A/N: I cannot believe this is twenty one chapters already. I still remember when I wrote the first chapter and didn't know if anyone would actually read it. Insanity, I tell you! Insanity! Anyhoo, I hope that you enjoy this. It sets up the next few chapters :D

Chapter Twenty One

A few days after the party, Drusilla approached Buffy and asked that they have tea in town. She said that they had gotten off on the wrong foot, and she didn't want that to continue.

"You are obviously very dear to William," Drusilla said. "And he is dear to me. Therefore, I don't want there to be anything unpleasant between us."

Buffy still felt some discomfort around the woman, but she had no choice other than to accept Drusila's invitation. Anything else would be construed as unapologetically rude. That was how the brunette and blonde ended up together in one of the local tea shoppes, discussing William over two piping hot cups of Darjeeling tea. Buffy discovered that Drusilla was an untapped resource for knowledge on her beau, and she took full advantage.

"What was he like growing up?" Buffy asked eagerly, taking a sip of her tea. "He can't have always been this cavalier."

"No, he was not," Drusilla said with a slow smile. "He was quite different when we were growing up. Softer. More genteel. I see bits of that come back when he's around you."

"You do?"

Drusilla nodded. "You repress some of the less pleasant tendencies that came from his rebellious phase."

Buffy smirked, picking up a tea biscuit. "Tell me more."

"Did he tell you about his poetry?"

Buffy nearly choked on her tea biscuit. "Excuse me? Did you say poetry?"

Drusilla laughed, bringing a hand delicately to her mouth.

"Oh, he is going to be positively stricken when he learns of your discovery," Drusilla said. "Well, I'm not surprised he didn't tell you. He was always so shy with his works."

"How much did he write?"

"Oh, he wrote constantly. There was not one animate or inanimate object in all of Brighton that did not get skewered at some point by that quill of his."

"Skewered?" Buffy asked, not understanding.

"He was a ghastly poet," Drusilla confided. "Which is probably why he kept it from you. I was the only one who saw his creations. Well, besides that horrid Cecily."

"What about her?" Buffy asked, fascinated by this world being revealed to her. She realized then that William had told her so little of his past. She knew relatively nothing about his childhood or family.

"When he proposed to her – you do know about that, right?" Buffy nodded and Drusilla continued. "For the proposal he composed a poem."

"Oh no," Buffy breathed out, already having a fairly clear view of where this story was going.

"He showed it to me earlier in the week. It was one of his worst creations, filled with flowery language and ghastly similes. Not knowing what he intended to do with the poem, I told him that it was beautiful. I always humored him with his poetry, thinking it was only a closet hobby. Well, you can imagine my surprise when he revealed to me weeks later that he presented Cecily with the poem."

"That is awful," Buffy said, shaking her head. Try as she might to feel poorly for her lover, she couldn't escape the laughter that bubbled in her throat. Drusilla grinned, stirring more sugar into her tea.

"I know, poetry seems quite removed from the man that you know today."

"Quite," Buffy agreed. "I wonder if he's written anything about me?"

"It's likely," Drusilla said. "But after Cecily, you will never see it."

"Not even if I asked?"

"Not even if you asked and used ever womanly wile that you possess," Drusilla answered. "A man ridiculed is unlikely to repeat the misstep. Particularly a man like William."

"I remain undaunted," Buffy said with a tilt of her head, already thinking up ways to convince William to read whatever he had written. Drusilla peered at her with a soft grin.

"I like you, Buffy," she said after a moment. "I never thought I would like whomever William settled down with. I'm a harsh critic, and his taste never impressed me before. But you're different. He truly has met his match in you."

Buffy grinned slightly. "I like to think so."

Buffy took the carriage back home after tea, and was surprised to see William's carriage at the front of the house. She walked inside, looking around for William or her family.

"Hello?" she called out, craning her neck to look into the next room.

"Buffy!" Dawn enthused, rushing into the room and grabbing onto her arm. Her mouth was spread into a grin that was so wide Buffy wondered if it hurt.

"Dawn, what's happening?"

"William is in the study with Father," Dawn said hurriedly. "And the door is closed!"

Buffy's mind went blank. Logically, there was only one reason for her father and William to speaking alone in the study. There was only one reason that involved wedding bells and big white dresses. It was too soon, though. Or was it? He loved her and she surely loved him. She couldn't imagine a life without him.

She sat down heavily on the couch, hands firmly under her bottom to keep herself from picking at her cuticles. Dawn sat next to her, nearly shaking with excitement.

"Do you think they're talking about what I think they're talking about?" Dawn asked, voice rising in excitement. "Because, there's really only one explanation, isn't there? There's only one reason why they would be speaking alone!"

"We don't know that," Buffy said in a voice that she hoped sounded calm. Inside she was anything but calm. She was a storm of anticipation and something else that she couldn't quite put her finger on, but made her throat feel like it was closing.

"Well, what else could it be?"

"I don't know," Buffy said helplessly.

"This is good, right? Them talking?"

Buffy thought about a life with William. She thought of wearing one of those ridiculous dresses and walking toward him with their friends and family surrounding them. She thought of never having to spend another day without him. Never having to spend another day alone for the rest of her life.

"Yes," she breathed out finally. She grinned wide and said, "Yes, it is absolutely marvelous."

After what felt like months, William and her father entered the living room. William looked surprised when he saw Buffy there, which she found somewhat silly considering that it was her home that he was in.

"Buffy," he said. "Finished with your tea, already?"

"Yes," she said, nerves making her voice crack. She cleared her throat. "We had a wonderful time."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that."

"William," Mr. Summers said. "Thank you for stopping by. I hope I was able to be of some help."

"You were," William said with a small dip of his head. "Thank you again, Mr. Summers."

"My pleasure."

"I'll walk you out," Buffy said, glancing between her father and William. Her and William walked out to his carriage. Neither spoke.

"William," she asked carefully. "What were you discussing with my father?"

Blue eyes slid down to her own and she felt a chill run all the way from her neck to her toes. His lips pressed into a maddening smirk before he remarked, "Just some business."

"What sort of business?"

"Nothing you have to worry your pretty head about," William said, leaning forward and giving her a quick kiss. She felt her stomach drop at the dismissal. So much for that stupid proposal she thought was coming. Her irritation flared at both her fanciful thinking and his pig-headed belief that just because she was a woman she wouldn't be interested in what him and her father were talking about.

"Well, my pretty head wants to know," she shot back. "It was my father you were speaking with, you know."

He laughed. "Yes, pet, I do know that. It's the reason I came here. To your house."

She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why won't you tell me?"

"Because there is nothing to tell, love. I have a business venture in the works. Thought I would come talk with your father. He knows a great deal about finances, so I ran a few figures past him."

Her face fell. "That's it?"

He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer.

"Yes, that's it. Is there something you're not letting me in on, pet?"

"No," she said glumly. "My father's helping you with this business venture?"

"More consulting," William returned. "He's a very smart man."

"Yes, he is."

Buffy was still frowning, but William remedied this easily by dropping his mouth to hers and kissing her softly. She responded to his touch as she always did, her arms snaking around his neck. With his mouth on hers, arms tight around her waist, Buffy decided that she didn't need a proposal. Whether she had a ring or not, she could feel in his kiss that he was hers.

"I need to go," William murmured, kissing her one last time. "I will see you tomorrow, though. Dinner out somewhere, perhaps?"

She nodded. "Sounds lovely."

He grinned and touched her cheek tenderly before climbing into the carriage. Buffy watched the carriage barrel down the street and then turned, returning inside.

A/N: Who here thought a proposal was coming?