Chapter 4

A/N: Thankyou for all of the reviews. I'll try and work the whole "Plot line moves just slow enough for it to be realistic, yet not to slow" deal. Lots of love,

Andi

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Since when do I have a cat?

I open my eyes a little bit and remember that I fell asleep in the guidance office. In William's arms.

That still doesn't explain the purring- Oh. Oh! How sweet! William's purring! He must have fallen asleep to.

No wonder, I mean, what else is there to do in a guidance counselors office?

Oh. Damn. I just remembered why I'm in here.

Double damn.

I shift slightly and put my hand to his face, slowly tracing the valleys and lines. He has such defined cheek-bones.

I sigh and close my eyes again, still mapping out his face with my fingers.

"Having fun, pet?"

I open my eyes to see William smirking, though his eyes are still closed.

"Mmm. . ." I snuggle back into him and close my eyes again.

It's strange how you can feel completely safe and loved with someone you barely know, yet a basket case with one of your oldest friends.

Maybe life's just strange.

Hell, who am I kidding? Life's one of the weirdest things in the entire universe!

"How did we get away with sleeping in the guidance office during school hours?" I ask.

He looks down at me. "Don't know, love. In any case, you seemed like you needed it."

I smile and nod.

Suddenly, the door creaks open and a dark-blonde haired girl pops in.

"Oh, umm, you're awake. I guess I should tell Willow, she'll want to see you. . ."

She walks back out of the room and I can hear her talking to the red-head.

"I feel better now," I say to William, "I guess talking helped a little bit. . ."

I trail off as I realize I still haven't told him what I was in here for. And he hasn't pressed.

He seems to realize what I'm thinking about.

"Don't worry about it, Liz. You can tell me when you're ready."

I smile as Willow walks back into the room.

"Well, are you feeling a little better?"

I give her a sad smile and nod. "A little."

"I'm glad. Well, I'm not sure how you want to do this, but you woke up just in time to go to lunch. If you don't want to go back out there right now I'll understand, I can write both of you a pass to stay here for the rest of the day, I'll just have to get the work you would be doing in class from your teachers. I don't have any other appointments so far today, so. . . Just for today, of course. You can't hide from this forever."

I smile and thank her, saying that we would go to the cafeteria.

"Good. I'll write you a pass. Tara? Sweetie? Can you get me two hall passes?"

William and I exchange confused glances. Sweetie?

Willow picks up on the look and gives us a sheepish look.

"Umm. . . Did I mention I'm a lesbian?"

William and I both shake our heads no with wide eyes.

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I walk towards my lunch table, William trailing along beside me.

"Hey, Cordy, this is William. I met him earlier today."

Cordy looks up at him. Her face justs screams, 'Hello, salty goodness!'

I don't like that.

I sit down and beckon for William to do the same.

"Hey, ducks." He says to Cordy.

She looks up at him with a flirty smile. "Hello. And why haven't I seen you around here before?"

He smiles back. "I've been with Li-Buffy all day."

Oooh, score one for the hot guy.

"That's our Buffy, alright. Never one to share."

She turns to me and says, "Buffy, do you mind if I speak to you in the restroom a moment?"

I nod and follow.

When we get there, Cordy turns to me with an inquisitive look on her face.

"Alright, spill. First, you run out of Language Arts class sobbing, and then you come back with a major babe! What have you been doing all day?"

I smile. "William's been really nice to me today. I- He's just a really great person."

I start to blush, which, unfortunatly, Cordy picks up on.

"Ohhh, so you like him." She says.

"Yah, like I said, he's a really nice person."

"No, I mean, you like him in the 'I swear if that guy isn't inside of me within 5 minutes I'm going to scream' way."

If possible, my blush deepens.

"Don't worry, Buff, he's all yours. I've got my own boy toy to play with."

With that, she walks back into the cafeteria.

I look in the mirror again. I seem to do that a lot these days. And it never comes without bad consequences.

I look, if possible, worse than I did earlier, courtesy of falling asleep in the guidance office and blushing my brain out. This reminds me, yet again, of why I was in the guidance office in the first place. It seems that whenever I get really happy, I always remember that night.

. . .

"You were great. Really. I thought you were a pro."

"Oh, god no. What have you done?"

. . .

I'm falling, spiralling out of control, I just can't stop, I-

. . .
"You sick, sadistic bast-"

* Slap *

"I don't appreciate the name calling, lover."

. . .

Tainted, used, dirty, impure, slut. . .

* Shatter *

Blood seeps from my torn knuckles, the glass lies broken on the floor, but I can't seem to register it all. The pain drives me to a place where I wasn't-

It's calm here. . .

I slowly melt like a puddle to the floor and wrap up inside myself again, rocking back and forth, back and forth. . .

I can vaguely here a male british voice, someone shouting to get the nurse, an arm wrapped around me, calling to me. . .

But I don't want to go back.

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A/N: Hmm. . . What shall happen? Review and find out. But do remember what I said: I am a firm believer in happy endings. SWAK,

Andi