To Thine Own Self Be True
by mike
Look Ma, No Hands
[reviews]
Chapter 7
Look Ma, No Hands.
Willow and I made it to her house a little before ten PM. She lived about three blocks from me, maybe a ten minute walk, in a large rambling two story house I noted as we approached the front door.
"My room's kinda neat, it's upstairs on the opposite end of the house from my parents with French doors going out onto a verandah with stairs leading down to the back yard." Willow explained quickly, with a touch of embarrassment.
"Sounds really nice Willow, but hardly makes up for absentee parental units, huh?" I responded with what I hoped was an understanding tone and not the anger I felt at parents who could neglect such a magnificent young woman. I was just going to have to make sure Willow was never neglected again. Yep, I just need to think of some good ways to make sure she never feels neglected again. Mmmmmmm, that would do for starts as visions of Willow plums danced through my head.
"No, I guess not," she mumbled. Then she looked at me and the corners of her mouth started to pull up in a smile. "But things are definitely looking up." She finished brightly.
"Yes, they certainly are." I replied with warmth, trying to decide if I needed to do something right away to stave of Willow neglect. We had stopped in the entryway as she closed and locked the front door and I noticed her long hair had swept back as she had turned around. With her hair back, her ear was completely exposed and looking incredibly neglected. I quickly stepped closer and taking her in my arms, gently pressed my lips to her ear and commenced to lavish its silky contours with my tongue. I felt her body melt into mine and I began to alternate from her ear to her neck, eliciting little moans of pleasure from my little red headed waif.
"Oh Buffy, that is sooo good." She sighed out between moans.
"And there's more to come, but aren't your parents here?" I asked reluctantly, remembering where we were.
"They're supposed to be, but everything seems like they're not here." She said as she looked about. "If they're gone, they would have left a note in the kitchen." I followed her as she headed towards what I assume must be the kitchen.
I followed Willow past a decorous living room and formal dining area into a very modern kitchen. On the center island, there was a note with an envelope. Willow sighed after reading the note.
"They've taken off again." She exclaimed with exasperation.
"My parents, they've left for some conference in Chicago. They'll be gone for two weeks." Willow said, her voice filled with dejection.
I needed to nip this Willow neglect in the bud, and I just might be able to nip a few other Willow things while I'm at it.
"There is no way you're staying here alone for two weeks." I told her.
"It's all right Buffy; I do it all the time." She said matter of factly overlaid with sadness.
"That was B U, Before Us." I exclaimed. "Start packing, I'm calling my mom. You're staying with me 'till your parents get back." I told her. This was a good reminder that not all Willow neglect solutions involved titillating physical contact.
She looked at me excitedly, "Are you sure?" She asked.
"Show me too your phone, I'll call my mom right now. You can hang here and listen." I spoke assuredly.
Willow grabbed the cordless on the kitchen counter and quickly handed it to me. Her face was a gorgeous mixture of hope and trepidation.
I dialed my house and heard my mom answer.
"Hi mom, I'm over at Willow's. We just got here and her parents left her a note saying that they've gone to Chicago for two weeks. I told her that we can't let her stay alone and that she can stay with us. Please say its OK mom."
"What! What kind of parents just go off and leave a teenage girl all by herself like that? I can't understand why anyone would do this. Of course she can stay with us Buffy, but I insist that she notify her parents where she will be staying and makes sure that they have our number. I will also want their contact information in case of emergency." Mom was taking control, her mothering instincts were in full force.
I grinned at Willow and gave her thumbs up.
Willow threw her arms up in the air and exploded with a big "WHOOPEE".
"Thanks mom, I'll just help Willow pack and we'll be home shortly." I said.
"You can help Willow pack, but I'm not letting you carry luggage through the streets at this time of night. I'm coming to pick you up. Just give me directions and I'll be there shortly." Mom tone left no room for argument.
"Thanks mom that would be great. Let me give you to Willow and she can give you directions." I said.
I handed the phone to Willow and she gave her the directions with address and phone. Then she said something that I knew would get my mother crying, because it sure made my tear ducts swell up.
"Mrs. Summers. I really want to thank you for letting me stay with you. It will be so nice not to be alone for once." Her voice filled with gratitude.
She paused to listen and then said "Thank you and see you in a bit, yes, I'll call my parents hotel right after we hang up. Bye!" Willow disconnected, set the phone down and threw her arms around me, and started sobbing into my shoulder. "I can't remember ever being this happy." She cried into my shoulder.
"I'm very glad you're happy, but I think you need to do it with a few less tears so you can call your parents hotel and fill them in." I told her while caressing and stroking the back of her head.
She took a big breath, dried her tears and gave me the most incredibly wonderful smile. I just totally melted right there. Guess I'm doing that a lot lately.
She picked up the phone again and I grabbed the pen lying next to the note from her parents and wrote our address and phone number on the bottom of the note for Willow. I could hear that her parents weren't in their room, but she was able to leave the message on their room's voice mail system.
"Let's get you packed," I said. "Two weeks with my honey. I'm so going to enjoy this." I exclaimed excitedly.
"Just one thing before packing and your mom gets here." She says with darkly hooded eyes as she puts her hands on the side of my face and draws me into a deep and wondrous kiss. She used the power flow to share with me all the love and gratitude she was feeling. I could actually feel how wonderful she felt knowing she wouldn't be alone. When we broke the kiss, I rested my forehead against hers, both of us catching our breath and too breathless to voice my feelings, I responded silently [I am so happy that I'm the one that cures your loneliness. Because I know without you in my life, I could never be truly happy. I love you Willow, forever and ever. ]
[I love you too Buffy, for all forever's.] She told me accompanied with a tender kiss to my nose.
We then reluctantly separated and went up to her room where she got out a suitcase from her closet and methodically began packing. She was so efficient and organized that she was nearly complete when the doorbell rang downstairs announcing my mother's arrival.
"Would you let your mom in Buffy?" She asked.
"Sure thing." I replied sprinting for the door.
"Hi mom." I chimed out after opening the door and stood back so that she could come inside.
"Hi sweetheart, is Willow about ready?" She asked. She was in full fledged mother mode. I was hoping that she didn't lay into Willow's parents when they got back, even if they did deserve it. I was having conflicting emotions about my love's, which sounds so good to say that, abandonment by her parents. While I hated for Willow to be alone, it was affording us some great together time, something that I couldn't imagine ever getting enough.
"Yea mom, I'll just run upstairs and help her with her bag." I said sprinting back up the stairs to arrive in Willow's room just as she was snapping her suitcase closed.
"Let me get that," and I paused a moment for effect, "Honey." I giggled.
She giggled right back at me, "Thank you sweetheart." She responded with a happy lilt.
I grabbed her suitcase and of course it seemed light to me, but I had a feeling that Willow would have struggled to carry it. She grabbed a small overnight bag she had sitting on the bed and we headed out the door.
We had discovered that we were monitoring our virtual demon scape almost as an after thought and we were half way back home when we detected vamps just appearing on the demon scape moving quickly just ahead of us.
[Where the heck did they come from?] I exclaimed without alarming mom.
[That's the cemetery, maybe they come from under ground?] She offered in explanation.
[Very possible,] I responded, [but I think they're looking for fast food right now and I think I see who's on the menu.] I flashed her with what I had just seen up ahead with my heightened slayer sight.
There were two young kids, about our age. A boy and a girl and they were making out while leaning against a tree shaded from the street light.
We could see the vamps were really close, just about 30 yards away when I knew I had to do something. "Mom, pull up quick. I think we know them." I said hurriedly while pointing to the oblivious couple leaning against the tree.
"I don't think they're going to take kindly to being interrupted." My mom replied, but began slowing down to stop anyway.
Just then the vamps came around the tree and went after the lip locked pair.
[Keep my mom here while I take care of this.] I told Willow as I burst out the door of the nearly stopped vehicle with my hand pulling out a handy stake.
My mom had just registered the attacking vamps at the same time as my quick exit from the car.
"Buffy!" I heard her yell, but didn't stop as I launched myself at the closest vamp that had grabbed the girl and was in the process of pulling her back in preparation for a neck plunge when my stake entered his heart from behind. I yanked the stake free just before he turned to dust and decked the other vamp with a left cross before he could lay into the guy leaning against the tree still in confusion over what happened to the girl he was kissing. As the vamp quickly recovered and jumped at me, I brought my left across in a feint that the vamp blocked while bringing my right in from low and plunged the stake in an upward motion into his heart with enough force to lift him a couple of feet into the air before he burst into a cloud of dust.
"Where'd they go?" I heard the frightened girl exclaim.
"Uh, they took off that way; I think it was just a couple of guys trying to play a practical joke." I tried a really lame cover up.
"I'll kick their asses if I get a hold of them." The now indignant guy exclaimed with lots of bravado.
"We'll you guys had better get in. We stopped because we heard on the radio that theirs a guy who escaped from the city jail on the loose." I continued with the bull since they seemed to be buying it.
"Oh wow!" the girl exclaimed. "Later Johnny." She waved as she ran towards the house across the street.
"I looked at the guy and said, "Need a lift?"
"Nah, I'm just two houses that way" he explained.
"OK, see you later." I said and went back to the car.
[Thank god, I think your mom's in shock.]
[Oh, boy, I'm in trouble now.]
"Hi mom" I said cheerily as I got back in the front seat of the car.
"Buffy, what was that all about, what happened to those men, those really ugly hideous men?" She said with her no nonsense mom voice, and have I mentioned how annoyingly observant she can be?
"And what's that thing you used to make them go poof? The thing you put back under your jacket." Yep, I told you mom was observant.
"You mean this?" I said as I pulled out the stake and handed it to her.
She reached out her hand and took the stake, feeling it and looking at it very carefully. "This is just a wooden stick with a point." She finally said looking me right in the eyes.
"The technical term is stake mom." I tried lightening things up a bit.
"As soon as I get you home young lady, you have a lot of explaining to do." She said as she put the car in gear and we quickly made it the last block to our house.
As soon as we got there, I jumped out and grabbed Willow's suitcase and made it to the door with my key already in hand. I quickly took the suitcase up stairs, dropped it off in my room and sped back down stairs to the living room to watch my mom enter with a strange look on her face and Willow right behind her mouthing a good luck.
"Buffy, where's Willow's suitcase?" Mom asked me slowly.
"I took it up to my room. Is that OK mom?" I told her very quietly.
"How are you moving so fast? I couldn't believe how fast you got in the house and now I've found you've also dashed upstairs with a suitcase, probably a heavy one at that, and you've done all that and are waiting patiently here in the living room all before the two of us can make it from the car. And you're not even breathing hard." Mom would have made a great detective. I had to admire the way she was putting the evidence together. It just might mean she would believe me when I told her.
"Mom, I'm really glad this finally happened 'cause it's been killing me not telling you." I told her sincerely.
[I need you Willow.] I pleaded.
[Be right there Buffy.] Willow quickly came over and sat next to me on the couch and joined me in carefully watching the expressions on my mother's face, both of us trying to guess what she was thinking.
"Well I'm very pleased that you're glad so no more delays. Start with what I saw you do to those two people, things or whatever they were, and you better make it good. I've never known you to lie to me Buffy, please don't start now." She let me know she was tolerating no sidestepping. She wanted the truth, the whole truth and nothing but.
So I gave it to her.
"Mom, those were vampires. When you put a stake through their hearts or decapitate them, their body's turn to dust. I'm a vampire slayer. There's only one slayer at a time so I'm often referred to as The Slayer. I don't know why I'm the slayer but I am and the only way to quit being the slayer is by dying." I said all this in an even voice and then waited a moment for any questions.
Her eyes softened in thought as she digested this first bit of information. Then they locked with mine again.
"How long have you been this slayer?" She asked.
"About a week after my sixteenth Birthday." I answered truthfully.
"Just how do you know you're this slayer, did it just pop into your head or something?" She shot back quickly; she was getting into a rhythm. I could tell that the questions where starting to pile up and she couldn't get them out quick enough.
[Good one, think you should let her read the letter?] Willow asked me softly.
[If she found out what the council had in store for me she would freak big time, let's hold that for last and only play it if necessary.] Mom finding out about the council scared me big time.
"There is this very old group in England called the Watcher's Council. They have supposedly been around for ages identifying the slayer as she's called and assigning a Watcher to train and assist her in her duties." I gave her the propagandized version.
"You say she, am I to assume that the slayer is always a woman?" She asked.
"Yep, usually a girl in her early to mid teens." I answered.
"How long have slayers been around?" She kept digging.
"Don't know for sure, supposedly thousands of years, long before any Watcher's Council I think." I explained as best I could.
"So one of these watchers's showed up and said you were a slayer and that you had to risk your life against vampires?" She had suspicion interlaced with the words, desperately searching for a way to make this not true.
"Yea, I didn't believe him at first either. But then he started showing me things I could do that were humanly impossible and how strong I am. Then he introduced me to a newbie vampire rising out of its grave. It freaked me out, but my instincts took over and I killed it. After I did, I wasn't grossed out, well the dust kind of grossed me a bit, but killing that vamp just made me feel so right. But I still wasn't happy with the whole destiny thing. So I tried to avoid it, but a Master Vamp had come to town hearing about a new slayer. He was killing people to bring me out. Remember that party that was supposedly crashed by a gang and dozens of kids where hurt or killed? That was the Master and his vamp flunkies out for a little fun. Well, I thought I would get clever and just take this guy out sneakily, I didn't listen to Merrick's advice, Merrick was my watcher by the way, and nearly got myself killed. But Merrick sacrificed himself to save me. That was when I knew I could not be the slayer. If I didn't accept my calling, lots of people would die. I finally followed Merrick's now posthumous advice and was able to take out the master and barbecued his minions in the gym." I finished with a big sigh.
"You burned down the gym to kill a bunch of vampires?" Mom asked me with a touch of relief.
"Yea, it was for a good cause." I carefully smiled back at her.
She got this contemplative look to her face for a few moments and then continued with the questions, but her voice was quieter and softer now. I might survive this after all.
"How strong are you Buffy?" Mom now asked with growing curiosity.
"How about we go outside and I'll show you." I got up and walked through the kitchen and headed for the garage.
I opened the garage door as Mom and Willow came up behind me. I could tell Willow was dying to ask me what I was planning but she was holding herself back because she knew this was difficult for me and didn't want to distract me from doing the best I could to bring mom on board.
With the garage door open, I looked at mom and said "This should give you a pretty good idea mom."
I then turned and approached the back of mom's SUV and grabbed the sturdy rear bumper with both hands and lifted the back end of the vehicle over my head, keeping the grunt I felt somewhat quiet and fortunately we had a garage with an open ceiling. I hadn't been sure I could do this but I needed something convincing.
"Wow, isn't she amazing Mrs. Summers?" I heard Willow exclaim with pride as I was lowering the SUV back to the ground. I turned around just in time to see my mom's eyes roll up and her knees kinda fold up as she fainted and began to fall to the ground. I leapt forward and caught her before she could smack her head or anything. I picked her up in my arms and looked at Willow.
"Could you get the door please?" I asked desperately.
"Sure Buffy." And she quickly went up the porch and held the back door open for me while I carried my mom inside. I decided that since it was getting really late to just take her up to her bedroom where I gently laid her on her bed. After removing her shoes, Willow came up to me with a wet wash cloth, which I then placed on my mother's forehead. I gently said, "Mom, please wake up mom."
"Buffy" she weakly replied with her eyes fluttering open. "What happened?" She asked.
"You fainted mom." I explained to her gently.
"Oh, I thought you had lifted the car up over your head and then everything went dark. You didn't really lift the car over your head, did you Buffy?" She again asked.
"Sorry mom, you didn't imagine it. You asked how strong I was and I just thought that would give you a pretty good idea how strong I am." I explained. "Mom, it's getting pretty late, can we just sleep on this for now and finish this tomorrow? I think you need to sleep right now. OK?" I pleaded.
"I think you're right Buffy, you girls get to bed. Oh wait, the guest room isn't set up. Buffy, Willow, if I let you sleep together, do I have your word that that's all you'll do is sleep?" Damn, I was so hoping she would forget about that. But her mom instincts were just way too strong.
"Would a good night kiss be OK?" I asked her.
"I guess so, as long as you're both wearing night clothes and you keep your hands off each other, and don't pretend you don't understand what I mean by that, are we perfectly clear young ladies?" She said looking from one of us to the other and back again.
"Yes mom" I said meekly.
"Yes mo...rs. Summers." Willow nearly mirrored my words under the intensity of the mom gaze.
"OK then, Good night Willow, Good night Buffy." I gave mom a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek and left for my room turning at my mother's bedroom door waiting for Willow. I then saw my mom reach out her arms to Willow and Willow fell into my mom's embracing hug.
"Good night Mrs. Summers" Willow said with barely contained emotion.
"Good night Willow." My mom replied and gave Willow a kiss on the forehead before she could turn away. I saw Willow's face light up like the Hollywood Bowl on the Fourth of July. I felt warm happy feelings all over as the wave of her emotions flowed over me like the caress of butterfly wings.
We went to my room and I designated a couple of drawers for her to unpack her suitcase into and while she was doing that, I unpacked the two remaining boxes I had of clothes to hang and knick knacks for my desk and shelves.
We then got changed into sleep wear, light sweats and a tank top in my case, a knee length pajama top for Willow. We made our bathroom runs and got settled into bed and I turned off the light.
"Good night Willow." I said aloud then followed with a thought. [I love you.]
"Good night Buffy." She replied. [I love you too.]
We were lying on our sides facing each other and we leaned our faces towards each other and began our "Good night kiss". The energy began to flow and we took turns building it up and sending it back and forth, then I felt Willow move the energy in tendrils down my body. I felt it caress my neck and back. [ ooohhh, that feels sooo good.] I let her know. She continued caressing me, slowly increasing the area of her explorations. I quickly got the sense as to how she was doing it and began experimenting on my own. I felt like I had these phantom hands and fingers that I could explore her body with and it felt wonderful. We slowly began to touch and arouse the tenderest areas of each others bodies. Feeding each other our pleasure, allowing it to build and build as we both extended our phantom appendages to each other's core and brought each other to simultaneous explosions that left us numb and tingly all over. Far and away the most incredible experience either one of us had ever had. And even though this was our first climatic experience together, I was certain that it still rated in the incredible moment's arena because I could still feel every nerve in my body twitching in delight to the loving touch of my partner. And I could feel that she was experiencing the same ecstatic sensory wonderment.
As I began to recover from the experience, I recalled my mother's admonition about hands and just started giggling uncontrollably.
"Buffy, what's so funny she whispered." With concern and worry in her voice. I immediately knew that she thought I was laughing at her.
[Willow, that was mind blowing incredible and I'm not laughing at you. I was just thinking about what my mom said about keeping our hands in proper places and I just had the funniest thought.]
[What was the thought?] She asked and I could sense her relief.
I replied in a hushed whisper, "Look ma, no hands" and as I started to giggle uncontrollably again, I heard her gasp and then she too began to giggle also which we both did until, exhausted and for the first time in our lives understanding the concept of being sated, we fell asleep in each others arms.
I gotta remember to cross off some things tomorrow. Not sure how many, but I knew that Willow Rosenberg had just satisfied what I had expected to take several years. She is truly amazing.