Life is Short (revamped) Part 6a/7

["TheBear" <thebear@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Life is Short (Revamped)

Author: The Bear!

Spoilers: kinda spins away from Welcome to the Hellmouth, and there's
elements of the Harvest as well, so no real spoilers, unless you've
never seen the show at all.

Pairing: B/W

Summary: Buffy moves to a new town looking for a fresh start, and maybe
a new love.

Warnings: NC17 (but not really till part 7) 

Disclaimer: If I owned 'em, they'd have to show it on the Ecstasy
Network.

Author's Note: If you've read this before, you're in for a surprise!
It's nearly twice as long, and extensively revamped, so, give it another
shot!

========== BtVS ==========

Part 6

========== BtVS ==========

"I'm afraid I'm going to get used to this if you keep it up," Buffy's
mom quipped as she came into the kitchen.

Buffy looked up from the bowl of cinnamon Life she was wolfing down.
'Huh?' she thought, seeing the smirk on her mother's mouth. "Eating
breakfast?" she mumbled questioningly through her mouthful of food.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," her mom reminded her. She walked
over to the counter and began to set up the coffee maker before
continuing, "No, I meant the whole getting up before me thing. Frankly
I don't know how you do it, staying out as late as you do."

Finishing her mouthful, Buffy shrugged and said, "I just want to get
over to Willow's so we can walk to school together." A smile grew wide
on her face as she silently added, 'Of course, that's after I kiss her
breathless first!'

"Buffy, I..." her mom started, then paused.

Buffy looked back to see that the elder Summers was wearing her
'concerned mom' look. 'Uh oh... that's never a good sight!' she thought
with sudden trepidation.

"I need to talk to you about Willow..." Joyce said, her posture seeming
awkward and uncomfortable.

Buffy's eyes narrowed slightly and it took an effort to keep her voice
neutral as she said, "What about her?"

Something must have come through in Buffy's voice, because her mom was
instantly solicitous, "She seems like a very nice girl..."

"She is," Buffy couldn't help but interject. "She's great!"

'Whoops!' she thought when her mother's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"What about her, Mom?" Buffy said, deliberately looking down and
resuming eating her cereal.

"Well, I don't want to create any problems, but I think... Willow may...
well, she seemed like she might have a little... crush. On you..."

'Oh God!' Buffy thought, choking slightly but managing to avoid spraying
the countertop with cereal. 'Oh God, oh God, oh God! What do I do?'
her mind rambled in a panic. 

"Uh, why... what... um..." Buffy sputtered. She had to stop and breathe
for a moment before she could get her mouth to work properly. Glancing
back up at her mother's face, Buffy said, "Um, what makes you say that?"

The thoughtful look on her mother's face was wavering into confusion.
"Well... it's the way she was staring at you last night when you weren't
looking."

'Just be cool, Buffy' she told herself. Striving for nonchalance as she
carried her bowl and spoon over to the sink and rinsed them out, she
said, "Staring at me?" 

Her mom's voice had a note of suspicion in it as she expounded, "Yes,
she stared at you with puppy dog eyes."

'Oh, that's so sweet!' Buffy thought, thankful to have her back to her
mother, as she couldn't keep the smile off of her face. "I, uh... ok?"
she stammered, not certain how to respond.

"Well..." It was clear from her tone that this was not how she had
expected Buffy to react. "I just wanted you to be aware of it..."

Buffy put the milk in the refrigerator, still not meeting her mother's
gaze. "Oh, well... I don't think it's gonna be a problem," she said.
'See, didn't even have to lie! 'Cause, Willow crushing on me? *So* not
a bad thing!' Out loud, Buffy added, "Gotta go, Mom. Don't wanna be
late to school!" She grabbed her pack and started for the door.

"Buffy!" her mom exclaimed.

'Dang! Almost made it!' Buffy lamented. Schooling her features into as
placid a mask as possible, Buffy turned around.

Arms crossed and a look of suspicion in her eye, Joyce Summers said,
"Buffy... is there something you want to tell me?"

"Nope!" Buffy said, forcing a smile onto her face. 'Nothing I *want* to
tell you, at least not right now!' she added to herself.

Her mother didn't lose the look of suspicion, but it was clear that she
couldn't immediately come up with anything further to say. "Ok... well,
have a good day at school then."

"Ok, bye Mom!" Buffy said, feeling a little relief as she beat a hasty
retreat through the front door.

Buffy's relief was short lived though. 'I have a feeling that this was
just part one of the interrogation,' she thought.

========== BtVS ==========

Buffy mulled over the issue as she sprinted to Willow's. 'I should just
tell her, 'cause she's gonna figure it out eventually, and she'll be
pissed at me for not telling her, and I don't wanna hide anyway. Plus,
if Willow can't stop staring at me... not that I want her to stop!
Puppy dog eyes! How adorable is that?' Images of Willow's sexy eyes
staring at her with longing rolled through Buffy's mind. 

Less savory thoughts came to the fore as she turned onto Willow's block.
'What if she freaks out that I'm bisexual? She didn't seem all upset
that Willow might be interested in me, just wanted me to know, right?
But what if she was... What if she... No! She got over me burning down
the gym at Hemery... she can get over this!'

As Buffy slowed to a stop in front of Willow's house, she decided, 'I'm
gonna tell her. She'll either be ok with it, or she freak, and just
have to get over it. 'Cause no way am I giving up Willow!'

Buffy grinned happily when the door opened just as she raised her hand
to knock. "Were you standing there watching for me?" She asked happily
at the sight of her girlfriend.

Willow blushed and ducked her head slightly. "Um, yeah." she asked,
sounding embarrassed. "Pathetic, huh?" 

"I was gonna go with 'adorable'," Buffy said, reaching out and cupping
the redhead's flushed cheek.

Willow sighed, closing her eyes and pressing against Buffy's hand.

Buffy stepped forward as Willow stepped back into the house. She moved
her other hand to the redhead's waist and held her in place as she
stepped close. Buffy slid her fingers into the silky red locks, cupping
the back of Willow's head and drawing her forward into a gentle kiss.

"Good morning!" Buffy whispered fervently, pulling away just enough to
say it. 

Willow nodded ever so slightly and her warm breath bathed the Slayer's
face as she agreed, "It is now!"

Buffy felt a seeping warmth throughout her body as her girlfriend
initiated a second, much more passionate kiss. 'I love you, I love you,
I love you!' her mind exulted as the redhead's tongue pressed her lips
apart gently twined with her own.

Long moments later when Willow had finished plundering her mouth, Buffy
gasped, "You've gotten really good at that!" 

"Mmmm, I've got such a good teacher!" Willow replied with a saucy look
on her face.

"Willow! You sassy thing, you!" Buffy said with a delighted grin. 

'I love to look at you. You are so beautiful!' Buffy thought with
blissful joy. 'I so don't want to hide this, not that we're hiding it
from anyone in school, not after that little tiff with the wicked witch
of the west yesterday... but I don't want to hide it from Mom either...'

After a moment of Buffy staring at her, Willow's eyebrows furrowed and
she tilted her head to the side slightly. "Buffy?" she asked, her voice
sounding curious rather than concerned. "What is it?"

Blinking as she ended her reverie, Buffy shook her head slightly and
said, "Nothing. I'm just really happy right now. I don't remember
being this happy before."

Willow's smile widened even further, before contracting into a strange
grinning pout sort of thing. Her lower lip trembled and her eyes were
shiny with moisture as she spoke. "I lo..." she started. She paused to
gulp loudly, and take a deep breath before continuing, "Me too... you
make me so happy Buffy!"

'Oh Willow! I want you so bad right now!' Buffy though with both
excitement and shame. 'Why can't I even look at you without wanting to
jump your bones!'

With a deep breath of her own, Buffy stepped away from the redhead and
reached for her hand. 'I don't trust myself to be alone with you
Willow. I'd never force anything, but right now, I don't think you'd
stop me!' she thought, seeing her desire reflected in her girlfriend's
eyes. "Come on, we don't want to be late for school," Buffy said,
opening the door behind her. 'And I never thought I'd hear myself say
that, like, ever!' she added silently.

Willow's voice sounded reluctant as she answered, "Right... don't wanna
do that..."

'I'm gonna have to start getting up even earlier!' Buffy thought as they
walked out to the sidewalk, hand in hand. 'One of these mornings we're
not gonna make it out the door if I don't start taking the edge off
before I get here!'

========== BtVS ==========

Buffy had initially breathed a sigh of relief when she walked into
history class and found a certain brunette to be conspicuously absent.
'She musta been too freaked out from almost getting eaten last night.
Needed her beauty rest!' Buffy snickered to herself unkindly.

Now the class was halfway over and Buffy was ignoring the lecture, lost
in Willow thoughts. She didn't even notice the first time the teacher
called her name.

"Buffy!" his voice rang out.

'Oops!' Buffy thought as she focused her attention on the teacher.
'Great, everyone stare at the dumb blond!' she thought with chagrin as
she noticed all eyes in the class turned on her. "Um, sorry?" she said,
blushing.

"Buffy, you need to collect your things and go with Ms. McClurg,
please," the teacher said dispassionately.

"Oh, ok" Buffy mumbled, stuffing her textbook and unused notepad back
into her bag. 'Oh crap, what am I in trouble for now? It's only my
third day of school! I haven't done anything!' her mind whirled
nervously as she stood up.

Seeing the empty desk next to her, she was struck by the thought,
'Cordelia!' Her teeth grated as she realized, 'It has to be her, that's
the only possible thing I could be in trouble for...' 

Searching the sea of faces in the room, Buffy spied two of Cordelia's
little followers. 'Oh, yeah, it's Cordelia!' she thought upon seeing
their smug grins. 'I shoulda let that vamp drain the bitch!' she
growled bitterly to herself. 

"Miss Summers! Let's not take all day, shall we?" the teacher's voice
snapped sarcastically as Buffy stood there staring at the two girls.
She gave them her patented I-am-your-worst-nightmare! glare and had the
momentary satisfaction of seeing their smiles falter and drop away
before she turned and walked to the classroom door. 

The rolly-polly school secretary didn't say a word to her. She just
turned and walked away, clearly expecting Buffy to follow.

'Oh boy, something tells me that this is not going to end well!' Buffy
thought apprehensively as she shuffled down the hallway.

========== BtVS ==========

The ride home was agonizing for Buffy. 'I thought it was gonna be bad
when I walked into Flutie's office and she was there... I was wrong. It
was way worse than that!'

Her mom had been icily silent while the principal explained that she was
being suspended. '...Threats of violence against other students will
not be tolerated!' Buffy repeated his words in her mind, furious with
Cordelia, now more than ever. 

'Oh, he didn't say her name, but it was her... her and her little flock
of followers!' Buffy thought. 'Five signed witness statements, Cordelia,
Harmony, and the other three. I never got their names, but it doesn't
matter. It was them.'

'Oh, God, they had better *not* even *speak* to Willow while I'm not
around!' she thought, afraid that Willow would be their next target, and
mad at herself that she couldn't be there.

Her mother had remained silent while Flutie explained that a hearing
would be held in a week to determine whether or not she would be
expelled. When he was done, Buffy wasn't allowed to speak. "You'll
have your say at the hearing," he had mumbled, not meeting her eyes at
all.

When they had walked out into the hall, Buffy had tried to explain, but
her mother had cut her off, "I don't want to hear it!" she had exclaimed
in a brittle voice. "Get in the car, I'm taking you home," was all she
said before turning and walking away.

'God, I feel like I'm gonna puke!' Buffy lamented. The fear, anger,
worry, and longing she was feeling seemed to be churning in her guts.
'It was bad enough when I was just thinking about telling her about
Willow... That's not gonna happen anytime soon now!'

Buffy looked at her mother as she parked in the driveway. 'You can't
even look at me?' she thought, feeling tears spring to her eyes at the
coldness her mom displayed- opening the door and walking toward the
house without even a backward glance.

Buffy got out of the Jeep Cherokee, feeling like she was leaving the
proverbial frying pan, and slowly trudged toward the house.

She barely got the door closed behind her when her mother, still turned
away, said, "Go to your room. You're grounded."

'What?' Buffy thought incredulously. 

"Mom!" she started to argue.

Her mother whirled around, shouting, "Three days! Three days, Buffy!
You aren't even in school a week and it's all happening again!"

Buffy felt like a vamp had landed a lucky punch in her stomach. "I
already wasn't looking forward to this talk, but at least I thought
you'd listen to my side!" she said with tearful quietness, stunned by
her mother's outburst.

"Your side?!" her mom shouted, clearly about to lose control. She
closed her eyes and breathed deeply several times before continuing.
"Go to your room. I can't talk to you right now," she said in a small,
defeated voice. Her eyes remained closed as she spoke.

Hot bitter tears poured down Buffy's face as she turned and walked to
the stairs. Looking back at her mom before starting up them, she saw
that the elder Summers had turned her back towards her daughter once
again. 'She hates me!' Buffy thought, her chest hurting as she
restrained the sobs that were threatening to erupt. 

Buffy ran up the stairs and into her room. She slammed the door and
threw herself on her bed, weeping uncontrollably. 'Oh Willow! I wish
you were here right now!' she thought, utterly bereft of hope or joy in
that moment

========== BtVS ==========

Willow strode into the library and frantically scanned the area for her
missing girlfriend. "Buffy!" she cried out. Her voice echoed in the
empty room mockingly. "Buffy, are you in here?!"

The redhead spun around to see Xander just now coming through the
doorway, following her. "Oh, Xander; she's not here either! Where would
she have gone? We were supposed to meet in the lunchroom, she wouldn't
miss lunch, not with me! She'd tell me for sure, I just know it!" She
could feel her heart pounding in her chest as her thoughts spun
incoherently in her head, leaving her on the edge of full-blown panic.

Xander's reassuring smile hardly even registered with her. "It's ok,
Will. We'll find her, I promise!" he said in a calm and even tone.

'Calm down, calm down Rosenberg. She's ok, you'll find her...' Willow
thought, trying to regulate her breathing. She nodded and met Xander's
gaze, feeling her face flush a little. She winced at her own outburst
and said, "Right, sorry, sorry. I just kinda spazzed out for a minute
there..."

Willow jumped and squeaked, "Eep!" when Giles voice boomed out from
behind her.

"Good lord, what's all the racket... Oh, it's you two. Of course," he
said with disappointment ringing clearly in his voice.

Willow turned around as the frowning Watcher continued. "You do, of
course, realize that this is a library? Generally a place where
shouting and the like are not acceptable..." he finished on a sarcastic
note. 

Willow felt her face flush even hotter at the acerbic tone, but was more
worried about her girlfriend than she was embarrassed. "Mr. Giles, have
you seen Buffy?" she asked hopefully.

"No. Ms. Summers apparently decided to disregard my request that she
meet with me." His eyes moved away from her and focused on the boy next
to her as he continued. "You did pass on my request last night, Mr.
Harris?"

Willow could feel Xander stiffen next to her, and his response sounded
extremely defensive, "Hey! I told her exactly what you said, stuffy
British-guy-speak and everything!"

Giles looked like he was about to offer a scathing reply when Willow
interjected loudly, "Hey, let's focus people!" She immediately felt
embarrassed at her outburst, but pressed on in the stunned silence that
resulted. "Mr. Giles, Buffy told me she was going to come and talk to
you before lunch."

A mildly surprised look and raised eyebrow graced the Watcher's face
before it returned to its disapproving mask.

Daunted, but not dissuaded, Willow continued on, "She was supposed to
meet me in the lunch room and then we were both gonna come and see you,
but she never showed up! And I went to her next class and she wasn't
there either, and then Xander talked to a bunch of people and heard that
she was taken out of class first thing this morning by Principal
Flutie's secretary, and I know we're supposed to call her the
administrative assistant, but everyone knows she's his secretary, and
that's not important right now, but I was thinking about it the other
day and I thought it was stupid that they would just change the name
'cause it's the same job, and what's wrong with being a secretary? It's
not like anyone looks down on Madeline Allbright, and she's a secretary,
and ok, that's..."

"Willow!" Xander exclaimed loudly, breaking into the redhead's
tangential rant.

"Huh?" Willow asked, shaking her head slightly. Glancing back and forth
between Xander's smirking face and Giles stunned look, she once again
felt her face become hot with embarrassment. "Oh, sorry. Right, there
was a point to be made there, and that point is; Buffy's missing and we
need to find out what happened to her!" she finished loudly.

Giles removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose with a
pained look. "If I understand you correctly..." his tone indicated
doubt. "Buffy was taken from her first period class by Mrs. McClurg, I
believe?"

Xander quipped, "That would be the rolly-polly in question," while
Willow nodded exasperatedly.

Giles didn't comment on Xander's quip, to Willow's surprise. His face
drew into a thoughtful look for a moment and then he muttered, "I'll
just give Eddie a call," and walked back toward his office.

Turning back toward her best friend since kindergarten, Willow asked,
"What are we gonna do, Xander? First Jesse disappears, and now Buffy's
missing!" She clenched her hands together over and over as the worry
ate at her.

She flinched slightly when Xander grabbed her hands and began pulling
her toward the large table in the center of the room.

Xander pulled out two chairs and pushed her back into one, seating
himself in the other, facing her. "Will, I'm sure Buffy's fine. She
can definitely take care of herself, Right?" Before she could respond,
he went on, "She probably had to go home for some reason, and once G-man
finds out, you'll call her and it'll all be ok. Ok?"

'Oh God, I hope you're right!' Willow thought, wanting to take comfort
in his words, but not feeling very reassured. "What about Jesse? He's
never taken off for this long before."

Xander's face crumpled, and his voice sounded hollow as he replied, "I
dunno, Will. I'm really worried about him."

Willow felt a tear slide down her cheek as she whispered, "Me too!"

'Buffy, Where are you?' Willow thought anxiously as she gripped Xander's
hands tightly.

At that moment, the sound of the librarian's office door opening and
closing diverted Willow's attention.

'Oh, that doesn't look good!' she thought apprehensively at the sight of
Giles frowning face and darting eyes.

The Watcher took a seat across the table from the teenagers by his gaze
seemed more interested in anything but them.

"Mr. Giles! What is it?" Willow asked fearfully.

The Englishman sighed deeply and removed his glasses. "I'm afraid it
isn't good news," he began, removing a handkerchief and polishing the
lenses of his spectacles. "Buffy was suspended this morning..."

Xander's strangled "What?!" barely registered with Willow as she felt
her heart sink and an icy cold sensation take up residence in her
stomach.

"...pending a hearing to decide on her expulsion from school," Giles
continued.

'Oh no! This is my fault!' Willow lamented silently, peripherally
noticing that Xander was standing up and demanding to know what the hell
was going on. 

Willow didn't need Giles' explanation. 'Cordelia. It has to be 'cause
of Cordelia... when Buffy slapped her and pushed her around in the
bathroom yesterday...'

Willow felt her face grow hot, and her eyes began to stream burning
tears. 'Oh God, this is all my fault! If I could have just stood up to
Cordelia, Buffy wouldn't have had to rescue me!'

"Willow!" Giles shout penetrated her fugue state. 

She looked up to see Giles confused and worried look. She glanced over
to her left to see Xander posed in an angry stance several feet away-
with his arms crossed and his jaw clenched. Giles question drew her
attention back to the Watcher.

"Willow, do you have any idea what this allegation is all about?" Giles
asked.

'Allegation?' Willow thought, confused. 'I must have missed that
part...'

Willow shook her head a little bit and softly answered, "Sorry, Mr.
Giles. Could you go over that part again?"

The Watcher's annoyance was clearly communicated as he huffed and
replaced his eyeglasses. "A complaint was filed- apparently by several
students- alleging that Buffy Summers had made death threats against
them. Can you shed any light on this?"

Willow nodded her head sadly and explained the bathroom incident.

By the time she finished the story, Xander was rolling with laughter,
while Giles was furiously polishing his glasses and frowning with
disapproval to equal Xander's delight.

"Oh! I *so* wish I could have seen that!" Xander crowed. "Tell it
again, Will, how she peed her pants! That's my favorite part!"

"This is not funny, Xander!" Giles stated loudly. 

"Oh, I beg to differ. I know funny, and this is definitely it! You
haven't had to put up with Cordelia Chase for the last ten years.
Believe you me, you'd be making with the merry too!" Xander replied.

"This is a bloody disaster, that's what it is!" Giles said angrily.
"Bad enough that you two had to find out, now this Cordelia person is
using it to stir up trouble... The Slayer is supposed to be a secret!"

Willow tuned out the brewing argument, concentrating on something else.
'How do I fix this? It's my fault Buffy's in trouble, I need to fix
it!'

========== BtVS ========== 

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