The Song Remembers When
Chapter Eleven
DISCLAIMER: All BtVS characters belong to the wonderfully talented
mind of Joss Whedon. However I do own Riley's daughters and Sam the
nanny.
RATING: PG
COUPLING: Buffy/Riley
SUMMARY: A/U - Riley has left Buffy, and this is 10 years into the
future.
FEEDBACK: Pretty pretty please! I really hate to beg, but will .
SPOILERS: All of Season 5, and my own little universe.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Thank you to Anne-Marie who has been proofing this
for me, I appreciate it. Also thank you everyone who has kindly sent
me their feedback, it makes my day.
It was 7:30 when Riley drove up in front of the house. He noticed
the Christmas lights were on and someone had even remembered to plug
in the big Christmas tree in the living rooms' front window. Its
lights twinkled merrily against the dark room. Riley guessed that
the kids must have remembered to plug the lights in. He knew how
much they loved the lights. Parking the Landrover in the drive, he
didn't want to get out of it. He knew how cold it was outside. His
teeth still hadn't stopped chattering from his two hours down by the
harbour without heat. Graham got out of his Viper and stood in front
of the truck waiting for Riley.
"Why don't you go up and have a hot shower? I've sat for the last
hour watching your teeth chatter, and it's not a pretty sight. Plus
your lips are blue. Not very kissable."
"You're so funny."
"I think so," Graham chuckled, not missing the sarcastic tone in
Riley's voice.
As Riley pushed open the front door, they were met by Christmas
music,laughter and what smelled like spaghetti sauce. Riley looked
at Graham and shook his head. It seemed that the elves had taken
over the asylum.
"I thought you said they were ordering piazza?"
"I only suggested," Graham protested, as he followed the delicious
smells down the hall and went around the corner,
"I'll save you some."
"Great! Leftovers," Riley snorted, as he made his way up the
staircase to his room and a warm shower.
_________________________________________________________________
Graham stood in the doorway watching the group in the kitchen.
Standing in the middle of the room was Willow with her hands on her
hips doing a wonderful imitation of Cruella De Vil.
<Okay! I have to stop watching Disney movies with the girls. I know
the characters of by heart! >
The kids were laughing at Willow as they tried to eat their ice cream.
"Ah! Dinner theatre, I see is, alive and well in Boston," he
commented leaning against the doorframe.
Willow's head snapped around and she turned a deep shade of red at
having been caught by Graham. She loved doing imitations for Buffy
and the kids but she'd never shown this side of her talent to other
adults. She was a serious actress, not a comedian. As talented as
she was, she was still a little self-conscious of her comic ability
and now standing in Riley's kitchen with Graham watching her, she was
embarrassed beyond measure.
"Uncle Cracker!" Tristan screamed, jumping down off her chair and
rushing to him.
"Hey there Trist-tie," he said throwing her up in the air.
"I missed you! Don't ever go away that long again! I didn't think
you were coming back," she said between giggles as Graham threw her
up in the air again.
"Graham! She just had a plate full of spaghetti and a bowl of ice
cream. I'd be careful throwing her if I were you," laughed Buffy from
her place at the table.
"Nah, it's okay Buffy. The girls have cast iron stomachs, don't ya?"
He asked, hugging his favourite niece. Riley and Claire had choosen
Graham's middle name Tristan for their daughter's name and that had
established their bond early on. He spoiled all the girls, but
Tristan was his favourite. He would dream about having his own
little blonde haired angel, but now that angel would have to have red
hair like her mother.
"Where's daddy?" Hope asked, sitting as far away from Buffy as
possible.
"He's having a shower, sweetheart," Graham said, sitting down in
Tristan's seat and placing her on his lap.
"Did you guys eat?" Buffy asked
"No. Just a couple of beers."
"Want some spaghetti?"
"Sure. Who made it? It smells wonderful."
"I did," Buffy said, getting up from the table and going to the
stove.
"And before you get a chance to change your mind, I've taken more
cooking classes than you can shake a stick at. So don't worry, I
won't kill you."
"How did you know…?"
"Because it's everyone's reaction when they first hear I've cooked
something. I'm just glad that people have let go of the fear.
Well, at least my California friends have."
"Yeah, she's a great cook now. A dinner invitation to the Summers'
home is definitely A List now," Willow said, smiling at Buffy proudly.
"Thanks Will."
"Are you guys done with your ice cream?" Buffy asked, ruffling her
son's blonde hair.
"I am. Can we be excused?" He asked, anxious to get back to the
movie he's been watching with his sisters.
"Yes. You can all be excused," Buffy answered as the four of them
left the room in a shot.
"Was it something I said?" She asked jokingly.
"So where's my spaghetti?" Graham laughed at the obviously
distracted Buffy.
"Oh my God! Graham, I'm so sorry! I get a little side track playing
mommy sometimes," she said, heading to the stove again.
"Well you seem to have done a great job at it. Playing mommy, I
mean," Graham smiled at her.
"Thanks," she said, smiling with obvious pride at his comment.
"Evan seems like a great kid. You should be proud of yourself," he
told her as she placed a brimming plate in front of him.
"I had a lot of help. I don't think I could have done it without
Willow, my mom and the rest of the gang. But I think Evan started
off with great genes. He's so much like Riley that it's scary. He
has his generous, loving nature, " she said, taking her seat opposite
Graham and Willow. Buffy smiled at her best friend.
"Physically it's not hard to miss," Graham remarked. "Hey! This is
good! You weren't kidding when you said you could cook now. I'll
have to get this recipe from you."
"You cook?" Willow said shocked and staring at the large handsome
man beside her.
"Yeah. What bachelor in his right mind doesn't? It's a nice way to
impress a woman," Graham said, his eyes glinting devilishly. "Invite
her to your place for a nice home cooked meal, some wine and dancing
on the terrace."
"Let me guess. They're putty in your hands." Buffy said, laughing.
"Something like that," Graham replied blushing. He could feel Willow
watching him.
"Excuse me you two. I'm going to check on Riley," Buffy said, trying
to find a good reason to leave the two alone. It was obvious to her
that the room was humming with sexual attraction, and well, none of
it was directed at her.
Exiting the kitchen, Buffy left the couple alone at the table.
Willow suddenly felt like the high school version of herself, nerdy
and shy. How could someone as fine as Graham want her? Her
confidence suddenly went out the window because even though she'd
dated some of Hollywood's most famous and attractive men, in Graham
Miller's company she became a slug.
<Say something! >
"So tell me what you've been up to since college," Graham said,
buttering a piece of Italian bread.
"You mean other than my career?" She asked, feeling like an absolute
idiot.
"I mean everything," he said, taking a bite out of the bread. She
watched as he chewed and the muscles in his jaw flexed.
"Well, I don't know. I've been busy, I guess."
"Under statement of the year," he laughed, knowing about the success
she'd found.
"Okay, so my acting career is doing well," she replied modestly.
"So tell me how it happened. How does a computer major, become an
Academy Award winning actress?"
"Actually, I have two Oscars," she smiled.
"Wow. You know, I've never seen one of your movies," he said as he
wound spaghetti around on his fork.
"Really? You're not alone," she said sadly.
"No I'm serious. They were always such 'chick flicks' I avoided
them," Graham told her, hoping that God wouldn't strike him dead for
this lie. The truth was he couldn't bring himself to watch any of
her movies because it still hurt too much. He'd never gotten over
losing her to Tara.
"We'll have to fix that. I'll invite you to my next premier. I can
give Angel the night off. He hates those things."
"Angel?"
"Yeah. The studio makes me take a bodyguard. Seems I have a stalker
on my hands."
Graham could feel his anger rising at the thought that some freak was
stalking his Willow. He could understand how someone could be
obsessed with the little redhead sitting next to him but to actually
hurt her? Surely the person was insane.
"You have a stalker?"
"Price of fame. It comes with the territory; a lot of celebrities
have them. Mine just likes to send me death threats and the like."
As she said this, it seemed to Graham that she shrunk right before
his eyes. Graham wanted so badly to pull her into his arms and
protecther forever.
"Sounds like a high price to me," he sighed, afraid that something
could happen to this precious woman before he got his act together.
"It's okay. I'm usually safe," Willow said, taking Graham's clenched
hand in hers in an attempt to reassure him. She rubbed her fingers
acrossed his knuckles and his hand unclenched.
"I hate to think of anyone every hurting you," he told her truthfully.
"I'm glad to hear that," she said, smiling at their entwined hands.
They sat in silence as Graham continued to eat.
"So can you cook like this too?"
"Nope. Just act."
"You still haven't told me how you got discovered? "
"Senior showcase. I had a part in a one act play that caught Ridley
Scott's eye. Next thing I knew I had an agent, and a part in his
next movie opposite Ralph Fiennes. It was pretty intense."
"Wow! Talk about a whirlwind."
"Yeah. I won my first Oscar for that part. After that the offers
just kept rolling in. I've never done any of those teenybopper
movies though. I'm lucky. I've been taken as a serious actress from
day one."
"And you haven't forgotten the little people I see," he joked with
her.
"Yeah. Buffy and the gang are the only people I feel that I can
really trust. In Hollywood, everyone wants a piece of you and it's
hard to know who wants to be your friend because of who you are, not
what you are. And don't even get me started on the dating scene!"
Willow looked sad for a moment but shook it off and asked,
"So what have you been up to? Married, kids, business?"
"I've never been married, or even close for that matters. No kids
that I'm aware of, but hey, look what just happened to Riley! I
could have kids somewhere I suppose," he grinned at her. "Maybe I
should call my lawyer in the morning and have them draw something up
just in case."
Willow laughed at his paranoid act, and he joined her. It felt nice
to sit in a kitchen laughing with this woman. He really wanted to
lean over and kiss her, but it didn't seem appropriate.
<Appropriateness never stopped you before! >
"After I left Sunnydale, I went and joined the new addition of the
Initiative. Much more streamlined and above board. We only
researched and killed them. No more playing Frankenstein with the
hostiles."
"So how did you and Riley end up owning one of the riches Security
Companies in the world?"
Somehow Willow had managed to turn sideway on her chair so that her
feet were resting on the top rungs of Graham's chair. Her knees
where pulled up and her chin rested on them. She looked adorable and
it was no wonder that she was the centre of many a man's fantasy.
"Fluke really. It's too hard and too confidential to explain to you
right now, but maybe one day."
"If you tell me, Graham Miller, that you'll have to kill me if you
tell me, well, then I'll have to do this!"
And she leaned over and kissed him on the lips. Pulling back they
were both shocked. Willow blushed as it dawned on her what she'd
done.
"Oh my Goddess! Graham, I'm so sorry! I don't know what over took
me," she said, reaching out to touch his face.
<Okay, now I'm touching his face! I can't keep my hands off him! >
Willow blushed again.
"It's okay Willow. I have to tell you, I've been dying to do that
since you got off the plane earlier today. I'm glad one of us had
the nerve to do it," he said quietly, turning his head so the hand
that she'd rest against his cheek now rested over his lips. He
gently kissed it.
_____________________________________________________________
Buffy walked up the spiral staircase in search of Riley; she needed
to see for herself that he was okay. At the top of the stairs she
stopped as realized that she had no idea which room was his or even
which way to turn. Seeing a pair of double doors at the far end of
the hall she started towards them. That had to be the master
bedroom.
She knocked tentatively and suddenly wished she'd waited till he'd
come down stairs.
"Come in, sweetheart," he called from behind the door.
Buffy opened the door, and there he stood with a towel wrapped around
his waist and his body still wet and glistening.
"Oh God! Riley, I'm so sorry," she gasped, seeing him standing like
that and unable to do the decent thing and turn around. She couldn't
help but admire his next to naked body. He still had the wonderful
muscular body she'd remembered. And his butt! It was worthy of a
chapter in a romance novel for sure!
At hearing her voice he whipped around, feeling very exposed. Sure,
she'd seen him totally nude in the past, but somehow this felt
different. He heard her gasp and noticed how her eyes travelled over
his chest and down the length of his body. He almost dropped his
towel when he saw her lick her lips.
"Buff, I thought you were one of the girls," he flushed, fighting the
urge to rush across the room and pull her clothes off.
"No, just nosy little old me. Get dressed, I'll wait downstairs for
you," she had turned to leave when she felt him behind her.
"Stay. I'll change in the bathroom. I think we need to talk."
His hand was on the small of her back, and he so wanted to pull the
sweater over her head so he could feel her skin next to his.
"No. I'll go get your dinner ready for when you go down. I mean,
when you come down stairs," she blushed.
<I never blush! >
<Fuedian slip? Or maybe she's thinking the same things I am! >
"Sure. I'll be down in 5 minutes."
Reaching up, she couldn't stop her hand as it ran through his wet
hair. She had always loved it when he'd just gotten out of the
shower and the way his hair would curl. Riley could feel the shivers
travel down his spine at her merest touch.
"No longer," she admonished lightly. And with that she left the room.
The story continues in chapter 12
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