A few days later, William came into the house, excitedly calling her name.

"What is it?" she asked, coming into the kitchen, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, come see!" he said, and dragged her outside with him. In front of the house was Clem, sitting in the driver's seat of the DeSoto.

"Wow, you guys did it!" she said to William and Clem.

"Yep, good as new," Clem answered, "wanna go for a ride?"

"Um, sure. Hold on, let me get something," she said, running back into the house. She went to her dresser drawer and got out the registration.

Buffy got into the backseat and handed William the registration, "Have to have this," she said, "just put it in the glove compartment."

William looked at it thoughtfully as he read through the vital stuff. It was registered to him, with the name of a former Sunnydale insurer. The registration said it was from 2003.

He opened the glove compartment and pulled out another one, "What's this, then?" he asked, "This one says..."

Buffy reached around and grabbed the old one, crumpling it in her hand, "It's nothing. A mistake with the DMV, they sent you the wrong one, we just never threw it away."

"But why was that in here and not the other one?"

Buffy shrugged, "I don't recall. Don't worry about it, okay? Just put that one into the glove box."

A frown crossed William's face, but he did what Elizabeth asked him to do.

They took a ride into town, with Clem explaining to William all about the car, the gears, road signs, and general stuff he would need to know when he started driving.

"It rides well, you guys did a good job," Buffy said.

William beamed, "Yeah, we did, didn’t we?" he said, as he looked over at Clem, then over his shoulder at her.

Clem nodded.

The next day, Clem stopped over with a driver’s manual he’d picked up from the DMV.

"Thought you might want to start looking this over."

William nodded, "Thanks, I will."

"The test is done on a computer, just to let you know. Think it’s a touch screen."

"Oh. What’s a touch screen?"

"Nothing to worry about," Buffy said, "you just touch the right answer on the screen with your finger, and it registers it. Don’t even have to type."

"Sounds easy, then. At least the test taking part. Don’t know if I’ll be able to learn all this."

"Sure you will!" Buffy and Clem both said.

William grumbled something to himself as he looked through the booklet. "Glad you both think so. Right then, I’d best go and study up," he said.

"You don’t have to do it right now," Buffy said.

"Yes, I do," he said, as he walked into the living room.

"He seems excited," Clem said.

"More like scared," Buffy replied, "I hope we’re not pushing him too fast."

"He’s alright Buffy, he really is. He’s got a lot of hopes."

"Hopes?"

"Yeah. Guy stuff," Clem said, clearing his throat, "but in order to have any independence, he really does need to learn to drive. Unless you’re planning on driving him around the rest of his life…oh sorry, I didn’t mean to say…"

"It’s alright, Clem. I know what you’re saying. I just…I just worry, ya know?"

"I know."

"Aren’t you coming to bed?" Elizabeth asked around midnight.

"In a little while, I just want to go over this one more time."

She came up to him and shut the booklet; "You’ve done enough for now."

He moaned, "Elizabeth!"

"Come on. You already passed the practice test online. Twice. And you probably know more of the rules than I do. You’ll do fine. Besides, there wasn’t any rush, you don’t have to take the test tomorrow."

"I know that, I just want to. I want to be able to…do stuff…drive, take you places, too," he said, looking up at her in his most charming, ‘why-don’t-I-just-melt-you-where-you-are-standing?’ way he had when he wanted her agreement.

"I know," she sighed, "but there’s no use in over-studying this stuff. You went to college, you should know cramming isn’t the best way. Get some sleep first; then your brain will be nice and fresh to look it over in the morning.

He laughed, "Nice and fresh brain, huh?"

She rolled her eyes, "You know what I mean. Come on," she said, holding out her hand to him, giving him her most winsome female look. He wasn’t the only one who could play that game.

"Okay," he said, and allowed himself to be dragged off to bed. As if that was a bad thing.

July 23, 2008

Wednesday

8:00am

Buffy opened her eyes to see William standing next to the bed, fully dressed in his nicest clothes and holding out a breakfast tray.

"Rise and shine, sleepy head," he said.

"What time is it?"

"It’s already 8:00am."

"And you’re waking me up this early, because why?"

"I want to take my permit test," he replied.

She moaned and pulled the covers over her head.

"Elizabeth! Come on!" he begged, pulling the covers back off.

"William, do you know they probably don’t even open for another couple of hours?"

"Nope, they open in one hour. I checked," he said, "and if we get there early, then we won’t have to wait in a line for long, if at all."

She sat up in bed, shaking her head, and allowed him to put the tray down over her lap. She picked up the coffee cup and sipped it.

"How long have you been up?"

"Um…got up about 6:30. Showered, dressed, looked over the booklet again. Took the test online again. You were right, much fresher today. Didn’t miss any! Oh, and then made you breakfast."

She grinned, his enthusiasm contagious, "Okay, you win. Just let me get some coffee in me, then we can go."

"No, you’ve got time to eat, too. Don’t want you going on an empty stomach. If we leave in 40 or 45 minutes, we’ll get there by 9:00am right when they open."

"Anal, much?" she muttered.

"What?"

"Nevermind. Did you eat?"

He nodded, "Had some coffee and a muffin already."

Buffy stopped in midair with a drink of coffee.

He cocked his head at her, "What?"

"I was just thinking about your car. We need to get it insured before you can drive it. If we do that now, then we can get a new plate on it and register it today, too."

"That’s good," he said.

"Can you bring me the phone?"

"Sure," he said, going to get it.

"Oh, my purse, too," she called.

"Okay."

Buffy took the phone from him, and looked up her insurance agent’s number in her phone’s memory log, then pressed the corresponding number.

"Hello, Allstate, this is Barbara Macintosh."

"Barbara? This is Elizabeth Worthington."

"Hi, Elizabeth, what’s up?"

Buffy told the agent about needing to insure the car. She had thought she might need to put it under her name, since William wasn’t yet licensed, but that wasn’t the case. Barbara told her anybody could own and insure a car, even if they didn’t drive it. She gave Barbara all the vitals on William as far as his age, Social Security number, car model, VIN number, and other stuff. They decided on what sort of coverage was needed and the deed was done.

"Okay, Elizabeth, I’ve got the DeSoto insured in William Worthington’s name now, effective at noon today," Barbara said.

"Really? That quick?"

Barbara laughed, "Yes, it would be even quicker, except Allstate’s doing some system maintenance until around then. But as soon as the system boots back up, his insurance will be in effect. He ought to receive his insurance card in about a week."

"Won’t the DMV need to see it, though?"

"I don’t know. Just give them the policy number that I gave you, it should be okay. Here’s the verification number, too. That should do it."

"Come on!" William called from the doorway.

"I’m coming, I’m coming! Sheesh!"

She started walking out to the car and was just about to get in when she remembered the title was still in her drawer, "Wait," she said.

He groaned.

"Impatient much? You do want me to get the title so we can get it all taken care of today, don’t you?"

"Yesss," he said, rolling his eyes and tapping his foot impatiently.

"Yesss," she mimicked him once back in the house, retrieving the title. God, he could be so infuriating in his one-tracked mind. She grinned. "Obviously, some things never change, huh, Spike?"

They arrived at the DMV at 9:15am. There was already a line. They took a ticket; it read ‘10’ on it.

"See, I told you we should have gotten here earlier," William said, exasperated.

"Well, maybe you should’ve gotten me up earlier then. In fact, maybe we should’ve just pitched a tent here overnight so we would be first in line," she said, smiling at him, although her eyes were anything but.

He swallowed, "I’m sorry for being such a prig…I’m just nervous and wanted to get it over as quickly as possible," he said, taking her hand.

"It’s okay. Don’t be nervous, you’re going to do fine," she said, relenting, and squeezing his hand back.

"You sure about that?"

"Absolutely."

Half an hour later, they were called to the counter.

"He’s here to take his test for a permit," Buffy said first.

The girl looked over at him as if to ask what a guy his age was doing just now getting a permit, but she quickly hid it. She’d seen all kinds of people of all ages getting permits. Just this one looked more or less normal, and like he should’ve been driving at least a dozen years. Oh well, maybe he’d been in prison since he was a teenager or something.

"Um…miss?" Buffy said.

"Oh, sure, fill this out, then take it over to the lady behind the green counter over there. It cost $10 to take the test. Afterwards, they take your picture and then they’ll give you your permit."

"Thanks," Buffy said to the girl.

"William, why don’t we fill this out, then you can take the test? Afterwards, we’ll get back in line for the car stuff."

"Shouldn’t we do it all now?"

"No, you should probably go and get the test over with. As soon as you start taking it, I’ll grab another number, that way by the time you’re all done, it will probably be time for us to go up to the counter again."

He nodded, absentmindedly, his thought on the papers in front of him and on the upcoming test.

They stood in line another 10 minutes before they could pay for the test. The woman who took their money showed William the bank of computer terminals and had him choose one. As soon as he was seated, she came over and explained to him what to do. She smiled at Elizabeth as she walked back behind the counter, "Don’t worry, he’ll do fine," she said.

"I know."

Buffy went to get another number and to wait until William was done with the test.

Ten minutes later he came back around the partition. He looked nervous, as he came and took a seat beside her.

"How’d you do?" she asked.

"Don’t know yet. I think I did okay."

"I think so, too, just…"

"William Worthington," called the woman behind the counter.

They got up and went to the counter.

"Congratulations, you passed your permit test," said the woman, smiling, "in fact, you aced it. You didn’t miss any!"

William let out a sigh of relief, "Whew!"

Buffy reached over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "I knew you would," she whispered.

He put his arm around her, giving her a squeeze and looked at her, smiling.

"You ready for your picture?" asked the woman, "sign this first. Good. Now, go sit down over there," she said, motioning him to a chair in front of a blue backdrop.

"Okay, ready, set…" Click went the camera, and it was done.

A few minutes later, William was the proud owner of a new driver’s permit. And he did look mighty proud of himself, Buffy thought as she watched him turning over the permit in his hands, as they waited to be called again.

Part 2 of ‘Fun at the DMV,’ was not so much…well, fun. Buffy had to practically strong-arm the clerk, to get her to believe that indeed, William Worthington did have insurance coverage for the DeSoto, only they didn’t yet have a card to prove it.

"Well, why don’t you just come back with the card next week?" the girl had asked.

"Because we want to get the car plated today. And why don’t you just call this number if you need proof?" Buffy had suggested, none-too-kindly.

"We aren’t allowed to make phone calls to prove if you’ve got insurance, that’s what an insurance card is for."

"But he does have insurance, and we should be able to get plates today. I have the policy number, the verification number, even! Surely, there’s got to be some way we can do this!"

And so it went back and forth for a number of minutes.

William pulled gently on her arm, "Come on Elizabeth, we can just come back after the card comes."

She shook his arm off, "No, we shouldn’t need the card, if we’ve got the number and our insurance agent said you’re insured today."

Finally, the clerk’s supervisor came over and talked to Buffy and after a few minutes of discussion and one phone call, they were able to plate and register the car.

Another clerk did have to come outside to take a look at the actual car, verify the VIN number, and do some quick, visual safety checks.

Buffy held her breath while the VIN number was cross-referenced with the DMV’s databanks. Silently, she thanked Willow, when it all checked out fine.

By the time they finally left the DMV, it was almost 11:30am. They’d been there a little more than 2 hours. Pretty par for the course. Buffy had to admit that if they hadn’t gotten there as early as they had, they probably wouldn’t have seen the light of day until it was late afternoon. The last time she’d looked up at the sign, it had been on number 39, but when she went by the ticket thing-y, the next number was 84. That would have been a really, really long wait!

Buffy opened up purse and took out a small screwdriver that was attached to a Swiss army knife that she carried, "Here," she said, handing him the new plate, "maybe we should change the plate, before some policeman notices that the date on it is about 6 years old."

He looked the Swiss army knife, "Interesting contraption," he said, taking it from her.

"Former Girl Scout, here," she said.

He wasn’t sure what that was, but he imagined that if it meant that Elizabeth was always prepared, then he believed it. He knew that the only reason that he was standing there right now with a new license plate and registration was because of her insistence and determination in the face of a ‘clerk,’ who didn’t want to go the distance necessary.

For that matter, the only reason he was here, with her, and not stuck in some mental ward was because of her, too.

He attached the new plate, and she gave him the sticker that said, ‘08’ to affix to the little square after the ’20.’

"There, all done," he said, pushing the screwdriver back into it’s slot in her gadget, "now, when can I start learning to drive?"

END CHAPTER 95

Okay, having just been I.M.’ing my Beta Judy, and she had suggested that I totally cut the DMV and just have Willow give William a license so that he can just learn to drive. I guess my point was that it’s a slice of real life having to do these things he’s never done (as William) and his license would have been expired by a couple of years anyway…so he might have had to take some sort of test.

However, I did see her point, economy of words, etc. So…if you yawned through this, blame me (I know…you would anyway!) J

So, an informal poll…

DMV, what a hoot!

or

DMV, should’ve canned it!

Let me know, guys!

Later that afternoon, William had his first driving lesson, and Buffy had a lesson in patience, not usually her strong suit.

Buffy had him practice driving up and down the long road from their house to the main road. It was about a 2 mile drive, the only problem coming at the end, when she had to take over so she could turn around quickly on the main road, and head the car back in the opposite direction. After about an hour of this, William asked if they could take the lesson somewhere else.

"Well, we could go into town. I could drive there, and you can practice in the high school’s parking lot for a while. I could teach you some turns and parking. At least 'normal' parking. I was never too great at parallel parking myself. I think I'll have Clem teach you that one, okay? But, yeah, we can go into town. Maybe have some lunch while we're there?"

"Okay," William said, happily agreeable.

Buffy couldn't help but smile at him. He had the unbridled enthusiasm of a child, the idealism of a teenager, the loyalty and love, and intelligence of...well, William. She had a moment's sadness, remembering Spike. Whenever she felt the deepest feelings for William, there was always a moment of regret and guilt over Spike. She couldn't help but compare the two, and wonder what Spike would think of his inner William these days. It was always so confusing, since the one had been aware of the other, even allowing his softer, i.e.; William side to emerge quite a bit in that last year. But William? Totally William, as he must have been before Spike, of course, a bit different…no, make that a lot different, since he was living with her. Surely a corrupting influence on his Victorian sensibilities, she thought, wryly.

They were stopped in front of the house, and he looked at her curiously. She sometimes got this look of sadness in her eyes, that she would quickly try to cover up. He wondered if he didn't disappoint her in some very basic way, something...some piece that she felt he was missing. He could only love her now, for what they had, for what she was. What he couldn't give her, was sharing their past; their history. He didn't think he ever would, either. Not only that, but from what he could gather from her and other's omissions, was that part of it must have been quite painful. Because of his other persona, Spike.

These were the sort of thoughts he tried desperately to keep at bay. He couldn't understand how he could be any different than he was now. He couldn’t have been a bad or a rude man, could he? To himself, he seemed as he always had been. Except now, with Elizabeth's love and caring, he felt so much more of a man than he ever would have believed possible, back when he was living in England with his mother and older brother, back in the...

...and again, his mind rebelled at the false images and dates they must be playing at. He remembered his mother and his brother. Elizabeth had verified that yes; they existed, but were now deceased. But how could he remember them, as if they'd all existed in a different time altogether? It didn't make any sense. He couldn't have lived in the 1800's because he was only nearly 28...that and it was impossible! That being the case, why didn't he just remember them in context to the past century? The 20th century? Why did he so clearly see himself in a house without any modern conveniences? Was his family so desperately poor? No! He remembered quite the upper middle class upbringing, one that brought him a spot at Oxford in...

"William?"

"Huh? What?"

"What's the matter? You looked...well, like you were...I don't know, unhappy."

He shook his head; "It's nothing...I guess you sort of looked like that yourself a moment ago, then I...it's nothing."

"Me? I looked unhappy? No, why would I? No, I'm just fine," she said, smiling at him and taking his hand and bringing it up to her face. She kissed his palm quickly. "See, all happy, here."

His hand moved over to caress her cheek, as he looked into her green eyes and found himself reflected back with love. He sighed, relieved, "Sorry, I didn't mean..."

"Nothing to apologize for," she said, shaking her head.

"It's just..."

"What?" she asked softly.

"Is this enough for you?"

"This? What's this? Driving stuff?"

"No. Me," he said, still looking at her, "am I enough for you?"

"William," she said, now putting her hand on his cheek, "of course you are, you're everything to me. I love you."

Buffy felt guilty, for what surely must have been him reading her moment of sadness. She knew enough of early childhood education, that children were highly sensitive to the emotions of the adults around them. In this way, William, and even Spike, had always been very much like this, when it came to her. Acutely sensitive.

Buffy swore to herself to be more careful with her emotions around him, however fleeting. He always seemed to pick up on them, and the last thing she ever wanted to do was to hurt him.

"I love you too, Elizabeth," William said, "it's just..."

"No, there's 'no' just! Just nothing! Everything is fine right now, you don't have to worry or change anything. Please believe me William," she said, her eyes looking frightened, begging, even.

"Okay, Elizabeth. Okay," he said, nodding. "How about that driving lesson at the high school and lunch?"

She nodded, "Yeah. Let me drive there, though," she said and got out of the car to come around to the driver's side. She tried to avoid looking at him, but he pulled her to him and hugged her tight. She gave up the front for a moment, and clung to him, feeling herself getting teary eyed. Again. 'Stop it, Buffy!' she commanded herself, 'get a freakin' grip!'

"Let's go," she said, taking the keys from him. He got in the passenger side, and she took that moment to sniffle. Then she cleared her throat, put on her sunglasses and got in, too.

An hour and a half later, they had driven every square inch of the parking lot, and then some. Finally, she had him driving around Julian, up and down the country roads, in town, and even a little on one of the busier roads.

"That's enough for today," she said, motioning for him to pull over and let her take over.

"Aw, I was enjoying myself," he protested.

"I know, but my stomach is growling and if I don't 'speed' to the nearest restaurant, you're going to have to drive me to the hospital for necessary intravenous fluids and feeding."

"Okay, okay," he said, pulling the car to stop and carefully putting it into park.

She smiled, she always knew both William and Spike were always concerned for her when she was hungry.

They change sides; "So, what are you in the mood for?"

END CHAPTER 96

July 23, 2008

Wednesday

2:00pm

"I thought you had something in mind. I don't really care, whatever you want, Elizabeth."

William saw The Rittenhouse Restaurant as they turned the corner, "How about here?" he asked.

"Um…I don’t know," Buffy faltered, "maybe I should call Edna first," she said, but slowed down the car to a stop, because there was a truck in front of her, unloading a street-cleaning machine.

"Uh-oh," Buffy said, motioning to the front of the building. Edna had taken this moment to come outside was now looking at the car intently.

"Is that her?" William asked, pointing rather obviously.

"Yes, that’s her. Are you sure you want to do this right now?" Buffy asked, hoping for some reason that he didn’t. She wanted to have him be prepared for Edna, to have Edna know he was coming.

Edna waved hesitantly, until William waved back, then she started down the steps, really waving now.

Buffy had no choice but to pull the car over.

She looked over at William once and nodded, "She’s quite old, so don’t be surprised if…"

William only nods in return, opening the door.

Buffy quickly came around to his side, lacing her fingers in his, and they walk up the sidewalk to where Edna has stopped.

"William?" Edna whispers.

His kind eyes smile as he nods his head.

She walks up to him and looks at him closely for a moment. Tears come to her eyes, "William," she says, her voice choked up, as she holds out her arms, "you’ve come back to us!"

William has no choice, but to let himself be smothered by Edna’s embrace, but he does so with a gentle acceptance that brings tears to Buffy’s eyes, as well.

Edna looks up at Elizabeth and nods, still patting William on the back. She holds out her other arm for her to join, and soon the three of them are standing on the sidewalk hugging and crying.

After another few moments, the embrace ends. Edna is still looking at William in wonder, hanging onto him with one arm, the other she wipes at her eyes with.

She shakes her head, to clear it, "Where are my manners?" Come inside you two! Let me get you something to eat!"

They walked into the restaurant. There were only three tables still occupied by late lunch diners.

"Sit anywhere you like, unless you want the room in the back that you had that time, perhaps?" Edna suggests.

"Where we had dinner for Valentine’s Day?" William asks.

"You remember," Edna said, brightening.

"Afraid not," William said, smiling apologetically, "just from what Elizabeth told me."

"Oh," Edna says.

Buffy shakes her head, "That’s not necessary. This will be fine," she says, as she stops at a table toward the rear of the restaurant, away from the other diners.

Edna stands at the table for a minute, just staring at them both, especially William. She stares at him sitting in the sunlight streaming in from a nearby window, at the light suntanned glow of his skin, at his eyes.

Buffy gently clears her throat, as she notices William beginning to fidget under Edna’s scrutiny.

"Oh, there I go again, off in my own world. Let me get you some menus and some water. I’ll be right back," she says with a smile and a nod to Elizabeth and hurries off.

"You okay?" she asks William, who seems to be breathing easier now.

"Sure."

"Good. Sorry about that, I should’ve warned you that Edna might be a bit intense at first."

He shook his head; "It’s alright. I figure she’s just doing what everyone else wanted to do when they first saw me again, only were too polite to do so."

"Probably," Buffy admits.

"If I recall correctly, you almost fainted when you first saw me."

"Yeah, that’s right. I almost forgot," she says quietly.

"I didn’t. Had to catch you."

She nods, looking at him.

"And Clem, he didn’t know what to say to me, so he got us drunk," he says, with a sheepish smile. "So, kind of used to people doing strange things around me. Guess I’m a shock to them, huh?"

"A bit," she says. "Oh, sorry about the other room Edna mentioned. I just didn’t want her to have to clean it out just for us."

"That’s okay, this is lovely," William said, just as Edna came back to the table with the menus. A young waiter came over with two glasses of water. Buffy looked up and recognized him.

"Wally? I mean Wallace?"

The tall, young man with an easy smile and warm brown eyes grinned at Buffy, "Yeah, it’s me."

"What are you doing here? No, wait, you’re in town for the summer again, aren’t you?"

He nodded, "Well, a little more than that, I’ve moved here, I’m going to start college in the fall."

"That’s great! Where at? What are you planning on studying?"

"I’m going to San Diego State, as for what I’m studying," he said, shrugging.
"I haven’t decided yet."

"Well, the important thing is that you’re starting college. And here!"

"Wallace," Edna said, "this is William. Do you remember him? I think the last time you saw him you were only about 7 years old."

"I know, but I do remember. I remember coming downstairs late one night for some water and you and William were talking in the kitchen."

He pointed toward William. "You lifted me up and put me up on the counter so I could reach the glasses myself and I suddenly got scared. I don’t know why, maybe because your hands felt cold or because you were dressed all in black; I remember staring up at your white hair and wondering why grandma had a friend who looked like a rock star," he said grinning.

"Well, you remember more than me then, seeing as I don’t remember anything."

"Yeah, heard about that man. Bummer. Hey, is that your DeSoto outside? That’s an awesome car!"

"Thanks."

"William and Clem have been fixing it up," Buffy said to Edna and Wallace.

"Mind if I have a look under the hood?"

"No, not at all."

"Wallace!" Edna cautioned, "don’t be pestering Master William now!"

"No, really, it’s no bother at all."

"William just got his permit today and I’ve been giving him driving lessons," Buffy said.

"You don’t know how to drive?"

"Don’t remember how."

"Oh, that’s right. Sorry about that, man. Listen, when you’re ready to learn to parallel park, come and see me. I’ve got the best method of learning ever. I’ll have you doing it perfectly in less than an hour!"

"Really?"

"Guaranteed! My old driving instructor taught it to me, and it’s fail-proof."

"Well, thanks. I might just look you up on that."

"Yeah, thanks, Wallace. I was going to have Clem teach William that, since I’m not so great at it myself!"

"Okay, okay, enough of cars for now. Why don’t we let William and Elizabeth look at their menus."

"Oh, sorry about that," Wallace said.

"No problem. It was nice talking to you again," Buffy said.

William nodded, "You, too."

Wallace smiled at them, as he left the table.

"Nice kid," William said.

"Yes he is. A bit on the talky side, though," Edna said, fondly. "Well, I’ll let you two decide what you want. I’ll be back in a few minutes."

"So, what do you think?" Buffy asked a few moments after Edna had left.

"About having scared a little kid by looking like a rock star?"

Buffy giggled a bit nervously. She had cringed when Wallace was relating the story and didn’t know how William would react to it.

"Actually, I was talking about what’s on the menu."

"Oh, of course," William said, looking at it some more.

"Um, Elizabeth?" he said, after about a minute.

"What?"

"Do you happen to have your pair of reading glasses? Or those ones I first got at Walmart on you? I forgot my prescription ones at home."

She snickered a little, comparing her present dining companion to Spike’s rock-star image that Wallace had remembered; that she did, also.

He looked at her, annoyed; "It’s not funny!"

"I suppose not," she said, trying to bite her lip to keep from laughing anymore.

"I don’t see why my needing reading glasses is a cause of amusement for you, I really don’t, " he said in a huff.

"I’m sorry, it’s not. It’s just…when you were…younger, you didn’t need them," she said. She couldn’t very well tell him that as a vampire for over 100 years, he didn’t need them, now could she?

"You even said you use them sometimes."

"Yeah, I need them, too, sometimes. And this print is pretty small and rather light. Let me see if I have mine in my purse. I know I don’t have yours."

She dug down to the bottom, she didn’t think she had them, but then her fingers felt something underneath the torn liner. "Ooh, wait…ah…there they are," she said, bringing out a little skinny tube, which she opened, taking out an even smaller, skinnier pair of glasses. She wiped them on a napkin and handed them to him.

He hesitated; "Maybe I shouldn’t borrow these; it might send you into another fit of laughter, Elizabeth."

"No, I promise," she said, trying to look very serious, "here, take them!"

"Very well," he said, putting them on and looking at her. She looked back at him with a straight face and he looked down. She brought the menu up in front of her face and smiled as wide as she could, laughing silently. Finally, she drank some ice water, concentrating on her freezing throat now, instead of the silly glasses.

"Decide?" she asked him.

*"Think I’ll have the Prime Rib," he said. She nodded, mouthing the very words behind her menu. Should have known. "What about you?"

*"Fettuccini Alfredo," she said. Might as well go with it, and not tempt fate.

"Have you decided on what you’ll be having?" Edna asked.

"I’ll have the Prime Rib and Elizabeth will have the Fettuccini Alfredo."

"Alright, have that for you in a little while then."

A few minutes later, Wallace came over with a bottle of Champagne, "This is from grandma," he said, pouring it into the accompanying glasses.

"That wasn’t necessary, but please thank her for us," Buffy said.

Wallace nodded, "Will do," he said, disappearing into the kitchen.

Next, they were brought a warm loaf of bread and a thick soup.

Their meal arrived about 10 minutes later. They thanked Wallace and started to eat.

"What’s wrong?" Buffy asked, looking at William, who had suddenly taken on a slightly green color.

"This steak, it’s practically raw," he said, as he looked down at the blood juices on his plate with revulsion.

She motioned for Wallace who came over, "Could I bother you? I think William would like this cooked a little more. Right?"

William nodded, "I’m sorry, it’s just a little too rare."

"Oh, sure. How would you like it then? Medium rare, medium, medium well, or well done?"

"I’d think medium well would be fine."

"Okay, I’ll be back with it in about 5 minutes."

"Take your time," William said.

He shook his head with a shudder when Wallace was out of sight; "Did you see that? It was barely cooked, I should say!"

"I’m sure it was a mistake."

"I don’t even think Edna asked how I wanted it. I didn’t know I had all those choices, but I would have never ordered it this way!"

"She probably just forgot to ask you. She’s getting on in years, you know. Why don’t you have some of mine, while you wait; I’ll never finish it all and it’s really good."

"I’ll wait."

Buffy took his fork and put some of her Fettuccini Alfredo on it, "Taste it."

"Umm, it is good," he said, "thanks."

"More?"

He shook his head.

Wallace came back a couple of minutes later with the steak, now on a clean, bloodless plate, "Sorry about that. See how you like this."

William cut into it. It wasn’t pink at all. He let out his breath; "This is fine, thank you."

After their meal, Buffy told Wallace to ask Edna if she would please join them for coffee.

Edna came out of the back; she had two pieces of chocolate cake in her hands, which she placed in front of them as she sat down. Wallace brought the coffee.

"Umm, this is good," Buffy said, a piece of cake in her mouth.

Edna looked at William expectantly. He picked up his fork and tasted it.

"Very good," he agreed.

Edna smiled.

"Master William, I’m so sorry about the steak, I just thought you’d want it like you always had."

William practically gagged on the cake. Elizabeth quickly glanced over at Edna, who just caught her eye and was luckily astute enough to know what her glance was meant to convey.

"Aye, but I’m an old woman, it was someone else I was thinking of who liked their steaks very rare."

William nodded, "Most definitely! But please don’t worry. It turned out quite delicious, best I ever tasted."

Edna beamed and Buffy relaxed.

They had their coffees and cake, and talked about the restaurant, the present, and the future. Edna made good on her promise to not speak of the past.

When William and Elizabeth finally got up to leave, it was almost time for the restaurant to get ready for the dinner hour.

Edna had Wallace bring them a care package of all the cooked, left over food from earlier that day.

"That’s food that never left the stove, not diner’s leftovers," Edna said.

"Oh, I know. You didn’t have to, though."

"I would have just had to throw it out, better it go home with you and Master William," Edna said, smiling at him.

He bowed his head, shyly.

"Come back and visit me soon," Edna said, as they were walking towards the car.

"We will, I promise," Elizabeth said.

They were at the car. Edna reached up and put her hand on William’s face, as she looked at him with a mixture of fondness and love, "It’s so good to see you again, William," she said.

William took her hand and gave it a kiss, "You, too, dear," he said.

Edna smiled broadly; this is what he always had called her!

William went around to the passenger’s side. Buffy looked at Edna and smiled.

"He looks marvelous!" Edna said, hugging her, "it’s so wonderful that he’s home…so wonderful," she said, sniffling.

Buffy hugged her back, "Yes, it is. We have to go, but I’ll call you next week, I wanted to talk to you about something. And tell Wallace, William will definitely be giving him a call, too."

"Alright dear," she said, stepping back. "I’ll talk to you next week then. Thank you for making an old woman so happy today."

"You’re not old, Edna. You’re timeless," Buffy said, smiling as she got into the driver’s seat.

Edna stood on the sidewalk waving, until the car was out of sight. She sighed happily and walked back into the restaurant to prepare for the dinner crowd.

10:00pm

It had been a good day, a very busy day and Buffy was glad it was over. She didn’t want William pushing himself too much. He wouldn’t admit to it, but she could feel when things were getting to be too much for him.

She looked over at him. They’d watched a documentary on the Pyramids early in the evening, then just had been relaxing with books and a couple of glasses of wine in front of the fireplace. She’d seen him wince once and hadn’t said anything, but now he was doing it again.

"What’s wrong?"

"Nothing, just a bit of a headache, I guess."

She took the glass from him, "Maybe you’d better stop drinking the wine, it can cause headaches, because of the tanic acid, you know. I’ll get you some aspirin, okay?"

He nodded and she got up to get them. She brought back a bottle of water and 2 aspirin. He dutifully took them.

"Thanks," he said.

"Come ‘ere," she said, pointing to her lap. He lay down on it, and she massaged his head. "Better?"

"Umm-hmm."

"You don’t need to push yourself too hard. Rome wasn’t built in a day, as they say, and you don’t need to learn all about cars, driving, home repair, lawn mower maintenance, etc. all in a week, either."

"There’s lawn mower maintenance?"

She looked at him. His eyes were shut, but a smile played at the corners of his mouth.

"Ha-ha," she said, "but I mean it."

"I know. I won’t. Push myself too hard, okay? I just feel like I’ve got so much catching up to do…stuff that every adult and most children know about, besides me, that is."

"You’ll catch up just fine. Just don’t burn yourself out. Please?"

"Alright," he said, nodding, eyes still closed.

"Good," she said, still massaging his temples.

They went to bed shortly after that. His headache still bothered him, but he told her it had gotten better. She pulled him to her, and nestled in her arms, he finally found sleep.

END CHAPTER 97

*Refers to what Spike and Buffy (Master William & Elizabeth) had at The Rittenhouse on Valentine’s Day 2003, when he first brought her to Julian in ONE NORMAL DAY Chapter 8

I named this chapter Edna, Revisted, because there was already a chapter (10) in ONE NORMAL DAY called EDNA.

July 24, 2008

Thursday

4:00am

William sat up with a start, his heart pounding harder than he had ever imagined it could. He looked at Elizabeth, and his mouth went dry. He clasped his head in his hands, pulling his hair. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms, to let himself know she was real, that she was still here, still alive, that it was all a horrible dream. He felt dirty, like he’d been violated, like he would violate her, if he touched her, while he still carried these disgusting images in his head.

It was then, that he awoke. Now sitting there shaking, William decided he’d better get up, before his trembling awoke her.

He went to the kitchen and retrieved the half-empty bottle of wine, wishing he had something stronger, like what Clem had given him that first day, and brought it with him onto the back porch.

Buffy awoke and immediately knew that she was alone in the bed. It was a sense she had honed over the past few weeks. Not only did she know he wasn’t in bed, but she didn’t sense him anywhere nearby.

She got up and pulled on her robe, checked in the bathroom, but found it empty as she’d expected.

She went into the living room, then the kitchen looking for him. She opened the door to the back porch and stepped out onto it. The back door was partially open. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust as to the dark as she looked outside. Finally, she spotted William, leaning up against the tree, staring up into the starry sky.

Buffy put her feet into the nearest pair of shoes and went outside.

As she neared, she could see him slightly swaying back and forth, he had a bottle in one hand, which he now brought up to his mouth and drank from.

"Why are you out here?" she asked as she got nearer.

He startled, nearly dropping the bottle, but he didn’t answer. Instead, like a deflated balloon, he slid down along the tree to the ground.

She stood over him, angry that he appeared to be drunk, but then she noticed the trembling in his back, as he hung his head. One hand still held the bottle; the other was mindlessly tearing at the grass.

Buffy knelt down and tried to take the bottle out of his hand, but he resisted.

"What is it? What’s wrong?" she asked, as she put her hands on his shoulders.

He flinched from her touch, as if he were afraid of her.

Hurt, she withdrew her hands from his shoulders, but instead placed them over the hand that was still clawing at the ground, forcing it to still. He looked up, as if just now realizing she were there.

"William?"

He shook his head, "I can’t."

"You can’t what? Tell me what’s wrong?"

William didn’t answer; he just shook his head again.

Buffy desperately wanted to get him into the house, she had this feeling that he was pent up with all sorts of emotions that might cause him to take off running into the dark, if she didn’t mitigate get him calmed down soon.

"If you don’t want to talk, will you at least nod yes or no?"

He didn’t indicate that he’d heard her, only took another drink from the bottle.

"Did something happen today that upset you?"

He shook his head.

"Something that happened tonight?"

A barely perceptible nod.

"Before we went to bed?"

Again, he shook his head.

"After we went to sleep?"

A nod.

"A bad dream?"

Again, a nod.

"Were you hurt in the dream?"

No response, but his eyes appeared to tear up.

"Was someone else hurt in the dream?"

He nodded and his eyes spilled over.

"Was I hurt in the dream?"

If it were possible to look more crestfallen or ashamed, she didn’t know how. He nodded.

"William," she said, softly touching his face.

He flinched, but she didn’t remove her hand.

"Look at me," she said.

He looked up, his eyes filled with pain and fear.

"I’m here, William. I’m not hurt. I’m fine; it was just a dream."

"It was me," he said so softly, she thought she might have imagined it.

"I was the one who…hurt you," he repeated.

She shook her head, "No. You didn’t. I’m here, all unhurt and everything. It was just a dream. You didn’t hurt me, William. You wouldn’t."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because I see you; see who you are. I live with you, I know you; know the kind of man you are. You’re a beautiful man, a loving man; a man with a good heart and kind…soul."

Tears spilled over his eyes again, as he shook his head.

"But you know what does hurt me? That you’re sitting here in pain, that I woke up and you were gone…Please, William, come back into the house. For me. Please?"

He nodded and she stood up and pulled him up with her.

He leaned on her, letting him guide him back to the house.

He didn’t say anything as Buffy sat him down on the bed, removing his shoes, then motioned for him to lie down, which he did.

She covered him up, then got back into bed herself.

William lay there staring up at the ceiling, as Buffy watched him. She reached her hand out to touch him, but then withdrew it.

"Would he?"

Buffy looked over at William, not sure if she’d heard correctly.

"Would he? Who? What?"

"Would…he hurt you?"

"Who?" Buffy asked, confused.

"Him…Spike?"

"No," she answered. So that was it!

"Did he…before? Did Spike hurt you, Elizabeth?" he asked, after a moment.

She hesitated half a second, then rolled over so that she was partially laying on top him then, "No," she answered, looking him in the eyes, "Spike didn’t hurt me, he wouldn’t, you wouldn’t," she said, shaking her head. "Okay?"

It was so complicated. How could she possibly explain the unexplainable? That Spike, he, had wanted to kill her at one time, that it was her duty to kill him, as well, but somewhere along the way, they had both changed? That love, as cliché as it sounded had made all the difference in the world?

He studied her face as she answered him. He let out a shuddering sigh, finally. "Okay," he answered.

She reached up and gently kissed him on the lips, before settling herself down on his chest.

He put his arms around her, and watched over her, as she fell asleep, and prayed that neither of them would ever meet the monster within, that he feared was more than just a dream.

END CHAPTER 98

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