Title : Who's That Guy?
Rating : PG-13
Pairings : B/S eventually, also W/O, C/X, Ang/F, And/D, mentions B/Ang
Summary : FantasyAU - After dumping the leader of the Sunnydale High 'in-crowd', Buffy Summers is searching for the perfect guy that only exists in her dreams...or does he?
Disclaimer : All characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy, basically a whole lot of people who aren't me! This story is based loosely on the plot of the movie Grease 2, which I also do not own in any way.


Chapter 1 - Back To School

September 1st and all the kids who attended Sunnydale High School were on their way back to that great institution of learning. Some obviously more eager than others, and some that really weren't bothered either way. Some of the less eager to attend were a gang of guys led by Liam O'Connor, or Angel, as he'd been christened by some girls a while back, a nickname that had really stuck.

Angel, along with his friends Alexander Harris (known as Xander) and Andrew Wells, stood by school gates, neither in nor out of school grounds, just on the edge where they always liked to be.

Many girls smiled at them as they walked by the coolest guys in school, a few wondering where the fourth member of the group was. Other young men nodded respectful greetings to the gang they wished they could be a part of and knew they never would be, all except for one person who didn't know he was supposed to care.

"Would you mind moving, please" he asked Angel in a polite tone as the brunette stood right in his path, "I'd like to get past"

Angel smirked to his friends before turning his attention to the new arrival.

"Say 'pretty please'" he told him and the boy looked at him strangely, before refusing to say the words.

"Well, that's not very nice, is it boys?" Angel commented to Xander and Andrew, the grin never slipping from his face, as he moved out of the way anyway.

Foolishly believing he'd won, the other young man walked by, tripping straight over the foot Angel stuck out in front of him, and landing flat on his face on the gravel path.

Several people laughed, including Angel who high-fived with Xander before the three guys in the black leather jackets walked away to find their missing member and their girls too.

The leader of the girls group, Buffy Summers, was currently trying to lose her little sister. Dawn was in her second year at Sunnydale High and Buffy's biggest annoyance was her younger sisters begging and pleading to be part of her 'gang'.

"Why can't you go bug your own friends and leave me and mine alone" the blonde complained as she looked around for the girls she spoke of.

"Because everyone knows your gang are the most popular girls in school, why can't I hang with you?" the brunette whined.

"Because you're a kid" Buffy reminded her, "Now go away and play with your little friends" she shoo-ed away her little sister, and was sure she heard Dawn curse under her breath, something their mother would definitely not approve of.

Suddenly, Cordelia Chase, Faith Wilkins and Willow Rosenburg came practically running at their fourth friend, calling her name as they hurried to meet her, and Buffy was glad she'd got rid of her sister in time, she was just an embarrassment!

"Hey guys" the blonde smiled, pushing her sunglasses up onto the top of her head so she could see her friends more clearly, "How was your Summer?" she asked Cordelia, the brunette that had yelled to her first.

"Absolutely excellent!" she gushed in reply "Daddy took me to Paris and then let me loose in the stores with his platinum card...do I really need to elaborate?" she grinned.

"Basically she bought half of the shoes in France" Faith explained in the simplest way possible, causing an eruption of giggles from all four of them.

"What about you Will?" Buffy addressed the quietest of her friends, hating the way the red-head always seemed to get left out of conversations "You have fun in England?"

"Oh it was so cool" the girls face lit up as she started to elaborate "I went to this museum and..."

"That's great Will..." Faith cut her off sharply, grabbing Buffy by the arm to make sure she had her attention "B, you should have stayed in Sunnydale. I mean, I know you wanted to see your Aunt and all in LA but man, the action at the beach this year..."

"Faith, what did you do?" Buffy smile a little as she rolled her eyes "Or should I say, who did you do?"

"Buffy!" the black-leather wearing brunette looked shocked "how could you accuse me of..." she stopped speaking as she busted up laughing "no I'm sorry, I can't even be bothered to do the fake innocence thing"

The other three girls laughed too before Faith finally got around to answering Buffy's question.

"Parker Abrams, Graham Miller, and both the Hobson twins" she counted on her fingers, and Buffy's eyes went wide.

"Dwayne and Del Hobson?" she gasped, as she pictured to two guys in her mind, they were just a year older than the girls and oh so fine.

"At the same time?" Cordelia gasped too.

"In the back of their Cadillac" Faith nodded and grinned proudly as Buffy and Cordelia giggled and Willow went ten shades of scarlet just thinking about it.

"What can I say?" the bad-girl shrugged "They're hot, and the car was hotter" she smirked "And you know me, I love a Cadillac" her body began to move as if she was back in that car "the feel of the leather just makes me wanna..." Cordelia held up a hand to silence her.

"Please, enough" she said as seriously as she could, but she just couldn't stop giggling at her friends antics "If I beg, will you stop?"

Faith nodded, agreeing she would stop anyway and as the four girls headed into the building she turned to Buffy.

"So what did you do this Summer, Summers?" she asked the blonde with a smirk "Apart from spending quality time with the folks" she rolled her eyes at the very idea, thrilled that her own family's idea of taking care of her was handing over as much cash as she needed.

"I shopped, I sun-bathed, I partied, y'know how it is" Buffy replied with a shrug, and all three of the other girls thought it was strange for her to be so underwhelmed by everything.

"It was a great Summer, made better by knowing this is the last time we gotta come back to this place" Cordelia commented as they passed over the threshold and into the already busy halls, to start their senior year.

"I'm glad to be back at Sunnydale High" Willow said with a smile before wincing at the triplicate looks of distaste she received "What did I say?" she cringed.

"You wanted to be back at school?" Faith asked in disbelief and Willow took a fast back pedal.

"Well, no, but, just cos...I missed Oz" she covered and the girls nodded that now they understood, as Willow let out a quiet but none the less relieved sigh. She was in this gang because of Buffy and Oz. She'd lived next door to the blonde girl since they were kids and was popular by association. Despite her somewhat geeky side, Willow's popularity had only grown as the local wannabe-singing sensation Daniel 'Oz' Osbourne found her attractive, and the two soon began dating

"Come to think of it" Cordelia frowned "where are the guys?"

It was actually after registration when the male part of the group put in an appearance. Faith, Buffy, Cordelia and Willow were all standing by their lockers, doors open as they looked for the books they needed and, more importantly, checked their appearance in the mirrors attached to the inside of their locker doors.

"Hey baby" Buffy heard a whisper in her ear as someone's hand grabbed her ass.

"Angel!" she snapped, smacking his hand away "Would you quit it! I am not your 'baby' anymore" she complained, turning to yell at him before immediately turning back to the mess she called a locker.

"I was just being friendly" the tall, brunette, undeniably gorgeous young man shrugged in innocence as Willow and Cordelia both shot him a look. It wasn't long before the four girls were hidden from the school populous' view by three guys, all in black leather jackets, the trademark of Angel's gang.

"Hi Buffy" the shortest of the three, Andrew, smiled and Buffy forced a small smile back. She had nothing against the boy really, it was just Angel who drove her crazy lately.

"Hey Angel" Faith said in her sexiest voice as he came to lean on the wall right by her locker

"Lookin' good Faith" he commented as his eyes roamed her body, before he glanced briefly at Buffy and then back again.

"Not so bad yourself" the dark haired girl smiled, her own eyes going in a decidedly southern direction.

"Cordelia" the third man, Xander, addressed his girlfriend, copying Angel's stance by leaning on the spare locker between Cordy and Willow's "You miss me this Summer?" he smirked, knowing she must have done.

"No" came her immediate answer "Why? Did you miss me?"

"Hell no" her boyfriend protested and everyone watched with amusement as the pair continued "glad to be away from your annoying voice for a while" Xander said almost, but not quite, nastily.

"Yeah, well, it was a pleasure to not have to see your ugly face for a few weeks" Cordelia shot back.

"You drive me crazy" her boyfriend all but exploded, leaning closer to her.

"You make me sick" she sneered, moving closer to him too.

"God, I love you" Xander admitted before crushing his lips to Cordelia's in a bruising kiss. Anyone else would have been shocked or at least surprised to see such behaviour from two people who seconds ago were tearing each other to shreds, as they tried to get as close as was possible without getting inappropriate. But it was just the everyday norm for the friends that watched the scene.

"I love you too" Cordelia grinned as the pair finally came up for air and finally everyone's eyes shifted back to other places.

"Anyone seen Oz yet?" Andrew suddenly piped up, it was unlike any member of their group to be missing.

"No, where is he at?" Xander wondered aloud, looking to his left as Oz appeared to his right.

"I'm right here, man" the late arrival grinned as he tapped the brunette on the other shoulder, confusing him immensely.

"Hey, how was Vegas?" Angel asked the guy with the currently blue hair.

"Totally cool" came the reply "one thing missing though..." he smiled as he turned to the so far almost silent red-headed girl as she closed her locker quietly.

"Hi" Willow said shyly as Oz leaned toward her, her back against the locker door.

"Hi" he whispered back right before he kissed her, but they were all too soon interrupted by the shrill ringing of the bell, telling the whole gang that classes started right now.

"And so the torture begins again" Faith sighed as she was the last of the girls to slam her locker door shut, "Chem class here I come" she complained.

"Same here" Angel smiled, "I'll walk you"

"Cool" she nodded with a smile of her own as they walked together down the hall, Xander and Cordelia right behind them, his arm over her shoulders, and Andrew following on behind.

Buffy watched them go and marvelled at how not jealous she was of Faith. Angel had clearly decided to use the brunette to make Buffy envious, and the blonde could see that plan a mile away, but she knew it wasn't going to work, he just wasn't what she wanted anymore.

"Buffy" Willow tried to get the girl's attention back from wherever she had zoned out to, "Oz and me have to get to music class...are you okay?" she checked.

"I'm fine" the blonde nodded, "er..I think I have English" she said, referring to her schedule, "So I'll see you guys later"

"Sure, we'll see you at lunch" the red head smiled before Oz took hold of her hand and led her away down the hall.

Buffy glanced around and realised she really should be moving toward class, and whilst she wasn't jealous of her friends relationships, it would be kind of nice to have someone to call hers. Only problem was, she realised, as the halls cleared around her, she was never going to find the guy she really wanted at Sunnydale High.

There was this picture in her mind, the coolest guy you could ever imagine, strong and tough and exciting, but with a gentle side, caring and sweet, and obviously totally gorgeous. There wasn't a man like that, not in this High school, anyone who came close would have been in Angel's gang. She'd dated Angel and got tired of him all too quickly.

As for the rest of them, Xander and Oz were okay but really not what she wanted and they were dating Cordy and Willow anyway. That left Andrew, who really only got into the gang because of the respect the other guys had for his brother.

Tucker Wells and Angel's cousin, Lindsay McDonald, had ruled the school in their senior year, just four years ago. Everyone knew that Angel would take pride in walking in Lindsay's shoes and he allowed Andrew to be one of his gang out of respect for Tucker, there was no way anyone would look twice at the little geek otherwise, expect to pummel him into the pavement. As it was Andrew got almost as much respect as the rest of the leather clad group who earned the admiration they got from the student population by being the best looking, coolest guys in the school.

Lost in thoughts and completely oblivious to where she was going, Buffy walked right into a young man coming the other way down the hall, his eyes fixed firmly on a piece of paper in his hands instead of the direction in which he was walking.

"Watch it!" Buffy complained as her books spilled from her arms all over the floor and the nameless man before her bent to pick them up for her.

"I'm sorry" he said immediately as they crouched together on the floor, gathering up books and paper, "I was trying to follow this map" the young man explained, in a well-spoken British accent "I think I'm a bit lost, first day you see"

"Whatever" Buffy huffed as she stood up straight again, her books now back in her grasp, the mystery man soon stood up too and they finally looked at each other properly.

Blue eyes were what hit Buffy first, but mostly hidden behind the most unattractive glasses. Facially she'd seen worse than him, good cheekbones she noted, but he was too pale. His hair was light brown and seemed to stick out in every conceivable direction, none of which were the right one. Her eyes travelled down and she had to stifle a laugh as she saw an outfit her father would most probably wear when the family was going out somewhere. Of all the people she might have bumped into, Buffy realised with a humourless laugh she had just met the man that was so far from the kind of guy she'd been daydreaming about it was unbelievable.

"I'm late" she mumbled, not offering to help the still nameless man in his struggles to find his classroom or even swap names with him. He watched her go and realised once she was out of sight what an idiot he was.

Not only had he almost knocked the most beautiful girl in the world off her feet, he'd then been so blinded by her beauty that he hadn't even asked her name or introduced himself or anything. Shaking his head at his own stupid behaviour he checked the map in his hands again and searched for the classroom he knew had to be around here somewhere.

Buffy stumbled into class, five minutes late, getting a glare from the teacher as she mumbled an apology and moved to her seat at the back of the room. There were no assigned seats in any classes at Sunnydale High, but everyone knew better than to take the seat that one of Angel's gang or their girls chose to use.

As Miss Calendar continued with her English lesson, Buffy sunk down in her chair and doodled on her note book, really not listening to a word. What good was all this to her? Pulling apart poems and plays and writing essays about it, exactly how would that help her to get a job?

Art was more of Buffy's thing, though she did not take the class. It was considered an uncool subject by her friends and so her talent was hidden from them. Today as her mind whirled around ideas of the perfect man, Buffy found the pencil in her hand had sketched a leather clad guy on a motorcycle, who as yet had no face...

A loud clatter made her look up sharply, her hand skidding across her picture and ruining it with an ugly black gouge to the paper, right across the centre of her drawing. She blamed the young man that seemed to have fallen through the classroom door, making an absolute idiot of himself in the process and causing most members of the room to laugh at him, indeed it seemed as if even Miss Calendar was having a hard time stifling a smile.

"I'm so sorry" the clumsy boy apologised as he handed a piece of paper to the teacher, "I got lost"

"Okay" Miss Calendar nodded as she read the form he'd handed her, "At least you're here now...Class" she addressed the whole room as she gestured toward the same boy who'd almost knocked Buffy flying just a few moments ago, "I'd like you to welcome a new student, this is William Spencer, and he's just transferred here from London, England"

The students looked mostly unimpressed by the foreigner who attempted to smile and then thought better of it as thirty pairs of eyes glared at him. There was only one person who didn't seem to want to stare at him in distaste or to look at him at all for that matter, a girl he recognised immediately.

"William, why don't you take a seat next to Buffy" Miss Calendar suggested, gesturing to the very same girl. With a nod William did as he was told, grinning at the fact he now at least knew his dream girls name - Buffy.

Said girl seemed highly unimpressed at having to be within three feet of the clumsy idiot that had not only knocked her down before but had also ruined her latest piece of art. She screwed up her paper into a ball as Miss Calender turned back to the chalkboard, quietened the class, and went back to teaching her lesson.

Buffy's hands itched to throw the ball of paper right at the boy beside her, who she could see from the corner of eye as he made notes on what the teacher was saying, in neat handwriting that flowed across the page. She also noticed that when his eyes weren't fixed to the front they were casting glances her way and that made her roll her eyes and sigh in frustration. It seemed in all likelihood that the guy had a crush on her. Yeah, cos she really needed that complication right now! Her social life was on unsteady ground as it was, as soon as everyone found out she'd dumped Angel. To have the newest geek as her admirer would just be humiliating!

Buffy was getting increasingly annoyed as she walked to her next class. She could feel William's eyes on her back and she knew other people would notice that he was staring at her. Usually she enjoyed getting so much male attention but not from a guy like this, it wouldn't do her rep any good at all.

She was relieved when she turned into her Math class and realised that he hadn't followed, although buried deep underneath the relief she hated herself for feeling a tiny bit of disappointment...

"Person standing here!" Willow yelled as William ploughed right into her. His eyes were clearly not looking in the direction his feet were going, but rather through the glass panel of the door Buffy had just gone through.

"I'm so sorry" he apologised immediately, "I was, er.."

"Staring at my friend?" Willow would have smirked if she knew how, instead she kind of half-smiled and William did the same.

"You know, Buffy?" he guessed, his smile widening as the red-headed girl before his nodded it was true.

"I'm Willow" she told him.

"My name is William Spencer" he introduced very formally and Willow stifled a giggle, he seemed so..sweet, "I'm on my way to History class, room number..." he checked a piece of paper.

"Room 127" Willow told him with a smile, "I'm in that class too, I'll walk with you"

William smiled at her kindness, and they walked together down the hall, Willow, not at all worried that she was befriending a so-called geek, she too would have the same label were it not for her friendship with Buffy and her dating Oz.

"So, you like America so far?" Willow asked him, making conversation.

"Yeah, I think so" the young man beside her nodded "Though some things more than others..." he continued as he glanced through the door at Buffy as they passed by the same classroom again, travelling in the opposite direction this time "I'll bet she has a boyfriend though" he sighed dejectedly, and Willow kept her silence as she wondered what exactly she should tell him about Buffy and a possible boyfriend.

The two new acquaintances were soon in the classroom where they belonged and Willow realised she needed to tell William the painful truth.

"Well..." Willow drew out as they took seats next to each other "y'see, it's like there's this hierarchy and right up top there you have Angel's gang and our group"

"Angel's gang?" William raised an eyebrow as he spoke the strange words.

"Liam O'Connor" Willow explained "they call him Angel, he has a kind of gang and they have these black leather jackets, it's kinda their trademark thing"

William nodded that he understood, and suddenly looked annoyed.

"The bunch of bastards who tripped me up this morning" he realised aloud, before it occurred to him what he'd said "oh please excuse my bad language" he apologised to Willow who couldn't help but giggle.

William smiled at what he considered to be strange behaviour.

"What?" he asked, completely bewildered.

"A guy who apologises when he curses?" Willow shook her head as her laughter subsided "You don't get many of those around here"

"Can't help it" the young man beside her shrugged "it's the way I was brought up, Mum hates to hear such language...anyway" he said suddenly, changing the subject fast, just knowing he was blushing "you were telling me about Angel's gang?"

"Oh yeah" Willow shook her head to clear her thoughts and make herself concentrate "Well, actually one of them is my boyfriend, but he wasn't with them this morning when they were mean to you" she made sure he understood her wonderful Oz would never be horrible to anyone "Oz is really sweet" she went on, her expression becoming dreamy "he's into music and he's gonna be famous one day..." as William looked at her strangely she realised she was off on a tangent again "anyway, then there's Xander" she said, coming back on topic "he dates Cordelia, and there's Angel...oh and Andrew but he's kind of only in the gang cos of his brother, it's a whole big thing"

"And Angel dates Buffy?" he guessed with a sigh, it seemed that was where Red's explanation was going.

"Used to" Willow nodded "but I think something happened over the Summer and now he seems to like the other girl in our group, Faith" she frowned as she thought about it. She really would have to ask Buffy what happened...

"So Buffy's available?" William dared to hope.

"Well, yes and no" Willow answered lamely, frowning harder as she realised she wasn't getting this right at all, plus she had minimal time as the teacher came into the room and was trying to quieten his class.

"It's fairly simple really" the red-head sighed "I just don't think I'm explaining it well. It's like our two groups kinda fit together" she tried to explain a different way, actually lacing her fingers together in front of him to show him what she meant "and some of them, especially Angel, don't like..." she stumbled over the word and decided in the end to use "...outsiders"

"Oh I'm starting to get it now..." William nodded slowly as he finally thought he understood "so the only way to date Buffy is to be a friend of Angel's, right?" he put it the way he saw it and Willow nodded once.

"Sort of, yeah"

"Can't be that hard" William shrugged, a grin on his face as the teacher called for the classes attention and the room went silence.

"Well, I..." Willow tried to protest, but William was no longer listening and the lesson had begun "Oh dear" she whispered to herself, what had she done?

Time passed and soon the bell signalling lunch time rang. As always, the guys, led by Angel, and the girls, led by Buffy, got their food and headed to the back of the cafeteria, dominating the two tables there and consequently the whole room. Today, Willow and Oz were missing. He was spending extra time in the music department, no doubt playing his latest compositions for her.

As the girls pointed at unfortunately dressed others and made fun of those with last month's hair, the guys picked out freaks and geeks that they could use for sport later on. These activities were punctuated by Cordelia and Xander's arguing and subsequesnt kissing sessions, and also of course by everyone's eating, the girls picking at salads and sipping water, whilst the guys shovelled in fries and brownies, and washed it all down with coke.

"Hello" said a voice in the centre of all of this and the entire group of six people looked over to see William standing there, tray of food in his hand and a nervous smile on his face, "Is this seat taken?" he checked, gesturing with his free hand to the chair opposite Buffy, who cringed at the thought.

"Well, if it isn't the new import" Angel smirked as he stood from his own seat near Faith and walked menacingly over to William's side, "Sitting there" he said in a low voice, "would be a very. bad. move."

"I just though that..." the Englishman began to protest but Xander was soon on the other side of him, slightly smaller yet none the less frightening than Angel as his voice sounded just as deadly.

"Don't think so much" he told him, "Less thinking, more leaving"

William shot a glance at Buffy, hoping she might defend him. She seemed like a nice girl, at least he assumed she was, but she was less interested in him than anything else in the room. As he looked down at her in her seat, she kept her eyes on her food, and all the girls noticed.

"I think I should go" William finally mumbled, turning to walk away.

"Good choice" Xander commented as Angel gave the new boy a shove on his way, and the two leather-jacketed young men went back to their seats.

"Oh my God, Buffy!" Cordelia gasped, "The new geek is so totally into you!" she giggled at the realisation, and Faith seemed to find it funny too.

"Don't worry, Buff" Angel told his ex, "I'll protect you from the big bad freak" he laughed at his own joke as Xander, Andrew, and the girls did the same.

"Screw you!" Buffy said angrily, pushing her tray away and storming out of the cafeteria. The last person she wanted smart comments from was Angel!

"Nice move" Cordelia reprimanded, suddenly not giggling so much and hurrying after her friend, Faith not far behind, leaving just the three guys at the table, looking confused.

"Buffy!" Cordelia yelled as she chased after her friend, but Buffy was doing her famous 'storming away' walk, and in her straight skirt there was no way Cordy was going to catch her. Faith however had the advantage of wearing pants and got to her friend first.

"Hey B, what's with the wiggage?" the brunette asked, grabbing her friends arm to prevent her getting any further away.

"There is no wiggage" Buffy shot back, "It's just...it's just Angel!" she complained as Cordelia finally caught up to them.

"Well, without even asking, I get that it's Angel" she said, "I heard you yell from fifty yards back!"

In annoyance, Buffy sat down hard on the low wall to the side of her and, as a silent look passed between them, her two friends joined her, one either side on the wall.

"Okay, enough of this" Cordelia said sternly, "What happened with Angel over the Summer?"

With a deep sigh, Buffy answered.

"I don't know" she said quietly, "I just, he's not what I want anymore. I thought he was but, there's something missing these days and...besides all he ever wanted to do was get his hands and his lips on me and, there has to be more to life than just making out" she complained, earning a strange look from both her friends. Obviously they didn't agree with that particular statement.

"Don't take this the wrong way B, but if Angel was my guy, can't say as I'd be complaining much" Faith told her and Buffy sighed again.

"Well then, I guess we're just different" she told her friend and Cordelia was kind of feeling sorry for the blonde by now. This was not normal for her. Buffy was always happy and smiley, and she and Angel had seemed so right together for a while there, but if he wasn't what she wanted there was little point in them being together. Cordy put her arm around the other girls shoulders and told her it'd be fine, that she'd find another guy who she'd like better, or maybe she didn't even need a guy right now, to which Faith added maybe she needed several. Buffy laughed at that but still looked pained, and it hurt William to see it.

Through the window of the cafeteria he was watching the girl and her friends. He'd heard her yell at Angel as he'd taken a seat across the room and alone. Then Buffy had bolted for the door, quickly followed by her two brunette friends, William vaguely wondered where the red-head, Willow, was right now. It seemed to him that perhaps she and her boyfriend she'd mentioned were not like the rest of the group they hung around with.

As Buffy was comforted by her friends, and looking like she might cry, William felt sick. He'd been some of the cause of that, he was sure. But he would make it up to this girl, he'd treat her like a princess and one day she would be his, how hard could it be to win her over?

"Hey" a voice said to his left and William's eyes moved to see Willow and a boy with blue hair standing over him.

"Hello Willow" William half-smiled back and he thought perhaps she might have stayed and sat with him, but Xander called to the man that was apparently Oz and pulling on Willow's hand he went over to the table William had earlier been told to stay away from. There was a moment of talk and Oz sat down with the guys who pointed over at William. Angel said something that made all four laugh before Willow stood again, her face worried as she ran for the door. William watched through the window again as the red-head emerged outside and headed straight for Buffy and her friends. It gave him hope, knowing someone as sweet as Willow fitted into that world, because if she could do it, maybe there really was chance for him...

- - - - - - -

Lunch hour was over and so the bell told the students of Sunnydale High it was time for class again. The halls were full as William tried to make his way to his next class, passing by the lockers of the 'in-crowd' on his way through. He smiled at Buffy who turned to face the inside of her locker instead of him and his smile faded.

"Would you just go!" he heard her say, wondering for a second if she meant him but then he saw a girl with straight brown hair, stamping her foot beside the blonde, she had to be younger but not by much and a certain look he'd seen in her eyes was that same as that he'd seen earlier when Buffy was angry and upset, there was no doubt these two were sisters.

"Hey, everyone at the Bronze tonight?" Xander called generally to the group as he grabbed Cordelia's hand and they backed down the hall towards their next class.

"Yeah" "Sure" and "As always" came the three replies he actually heard over the general school noise. The Bronze was the local club and favourite haunt of the two gangs. They ruled there as much as they ruled the school.

'The Bronze?' William thought to himself, remembering passing by the single night-club on the way into town last week 'Well, I suppose I'm going out tonight...'

 - - - - - - - -

It was past seven o'clock and William was standing in front of a full length mirror checking his outfit for the Bronze. He didn't have all that much in the way of 'casual clothes' and what he did have was not very suitable for an American night club. He didn't think he looked too bad in the black pants and mid-blue shirt he was currently wearing, but was he supposed to have the shirt tucked into his pants or not? And how many of his shirt buttons should he have undone? And what about shoes? Realising he was starting to seem very much like a girl, William decided to leave his clothes as they were and hope it was right.

"William!" his mother called, "I thought you were going out tonight!"

"I am, mother" he called back with annoyance, as he moved from his bedroom to the bathroom. He removed his glasses and took his contact lenses from the cabinet. He seldom wore them since he had a general squeamish-ness, especially about sticking his finger in his eye, but he figured he'd look better without the spectacles he usually wore, and Buffy was worth it.

After several minutes he emerged from the bathroom and hurried down the stairs where his mother waited.

"You look wonderful William" she told him with a smile and he blushed at the comment.

"I won't be late Mum" he promised as he slipped on a jacket and made for the front door.

"Have fun!" Anne called behind him as he stepped out into the crisp night air and took a deep breath. Now he was actually on his way to the Bronze he was getting nervous, but he soon realised the reception he got from the people there couldn't be any worse than that he'd gotten at school, his fellow students were, for the most part, not very welcoming to their new student. William took another deep breath and lengthened his strides, deciding the faster he got there the better, then the initial entrance would be over. He started to practice what he might say when he walked in, what he could say to Buffy and her friends, not knowing what had occurred and what was still occurring at the club down the road.

 - - - - - - -

"Oh come on, B" Faith gave her friend a friendly shove as they sat side by side at the bar, "At least smile a little, look like you might be having a good time!"

Buffy pasted a huge fake grin on her face for a second and then let it go, "Happy now?" she asked with a sigh. Faith was about to answer when Xander and Cordelia came over.

"Will you two do something with Little Miss Yawn-fest here?" she said as she got up from her stool, jerking a thumb back at Buffy and carrying her drink in the other hand.

"What's up Buff?" Xander asked her as Faith walked away to find Angel, again.

"Nothing" she lied, there was no way she was telling one of Angel's best friends that he was her problem, "Just tired" she shrugged, picking up her drink and turning away. Cordy and Xander shared a look before both shrugging and going back to sucking face.

"Eeew, gross" Dawn complained as she walked past, but it didn't stop the pair from continuing, "Can I get a beer?" the fifteen year old asked the barman, earning an incredulous look from both him and her sister. Even Buffy and her friends weren't old enough to order alcohol, though it didn't stop them trying and succeeding sometimes. Dawn sighed with annoyance, "It was a joke" she said grumpily, "I'll have an orange juice, please"

Buffy stood up almost as soon as her sister sat down beside her. The last person she felt like spending time with right now was her annoying kid sister, but her mother always insisted that the littlest Summers be taken out with Buffy and her friends. Mostly no-one even paid attention to her.

"Hey, what's going on?" the blonde asked as she walked over to stand by Willow. The red-head's eyes never left her boyfriend as she answered.

"Pool tournament" came the answer as the blue haired boy lined up his shot "I'm kinda hoping Oz misses this shot" Willow admitted in a whisper "then he'll be out and I might actually get to dance with him" she giggled and Buffy couldn't help but smile, but it didn't last long before she frowned into her glass again. "You okay?" her friend checked, finally paying attention to something other than Oz.

"Yeah, I guess" Buffy shrugged non-commitally, still looking into the bottom of her glass, as if she'd find the answers to the worlds problems in there, or maybe just her own.

"'Cause y'know if you need to talk I..." Willow's offer of help, friendship, and support was cut short by her boyfriend arriving at her side.

"Looks like I'm out, baby" he told her, a hand on her arm "You wanna dance?"

"Sure" she grinned as a slow song came on and they walked out onto the dancefloor. In seconds Buffy saw them wrapped in each others arms and kissing deeply.

"Hey Xan, you're up!" Angel called, and Xander reluctantly took his lips off of Cordelia and came to play pool with his friends.

"You're gonna need some luck to beat Xander" Andrew told the leader of the gang. Angel shot a look at Buffy before smirking somewhat evilly.

"Maybe not luck" he shrugged, reaching out his hand and grabbing the wrist of the brunette girl next to him "I just need to have a little Faith" he smiled as he spun her round and smashed his lips on hers. She didn't protest at all, in fact she seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself.

Buffy slammed her glass down angrily and stormed off to the bathroom, Cordelia hot on her heels. The blonde felt sick, though she wasn't totally sure why. She hated the idea of Angel and Faith being that way together, but she knew she shouldn't care, since she didn't want him for herself either.

Buffy leaned over the sink and sighed in annoyance. What was wrong with her lately?

"Hey" she heard the voice of her friend as she came into the bathroom, "You okay?"

"I don't know" came Buffy's answer as she turned on the faucet and watched the water run, "I just...I am so completely over Angel" she assured her friend, "but he's just trying to make me look stupid and it's driving me crazy!"

"Are you sure that's all it is?" Cordelia asked carefully, "I mean, don't go nutso but you haven't seemed right all day"

"You wouldn't understand" Buffy shook her head as she washed her hands, straightened her hair in the mirror and pushed past Cordelia to exit the bathroom. With a sigh the brunette elected not to follow, but instead to re-apply the lipstick she'd recently smeared all over her boyfriend and no doubt would again as soon as the pool tournament was over and he either required a winner's reward or some kind of condolence.

Buffy headed back to the bar to get another drink. She sipped at a diet coke, smiling at Willow and Oz kissing on the dancefloor, rolling her eyes at her sister as she tried to get Andrew's attention - he was too interested in the pool game to notice, and grimacing as Angel passed by Faith, whispering something in her ear and making her laugh.

Cordelia came out of the bathroom shortly after Buffy and wandered over to the pool table where her boyfriend was being slowly but surely beaten by Angel. As he made the winning shot, the taller boy grinned and punched the air.

"Yes!" he laughed, as he slapped Xander on the back "Sorry man, looks like I win"

"Total luck, Angel" his friend protested "no way are you a better pool player than me!" he continued, but he soon realised his girlfriend standing beside him and his mind went away from pool completely.

"We should have a trophy or something for a prize..." Andrew suggested, looking around and Buffy, bored of the whole thing hopped off her stool to head for the dancefloor.

"My trophy is right here..." Angel smirked as she walked past and he grabbed at her arm, pulling her close to him.

"Hey, get your hands off me!" she yelled, pulling her arm away and taking a couple of steps back. Willow and Oz rejoined the group as the latest song ended and all eyes were on Buffy and Angel as she looked daggers at him.

"What about his trophy, Buff?" Xander asked with a shrug.

"I am a person" she reminded him and everyone else, with an angry edge to her voice "I am not a trophy!"

"Oh listen to little miss independence" Angel mocked, picking up his drink and gulping at it, annoyed and kind of bored of Buffy and her moods lately.

"Yes, I am independent" she told him forcefully, folding her arms over her chest "Which means I kiss who I want when I want"

"Oh yeah?" Angel countered lamely.

"Yeah" Buffy nodded, right in his face "I could kiss the next guy who walked through that door if I wanted to" she said, arm going out to gesture wildly toward the entrance.

"Be my guest" he smirked as a group of geeks came into the club and none of the gang could stifle the laughter that rose in their throats.

Buffy made a face that was somewhere between angry and disgusted, before looking at Angel like she might commit ex-boyfriend-ocide.

"Go for it, Summers" he encouraged her, and as everyone's eyes fixed on her she realised she could do this. She refused to look weak in front of her friends and the whole gang.

With more confidence than she felt she strode toward the entrance right as William walked in. Before he had a chance to blink, Buffy brought her hands up to his head and pulled him into a long kiss.

The gangs eyes went wide as they watched, and Angel seemed to get more and more angry at the sight of his so-called ex practically sucking the face off of the latest student of Sunnydale High.

Chapter 4 - What A Girl Wants

It was only now, as Buffy pulled away from William, that she realised it was in fact him. Initially she'd just gone for the first male that didn't look like a complete reject, and he did look better now than he had at school, but she hated the fact she might have encouraged him or whatever with that kiss. It had just been some stupid dare type thing, nothing more.

Taking a deep breath, she strutted over to the bar and picked up her purse.

"I think it's time to call it a night" she said, smiling sweetly at the enraged Angel. He'd called her bluff but she'd come out the winner by taking the dare and making him furious - she liked that.

The girls all followed Buffy out of the club, and if looks could kill Faith would have been up for Angel's murder tonight. She hated that she'd let him use her to get at Buffy. She used guys all the time but not the gang, they were better than that, they didn't mess with each other. There was going to be a confrontation about this, but it would wait til tomorrow, right now she was making a stand with her 'sisters'.

William gaped at the four girls as they strutted passed him in a line and out of the door of the Bronze, leaving him facing four young men, none of which looked particularly thrilled by the turn of events. Their girls had all just left because of this incident, and lack of female company did not make for a good night.

"Hi, er, is it too late to play?" William asked innocently, head tilting towards the pool table. Angel's grip tightened around the cue, before he threw it to the ground in front of the new-comer, resisting the urge to pummel him with the wooden implement.

"Let's get out of here" he said in a low voice and his gang obediently followed him out of the door, William's eyes following them all the way as internally he told himself what an idiot he'd been, at the same time congratulating himself on what had happened with Buffy, even if he didn't understand why it had occurred.

"Hey" a voice brought his attention back to the here and now "Where'd they go?" a young brunette girl asked as she pulled herself up onto a stool by the bar.

"Oh, um, are you speaking to me?" William asked as he moved to take the stool beside the girl he'd seen before - the girl he had guessed to be Buffy's little sister.

"I guess" she shrugged at his question "doesn't seem to be anyone else listening to me" she complained, stirring her sisters abandoned Coke around the glass with the straw.

"You're Buffy's sister, yes?" William checked, feeling bad for the girl that seemed to be as outcast from this 'gang' as he was.

"Yeah, Dawn Summers" Dawn introduced herself, holding out a hand for him to shake. She couldn't be more than fifteen he realised, as he took the offered hand, and yet she knew more about the world that she ought to, he could see it in her eyes "And you are?" she asked him, jolting him from his thoughts.

"William Spencer" he told her and she nodded.

"Cool" she said as she looked him over, deciding he wasn't so bad, if not a little geek-ish "Well, I guess I should head home, seeing as the gang have already split" she sighed as she hopped off the stool, popping her gum loudly.

"It's dark out" William pointed out, standing up beside her "perhaps I should walk with you"

"I'm fifteen years old" she snapped angrily "I do not need a babysitter"

"Well" William smiled "why not consider it as a date?" he suggested and Dawn seemed to like that idea a whole lot more. She smiled and nodded her head in agreement. In truth, William had to admit to himself he was walking with her for her safety not her company, but also it might be nice to have someone on his side, someone who understood what is what like to be on the outside of the world people like Buffy and Angel inhabited. He shoved his hands in his pockets and sighed.

"Your sister and her friends don't seem to appreciate my company" he commented as they walked away from the Bronze, Dawn sighed and shook her head.

"It's not just you" she assured him, hooking her arm through his, causing him to smile "Anyone who's not in their little in-crowd gang just isn't worth talking to" she complained with a further sigh.

"Yes, I'm beginning to see that" he nodded as they crossed the street and neared Revello Drive where the Summers lived.

"I won't give up though" Dawn told him "cos when I'm a senior, I'm gonna have a gang that's way better than theirs..." she said firmly and William chuckled at her words. It did sound a little childish but he could see why she felt the way she did.

"You think I'm totally lame, right?" she said as she unhooked her arm from his and stopped walking, hiding her face behind her long hair.

"Not at all" William assured her, smiling as she looked up at him "I think you're very pretty and absolutely charming"

"Thanks" Dawn replied uncharacteristically quietly as she ducked her head again to hide the fact she was blushing "Well, this is my house" she told him a moment later, gesturing to the building they stood outside of.

"It was very nice meeting you Dawn" William said truthfully and she nodded in agreement.

"You too. Maybe I'll see you around" she said as he turned to walk away.

"You can count on it" he smiled as he looked up at the house before walking across the road and into the night.

"Yeah, I'll bet I can" Dawn rolled her eyes but smiled as she watched him walk away. Buffy could do a lot worse, and she had no doubt at all that her sister was the reason this semi-geek wanted so badly to be accepted and cool. She sighed as she went into the house. It was a shame that he didn't stand a chance.

William watched from across the street as Dawn went into the house. She was a sweet girl and he liked her, but not like he liked Buffy. She didn't seem to like him too much yet, though she had kissed him - he would have to find out why tomorrow. For now he contented himself with the fact that at least he'd made one friend tonight, even if it wasn't the one he'd intended to make.

- - - - - - -

The alarm made Buffy wake with a start and she groaned as she knocked the clock clean off of the night-stand. She really did not feel like going to school today. Okay so the victory over Angel had been glorious last night, but now it was the next day and anything could happen, plus she had to face William.

"It just had to be him, didn't it?" she sighed as she rolled out of bed and set about getting herself ready for school. Of all the guys she could've laid her lips on last night, so many in the Bronze she'd never seen before and never would again, 'but oh no' Buffy sighed to herself as she took her shower 'I have class and beautiful timing' she rolled her eyes, sarcasm dripping from her thoughts as she dried herself off and decided which outfit to wear.

Soon she was in front of her full length mirror, adjusting her dark top and darker jeans, she eyed the selection of makeup on the table and decided if she went for the darker shades she'd only end up looking more like Faith than she already did right now. Nope, no matter how 'dark' she felt she refused to add fuel to Angel's fire about liking her friend. With a determined sigh she whipped off her clothes and started again, pulling on a lighter skirt and a pale top, before brushing her hair and adding a thin layer of make-up.

"Buffy, your ride is here!" Joyce called up the stairs to her older daughter, who yelled back that she'd be just a couple of seconds. True to her word she ambled down the stairs just a moment later, book bag on one shoulder, jacket slung over her arm.

"Y'know if you moved a little more swiftly in the mornings you might even have time for breakfast" Hank commented as she passed by him with a half-smile. She might have laughed or commented if he didn't say it most days.

"Hey Cor" Buffy smiled as she came out of the front door and climbed into the open-top car beside her friend. Willow was already in the back with Faith on the other side and they both nodded a greeting to the final member of their gang.

"Hey Buff! Wait up!" Dawn called as she scrambled out of the front door, hair in disarray, books falling out of her bag and badly applied lipstick across her face.

"Sorry Short-stuff" Faith called as Cordy revved the engine, "No room for a fifth"

With that the car pulled away with Buffy barely acknowledging that her sister was there at all. Dawn sighed with annoyance as she pulled her bag onto her shoulder and straightened her jacket, aiming for a sexy strut as she walked to school. In the back of her mind she wondered what William might think of her attempts to look good today. She smiled at the very thought of him, he was such a nice guy. She shook her head as she wandered towards the high school. He had no idea how futile his attempts were, he stood less chance than she did of being one of the 'cool' people, but hey, it could be entertaining to watch him try.

- - - - - - -

Buffy grimaced as she felt William's eyes on her again. It was her third class of the day, the third hour of William sitting somewhere across the room, eyes on her every few moments. It was slowly driving her crazy! Thankfully she'd managed to get out of the room fast enough and into her next class at just the right time so that he wouldn't get a chance to talk to her. She feared he might ask her about the kiss, she knew she'd have to explain it and it seemed so horrible just to tell him it was a joke.

The bell rang and she was still lost in her thoughts, meaning she didn't get the head start she needed to run again, though truly why she was running she didn't really know. Buffy Summers never ran from anyone, she stood up to them and told what she thought, but everything was different lately and no-one understood...

"Buffy..." she heard his distinct English tone to her left and she sighed as gathered up her papers and books.

"What do you want?" she asked as if she didn't know.

"I was just wondering, perhaps..." he stumbled over his question before finally asking, "Would you like to maybe go out with me tonight?"

"A world of no" she said without looking at him, pulling her books to her chest and hurrying from the room.

"Well, how about tomorrow?" he called desperately behind her.

"No!" she called over her shoulder, hoping he'd give in. There were people in the halls that she would rather not have this conversation in front of.

Buffy headed for her locker to get the books she needed for her next class. This was her first mistake. Her locker was right by the lockers of her best friends and with her friends were their boyfriends. The whole gang bore witness to William practically running after Buffy to ask her for a third time if she wanted to go out sometime.

The girls and the guys all surpressed a laugh and a couple of comments that rose in their throats as Buffy told William to just leave her alone. Even Faith and Angel who'd been locked in a heated and pretty nasty discussion stopped to watch the scene. Buffy slammed her locker door and the gang could no longer hold in the laughter as the blondes personal little lost puppy chased after her again.

"Buffy, last night, when you kissed me..." William said at what Buffy considered to be an unreasonable volume.

"It meant nothing!" she yelled back, "It was a joke, just like you!" she snapped.

So caught up in storming away, Buffy didn't see the people coming the other way until she'd already bumped into them and spilt her books all over the floor. In their hurry to get to class they didn't stop to help her and the halls soon cleared of everyone except Buffy and William, scrambling to pick up the fallen volumes. He knew she only insulted him because people were listening and she had a reputation to uphold. It didn't change the fact that he wanted to be with her anyway he could.

As he handed her the final book, she sighed a slight thankyou and turned to walk away. He was still on his knees behind her when he called;

"Buffy, please, I just..."

"Look, when are you gonna get it!" she almost screamed in sheer frustration down the empty hall "You're not my type, okay?"

"So what is your type?" he asked, getting to his feet "Angel?"

"No, not Angel" she cried frustradely "not anyone in this hellhole!" she gestured around herself "Someone better than that..." her voice grew quieter as she knew she could never explain herself properly "you wouldn't understand...just leave me alone"

She walked away less strong than she'd started out and William climbed to his feet with a defeated sigh. He should really get to class himself, but all he felt like doing was knocking down the nearest wall out of pure frustration. He wasn't a violent person but this girl was driving him crazy. He wished she could just give him some idea of what it was she wanted, because whatever it was he'd become it, anything just so she'd pay attention. It was as he moved to walk away, he noticed something on the ground that she'd left behind, a couple of sheets of paper they hadn't noticed as they'd gathered her books from the floor.

Bending down he picked up the fallen sheets and found them to be covered in pencil drawings, pretty good ones too and all on the same theme. Now he knew what she wanted, and without a thought for the consequences he promised himself he would be that person.

Saturday couldn't come fast enough for William. His mother was going out in the afternoon so he planned to spend the morning shopping and the afternoon transforming himself into what Buffy truly wanted in a man. It was going to be drastic and his mother was going to go completely crazy but she was worth it, Buffy Summers was definitely worth it.

William didn't even try to repress the laughter that rose in his throat as he got up and dressed on Saturday morning. It was completely absurd, he knew it, but he really liked this girl, from the first moment he'd seen her he knew he had to be with her. They'd barely spoken to one another and when she deigned to look at him or share a few words she was never what could be described as friendly, in fact she was barely civil, but somehow that made it all so much more worthwhile. She was a challenge now, which only added to his list of reasons to want her.

"Morning William" his mother greeted as he made his way into the kitchen, "So, do you have anything interesting planned for your weekend?"

"I thought I might head out to the mall" he said casually as he sat down on a stool by the counter and poured milk onto the cereal his mother had left there for him.

"Are you meeting some friends there?" she asked him hopefully, she knew he had trouble making friends back in England and it was the only thing about their move to America that concerned her, that he'd find it even harder here.

"Er, possibly" he lied, knowing how his dear Mum worried about his lack of popularity amongst his class-mates, "I just thought I could use a few new things, clothes and stuff"

"Clothes?" Anne frowned, "How can you possibly need more clothes? I bought you so much when we moved here?"

"Yes, I know" he said quietly into his breakfast, thinking how unimpressed Buffy would be by the fact that his mother had chosen half of the contents of his wardrobe, all those sensible shoes and patterned sweaters, smart shirts and ties.

"I hope you'll not be influenced by some of the unsavoury young people in this neighbourhood" his mother continued as she sat down opposite him and poured a cup of coffee from the pot, "Only yesterday I saw some motley crew in all this black leather and ripped jeans" she made a face at the memory, "They looked like common criminals"

"Yes mother" William nodded, finishing off his cereal and drinking down his orange juice, "If you don't mind I'm going to go now, get what I want before the rush"

"Of course dear" Anne smiled, "Go and enjoy yourself"

William smiled a little himself as he stood and left the room, picking up his jacket on the way through the hall and letting himself out of the house. He sighed as he stepped off the porch and walked down the street. His mother was never going to accept the changes he had in mind for himself. If he went ahead with this he'd probably give her an aneurysm!

As he walked along, he took a piece of paper from his pocket that bore the image of what he wanted to be. Buffy's dream date, drawn by her own fair hand. A faceless, mystery man...

'A mystery man?' William smiled to himself, 'Now that idea has potential...'

- - - - - - -

"What are you doing?" Dawn asked her sister as she stood in the doorway of Buffy's bedroom and watched her throw her belongings around.

"Scaling Mount Everest" the blonde said sarcastically still obviously searching for some mystery item, "Oh for God sake where are they?" she sighed frustradely.

'More than one thing' Dawn noted as she dared to take a step over the threshold into that area of the house that she was hardly ever permitted to go.

'You are now entering the Crazy Blonde Zone' the younger girl smiled to herself as she watched Buffy search some more.

"What did you lose?" she asked.

"Like it's any of your business" Buffy snapped, turning slightly and seeing that Dawn was just past the doorway, "and did I say you could come in to my room?"

"Whatever!" the brunette snapped back, "Just thought you might want some help is all" she said grumpily, folding her arms over her chest and turning to stomp away.

"Dawn!" Buffy called behind her, making the younger girl turn back sharply. Buffy sighed walking over to the girl and pulling her into the room by her arm before closing the door, "If I tell you something you have to swear not to breathe a word to anyone, okay?" she said seriously.

"It's drugs isn't it?" Dawn gasped, "Or is it....eew, is it something battery-operated that you bought after you dumped Angel...?" she asked, all kinds of explanations for Buffy's secrecy running through her mind.

"Dawn!" Buffy snapped, angry and frustatred at her sister and the disturbing way her mind worked, "It's nothing to do with drugs or sex or anything, and like I'd tell you about it if I had any of that stuff anyway!"

"So what is it?" the younger girl asked in a low voice. Buffy sighed.

"I can't find some pages from my sketch book" she admitted and Dawn couldn't help but giggle.

"You're this wound up over drawings?" she frowned, "What have you been drawing? Or shouldn't I ask?" she raised an eyebrow and Buffy gave her a disgusted look in return.

"How did a sister of mine end up with such a one-track mind?" she asked rhetorically, shaking her head, "The point is not what the sketches are of, which by the way is nothing like porn, it's the fact that I drew them in the first place. If the guys found out I was into art and stuff..."

"What is it with you and their opinion Buffy?" Dawn asked her, continuing before she had a chance to reply, "I mean, I know you like to be popular and you know I'd love to be the same, but you really think you wouldn't be if they find out you like to draw?"

"Do you know what Cordy and Faith say about Cassie Newton? And all the other girls who take Art class and write poetry and stuff. They think they're weirdos and freaks" she explained. Now it was Dawns turn to sigh, as she stood up to leave the room.

"You have to work out what you want Buffy" she said, sounding far too wise for her age, "You can't have everything"

Buffy laid back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Maybe Dawn was right, although at fourteen years old, what did the girl really know about the world or anything at all? All Buffy was certain of was that she wasn't ready for her friends to dismiss her yet. She might have cut her ties with Angel in most ways, but the gang were still her friends and she belonged in their group. She wasn't prepared for that to change yet.

'There's only one thing I want to change' she thought to herself as she closed her eyes and daydreamed of the man in those drawings she really should look for again later. She smiled at the images that rolled lazily around in her head. He would change her life forever, and that kind of change she could handle, she only wished it would really happen, in somewhere other than her dreams.

- - - - - - -

William barely knew where to begin at the mall. It didn't help that he'd only been there twice before and both times had been with is mother. He'd followed her around several older women's clothes stores and then when she'd finally declared it to be his turn they had frequented only what mother described as 'sensible' clothes stores. He had not been permitted to choose items from the same stores as other young men of his own age but it really hadn't bothered him all that much before. Now it mattered, but he didn't know where to begin.

Two hours after arriving at the mall and William had not gone into one shop. He decided that either the other shoppers or the assistants were just too intimidating in each and every one and he knew if they asked him if he needed any help he just wouldn't know what to say. So here he sat in the food court, a cup of coffee and a half eaten sandwich on the table in front of him, wondering how, if he was so intimidated by sales assistants, he was ever going to get Buffy to take him seriously.

"William?" a voice said to his left and he turned in his seat to see a younger brunette version of the very girl he was thinking of.

"Dawn" he smiled, "How are you?"

"Fine" she nodded, sliding into the seat opposite him without invitation, "You?"

"Fine" he replied in kind before asking, "Are you here with you sister?" his eyes wandering all around the area to see if Buffy was there.

"Yeah, right" Dawn rolled her eyes sarcastically, "Like she's ever seen with me in public by choice"

"Oh, yes, of course" William nodded, feeling almost as bad for Dawn as he felt for himself. He watched her staring into his coffee and mentally hit himself, "I'm sorry, did you want anything to drink or eat?" he offered and she smiled as his politeness but declined the offer. It was only as he declared he was no longer hungry and pushed the plate away from him that he realised one of Buffy's drawings that he'd take with him was still on the table. It had been half covered by the plate before but now it was in full view of Buffy's sister.

"Hey, what's that?" she asked, before he had a chance to stuff it back in his pocket.

"It's nothing, just a drawing" he shrugged.

Dawn sighed.

"What is it with people and drawings today?" she asked the table as she drummed her fingers on it.

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked and she explained how Buffy was 'totally spazzing' over her lost art work.

"I mean, anyone would think it was this majorly big deal" she rolled her eyes, "Buffy seems to think her friends will freak if they find out she's all Art-Girl and stuff. She's weird that way"

William smiled, despite the fact the girl of his dreams was being insulted. Dawn was a riddle. She could be such an adult when the mood struck her, and other times she was just a childish little girl.

"So, you here for a reason?" she asked him when silence fell again.

"Er, well..." he stumbled on what he meant to say and Dawn interrupted.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me" she assured him, somewhat sadly, "It's not like it's any of my business. I just thought if you wanted someone to keep you company or whatever..." her voice trailed away and William felt so bad for her. She just wanted to be popular, wanted, needed for any reason. She didn't want to be Buffy's little sister, she just wanted to be Dawn Summers. She wanted as purpose in her life. Well, she was about to get one.

"Dawn, do you think you could help me with something?" he asked with a smile. The girl looked at him strangely before she answered;

"Sure, what d'ya need?" she asked.

"Well, first" he said in a half whisper leaning across the table toward her and encouraging her to do the same, "you have to promise me that you can keep a secret..."

"I still can't believe my sister drew this" Dawn repeated for the fifth time as she sat outside the changing cubicle of a men's clothing store, staring at the piece of paper William had given her, "And I can't believe that you want to become this"

"Why is it so hard to believe?" said William's voice from behind the curtain as he changed into the twenty-seventh outfit he and Dawn had picked out.

"Well, no offence" she began, "but this is supposed to be like the coolest guy ever and you're kind of..."

"Not?" he guessed what she meant but was too nice to say, and he was right of course, but she didn't get a chance to tell him that...

"It's not your fault, you're just..." at this point in her sentence the curtain opened to reveal William looking nothing like the man who went into that cubicle at all.

"You're just..." Dawn repeated, completely in awe at the transformation, "...incredibly hot in that outfit" she finished, before suddenly realising what she'd said and clamping her hand over mouth. Both she and William were going bright red with embarrassment by now but she had to admit he did look good and he had to admit he liked the fact she thought so. He turned to look at himself in the full length mirror to his right and was somewhat shocked by the difference these clothes made. Sensible shoes were replaced with black Doc Marten boots, smart trousers by tight black jeans and smart shirt by tight black T-shirt with a red-shirt over the top, all topped off with Dawn's personal favourite item, the leather duster.

"You promise I don't look like an idiot" he looked nervously at Dawn who smiled back at him and shook her head.

"You really don't look like an idiot" she told him, "You look incredible"

"This stuff will cost a fortune" he realised with a sigh, "but Buffy's worth it"

"I guess" Dawn shrugged non-comitally, "but y'know none of this is going to do any good"

"But you said it could work" he protested, recalling what she'd said when he first imparted his plan to her.

"I said I could help you be Buffy's dream guy like this picture" she reminded him, waving the piece of paper in his face, "The clothes are only a part of that. The main thing is gonna cost a lot more cash and take a hell of a lot of work"

William winced as she held up the drawing and pointed at what she meant.

"You're right. I'm gonna have to start saving" he sighed, "Cos it's looks like I need a motorcycle"

Two weeks had passed since William & Dawn's trip to the mall. The complete outfit that they'd bought hung in the back of his closet, of no use what-so-ever until he could get the other piece of the puzzle - the motorcycle. He'd counted up all his spare cash, but there was no way he was going to afford a decent ride without his mother noticing a hole in his college fund.

At school he watched Buffy as she chatted with her friends and hated the fact that she completely ignored him at every opportunity. Willow would sometimes say hello to him, but never when she was with 'the gang' and the guys continued to throw dirty looks at him whenever he walked passed.

William was miserable about it all. He was such an idiot, thinking he could just change his clothes and Buffy would love him, the motorcycle part was just as important for her dream man to have. Looking back he admitted to himself he was blocking out the part of the equation that may cause him injury and taking the safe route, but Dawn had been right. Buffy wanted the whole package, she deserved it and he'd find a way to do this. All he had to do was get his hands on some cash and soon...

"Hey, English-boy" a voice called and William glanced across to see Xander walking towards him, "I need to talk to you"

"Okay" he answered uneasily, closing the book he'd been studying, as the leather-jacketed boy sat down on the wall beside him, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I got this English paper to write, somethin' about a poem or whatever" he shrugged not really caring.

"You wanted my help with your homework?" William ventured, unsure as to what Xander was getting at. He was a little worried when the brunette laughed.

"I don't want help" he explained, "I'm talkin' papers for paper" he said with a smile, William looked confused and Xander rolled his eyes, dropping his voice lower, "Essays for cash?" he made it clearer and the other boy frowned a little.

What he was being asked to do was wrong, it was cheating, and he could probably get into all kinds of trouble for it...on the other hand, he'd be getting paid for something he found simple enough to do, and the more cash he had the quicker he could get that motorcycle he needed to win Buffy over...

"So, we got a deal, Will?" the brunette asked him and William smiled.

"Yes, I do believe we have" he agreed.

- - - - - - - -

William yawned and checked his watch. By the light of the lamp, the face told him it was past midnight and he groaned as he realised how long he'd been sitting at his desk, reading and writing for his own homework as well as some for Xander, Andrew and even Angel. He'd been doing all their trickier assignments for the past month, being paid a pittance for each and every paper, but it was all adding up and he knew with just a few more pieces, he'd have earned enough for the motorcycle.

Rubbing his eyes, he turned off the lamp and moved over towards his bed, removing his clothes on the way. He fell onto the mattress and sighed as he closed his eyes. Tonight was no different to any other and, behind his eyes, William saw Buffy. She'd smiled at him today, for the briefest of moments but it made his heart soar. He didn't know why, frankly he didn't care. Maybe the guys had told her he was a decent person because of the favour he was doing for them, but he doubted they'd want anyone to know of their academic difficulties. Perhaps Willow had put in a good word for him, she was always kind to him, well, when the gang wasn't there anyway. Or possibly Dawn had pleaded his case, though the poor girl was barely more popular with those people than he was.

'Dearest Dawn' William smiled to himself. She was such a sweet girl, in many ways like her sister only nicer to him at the moment. She'd make a wonderful girlfriend for some lucky boy one day, but to him she was the younger sister he wished he could have had.

- - - - - - - -

"Another day, another crappy homework assignment" Faith sighed as she exited fourth period with her friends.

"Tell me about it" Buffy agreed, "I mean, why do we even need to know this stuff anyway?" she said as she scanned over the sheet in her hand, full of questions about the Civil War that required ridiculously long answers. It was going to take hours.

"This doesn't look so bad" Angel grinned, looking over at Xander, "What do ya say Xand?"

"Not a problem" his friend smiled back, as the girls shared a bemused look and the two guys silently agreed to explain as the gang headed outside.

"We kind of don't do the homework" Xander told them as the girls sat down on a nearby bench. The boy climbed up to sit on the back of the seat with his feet between Buffy and Faith.

"But I've seen you hand in your papers?" Buffy frowned, "So how...?" she didn't finish her question as Faith started to laugh loudly.

"You snakes in the grass" the brunette girl chuckled, looking between Xander and Angel, who stood to the side, who both began to laugh too, "These two have some brainiac doing their assignments for them" she said to Buffy who eyed the pair with distaste. They pulled scams all the time but if they were threatening a guy into doing their school work, that was just kind of pathetic.

"So come on, tell us" she snapped, "Who are you idiots beating on to do your work?"

"Beating on?" Xander looked disgusted, "Come on Buff, you know us better than that...we just pay the guy"

"Then you really are idiots" Faith continued to laugh as she got up and walked away shaking her head. Angel opted to go after her and Buffy looked up at the boy who remained beside her.

"So, you gonna tell me who it is?" she asked him. Xander gave her a goofy grin.

"Your very own little lost puppy dog" he told her, pointing across the way to where William sat engrossed in a book as always.

Buffy's eyes followed her friends finger and she sighed when she saw who he meant. William had been such an annoyance to her when he'd first arrived at Sunnydale High, but these past few weeks, since he'd stopped constantly asking her out and bugging her, she found she didn't mind so much when he smiled at her on the way to class, or sometimes stared across the room at her. It was sort of nice to know someone liked you that much, and since he was less obvious these days the gang had more or less stopped teasing her about it.

"I'm gonna go find Cordy" she half heard Xander say as he jumped down from the back of the bench and wandered off. Buffy's eyes were still fixed on William though for a long time there she wasn't really seeing him, her mind was somewhere else entirely as she considered this guy.

"Hey" Buffy was almost as startled by her own voice as William was as she found herself standing next to him now.

"H-hello" he replied nervously, wondering why she was suddenly standing there talking to him, and thanking God that he went to the bother of putting his lenses in today instead of wearing his glasses.

"I just wanted to..." Buffy began, internally asking herself why on earth she was doing this, "I heard from the guys that you do their homework for them" she said eventually, "and I just wanted to tell you, you shouldn't let them make a fool out of you, okay?"

William only nodded in reply, afraid of saying something stupid if he actually opened his mouth.

"Well, that was all" Buffy shrugged, adjusted her sunglasses, and turned to walk away. William suddenly decided he had to say something to her, she had actually been pleasant to him after all!

"Thankyou, Buffy" he called behind her and she turned back just briefly to smile at him. He smiled back, feeling that today anything might be possible. He didn't know how right he was until he turned back and ran straight into Angel.

"Will, buddy" he smiled almost evilly and William involuntarily shuddered.

"History again?" the English boy guessed and Angel slapped him on the back as he walked with him and spoke in a low voice.

"Keep the volume down, boy" he reminded him, "I don't object to paying for a service but the deal was we keep the profile low, remember?"

"I remember" William nodded once as Angel checked the area for people and slipped a piece of paper to the other boy.

"By Friday" he said sharply, "Two versions, usual rate"

"I understand" came the reply with a further nod as the brunette walked away with his usual air of superiority, straightening the collar of his leather jacket as he went and winking at some random girls.

William sighed and shook his head as he looked over the paper. 'Simple enough' he thought to himself, 'and two copies at the usual rate...' he smiled as he headed for the library to make a start during his free period. If his calculations were correct, he should be able to go shopping for a motorcycle this weekend.

- - - - - - - -

Saturday came around again, and it couldn't come fast enough for William. Almost two months since his original plan to win Buffy over and finally it looked as if he was getting close. Dressing in his most 'normal American teen' outfit, he headed out to a place he'd found in the phone book called Rippers. It was a garage in the less-respectable side of town, that bought and sold cars and bikes and fixed them too. William was not entirely sure he liked the idea of buying a second hand bike from a man named 'Ripper' but then he thought of Buffy and it was all entirely worth it.

Already he'd shared smiles with Buffy on three occasions and there had been that glorious moment on Monday morning when she'd come over and talked to him, warning him against making deals with those who were supposed to be her friends.

William soon arrived at the garage and his eyes took in the scene. A courtyard area held a couple of cars that looked like they'd fall to pieces if you went over 50mph, and the main building looked like a strong gust of wind might reduce it to debris, still, it was the only place around where William seemed guaranteed to get a good deal on a bike. Taking a deep breath he headed for the front of the building and cautiously went inside.

As far as William was aware he'd never been in a garage that looked quite like this, in fact he wasn't so sure he'd ever been in one at all. But now here he was staring at a mans legs as they stuck out from beneath a jacked-up car, one black booted foot tapping along to a rock tune that rang out from the battered radio on a nearby shelf.

"Er, excuse me" William's voice sounded ridiculously polite and uncharacteristically loud in such a rough setting. The noise was sudden enough to cause the person under the car to bang his head and curse colourfully as he dragged himself out into the open.

"You stupid bloody pillock!" he swore at William as he jumped to his feet, wrench still in hand, and the boy found himself backing up quite speedily.

"I'm terribly sorry" he apologised profusely, "I...I just wanted to...I wondered if you might help me..." he rambled nervously and the man who appeared to be Ripper sighed as he wiped his hands on an oily rang and moved to turn the radio down to a less blaring level.

"Don't tell me" Ripper smirked, looking the boy up and down, "You've got a flat and mummy wouldn't like it if you got grease on your best shirt"

William was quite offended by this and looked indignantly at the older man before him.

"I am here on business" he announced, "I have money to spend on a bike and I planned to spend it here, but I can go elsewhere if..."

"Calm down, mate" Ripper held up his hands in mock surrender, "Just don't get a lot of your sort in 'ere is all" he commented, "You got a name, son?" he asked next.

"William Spencer" the boy said politely extending his hand.

"Okay, Will" the man nodded, taking the offered hand and shaking it firmly, "You can just call me Ripper, okay?"

William nodded as he took back his hand and looked disdainfully at the grease and dirt on it.

"Get used to it" he heard as he looked up, "Cos if you plan on buying and running a bike, your hands are gonna get dirtier than that...I take it this is your first bike?"

"Yes" William admitted, feeling a little stupid and very out of place.

Ripper nodded and smiled to himself. He'd seen this kind of thing before, hell it was how he'd turned out the way he had, for the love of a woman.

"What's her name?" he asked casually as he could.

"Buffy" William blurted out without thinking, trying not to blush like some nancy boy as the older man tried not to laugh.

"Tell you what, Will" the man sighed, patting him on the back and leading him across the room, "Seein' as your a fellow Brit, and this is all to win the love of some fair lady, let's see if we can't cut you a deal..."