ONE NORMAL LIFE / TWO EXTRAORDINARY LIVES
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BtVS AU/AR › Het - Male/Female › Buffy/Spike(William)
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Adult ++
Chapters:
210
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11,386
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Category:
BtVS AU/AR › Het - Male/Female › Buffy/Spike(William)
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
210
Views:
11,386
Reviews:
182
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
JULIAN
CHAPTER 85 - JULIAN
The traffic was lighter now, as sunset approached. Buffy got off the 405 and took Hgyw. 5 along the coast.
"We'll see the ocean soon," Buffy said, half an hour later, as they soon veered southwest on Hgwy. 5.
William's arm rested lightly around the back of her seat. Other than that, they rode along in silence, each both afraid and excited to be finally on the last leg of their physical journey toward home.
"Really?" he asked, excitedly.
"Yeah, really," she said, "I can smell it already."
He sniffed, "Me, too. Is that it?" he asked as his nose detected the slight smell of saltiness and fish.
She nodded. There was nothing like being near the ocean.
As they neared it, Buffy gave William a quick history lesson of the Mission and the Swallows of San Juan Capistrano.
"...and every year on the exact same day, March 19th, the swallows finish their 15,000 mile trip from Goya, Argentina."
"Amazing," William said, appreciatively, "have you ever been here to see it?"
"No, I never have, but tell you what, we'll come see them next March, okay?" she asked, smiling as she enjoyed the fantasy of having him along to do the things that she never got to enjoy before, having him to share things with.
He nodded.
"Would you like to stop and watch the sunset?" she asked him.
He nodded enthusiastically.
Now that they were really back, there was nothing more than she wanted than to get up to the house, but she couldn't deny him seeing the ocean for the first time. With her.
They walked out to the shore, arms around each other, and sat down on a blanket she'd grabbed from the trunk.
He sat in back of her, wrapping his arms around her. She sighed and leaning back against him.
He looked at the yellow orb, as it got lower and lower in the sky, turning slightly orange as it went down lower toward the horizon.
"Beautiful," he said.
"Beautiful," she echoed, as she played with his hands as they hugged her tight.
"I wasn't talking about the sunset," he said, as he looked at her golden hair blowing back against his chest.
"Neither was I," she said, and turning herself, found his mouth and kissed it.
William kissed her back, all of the yearnings of his heart, his love, and his hopes in his kiss, in his passion for her.
Buffy sighed, contentedly and curled her legs up against his, turning sideways between his lap, to better let hersee hee held.
They sat this way until the sun had gone below the horizon and past.
"Guess we should be going. It's still a bit of a drive."
"Of course," he said, pulling her up to her feet, then gathering the blanket for her.
"We'll come back some evening. Heck, lots of evenings! Days, too," she said, happily dreaming of all the things they might do together.
"Good," he said, leaning in real close to her, he whispered in her ear, "like to make love to you underneath the stars someday."
She shivered against him, his words sparking a physical reaction from her.
"Stop that," she said, softly.
"Never," he said, grinning back.
It was dark now as they continued up the coast, until half an hour later, at Oceanside, she headed inland on Hgwy. 78. They cleared their ears as the elevation increased. Almost half an hour later, as they neared the exchange for San Marcos, she told him that was where she'd gone to school. It was also where she first seenseen the picture of amulet, unearthed by the excavation going on in Sunnydale, but of course, she didn't mention that.
"We'll be there in about half an hour," she said, her voice quiet.
The dream of him alive and coming home was almost a reality. She swallowed back the lump in her throat, cleared it.
He reached over behind her head to caress it for a moment, then reached for her hand. He had no words, to describe the culmination of this experience, starting 3 weeks ago for him, when he first heard he had a 'wife,' from Dr. Turner.
Elizabeth, as it turned out, was so much more than that word 'wife' could have implied. He was filled with joy at having her to love; to love him. He didn't think even if he got his memories back, it could be much better. In fact, something inside him deeply feared getting them back. It was as if he'd been given a clean slate, in which to write or rewrite his history, he doubted what he could remember would be much better. Still, sometimes when Elizabeth looked at him, he thought he detected a bit of sadness over something he couldn't quite define, perhaps over the other man he'd been. He didn't want to think of that right now.
They rode along in silence the last half-hour, finally she pulled off the Santa Ysabel exit, "Almost there," she said.
* "4.2," he whispered, as the numbers popped into his head.
"What?"
He shook his head, "Nothing, I don't know."
In less than 10 minutes, she slowed the car and pulled off into the long road going up toward the house.
"It's a bit bumpy," she told him, recalling the first time he'd brought her here:
**"Gonna get sort of bumpy, Slayer.".
"Buffy, I want to be Buffy this weekend."
"Going to get sort of bumpy, Buffy."
"Bumpy-Buffy. Okay, Spike, if you have to say words like that together, you can use 'Slayer,' but only under those conditions," she said laughing.
She breathed a sigh of relief, when 2 miles later, she noticed that Clem had remembered to open the gates for her.
After passing through the spot, she stopped the car, "Watch this," she told him, pointing behind her on with the remote.
She pressed the button and he could see a wall of trees start to move toward each other.
"What the...?" he asked, almost frightened.
"It's the gates, pretty cool, huh?"
"Movtreetrees?"
"You designed it, so it would look like just a row of trees, so that the road appeared to dead end, to keep...well, strangers out. It's opened electronically now," she said, showing him the remote, "like a TV remote, see? You used to have to climb up this tree, jump down on the other side, then manually open and close it."
He shook his head, "Guess I was pretty clever, huh?" Though he couldn't imagine why he would've gone to all the bother to keep others out.
She grinned, "Very clever."
Buffy put the car back into drive and drove for another 3/4 of a mile, until she spotted it through the trees.
"That's it," she said, pointing up ahead, "I had Clem turn the lights on for us."
His heart was beating fast and he gripped Buffy's hand tightly, as she pulled up front of the log house, with the wrap around porch.
She looked over at him, staring at it, as if trying to see if he could remember. He turned to her, questioningly, and she nodded.
Gently, she took her hand from his, patting it first with her other one, "Ready?"
He nodded.
She got out of the car, and after a few seconds hesitation, he did the same.
Buffy came around the car and stood next to him, putting her arm in his. William turned to look at her, his blue eyes trying to fathom something she couldn't discern. She nodded and reached up to touch his cheek.
"Would you like to go inside?"
William nodded, "Shouldn't we get the stuff out of your trunk first?"
"It'll wait a bit," she said, and taking his arm, they started up to the porch.
Buffy tried the handle, then nodded. It had been left unlocked by Clem.
She glanced over towards the woods and caught the glow of red eyes. Buffy gave a little thumbs-up sign and slight nod of her head towards them.
"Welcome home, William" she said softly, as she pushed open the heavy wooden door and they walked in.
William stood inside the door looking around. Buffy had kept the original Victorian furniture that Spike had gotten over the years from Edna. She'd added a few, modern, comfy pieces to the mix, but she coueverever get herself to actually part with anything of his. She hoped it gave him some comfort, a familiar look.
She was happy that Clem had started a fire. It mustn't have been too long ago, she thought, as it was blazing away nicely.
"What do you think?" she said, looking at William.
"It's nice," he said, still looking around.
"Want to come in? Look around? Sit down?"
He nodded, but didn't move.
She took his hand and gently led him toward the center of the living room.
"This is the living room, as you can see," she said, nervously.
She opened the door to the left of the fireplace. "This is our bedroom," she said. She walked into the room and went over to the bedside table and turned on the lamp. The carton that had contained all the things he had sent to her from Sunnydale, and from which she had dug out the black jeans and T-shirt to bring to him in Chicago, was still on the bed. She nonchalantly closed it up, and carried it over to the closet, "and this is the closet," she said, opening the door and shoving the carton up onto the shelf.
He glanced around taking in all the clothes and shoes. For someone who had so much, she really hadn't had hardly anything when she had hurried to him in Chicago. What he didn't realize was that this was a fraction of what she used to own, and that in the following years, she had hardly made much effort to buy much for herself at all. A dozen T-shirts or so, half-dozen pair of shoes, one jacket, one sweater, 2 pair of jeans, and one pair of dress pants had pretty much carried her through the past 5 years. It was only when she started looking for a teaching position, that she had added a few, nicer pieces to her wardrobe.
"It's sort of small, but I think we can fit in some of your shirts, and I'll clear out a couple of dresser drawers for you, too," she said pointing to the dresser.
"The bathroom is there," she said, pointing to the door on the right wall, "it's between both bedrooms."
She led him out of the room and toward the other side of the fireplace, "And this is the second bedroom. Not much to see here, just a bunch of my junk," she said, turnin the the lamp, so he could have a quick look, "but if you want to use this room for anything, I can take my stuff and move it out."
"What would I need it for?" he asked.
"I don't know. Maybe not right now, but maybe in the future, you'll want it for something."
He thought that was an odd thing for her to say. He couldn't imagine whatever he would want a spare room for. Did she mean for him to sleep in? No, it couldn't be that, otherwise she wouldn't have said the other room was their bedroom. It sort of had unsettled him, but he let it go.
Buffy had him by the hand again, and was leading him to yet another room, "This is the kitchen," she said, "and the laundry is over...oh my!" she stopping, smelling something delicious.
"I think Clem left us something to eat," she said, smiling as she lifted the lid on the pot that was simmering on low.
William came over to have a look, "Umm, what is it? Stew?"
She nodded, "Yeah, smells great, too!" she asked, realizing her stomach was now gurgling in anticipation.
"You hungry?"
He nodded.
She opened the refrigerator and was happy to see that Clem had brought her everything that she might possibly want and then some. She found a bottle of Merlot and took it out.
"Want to eat here at the table or in the living room, in front of the fireplace?"
"Wherever you want," William answered.
"If you can open this for me," she said, handing him the wine and a corkscrew,
"and get some bowls down from the cabinet," she said, pointing to the one right of the stove, "I'll go and set up the coffee table, so we can eat out there, okay?"
"Sounds nice. Um, where are the glasses?"
"There," she said, pointing to another cabinet.
Buffy pulled the rug up closer to the couch threw some pillows down onto it. She then took the plants off of the small coffee table that was in front of the wall, to the left of the desk, brushed the dirt onto the floor, and carried it over to in front of the couch.
She went back into the kitchen to get something to clean it off with.
William had opened the door to the back porch and was standing there, log oug out.
She came up behind him and put her arms around him.
"What's that?" he asked.
"Barn. I use it mostly for storage, your old car, the DeSoto, is on the other side of it, too."
He didn't say anything, just nodded, holding onto her arms, which were around him, "It's pretty here. Can see the stars."
"That you can," she agreed. "Did you ladle out the stew?"
"Oh, sorry. I...sort of got distracted, but I took the bowls and glasses down, opened the wine."
"Want to eat now?"
He nodded, "Okay."
They took the bowls of stew and glasses of wine out to the living room. Sitting down next to each other on the pillows, backs against the couch, they ate their meal, facing the fireplace.
They were mostly quiet during their meal, almost a sense of shyness between them, now that they were finally here. Here. Home. The word, having been given so much meaning by both of them when it was like a carrot dangling somewhere out in front of them, and now, at last it had become a reality to which they would have to become accustomed, like everything else that had preceded it.
After dinner, they cleared the bowls, putting them into the sink for now. They moved the table back to where it had been, then went outside to get their things out of the trunk. She was surprised when she opened the door to find all of their stuff on the porch.
"What the...?" William said.
"Clem," Buffy said, smiling, "I think he just wanted to help out, without interfering tonight."
"Oh..."
"We'll go see him tomorrow, okay? Or the next day," she said, giving him a look that reminded him of the only three things she'd said they would do the first day home.
"Yeah, maybe the day after tomorrow..." he grinned, grabbing some of their bags.
They put their day and back packs on the closet floor. William first took out his shaving kit, toothbrush, toothpaste, and other items like that, and found places for them in the bathroom.
Buffy left the big garbage bag full of their dirty laundry off to the side of the room. She'd get to that 'stuff' tomorrow. Or the next day.
They left the box of mixing bowls for Clem on one of the tables in the living room, and the pots they'd bought for themselves in Mesa Verde wound up on top of the dresser.
Standing there, with him in this bedroom, putting their things away gave Buffy a momentary wiggins. Well, maybe not wiggins, as much as a feeling of unreality.
As if sensing her mood, he looked over at her, "What is it, Elizabeth?"
"Nothing. I just...think I'll put on my nightgown, okay?" she answered a bit irritated.
"Sure, I'll go in the other...."
"William, you don't have to, I mean..."
But he had already walked out, closing the door behind him.
Damn! She hadn't meant to sound that way, it had just come out. Sometimes he was just too perceptive. It was disconcerting, but then again, Spike always had been. Spike. No, Buffy, it's William here. It may have been Spike who first brought youe toe to Julian, who left you his house, but it's William who you've brought back with you. William.
She went to the bathroom and changed into a clean nightgown she'd found in her dresser drawer. She brushed her hair and teeth, and washed her face. She looked in the mirror, wondering if the woman she saw now looked very different from the one who had left almost a month ago. She looked down and saw his shaving kit and his toothbrush and toothpaste on the sink, and couldn't help but smile. She looked in the mirror again, "Guess, you're the magic ingredient, William," she said to her reflection, which smiled back at her, eyes softened.
Buffy went to the closet and bent over to take William's sweat pants he'd slept in at first, out of his bag.
She walked into the living room. He was just coming back in from the kitchen, the bottle of wine and the two glasses in his hands.
"Thought we might have a little more."
"Good. Oh, I put your sweats on the bed, if you want to get out of your clothes."
He arched an eyebrow at her, but made no other expression, "I can do that," he said, walking past her into the bedroom. She turned around and followed him in.
He sat down on the edge of the bed and started taking off his boots. She didn't know what compelled her, but suddenly she was on her knees in front of him, unlacing them for him. When she had finished, she pulled them off, setting them next to the bed. She didn't say anything, nor did he as he watched her doing this for him, but his heart melted at the sight. His sweet girl!
Buffy got up and handed him the sweat pants, kissing him on the cheek, before going into the living room, leaving him staring after her with his mouth open.
A few minutes later, he joined her, wearing the sweat pants and a different T-shirt from the one he'd had on.
She handed him a glass of wine, as he sat down next to her on the rug in front of the couch.
William took it from her, with a nod of thanks. He put his arm around her, drawing her close to him.
Buffy turned to look at him, daring her eyes to be playing tricks on her, to deny to her that he was really here.
Not breaking eye contact, he bent over and kissed her softly at first. As the kiss deepened; she made a little noise in the back of her throat, which almost sounded like a cry. Still lip-locked, they took their wineglasses and set them aside. She started to crawl onto his lap, but he pulled them down to the floor instead, onto their sides.
Buffy kissed his eyes, his nose, his lips, his ears, his neck, as he did the same to her. She tugged at his T-shirt, sitting up for a minute, to pull it off of him, and also to take off her nightgown. She came back down into his arms, his shining, willing goddess.
He rolled on top of her, kissing her, grinding into her, the only thing separating them, being his sweatpants, which she was trying to pull off of him.
William kissed his way down, from her lips, her chin, down the side of her neck from her jaw-line to her collarbone. One hand fondled one breast, his thumb gently rubbing and circling her nipple, while his mouth suckled on her other one, pulling her nipple into his mouth, so his tongue could lavish its attention upon it.
Buffy moaned, her body needing him, but even more so, her jumbled up emotions needing the physical release that only his body could provide, as he loved her the way only he could.
William made his way down her soft belly, scooting backwards, until finally his head came to rest between her legs. She was moaning with anticipation, as he looked up from his spot into her eyes, which begged him, without words, for him to love her, make love to her.
Heughtught his hands up her thighs, as he gently pulled and tugged on her soft folds, opening her up to him. His tongue dipped into her, licking, sucking, teasing, softer, harder, the flat of it, the point of it, until he thought she was going to pull his hair out by their roots, as she moaned and squirmed strongly under his head.
"God, oh God, William!" she came, calling his name, her thighs tightening around him, pushing him off, as he tried to make it last a bit longer for her.
He'd practically been unaware that he'd been grinding down onto the carpet, as her pleasure had made him painfully wanting. Sure to be a hole in the carpet from this, he thought. He rose up on his arms, his hands tearing off the sweatpants, as he crawled up, was pulled up by Elizabeth, into her hot, sizzling self.
They stopped to look at each other at the moment he slid inside her. Her eyes looked up at him with the same love and awe he reflected back.
"Welcome home, William," she said, pulling him down towards her mouth.
"Thank you," he said, completing the circle.
Afterwards, they had fallen asleep in front of the fire, until much later; he had woken to feel her shivering up against him. He moved his hand down her backside, and finding it cold tried to find something to put over them, but there was nothing handy.
"Best get you us into bed," he whispered, as he got into a kneeling position, with her still wrapped around him. He gently picked her up and carried her into the bedroom.
She mumbled as he put her on top of the covers, "Should've done this first, eh?" he said, pulling the covers underneath her, before being able to pull them over her.
She opened her eyes sleepily and smile him him, then helped by lifting her rear so he could easier manipulate the bedding.
"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you," he said.
"How'd I get here?"
"Carried you."
"Love you," she said, and pulled him down alongside her, wrapping him up with her arms, and her heart, until they both fell asleep once again. In their bed, home at last.
END CHAPTER 85
A/N hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! It's been a long trip and I was so happy to finally get them home. It occurs to me, that like the end of Buffy Season 5, if I were to end this right here, it would be a good ending. So, for those of you that are tired of the whole thing, you might just consider it the end, but for those of you that want to go on, it’s onto CHAPTER 86.
The original title of the story was ONE NORMAL LIFE/TWO EXTRAORDINARY LIVES, so I think I'll consider this the second half of the title.
Guess it's like the beginning of the end, but don't worry, there's lots more to come. Really, it's all about what he does once he's back here with Buffy, that is the true gist of the story...it just took me forever to get to it. However, don't think it will be another 100,000 words or anything, but with me, you can never tell. Stay tuned, it's going to be a bumpy ride, equaling that to the part in the hospital, eventually!
* A/N 4.2 refers to the miles from the exit to the road leading up to their house, it was in the note and map he'd had Willow gier, er, and which she uses the first time she comes up to Julian after he's died.
** Refers to dialogue they first had in ONE NORMAL DAY, CH. 12.
The traffic was lighter now, as sunset approached. Buffy got off the 405 and took Hgyw. 5 along the coast.
"We'll see the ocean soon," Buffy said, half an hour later, as they soon veered southwest on Hgwy. 5.
William's arm rested lightly around the back of her seat. Other than that, they rode along in silence, each both afraid and excited to be finally on the last leg of their physical journey toward home.
"Really?" he asked, excitedly.
"Yeah, really," she said, "I can smell it already."
He sniffed, "Me, too. Is that it?" he asked as his nose detected the slight smell of saltiness and fish.
She nodded. There was nothing like being near the ocean.
As they neared it, Buffy gave William a quick history lesson of the Mission and the Swallows of San Juan Capistrano.
"...and every year on the exact same day, March 19th, the swallows finish their 15,000 mile trip from Goya, Argentina."
"Amazing," William said, appreciatively, "have you ever been here to see it?"
"No, I never have, but tell you what, we'll come see them next March, okay?" she asked, smiling as she enjoyed the fantasy of having him along to do the things that she never got to enjoy before, having him to share things with.
He nodded.
"Would you like to stop and watch the sunset?" she asked him.
He nodded enthusiastically.
Now that they were really back, there was nothing more than she wanted than to get up to the house, but she couldn't deny him seeing the ocean for the first time. With her.
They walked out to the shore, arms around each other, and sat down on a blanket she'd grabbed from the trunk.
He sat in back of her, wrapping his arms around her. She sighed and leaning back against him.
He looked at the yellow orb, as it got lower and lower in the sky, turning slightly orange as it went down lower toward the horizon.
"Beautiful," he said.
"Beautiful," she echoed, as she played with his hands as they hugged her tight.
"I wasn't talking about the sunset," he said, as he looked at her golden hair blowing back against his chest.
"Neither was I," she said, and turning herself, found his mouth and kissed it.
William kissed her back, all of the yearnings of his heart, his love, and his hopes in his kiss, in his passion for her.
Buffy sighed, contentedly and curled her legs up against his, turning sideways between his lap, to better let hersee hee held.
They sat this way until the sun had gone below the horizon and past.
"Guess we should be going. It's still a bit of a drive."
"Of course," he said, pulling her up to her feet, then gathering the blanket for her.
"We'll come back some evening. Heck, lots of evenings! Days, too," she said, happily dreaming of all the things they might do together.
"Good," he said, leaning in real close to her, he whispered in her ear, "like to make love to you underneath the stars someday."
She shivered against him, his words sparking a physical reaction from her.
"Stop that," she said, softly.
"Never," he said, grinning back.
It was dark now as they continued up the coast, until half an hour later, at Oceanside, she headed inland on Hgwy. 78. They cleared their ears as the elevation increased. Almost half an hour later, as they neared the exchange for San Marcos, she told him that was where she'd gone to school. It was also where she first seenseen the picture of amulet, unearthed by the excavation going on in Sunnydale, but of course, she didn't mention that.
"We'll be there in about half an hour," she said, her voice quiet.
The dream of him alive and coming home was almost a reality. She swallowed back the lump in her throat, cleared it.
He reached over behind her head to caress it for a moment, then reached for her hand. He had no words, to describe the culmination of this experience, starting 3 weeks ago for him, when he first heard he had a 'wife,' from Dr. Turner.
Elizabeth, as it turned out, was so much more than that word 'wife' could have implied. He was filled with joy at having her to love; to love him. He didn't think even if he got his memories back, it could be much better. In fact, something inside him deeply feared getting them back. It was as if he'd been given a clean slate, in which to write or rewrite his history, he doubted what he could remember would be much better. Still, sometimes when Elizabeth looked at him, he thought he detected a bit of sadness over something he couldn't quite define, perhaps over the other man he'd been. He didn't want to think of that right now.
They rode along in silence the last half-hour, finally she pulled off the Santa Ysabel exit, "Almost there," she said.
* "4.2," he whispered, as the numbers popped into his head.
"What?"
He shook his head, "Nothing, I don't know."
In less than 10 minutes, she slowed the car and pulled off into the long road going up toward the house.
"It's a bit bumpy," she told him, recalling the first time he'd brought her here:
**"Gonna get sort of bumpy, Slayer.".
"Buffy, I want to be Buffy this weekend."
"Going to get sort of bumpy, Buffy."
"Bumpy-Buffy. Okay, Spike, if you have to say words like that together, you can use 'Slayer,' but only under those conditions," she said laughing.
She breathed a sigh of relief, when 2 miles later, she noticed that Clem had remembered to open the gates for her.
After passing through the spot, she stopped the car, "Watch this," she told him, pointing behind her on with the remote.
She pressed the button and he could see a wall of trees start to move toward each other.
"What the...?" he asked, almost frightened.
"It's the gates, pretty cool, huh?"
"Movtreetrees?"
"You designed it, so it would look like just a row of trees, so that the road appeared to dead end, to keep...well, strangers out. It's opened electronically now," she said, showing him the remote, "like a TV remote, see? You used to have to climb up this tree, jump down on the other side, then manually open and close it."
He shook his head, "Guess I was pretty clever, huh?" Though he couldn't imagine why he would've gone to all the bother to keep others out.
She grinned, "Very clever."
Buffy put the car back into drive and drove for another 3/4 of a mile, until she spotted it through the trees.
"That's it," she said, pointing up ahead, "I had Clem turn the lights on for us."
His heart was beating fast and he gripped Buffy's hand tightly, as she pulled up front of the log house, with the wrap around porch.
She looked over at him, staring at it, as if trying to see if he could remember. He turned to her, questioningly, and she nodded.
Gently, she took her hand from his, patting it first with her other one, "Ready?"
He nodded.
She got out of the car, and after a few seconds hesitation, he did the same.
Buffy came around the car and stood next to him, putting her arm in his. William turned to look at her, his blue eyes trying to fathom something she couldn't discern. She nodded and reached up to touch his cheek.
"Would you like to go inside?"
William nodded, "Shouldn't we get the stuff out of your trunk first?"
"It'll wait a bit," she said, and taking his arm, they started up to the porch.
Buffy tried the handle, then nodded. It had been left unlocked by Clem.
She glanced over towards the woods and caught the glow of red eyes. Buffy gave a little thumbs-up sign and slight nod of her head towards them.
"Welcome home, William" she said softly, as she pushed open the heavy wooden door and they walked in.
William stood inside the door looking around. Buffy had kept the original Victorian furniture that Spike had gotten over the years from Edna. She'd added a few, modern, comfy pieces to the mix, but she coueverever get herself to actually part with anything of his. She hoped it gave him some comfort, a familiar look.
She was happy that Clem had started a fire. It mustn't have been too long ago, she thought, as it was blazing away nicely.
"What do you think?" she said, looking at William.
"It's nice," he said, still looking around.
"Want to come in? Look around? Sit down?"
He nodded, but didn't move.
She took his hand and gently led him toward the center of the living room.
"This is the living room, as you can see," she said, nervously.
She opened the door to the left of the fireplace. "This is our bedroom," she said. She walked into the room and went over to the bedside table and turned on the lamp. The carton that had contained all the things he had sent to her from Sunnydale, and from which she had dug out the black jeans and T-shirt to bring to him in Chicago, was still on the bed. She nonchalantly closed it up, and carried it over to the closet, "and this is the closet," she said, opening the door and shoving the carton up onto the shelf.
He glanced around taking in all the clothes and shoes. For someone who had so much, she really hadn't had hardly anything when she had hurried to him in Chicago. What he didn't realize was that this was a fraction of what she used to own, and that in the following years, she had hardly made much effort to buy much for herself at all. A dozen T-shirts or so, half-dozen pair of shoes, one jacket, one sweater, 2 pair of jeans, and one pair of dress pants had pretty much carried her through the past 5 years. It was only when she started looking for a teaching position, that she had added a few, nicer pieces to her wardrobe.
"It's sort of small, but I think we can fit in some of your shirts, and I'll clear out a couple of dresser drawers for you, too," she said pointing to the dresser.
"The bathroom is there," she said, pointing to the door on the right wall, "it's between both bedrooms."
She led him out of the room and toward the other side of the fireplace, "And this is the second bedroom. Not much to see here, just a bunch of my junk," she said, turnin the the lamp, so he could have a quick look, "but if you want to use this room for anything, I can take my stuff and move it out."
"What would I need it for?" he asked.
"I don't know. Maybe not right now, but maybe in the future, you'll want it for something."
He thought that was an odd thing for her to say. He couldn't imagine whatever he would want a spare room for. Did she mean for him to sleep in? No, it couldn't be that, otherwise she wouldn't have said the other room was their bedroom. It sort of had unsettled him, but he let it go.
Buffy had him by the hand again, and was leading him to yet another room, "This is the kitchen," she said, "and the laundry is over...oh my!" she stopping, smelling something delicious.
"I think Clem left us something to eat," she said, smiling as she lifted the lid on the pot that was simmering on low.
William came over to have a look, "Umm, what is it? Stew?"
She nodded, "Yeah, smells great, too!" she asked, realizing her stomach was now gurgling in anticipation.
"You hungry?"
He nodded.
She opened the refrigerator and was happy to see that Clem had brought her everything that she might possibly want and then some. She found a bottle of Merlot and took it out.
"Want to eat here at the table or in the living room, in front of the fireplace?"
"Wherever you want," William answered.
"If you can open this for me," she said, handing him the wine and a corkscrew,
"and get some bowls down from the cabinet," she said, pointing to the one right of the stove, "I'll go and set up the coffee table, so we can eat out there, okay?"
"Sounds nice. Um, where are the glasses?"
"There," she said, pointing to another cabinet.
Buffy pulled the rug up closer to the couch threw some pillows down onto it. She then took the plants off of the small coffee table that was in front of the wall, to the left of the desk, brushed the dirt onto the floor, and carried it over to in front of the couch.
She went back into the kitchen to get something to clean it off with.
William had opened the door to the back porch and was standing there, log oug out.
She came up behind him and put her arms around him.
"What's that?" he asked.
"Barn. I use it mostly for storage, your old car, the DeSoto, is on the other side of it, too."
He didn't say anything, just nodded, holding onto her arms, which were around him, "It's pretty here. Can see the stars."
"That you can," she agreed. "Did you ladle out the stew?"
"Oh, sorry. I...sort of got distracted, but I took the bowls and glasses down, opened the wine."
"Want to eat now?"
He nodded, "Okay."
They took the bowls of stew and glasses of wine out to the living room. Sitting down next to each other on the pillows, backs against the couch, they ate their meal, facing the fireplace.
They were mostly quiet during their meal, almost a sense of shyness between them, now that they were finally here. Here. Home. The word, having been given so much meaning by both of them when it was like a carrot dangling somewhere out in front of them, and now, at last it had become a reality to which they would have to become accustomed, like everything else that had preceded it.
After dinner, they cleared the bowls, putting them into the sink for now. They moved the table back to where it had been, then went outside to get their things out of the trunk. She was surprised when she opened the door to find all of their stuff on the porch.
"What the...?" William said.
"Clem," Buffy said, smiling, "I think he just wanted to help out, without interfering tonight."
"Oh..."
"We'll go see him tomorrow, okay? Or the next day," she said, giving him a look that reminded him of the only three things she'd said they would do the first day home.
"Yeah, maybe the day after tomorrow..." he grinned, grabbing some of their bags.
They put their day and back packs on the closet floor. William first took out his shaving kit, toothbrush, toothpaste, and other items like that, and found places for them in the bathroom.
Buffy left the big garbage bag full of their dirty laundry off to the side of the room. She'd get to that 'stuff' tomorrow. Or the next day.
They left the box of mixing bowls for Clem on one of the tables in the living room, and the pots they'd bought for themselves in Mesa Verde wound up on top of the dresser.
Standing there, with him in this bedroom, putting their things away gave Buffy a momentary wiggins. Well, maybe not wiggins, as much as a feeling of unreality.
As if sensing her mood, he looked over at her, "What is it, Elizabeth?"
"Nothing. I just...think I'll put on my nightgown, okay?" she answered a bit irritated.
"Sure, I'll go in the other...."
"William, you don't have to, I mean..."
But he had already walked out, closing the door behind him.
Damn! She hadn't meant to sound that way, it had just come out. Sometimes he was just too perceptive. It was disconcerting, but then again, Spike always had been. Spike. No, Buffy, it's William here. It may have been Spike who first brought youe toe to Julian, who left you his house, but it's William who you've brought back with you. William.
She went to the bathroom and changed into a clean nightgown she'd found in her dresser drawer. She brushed her hair and teeth, and washed her face. She looked in the mirror, wondering if the woman she saw now looked very different from the one who had left almost a month ago. She looked down and saw his shaving kit and his toothbrush and toothpaste on the sink, and couldn't help but smile. She looked in the mirror again, "Guess, you're the magic ingredient, William," she said to her reflection, which smiled back at her, eyes softened.
Buffy went to the closet and bent over to take William's sweat pants he'd slept in at first, out of his bag.
She walked into the living room. He was just coming back in from the kitchen, the bottle of wine and the two glasses in his hands.
"Thought we might have a little more."
"Good. Oh, I put your sweats on the bed, if you want to get out of your clothes."
He arched an eyebrow at her, but made no other expression, "I can do that," he said, walking past her into the bedroom. She turned around and followed him in.
He sat down on the edge of the bed and started taking off his boots. She didn't know what compelled her, but suddenly she was on her knees in front of him, unlacing them for him. When she had finished, she pulled them off, setting them next to the bed. She didn't say anything, nor did he as he watched her doing this for him, but his heart melted at the sight. His sweet girl!
Buffy got up and handed him the sweat pants, kissing him on the cheek, before going into the living room, leaving him staring after her with his mouth open.
A few minutes later, he joined her, wearing the sweat pants and a different T-shirt from the one he'd had on.
She handed him a glass of wine, as he sat down next to her on the rug in front of the couch.
William took it from her, with a nod of thanks. He put his arm around her, drawing her close to him.
Buffy turned to look at him, daring her eyes to be playing tricks on her, to deny to her that he was really here.
Not breaking eye contact, he bent over and kissed her softly at first. As the kiss deepened; she made a little noise in the back of her throat, which almost sounded like a cry. Still lip-locked, they took their wineglasses and set them aside. She started to crawl onto his lap, but he pulled them down to the floor instead, onto their sides.
Buffy kissed his eyes, his nose, his lips, his ears, his neck, as he did the same to her. She tugged at his T-shirt, sitting up for a minute, to pull it off of him, and also to take off her nightgown. She came back down into his arms, his shining, willing goddess.
He rolled on top of her, kissing her, grinding into her, the only thing separating them, being his sweatpants, which she was trying to pull off of him.
William kissed his way down, from her lips, her chin, down the side of her neck from her jaw-line to her collarbone. One hand fondled one breast, his thumb gently rubbing and circling her nipple, while his mouth suckled on her other one, pulling her nipple into his mouth, so his tongue could lavish its attention upon it.
Buffy moaned, her body needing him, but even more so, her jumbled up emotions needing the physical release that only his body could provide, as he loved her the way only he could.
William made his way down her soft belly, scooting backwards, until finally his head came to rest between her legs. She was moaning with anticipation, as he looked up from his spot into her eyes, which begged him, without words, for him to love her, make love to her.
Heughtught his hands up her thighs, as he gently pulled and tugged on her soft folds, opening her up to him. His tongue dipped into her, licking, sucking, teasing, softer, harder, the flat of it, the point of it, until he thought she was going to pull his hair out by their roots, as she moaned and squirmed strongly under his head.
"God, oh God, William!" she came, calling his name, her thighs tightening around him, pushing him off, as he tried to make it last a bit longer for her.
He'd practically been unaware that he'd been grinding down onto the carpet, as her pleasure had made him painfully wanting. Sure to be a hole in the carpet from this, he thought. He rose up on his arms, his hands tearing off the sweatpants, as he crawled up, was pulled up by Elizabeth, into her hot, sizzling self.
They stopped to look at each other at the moment he slid inside her. Her eyes looked up at him with the same love and awe he reflected back.
"Welcome home, William," she said, pulling him down towards her mouth.
"Thank you," he said, completing the circle.
Afterwards, they had fallen asleep in front of the fire, until much later; he had woken to feel her shivering up against him. He moved his hand down her backside, and finding it cold tried to find something to put over them, but there was nothing handy.
"Best get you us into bed," he whispered, as he got into a kneeling position, with her still wrapped around him. He gently picked her up and carried her into the bedroom.
She mumbled as he put her on top of the covers, "Should've done this first, eh?" he said, pulling the covers underneath her, before being able to pull them over her.
She opened her eyes sleepily and smile him him, then helped by lifting her rear so he could easier manipulate the bedding.
"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you," he said.
"How'd I get here?"
"Carried you."
"Love you," she said, and pulled him down alongside her, wrapping him up with her arms, and her heart, until they both fell asleep once again. In their bed, home at last.
END CHAPTER 85
A/N hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! It's been a long trip and I was so happy to finally get them home. It occurs to me, that like the end of Buffy Season 5, if I were to end this right here, it would be a good ending. So, for those of you that are tired of the whole thing, you might just consider it the end, but for those of you that want to go on, it’s onto CHAPTER 86.
The original title of the story was ONE NORMAL LIFE/TWO EXTRAORDINARY LIVES, so I think I'll consider this the second half of the title.
Guess it's like the beginning of the end, but don't worry, there's lots more to come. Really, it's all about what he does once he's back here with Buffy, that is the true gist of the story...it just took me forever to get to it. However, don't think it will be another 100,000 words or anything, but with me, you can never tell. Stay tuned, it's going to be a bumpy ride, equaling that to the part in the hospital, eventually!
* A/N 4.2 refers to the miles from the exit to the road leading up to their house, it was in the note and map he'd had Willow gier, er, and which she uses the first time she comes up to Julian after he's died.
** Refers to dialogue they first had in ONE NORMAL DAY, CH. 12.