Hey, sorry about the long wait! This chapter gave me some trouble and thanks to everyone for their wonderful reviews and comments, I really appreciate them!- Oh and to answer a question, yeah William/Spike is six too.
Liam was eager that night when Buffy told him someone would be coming to play. As much as he liked all of the adults and the attention they gave him he had missed the company of other children. He missed Tommy and Seamus and the others he was used to playing with. Buffy explained that an English boy named William would be coming over the next day and that sounded okay although he did not know what sorts of games English boys played.
The next morning he waited anxiously and when Giles finally arrived with William he sized him up. The boy in questioned was small and looked rather anxious. From his position on the stairs he caught the boy's eye, making the boy look curiously up at him.
Buffy greeted them and then motioned Liam to come down. "This is William. I told you about him. William, this is Liam."
They stood for a moment looking at each other before William held out his hand and Liam shook it. It was very formal and Buffy had to repress a laugh. "Why don't you two go out back and play? Get to know each other."
They did as they were told, each still sizing the the other up. "So are you from London?" Liam asked once they were alone.
"Yes. . . do you live here?"
"I think for now. . ."
"It's all very strange. I recently moved here too."
"From London?"
"Yes but I'm not sure how though."
Liam hung his head mournfully. "I've got a curse on me." He said. "It doesn't hurt but I'm sure it can't be good."
"I'm sorry." William said. "If it makes you feel any better, I do to. I'm supposed to be grown up only I don't remember ever being a grown up."
Liam blinked. "I have the same curse! Did a witch do it to you?"
William nodded. "She got you too?"
Liam nodded tragically. "She must have got us both. Maybe we know each other when we grown."
"I can't remember anything. . . I mean I remember home but I don't remember you. Do you think we're friends?"
"Maybe. We'll have to ask Buffy maybe she knows. She told me about myself when I'm grown. Maybe she knows you too."
William considered this. Learning about what he was like as an adult could be very useful. He hoped he was someone impressive. They set off walking around the yard. "What did Buffy say you were like as an adult?"
Liam smiled slightly. "She said I'm very good looking!" He said proudly.
"Oh I hope I am too! Maybe I'm married! Wouldn't that be funny?"
Liam laughed. "You could have a wife!" He laughed and then stopped suddenly. "I could have a wife!"
This time they both stopped and stood silently, horrified by the idea. "What if we have kids?!" Liam cried.
"What if we're younger than them?!" William said.
"Buffy would have told me!" Liam said, shaking his head seriously. "I don't have children!"
"Do you think she would have told me?"
"Of course but I bet I've got a girl who likes me. Buffy said I was vey good looking."
"Do you think I do?"
"I dunno. Maybe."
"It's all so confusing. I miss my mummy. . ."
Liam glanced at him. He missed his mother too and hearing the other boy say it didn't make him feel better. In truth it annoyed him and he frowned. "Do you want to play something?" He asked, trying to distract himself.
William sniffed and nodded. The sniff was not lost on Liam and he wondered if he was dealing with a cry baby. He contemplated this as he went to fetch a ball but when he returned William was fine and seemed far from tears.
They kicked the ball back and forth for a while and talked a bit. They agreed that this town and place were far different from anything they had ever seen before. Liam considered telling him about the monster from the city but didn't. He didn't know if he would believe him. The memory of the monster flashed through his head and he shivered a little. Whatever it had been was truely terrifying. He kicked the ball a little harder than he meant to and William let out a grunt as the ball hit him in the stomach.
"Ow! Why'd you do that!" He cried.
Liam blinked and shrugged. "Sorry." He muttered, head still filled with the image of the monster. As scared of it as he had been he was curious too.
William rubbed his stomach and sat down. In truth he wasn't a very active child. He didn't particularly like the other children on his street and much preferred to stay in doors with his mother and read or play quietly. "What's wrong?" He asked.
Liam hesitated. "I. . . I was thinking about something."
William looked up curiously. "Like what?"
Again, Liam hesitated. "I've seen a monster. . ." He said quietly.
William's eyes widened. "A bad one?" He asked.
Liam nodded. "It tried to kill me."
"Does it live here?" William asked, thinking about the place he had woken up in. But Liam shook his head.
"I was in a big city. Maybe they live there."
"You think there's more than one?"
The idea wasn't fun but Liam shrugged. "I don't know. . ."
"There are never monsters at home." William said mournfully. "I wish I was home. I mis my mummy. . ."
Liam glanced at him, he sounded on the verge of tears. "You're not gonna cry are you?" He asked, hoping the answer would be no.
William looked up at him from the ground and the tears that were in his eyes disappeared. Instead he looked offended. "No!" He snapped, sniffing. He didn't want to cry in front of anyone. An adult was one thing but not another boy. Boys made fun of you when you cried.
Liam made a face, not believing him. He was beginning to think that William was kind of a baby. He had almost gone to tears twice now and he wasn't sure he was going to like this boy.
"I'm not!" This time he sounded more angry than tearful but Liam didn't believe him.
"I was just askin'." He muttered.
"You're making fun of me. . ." William said grumpily.
"I'm not! You're just getting your feelings hurt over nothing!"
William looked indignant. "I am not!"
"Yes you are and you're getting mad now!"
"I'm not." William had gotten to his feet and was angry. The truth was he cried a lot but he couldn't help it and he did miss his mother very much. "I'm not crying."
Liam made a face, finding William's reaction annoying. "I just said you were mad, not crying!"
William glared at him. "It's just scary. There are monsters here and there were never monsters at home. I just want to go home."
Liam scowled, again being forced to think of his own home and his own mother. "Well you can't. You've got a curse on you."
"You don't have be mean about it."
Liam frowned. "I'm not being mean!" He said loudly.
William wiped his eyes belligerently. "Yes you are! I'm not crying!" He shoved Liam who immediately shoved back. All tears forsaken the two of them began to fight, shoving back and forth and wrestling once they hit the ground..
From inside the house Buffy heard them yelling and rushed to the back door in time to see the two boys knock each other to the ground. "Stop it!" She yelled.
The two boys broke apart and looked up at her from the ground. "What are you doing?!" She cried.
"He started it!" Liam muttered, getting to his feet.
"I didn't!" William cried.
She closed her eyes and sighed. "Liam, inside stairs. William, outside stairs. Sit."
"But-!" They both tried.
She shook her head. "Nope. Quiet and sit. You can get up in fifteen minutes."
Not knowing what else to do Liam trudged inside and William sat down quickly, not accustomed to being in trouble. Once Liam was inside she looked down at William. "Did you start it?" She asked.
She shook his head. "He was being mean. He was making fun of me."
"Who hit first?"
William shut his mouth and looked down. "I've never hit anyone before. I promise. He just made me mad."
"You can't hit people, even when they're mean." She didn't know what to think. Spike was a child and he obviously wasn't a vampire but maybe he had the same disposition as a child. She thought that but some how it didn't seem the case. He looked miserable now and she was stumped. She didn't want to think Liam had been picking on him. . . and honestly she had no experience diciplining a child before. She didn't know what to do or how to handle the situation and her mother was at work. She couldn't ask her to handle it. She sighed. "Even if he said something really mean you shouldn't hit him."
"I'm sorry." The boy said softly.
She softened. "Alright, I'm gonna go in and talk to Liam. Then I'm gonna make lunch and when that's ready you can get up. Okay?"
He nodded meekly. "Okay."
She sighed and went to find Liam who was sitting on the stairs grumpily. "He said you were being mean." She said.
"I wasn't. He was being a baby and anyway, he hit first."
"Well he felt you were being mean and I've already talked to him about hitting. I think maybe you two should apologize to each other."
"But-!"
"Look, I'm going to go make lunch so you need to stay here. I'll call for you when I'm done."
Buffy returned to the kitchen not at all confident in her ability to handle children. This was turning out a lot more stressful than she had anticipated. Liam by himself was apparently one thing but two kids was more than she could handle. Then again. . . maybe it was just these two kids. She tried to think about what she would do with them for the rest of the day but nothing came to her. In the end she called them both into the kitchen for macaroni.
Both boys approached each other cautiously before taking their bowls into the living room and sitting down on the floor in front of the couch. They ate silently for a while before Liam cleared his throat surreptitiously. "Do you want to watch some cartoons?" He asked carefully.
William, who was sitting next to him glanced over. "Yes." He said quietly.
Liam rose and crawled over to the tv to turn it on. He knew how to do that now and he found a show he had watched earlier and liked. "Have you seen this one?" He asked.
William nodded as the Duck Tales theme played. "Only once. I like the red duck." He said.
"I like him too."
They sat and ate in silence, watching the show peacefully.
From in the kitchen Buffy let out a sigh of relief, she watched them from the doorway and felt her heart lighten. Spike and Angel were behaving.
A while after that she checked on them again but they were still sitting in front of the tv, occasionally making comments on whatever cartoon was being shown. She snapped a picture on her camera.
Willow showed up a little while later and peered interestedly at Spike. "I never imagined he would look so cute." She said, smiling widely.
Buffy looked at little William and couldn't bring herself to deny that he was cute. "He's a hand full but a cute one. He and Liam got in a fight earlier. I don't know what about though. I'm gonna ask him tonight."
"Where's Spike staying?" Willow asked, still watching the boys who were now passing a bowl of popcorn back and forth wordlessly.
"Giles. After today I think it might be best. I don't think the two of them should spend too much time together."
"Too bad. It would have been pretty great if they'd been friends."
Out in the living room Liam and William were staring transfixedly at the television. "Who's that?" William asked, interrupting their concentration as Willow passed to the kitchen.
"That's Willow." Liam said, breaking his eyes away from the screen. "She's Buffy's friend and she's super nice."
"I've only met three people since I got here."
"O've met a bunch but I've been here longer than you. You'll probably meet them too. Xander has really great stories and Anya is really funny. She says strange things."
"What kind?"
Liam shrugged. "A bit hard to explain. She talks about money a lot."
William smiled. "This place is really different."
Liam nodded. "You know, I was thinking. . . we've both got a spell on us and I woke up in a really creepy place. I wonder if the witch had me there."
"Was she there at all?"
"I didn't see her. Buffy asked me if there was a man but I don't see him either. Maybe a wizard cursed us!"
Liam nodded seriously. "You might have found his lair! But if Buffy knows about it then I bet he's been run off. Maybe there's a clue there.
William swallowed. "Do you think we should go back?"
"Yeah, you should look around. Maybe we could find a spell book."
"But it's awfully scary. There were bones on the ground and what if he's still there!"
"He wouldn't be and anyway, even if he was, maybe we could convince him to turn us back!"
William considered this. "I don't know if I want to be a grown up. I don't know anything about me aas an adult. I like who I am now."
Liam paused, he hadn't thought about this. Being grown up again. . . it didn't really mean anything to him. He didn't even really understand it, the idea was too fanciful. In fact, the idea of it hadn't even occurred to him before. He knew Buffy and the others wanted him to be grown again and so far the idea had just seemed natural. William just wanting to be himself and that made him think now. Being grown might change things but he didn't know how. What if it was really different? He sat for a long moment but no clarity came to him. Just the same he wanted to see the place William had told him about."
"You're staying with Mr. Giles, right?" He asked carefully. William nodded. "Alright, then we're going tonight. I'll show up at his place. I think I remember the way. You'll have to help me get to the cemetery."
William didn't think he liked this idea. "Do we have to go at night?"
"Somebody will notice if we leave during the day."
"But it'll be dark. . ."
"Don't be a baby! There'll be two of us."
William continued to frown but then nodded, he had a good point and if he was honest he was kind of curious too.
I'm not completely thrilled with this chapter, I wanted them to both be at fault for the fight and since they antagonize each other as adults I thought they might do so as kids as well. Oh well, it'll get better. Like I said, this chapter gave me some trouble.
Thanks for reading!
