Title: Acting The Part
Author:
Pattyanne
[email protected]
Disclaimer: None of the BtVS
characters
belong to me.
Feedback: Love some, thanks.
Rating: Up to NC-17
Summary:
AU. William St. James is
an actor in a hit television show.
While
appearing at a fan convention, he meets
Buffy and her six year old
daughter, Melanie.
AN: Thank you all for the wonderful feedback.
It
means a lot to me.
Part Thirteen....
"Drink your
milk, Melanie."
"I did."
"All of it, please."
Fighting back
a smile, William picked up the glass of
milk that Melanie had poured for him.
Her slightly off aim
pouring method had left a white ring beneath the glass
which
he quickly wiped away with the sleeve of his shirt.
"Drink it
all down, pixie," he said. "Want to grow big and
strong, don't
you?"
The child instantly picked up her glass and emptied it,
making
it obvious to anyone who cared to look that she
did so because HE had
requested it.
Buffy just shrugged it off. She was now accustomed to
the
way William's opinions and actions governed her daughter's be-
havior,
and she wasn't about to interfere. As long as someone
got the milk down the
little girl's throat, she didn't really care
who it was.
Melanie
pushed her plate away, a signal that she had no
intention of eating one more
bite. She climbed down out of
her chair and ran around to the other side of
the table where
William was sitting.
He immediately pushed his own
chair away from the
table and lifted her into his lap. "You don't have to eat
all of
it," she informed him, a phrase picked up from her mother,
he was
sure. "Just do your best."
"Thank you," he replied, "but I still have
plenty of room left
for the rest of this very nice dinner."
Buffy
watched their interaction with great interest. It seemed
so natural to them
both, and they looked so 'right' together
that she had to wonder if Melanie's
dream hadn't been as
completely far fetched as she'd thought, more of a
premonition
than a dream.
She pushed that thought away, labeling it
unlikely. There was
no way that Melanie could have known that her mother
and
her prospective 'Daddy' would be so attracted to each other. Not
at
the time she'd had that dream, anyway.
Still, she couldn't help imagining
how things might have played
out had William been Melanie's biological father
in place of
Angel.
For one thing, she'd probably still be married,
because if Angel
had been one half the father she suspected William would
be,
she would never have left him.
As she mused over that
possibility, she suddenly remembered
something that William had said earlier;
"Worst thing in the world
is to be involved with someone else when the right
person comes
along."
Was Angel the right person? Had he ever been, or
had she just
wanted him to be so badly that she'd been willing to
compromise,
especially after their child's birth?
In other words, had
it all been a huge mistake on her part,
one that Melanie had to pay for by
being saddled with a
father who didn't possess the emotional wherewithal
needed for the job?
Angel had failed as a husband. He'd failed as a
father. But
maybe...in the long run...it was better that way.
Because
now...there was William.
On the day her divorce had been final, Buffy had
put Melanie
to bed, then sat beside her and watched her sleep, making
a
silent promise that somehow...somewhere...she would find
a man who would
love her child as much as she did herself,
a man willing to take on an
immediate family.
Of course, she'd quickly learned that it wasn't as
simple as all
that. The few men she'd casually dated had pretty much been cut
from the same cloth; uninterested in her child, but willing to put up
with her in the belief that as a divorced woman, Buffy was desperate
for
sex.
She hadn't been, although she was beginning to feel more
and
more that way over the last few days because now...there
was
William.
Buffy didn't realize that she'd drifted into a bit of a
daze until
William snapped his fingers in front of her.
"What?" She
shook her head. "Did I miss something?"
Melanie giggled as William
whispered something in her ear. "We
asked...for chocolate cake..." She
stopped and looked at him. "I
don't think we have any," she whispered back.
Before he could reply, Buffy jumped up and went into the
pantry,
returning with two small packages in her hand. "I've
got something almost as
good," she announced, showing them
what she'd brought. "Hostess Cup
Cakes."
She handed one package to William. Opening the other one,
she
slid one of the little cakes out, then gave the package
to
Melanie.
William chuckled. "God, I haven't had one of these since I
was your age," he told Melanie, watching as she licked
chocolate bits
from the cardboard. "I think this calls for more
milk."
"Okay." She
put down her cupcake and jumped off his lap. "I'll
go and get
some."
To Buffy's everlasting amazement, not only did she pour
more
milk for William, but for herself as well!
******************************
After the table was
cleared and the kitchen put to rights, Buffy
marched Melanie upstairs for her
bath. Although normally the
child was quite playful in the tub, it was
Wednesday night, and
she was all business. She was bathed, dried off,
dressed in
clean pajamas and back downstairs in less than fifteen
minutes.
As the theme music began for 'Outpost:Space', she
plopped
down on the floor in front of the television, her arms wrapped
around her stuffed lamb.
Buffy was crossing in front of the couch to
sit in the
armchair when William's hand darted out and grabbed
hers,
pulling her down beside him.
"This feels strange," he murmured
in her ear. "I never watch
myself on television."
She was surprised.
"Never?"
"Nope." He shook his head shrugged. "It seems...I don't know,
conceited or something? You know...'Hey, look at me, I'm on tele-
vision!
Aren't I wonderful!' "
"Oh, that's just silly," she said. "You're
definitely not conceited."
"Thank you." He peered at the screen closely.
"Do I look fat to you?"
"Fat? Are you..." Turning to look at him, she saw
that he was
teasing her and gave him a small shove. "Very
funny."
******************************
"Watch this," Buffy
whispered, gesturing at Melanie.
At the show's halfway mark, she had
climbed up on the couch
and settled herself between her mother and William.
Her attention
had never drifted, right up until the credits began to roll.
Then, as
though someone had flipped a switch, she fell instantly
asleep.
William watched this, grinning hugely.
"She does this
every week," Buffy explained as she stood up
without jostling the child.
"She's wide awake until exactly that
same point and then out she
goes."
Starting to bend over and pick the sleeping girl up, she
was
stopped by William. "I've got her," he murmured, rising to his
feet
with Melanie in his arms.
Buffy went ahead of him up the stairs, flicking
on the night light
in Melanie's room, and turning the covers down.
William held the little girl for just a moment more, then lowered
her into bed. Buffy purposely held back, letting him pull the
blankets
back up. Watching him lean down and kiss Melanie's
cheek as he whispered,
"Sweet dreams, pixie," made her
heart turn over in her chest.
When she
joined him in the hallway, he was leaning against
the wall. "I liked that,"
he said simply. "Putting her to bed."
"Me, too," she nodded. "It's a
special time of day. Very
peaceful."
He reached for her hand and took
her back downstairs.
******************************
She
made coffee and brought it into the living room. Instead of
finding William
on the sofa, she saw him sitting on the chair in front
of her desk. His head
was slightly tilted, and Buffy knew exactly
what he was looking
at.
The stack of papers next to her computer, the 'Outpost:
Space'
stories she'd been printing for Melanie.
Her entire body became
one heated blush. It swept from her
hairline to her toes, making her hand
jerk and spill a few drops
of coffee.
William glanced up at her, then
did a double take when he
noticed her agitation. "What?"
Forcing
herself to concentrate on the task at hand, she set
both mugs down on the
coffee table. "Nothing," she replied,
trying to sound convincing.
He
didn't look at all convinced, but he didn't pursue it. "Got
these off the
Internet, right?" Picking up the stack of papers,
he flipped through
them.
She wiped her suddenly clammy hands on her skirt. "Well,
yes,
but they're...I mean they're not...for me...I just...I thought,
you
know...for Melanie. That's...that's who they're for," she
finally
choked out, seemingly unable to stop babbling nervously.
"Not
me."
"Oh," he said casually, then, "Did you read
them?"
Moving towards in baby steps, she attempted to make a
response
that was the truth, but not the whole truth.
"I've...I've skimmed over
them." She swallowed hard, then
lobbed the ball back into his court. "Have
YOU ever read them?"
"No." He shook his head. "I keep meaning to. I know
there's
a lot of it out there, but I wouldn't even know where to
begin."
Looking as though a light bulb had just popped on over his
head,
he said, "Maybe you could..."
**Don't ask me what I KNOW you're
about to ask me!**
she yelped frantically in her head.
"...help me out
by..."
**Don't say it! Do NOT say it!**
"...showing me where I can
find..."
**I don't WANT to!**
"...some of
them."
Trapped, she could hardly refuse. "I can do that."
He
smiled at her, the smile that always made her blood
course rapidly through
her body. They traded places, and he
leaned against the desk...watching as
she found the
fan fiction archive she'd been visiting
recently.
Scanning the opening page, he looked impressed and
leaned
over, one hand on the back of her chair and the
other one on the
desk.
Buffy clicked on 'fan fiction' and waited.
"Whoa," he
murmured, looking over the long list of
titles. "There must be five hundred
stories here."
She scrolled quickly down the page, barely letting
him
see what the titles were and searching for the 'G' rated
ones.
William leaned even closer. "Wait a second," he said,
stopping her.
"Go back a little."
Resigning herself to the inevitability of it, she
scrolled
back up to the 'adult' section. "Where?"
"Right there." He
pointed at the screen.
The titles by themselves were enough to make her
blush!
She hesitated. "I...I don't think this is a very good
idea."
"I do." He smiled his wicked smile again, but she had her
head
turned and didn't see
it.
******************************
William didn't have to see
her face to know what was going
through her mind. The heat she was giving off
was enough
to melt the polar ice caps.
Although he felt sorry for her
obvious embarrassment, it
was too good an opportunity to miss. Placing his
hand over
hers on the mouse, he chose a title at random and clicked
on it:
'Above And Beyond The Call'
Written by: Starlover, who doesn't own a
speck of 'Outpost: Space', though she'd be
willing to settle for owning
Captain Amara.
Rating: Adults only! Keep an eye on your
kids.
Summary: PWP (Do you really need to know
more?)
As he
read the story, Buffy sat rigidly still, not allowing
herself to squirm in
discomfort, and feeling rather foolish for
wanting to.
**You're being
ridiculous," she scolded herself. **You're a
grown woman, with a child., and
you've been around the
block before...so, stop it!**
Her common
sense told her off, but she still wasn't about to
sit there and read along
with him. Turning her face up, she
observed his reaction and was charmed to
see him just
barely moving his lips as he read.
"Hmm." He straightened
up and folded his arms across his
chest.
Buffy had to ask. "How does
it make you feel to read that? To
have people write about you..." She
couldn't make the words
'having sex' come out of her mouth. "...that
way?"
He shrugged. "Honestly? Suddenly inadequate."
"What?" She
was truthfully perplexed by his con-
fession. "Why inadequate? In what
way?"
Unlike Buffy, William had no problem making certain words
come
out of HIS mouth. "Well, it's damn flattering, but I
should probably warn
you before we get involved that I can't
possibly ejaculate five times in
fifteen minutes."
It was such an amusing, unexpected comment that
she
forgot to be embarrassed and just laughed. "Not even
for me?"
"As
beautiful and sexy as you are...no can do, honey. I'm
good, but I'm not THAT
good." Nudging her over a bit, he
sat next to her on the chair.
"What a disappointment," she sighed.
"You're telling ME!" He
pulled her onto his lap, wrapping
both arms around her waist. "And," he
added, "when I
DO ejaculate, I don't produce puddles."
Another spurt
of laughter burst out of her. Delighted by her
reaction, he continued
provoking it by comparing himself to
the author's version. He informed her
that he didn't walk
around with a 24 hour a day erection; that he
wasn't
possessed of an 'endowment' that had its own zip code; and
that he
had most definitely never...and he stressed 'never'..even
ATTENDED an orgy,
much less STARTED one.
When her giggling was finally under control, Buffy
tilted her
head back to look at him. He returned her silent gaze for
a
moment, then glanced back at the computer screen.
"Do you know how
much I want you," he read out loud
from the text. "That I've always wanted
you?"
He paused, gesturing for her to take up her part.
Buffy
looked at the screen. "Those words trip easily off
your tongue, Amara. You
must have spoken them many
times."
"Don't think to distract me,
princess. I want you...and I
WILL have you." He whispered the words in her
ear, his
breath warm on her skin.
Flustered by his actions, she lost
her place for a moment.
"Where's...oh, here. Um...why are you so set upon
me, when
there are women at every station who would give you anything
you
asked of them?"
"But everyone knows that the daughter of Selkira is the
most
beautiful and exiting woman in the farthest reaches of
occupied
space."
"You have a quick and...and facile tongue,
Earth-man."
"Let me show you what I can do with it." More words
delivered
right into her receptive ear, making her feel soft and pliable
in
his arms.
William turned her on his lap and captured her mouth
beneath
his. Their lips parted and their tongues caressed, playing
and
probing.
His arms tightened around her as the kiss deepened. There
was passion and hunger, barely restrained, and neither had
the will...or
the desire...to stop.
Buffy was the first to break away. She stared into
his dark eyes,
a little dazed. "Would you...like to come upstairs?" she
asked,
shocking herself right out of her shoes. "To my...bedroom?"
He
nodded slowly. "Very much."
TBC.....
(Chapter 14
will be up very shortly. I had to do some last minute
tinkering.
Tinker...tinker..; as always, feedback is appreciated)