The Shy Librarian

Chapter 20


Buffy walked home from high school with her friend the day had worn on her already red raw nerves. She had hardly been aware of the lessons in class; her mind had been fully on William. Had she done the right thing? Maybe she should have told William what had occurred with his mother and cousin, maybe there were a lot of things she should have come clean about…

“Buffy?”

“Yeah Willow,”

“We’re home, you’ve been standing on the porch for five full minutes now,”

“Sorry, kinda had my mind on other things at the moment,” Buffy sighed and sucked in a painful breath.

“Buffy,”

“Mmm,”

“Have you ever considered that you should have asked William his view on the matter?”

“Ever since I said those horrible things to him…you should have seen his eyes,” said Buffy sadly.

“I don’t know him that well Buffy, but what I have seen of him, money is the last thing on his mind when he looks at you,”

“I’m wrong aren’t I?” asked Buffy.

“That would be a big yes. Go find him tell him you’re sorry or whatever it takes to get him to listen to you, but most of all give him the chance to decide his future, that’s what couples do Buffy talk to each other,”

“What if I have fucked it up and he won’t speak to me?”

“That’s a chance you’re gonna have to take,”

Buffy leaned forward and kissed her friend, dumping her book bag on the floor she ran off down the street.

“Good luck girl, you are gonna need it,” sighed Willow.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

William got into the cab that was headed for Sunnydale High. Flootie had rang him earlier that afternoon, deciding it would be best if he came to collect his things after the school day had ended. His uncles car had not yet been returned from the garage, at least he could guarantee that the cab would get there without breaking down. He rubbed at his tired eyes, having lain awake for most of the night.

He mulled over the events of the previous night, there was something wrong with Buffy. She had tried to look indifferent, but looking back, he had read the pain in her eyes as she had verbally kicked him in the gut.

His mother and Drusilla had been in unusually high spirits that morning and had left early on a shopping spree. Drusilla had been her usual clinging self…

The cab pulled up at the high school, he paid his fare and got out. Walking into the near deserted building, he passed a couple of cocky looking students, who were no doubt on their way out of detention. He stopped in front of the double doors of the library, taking a deep breath before walking through them.

He looked around the empty library as little snippets of past conversations between he and Buffy came back to haunt him….

I am the only one you will ever have William

So this is the forever deal then?

Yeah it is

William slammed his fist down on the library table needing the pain to focus…he frowned as something that Drusilla had said to him this morning came back to him…

“Awww why the long face William? Has Goldilocks eaten her fill of all the porridge?” she had asked.

At the time, he had dismissed it as her usual mad ramblings, but thinking back he was sure, that Drusilla had been getting at something deeper. His mother and cousin had smirked at each other at the time, but he had been too wrapped up in thoughts of Buffy to pay it much heed. That had to be it, what if she had gone looking for him at his Uncle’s house last night. He knew what a formidable team his mother and cousin could be if they wanted.

He was going to find Buffy and now, and get the truth out of her one way or another…he turned on his heel and walked out of the high school.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Buffy stood at the door to Mr Giles’s home. She hesitated before knocking on the door.

“Just a minute…”

She breathed a sigh of relief, glad that the author of the voice was definitely male, although she knew it wasn’t William. The door swung open.

“Oh, Miss Summers, William isn’t home right now, he’s gone to the high school to pick up the remainder of his things. You know clear out his desk…er…my desk actually,”

“Okay, thanks,” said Buffy as she turned to leave.

“Wait a moment, there’s something you need to know,”

Buffy turned back to the Mr Giles.

“I’m listening,”

“I heard what went on between yourself and my sister in-law last night. I was in my room, this house has thin walls. I was going to talk to William last night when he got in, but I must have fallen asleep. I am on some rather powerful painkillers for my leg, I haven’t been awake long and I missed him again. I heard William leave, but with this leg hindering me, I was too slow to catch up with him. Never mind that, the important thing is that Grace lied to you Buffy, she can’t disinherit William. Only my brother Ethan can do that, and William can hardly bear to be in the same room as his cousin. We have suspected for some years that she is not quite all there,”

“Thanks Mr Giles,” she leaned over and kissed his cheek.

He adjusted his glasses and flushed.

“Go find him Buffy before it’s too late,” said Giles.

“I was kinda on my way to find him,” she smiled through her tears “Do you think he will forgive me? I am not so sure that I deserve to be forgiven,”

“That boy has a big heart in spite of his parentage, and when I say that I mean his…”

“Mother?” asked Buffy.

She smiled at him once more and set off in the direction of the high school.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

William gazed into the window of Buffy’s home. He had knocked on the door several times, and had received no answer. He sat down on the porch steps. He would sit here until hell froze over to talk to her if that is what it took.

He leant his head against one of the wooden posts and closed his eyes for a moment…

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ethan sighed tiredly, glad that his journey was almost over. He flagged down a cab and gave his brother’s address to the driver. Grace was in for a rude awakening when he caught up with her. She had finally over stepped the mark in interfering in their son’s life. He was also looking forward to seeing his brother. It had been a markedly long time since they had last seen each other. The thought of talking over old times with Rupert put a smile on his face, which quickly faded as he thought of his wife.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dusk was settling over Sunnydale, Buffy put away her cell phone after ending her call to Willow. She had tried to get a hold of Angel to tell him that she couldn’t go any where with him ever again, but his phone had been switched off. Willow had promised to tell him when he turned up at her house later. She felt disheartened, unable to locate William at the high school and had wandered around the area for over an hour in case he’d showed.

Buffy walked past her road, not wanting to go to Willow’s right now. She was over the moon for her friends now that they were together; but it just served to remind her of her own problems.

She stopped at the end of her drive. Maybe she should go home for a while. Her mom always worked late on a Friday so she would have the house to herself. Buffy walked up the drive, her pace speeding up as she saw a familiar figure leaning against one of the wooden supports of the porch. William sat there, his eyes closed and his mouth slightly open. He was fast asleep, she could tell by his even breathing. She crouched down beside him and touched a brown curl that was resting on his forehead.

He stirred and opened his eyes, Buffy reared back in shock at the intensity of his look.

“Hello,” she said quietly, sitting down on the porch next to him.

He continued to regard her for several moments before answering her.

“Anything you want to tell me?” he asked

“There is many things I want to tell, you, that I should have told you from the beginning. I have been looking everywhere for you, I am so wrong. I just wanted to tell you that,” sighed Buffy.

“How about we start with when you met my mother?”

Her eyes widened.

“You know about that?”

“Not directly, but you just confirmed my suspicions. Just what did my mother say to you Buffy?”

Buffy bit her lip.

“She told me that you were Richie Rich and if I wanted you to stay that way then…I had to let you go,” said Buffy quietly, studying the weathered steps of the porch. A tear ran down her cheek and splashed onto the fabric of her skirt.

“I knew it!” William stood up. “Buffy, mother can’t do a bloody thing about my money, I’m twenty-one now, ever since she arrived she has been trying to push my cousin at me. Why didn’t you ask me about it…wasn’t it my decision as well as yours? You have no idea what you have put me through these last few hours. I could wring your neck right where you stand…so all that stuff about Angel was all…”

“Lies, look William there’s something you need to know about Angel…he’s er…gay,”

“Bloody hell, his other half wouldn’t happened to be a Riley Finn would it?” he asked.

“His former yeah, why?”

“Because he tried to kiss me in the hall yesterday when I was looking for you,”

“That son of a bitch,” Buffy clenched her fists.

“I don’t want to talk about them. Where we go from here is what is important. I can’t believe you didn’t trust in me, in us, enough to come to me with this,”

“Sorry, I know it sounds lame, but that’s all I can say…do you think you can forgive me? You kept things from me too about your money,” she sighed.

“Buffy when I was with you all I could think about was you. I didn’t like talking about my life back in England because it wasn’t a happy one. You made all the difference gave me the hope of a better future. You know even if my mother could have taken away my inheritance I would not have cared. Nothing was as valuable as what we had,”

Buffy felt herself die a little inside at his word had

“I screwed up William, but when I met you I was getting over something that had turned my life upside down. Because of Riley and Angel, my life was a complete nightmare until you showed up. While we are getting things out in the open, you may as well know everything. Angel hurt me, you know that much. How I found out that my guy was no longer my guy was that I caught him getting a blowjob off his best friend in the boy’s locker rooms. The bitch of the school came in and caught me with two naked guys. She wasn’t interested in the truth…and…”

“And what?”

“Angel and Riley let everyone believe that we were interrupted in the middle of a threesome,”

“Oh God, why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Probably for the same reasons you didn’t want to share, it wasn’t a happy tale,”

She got up from the steps to look at him with her tearstained face. Something inside him broke at her distress; he pulled her into his arms and breathed in the scent of her hair.

“Her unkindness may defeat my life, but never taint my heart,” he whispered softly in her ear.

Buffy sobbed out her relief on his shoulder

“I love you William…for always,”

He lifted her face to meet his eyes, before bending his head and gently touching his lips to hers in a soul searching kiss that burned through her, right to the tips of her toes. Suddenly he broke the kiss, took her by the hand, and began to pull her along with him.

“Where are we going?” she asked, still slightly dazed by his kisses.

“To put my mother straight once and for all,”

“Oh,”

“You’re not scared are you?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Not any more,” she smiled.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ethan sat in his brother’s lounge on a comfortable worn armchair. He wiped away the tears as Rupert regaled him with tales of their misspent youth.

“They were as they say the good old days weren’t they?” laughed Ethan.

“I thought I was seeing things when I saw you standing on my doorstep,”

“It was rather a spur of the moment thing on my part. You know that Grace is trying to arrange a wedding between Drusilla and William?” asked Ethan.

“Hmmm, but there’s more to it. William is in love, but don’t look so alarmed it’s not with Dru,” Rupert reassured him.

“Thank God, you almost gave me a heart attack there. So who is the lucky girl?” asked Ethan.

“Well hopefully it’s Buffy Summers, a very nice girl by all accounts. Most importantly she loves him in spite of…”

“Grace?” interrupted Ethan.

Both men starting laughing again, Rupert leaned over and refilled his brother’s whiskey glass. Their laughter faded as they heard the front door open and the unmistakeable sound of Ethan’s wife.

“Time to pay the piper old man, want reinforcements?” asked Rupert sympathetically.

“No this is something I have to sort out on my own brother,” sighed Ethan heavily.

TBC

A/N Sorry that you found the last chapter too upsetting to continue reading Kimber, but if you are not reading it you won’t see this anyway.

A/N 2. The words that William used… “Her unkindness may defeat my life, but never taint my heart” is a quote from Shakespeare’s Othello and the actual quote is “His unkindness may defeat my life, but never taint my heart”