Title: Friends and Lovers
Author: Rari

(notes and disclaimer with part one)

Friends and Lovers: Part 11

Buffy stared at Giles again. "You yelled at my mom."

Giles winced. "Yes, well, I do apolo…"

Buffy interrupted. "And it worked."

Giles stared at her as he realized that Buffy wasn't upset that he had yelled at her mother, merely amazed at the result. He got up to add some more hot water to his tea hoping the entire incident would be forgotten.

"What did she want us to talk about?"

Giles' lips tightened. He ought to have known that Buffy wouldn't ever let something alone. "It's not important."

"Well she thinks it is."

Giles sent Buffy a stern look. "I have no intention of talking about it."

Buffy started pleading. "But if she thinks it's important and you think it's important enough to not talk about then it must be important."

"Buffy. The answer is no."

"I don't even know what the question is."

Giles sent her one of his looks. "It won't work."

She pouted at him.

"I mean it, it won't work. I have no intention of succumbing to your wily ways."

That stopped Buffy. "I have wily ways?"

"Very wily."

She grinned. "Cool." Then she frowned. "Or not. I mean, look at Wily Coyote. He must have wily ways or they wouldn't call him Wily Coyote and look at what always happens to him."

Giles couldn't help it. He laughed.

Buffy stared at him. "I made you laugh."

Giles was still chuckling. "Yes, well, you can be quite …amusing." He almost said adorable but stopped the word just in time.

Buffy frowned. "What were you going to say?"

She knew him entirely too well so he decided to tell a small lie. "I was going to say droll."

Buffy's brow furrowed. "I hate that word."

"Why on earth do you hate that word?"

"Because it always seems like a word I should understand but I never do."

"Exactly. So I thought I'd expedite the entire conversation and say amusing instead."

Buffy pouted again. Then she perked up. "But at least the word I understood has three syllables and the one I didn't only had one."

Giles shook his head in amazement. "It is a truly frightening and odd world we live in."

Buffy scowled at him. "Ha ha."

Giles smiled at her and then lifted his eyebrows. "Actually his name is Wile E. Coyote. The E in wily is his middle initial."

Buffy's eyes opened wide. "Get out." She paused. "Really?"

"Really."

She thought about that for a moment and then she grinned. "I can't believe you know that."

Giles just grinned, looking smug.

Buffy couldn't resist it and grinned back. Then she thought back on what they'd been talking about. "So, you're really not gonna tell me?"

Giles shook his head.

"Fine. I'll just figure it out on my own then."

Giles nodded. "And when you do, we can talk about it."

Buffy let out a disgusted noise. "So, now we're not talking about it because I'm stupid?"

Giles' eyes narrowed. "Buffy, you know I don't think you're stupid." He frowned at her. "And you know I don't like it when you refer to yourself as such."

"But right now you're not talking to me about something important because you don't think I'll understand it, you or my mom."

"This is different, Buffy. It's got nothing to do with how bright you are or whether you'll understand."

"Right. Which is why my mom was mumbling about idiots when she left the room. Part of which was directed at you, by the way."

Giles muttered something under his breath, entirely directed at Joyce.

Buffy's eyes opened wide. "You just called my mom a bad name."

Giles sighed. "You heard that?" He always forgot about her Slayer hearing. Buffy nodded. Giles sighed again. "Well, perhaps I better go before my behavior disintegrates even more." He stood to leave.

Buffy reached across the table and grabbed his hand. "Don't go."

Giles looked at her, surprised. "Why not?"

"Because I don't want you to go. I like having someone here."

"You're not alone. Your mother's here."

"I know that." Buffy took a deep breath. "I like having you here. You."

Feeling both delighted and frustrated Giles sat down again. Buffy still had a loose hold on his hand and he wasn't quite sure what to do, whether he should continue holding her hand or remove his. He hated that he suddenly felt awkward around her. Buffy took the decision away by lacing her fingers through his and moving to the chair kitty corner from him.

Giles was astonished at the effect of her touch on him. She had touched him before and held his hand, but it felt so different this time. It made him want her, it made him want to touch her and he had no idea how to deal with it.

Buffy could feel something in the air. She gazed at Giles but he was looking at everything but her. She squeezed his hand. "Giles, what is it?"

Giles glanced at her just for a second. Then he regretfully pulled his hand away. "I had better go."

It had only been the briefest of looks but Buffy's stomach did flip-flops in response to it. She grabbed his hand again before he pulled it completely away. "No."

"No?"

She shook her head, looking at him. Frustrated that he still wasn't looking at her she reached out and placed a hand on his cheek, turning his head to face her. "No." Buffy could feel it there, tickling her, tantalizingly out of reach. "Wait." She finally caught his gaze.

He stared at her, captivated by her eyes and by the growing wonder there, equal parts within him hopeful that she would share his feelings, and fearful that she would reject him.

Buffy pulled her hand away from his and Giles' heart sank, but she merely placed it on his other cheek so she was holding his face in both her hands. Her eyes were wide and searching. She gazed into his eyes, where the emotions were so clearly written for her to see. "You love me."

Giles let out a sigh. "I do."

"Why didn't I see it before?"

Giles smiled ruefully. "I didn't know it before."

Buffy didn't feel close enough to Giles. She inched her chair around the corner until she was as close to him as she could get. Buffy reached up and touched his face again. She couldn't bear to not be touching him. "This feels so strange."

Giles covered her hand with one of his. "Yes, it does."

Buffy couldn't look at him enough. "Does it just happen like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like magic? Like all of a sudden it's there when you had no idea?"

Giles smiled softly. "Apparently."

Buffy's brow furrowed. "My mom figured it out?"

Giles laughed his soft laugh. "Yes, before I did."

Buffy wasn't sure how she felt about that. She pushed it aside for the time being. "Will you say it to me?"

"Do you want me to?"

Buffy nodded, unconsciously leaning closer to him.

Giles hesitated for a second but then he found it surprisingly easy to say. "I love you."

Buffy closed her eyes for a moment and then she smiled. "You've said that to me before."

"Yes, I have."

"But, it's different now."

"Yes, it is."

"So, say it the real way." She wanted to hear it the way she hadn't been able to say it to Riley. And the way she knew Giles hadn't said it to Jenny. She needed to hear him say it to her.

Giles touched her cheek with the back of his fingers and then let his fingers run through her hair. "What is it you want me to say? Do you want me to say that I'm in love with you?"

Buffy's hand had slipped off his face and was resting on Giles' chest over his heart. She nodded.

Giles smiled, his face so close to hers, so close she could feel his breath on her cheek. "I am, I am very much in love with you."

Buffy laid her head on Giles' chest. "Oh, God."

Giles pulled back, concerned. "Buffy, are you all right?"

She nodded, her hands over her stomach. "I just got attacked by about a million butterflies."

Giles continued to look confused. "Is that a good thing?"

Buffy giggled and then lifted her head to smile at him. "It's a way good thing."

"Ah."

Somehow Buffy knew exactly what that particular ah meant. She ran her fingers over his lips. "So, what do we do now?"

Giles held her fingers still with his hand and as hard as he tried he couldn't resist kissing them. Then he pulled her hand away, holding it in his. "That depends entirely on what you want to do."

Buffy found herself feeling very young. She frowned at him. "Suddenly I'm in charge?"

Giles smiled at her. "For this moment, for this first touch, yes, you are in charge. I have to know it's what you want."

She frowned at him again. "What, and then you'll be Mr. Bossy again?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, immediately thereafter and henceforth. We both know how successful I've been at that."

She grinned quite impudently at him. "I might like you bossy in this."

Giles let out a groan and rested his forehead against hers, praying for patience. "Would you please just decide."

Right then Buffy felt the power she had over him and Giles knew he was in trouble when he saw her next grin. She ran her hand through his hair, watching as Giles closed his eyes at the sensation. Buffy leaned forward and kissed his jaw. "What is it, exactly, that you want me to decide?" She pressed another kiss on his jaw and then on his chin.

He growled her name. "Buffy."

She laughed in delight and moved in even closer, her hands on his chest as she kissed his temples, and his eyebrows and the end of his nose. "Am I supposed to decide where I should kiss you?" She kissed him everywhere on his face, everywhere but on his lips. "Am I doing it right?"

Giles felt as if he was on fire. He wondered where that man had gone who had looked down at Buffy sleeping last night unable to imagine touching her. There was no trace of that man now. If Buffy didn't kiss him soon he thought he might explode, just spontaneously combust.

Joyce chose that moment to push open the kitchen door, her curiosity finally getting the better of her. Joyce bit back a grin as Buffy sprang away from Giles and he lowered his face into his hands. Joyce decided it served him right for snapping at her earlier.

Buffy's face was bright red as she looked up at her mom. She wanted to go strangle her but she made herself stay seated. "What, Mom?"

Joyce finally succumbed to the grin. Giles still had his face hidden. "I'm going out. I've got a show tonight at the gallery. I'll be home after ten." She couldn't resist a last shot. Favoring her daughter with the best mom glare she could she left with a warning. "You two behave." Shutting the door behind her, Joyce laughed all the way out of the house.

Giles groaned from behind his hands. Buffy was petrified that the moment was lost, that he would just leave, that he would realize that he couldn't possibly love her, that it had all been a dreadful mistake. Her voice was filled with all that worry and fear when she spoke his name. "Giles?"

He heard the fear and he lifted his head, concerned for her. She decided not to give him the chance to change his mind. Buffy moved to his lap, straddling him, capturing his lips with hers.

Giles was initially stunned but he rallied quickly. Wrapping his arms around her he pressed her close. One hand rose to fist in her hair, turning her head ever so slightly so her lips would fit even more fully over his. Buffy moaned and wiggled in closer. She felt his hardness and she rubbed against him. At his groan she rubbed some more, loving this proof of his attraction to her. Suddenly she realized how close she was to having an orgasm. She tried to move away, almost embarrassed at how his touch had enflamed her, but Giles chose that time to sweep his tongue in her mouth and press her even closer. Before she knew it she found her release.

Giles could feel it in her body and he swallowed her cries with his lips as she trembled in his arms. He couldn't believe how responsive she was to him. When she quieted he looked down at her, at her still flushed face and swollen lips. She buried her face in his chest and moaned, mortified.

He pulled her head up and smiled at her. "Don't hide. You have never looked more beautiful to me. Don't you understand that it excites me to see what my touch does to you?"

Buffy was still pressed against him and she could feel how hard he still was. His words and the feel of him felt wonderful. She rubbed against him again, feeling suddenly naughty, and whispered in his ear. "How much does it excite you?"

Giles tried to stop her. "Keep that up and you'll find out."

Buffy didn't want to stop. "No, show me." She reached down and stroked him through his pants.

Giles let out a cry. "God, Buffy."

She stroked him again, applying some pressure. "Let me see what I do to you."

He thrust against her hand and let out a moan. Buffy felt her own excitement grow in response and she kissed him, begging for entry with her tongue. And then she was capturing his cries as he bucked against her hand. It was the most erotic thing she'd ever felt. After a while, Giles let out a pained laugh and he rested his head on her shoulder. "I can't believe I just did that."

This time Buffy lifted his head up with a gentle caress so she could look at his face. She smiled at him. "You and me both." She rested her hands on his cheeks and she just stared at him. "How did I not see it?"

Giles shook his head, still a bit overwhelmed at his body's response and behavior. "I'm not sure I follow you."

"How did I not see how yummy you were?"

Giles grinned. "I'm sure I have no idea."

She poked him on the arm. "Hey." Giles just grinned again. She ignored him and took off his glasses. Running her hands down his face she shook her head. "I mean it. You're so handsome. Why didn't I ever notice it before now?"

He frowned. "You never thought I was handsome?"

"Well, I guess I did, because you are. But not in a wow you're really handsome and you're mine, so everyone better back off and keep your hands off kind of way."

"Ah." She poked him on the arm again. "Ow." He rubbed his arm, even though it hadn't hurt. Then at the look on her face he relented. "Buffy, love changes everything. You look so different to me now as well. And yes, before you ask, I always knew you were lovely but now you're mine and you are so very beautiful."

She sighed and rested her head against his chest. "I really, really love you." She lifted her head. "You know, the in love kind of love."

Giles kissed her again, softly and so tenderly. "You don't know what that means to me, to hear that, to believe it, to have it be you who's saying it to me."

Buffy nodded. "I know. It's like you're the only person who I could say that to and know that when I say it that I mean it with all of me. That there isn't a part of me that belongs to somebody else."

Giles grinned. "You mean, like your Watcher?"

She grinned back. "Yeah, like my Watcher."

Giles shifted underneath her, suddenly uncomfortable. "I have to go and get cleaned up."

She grinned at him again. "Make a mess in there, did you?"

Giles rolled his eyes. "Yes, and it's all your fault."

She smiled at him, all flirt. "Need some help?"

He stood in one fluid moment, Buffy in his arms. She shrieked a little and held on tight, her legs closing around him. He moved forwards and sat her on the table. "No. Despite the very tempting offer I can take care of this all on my own, thank you." Buffy pouted and he tapped her on the bottom lip with a finger.

She pulled him down and kissed him hard. "You just feel so good. I thought…"

Giles pulled away reluctantly. "Buffy, I think it's a good thing we both lost control a bit, and so quickly. It's slowed us down quite nicely. I'm not in a rush, despite my body's reaction to you. I have no intention of dragging you upstairs and having sex with you in a heated frenzy only to have to get dressed before your mother gets home. When I make love to you for the first time I want to be able to hold you all night, and make it a special evening with candles and music, and declarations of love."

Buffy sighed. And then she wrapped her legs around him again, pulling him in tight. "You're not leaving, though, are you?"

Giles reached behind him and unclasped her legs. "No, I'm not leaving." He pressed a quick kiss on her lips. "Trust me, I can barely stand to be parted from you long enough to go to the loo."

She smiled at him fondly. "British guy."

He laughed quietly and moved away. "I'll meet you in the living room."

She stood too. "And we can snuggle?"

Giles turned back to her and hugged her tightly, wanting to chase all her uncertainty away. "I'll hold you the rest of the evening until your mother comes home and chases me out of here as if I was a school boy." He stepped away again, and looked down at himself. "But now, please, I have to go and clean up."

Buffy giggled and pushed him away. "Go." Giles headed for the downstairs bathroom while Buffy ran up to the one upstairs. She had to clean up too. Buffy took a moment and stared at her reflection in the mirror. She couldn't believe how different she felt, how right she felt, how completed she felt. She shook her head and then grinned. Racing back downstairs she got settled on the couch, changing her position several times, trying to get it perfect.

Giles caught her for the last couple of position adjustments. He spoke softly from the darkness. "No matter how you sit, you look perfect to me." His voice was rich with amusement.

Buffy groaned and buried her head in the couch cushion. Giles laughed and moved to sit next to her, pulling her into his arms, holding her lovingly. Buffy relaxed after a minute and just sighed. Finally she spoke, safe within his arms. "You know, it's kind of nice being in a relationship with someone who already knows every bad thing about me and still loves me."

Giles kissed the top of her head. "That works both ways, you know."

She sighed again. "It is still kind of weird."

"What is?"

She sat up and grinned at him, a nervous grin. "Well, that it's you. I mean first we're just Slayer and Watcher, and then a while ago we decide that we're friends. And now, suddenly we're …" She got stuck there.

Giles helped her out. "Lovers? Or soon to be lovers?"

"Yeah, friends and … and lovers. And a part of it feels weird that it's with you. Rupert Giles, brainy guy, Watcher guy, you know, you."

Giles grinned affectionately at her. "I know the feeling."

"It feels weird to you, too?"

"It does feel quite, well, a bit unreal."

She looked nervous again. "But that's not a bad thing, right?"

Giles shook his head. "No, it's just a thing, as you put it, that will take some getting used to. Despite how well we know each other, the intimacy will be new to us, and perhaps even more embarrassing in some ways because we do know each other so well. It's another reason I want to take some time. Time to get to know each other this way, as potential lovers, and give the other people in our lives some time to get accustomed to the idea."

Buffy leaned forwards and kissed him and it didn't take long for the kiss to grow quite heated. When Buffy pulled back they were both panting for breath. She grinned at him. "Remember what I said a while ago about how sexy it was that you were so smart?"

Giles nodded. "Vividly."

"I so meant it."

Giles laughed and pulled her in for another kiss.

The End
April 9, 2002