Title: House Arrest 13/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon
Comments: Always welcomed!
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

Part Thirteen

The next morning a groggy William trudged down the stairs. He entered the kitchen and noticed a few full grocery bags on the counter and the coffee maker brewing. He ignored the fact that they needed to be put away. His stomach was growling and it had his full attention.

William opened the refrigerator door and grabbed some cream cheese. When he closed it he jumped back when he saw Michaels standing only a few feet away from him. William backed away and around the island and picked up a knife with a red handle.

"Whoa, whoa, settle down, slow down. I'm Fred Michaels, your neighbor…" Michaels gestured outside.

"I know. How did you…" William stopped when Joyce came through the door with more grocery bags.

Michaels looked back at Joyce. "Think I startled him."

Joyce laughed, "Oh. Will, I ran into Mr. Michaels at…"

"Fred," Michaels intervened.

Joyce smiled, "...At the grocery. I had a flat tire when I came out. We tried to change it, but …"

"Dad put those security bolts on…" William reminded her.

"And that adapter thingy that unscrews it ended up stripping it instead," Joyce continued.

"My fault," Michaels told William.

Joyce shook her head in disagreement. "No, it wasn't. You saved my life." She turned back to William. "We had it towed to Frank's."

"Gee, really lucky you were there." William said with attitude.

"Just glad I could help." Fred ignored the way William spoke. He began to talk to Joyce again. "It must be a little difficult when the man of the house is stuck in the house."

There was an awkward silence as William's eyes instinctively glanced down to the ankle bracelet.

"Oh... no, it's okay, we're managing," Joyce replied.

Michaels stepped closer to William; he bent down to get a closer look at the ankle bracelet. "I've always been curious about those things, do you mind?"

"Yeah, I do," William took a step back.

"William, be polite," Joyce scolded him. "I'm sorry about that, Fred."

Michaels shook his head and took no offense, "No, no. It's none of my business."

"Damn right." William cursed and glared at Michaels.

Michaels brought his hands up and looked innocent. "Whoa, hey, dude... you seem like a straight hitter. You ask me, whoever they are deserved it."

"I popped my Spanish teacher." William told Michaels trying to sound menacing.

"Shoot, the milk's still in the car," Joyce said before she ducked out of the house clearly embarrassed.

Michaels turned to William. An awkward silence between them. "So when you say you 'popped' your teacher…" Michaels started and looked intrigued.

"I punched him in the face," William replied though he still wished he had done more.

Michaels let out a chuckle. "Phew, just making sure I wasn't living next to some psycho killer. Listen, I get it though. I had plenty of teachers I wanted to just... kill." He quickly adjusted his tone when Joyce came back in with the last grocery bag. "But no matter how hard it is to hold back, the high road is always the better choice."

"Fred, would you like to stay for coffee? It's the least I could do after you helped me after all," Joyce invited and ignored William's protest.

With a glance to William, Michaels smiled. "Sure, I'd love to."

William let out an annoyed huff and left to go back to his room. He paused when Michaels spoke again. "It was nice finally meeting you." William's appetite had disappeared.