Bending of wills
Willow's Stand
A/N do not worry, Parker shall get everything he deserves. Remember
the first rule of karma: everything comes back three fold.
my hand at winter hiking again so if I don’t freeze to death again I shall update
as I can.
sat quietly during the ride home. She couldn’t believe that her parents were
acting so unreasonable although, to tell the truth, it was quite shocking that
they even cared. Most of the time, she felt as if they didn’t even remember
that she existed. All that seemed to matter to them was their own travels and
studies.
She pondered what her next move was going to be. While her
parents did catch her off guard at the hospital, she was quickly regaining her
mental footing. She was still secretly hoping that she could reason with them
and that a little time and distance from the situation would mellow them out. If
not, she was going to have to seriously plan what her next move was going to
be.
Mentally groaning, she realized that she had ridden with
Xander to the hospital. As much as she wanted her car back, she did not think
this would be an ideal time to mention her transportation problem to the
parents. She would just have to wait till later on and ask Xander to take her
to pick it up.
The car was deathly silent on the entire drive home. The tension
was so thick you could almost choke on it.
breathed out in relief as they pulled up into her driveway. She thought she was
home free, but as she reached for the car door to let herself out, her father’s
voice stopped her in her track.
“I know you must think that we are being unreasonable,” her
father said sadly. “You think we are being unduly hard and that we have no idea
of what really went on tonight. You think that we are forgetting that Buffy is
the victim here, and we are overreacting.”
Her father’s face softened for the briefest of moments
before he continued, “But let me tell you this: you were lucky, so very lucky.
I know that you guys are close, that’s what makes this so difficult… for both
of us. But, Buffy obviously has some
serious issues to work through. If you
stay with her, then she will end up dragging you down with her.
“Now, I know you are eighteen and are legally an adult, but
I will not just sit back and watch you get hurt because of your friendship with
Buffy.” Mr. Rosenberg ran his fingers through his hair and paused as if trying
to collect his thoughts. After taking a deep breath, he kept staring straight
ahead, afraid to look at his daughter.
“That could have been you,” he said, his voice just starting
to crack, “and we never would have known.” With that, he opened his door and
walked into the house.
“He is just trying to protect you,” her mother whispered, “You
will understand one day.”
had to stop herself from screaming.
There was so much she wanted… no, needed to say, but she didn’t want to
mess it up by getting into another fight.
She took a deep, calming breath before speaking.
“I know that you both mean well, and I am sure that one day
I will be able to forgive you;” Willow began, proud of herself for being able
to speak so sensibly, “but right now I need you to understand one thing. My
best friend was brutally raped, disowned by her family, left broken and homeless,
and, on top of all that, abandoned by her friends. Pardon me if I do not thank
you right now.”
felt her temper rise again, but squelched it as well as she could. She just had
to get the words out. “In fact, I was going to wait to do this, but I might as
well say what I need to say now. I will
be looking for new living arrangements. I will abide by your rules until I make
plans. I will not see or speak to Buffy while I am still living in your house,
but I will be leaving. I hope we can part with each of us respecting each other’s
opinions and decisions.” She held her breath while she waited for her mother’s
response. She did not have to wait long.
“Well, if that is how you feel, then we will not stop you. I
just hope you are not going to regret this.” Her mom then climbed out of the car
and slowly made her way to the front door.
heart was breaking into pieces. She never imagined anything like this would
happen, and she hated causing her parents such pain. Quickly jumping out of the
car, she called out to her mother, her voice horse and frightened, “Mom!”
Her mom quickly turned around and faced her only daughter,
hope shining in her eyes
“I am sorry that everything ended this way. I do love you
and dad. I am sorry it has to be like this.”
Nodding her head, her mother turned back around and
continued up the path.
managed to remain standing until her mom was out of sight. As soon as her mom was
in the house, her legs gave out and she collapsed on the floor. She had no idea
how this would work out, but she knew it would. It had to. She had faith that
she was doing the right thing.