Title: Q&A
Rating: FRAO
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Timeline: S5’ish…basically AU. No Riley, no Dawn…
Synopsis: Giles receives a gentle push in Buffy’s direction.
Notes: Special thanks to my beta reader, wyvernwolf . This story was written for summer_of_giles .

 

Giles leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his beer, his eyes trained on his Slayer. This wasn’t normal for him, being at the Bronze with his young friends, and he found it extremely difficult to relax. Watching Buffy sway to the gentle beat of the music with Xander didn’t help his relaxation issues much either.

He was sure that he wanted to spend time with Buffy, Willow, and Xander…it was just that he wasn’t sure of their current location. When they had asked him to join them in celebration of their latest diversion of an apocalypse, he had initially declined. It was only Buffy’s slight pout and whisper of ‘please, Giles?’ that had changed his mind.

“Interesting dance you two have going on these days, Giles.”

Giles blinked and turned towards the voice, finding Willow smiling at him. “Excuse me?”

Willow gestured to the dance floor with a tilt of her head. “You and Buffy…dancing around your issues. It’s interesting…a little frustrating, but interesting.”

“Willow…” He began to protest, stopping when she smiled knowingly.

“I see you watch her when you think no one’s looking.”

Giles cleared his throat nervously. “Yes, well…I’m her Watcher. I’m required to…uh…Watch her.”

Willow leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “And is her ass in danger?” She grinned as he lowered his eyes, the skin above his collar reddening. “Because…that’s what I’ve noticed you watching lately.”

“Willow, this – ”

She interrupted him with a softly spoken statement. “I know about the kiss, Giles.”

His eyes snapped to hers, the redness creeping up his neck at a high rate of speed. “I’m sorry?”

“It’s not like she was announcing it to the world, but…I can be very persuasive when I want to be. So…one kiss, months ago…and nothing more?”

Giles sighed and stared at the beer bottle in his hand as he mumbled softly. “It was a moment of comfort.”

Willow rested her chin on her palm, regarding him carefully. “Is that all it was? Just…comfort?”

An image suddenly took hold in Giles’ mind. Buffy’s arms circling his neck, her fingers toying with his soft hair, as he held her…his tongue gently exploring her mouth. He shook his head to clear the image and swallowed.

“For her.” He answered quietly.

“You sure about that?” Willow smiled warmly as Giles lifted his eyes to hers. “Because…I’ve seen her watch you as well.”

“Willow…”

Willow sat back up and shook her head lightly. “Ask her to dance, Giles. Literally. And…stop this figurative dance. It’s driving all of us crazy.”

With that said, Willow stood and walked away from the table. Giles drained the bottle and scanned the crowd on the dance floor. He found her quickly, as always. She was laughing as she danced. Giles briefly wondered what Xander had said to put that beautiful expression on her face. He thought over Willow’s words and exhaled slowly.

“Bugger it.” He muttered and pushed himself from his chair. His intention was to leave and go home to a cup of tea and research.

His feet, however, had a different plan.

He weaved his way through the maze of people, coming to a stop in front of Buffy. She looked up at him and smiled.

“Hey.”

“Hello.” He looked around nervously, catching the smile on Xander’s face as he quietly backed away.

“So…what’s up? Spot a vampire in here or something?”

“Hm?” He looked back down to find her scanning the crowd. “Oh, no. Um…Buffy, I…uh, that is…I was wondering…”

She raised her eyes to his face when she heard the soft curse he uttered. “What is it, Giles?”

He swallowed hard and gestured vaguely. “Would you care to dance?”

She narrowed her eyes slightly. “What’s going on?”

He sighed heavily and took a deep breath. “Nothing. I…” He shook his head and stepped back. “Nevermind.”

She grabbed his arm quickly, halting his retreat. “Giles, wait.”

He glanced down at her hand, the beginning of the next song permeating his mind. He met her eyes and took a step forward into her personal space.

“Dance with me.”

She nodded slowly and moved into his arms. Though she tried to stop them, the images of that night rushed into her head.

* * *

He cleaned and dressed the wound quickly, not looking into her eyes for fear that she would see his concern. She would be alright, the wound would heal rapidly…as they always did. It wasn’t the injury that concerned him. It was the fact that he had watched the demon toss her across the clearing as if she were a rag doll.

“Giles?”

Hearing the worried tone of her voice, he dared to look up. Her eyes clearly held her fear and he inhaled sharply.

“You’ll be fine, Buffy. It’s fairly superficial…”

She shook her head slowly. “If you hadn’t been there…”

He swallowed as she trailed off, knowing exactly what she was going to say. He hadn’t been able to kill it, but he was able to get a clean shot with the crossbow. The demon had howled in pain and ran, leaving Buffy lying on the ground.

“I’ll find out what it is. We’ll find a way to – ”

His sentence was cut short as she quickly leaned forward and kissed him. He pulled back and stared at her, his lips tingling.

“Buffy…”

She shook her head again, wrapping her hand around the back of his neck and pulling him towards her. “Please…just kiss me.”

Telling himself it was only comfort, he sighed and allowed himself to return the kiss.

* * *

Buffy took a deep breath and pushed the image from her mind before she let it go too far. He held her loosely as they moved to the music. They were quiet for a few moments before she took a deep breath and spoke softly.

“I think this is the closest we’ve been in a few months. I mean, if you don’t count training…”

“Yes.” He agreed, his eyes closing briefly as she slid her arms around him. “I, uh…we’ve never discussed what happened.”

“I didn’t think you wanted to.” She shrugged a shoulder, but didn’t meet his eyes. “I guess the important thing is we stopped before it went too far.”

When she felt him tense, she raised her eyes quickly. “Giles?”

He stopped moving and stared into her eyes. “We need to talk, Buffy.”

She averted her eyes and nodded as she took a step back. “Yeah, okay…”

He scanned their surroundings and quickly found a hallway in the corner of the building. “Follow me.”

She looked up as he quickly turned and headed towards the hall. As she followed him, a hand touched her arm. She looked to her left, finding a young man smiling at her.

“How about a dance?”

She shook her head and glanced at Giles, who was easily navigating through the crowd of people. “Not now.”

She didn’t give him a chance to respond, quickly darting off to follow her Watcher. She caught up with him just as he entered the hallway. He breathed a sigh of relief to find it empty and leaned against the wall.

“Giles?”

He ran his hand through his hair and exhaled deeply. “I didn’t want to.”

“Didn’t want to what?” Her eyes narrowed in confusion.

“Stop.” He met her eyes and swallowed nervously. “I didn’t want to stop.”

She gasped softly, staring at him. “But…you said – ”

“I know what I said, Buffy.”

“It was just comfort. We both needed to be…comforted.”

He could hear the confusion in her voice. He shook his head and pushed himself off the wall.

“It wasn’t…not for me.”

Two teenaged girls entered the hallway, pushing past Buffy to reach the door at the end of the hall. Buffy inhaled shakily.

“We can’t talk here, Giles.”

He shoved his hand in his pocket, a brief flicker of annoyance showing in his eyes. “We really should – ”

“Yeah, we should.” She agreed quickly, pressing her back against the wall as another girl pushed past them. “But…not here. It’s too…busy. Let’s go back to your apartment. Make some tea and…talk.”

As a young man entered the hallway, Giles sighed in understanding. “I guess that would be for the best.”

Buffy carefully exited the hall and made her way to the door. Giles followed her, anxious and nervous.

Willow and Xander watched them go through the door that led to the parking lot. They shared a smile before Xander asked Willow to dance.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The short drive to Giles’ apartment was uncomfortable and silent. Buffy glanced at him a few times, noticing that he was obviously in deep thought. Not wanting to disturb him, she turned towards the window and tried to calm her racing heart.

He made a pot of tea quickly as she sat quietly on his couch. He loaded a tray with the pot, two cups, milk, sugar…and the cookies that Buffy had proclaimed as her favourite on more than one occasion.

He took a seat on the far end of the couch and busied himself with preparing a cup of tea for her. He looked up when she whispered his name.

She gestured at the tray. “You’re fiddling…”

He raised an eyebrow at her as he dropped two teaspoons of sugar into the cup. “Fiddling?”

“Yeah. Buying more time…or whatever.” She sighed softly and turned towards him. “Just talk.”

He carefully placed the spoon on the tray, staring at his hands as he idly twisted the ring on his pinky. “I’m sure I don’t know where to start.”

“Okay.” She blew out a breath and rubbed her hand against her denim-clad thigh. “Q and A time. The first question that pops into your head, ask it. I’ll do the same. You go first.”

He twisted the ring again and exhaled slowly. “You told Willow?”

“Yeah. I didn’t really mean to. She kinda knew something was up and…she pulled the old ‘resolve face’ thing on me until I ‘fessed up.” She waited until he nodded before she asked her question. “Are you upset with me over it?”

He chuckled softly. “No. Surprisingly not. Did it make you uncomfortable when I kissed you?”

“No. I mean, I kissed you first. And, yeah…it made things awkward between us, but…that wasn’t because of you. Why did you kiss me?”

He removed his glasses and placed them on the coffee table, but he still wouldn’t look at her. “A moment of selfishness on my part. Do you think we’ll be able to move past this?”

“That wasn’t an answer. If you don’t give a proper answer then your next question is forfeited…and I get to ask another. Do you like me, Giles?”

“Yes.” He answered with no hesitation. “Do you regret what happened that night?”

“No, I don’t.” He finally lifted his head, but kept his eyes forward. “Do you think you could love me?”

“I already do.” He whispered softly. “Does that distress you?”

“No.” She edged closer to him and swallowed. “What did you feel when you kissed me?”

“Elation.” He cleared his throat and finally looked at her. “Where are you going with this line of questioning?”

She moved closer to him, reaching out to cup his cheek. Her eyes darted to his lips as she leaned forward. “Here. Would it be okay if I kiss you?”

He leaned into her touch, his voice thick as he nodded. “Only if you’re sure. I don’t think – ”

She cut his sentence off with a gentle kiss on his lips. “I’m sure, Giles.”

She looked into his eyes and smiled as she rubbed her thumb across his cheek. “Now…you distracted me and that wasn’t the best kiss I could give you. Can I try again?”

“Yes…” He whispered breathlessly, his eyes closing as she leaned into him once more.

Her arms slid over his shoulders as she moulded her mouth to his. Her fingers ran through his soft hair as she nudged her tongue between his lips. He groaned softly, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer to him as he returned the passionate kiss.

With a final flick of her tongue against his, she pulled back and tenderly kissed his lips. Her breathing was heavy as she rested her forehead against his, her fingers still tangled in his hair.

“Giles?”

“Hm?” His hands rubbed her back gently as he inhaled deeply.

“When you said that you didn’t want to stop…what exactly did you mean?”

Chapter Two