(notes and disclaimer with part one)

Giles turned his head away from Buffy's ear and toward the stairwell. Speaking loudly to be sure they heard him and called out, "I'll be right down."

He put his mouth against her ear again and whispered, "Get dressed and come downstairs." Then, grabbing his T-shirt from the chair where it had landed, he walked toward the stairs. He had the shirt on before he hit the first step. Acutely aware of the state of his body he stopped at the top step to compose himself, which wasn't easy, particularly because it was the last thing he wanted to do. What he wanted was Willow and Xander to get the hell out of his flat. 'Damn, why did I leave the door unlocked? And what the bloody hell makes them think it’s acceptable to just walk right in!' He knew that each of them on their own most likely would have left if he hadn't answered, but as a pair they were unrelenting. If they came here for a reason, which presumably they had, they wouldn't leave without at least some investigation. He could just imagine Willow’s thought processes: 'Maybe Giles went out. He left the door unlocked so he must be nearby. We'll wait.' And one of them would come up with the bright idea of checking the bedroom. 'Maybe he's sleeping…or hurt up there! We better check.' The thought of Willow and Xander walking in on him and Buffy half-naked was what finally did the trick. The mood was gone along with any physical evidence that it had existed. Giles cursed them silently and walked down the stairs.

As he reached the bottom step he saw Xander had already staked his claim to one end of the couch. Willow was standing near his desk and raised her hand in a gesture of hello, but before Giles could say a word, there was a knock on the door. Willow was closest and opened it to Tara and Riley. Giles' gut seized up. Riley. The frustration and anger he already felt toward Willow and Xander increased tenfold.

"Hello, Mister Giles." Riley spoke first.

"Hello, Riley. Tara." Giles nodded to each in turn, fighting to keep a tone of professional distance in his voice. Even with the anger boiling inside, he was too much of a gentleman to be rude to Tara.

"Hi," Tara replied meekly, as she ducked her head trying not to be noticed.

He turned to Willow and then Xander, who had his feet on the coffee table. Giles shot him an especially withering glare and the feet came down immediately.

"To what do I owe this visit?" He reached up to remove his glasses for a perfunctory cleaning and found he'd left them upstairs.

"Well, we were in the neighborhood and figured we stop in to say hey. Hey." Willow chimed in cheerily.

He got the distinct impression they had all been discussing the need to spend more time with him...his need, not theirs…at least as they saw it. He knew that Willow felt badly about being the one to tell him Riley Finn was a commando. She was most likely the one behind this 'lets visit Giles' mission, though he wasn't sure why Riley and Tara were there. One could only assume they were being assimilated into the group. 'Lucky day,' he thought disdainfully.

"And we’re lookin' for Buffy," Xander added. Willow punched his arm. Xander winced.

"She'll be down in a minute." Giles decided not to offer any explanation as to why she was upstairs, which the two Scoobies knew contained only his bedroom. He wasn't going to pretend she wasn't there but he also wasn't going to say anything that might make it uncomfortable for Buffy…or him.

Willow and Xander each glanced toward the stairs, puzzled. A moment later Buffy descended, coming to a dead stop at the bottom. She knew Willow and Xander were there, but hadn't expected Riley. The warm tingling sensations she'd hoped to hang on to immediately vanished. She suddenly felt confused.

'Oh God,' she thought, 'now what do I do?' She consciously avoided looking at Giles and desperately wished everyone would go home, but she knew better.

"Hi guys," she said weakly.

"Hi, Buffy." Riley walked to her and leaned down to kiss her. She turned her head so his kiss landed on her cheek rather than the intended lips.

"Hey, Buff. Whatchya doin' upstairs?" Xander asked. The same question had been on Willow's mind. Neither Tara nor Riley knew what was upstairs so they hadn't given it much thought.

"Oh, well, I... I was looking for something to wear. I came over for some spur of the moment training but forgot my workout clothes. Giles thought he might have something. Then you guys showed up and put the kibosh on it for now. No big."

Giles was impressed with the realistic explanation she came up with. Willow and Xander seemed to accept it.

Riley spoke up. "I can train with you later if you want, Buffy."

Giles clenched his jaw as he waited for Buffy’s response.

But before she could say anything the door opened again and Anya swept into the room. "Xander, there you are!" She joined him on the couch, in his lap almost. Xander smiled, slightly embarrassed.

"Uh...well...maybe...okay, later." Buffy stammered in Riley's direction, still not daring to look at Giles.

"So, any demon parties or other hellmouthy fun going on that we should know about?" Xander asked, as he enjoyed Anya's attentions.

"No, nothing, all's quiet," Giles stated flatly. He was standing ramrod straight, arms crossed, blocking the doorway to the hall and entry to the kitchen, hoping they would all heed the message that he wasn't in the mood for a visit, and leave. Unfortunately, he knew they had never been quick to pick up on the subtleties of body language, especially Xander.

"Well, if there's nothing big and you're not going to train, what about a pizza at the student union? There's a party later at the Delta Gamma house." Willow offered up. As soon as she said it she caught Buffy’s glare. Between Giles' grim non-talky routine and Buffy's look, she could tell something was up, but couldn't figure out what. Then she remembered that the whole point was to spend time with Giles. Yikes, she had to back pedal.

"Well...uh...uh," she stammered as she desperately looked at Buffy and tried to recover from her blunder. "We can order pizza in, for here. Sit around and talk. Hey, that would be fun. We haven't done that in a while."

At this point Giles dropped his arms in defeat and turned into the kitchen, ignoring everyone. He kicked a stray pipe out his way and put the kettle on.

"Well, I don’t know, Will..." Buffy stammered.

"Xander and I can't. We’re going back to his room to..." Anya’s revelation was quickly cut off by Xander.

"An, we can stay for a while."

"But Xander, I'm wearing the black silk bra you like and the new panties you bought me." She looked at the group with a self-satisfied smile. "They’re edible," she announced.

Giles leaned his forehead against the fridge with a quiet groan, while everyone else tried to ignore Anya's announcement.

Riley finally broke the uncomfortable silence. "Buffy, we talked about doing something together tonight, remember, since we didn’t yesterday."

"Hey, we're supposed to do something as a group, like we used to. That's the whole point of tonight, and that includes Giles." Willow displayed her resolve face and was proud of herself for keeping everyone on track.

Buffy moved to Willow's side and whispered to her friend. "Will, what's with all this group stuff? It's the first I've heard."

Willow whispered, "Xander and I talked it over. After Giles' demon thing and you not telling him about Riley being a commando…" Buffy grimaced. "…We thought it would be good to include Giles in more stuff, like it used to be, ya know, before..."

Buffy nodded and sighed. "Yeah, I know." Her voice belied the regret she felt.

"We thought we could liven it up with Tara and Riley, new blood. Anya we couldn't avoid, no matter how hard we tried. Do you think it’s a good idea? Giles will like?"

"Yeah, nice idea, Will."

At this point Giles straightened up and spoke. "It's very thoughtful of you all to want to include me in your evening, but I have plans of my own." Then quickly added, "That I can't change."

The room went silent. Buffy gave Giles a questioning look, wondering what he had planned without her. Then it dawned on her that he was making this up just to get rid of everyone so they could be alone, to finish what he had started, or was it what she had started...what they had started.

Her mind flooded with memories of the earlier encounter. The tingling flowed through her body again as she remembered. Just his touch and the warmth of his breath on her back had ignited a fire that she had never experienced before. Not even with Angel. Not Scott, Parker, or Riley. 'Damn. Riley.' She'd have to get him alone to break it off gently. She'd have to get Giles alone to tell him of her plan to break it off with Riley. This was getting complicated. Momentary panic settled in. Maybe Giles wasn't interested in a long term or permanent thing. Maybe it was just one night stand. She began to feel insecure and nervous until she told herself: 'no, that’s not Giles.' Her mind drifted back to his touch and she was lost to the world again.

"Buffy?"

"Buffy?"

"Buffy?" Riley’s voice didn't make contact.

"Yo, Earth to Buffy?!" Xander’s voice finally broke through. "Off in your own little Buffadonia?"

Everyone was looking at her.

Riley spoke. "Buffy, since Mister Giles has plans, maybe we could do something tonight, a party, a movie or anything you like."

Buffy looked at him as if she didn't even know who he was.

"Yes, feel free to be on your way, all of you, any time now," Giles’ chimed in from the kitchen. He was anxious to get rid of all of them. Well, not Buffy, but he saw little hope of her staying at this point, not with everyone there, not with Riley there. Recapturing the moment seemed out of the question, for now.

"But Giles..." Willow tried to find an argument to convince him to change his mind.

Suddenly a new voice broke through. "Oh, it’s Wednesday night. Your night at the Espresso Pump."

Everyone looked at Tara who had just spoken for the first time since arriving. It was easy to forget she was even there, until now. She spoke with a confidence that she rarely let slip out and she had a lovely smile on her face.

Giles looked at her in horror. Fortunately she didn't see it since she had turned to Willow, who was quietly asking her what she meant.

"What?! What do you do at the Espresso Pump?" Buffy asked in dismay when she realized that his plans might not include her after all, not to mention there was something going on in his life she didn't know about.

"What gives, big guy? You get a job waiting tables?" Xander added which earned him another glare.

Giles paused while considering what to tell them. He felt quite certain they didn't deserve an answer, but knew they would demand it and refuse to leave without some information to feast on. Maybe he should tell them he was waiting tables. He'd probably get less grief than the truth would most certainly elicit.

Before he could respond, Tara added, "Friends took me last week; they had been the week before too. You were wonderful." She offered her comments to Giles with genuine warmth in her eyes, then looked away sheepishly.

She seemed like a sweet girl, and sincere. Giles warmed to her.

"Wednesday night is old fogies' night at the Pump," Anya added matter-of-factly, as if that explained why Giles might want to be there.

'Here it comes,' he thought, closing his eyes.

Tara spoke up again, "Well, it's actually sort of a classics night. At least that's what they call it. The music was beautiful. Some of it I recognized, some was completely new to me. There were older people there but a lot of college students too. A nice mixed crowd."

Buffy returned her gaze to Giles and frowned. "So Giles, what exactly do you do there?"

Giles sighed and looked gently at Tara, a silent plea in his eyes. His expression gave her his implicit permission to tell them all so that he could avoid doing it. He turned to take the kettle off the burner, hoping she understood.

"Oh, he sings," she stated gently, very perceptive young woman that she was.

A stunned silence filled the room.

"Huh?" From Xander.

One could hear the proverbial pin drop in the room as everyone stared at Giles.

"You sing?" Buffy’s tone was incredulous. Those were the only words she could manage. She was too overwhelmed with trying to process the information. Her Watcher, middle-aged, tweed clad, glasses wearing, lover of musty books ...'hmmm, lover, oh yeah.' Okay, she could see him doing something other than his usual. After all he had given up the tweed long ago, had taken up running, and had incredible hands...but sing?

"Yes, I sing. I perform at the Espresso Pump on Wednesday nights." He spoke as if confessing to a dire crime. He occupied his hands by drying dishes, which were already quite dry.

"H…How long?" Willow stammered, trying to picture it.

"This will be the fourth week."

Tara nodded at Willow with bright eyes. "He's very good. You should hear him."

Giles almost dropped a dish.

"Hey, we could do that tonight." Willow perked up, thrilled to have found a group activity again.

Giles again closed his eyes in dismay.

"No," he stated authoritatively "Definitely not."

He looked gently at Tara, "Tara, thank you for your kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Then he scanned the rest of the group, specifically Willow, Xander and Buffy, "But the rest of you won't like it at all. Lots of old people. The music is too quiet. Not to your tastes, I'm sure. And there’s no dancing."

"Wait a minute. I want to hear you sing." Buffy was feeling peeved.

Willow added, "Yeah, Giles."

"No. You lot will just be in my way. Go do whatever it is you do on Wednesday nights."

Willow was puzzled. He didn't sound like the Giles they knew. He sounded like he was mad…at them.

Buffy's mind started racing. 'Well, if he thinks he can get rid of me that easily he's got another thing coming. I'm not leaving here. So there,' she thought.

Riley chose that moment to move closer to Buffy. He placed his hand on the small of her back and leaned in to talk to her, suggesting they could go to the Bronze or see a movie.

Already in a very ugly mood, Giles saw Riley put his hand on Buffy's back and froze. He perceived it as a possessive act and that boy's hand was on his birthday gift. He fought the urge to go over there and knock the prat down, or better yet draw a sword. He got great satisfaction out of imagining running him through with a saber or lopping off his head with a broadsword.

Instead, he intentionally let go of the mug in his hand. It was his favorite pale green, glass mug. One he'd been using for years, but he didn't give it a second thought. The sound of it hitting the floor and cracking into several pieces drew everyone’s attention, as he had hoped it would. His intent was to get Riley's hand off Buffy and it worked. Buffy quickly moved toward Giles, as did Willow, to make sure he was okay and to see what happened.

"Whoa, slippery fingers. Hey wasn't that Spike’s mug?" Xander grinned.

Anya smiled up at Xander as if he'd said something remarkable.

Giles wished he had thought fast enough to drop the mug co-opted for Spike’s use, but it was a decision made in the heat of battle and sacrifices had to be made.

After a few moments of general commotion passed including Buffy and Willow fussing over him, Giles looked toward Riley waiting to catch his eyes. Riley felt Giles' stare and glanced at him. He had only been around Giles a couple times and never would have believed him capable of such a predatory look. Caught off guard, Riley stiffened and looked away. Giles smugly turned up the corners of his mouth slightly and shifted his attention back to Buffy and Willow, who were trying to sweep up the mess and assess his situation.

"What happened, Giles?" Buffy asked, concerned. She reached out to touch his arm but retreated.

"It slipped." Giles shrugged innocently and stepped around a few stray pieces.

Willow finished sweeping up but not before asking what he'd been doing in the kitchen anyway. It was a mess.

Buffy put her hand on her forehead and shook her head slightly as she recalled her unnerving encounter with Giles in the kitchen earlier that afternoon.

Her Watcher was the first to see it, as always.

"What’s wrong?" He moved toward her, concerned.

“Oh, nothing. I’m all right.” She wanted to walk into his arms, melt in his embrace and wondered why she wouldn't allow herself.

Giles was suddenly in full Watcher mode, brooking no protest. "Buffy, I want you to go home and rest this evening. No patrolling, no going out." Buffy’s mouth fell open.

He turned to Willow. "She told me she didn't get much sleep last night. I want you to stay with her and make sure she rests."

Concerned that this was something serious, Willow nodded and immediately moved closer to Buffy, casting quick glances at her.

He turned to Xander but couldn’t think of anything useful for him to do in this instance, so he waved them off. "Xander and Anya, you do whatever it is you had planned." Anya was pleased not to be given an assignment.

He looked sternly at each person as he issued his directives. Then it was Riley's turn.

Riley noted that without his glasses, Giles could look very menacing with that glare. "Riley, Buffy needs to stay in tonight and rest. You'll have to postpone your plans." It was not a request, not a suggestion but an order.

Riley was astonished. 'Who the hell did this guy think he was giving him orders and ordering Buffy and her friends around? And they were all feeding right into it. He’s just an old, out-of-work librarian.' Riley was more confused than ever about the relationship between Giles and Buffy.

Giles then turned to Tara. His voice softened and he spoke gently to her. "Tara, I'm sorry to ask this of you. I don't know what you had planned for this evening but if you could see your way clear to help Willow look after Buffy I would appreciate it. She can be a handful sometimes."

"Hey!" Buffy sputtered. And why was she suddenly being treated like an invalid?

Tara smiled shyly and nodded, clearly pleased to be included and particularly pleased that he asked her to help Willow, as if he knew nothing would make her happier.

"I told you, I'm fine," Buffy blurted at him.

Giles gave her a pointed look. "Don't argue with me on this, Buffy."

She just frowned.

Giles walked to the door and opened it.

Willow and Tara were the first to get the not-so-subtle hint. "Oh, okay, I guess you need to get ready for tonight. Bye, Giles, and good luck," Willow said as the two slowly walked out.

"Come on, Xander. He wants us to leave now." Anya took Xander's hand and led him to the door. Xander looked questioningly at Buffy, but followed Anya dutifully.

"Buffy, we should probably go, too. Mister Giles has things to do." Riley moved next to Buffy again and began to take her hand, which she held back. He added quickly, as he remembered the orders issued, "And you need to rest."

Giles wasn't looking at them. It was too maddening, but he was pleased to hear that Buffy wouldn't be with Riley tonight.

"Giles?" She began. "Maybe I should...?"

Giles looked at her. His eyes had softened somewhat as the group began to trickle out, but instead of suggesting a reason for her to stay he inclined his head toward the door and gestured toward it. He saw the hurt on Buffy's face. "Go home and rest, Buffy. I'll talk to you later," he said gently.

She perked up a little but was still uncertain. "You will?"

"Of course," he replied softly.

Buffy walked toward the door, Riley following close behind her. She found it difficult to pass Giles without some additional contact-- talking, touching, anything -- but he seemed to want it this way, so she acquiesced, for once.

Giles couldn't resist giving Riley a subtle glare when he walked by.

As they left, he closed the door behind them.

* * * * *

Willow and Xander were waiting in the courtyard for Buffy. She joined them in a huddle while their three companions stayed to the outside of the closed circle.

"Major conference time," Willow said with earnestness.

They all heard the click of the door lock sliding into place and looked in astonishment, first at the door and then each other.

Willow’s eyes were big as a frown appeared. "Did you hear that?! He locked the door. Buffy, I'm worried."

"Yeah, he’s acting weird," Xander added.

"The only time I've seen him act like this...you know...protective and mad at that same time...is when someone was trying to hurt you," Willow said and, suddenly even more worried, followed quickly with, “Is someone trying to hurt you?"

"No, Will. I think he's just kind of freaked about the Espresso Pump thing. That we all know, ya know?" Buffy replied.

At this point, Riley, who had been listening to the conversation, interjected. "Why would your high-school librarian protect you from someone who's trying to hurt you? Are you talking about Slayer stuff? Does he know?"

Willow and Xander glanced sideways at Riley and then back at Buffy who was wearing a slightly contrite expression.

"I see there are a few things we haven't shared yet," Xander commented quietly. Willow looked up at Buffy feeling her sheepishness.

"I didn't want to hit him with everything at once." Buffy defended herself in a whisper.

"Okay, let's get back to Giles. So are you going tonight?" Willow looked at both Xander and Buffy.

Xander sighed. "I don't know, Will. The whole thing is just too...too...freaky to even think about."

"I'm going. There's no way he can keep me away."

"Wait a minute, you're sick. Giles told you to stay home and I'm supposed to make sure you do." Willow suddenly was stricken with a renewed sense of responsibility.

"Will, I'm not sick. Maybe a little tired. And, anyway, since when do I do everything Giles says?" Buffy added defiantly. "I'm going to the Pump tonight."

"Well, then Tara and I are going too."

"Like I said, not me."

"Yes, you are," Anya’s voice chimed in from behind Xander. She was grinning.

"Oh, God," Xander moaned.

The three couples scattered in the directions of their respective dwellings. Riley accompanied Buffy, although she barely noticed.