Title: Family
Author: Rari

(notes and disclaimer with part one)

Family: Part 4

"Guess what?"

Buffy looked up from her bowl of cereal. "What?"

"Giles went out on a date." Dawn kept a close but covert eye on her sister.

Buffy's spoon stopped half way to her mouth. "My Giles? I mean, our Giles?"

Dawn barely kept a grin off her face. She was so going to give Spike and Willow a smooch when she saw them - and this new guy, Benjamin. "Yeah. Her name is Rosalind. Isn't that a great name? Don't their names go great together? Rupert and Rosalind." Dawn let out a satisfied sigh. "I'm so happy for him."

Buffy frowned. "This one date didn't involve a trip to Vegas, did it?" At Dawn's blank look, Buffy rolled her eyes. "You know, chapels, flowers, instant wedding?"

Dawn snorted. "As if. It was just one date, Buffy."

"Right, just one date. So, stop making it sound like they're ready for his and hers towels."

"Boy, you got grumpy all of a sudden."

Buffy pushed her bowl of cereal away. "I'm not grumpy."

Dawn gestured at her bowl. "Not hungry anymore?" She was crowing inside. "All I'm saying is that Giles deserves to have someone nice in his life."

Buffy's forehead creased. "I'm nice." Her index finger waved between her and Dawn. "We're nice."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Not that way, Buffy. You know, someone who cares about him."

"I care." Buffy sounded affronted.

Dawn decided she'd done enough damage for one morning. Just one more warning shot. "I'll bet he has better taste than you. I'll bet she's not a butthead." With that, Dawn put her bowl in the sink and left to go get dressed.

Buffy scowled and sat staring at her own bowl for quite a while.

*****

Buffy picked up the phone and then put it down. She scowled at it. She picked it up again, and again put it down. Finally, her jaw tightening, she picked it up and dialed. Despite what was on her mind, she smiled when her friend answered. "Hello?"

"Willow!"

"Buffy. How are you? When are you guys coming to visit?" There was barely time for a breath. "You can meet Giles' new squeeze."

Buffy scrunched her face up. She'd been trying to figure out how to bring the subject up, and Willow had just shoved it in her face. "Yeah, Dawn told me Giles went on a date." Buffy chewed on her fingernails for a second. "Must have been a good date if she's already graduated to main squeeze."

"Oh, well, that's just wishful thinking on my part. I just want Giles to be happy."

"So you don't actually know how the date went?" Buffy's voice was much too casual.

Across the sea, Willow grinned. She did her best to keep it out of her voice. "Well, it's not like he's gonna give me details. But I do know they're going out again, tonight." There was a decided silence on the phone. Willow grinned again. "Buffy? You there?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm here."

"Good. For a minute there I thought we'd lost our connection." Willow decided it was time to change the subject and attack from a different front. "So, Dawn tells me you're dating someone new."

"Uh huh." Buffy's voice sounded distracted.

Willow kept pressing. "What's he like?"

There was a long sigh. "Just some butthead."

Willow couldn't help the snort that escaped. "Usually you don't start calling them that until after they break up with you."

Buffy's eyes widened as she realized what she'd said. She forced some life in to her voice. "I have got to stop discussing my boyfriends with Dawn, she calls them all buttheads and it's starting to rub off."

"Maybe that's because they are buttheads. What you need, Buffy, is a genuinely nice guy, maybe someone a little older, a bit settled, who can take your life in stride, someone who understands you, and thinks you're special."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Are they having a sale of those anywhere? Cause Sunnydale seems to be fresh out." She refused to think about the man Willow's words immediately brought to mind. The man who now had a second date planned with some woman. "Is she pretty?"

"Who?"

"Rosemary, or Rosa-whatever. Is she pretty?"

"Rosalind. And yes, she's very pretty. I mean she's a bit older than us, but she's stylish, and has the prettiest clothes." Willow didn't mention that she was also about sixty, with gray hair, and the cutest little dimples. She was the library receptionist at the Council, and Willow adored her. Other than Giles, she was the fount of all knowledge, having worked there forever.

"Oh."

"What's the matter, Buffy? You sound like you don't feel well."

"No, I'm fine." Another long sigh came over the phone. "You think he really likes her?"

"You want me to ask him?"

Buffy's eyes widened. "No, God, no. I was just curious."

"You sound a little.well, you know.jealous. Are you?"

There was a long pause. "No, of course not. I just.I mean, if he gets serious about someone it could change things. He might not come home as much, and if he did he might bring her, and would she expect to stay here? In his room?" A whine escaped her. "She might want them to stay in a hotel so they could have some privacy. I mean, Dawn could really get her feelings hurt."

Willow nodded, wishing Buffy would just figure it out and get her butt to England. But she'd known Buffy for a long time, and it sometimes took things a seriously long time to get through Buffy's denial colored glasses. "I'll be glad to keep you updated, at least as much as I know. You could always talk to Giles about it. Let him know what your concerns are." Willow was able to make that offer fearlessly, knowing it would be the very last thing Buffy would do.

She was right. Buffy's answer was instantaneous. "No, I can't do that. I wouldn't want him to not be happy on my account." Buffy tightened her lips. Actually, that wasn't quite true. She'd be perfectly happy for Giles to be unhappy if it meant that Rose-whatever got dropped off on an uncharted desert island somewhere. "Well, I better go."

"Okay. I'll call you next time."

"Okay. I love you."

"Love you, too." Willow hung up and let out a squeal. "It's working. She is so jealous." Willow did a happy dance across the floor.

*****

Buffy lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was two in the morning. Sleep was eluding her. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Giles with somebody. It always started as a stranger, a beautiful stranger, kissing Giles, laughing with him, having long conversations with him. But the woman always ended up with Jenny's face, or Olivia's face, the only two women Buffy had seen Giles with.

Both beautiful, sophisticated, smart women. And then she'd see one of them in bed with him, touching him, being touched by him, and Buffy would let out a muted scream of frustration in her pillow and get out of bed and stomp around the room before finally lying down again.

The main thought going through her head was: why did I leave it so long? He was here for years, just down the hallway. It was like we were married, but I never took that last step. And now, it might be too late. Now, Giles had a girlfriend. Well, a going on a second date type of girlfriend, but that could grow into a third date, and a fourth date, and a would-you-marry-me sort of thing.

And Willow liked her. The least Willow could do is hate her. Say she was skanky, or had no sense of humor, or that she was really a demon in disguise, a gross disgusting demon that oozed something horrible out of its pores. But Willow liked her. And she didn't seem to be a demon.

But that didn't mean she wasn't a demon. She could be. Not anything that would put Giles in danger, just something he would rather not wake up and find in his bed. Buffy let out a loud sigh. She needed more information. Damn, it was hard to spy on someone when they were thousands of miles away.

Buffy punched her pillow, and even though her Slayer powers were slowly waning, the pillow exploded. Spitting out feathers, she glared at its remains. Finally she reached for the phone and dialed Giles' number. Sometimes he chose to do some reading at home before heading in to work.

"Hello?"

"Giles?"

"Buffy, how lovely to hear from you. I was just thinking about you."

Buffy grinned, suddenly glad that she had called, that she could hear his voice. Then she frowned. "Are you alone?"

Giles furrowed his brow and looked at the phone, wondering why she was asking that. "Yes, I'm reading term papers."

"Oh. Well, alone is good."

"It certainly is quiet." There was a pause. "Was there a reason you called? Not that there needs to be, of course."

"No, no reason. Just wanted to see how my favorite Watcher was doing." Buffy stared nervously at the drifting feathers. "So, how is he doing?"

Giles let out a near silent laugh. "I'm fine. I miss you, you and Dawn both. When can I talk you into a visit? There are so many people I want you to meet."

Buffy scrunched her face up. "Like who?"

"Well, too many to name, really."

Buffy grimaced. "Like Rosalind?"

"Rosalind?"

"Yeah, does she want to meet me?"

Giles wracked his brain for a moment, wondering who Rosalind was. Then he remembered, the receptionist at the library. "Oh, Willow must have mentioned her. Yes, I'm sure she'll be anxious to meet you."

Buffy scowled silently. "Why don't you come here and visit." She finished the sentence to herself. Alone. Completely alone.

"I can't right now, Buffy, it's the middle of the term. No summers off here, I'm afraid."

"Well, I'll talk to Dawn and we'll figure something out. She's been busy applying to colleges."

"I know, she's been keeping me appraised. Very exciting."

Buffy hadn't been keeping close tabs on it, just writing out checks for Dawn to accompany her applications. She had no doubt that Dawn would get in everywhere she applied, and she didn't even want to think about Dawn moving away and leaving her more alone. It made her avoid the entire subject like the plague.

Two miserable subjects. Dawn leaving, Giles having a girlfriend. Her life sucked. She decided to make herself feel worse. "So, did you have fun last night?" On the date, the second date, the second date before the third date.

"Did Willow tell you about that as well?" Giles smiled. He, Willow and Tara had gone to a local theatre production of Twelfth Night. He had quite enjoyed it. "Yes, we had a lovely time, thank you. We plan to do it again, as soon as possible."

Buffy thought she might barf. "Well, don't rush in to anything. Okay?"

"Excuse me? Good Lord, look at the time. Buffy, I have to go. Let's chat later, all right?"

"All right. Bye, Giles."

"Good bye."

Buffy looked at the phone receiver, listening to the dial tone. Going, going, gone. She hung up the phone and plopped down on the bed. Feathers rose all around her and she furiously batted them away from her face. Finally she got back up, and attempted to brush all the feathers off her bed. They had a mind of their own and fought back, as if they were thousands of little demons sent to make her crazy.

After a few minutes, she realized the futility of her task and gave up. The only thing that would work on this mess was the vacuum cleaner, and two in the morning was not the time for that, despite the fact that she was wide-awake and likely to stay that way.

She thought about her choices. She could lie in the bed and spit feathers out all night. She could go downstairs and watch TV and try to sleep on the couch. She could go for a walk. Buffy gave her options some thought and decided that none of them sounded appealing.

Opening the door to her bedroom, she looked up and down the hall, as if expecting to see a hall monitor. Then she tiptoed out of her room, as if to evade said monitor. She snuck down to Giles' room, and opened the door, sneaking one last peak down the hallway. Assured that no one was paying her the slightest bit of attention, she entered his room and shut the door behind her.

She sat on Giles' bed, and touched the comforter. It made her miss him so badly her chest grew tight and she felt the sting of tears. Crawling under the covers, and snuggling up to his pillows, she lay there, pretending he was there, or that he was coming home soon, and would be climbing up the stairs any moment, that he was hers and not some faceless woman's in England who would be delighted to meet her.

It took a while, but she finally fell asleep.

Dawn looked for her in the morning, and after exhausting all the usual house spots, poked her nose in Giles' room. When she saw Buffy fast asleep, she grinned, and backed out, shutting the door behind her.

End Part 4