ONE NORMAL LIFE / TWO EXTRAORDINARY LIVES
folder
BtVS AU/AR › Het - Male/Female › Buffy/Spike(William)
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
210
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11,811
Reviews:
182
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Category:
BtVS AU/AR › Het - Male/Female › Buffy/Spike(William)
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
210
Views:
11,811
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.
MEETING HANK
CHAPTER 113 - MEETING HANK
DECEMBER 28, 2008
SATURDAY
3:00PM
"What time did you say we had to leave?" William asked again, sticking his head into the bathroom.
"Around 4:00pm," Buffy called from the shower, "that will give us at least 2 hours to get there, which should be more than enough time."
"Okay," he sighed. He went over and stood in front of Buffy's new mirror adjusting his tie. He and Clem had hung it two days after Christmas, even installing a couple of hinges, so that it could be pulled forward a few inches. He'd told Clem it was so that Elizabeth could sit in front of the dresser if she wished to, but actually, the reasons were of a much more personal nature.
He heard the water turn off and a few minutes later; Elizabeth came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel. She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him.
"Hey, you're wet!"
"Hey, you're warm and dry," she said, grinning.
"Come on, you'll make my shirt all wet," he said, turning around.
"So? Take it off, then," she said, giving him 'the look.'
"Now? We have to leave, you have to get ready..."
"Not for another hour. Besides, it'll help you relax."
"Before we're to meet with your father? I highly doubt that!"
"Okay, then. It'll help me relax," she said, putting her arms around him again and letting the towel puddle to her feet.
"In that case," he said, sweeping her off her feet in one quick movement, causing her to giggle and gasp all at once, "I'd better do my duty, but only in the name of relaxation, of course," he said, plopping her down on the bed.
"Of course," she agreed, "in the name of relaxation, then."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4:15PM
"I'll be right there!" Buffy called from the bathroom, exasperated. "We still have plenty of time."
"Says you!" he called back. "Didn't you say that Saturday night traffic in L.A. is pretty horrible?"
She shook her head, wishing she hadn't let Dawn influence her to having dinner with her father.
“I’m ready, okay?” she said, walking out of the bedroom. She was dressed in a soft woolen, two-piece, wine colored sweater-skirt set. Around her waist was tied a soft multi-toned gold sash. She wore nylons and a plain, but tasteful pair of black high heels. Her only jewelry, besides a small pair of gold hoop earrings, were the necklace and ring that he’d given her. She wore her hair loose, save for a single gold clip in the back.
William stared at her, his eyes slowly moving over her appreciatively. “Worth the wait, luv,” he said, softly.
Buffy felt herself blush at the attention and compliment.
“You look pretty yourself,” she said, smiling at him.
“Pretty?” he scoffed.
“Okay, beautiful!”
He rolled his eyes, “Thanks ever so.”
Buffy looked at him in the gray suit and wine colored dress shirt, accented with a gray and black tie and a simple gold tie clip. Black shoes completed the outfit. They’d picked this out together a few weeks before, but just picked it up from altering a few days ago.
“You look very handsome,” Buffy said, as she walked over to him.
The words lovely, cute, and sexy, also tumbled through her mind, but she knew they’d only embarrass him, so she kept them to herself.
“Do we match?” he asked suddenly.
“Sort of,” she said, then cleared her throat, “but not in a matching ski-sweater sort of way…more of a going to the prom sort of way.”
He gave her a funny look.
“It’s a formal high school dance, where the boys buy the girls wrist gays to match their dresses, and sometimes wear a shirt that color coordinates with their girlfriend’s dress. But not always. Especially, not in the case of a pink dress…”
William rolled his eyes, “Never mind. I don’t think I want to know.” He already had been embarrassed when they’d gone to Edna’s on Christmas Day for dinner and more than one person had remarked that his and Elizabeth’s sweaters seemed almost matching.
“Did I say you look handsome?”
“I think you may have,” he grinned, “Thanks, I just don’t want to look like some poncy git to your father.”
“Number one, you don’t! Number two, I don’t care what he thinks about you, me, or anybody else, much.”
William took her hand, “I know you don’t luv, but it’s still your father. I can’t help wanting to make a good impression on him.”
“I know. You will; don’t worry William,” she said, softening the angry thoughts that started to loop in her brain, as they often did when confronted with her father. She often had to make herself stop, just in order to deal with him and pretend that their history didn’t include abandonment and years of pain brought on by that. Heck, she still had issues that she didn’t like to think about that had to do with, and thanks to Hank’s treatment of her mother, her, and Dawn. Nothing a few dozen years of therapy probably couldn’t correct, she thought.
“Let’s go,” she said, grabbing the car keys he held out to her, as he grabbed their overnight bags.
About half way there, Buffy was forced to concede that she should’ve left earlier. She called Dawn on the cell phone, and after apologizing, asked if Dawn could call Hank and make the reservation for an hour later.
They arrived at Le Cirque, a little French restaurant about half way between her dad’s and Dawn’s about 6:30pm.
“Well, we got here early after all,” Buffy said, as she parked in the lot alongside the restaurant.
“Yes, but still late for the original reservation,” William pointed out, as he got out of the car and came around to open her door.
They walked in and Buffy told the maitre de her dad’s name.
“Mr. Summers hasn’t arrived yet, however, I believe other members of your party are in the bar, if you’d like to follow me,” he said.
“Sure,” Buffy said.
They spotted Dawn and John sitting at a round booth and came over to join them.
“Hey guys!” Dawn said.
John stood up and extended his hand, “William, Buffy; nice to see you again. Here, sit down,” he said, moving closer to Dawn and making room for them.
“We couldn’t get reservations until 7:30, but we came now, in case you got here early. Which you did,” Dawn said.
“Sorry about that,” Buffy said.
“That’s okay. John was running a bit late anyway.”
“What did dad say?”
“Not much. Did a bit of grumbling, as he feels is his fatherly right.”
Buffy bit her tongue, but William intuitively patted her hand under the table none-the-less.
She was edgy. Partly, it was because she was in Los Angeles. With William. Waiting to introduce them to each other. The man she cared the most about in the world, with the man she once had cared the most about in the world. One had left her voluntarily, with not as much as a look backwards, when she still needed him. The other never left her. At least not voluntarily, but still…”
“What would you like to drink, Miss?” the waitress interrupted her thoughts.
“Me? Oh, white wine? Do you have Merlot?”
The waitress left with their orders.
“Did I mention that you clean up real nice, William?” Dawn asked, teasingly.
For a moment he was confused, then he relaxed, remembering how Elizabeth had said those same words to him in Michigan.
“Don’t mind Dawn, William,” John said, beating Buffy to the punch, “it’s just her way of telling you she thinks you look nice.”
“Thank you. You make quite the picture yourself, Dawn,” he said.
“Picture of what? That’s the question,” she said, teasingly.
“Picture of loveliness, just like your sister,” he said, turning to look at Buffy, who blushed again.
“I think I need lessons from this guy,” John said, “what do you think, Dawn?”
“Most definitely, though you do all right, too,” she said, snuggling up into his arm.
The drinks came and they toasted the holiday season and each other. They chatted amiably for about half an hour, until Dawn spotted Hank.
“There he is,” Dawn said, pointing to the entryway into the bar. She caught his eye and he waved and came over.
“Hi dad,” Dawn said.
“Hi Dawn, hi Buffy. You gals look lovely tonight. John, nice to see you again. He looked over at the other man at the table.
“Dad, this is William,” Buffy said.
“Nice to meet you, sir,” William said, partly standing, as best as he could from a booth seat, and extending his hand to Elizabeth’s father.
“You, too, William. Call me Hank, though.”
John pulled up from another chair from a nearby table to their booth and Hank took a seat.
“Been here long?” Hank asked.
“About half an hour,” Dawn answered.
“I’m sorry about having to change your reservation,” Buffy said.
“It’s okay. We’re all here now, that’s what counts, right?”
The waitress came by and Hank ordered a gin and tonic, with a twist. He also asked her to check on their table.
She brought the drink and asked if they’d like to take it to their table, which was ready.
They followed the waitress into the much larger dining room, which was soft-lit by candlelight. After they were seated and appetizers ordered, they made small talk for a few minutes as they looked at their menus.
Buffy tried to read the French only version of hers, but was hopelessly lost, her high school French having long been forgotten. She’d taken the more practical Spanish in college.
However, William, although claiming not to be very fluent, was in fact, surprisingly adept at it, both translating and ordering for her in French when the waiter came for their choices.
Once Dawn, currently in her fourth semester of French, got the picture, she started happily chatting with William.
“Hey now,” Buffy said, “no fair talking when we can’t understand you.”
“Americans!” Dawn said, in a pseudo-French accent.
“I understood that, doofus!” Buffy said.
“Who’s the doofus?”
“Now girls!” Hank said, half-serious, half-playing along.
“She started it,” they both said at once.
Hank shook his head, laughing; “Some things never change.”
“So,”k sak said, turning his attention to William, “what is it that you do?”
William cleared his throat; “I work at the same school Buffy works at, and at the library across the street, too, at present.”
“Are you a teacher, also?”
“No, I’m afraid not. I’m doing some maintenance for the school right now and some filing for the library.”
“I see,” Hank said, looking puzzled. By his speech and the way he carried himself, it was obvious to him that William was a refined young man, probably had a good education under his belt, as well.
“And how long have you known my daughter?”
William looked over at Buffy.
“We’ve known each other since Sunnydale. So about 10 years maybe,” Buffy answered for him.
“I see,” Hank said, again.
“So, how do you like your new apartment, dad?” Buffy said, changing the subject.
She’d put her hand on William’s leg when Hank had started to question him and he had wrapped his fingers around hers, gratefully.
After dinner, Buffy excused herself to use the restroom, William got up to pull out her chair and let her get past him. She kissed him lightly on the cheek as she did and he smiled at her, letting her know he was fine.
Some soft dance music was playing and John asked Dawn to dance, leaving Hank and William at the table alone.
“So, William,” Hank began, taking a chance on his hunch, “what’s an educated fellow like yourself doing working in maintenance?”
William cleared his throat, “Well, you see sir, something happened to my memory after Suale ale collapsed. I don’t rightly know what happened to me, only that when Elizabeth found me this past summer, I had no memory of anything. So, I’ve had to learn everything again. And I am planning on returning to school to update my education this next semester.”
“I’m sorry William, I didn’t know anything about that. I do know that a lot of lives were destroyed in more than one way when Sunnydale collapsed. Terrible tragedy. Did you lose any family there?”
“I…my family’s all gone sir, but before Sunnydale.”
“You said Buffy found you this past summer?”
“Yes sir. In Chicago.”
“Chicago? What were you doing there?”
“Apparently, being lost,” William said, and smiled a bit ruefully.
Hank laughed, “Apparently. Um…tell me, what is your relationship with Buffy, if I can ask.”
“Do you mean my intentions?”
“If you’d like.”
William looked Hank in the eyes; “I love her with all my heart. I’ve never loved another person in my whole life like I love your daughter. And my intentions are to marry her someday. Sooner, rather than later, I hope. If she’ll have me.”
Hank looked William over, appraisingly and saw only sincerity.
“William, I don’t know what Buffy’s told you about me. I imagine if anything, that it’s none too favorable,” he said, shrugging. “Unfortunately, she has good reasons. I left her mother when Buffy was about 15, and for a long while, I didn’t have much contact with her or Dawn. I’d like to say it was because it was too painful to only see them once in a while, or that their mother was to blame. I’d like to say it, but I won’t.”
“I was a selfish bastard and that’s really all there is to it. The poor, or should I say almost non-existent relationship I have with Buffy is because of it. I think I have a somewhat closer relationship with Dawn, but that’s only because she lived with me after Sunnydale collapsed. She finished her last couple of years of high school here, you know.”
William nodded, and not only to the information about Dawn. Hank had unwittingly provided another piece of the puzzle about the woman he loved. No small wonder she was so afraid to commit to marriage. Men had been leaving her all her life, starting with the self-described selfish bastard who sat in front of him now, trying to ease his own conscience. He himself had left her for 5 years, and although Elizabeth said it was only due to circumstances beyond his control, he still felt a terrible sense of guilt for the grief he had caused her.
Hank went on, oblivious to the low regard William now held him in, “My point is, that Buffy would never ask for my blessing for anything she does in her life. Hell, I don’t even know much about her life. She’s kept it that way and I have to respect her wishes. But, I’d like you to know, for what it’s worth, that if you want to marry my daughter William, you have my blessing. From the short amount of time I’ve seen you with her, you seem to make her very happy and vice-versa.”
William nodded, as he regarded this statement. Once upon a time, having a father’s blessing would have made him delirious with happiness; would have made him feel like he’d been given the much-needed approval in the eyes of his beloved. But knowing what he knew about this man, the history of his betrayal, and what it must have done to Elizabeth, changed the picture considerably in his eyes. Hank had been right, she would never ask for his blessing, nor would he. None-the-less, it had been given, and he would be gracious about it.
“Thank you Mr. Summers, that means a lot to me, and I’m sure it will to Elizabeth, too.” he said, putting out his hand.
“It’s Hank, and you’re quite welcome,” he said, shaking William’s hand. “Just one more thing. Why do you call her Elizabeth?”
“It’s a long story, dad,” Buffy said, as she returned to her seat.
“So, what were you two chatting about?” she asked, as William pushed in her chair.
“Just you, pumpkin,” Hank answered.
Buffy rolled her eyes at the nickname.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dinner was over, and Hank insisted on paying, over everyone’s protests.
Hank grabbed onto Buffy’s arm as they walked to the parking lot.
“I like your William a lot, Buffy,” he said in a low voice.
“Me, too,” she replied.
“He loves you and I think he’s good for you. You seem happier than I’ve seen you in a long time. Ever maybe. Not that I see you very often, but you seem…I don’t know if this is the right word, but at peace with yourself.”
She turned to look at her father. Funny for him to say something so personal, as if he actually saw her, the few and far times between visits.
Hank caught her look. “You look surprised. Buffy…I know that I haven’t been what I should have been in the father department for a long time, but that doesn’t mean I ever stopped loving you or noticing how sad you were when you’d come to visit me, or more aptly, Dawn, these past years. Despite my many shortcomings, I do love you and only want you to be happy.”
Buffy nodded, grateful tears welling in her eyes, “I am, dad. I really am. I…I love William, and he does make me very happy.”
Hank put his arms around Buffy, drawing her near, “You should marry him, then,” he whispered to her.
“What?”
“You heard me. Marry hiecomecome a family. It’s time…it’s your time.”
“We’re already a family,” she protested, also letting him know their living status, which he’d suspected anyway.
“It’s not the same.”
Buffy didn’t say anything as she regarded this statement coming from her dad.
“I wish mom was here,” she finally said.
“I wish she was, too. Joyce was always able to communicate about these things much better than I ever could, but I think she’d tell you the same thing,” he finished and with that, he gave her a kiss on the cheek and let her go. They finished walking to their cars in silence, while the others chatted up ahead.
“Well, goodnight everyone,” Hank said, getting into his Jaguar.
“Goodnight,” everyone replied.
“Gentlemen, you take good care of my girls, hear?”
“We will,” John and William both said at the same time.
“Very well. I’m off then,” Hank said, and with a wave, he drove off.
“Well, that was very Little Women of him, wasn’t it?” Dawn s amu amused.
Buffy nodded.
“In fact, it was very Little Women of all of you,” she said, looking accusingly at John and William.
John smiled placatingly at her, while William shrugged, since he wasn’t familiar with the book, but could only guess from the title.
“I’m what they call it, Pleading the Fifth,” William replied.
“Well, let’s get our Little Women out of the parking lot, what do you say, William?” John asked, teasingly putting his arm around both Buffy and Dawn.
“Ouch!” John said, as he got pinched from both sides.
“You guys can follow us,” Dawn suggested.
“Sure, but turn on your cell phone, so in case we lose you…”
“Okay. Or, if you prefer, I can ride with you and William can ride with John, that way, we won’t have to worry. Oh, and we can chat. You know, us Little Women kind of chat things that we do,” Dawn said.
Buffy nodded, “Okay, that’ll work.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once back at Dawn’s apartment, they listened to music, played board games, and drank wine until the early hours of morning.
Dawn wanted to give up her bed to her guests, but they insisted that they’d be fine on the couch.
Dawn had asked Buffy if it was alright with her that John also stayed, and although she assured her it was, it was a strange none-the-less. Not like she hadn’t known, but …well, little sister thing and all that. Proof positive that Dawn was all grown up and having her own love affair.
Buffy was laying in William’s arms when she turned to him.
“So, what did my dad and you talk about when I was in the bathroom?”
He turned to look at her, and stroked her hair, “He asked me what my intentions were towards his daughter and I told him that I loved you and wanted to marry you.”
“I know,” she replied softly.
“When you’re ready,” he added, and kissed her gently on the lips.
She snuggled down and closed her eyes without replying. She knew she didn’t need to, knew that he understood and accepted her, that he wasn’t saying this to pressure her. It felt good, safe…
He held her for a few minutes, then whispered; “I’ll never leave you, you know…like he did. Never would be the kind of man to leave his wife, his children. Never.”
“I love you, too,” she answered, and hugged him tighter, her eyes moist as she fell asleep.
END CHAPTER 113
DECEMBER 28, 2008
SATURDAY
3:00PM
"What time did you say we had to leave?" William asked again, sticking his head into the bathroom.
"Around 4:00pm," Buffy called from the shower, "that will give us at least 2 hours to get there, which should be more than enough time."
"Okay," he sighed. He went over and stood in front of Buffy's new mirror adjusting his tie. He and Clem had hung it two days after Christmas, even installing a couple of hinges, so that it could be pulled forward a few inches. He'd told Clem it was so that Elizabeth could sit in front of the dresser if she wished to, but actually, the reasons were of a much more personal nature.
He heard the water turn off and a few minutes later; Elizabeth came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel. She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him.
"Hey, you're wet!"
"Hey, you're warm and dry," she said, grinning.
"Come on, you'll make my shirt all wet," he said, turning around.
"So? Take it off, then," she said, giving him 'the look.'
"Now? We have to leave, you have to get ready..."
"Not for another hour. Besides, it'll help you relax."
"Before we're to meet with your father? I highly doubt that!"
"Okay, then. It'll help me relax," she said, putting her arms around him again and letting the towel puddle to her feet.
"In that case," he said, sweeping her off her feet in one quick movement, causing her to giggle and gasp all at once, "I'd better do my duty, but only in the name of relaxation, of course," he said, plopping her down on the bed.
"Of course," she agreed, "in the name of relaxation, then."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4:15PM
"I'll be right there!" Buffy called from the bathroom, exasperated. "We still have plenty of time."
"Says you!" he called back. "Didn't you say that Saturday night traffic in L.A. is pretty horrible?"
She shook her head, wishing she hadn't let Dawn influence her to having dinner with her father.
“I’m ready, okay?” she said, walking out of the bedroom. She was dressed in a soft woolen, two-piece, wine colored sweater-skirt set. Around her waist was tied a soft multi-toned gold sash. She wore nylons and a plain, but tasteful pair of black high heels. Her only jewelry, besides a small pair of gold hoop earrings, were the necklace and ring that he’d given her. She wore her hair loose, save for a single gold clip in the back.
William stared at her, his eyes slowly moving over her appreciatively. “Worth the wait, luv,” he said, softly.
Buffy felt herself blush at the attention and compliment.
“You look pretty yourself,” she said, smiling at him.
“Pretty?” he scoffed.
“Okay, beautiful!”
He rolled his eyes, “Thanks ever so.”
Buffy looked at him in the gray suit and wine colored dress shirt, accented with a gray and black tie and a simple gold tie clip. Black shoes completed the outfit. They’d picked this out together a few weeks before, but just picked it up from altering a few days ago.
“You look very handsome,” Buffy said, as she walked over to him.
The words lovely, cute, and sexy, also tumbled through her mind, but she knew they’d only embarrass him, so she kept them to herself.
“Do we match?” he asked suddenly.
“Sort of,” she said, then cleared her throat, “but not in a matching ski-sweater sort of way…more of a going to the prom sort of way.”
He gave her a funny look.
“It’s a formal high school dance, where the boys buy the girls wrist gays to match their dresses, and sometimes wear a shirt that color coordinates with their girlfriend’s dress. But not always. Especially, not in the case of a pink dress…”
William rolled his eyes, “Never mind. I don’t think I want to know.” He already had been embarrassed when they’d gone to Edna’s on Christmas Day for dinner and more than one person had remarked that his and Elizabeth’s sweaters seemed almost matching.
“Did I say you look handsome?”
“I think you may have,” he grinned, “Thanks, I just don’t want to look like some poncy git to your father.”
“Number one, you don’t! Number two, I don’t care what he thinks about you, me, or anybody else, much.”
William took her hand, “I know you don’t luv, but it’s still your father. I can’t help wanting to make a good impression on him.”
“I know. You will; don’t worry William,” she said, softening the angry thoughts that started to loop in her brain, as they often did when confronted with her father. She often had to make herself stop, just in order to deal with him and pretend that their history didn’t include abandonment and years of pain brought on by that. Heck, she still had issues that she didn’t like to think about that had to do with, and thanks to Hank’s treatment of her mother, her, and Dawn. Nothing a few dozen years of therapy probably couldn’t correct, she thought.
“Let’s go,” she said, grabbing the car keys he held out to her, as he grabbed their overnight bags.
About half way there, Buffy was forced to concede that she should’ve left earlier. She called Dawn on the cell phone, and after apologizing, asked if Dawn could call Hank and make the reservation for an hour later.
They arrived at Le Cirque, a little French restaurant about half way between her dad’s and Dawn’s about 6:30pm.
“Well, we got here early after all,” Buffy said, as she parked in the lot alongside the restaurant.
“Yes, but still late for the original reservation,” William pointed out, as he got out of the car and came around to open her door.
They walked in and Buffy told the maitre de her dad’s name.
“Mr. Summers hasn’t arrived yet, however, I believe other members of your party are in the bar, if you’d like to follow me,” he said.
“Sure,” Buffy said.
They spotted Dawn and John sitting at a round booth and came over to join them.
“Hey guys!” Dawn said.
John stood up and extended his hand, “William, Buffy; nice to see you again. Here, sit down,” he said, moving closer to Dawn and making room for them.
“We couldn’t get reservations until 7:30, but we came now, in case you got here early. Which you did,” Dawn said.
“Sorry about that,” Buffy said.
“That’s okay. John was running a bit late anyway.”
“What did dad say?”
“Not much. Did a bit of grumbling, as he feels is his fatherly right.”
Buffy bit her tongue, but William intuitively patted her hand under the table none-the-less.
She was edgy. Partly, it was because she was in Los Angeles. With William. Waiting to introduce them to each other. The man she cared the most about in the world, with the man she once had cared the most about in the world. One had left her voluntarily, with not as much as a look backwards, when she still needed him. The other never left her. At least not voluntarily, but still…”
“What would you like to drink, Miss?” the waitress interrupted her thoughts.
“Me? Oh, white wine? Do you have Merlot?”
The waitress left with their orders.
“Did I mention that you clean up real nice, William?” Dawn asked, teasingly.
For a moment he was confused, then he relaxed, remembering how Elizabeth had said those same words to him in Michigan.
“Don’t mind Dawn, William,” John said, beating Buffy to the punch, “it’s just her way of telling you she thinks you look nice.”
“Thank you. You make quite the picture yourself, Dawn,” he said.
“Picture of what? That’s the question,” she said, teasingly.
“Picture of loveliness, just like your sister,” he said, turning to look at Buffy, who blushed again.
“I think I need lessons from this guy,” John said, “what do you think, Dawn?”
“Most definitely, though you do all right, too,” she said, snuggling up into his arm.
The drinks came and they toasted the holiday season and each other. They chatted amiably for about half an hour, until Dawn spotted Hank.
“There he is,” Dawn said, pointing to the entryway into the bar. She caught his eye and he waved and came over.
“Hi dad,” Dawn said.
“Hi Dawn, hi Buffy. You gals look lovely tonight. John, nice to see you again. He looked over at the other man at the table.
“Dad, this is William,” Buffy said.
“Nice to meet you, sir,” William said, partly standing, as best as he could from a booth seat, and extending his hand to Elizabeth’s father.
“You, too, William. Call me Hank, though.”
John pulled up from another chair from a nearby table to their booth and Hank took a seat.
“Been here long?” Hank asked.
“About half an hour,” Dawn answered.
“I’m sorry about having to change your reservation,” Buffy said.
“It’s okay. We’re all here now, that’s what counts, right?”
The waitress came by and Hank ordered a gin and tonic, with a twist. He also asked her to check on their table.
She brought the drink and asked if they’d like to take it to their table, which was ready.
They followed the waitress into the much larger dining room, which was soft-lit by candlelight. After they were seated and appetizers ordered, they made small talk for a few minutes as they looked at their menus.
Buffy tried to read the French only version of hers, but was hopelessly lost, her high school French having long been forgotten. She’d taken the more practical Spanish in college.
However, William, although claiming not to be very fluent, was in fact, surprisingly adept at it, both translating and ordering for her in French when the waiter came for their choices.
Once Dawn, currently in her fourth semester of French, got the picture, she started happily chatting with William.
“Hey now,” Buffy said, “no fair talking when we can’t understand you.”
“Americans!” Dawn said, in a pseudo-French accent.
“I understood that, doofus!” Buffy said.
“Who’s the doofus?”
“Now girls!” Hank said, half-serious, half-playing along.
“She started it,” they both said at once.
Hank shook his head, laughing; “Some things never change.”
“So,”k sak said, turning his attention to William, “what is it that you do?”
William cleared his throat; “I work at the same school Buffy works at, and at the library across the street, too, at present.”
“Are you a teacher, also?”
“No, I’m afraid not. I’m doing some maintenance for the school right now and some filing for the library.”
“I see,” Hank said, looking puzzled. By his speech and the way he carried himself, it was obvious to him that William was a refined young man, probably had a good education under his belt, as well.
“And how long have you known my daughter?”
William looked over at Buffy.
“We’ve known each other since Sunnydale. So about 10 years maybe,” Buffy answered for him.
“I see,” Hank said, again.
“So, how do you like your new apartment, dad?” Buffy said, changing the subject.
She’d put her hand on William’s leg when Hank had started to question him and he had wrapped his fingers around hers, gratefully.
After dinner, Buffy excused herself to use the restroom, William got up to pull out her chair and let her get past him. She kissed him lightly on the cheek as she did and he smiled at her, letting her know he was fine.
Some soft dance music was playing and John asked Dawn to dance, leaving Hank and William at the table alone.
“So, William,” Hank began, taking a chance on his hunch, “what’s an educated fellow like yourself doing working in maintenance?”
William cleared his throat, “Well, you see sir, something happened to my memory after Suale ale collapsed. I don’t rightly know what happened to me, only that when Elizabeth found me this past summer, I had no memory of anything. So, I’ve had to learn everything again. And I am planning on returning to school to update my education this next semester.”
“I’m sorry William, I didn’t know anything about that. I do know that a lot of lives were destroyed in more than one way when Sunnydale collapsed. Terrible tragedy. Did you lose any family there?”
“I…my family’s all gone sir, but before Sunnydale.”
“You said Buffy found you this past summer?”
“Yes sir. In Chicago.”
“Chicago? What were you doing there?”
“Apparently, being lost,” William said, and smiled a bit ruefully.
Hank laughed, “Apparently. Um…tell me, what is your relationship with Buffy, if I can ask.”
“Do you mean my intentions?”
“If you’d like.”
William looked Hank in the eyes; “I love her with all my heart. I’ve never loved another person in my whole life like I love your daughter. And my intentions are to marry her someday. Sooner, rather than later, I hope. If she’ll have me.”
Hank looked William over, appraisingly and saw only sincerity.
“William, I don’t know what Buffy’s told you about me. I imagine if anything, that it’s none too favorable,” he said, shrugging. “Unfortunately, she has good reasons. I left her mother when Buffy was about 15, and for a long while, I didn’t have much contact with her or Dawn. I’d like to say it was because it was too painful to only see them once in a while, or that their mother was to blame. I’d like to say it, but I won’t.”
“I was a selfish bastard and that’s really all there is to it. The poor, or should I say almost non-existent relationship I have with Buffy is because of it. I think I have a somewhat closer relationship with Dawn, but that’s only because she lived with me after Sunnydale collapsed. She finished her last couple of years of high school here, you know.”
William nodded, and not only to the information about Dawn. Hank had unwittingly provided another piece of the puzzle about the woman he loved. No small wonder she was so afraid to commit to marriage. Men had been leaving her all her life, starting with the self-described selfish bastard who sat in front of him now, trying to ease his own conscience. He himself had left her for 5 years, and although Elizabeth said it was only due to circumstances beyond his control, he still felt a terrible sense of guilt for the grief he had caused her.
Hank went on, oblivious to the low regard William now held him in, “My point is, that Buffy would never ask for my blessing for anything she does in her life. Hell, I don’t even know much about her life. She’s kept it that way and I have to respect her wishes. But, I’d like you to know, for what it’s worth, that if you want to marry my daughter William, you have my blessing. From the short amount of time I’ve seen you with her, you seem to make her very happy and vice-versa.”
William nodded, as he regarded this statement. Once upon a time, having a father’s blessing would have made him delirious with happiness; would have made him feel like he’d been given the much-needed approval in the eyes of his beloved. But knowing what he knew about this man, the history of his betrayal, and what it must have done to Elizabeth, changed the picture considerably in his eyes. Hank had been right, she would never ask for his blessing, nor would he. None-the-less, it had been given, and he would be gracious about it.
“Thank you Mr. Summers, that means a lot to me, and I’m sure it will to Elizabeth, too.” he said, putting out his hand.
“It’s Hank, and you’re quite welcome,” he said, shaking William’s hand. “Just one more thing. Why do you call her Elizabeth?”
“It’s a long story, dad,” Buffy said, as she returned to her seat.
“So, what were you two chatting about?” she asked, as William pushed in her chair.
“Just you, pumpkin,” Hank answered.
Buffy rolled her eyes at the nickname.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dinner was over, and Hank insisted on paying, over everyone’s protests.
Hank grabbed onto Buffy’s arm as they walked to the parking lot.
“I like your William a lot, Buffy,” he said in a low voice.
“Me, too,” she replied.
“He loves you and I think he’s good for you. You seem happier than I’ve seen you in a long time. Ever maybe. Not that I see you very often, but you seem…I don’t know if this is the right word, but at peace with yourself.”
She turned to look at her father. Funny for him to say something so personal, as if he actually saw her, the few and far times between visits.
Hank caught her look. “You look surprised. Buffy…I know that I haven’t been what I should have been in the father department for a long time, but that doesn’t mean I ever stopped loving you or noticing how sad you were when you’d come to visit me, or more aptly, Dawn, these past years. Despite my many shortcomings, I do love you and only want you to be happy.”
Buffy nodded, grateful tears welling in her eyes, “I am, dad. I really am. I…I love William, and he does make me very happy.”
Hank put his arms around Buffy, drawing her near, “You should marry him, then,” he whispered to her.
“What?”
“You heard me. Marry hiecomecome a family. It’s time…it’s your time.”
“We’re already a family,” she protested, also letting him know their living status, which he’d suspected anyway.
“It’s not the same.”
Buffy didn’t say anything as she regarded this statement coming from her dad.
“I wish mom was here,” she finally said.
“I wish she was, too. Joyce was always able to communicate about these things much better than I ever could, but I think she’d tell you the same thing,” he finished and with that, he gave her a kiss on the cheek and let her go. They finished walking to their cars in silence, while the others chatted up ahead.
“Well, goodnight everyone,” Hank said, getting into his Jaguar.
“Goodnight,” everyone replied.
“Gentlemen, you take good care of my girls, hear?”
“We will,” John and William both said at the same time.
“Very well. I’m off then,” Hank said, and with a wave, he drove off.
“Well, that was very Little Women of him, wasn’t it?” Dawn s amu amused.
Buffy nodded.
“In fact, it was very Little Women of all of you,” she said, looking accusingly at John and William.
John smiled placatingly at her, while William shrugged, since he wasn’t familiar with the book, but could only guess from the title.
“I’m what they call it, Pleading the Fifth,” William replied.
“Well, let’s get our Little Women out of the parking lot, what do you say, William?” John asked, teasingly putting his arm around both Buffy and Dawn.
“Ouch!” John said, as he got pinched from both sides.
“You guys can follow us,” Dawn suggested.
“Sure, but turn on your cell phone, so in case we lose you…”
“Okay. Or, if you prefer, I can ride with you and William can ride with John, that way, we won’t have to worry. Oh, and we can chat. You know, us Little Women kind of chat things that we do,” Dawn said.
Buffy nodded, “Okay, that’ll work.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once back at Dawn’s apartment, they listened to music, played board games, and drank wine until the early hours of morning.
Dawn wanted to give up her bed to her guests, but they insisted that they’d be fine on the couch.
Dawn had asked Buffy if it was alright with her that John also stayed, and although she assured her it was, it was a strange none-the-less. Not like she hadn’t known, but …well, little sister thing and all that. Proof positive that Dawn was all grown up and having her own love affair.
Buffy was laying in William’s arms when she turned to him.
“So, what did my dad and you talk about when I was in the bathroom?”
He turned to look at her, and stroked her hair, “He asked me what my intentions were towards his daughter and I told him that I loved you and wanted to marry you.”
“I know,” she replied softly.
“When you’re ready,” he added, and kissed her gently on the lips.
She snuggled down and closed her eyes without replying. She knew she didn’t need to, knew that he understood and accepted her, that he wasn’t saying this to pressure her. It felt good, safe…
He held her for a few minutes, then whispered; “I’ll never leave you, you know…like he did. Never would be the kind of man to leave his wife, his children. Never.”
“I love you, too,” she answered, and hugged him tighter, her eyes moist as she fell asleep.
END CHAPTER 113