This part follows on about an hour after the last chapter, so I guess you could say it's a bit of a two-parter.
I've left it in a horrid place, I know, but it ain't over yet.
Thanks for the reviews. You lovely people, you.
CHAPTER SEVEN:
She writhed in her bed. Her free hand grasping at the bed sheets with a desperate white-knuckled fist. The cotton groaned under her grip. "Umm... What?"
"Buffy, are you alright? Are you listening to me?"
"Yeah, I'm listening, Will. And I'm fine..." She looked down at the white-blonde head working between her legs and the corners of her mouth tugged upwards. "*Really* I am."
"We just haven't seen you around much, is all... Is everything OK?"
She glanced at the head again and it turned up to look back at her with a face of someone drunk on passionate mischief. He grinned at her before dipping his head back and continuing. She gasped at the renewed sensations. "Things are *very* OK."
"Uh, OK. I was just worried. It's understandable, I know but it just seems that lately you don't know whether you're coming or going -"
"I'm fine, Will, really. I'll see you tonight, OK?" She managed to get out through clenched teeth. The cotton of the bed sheets finally gave way with a satisfyingly sharp tear that sympathised with the tension bubbling inside of her.
"At Xander's?"
"Yeah sure. See you later, Will. Bye."
She slammed the receiver down on its hook and grasped at his curls with both hands, her head and body arching off the bed and her thighs clamping around his head as a storm of pleasure wreaked through her. Her muscles twitched out the aftershocks as she fell back against the pillow and relaxed into a sublime calm that settled itself in her belly and rippled outwards. She tugged weakly at his hair to invite him up.
He responded, lazily crawling up her body in the strong-shouldered-slack-backed manner of a predator. Her stomach leaped and she felt desire tweak along her groin again. She smiled as he drew his head up level with hers and they locked eyes.
"You off out tonight?"
She nodded. "I have to... I haven't seen my friends for days. They'll start to suspect something."
He chuckled and dipped his head to kiss her collarbone. "They'd never suspect this, Love... Not in a millennia of Sundays."
"I know. But I should do the 'quality time' thing... Giles said he'd let me get back to training in my own time but I should check in with him too." She glanced at the clock - 7:30 - and back at him with big, hopeful eyes. "You stay for when Dawn gets home?"
"Sure."
One word. One syllable. That's all. Yet she couldn't rationalise how much of an effect it had on her. She stared up at him until he was forced to ask:
"What?"
She shook her head (Nothing. Everything.) and drew him down for a kiss.
-
-
-
"Hey Buff! Where's the Dawnster?" Xander asked, scanning the hall as he let her in.
"Out, with friends. I, um, asked a neighbour to be in when she gets back."
"Neighbour?"
"Mrs. Randall, next door. She's been really nice, you know, since Mom." Not exactly a lie, Mrs. Randall had been nice since the funeral in that over-enthusiastic-I-don't-mean-to-get-in-your-way-but-if-there's-anything-I-can-do... way.
Xander nodded in that silent, supportive way he did and it reminded her how much she loved him and Willow.
"I left a note for her to call me when she gets in."
Anya was coming towards her now and she steeled herself for the uninfectious enthusiasm Anya in hostess mode.
"Hello, Buffy. Let me take your coat. We have pegs now, look." She pointed out the coat pegs on the wall by the door and her eyes went misty. "Xander got his tool out and put them up yesterday." She said proudly and obliviously.
"Wow, they're... great pegs." Buffy smiled at Xander as she handed her coat to Anya.
"My Xander is really good with his hands. Aren't you baby?" She rubbed Xander's arm and he would have been embarrassed if he wasn't far too used to it by now.
"Willow and Tara have just gone out for munchies and a video." Xander said as they walked over to the lounge part of his apartment. "I told them no chick-flicks, it's bad enough I've got to entertain all you women without having to put up with all that sappy, romantic stuff."
Buffy rolled her eyes and Anya took him far too literally.
"Poor baby. That's why I suggested Willow and Tara go. With them being... as they are, they'll probably pick something my Xander can enjoy too - only vicariously though, of course." Anya smiled. "I'll give him the real thing tonight."
"Anya!" OK, that earned a blush.
Buffy laughed. Maybe tonight wouldn't be so bad after all. She realised that she'd missed them all, even Anya. By the sounds of it both she and Xander had something to look forward to when they were alone with their partners (is that the right thing to call him?) tonight.
-
-
-
"Hey, Buffy. I just got your note."
Buffy glanced over at the equally relieved faces of her friends and at the clock - 8:20 - good her sister listened to her. She couldn't help the swarm of pride that warmed her. She had laid down a curfew and it had been adhered to. She was officially a guardian.
"So, did you have a good time?"
"Oh, yeah. The movie was great. That Freddie Prinze Junior is just divine, don't you think?"
"Umm, he's OK, I suppose. Did you go anywhere after?"
"Just for milkshakes, junk-food and over-analysis."
"Sounds good. I'm glad you had a good time. Can I speak to Sp - you-know-who a minute?"
"You-know-who? Oh, he's not here."
"What?!" Her heart stopped and lunged towards her throat.
"Er, I thought he was with you - But now I'm realising that's just a ridiculous idea. But no, he's not here. I kinda thought it was cool you trusted me to be on my own - But now I'm realising that that's a ridiculous idea too." There was a moment or eternity of silence over the line. "Er, Buffy?"
She felt sick, her head was turning over so fast she was getting dizzy from standing still. "Dawn. Stay inside, I'm coming home." She hung up and turned to her friends. They had gone back to watching the movie.
"I have to go."
"Buffy, what's wrong?" Willow asked, her body language indicating that she was about to stand up and come towards her. Buffy had to think fast, there was no way she could lie to Willow if she was stood right in front of her.
"Mrs. Randall." She voiced the first thought that came to mind. "Yes! Mrs. Randall, she's not too well so I'd better get back and relieve her of Dawn duty."
"Are you sure you're OK?"
"D-do you want us to come with you?" Tara spoke, backing up Willow.
Buffy forced a casual laugh that came out more as a scoff. "Yeah, fine. Sorry about tonight guys, I did enjoy myself for all of about twenty minutes."
"Don't worry about it. We'll try for half-an-hour next time." Xander grinned and she smiled gratefully back at him.
"Sure."
-
-
-
"He's gone." Dawn declared after having searched the house for any sign of him but there was nothing.
The house remained as if he had never been here, as if the last few days had never happened. It had never felt so empty, well, except after the funeral. Even her memories were threatening to fade fast. She wondered vaguely if Home was indeed where the Heart is, then by inviting him into her home had she -?
She dug her fingers into the kitchen counter until her fingernails paled and pained against the pressure.
"Aren't you even a little worried?"
She glanced around at her sister stood in the doorway. "No." She stated numbly. "He's gone. People leave... it happens."
"He left his car." Dawn stated matter-of-factly, crossing her arms and leaning against the doorjamb.
Buffy thought back. Him. The rain. The car. She in his coat. '"Something's should be left behind."'
I've left it in a horrid place, I know, but it ain't over yet.
Thanks for the reviews. You lovely people, you.
CHAPTER SEVEN:
She writhed in her bed. Her free hand grasping at the bed sheets with a desperate white-knuckled fist. The cotton groaned under her grip. "Umm... What?"
"Buffy, are you alright? Are you listening to me?"
"Yeah, I'm listening, Will. And I'm fine..." She looked down at the white-blonde head working between her legs and the corners of her mouth tugged upwards. "*Really* I am."
"We just haven't seen you around much, is all... Is everything OK?"
She glanced at the head again and it turned up to look back at her with a face of someone drunk on passionate mischief. He grinned at her before dipping his head back and continuing. She gasped at the renewed sensations. "Things are *very* OK."
"Uh, OK. I was just worried. It's understandable, I know but it just seems that lately you don't know whether you're coming or going -"
"I'm fine, Will, really. I'll see you tonight, OK?" She managed to get out through clenched teeth. The cotton of the bed sheets finally gave way with a satisfyingly sharp tear that sympathised with the tension bubbling inside of her.
"At Xander's?"
"Yeah sure. See you later, Will. Bye."
She slammed the receiver down on its hook and grasped at his curls with both hands, her head and body arching off the bed and her thighs clamping around his head as a storm of pleasure wreaked through her. Her muscles twitched out the aftershocks as she fell back against the pillow and relaxed into a sublime calm that settled itself in her belly and rippled outwards. She tugged weakly at his hair to invite him up.
He responded, lazily crawling up her body in the strong-shouldered-slack-backed manner of a predator. Her stomach leaped and she felt desire tweak along her groin again. She smiled as he drew his head up level with hers and they locked eyes.
"You off out tonight?"
She nodded. "I have to... I haven't seen my friends for days. They'll start to suspect something."
He chuckled and dipped his head to kiss her collarbone. "They'd never suspect this, Love... Not in a millennia of Sundays."
"I know. But I should do the 'quality time' thing... Giles said he'd let me get back to training in my own time but I should check in with him too." She glanced at the clock - 7:30 - and back at him with big, hopeful eyes. "You stay for when Dawn gets home?"
"Sure."
One word. One syllable. That's all. Yet she couldn't rationalise how much of an effect it had on her. She stared up at him until he was forced to ask:
"What?"
She shook her head (Nothing. Everything.) and drew him down for a kiss.
-
-
-
"Hey Buff! Where's the Dawnster?" Xander asked, scanning the hall as he let her in.
"Out, with friends. I, um, asked a neighbour to be in when she gets back."
"Neighbour?"
"Mrs. Randall, next door. She's been really nice, you know, since Mom." Not exactly a lie, Mrs. Randall had been nice since the funeral in that over-enthusiastic-I-don't-mean-to-get-in-your-way-but-if-there's-anything-I-can-do... way.
Xander nodded in that silent, supportive way he did and it reminded her how much she loved him and Willow.
"I left a note for her to call me when she gets in."
Anya was coming towards her now and she steeled herself for the uninfectious enthusiasm Anya in hostess mode.
"Hello, Buffy. Let me take your coat. We have pegs now, look." She pointed out the coat pegs on the wall by the door and her eyes went misty. "Xander got his tool out and put them up yesterday." She said proudly and obliviously.
"Wow, they're... great pegs." Buffy smiled at Xander as she handed her coat to Anya.
"My Xander is really good with his hands. Aren't you baby?" She rubbed Xander's arm and he would have been embarrassed if he wasn't far too used to it by now.
"Willow and Tara have just gone out for munchies and a video." Xander said as they walked over to the lounge part of his apartment. "I told them no chick-flicks, it's bad enough I've got to entertain all you women without having to put up with all that sappy, romantic stuff."
Buffy rolled her eyes and Anya took him far too literally.
"Poor baby. That's why I suggested Willow and Tara go. With them being... as they are, they'll probably pick something my Xander can enjoy too - only vicariously though, of course." Anya smiled. "I'll give him the real thing tonight."
"Anya!" OK, that earned a blush.
Buffy laughed. Maybe tonight wouldn't be so bad after all. She realised that she'd missed them all, even Anya. By the sounds of it both she and Xander had something to look forward to when they were alone with their partners (is that the right thing to call him?) tonight.
-
-
-
"Hey, Buffy. I just got your note."
Buffy glanced over at the equally relieved faces of her friends and at the clock - 8:20 - good her sister listened to her. She couldn't help the swarm of pride that warmed her. She had laid down a curfew and it had been adhered to. She was officially a guardian.
"So, did you have a good time?"
"Oh, yeah. The movie was great. That Freddie Prinze Junior is just divine, don't you think?"
"Umm, he's OK, I suppose. Did you go anywhere after?"
"Just for milkshakes, junk-food and over-analysis."
"Sounds good. I'm glad you had a good time. Can I speak to Sp - you-know-who a minute?"
"You-know-who? Oh, he's not here."
"What?!" Her heart stopped and lunged towards her throat.
"Er, I thought he was with you - But now I'm realising that's just a ridiculous idea. But no, he's not here. I kinda thought it was cool you trusted me to be on my own - But now I'm realising that that's a ridiculous idea too." There was a moment or eternity of silence over the line. "Er, Buffy?"
She felt sick, her head was turning over so fast she was getting dizzy from standing still. "Dawn. Stay inside, I'm coming home." She hung up and turned to her friends. They had gone back to watching the movie.
"I have to go."
"Buffy, what's wrong?" Willow asked, her body language indicating that she was about to stand up and come towards her. Buffy had to think fast, there was no way she could lie to Willow if she was stood right in front of her.
"Mrs. Randall." She voiced the first thought that came to mind. "Yes! Mrs. Randall, she's not too well so I'd better get back and relieve her of Dawn duty."
"Are you sure you're OK?"
"D-do you want us to come with you?" Tara spoke, backing up Willow.
Buffy forced a casual laugh that came out more as a scoff. "Yeah, fine. Sorry about tonight guys, I did enjoy myself for all of about twenty minutes."
"Don't worry about it. We'll try for half-an-hour next time." Xander grinned and she smiled gratefully back at him.
"Sure."
-
-
-
"He's gone." Dawn declared after having searched the house for any sign of him but there was nothing.
The house remained as if he had never been here, as if the last few days had never happened. It had never felt so empty, well, except after the funeral. Even her memories were threatening to fade fast. She wondered vaguely if Home was indeed where the Heart is, then by inviting him into her home had she -?
She dug her fingers into the kitchen counter until her fingernails paled and pained against the pressure.
"Aren't you even a little worried?"
She glanced around at her sister stood in the doorway. "No." She stated numbly. "He's gone. People leave... it happens."
"He left his car." Dawn stated matter-of-factly, crossing her arms and leaning against the doorjamb.
Buffy thought back. Him. The rain. The car. She in his coat. '"Something's should be left behind."'