real food, salads not-withstanding.}

They retired to the living room after dinner with wine and enjoyed the fireplace and each other.

The phone rang about 9:00pm.

"Hello?"

"Buffy, it’s Willow!"

"Oh, Willow. Sorry I didn’t get back to you guys. Where are you?"

"Tuba City, if you can believe that."

"Wow, you guys made some serious time."

"Yeah, that Xander is a demon on the road," she stopped to laugh at her own joke. "He swears we’ll be back at Mary’s house by tomorrow night. He’s already gone to bed, says we’re leaving before 5:00am tomorrow."

"Sounds like you should be in bed, too."

"I can’t sleep this early, no matter what. He gave me the bedroom, so I’ll probably wait a couple of hours and call Kennedy, watch a little television, read, you know…"

"Yeah, I know."

"So, how was your first day home? How’s William? He didn’t have any more ‘episodes’ or anything, right?"

"No worries, we’re fine. It’s been…lovely. Right now we’re sitting in front of the fireplace drinking wine. Tomorrow we’re going to see Clem."

"Oh, yeah. Clem. He emailed me."

"What about?"

"He wanted to know…can William hear me?"

"Um…no, he just went to get another bottle of wine, why?"

"Clem wanted to know if there was anything I knew of that would help him stay in his human visage longer than he was able to. Without the pain, that is."

"Oh, that was why…what did you tell him?"

"I told him I’d check with the coven when I went home, in the meantime, I gave him a small spell he could use for a couple of hours at a time. Guess he’ll have to let you know when it’s wearing off."

"Is it safe? I mean for you? Him?"

"Perfectly safe."

"Good then. Thanks."

"So…how is it? Being back with him?"

"It’s been incredible today. Oh, besides that I woke up this morning and he’d gone outside and moved some stuff, so I thought I’d dreamed him up, dreamed all of it up. It was pretty horrible…but since then, it’s been nice. He even did the laundry!"

"Not bad, not bad at all. I’m glad for you Buffy. For both of you, I really am."

"I know you are. I miss you already."

"Yeah, me, too. Listen, I’d probably better go get ready for bed and all that. I’ll get to work on those papers for William as soon as I get back to England. I try to have them to you by the middle or end of next week."

"Oh, yeah, the papers. I forgot. Thanks. You have everything you need?"

"I think so. If there’s anything else, I’ll call. But some of the family stuff, names of relatives and such, I can probably look up from here. I just feel funny putting all these phony dates in about deaths and all that without him knowing that’s what they are."

"I know. I do, too. But what choice do I have right now."

Willow was quiet for a minute. "You’re right, you don’t have a choice at the moment, but don’t let ‘the moment,’ pass whenever that is."

"I won’t, I know. Well, you get some sleep and I’ll talk to you soon. Oh, William is back, want to say bye?"

"Sure, bye Buffy."

"Bye Willow, here’s William."

"Hi, Willow, how are you and Xander?"

"Xander is asleep, he’s being a slave driver-driver, and making us leave before the crack of dawn tomorrow. He’s bound and determined to have us back in Kansas by tomorrow night."

"Whew, that’s a lot of driving. Well, you tell him I said hello. And Angela and Alex, too."

"I will. You doing okay?"

"I am, never better."

"Good, good. Well, bye William, take care."

"I will, you too. Bye Willow."

He closed the phone and handed set it down on the table.

Buffy had gone into the kitchen looking for something to munch on. She came back with a grin on her face, "Know what I found?"

"What?"

"Rocky Road Ice Cream!"

"Umm," he said, his eyes lighting up.

From behind her back, she brought out the container and two spoons.

"No bowls?"

"Funner this way!"

"You do know that’s not a word, don’t you?"

"Yes, I know. I tell my students that all the time. But in this case, it’s a state of mind, not a word. Rocky Road Ice Cream; you, me, a spoon…definitely of the funner!"

He shook his head and laughed, "Have to agree with you there, luv. Forget what I said."

"Forgotten!" she said, coming up to him and sitting on his lap and handing him a spoon.

They soon were having a ‘funner’ time feeding each other Rocky Road. A bite meant for Buffy’s mouth, fell on her shirt and William moved the ice cream carton and licked it off her chest. He looked up at her, his eyes twinkling, "Hmm, this is funner!"

She missed his mouth on purpose with the next spoonful, instead smearing it on his earlobe, then licking it off.

He moaned, and did the same, except this time, the cold ice cream found itself on her neck, followed by his warm, lapping tongue.

By the time he was done, she was squirming on his lap and the idea of where else ice cream could be licked from was in both their minds. Giggling like children, they scrambled off the couch.

She ran into the kitchen, putting the dripping carton into a pan, then went into the bedroom. William had already pulled off the covers of the bed and laid down four big bath towels.

"Good thinking!" she said, pulling off her clothes as she advanced. He was already naked on top of the towels.

She stopped in front of him, lifting the spoon to drop some chocolate-y goodness on his chest. She bent over and licked it off, as she looked at him, his eyes half-closing. She couldn’t remember having more fun in…well, forever!

Next she dropped some of the ice cream lower on his stomach and did the same, having as good a time from him enjoying it as anything. Finally, she spooned some onto his the head of his cock, watching as it dripped down the length of it. She followed the drips with her tongue from the head, down to his balls, until he was a quivering mass of ice cream covered man. Kneeling over him, she sucked him into her mouth. He pulled at her hair and her head, being careful not to push her down more than she would want to go. He tried to lift her up before he came, but she persevered and he gave up, coming a few seconds later.

She smiled up at him, happy to have driven him crazy, to have made him happy, and hey, who knew the mingled taste of Rocky Road and William…well, not a bad thing. Not bad at all.

Buffy curled up next to him, and he pulled her near, "Love you," he said, kissing her. She smiled, lying her head on his chest.

"Sticky," she murmured, giving his chest a lick.

A couple of minutes later, he turned her face towards him, so he could kiss her lips, as he stroked her body; "Your turn, ice cream goddess."

She giggled, as he turned her over on her back, while reaching for the pan of melty ice cream. He took the container and slowly poured it from her neck, down to her pelvis. She gasped as the cold chocolate hit her skin.

He took his fingers and moved it through the line, creating a finger painting of chocolate all over her breasts, abdomen, and stomach.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"Painting you, writing you, like a canvas, my canvas," he said, his voice husky with lust, as his tongue and mouth started at her throat, licking up the sweet mixture of her skin and the ice cream.

By the time William was at her breasts, Buffy was already moaning, and by the time his tongue went from her belly to between her legs, she practically came from the slightest touch of his mouth.

His tongue swirled on her clit, the mingled tastes of chocolate and her arousal, making him half-crazed to be inside her. It didn’t take long for her to come, she arched into his mouth, her hands pulling at his ears, his hair, calling his name and the Almighty’s.

He pulled her up into a sitting position, and onto his lap. She whimpered as he slid into her. They faced one another, her eyes large, expressive, filled with longing for him, love. His eyes told her of his love, between kisses; whispered his innermost feelings to her, gave her the words and poetry of his heart that he’d longed to be able to tell someone all his life.

Their bodies rocked together stuck together, too, by residual Rocky Road, as they climaxed together.

Afterward, William drew a bath for Elizabeth, insisting she would sleep better for it. She didn’t know how she could sleep any better, having had at least a dozen orgasms in one day, if not more, being surrounded by his love, his caring. It was all of the good. He brought her a glass of wine, while she was bathing. She insisted that he come and share in the bath with her, and so they sat together back, to front, drinking wine in the candle lit bathtub, until all the warm water finally ran out and they were forced out.

Cuddled around him that night, she smiled.

"Perfect," she murmured into his warm skin.

"What’s that, luv?" he asked, his arms around her.

"Perfect. You. This day. Us. Never known something could be so perfect."

He kissed the top of her hair, she his chest, "I agree. Everything…perfect," he murmured back, and together they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

END CHAPTER 89

A/N

*The Tree reference from ONE NORMAL DAY found in Chapter 20 of the prequel.

** The cave and Hot Springs from ONE NORMAL DAY found in Chapter 23 of the prequel.

Okay, got my fill of writing Spuffiness for their One. Good. Day. AKA Perfect Day.

Next chapter, William meets Clem, Elizabeth explains William to Mrs. Carpello, they and he try to figure out what he’s going to do now as they start living their lives. Don’t frown, it’s not going to be that boring! J

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