Buffy has fallen for numerous boys over the course of her life, but Billy "Ford" Fordham was her very first crush. She was eleven and he was twelve; a timeless childhood romance that shaped Buffy to be who she is today. Oneshot.

Rating: K+
Pairings: Buffy/Ford.
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy or Billy Fordham, nor do I own Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I do however own the teachers, Leah and Rebecca.

Enjoy!

Look Before Falling

The sound of an ear shatteringly shrill bell cracked the flawless blue sky, making mourning doves and robins scatter from the maple trees along the school's lawn. Yellow school buses were lined up at the front of the school and eager kids poured off of them. They skipped along the path up to the main door to join their classmates in their classrooms. Teachers urged the children to hurry, because the final bell would be ringing in only two more minutes.

Buffy Summers took her time making her way into the school, kicking rocks along the path as she went. Her long blonde hair was tamed by two elastics forming pigtails. She wore a simple blue sundress and matching sandals; a perfect ensemble for a perfect May Day.

She had begged her mom that morning to let her wear this outfit. It was her absolute favourite, but her mom usually saved it for special occasions. But to Buffy, today was a special occasion, all Thursdays were.

She made her way up the school's front walkway, a slight skip in her step. Mr. Emerson, a fourth grade teacher began shouting at her to walk quicker or she would be late for class, but Buffy hardly noticed, she was too busy thinking of her well thought-out plan and lunchtime, when it would all happen.

Buffy's morning passed by in a daze; she did her math absent-mindedly, mixing up her 2's and 4's. She doodled in her notebook during English class instead of copying down the spelling quiz words for the week. And when her Art teacher asked what color blue and red made when mixed together, she replied simply, "Furple."

Buffy was simply too ecstatic to concentrate on anything but lunchtime.

She was out of her seat before the lunch bell rang, making a mad-dash towards the cubbies where the students kept their bags. She was the first to snatch her lunch bag from her backpack and the first back in her seat. Buffy looked up at the clock; only five more minutes.

In the next few minutes, she did not even think of eating her lunch. She vaguely remembered her mother making her a special lunch of leftover pizza, Sunny D and cherries, but it barely crossed her mind, all she could think of was how Billy Fordham would be in her classroom in seconds.

Buffy remembered the first day she had met Billy – who everyone called him Ford. It had been Halloween, and the whole school had worn their costumes to class. She had been dressed as Tinkerbelle in a gorgeous dress that her mom had stayed up past midnight making. It was a dress made of green and pale blue material, formatted to fit her young body perfectly. Her wings were made of bendable wire and more blue material. She had matching ballet flats and even a tiara. But what made it so special were the rhinestones so carefully glued on each part of her ensemble.

Ford had come off his school bus dressed as Captain Hook. His costume was incredible; so intricate that it could have been an original costume in the movie. He descended the stairs with such confidence, that from her position on the lawn with her friends, she could not help but stare. It was hard to recognize his real features, but it was still easy to see how blue his one uncovered eye was. So, so blue…she was mesmerized.

"Buffy, what are you looking at?" her friend, Leah asked obnoxiously. She was dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, and her long brown hair was weaved into two braids.

"I, uh…" Buffy replied awkwardly, snapping her gaze away from him. She shook her head to get a hold of herself. Ford was in grade six, a year older than she was - he could never have a crush on her! "Nothing…"

Later that day, when lunch began, she was sitting with Leah and Rebecca (Galinda, the Good Witch of the North). They were discussing their individual plans for that night, and bragging about how much candy they were going to get. Buffy was in the middle of shouting about her next-door neighbour who gave out full candy bars, when there was a knock on their classroom door.

Mrs. Avery looked up from her desk and gave our visitor a warm smile. "Billy, come in," she greeted. "What do you need?"

Buffy blinked wildly, gaze frozen on the doorway. Ford stood there, in full costume, with a gorgeous smile which showcased his straight, white teeth. "Arrr, hi Mrs. Avery," he replied in a pirate slang. "I was sent by Mr. Brown to be your class's lunch monitor."

Buffy's heart leaped. Ford was a lunch monitor? To her class? The odds were unbelievable. This meant that he would be spending lunch in their classroom every Thursday gathering everyone's garbage and preventing fights. THE Billy Fordham…

And then he was beside her.

Ford leaned against Buffy's desk, flashing her one of his famous smiles. "Well, there, little lady," he said. "Looks like we're a pair. We match. "

Buffy blushed immensely, her whole face turning the shade of a tomato. Leah and Rebecca were silent. Ford chuckled.

"I'll see you around, Tink," he told her and then winked. He made his way down the next aisle of desks.

Buffy melted on the spot.

Ford had talked to her! And he would see her around! It took her several minutes to wrap her young mind around it. Her soft green eyes were stretched to their largest, she could not stop blinking, and breathing was impossible. She could feel Leah's and Rebecca's questioning stares, but she did not say a thing. She just watched as Ford marched up and down the aisle of desks, holding a garbage can in his hands. All the other students seemed unfazed by his presence, but Buffy was in a completely different world, where her and Ford were walking down their own aisle, together, to get married.

And now, it was late May, and the last day lunch monitors would be needed in the classrooms. It was Buffy's last chance to make Ford see that they were meant to be together.

She was eating with Leah and Rebecca, just as she did every lunch. They were chatting casually, but she hardly listened. She was on the edge of her seat, her neck strained to see around the corner, ready for Ford to come strutting through the door.

Buffy mentally went over her game plan, strategizing as much as her eleven-year-old mind could. At the same moment that her crush stepped into the classroom, she was ready. She was on her blue sandaled feet in a heartbeat. The little blonde knew she was breaking the rules by getting up in the middle of lunch, but she did not care. Whatever punishment she got would be worth it if she got Ford too.

She was standing in front of him in seconds, boldly staring into his vivid blue eyes. For a moment, Buffy forgot what she was doing, and the ocean depths of his eyes dared her to such a point, that she almost doubted herself and her plan. But she was Buffy Summers, she could do this.

"Have a seat, please, Buffy," Ford warned her good-naturally, directing her to her seat. But she didn't budge.

"No thanks," she replied sassily. Ford shot her a look of confusion mixed with curiosity; nobody ever talked back to Billy Fordham! But it was evident he wanted to know what came next here; he crossed his arms over his blue and white striped polo, waiting.

"I have a question," Buffy stated boldly, not caring that the whole class was watching.

Ford waited.

"Ford, will you be my boyfriend?"

The classroom was so silent that the only sound heard was the buzzing of the artificial lights above their heads. Buffy's green eyes blazed into Ford's blue ones, pleading, and full of intense desire. But his eyes gave away no hints; his whole face was emotionless. The whole world could have been frozen under a layer of ice, nobody moved, nobody even breathed. Buffy knew in her heart that she would be the number one gossip in the fifth grade, but she pushed the thought away. All she wanted to think about was this moment now, just her and Ford looking into each other's eyes like the married couple they would someday be.

Too much time passed, she realized with a sinking heart. If he wanted to be my boyfriend, he would have said yes already. But she continued to gaze into his eyes, hoping for one last chance at getting the boy she had crushed on for the past seven months.

And then, Ford looked away, breaking their connection, and replying to Buffy's bold question without words; but she didn't need them. She knew. The whole class knew.

She was a fool for ever believing that she had a chance with Ford, a boy a year older. She dropped her eyes to the ground, defeated. Ford awkwardly cleared his throat and trudged away, picking up his signature garbage can to collect the students' trash from their lunches.

And as Buffy stood there, as heartbroken as an eleven-year-old could be, the whole world moved on. Kids continued their conversations, finished their lunches, laughed and smiled. They were just being kids… But the girl standing by the door in her best and prettiest blue dress and sandals, she was no longer a kid. In a mere two minutes, one boy had changed her entire being. She had crossed over to the other side, the side of preteens, where puberty reigned over everything else. She was not the same as the other children there, she had matured too fast. Maybe it was fate though, maybe there was a reason she needed to grow up faster… Buffy did not know the reason at the time; she just bolted from the classroom, utterly embarrassed and scarred for the rest of her life. She reached the bathroom and collapsed into a sobbing, messy ball of blue and blonde.

Buffy wished she had been more careful when choosing who to crush on. She wished she had known how horrible she would have felt after. She vowed to always think before falling for a boy, so she would never again have to feel this wrenching pain…

When Buffy was sixteen, she moved from LA to Sunnydale, California.
In season one's "Angel" episode, Buffy meets Angel, and immediately falls for his dark and mysterious ways.
In season two's "Lie to Me" episode, Ford moves to Sunnydale, and Buffy crushes on him again.
In season three's "Faith, Hope & Trick", Buffy falls for Scott Hope, an ordinary boy.
In season four's "Freshmen", Buffy meets Riley, and falls for him instantly.
In season five's "Intervention", Buffy secretly falls for Spike.

Obviously, Buffy Summers did not look before falling again.