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Five Years Later…



Buffy stared out the window of her tiny New York apartment, taking in the breathtaking view of a dumpster and the brick wall of the next building over. She sighed wearily at the sound of the pounding bass that was coming from next door, long since resigning herself to the fact that no amount of complaining or beating on the walls would ever make it stop.

The phone rang, and Buffy took it into her tiny bedroom, hoping the extra wall would allow her to hear whoever was on the other line. "Hello."

"Buffy! Honey, I'm so glad I caught you at home! It seems like you're never there."

Buffy cringed at the sound of her mother's voice, wishing she'd just let the answering machine pick up. "That's what happens when you're working your way through college, Mom."

Joyce sighed. "I wish you would just…"

"You didn't call to try to convince me to come home again," Buffy snapped. "What do you want?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line, and Buffy could imagine the look on her mother's face as she told herself that all the books said she had to learn to take Buffy's desire for independence in stride, and eventually her daughter would realize just how much she needed her mother in her life. "You're right, Buffy. I did call for a favor. Sweetheart, I know you're not going to want to do this, but…"

"No."

"Buffy, you haven't even heard what I'm going to ask yet."

"I don't care. Whatever you want, the answer is no."

"It's really more a favor for Rupert than for me."

Buffy frowned. It was a sneaky tactic on her mother's part, knowing that Buffy would much sooner do something for her step-father than she would for Joyce. "What is it?" Buffy asked through gritted teeth.

"As you know, Rupert's son, William, has been staying with us for the past couple of months…"

"Yeah, what about it?" Buffy had been surprised when the man who had all but disappeared following her mother's wedding had asked to live with his father for a while. Apparently, he was an "aspiring musician" these days, and had come to California to "check out the L.A. scene."

"Well, L.A. isn't working out for him, and he wants to come to New York for a while. You know how hard it can be to get settled in a new place, and…"

"What do you want me to do, spend quality time with him when he gets here?"

"No."

"Scout out a place for him to live?"

"Not exactly. Actually, I'd like for you to…"

Buffy anticipated what her mother was planning to say next. "No. Wait, on second thought, make that a hell no. Not now, not ever, not even if saying yes was the only way to prevent the coming of the Apocalypse. No."

"Buffy, please be sensible about this. It would only be for a little while, until William found a job and a place of his own."

"No! God, I have enough stress in my life without having to put up with him, too."

"I told Rupert he should've been the one to call you. You're so unreasonable when it comes to me."

"Unreasonable? After what you did, I don't think anything I do is exactly 'unreasonable.'"

"Buffy, that was not my fault."

"You keep telling yourself that," Buffy replied coldly. "I know differently."

"We are not going to discuss that anymore," Joyce snapped. "I'm asking you to stop being self-centered long enough to help out your family."

Buffy's only response was to hang up. She wished she'd been on something other than a cordless phone. A slam would've felt so much more satisfying.

The phone began ringing again, and this time Buffy did let the answering machine pick up.

"Buffy, it's Giles."

Buffy sighed, and pushed the talk button, the machine shutting off as she did. "Hey, Giles. Mom's pulling out the big guns, huh?"

Giles laughed lightly. "She seems to be under the impression that you'll listen to me better than you do her."

"Yeah, well, there's a reason for that."

Unlike his wife, Giles knew there were certain issues it was better not to challenge Buffy on if he expected to get anything out of her. "I know."

"Look, I can try to find an apartment for him, possibly even get him a few leads on a job. My boss owns a couple of other restaurants. I could put in a good word for William if he promises not to embarrass me."

"And I would appreciate any of that, but the problem is that William is, well, rather impatient. When he decides he wants to do something, he does it, often without thinking it through. He says he wants to leave for New York Monday, and he doesn't seem liable to change his mind."

"Monday? That's three days away!"

"I know. And I'm worried about the kind of trouble he'll get into if he's there all alone. Please, Buffy. I know this is a lot to ask, but I'm only doing so because I'm desperate."

Buffy felt her resolve slipping. Giles had been there for her when her world had fallen apart around her. "Why didn't you call me sooner?"

"William made his decision to move this morning."

"This morning? And he's leaving Monday? Is he insane?"

Giles chuckled. "Quite possibly."

"Great. You want me to have a crazy man as my roommate. Thanks ever so." Buffy paused for a moment, then asked, "Does he still look like a reject from a Billy Idol wannabe contest?"

"Well, um, he…yes."

Buffy sighed. "When's his plane getting in?"

"Late Monday evening. He's taking an early flight, but with layovers and the time difference…"

"Can he take a cab from the airport himself, or do I have to go hold his hand?"

"I'm sure he can manage to find your flat if I give him the address."

"You so owe me, Giles."

"I know," Giles replied, the relief he felt at Buffy's relenting evident in his voice. "I can't thank you enough."

"If he's a total ass, I'm kicking him out."

"I understand."

"I have to go back to work. I'm on my lunch break."

"All right, Buffy. And thank you again."

"Just remind your wife of this when she goes on another one of her rants about what a horrible, selfish person I am."

"Buffy, your mother doesn't think…"

"Don't, Giles," Buffy said, her voice tired. "Just don't."

"Right. I'll call Tuesday to make sure William is settling in."

"Fine. Bye, Giles."

"Good-bye, Buffy."

*** *** ***

"How was your lunch break?"

"Ugh, don't even go there, Willow," Buffy groaned in response to her friend and co-worker as she pulled her ponytail through the back of the black cap she had to wear around the food. "You will not believe the phone call I got."

Willow leaned on the counter. "What happened?"

"My mother called…"

"Already feeling the badness…"

"It gets worse. She called to ask me a favor—a really big, really imposing favor."

"What did she want you to do? I mean, you can't really do much, being all the way on the other side of the country and all."

"You'd think. She wants me to let my step-father's son come stay with me for a while."

"What? You never told me you have a step-brother."

"That's because I don't."

"But your step-father's son…"

"Exactly. That's what he is. See, 'brother' implies some kind of familial relation, and I don't even know this guy. I met him once, five years ago at my mom's wedding, and he was a total asshole then. From what I remember, he was a complete freak, and I never even wanted to see him again, never mind have him as a roommate."

"Maybe he's changed," Willow offered.

"I doubt it. He's been staying with Mom and Giles for a while, so I've heard a little about him. He's trying to make it as a musician, or something like that, and all I can think about is what kind of hell that's going to reek upon my life."

"I lived with a bass player for a while. It wasn't bad."

Buffy cocked an eyebrow. "When did you live with a bass player?"

"Beginning of my freshman year, before I met you. But then he had all these personal problems—completely unrelated to the whole musician thing, I swear—and I, well, figured out I'm kinda gay."

"The things I learn about your wild past, Willow Rosenberg," Buffy said with a smirk.

Willow rolled her eyes. "I'd hardly call my past 'wild.'"

"I don't know… Xander told me about your crayon-breaking days in kindergarten, you rebel, you."

"That was an accident!"

"Excuse me, but I do not see money being made."

Willow and Buffy turned around to face their manager, Anya Jenkins. Anya was a little older than the other two women, and had graduated the year before with a degree in business. "That's because there aren't any customers," Buffy replied.

"There aren't any customers because they can see through the windows that the two of you aren't in your money-making positions." The bell above the door rang, and Anya jumped. "There's a customer now!"

"That's not a customer. That's just Xander. He's bringing back the notes he borrowed from me," Willow said.

"Xander!" Anya exclaimed, her eyes lighting up as she ran her hands down her sides, smoothing out her clothes.

"Hey, Wills. Buffster," Xander said, approaching the counter. He looked at the third woman. "Anya, right?"

"Right. I'm Anya. And you're Xander," Anya replied, as if trying to conceal nervousness.

"Um, yeah. That I am."

"So you have my notes?" Willow asked.

"Yep," Xander replied, bringing his backpack around so he could get them. "You system of color coding was really helpful."

"See!" Willow cried triumphantly. "Tara says it's insane. Well, actually, she said 'quirky,' but I know she meant insane. I could tell."

"Well, you can let Tara know that I said your system is very useful," Xander replied, handing the notes over the counter. "Hey, do you think while I'm here I could get a cheese danish?"

"Sure," Buffy replied, going towards the cash register.

"Buffy, don't charge him! He's your friend!" Anya said, getting Xander his danish.

Willow and Buffy exchanged a look. Anya didn't even give free food to employees, never mind their friends.

Anya handed Xander the pastry in a small paper bag, brushing her fingers against his as she did. "Please come back again," she said with a bright smile.

Xander smiled back, taking the bag. "I will."

"Are you taking off now?" Buffy asked him.

"Yeah. I have a class to get to. We still on for tonight?"

"Of course," Willow replied. "Buffy, you can still make it too, right? Don't have to do a lot to get ready for your houseguest?"

"A world of no. I'm going to do anything to make his stay more comfortable. If anything, I'll do what I can to make it more uncomfortable. Want to come by later and help me hide sharp things in the couch?"

"Buffy has a houseguest—a male houseguest?" Xander asked.

"It's just her brother," Willow replied.

"Buffy has a brother?"

Buffy sighed. "No, Buffy does not have a brother. It's my mother's husband's son."

"Wouldn't that be your step-brother?" Anya asked.

"No. He's…he's just the guy that's going to probably be making my life miserable for a while. No big."

Xander raised an eyebrow. "Fill me in on this later?"

"Yeah, I will."

"Okay. I'm off, then. Catch you ladies later. And nice to see you again, Anya."

"You, too, Xander." As soon as Xander left, Anya's dreamy smile left her face. "Okay, back to making money now," she commanded before going to the office.

"Did I have a moment of insanity, or did Anya just give something for free?" Willow asked.

"Unless we both had the same hallucination, she did."

"Wow. I never thought I'd live to see the day."

"I think she likes him," Buffy said. "Although as clueless as Xander tends to be, she'd probably have to show up to his apartment, take off all her clothes, and explain to him that their bodies interlock before he'd figure it out."

"And then we'd have the privilege of listening to Anya describe her orgasm-giving activities with Xander," Willow replied with a shudder. "That is one thing I do not want to think about."

"Better than her descriptions of the vengeance she inflicts once the orgasms stop," Buffy replied. "That woman can be really scary at times."

"Have you seen that look she gets in her eyes?" Willow asked. "It's downright demonic."

Buffy giggled. "I know that look. She gets it when she thinks the money's been endangered."

"Yep, that's the one." Willow laughed for a moment, then sobered. "Are you going to be okay with this whole mother's-husband's-son as a roommate thing?"

"I think so," Buffy replied. "And if I'm not, you'll help me hide the body, right?"

Willow wrapped her arm around Buffy's shoulder. "Of course. After all, what are friends for?"

*** *** ***

Buffy groaned, the loud banging at her front door pulling her out of a deep sleep. She looked at the clock, wondering who in the world could possibly be bothering her at this hour. Then she remembered.

William…

Buffy pulled herself from the couch where she'd been waiting for him. Even allowing for complications, he should've been there hours ago. It was three a.m., and she had a class in five hours.

Rubbing her eyes, Buffy walked towards the door, grumbling. She looked through the peephole, not sure if she was relieved or not to see that it was her new "roommate." She opened the door, feeling her skin prickle at the positively irritating smirk he was giving her.

"Hello, cutie."

*** *** ***

Yeah, I know—cruel place to leave it. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. In the meantime, please leave a review and let me know what you think.





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