The next few weeks flew by for Buffy and William. They were getting closer, despite both of their attempts to keep some distance. They both knew that being anything but friends would be a mistake, but neither could deny there was an intimate attraction. Neither voiced these ideas, but each wondered if the other thought them as well.

They were both deep into playing it cool and nonchalant. They didn't dig into the other's past or private life too much. They accepted what was volunteered, but never pried. Buffy, especially, could tell that William's past was something he wasn't really excited to talk about. She would lob little questions at him, small probes to feel him out a bit. Just enough to get a sense of him, but never too much to be nosy. For his part, William would casually open up topics that he knew would lead to Buffy talking about herself. He consumed each tidbit of information and filed it away in his head. After their patrols, he would try to mentally construct her in his head, putting all the things he learned in place with the things he knew from previous conversations. He was wholly impressed with the woman that was being created in his mind.

At least once a week, sometimes more, William offered to patrol alone. Though she rarely accepted, Buffy appreciated the mini-breaks when she did indulge. She knew that William preferred to patrol with her, mostly because when she offered to give him a day off, he refused. One afternoon she decided she needed to show her appreciation, show her thanks in some way.

"What about a nice gift basket? Ya know, some little cheeses, crackers, and a couple bottles of blood?" Dawn offered helpfully.

Buffy rolled her eyes, but kept it for consideration nonetheless. She was really stumped as to what she could do for him. For all the things she was slowly learning about him, he was still hard to gauge when it came to these things.

"Oh!" Willow jumped up from the couch. "You could invite him over for dinner. You know, with all of us, not a ' you and him alone' kind of dinner."

Dawn's eyes got wide. "Yeah! And then we could finally meet the mysterious guy that you spend more time with than your own family."

Buffy frowned. "That's not true, Dawnie. I only spend a few hours a night with him. And it's not even 'with him'. It's patrolling."

Tara smiled. "Well, I may be the only one that noticed, but your patrols have gotten longer and longer since William's been around."

Willow nodded. "Yeah, they used to be, like, two hours, tops. Now two hours is a short patrol....."

Dawn chimed in, "You gotta admit, with two people patrolling, it would seem like it would only take half the time, not double.....but strange phenomena abound on the Hellmouth."

"Ok, guys, I got it. I spend a lot of time.....patrolling." Buffy shook her head.

Dawn sighed. "No, you don't get it. We don't care how much time you spend patrolling. We just think it's about time we meet this guy that you're patrolling with."

Buffy looked over at Willow and Tara, their nods confirming Dawn's assertion. "Ok.....maybe tonight I'll see if he'd be interested in coming over for dinner before patrol sometime. But no promises. He's kind of a shy guy, I'm not sure he'll be psyched to meet the Scooby gang."

"Oh! That reminds me, we should invite Xander and Anya. I know they'll want to meet him," Willow said.

"Sure, cuz Xander was so excited to find out there was another souled vampire in my life," Buffy scoffed.

"Hey, give him a little credit. He took it better than we thought he would. He didn't say anything bad about him," Dawn offered.

Buffy quirked her eyebrow. "No, but that little vein that nearly burst in his forehead spoke volumes. I'm just glad Giles is back in England. He would have a coronary."

"You're going to keep this from Giles?" Tara asked.

"What's there to keep? I just have a patrolling buddy. And if Giles cared that much about my day to day Slayer activities, he'd be here, wouldn't he?" Buffy left abruptly and went into the kitchen.

Dawn shook her head. "Oook, a little latent Giles hating going on."

Willow frowned. "Less latent, more blatant. I thought everything was cool with her and Giles."

Tara patted Willow's shoulder. "I think she's still sore that he left again for England so soon after we brought her back."

"Yeah, but it's only for a few months, so he can get some things squared away with the Council. I mean, hello, Slayer no longer dead......kind of created a ruckus with the Watchers," Willow defended.

"I know. And so does she. But it still hurts her, I think. It's kind of been a rough time for her, and then the only parent figure she has left leaves her. Even if it is temporary, she still needs him around," Tara reasoned.

Buffy came back in the room and grabbed her keys off the table. "Ok, I'm off. Don't wait up."

"I never do," Dawn offered. "I'm always afraid I'll end up hearing growly vampire sex coming from your bedroom, and I think that would just traumatize me for life," she teased.

"Ok, no more HBO for you, young lady," Buffy said in her most stern 'mother' voice as she closed the door behind her. As she walked to the cemetery, her mind couldn't help but wander. 'Hmm.....growly vampire sex......not entirely an unappealing idea......NO! No more vampire sex. Vampire sex is bad. Oh, who am I kidding, it's the best sex ever. But, no.....bad, very bad. Especially bad with William.....and those tight muscles that ripple in his back when he tosses off his duster for a big fight. And his completely biteable ass. And those chest muscles that I got up close and personal with when that Groxlar threw me into William. And it would be bad to run my fingers through his unruly curls, but, God, they look soft. And I bet he clenches his jaw when he's thrusting, just like he does when he's fighting. And it would be bad if I licked his cheekbones, because I'd probably cut myself they're so sharp. Then there would be blood in my mouth and he's a vampire and he wouldn't be able to help himself. He'd grab me and lick the blood off my tongue. And he's a guy, so he couldn't help himself but to kiss me then. And it would be rude and bad of me not to return it. So then we'd be kissing, and then I could touch his soft hair......grab his tight my hands up and down his chest and back......'

"Hello, luv."

His presence startled her, and she wondered for a moment how she had gotten to the cemetery so quickly. She shook her head. 'Definitely bad......' "Hey.....ready?"

"Always," he smiled as he stomped out his cigarette. He had kept true to his word and didn't smoke while she was around. But there was no way he could go without a smoke before. Just knowing she'd be around was enough to make butterflies that he thought had died with his human self resurface. So, he smoked like a fiend before and after patrol, but never during. No matter how fierce a fight had been and especially no matter how hot Buffy made him. He was learning to find other ways of calming himself around her, though few with much success.

"1907," Buffy said, taking him a bit off-guard.

"Huh? Oh.....uh.....1907......1907.....Spain."

"1883."

"1883......we were.......wait, I know this......1883, not long after I got turned, um......" William stopped walking and closed his eyes in thought.

"Time's up! Awwww......I win......Ok.....What was your favorite food when you were alive?"

William frowned. "Hey, I contest. Not fair, I'm an old man, you can't possibly expect me to remember where I was in 1883."

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "But I bet you remember your favorite food from way before that."

William sighed and shook his head. He couldn't help smiling a bit at her. "My mum made a brilliant Shepherd's pie. That'd probably be my favorite, if I had to pick."

Buffy nodded as they continued further into the cemetery. "Shepherd's pie. Isn't that like stew or something?"

William smiled, watching her out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah, something like that. Ok, Rozerab-morgel."

"Ha, too easy. Green, thick skinned demon that comes from......some other dimension. Spits mild acid that, while not too harmful to skin, is hell on cashmere."

William cocked his eyebrow and chuckled. "Ok......Orflong."

"Orflong......oh yeah, they.....oh, hold on," Buffy gestured behind William. As he turned to look, she was already past him, her stake ready. She dusted the fledgling quickly and turned back to William. "Anyway, Orflong's are--"

"--Oh, I'm sorry. Time's up," William tsked as he looked at his watch.

"Hey! No fair. I had a time out for killing a vamp. You can't count that."

William frowned in thought. "Actually, you said 'hold on', you didn't call a time out, so I can't in good conscience count it as a time out. Sorry, luv. Rules are rules. Anyway.....Ok, when you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?"

Buffy pouted. "I don't remember."

"Sure ya do."

She sighed. "Fine.....I wanted to be a figure skater," she mumbled.

William frowned. "What? Sorry, didn't catch that last bit."

Buffy scowled. "If there's one thing I know about vamps, it's that you have that stupid hyper-sensitive hearing. You know good and well what I said and I'm not saying it again."

William chuckled. "Fair enough, pet. Um, Balcam demon."

"Hey! It's my turn. You get two, now I get two."

William shook his head and pointed behind Buffy. "No, luv. No games. Balcam demon behind you. Make that, family of."

Buffy whipped around to see four very large, and for the most part unhappy, sharp and pointy demons heading in their direction. She looked over at William and shrugged. "You want the two on the right?"

William nodded, never taking his eyes off the group. "Sounds good."

"Um, by the way, if this were a question, I would miss it," Buffy admitted sheepishly.

William sighed. "Not from around here, their spikes are razor sharp and they have retractable spines that shoot out of their elbows. And they always attack in twos."

Buffy nodded. "Spikes, sharp, spines.....got it."

It was a pretty harsh battle, and in the middle of it William was sure he would need a smoke soon after. He was able to keep both of his demons on the defensive for the most part, using their lack of speed and tendency to lumber against them. He got nicked a few times with the spikes, but avoided any serious injury. He took a moment to check on Buffy after he had snapped the smaller demon's neck. He scanned the area, getting sight of her just as one of her demons rammed its elbow spine into her back. William and Buffy cried out simultaneously, and William's remaining demon attacked at just the wrong time, resulting in his head being torn off. William still carried the head in his hands when he reached Buffy. William shoved the demons off her with more force than he thought he possessed. He then vamped out and when the two remaining demons saw this, along with their comrade's head in his hands, they made a hasty retreat. William thought about giving chase, but instead punted the head in the direction of the fleeing demons.

He dropped to his knees beside Buffy, almost frozen with fear. He shook it off and gently rolled her onto her back. Her shirt was drenched in blood, front and back. He noticed that the demon had gotten her through the shoulder, so he hoped there wasn't much damage. But apparently there was enough blood loss and pain for Buffy to be out cold. William picked her up, unsure of what he should do. He wondered briefly if he should take her to the hospital. He dismissed that thought, knowing full well that her injuries would raise too many questions at a hospital. He also hoped that her Slayer healing would make further treatment unnecessary. But one thing was for sure, he couldn't stay out too long with her. The blood she'd lost would already be attracting vamps near and far. Nothing had a pull like Slayer blood.