Feels Like Heaven, Hurts Like Hell,
Chapter 2, Crossing Time
Buffy slowly opened her eyes and looked around the dimly lit room.
"Aw, you're awake." Buffy looked over to see a thin old woman sitting a chair next to the bed she was laying in. The woman was wearing a pale greed dress and had her blond hair done up in a bun.
"Where am I?" Buffy asked, sitting up slowly and raising her hand to her head.
"You're at the Westing estate, my dear." Buffy looked over at her and knitted her eyebrows together in confusion, much like Spike. The woman laughed. "I'm sorry I shouldn't laugh, it's just… You reminded me of my son when you did that." Buffy looked around the room taking in her surroundings. "What's your name child?" The woman asked. Buffy thought about it a moment and then looked back at the woman.
"Elizabeth." She said. The woman put down her needle point on the dresser next to the bed and walked over to a large breakfront. She opened the doors and pulled out a pale blue dress and handed it to Buffy.
"My name is Anne Weston." She said, laying the dress on the bed. "My son, William, had found you past out on the street in front of the house and brought you in from the cold." She said. 'William' Buffy thought. 'Why does that sound familiar… I don't know anyone named William… except…'
"What's the date?" Buffy asked, trying not to sound to rude. Anne looked at her for a moment before smiling.
"Why its July 19, 1880." Anne pulled back the covers that were on Buffy and helped her out of bed. Buffy looked down at herself, expecting to find her red pants and white shirt, but she wasn't wearing them. She was wearing a thin white spaghetti strap silk dress that went down to her knees. "Come now, we have to get you dressed." Anne went to pick up the dress but stopped and leaned on the end on the bed and began coughing. Anne pulled out a handkerchief and put it to her mouth. When she had ceased coughing she brought the handkerchief away and Buffy saw a spot of blood on it.
"Are you ok." Buffy asked. Anne put her hand to her chest.
"Oh, I'm quite fine dear, just a bit of a chest cold." She said and placed the handkerchief back into the apron that was tied around her waist. She picked up the dress and handed it to Buffy indicating for her to put it on. "The dress you were wearing is in the closet, but William had gone out this morning and bought this for you. He's quite the generous young man." She said, "I'll be back in a few minutes." Anne said as she walked out the door. 'Ok, generous… then it's not Spike…' Buffy looked down at the dress and began putting it on. It took Buffy only a few minutes to put the dress on, it was easier than the Halloween costume she had bought from Ethan Reign that year and was much more comfortable. To Buffy's surprise the dress fit like a glove. How this strange man could have know her measurements was beyond her, but she was grateful for the gift. She had taken a history course about the 1800's and knew that things didn't come cheep. A few moments later there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." Buffy said, and turned towards the door. Anne came in and gasped.
"You look lovely." She said, putting her hand to her chest.
"Thank you." Buffy said. Anne took Buffy's arm and led her out of the room.
"Come, you must meet William." She said. "He's been worried about you. I've had to lock him in the drawing room just to keep him from coming in her while you were asleep." Buffy laughed at the woman's bubbly personality. Anne led Buffy into a small room that was dimly lit from the raising sun outside. Buffy looked around to see a man sitting at a table hunched over a piece of paper on the desk in front of him. "William," Anne said happily. William looked up from the paper and immediately stood up. "This is Mrs…" Anne looked at Buffy, realizing that she had not caught the girl's last name.
"Summers." Buffy said happily. William walked up to the two women and smiled down at Buffy. Buffy looked at his face and gasped. 'It is Spike.'
"Hello Mrs. Summers." He said, taking her hand and placing a kiss on her knuckles. "I'm Westing, William Westing." Buffy laughed slightly. 'Sounds like James Bond or something.' William stood up straight and smiled. "I'm glad to see you are do well Mrs. Summers."
"Please, call me… Elizabeth." She said almost saying 'Buffy'.
"Very well… Elizabeth." He said. Anne smiled and, to her distress, began coughing again. William looked at her and immediately poured her a cup of water. "Are you alright?" He asked, helping her to sit down. "Should I fetch Dr. Gull?" Anne shook her head and took a sip of the water.
"Oh, no… It's passed." Buffy looked at Anne and then at William. This was all to strange. "Now… William, why don't you take Elizabeth into the kitchen and make her something to eat. She must be starving." Anne said. William nodded.
"Of course." He walked up to Buffy and offered her his arm. She entwined her arm with his like she had seen done so many times in the movies and was lead out of the drawing room and into what seemed to be a dining area. "What would you like Mrs… er… Elizabeth." William asked, pulling out a chair for her. Buffy sat down, feeling a bit awkward.
"Anything is fine thank you." William nodded and left the room. A few moments later Buffy got up and began exploring the room. She walked over to a book self and started sifting through the books. About ten minutes later William came back in and saw that she was no longer sitting down. Buffy looked over and laughed as he tried to balance two plates on one hand and two glasses in the other. Buffy came over to him and took the glasses and put them on the table.
"You didn't have to do that, I could have done it for you." William said, putting the plates of food on the table and pulling out the chair for her again. "It's not proper for a guest to have to do any work." He said. Buffy sat down and he sat in the chair at the head of the table, which was pretty much next to her and smiled.
"Don't look at it as work then… Look at it as a bit of help to someone who needed it. And if you don't want to look at it that way, then I'm starting to repay my debt to the gratitude you have shown me." She said smiling. William smiled shyly and looked down at his plate and began picking at his eggs with his fork.
"Your not in debt to me." Buffy looked at him.
"Of course I am. With all that you have done for me… I don't know what I would have done if I had woken up in that street. I don't even know where I am." She said.
"You're in London." He said. She nodded.
"I figured that, from your accent." She said, "I'm from America. I don't even know how I got here." She said, stabbing lightly at her eggs.
"Well, you're free to stay here as long as you like." Buffy smiled.
"Won't that affect your social status?" Buffy asked. "Having some strange American girl living with you." William thought about it a moment.
"I have a social status?" He asked, jokingly. Buffy laughed. "No, it's ok." They sat in silence for the rest of the meal and William picked up the dishes afterwards and took them into the kitchen to wash them. William set the dishes in the water and began washing them.
"Don't people usually have like… maids and things like that to do the dishes?" Buffy asked. William jumped and dropped one of the plates on his foot. Luckily it didn't break, but William's foot hurt like a bugger. William's face contorted in pain as he slipped on some water and fell back. He sat up and grabbed his foot, trying to rub the pain out of it. Buffy ran up and knelt in front of him and swatted his hands away from his foot and began rubbing it herself.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Is that better?" She asked. She looked up at him to see him staring down at her.
