Title: Friends and Lovers
Author: Rari

(notes and disclaimer with part one)

Friends and Lovers: Part 10

Buffy was up in her room resting when the doorbell rang. Joyce grinned at the look on her face. Buffy made as if to bounce out of bed but Joyce put her hand out. "You stay put, young lady. If it's Rupert, I'll send him up."

Buffy lay back on her pillows, frowning. The doorbell rang again. She pointed. "Well, go get it, before he leaves."

Joyce rolled her eyes as she headed downstairs. As if he would leave. He'd probably break the door down if no one answered it; afraid that Buffy was lying hurt somewhere, unable to call him. Joyce opened the door and her eyebrows rose when she saw it was Riley. "Oh, Riley."

Riley smiled at her, a look of hope on his face. "Well, here I am, to take your advice." He looked around. "She's here, isn't she?"

Joyce nodded, momentarily stymied at Riley's appearance. "Uh, yes, she's up in her room." Guilt swamped her as she realized that she had told Riley to talk to Buffy, to try and convince her that he was still the guy for her, back when Joyce couldn't stand the hold Rupert had on her daughter. That seemed so long ago now.

"Great. I'll just go on up."

Joyce's eyes opened wide. For some reason she didn't want Riley up in Buffy's room. She had to bite back a laugh at herself that just seconds ago she hadn't had a thought about sending Rupert up. "No. I'll go get her."

"I don't mind." Riley made as if to head up.

"Riley." Joyce spoke more sharply than she intended and Riley looked at her, surprised. Joyce decided to go with the intimidating mom routine. She pointed at the couch. "You just sit there, young man, and I will go get my daughter."

Riley flashed her his lovely smile and he sat, quite obediently. Joyce let out a little sigh that her daughter's life would never be this easy, never allow for a normal boyfriend, with a nice obedient smile, that her friends and neighbors wouldn't think twice about. Shaking off that fantasy yet again, Joyce headed upstairs. She opened up the door to Buffy's room. Buffy looked up, a smile on her face, clearly expecting to see Giles. "Hey!" She frowned. "Oh, Mom. Wasn't that Giles?"

Joyce shook her head. "It's Riley. He wants to talk to you."

Buffy flopped back down on her bed. "Great. Can't you tell him I'm sick or something?"

"Buffy, he's your boyfriend."

Buffy pouted. "I know."

"If you don't want him to be, you need to let him know."

Again, the pout. "I know."

"Do you want him to be your boyfriend?"

Buffy wasn't sure when it had happened but somehow between yesterday and today she didn't want him to be her boyfriend. "No." She glanced up at her mom. "Does that make me a terrible person?"

Joyce sat down on Buffy's bed. "Of course not, honey. You have to be true to yourself. But if you don't love Riley, you need to tell him that. Stringing someone along is a very unkind thing to do, despite the fact that it sometimes seems the easiest thing to do."

Buffy sighed a big sigh. "I know. I don't know what happened. Yesterday it was fine that he was my boyfriend. But today …" She shivered. "Major ick factor."

"Any ideas why?" A part of Joyce was begging Buffy to think it through.

Buffy shook her head. "No. Although I guess things haven't been super great for a few weeks now. He really doesn't like all the time I spend with Giles."

Joyce just nodded. "Well, you better go down and talk to him."

"What will I do if Giles comes by while he's here?"

"Well, I imagine he will offer to come by again later, or I could take him in the kitchen and keep him company until Riley leaves."

Buffy narrowed her eyes as she looked at her mom. "No hanky panky?"

Joyce pulled her daughter out of bed and smacked her on the butt. "Buffy Summers. Your boyfriend is down in the living room. I suggest you tend to him and not worry so much about me." Buffy sent her mom one last pout and then she headed down the stairs.

Joyce rolled back on Buffy's bed, fighting back a grin. Joyce knew that she was enjoying having her daughter be jealous of her far too much. She imagined if Buffy and Rupert ended up together that she'd have a few jealous moments of her own, so she was going to enjoy this part as much as she could. The grin slipped off her face. Although if Rupert really wasn't going to say anything, and Buffy continued as clueless as she seemed to be, Joyce truly wondered if anything would happen between the two of them. She hugged a pillow, thinking up possible plans to help them along.

Buffy found Riley sitting on the couch. He stood and headed over to her, giving her a big hug. She hugged him back, wondering again why she didn't feel like touching him anymore. He pulled back just a bit and Buffy knew he was planning on kissing her. Buffy managed to evade him and headed for the kitchen. "I'm thirsty. You want something?"

Riley, ever agreeable, nodded. "Sure." He followed her into the kitchen.

Opening the refrigerator door Buffy looked at the possibilities. She glanced up at Riley. "Juice? Soda?"

"Whatever you're having."

Buffy sighed and pulled out some juice. She poured them both a glass and then put the container back into the refrigerator. Handing him a glass she sat opposite him at the table. "Here."

"Thanks." Riley reached across the table for one of her hands. "Buffy, we need to talk."

Buffy pulled her hand back and stood up. "Are you hungry?"

Riley stood too and captured her hand, pulling Buffy close to him. He lowered his head to kiss her.

She managed to stand it for a minute but then she turned her head away. "Don't."

"Buffy, did I miss something? Did we have a fight and somehow I missed the newsbreak? Because you sure aren't acting like my girlfriend." He pulled her to him again. "Or are you just mad at me and we just need to make up?" He nuzzled her neck. "Hmmm?"

***

As she headed downstairs Joyce saw Giles coming up the sidewalk to the house. Opening the door she smiled at him. "Rupert."

Giles smiled at her. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." She grinned, anticipating his next question. "Buffy is fine." Joyce thought for a moment and then decided that maybe throwing the three of them in a room together might break a few truths loose. "She's in the kitchen." Joyce didn't bother to mention that Riley was in there as well.

"Ah, well, I'll just …" He pointed towards the kitchen.

"Of course." Joyce followed behind him. When he opened the kitchen door Joyce winced and almost grabbed his arm to drag him back out. She really hadn't intended on Rupert being the one to get his heart broken in this scenario.

Giles stopped when he saw Riley nuzzling Buffy. He turned to leave immediately but Buffy saw him and cried out. "Giles." She moved away from Riley. "Look, Giles is here."

Giles pointed to the door. "Actually I was just leaving, I didn't mean to interrupt." His heart was hurting, as he suddenly realized how not all right he was with the thought of Buffy with another man. He turned around and sent a disbelieving glare at Joyce.

Buffy could see the hurt look on Giles' face and she wanted it to go away. "No, don't leave." She gestured to Riley. "This wasn't what it looked like." She glared at her mom too.

Joyce gave them all a sickly smile. "I have laundry to do." She left quickly, leaving them on their own.

Riley stared at Buffy. "What's going on?"

Buffy stared back at him, all innocence. "What do you mean?" She took a step towards Giles. He was standing too near the door, and still looking poised to run.

Giles looked at the two of them. "Clearly I've interrupted. I'll come back later."

Buffy leaped for him and grabbed his arm. "No, no, stay. I want you to stay."

Giles looked down at her, confused. "Buffy, what are you doing?"

Riley looked at the two of them and his jaw dropped. "Oh God, the two of you have something going on, don't you?" He smacked himself on the head. "Could I be more stupid? This explains everything."

Giles and Buffy looked at each other and then back at Riley. Giles spoke. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please. I'm here with my supposed girlfriend, trying to kiss her, and you walk in. Suddenly she doesn't want to be near me and tells you that it wasn't what it looked like, like I'm the other man. Give me another explanation."

Giles looked at Buffy. Buffy bit her lip, looking back, racking her brain for an explanation that made more sense that the fact that she didn't know why she did it. She held her hand up towards Riley. "I …was just embarrassed to be kissing you in front of Giles." Buffy looked at them both, hoping that maybe that might eek her by. At the looks on their faces she tried again. "Giles told me to take it easy, I was afraid he'd yell at me if I was kissing you and being all strenuous."

Giles rolled his eyes and Riley just glared at her. Riley took a step in her direction, gesturing at them both. "How long has this been going on? How long have you two been sneaking around behind my back?"

Giles was feeling annoyed that he was having this conversation for the second time in one day. "We have not been sneaking around." Realizing that wasn't having quite the effect he wanted it to have on Riley, he tried again. "There isn't anything of a romantic nature going on between Buffy and myself. There never has been. And I don't appreciate you throwing around accusations like that. Buffy would never behave that way."

Buffy sent Giles a grateful smile. She looked at Riley. "And neither would Giles." She glanced at Giles again and he smiled softly at her.

Riley was pacing around the kitchen. "Well, maybe you haven't been sneaking around but it's pretty clear something's going on. I should have guessed it with the way she's been acting. Always Giles this and Giles that, and I have to go be with Giles now." He glared at Giles. "And then last night making me call you and once you got there I might as well have been chopped liver." He stormed over to the two of them and Giles stepped in front of Buffy. Buffy rolled her eyes and moved to stand next to him.

Riley looked at them both and then fixed his attention on Buffy. "I don't know what's going on between the two of you, maybe you don't even know, but I'm guessing that whatever it is, that there's no room for me anymore, is there?"

Buffy looked up at Riley, hating that she was hurting him. Finally she shook her head. Her voice was very soft. "No." She took a step towards him. "Riley, I'm sorry."

"When were you going to tell me? Hmm? How long were you going to string me along?"

"I wasn't stringing you along. I was going to tell you today, right now." She gestured to Giles. "But Giles came in."

Giles let out a breath. "I can still leave."

Buffy grabbed his arm again. "Don't you move."

"When did you decide you didn't want me anymore?" When Buffy didn't answer Riley answered for her. "It was last night, wasn't it?"

Giles looked at Buffy, his eyes wide. Buffy glanced up at him and then at Riley. Again, it took a moment but finally she nodded. "I don't know what happened. It was there and then it wasn't."

"Maybe it's still there. Maybe it was just because you got hurt and got scared. Maybe you just need some time." Riley knew none of those statements were true but he couldn't just give her up.

Buffy shook her head. "I'm sorry, Riley."

"So that's it?" Buffy didn't respond and she didn't meet his eyes. Riley pointed at Giles. "What is it with him? What's he got that I haven't got? What's the attraction?"

Giles tried to take a step towards Riley, his body answering the implied challenge. But Buffy kept a firm hold on him. She looked up at Riley. "Giles isn't the point. The fact that you and I are over is the point. I'm sorry I'm telling you this way. I know I'm really bad at this. I'm sorry that I'm hurting you but the truth of it is that I just don't want to see you anymore."

Riley let out a bitter laugh. "And you think Giles isn't the point? I thought being the Slayer meant that you learned to keep your eyes open. You're about as blind as a person can be if you don't think Giles is the point here. This has everything to do with him and nothing to do with me." He shook his head. "But maybe it never did have anything to do with me." He reached out a hand to touch Buffy's face. Giles had to fight the urge to slap it away. He could feel Buffy moving ever so slightly closer to him, and away from Riley, and Giles made do with that. Riley spoke. "Did you ever love me?"

Buffy's eyes filled with tears. "I tried. I wanted to. I thought you were everything I wanted."

Riley pulled his hand away as if burnt. He gestured at Giles angrily. "Yeah, except I'm not him."

Buffy pulled herself up to her full height and glared at Riley. "Time for you to go."

Riley looked at them both. "Yeah, I guess it is." He brushed by them both and pushed his way out the kitchen door, none too gently. They both winced as the front door slammed behind him as well.

Giles and Buffy stood another moment looking at each other. Then Giles moved away, needing some distance, and headed over to the stove. "Would you like some tea?"

Buffy shook her head. "Nah, I think I'll go straight for the ice cream. You want some?"

Giles considered the idea but then he shook his head. "No, I feel the need for tea at the moment. Perhaps later."

Buffy opened the freezer and took out a container, then went searching for a bowl. Giles put some water in the kettle and turned on the burner. He leaned back against the counter and watched Buffy. Buffy finally noticed Giles watching her and she sent him a rueful smile. "That was fun, huh?"

Giles' eyebrows rose. "Yes, very entertaining. Especially getting to go through it twice in one day."

Buffy thought for a minute and then she grimaced. "Jenny?"

Giles nodded. "Jenny."

"Didn't you guys kiss and make up, though?" Buffy hated the idea, especially the kissing part.

"No, it ended much the same as this one did."

Buffy tried to make her voice sound sad. "You broke up?"

"Yes, I'm afraid we did, quite definitively so. Slamming doors seems to be the exit of choice today."

Buffy winced. But then she grew genuinely contrite. "Giles, I really am sorry. I know it was because of me."

Giles bit back a laugh at Buffy's statement. It was true, much more than Buffy knew. "Buffy, please, don't hold yourself in any way to blame. Perhaps it did have something to do with you, but there is nothing about the way things are that I would willingly change to keep Jenny with me."

"But suppose you could wave a magic wand?"

As the water began to boil Giles started pulling a mug and the tea out of the cupboard. "A magic wand?" He mulled over that thought. "Are you asking if I would make my life something completely different, not be a Watcher? Instead be someone who could simply fall in love, get married, have some children, live a simple and relatively danger free life?" He pursed his lips. "Certainly I think about it. Don't you?"

Buffy nodded. "Sure, I think about it a lot. But if I handed you that wand right now and told you that you could have that, would you do it?"

Giles let off his tea making and turned to face Buffy. "You mean end up with someone like Jenny and lose you?" Buffy nodded, her face prepared for the worst. He smiled softly at her. "No, I don't believe I would."

She smiled at him, relieved beyond measure. "Really?"

"Really."

"You'd choose me?"

"I did choose you, Buffy. It's why she's gone and I'm standing here with you in your kitchen."

Buffy nodded, still grinning. "Good point."

Giles rolled his eyes and went back to his tea making. Buffy put the container of ice cream back in the freezer, opened the drawer to get a spoon, and then took her bowl to the kitchen table. She sat down and dug in, watching Giles, feeling quite content.

Giles finished his tea and brought it over to the table, sitting across from Buffy. Buffy wished he'd sit closer. She took another spoonful of ice cream and watched him some more. Giles looked up and caught her eye. "What?"

Buffy hesitated for a second but then she jumped in. "Why do you think Riley thought there was something going on between us?"

Giles stilled, his mug poised near his lips. Then he took a sip. "Well, he did have a point. You did act somewhat oddly when I walked in. I'm not surprised he drew the wrong conclusion."

Buffy shook her head. "Nah, it was more than that. He's been thinking there's been something going on for a while."

"Well, we discussed jealousy a while ago, Buffy. Jealousy can frequently color one's perception of events, and put an interpretation on things that aren't at all true."

Somehow his answer disappointed Buffy. "So, there isn't anything going on …between us?"

Giles almost choked on his tea. "Excuse me?"

Buffy blushed. "Never mind. Stupid question."

Giles reached out and gently touched her hand. "Not a stupid question, you are merely trying to understand. But, for there to be, as you say, something going on between us, there would need to be something … actually going on between us."

"Right, which there isn't." Buffy frowned at that thought. She glanced up at Giles. "Right?"

Joyce chose that moment to poke her head in the door. She smiled when she saw Giles and Buffy. "Is he gone?" Both Buffy and Giles glared at her. She winced.

Giles spoke first. "You might have told me that Riley was in here, Joyce."

Buffy simply added her weight behind Giles'. "Yeah, Mom." Although now she was actually glad Giles had interrupted them.

Giles spoke again. "What were you thinking?" He truly didn't understand. He'd thought Joyce on his side in this.

Joyce lost her patience. "I thought it might make the two of you actually talk to each other." She glared at them both. "Has it? Are you?"

Giles snapped at her. "Joyce."

Joyce's reaction was immediate. She bit her lips to keep her mouth closed and she looked guilty. Buffy looked at both Giles and her mother in amazement. Giles had used that tone of voice with her but Buffy had never imagined him using it on her mom. It was nice to see it had the same result. But her curiosity was completely aroused. "Talk about what?"

Joyce rolled her eyes and just turned around and left, muttering as she did so. Something about idiots.

End of Part 10