ONE NORMAL LIFE / TWO EXTRAORDINARY LIVES

CHAPTER 124 - DINNER WITH GILES

Giles was already seated in the waiting room when Buffy and William arrived at Edna’s just before 6:00pm.

“Giles,” Buffy said, “have you been here long?”

“Um, not really. Just a short while,” he said, rising and extending his hand, “William, it’s good to see you again.”

“Thank you. You, too,” William said, as they shook hands.

“Ah, I see William and Elizabeth have seen fit to join you, Giles,” Edna said, as she walked into the waiting area.

Buffy looked at Giles, questioningly.

“Um, yes...well, I had lunch here today.”

Buffy nodded curtly, at the near admission, that he’d already done some snooping on his own.

“Elizabeth, would you like to use the back room for...”

“No!” Buffy said, quickly. She didn’t want to remember any times in that room, except those that her and William and her and Spike had shared. “Um, a regular table will be fine, won’t it?”

“Of course,” Edna said, understanding immediately.

They were seated ande sme small talk until after their order was taken.

“So, William,” Giles began, after drinks came, a scotch on the rocks for Giles, and a bottle of wine for both Buffy and William, “Buffy tells me you’re going to school. Can I ask what you’re taking at present?”

“Of course, I’m taking a beginning computers course, and an American 20th Century Literature course. Seems as though my very selective memory loss let me remember everything I’d ever learned from the 19th century and prior, but nothing after that,” William said, shrugging in his familiar self-deprecating way he had.

“I should think that’s a wise choice. Everybody needs to know how to use computers, and Buffy tells me you do quite well for yourself. And, of course, literature never goes out of style.”

William smiled at that and they began to talk of authors they knew of, including some of the story he’d been reading this afternoon to the children.

“Buffy, I must commend you for introducing children of such a young age to the classics. It’s one thing to see a made-for-television movie on the subject, but quite another to hear the actual text as it was written.”

“William, can you read Greek?” she quipped. “Well, actually Giles, I got my idea from television. It was on as a mini-series lately and I asked the class to watch it. I thought it would be a good segue into the actual story,” Buffy said, laughing. “I’m still a California girl, raised on televis so so I have to play to my strengths.”

“Still, Buffy, there’s nothing wrong with giving them a ‘lite’ introduction to the much more complicated writings of Homer. I think it was an inspired idea.”

“Well, thank you,” she said, pleased by the compliment. She looked over at William, who smiled proudly at her.

The dinner arrived and William and Giles talked about England. John had introduced William to the current football teams and he’d become a Manchester United fan, like millions of other Brits at home and abroad.

“I’m sorry I don’t get to watch many of the matches,” Giles lamented, “but I do have tickets for a off-season tournament next summer, which I’m looking forward to.”

Buffy had been nervous about Giles meeting William, but the evening was going by quite well and she was now glad that he’d stopped by the library earlier and that the awkward introductions were now over and done with.

Giles, for his part, kept the conversation light. Of course, not being able to talk about his real work or their past, pretty much did that on its own.

It was hard for Giles to believe that Spike - the evil, cunning, annoying vampire he loathed on sight and whom he would've gladly staked on more than one occasion, had been (and was) this sincere and engaging young man sitting before him. Even more amazing was that found himself liking William.

He also realized, and even more surprising, not to his dismay, that this former vampire and former slayer - his slayer, now just William and Buffy, were indeed, in love with each other. He gathered that, not from anything they said so much, as the way they communicated without words. They were in-tuned to each other in a way he’d seen only a few couples be in his entire life. Not in the common, mundane finishing each other’s sentences sort of way, but in an easy empathy and affection that flowed from one to the other. From the apparent feelings of fondness and respect they had for each other, to the unmistakable bond, which he had never been witness to before, but that had obviously followed them forward in time and place; through both their lives, deaths, and lives again.


Buffy had thought about telling Giles this evening about her and William's engagement, but the time wasn't presenting itself, plus if she did so now, it would probably precipitate more drinking. She sighed quietly, as she watched in growing dismay as he ordered a third scotch for himself. Not only that, everytime he did so, he would keep refilling William's glass, and William not wanting to be rude, would drink up, despite the not so gentle kicks she was beginning to deliver to his shin. Buffy politely declined after the second glass.

William excused himself to use the restroom and her and Giles were left alone.

Giles smiled at Buffy, "He's something else, isn't he?" he said, shaking his head, "You really ought to be quite proud of yourself, as far as you've brought him up to speed in this world, from what he knew. It's quite amazing."

Buffy blushed, despite herself, "Well, I've had a pretty amazing student to work with. He's bright, a quick study, adaptable..." she stopped, a thought occurring to her.

"What about you, Giles? Is there someone special in your life?"

He shook his head; "I'm afraid not. Not for a long time," he said, taking another drink.

"You shouldn't do that so much," she said, putting his hand over his on the glass, as he was about to raise it again.

His eyes grew wide for a moment; "I'm fine, Buffy. Really I am."

She shook her head; "You're probably working too hard, Giles. You should find someone, you should..."

"Who else is going to do the work, if I don't, Buffy?" he asked quietly.

She felt her cheeks flame red with guilt and her eyes grow moist.

"No, Buffy, I didn't mean...you've earned your normal life. If anyone has it's you. But for the rest of us, the mission goes on," he said, shrugging.

"Giles, I..."

"Hey," William said, as he sat back down.

"Hey," she said, giving him a quick smile, hoping he didn't see her eyes.

"Afraid it's my turn," Buffy said, getting up from the table, then looking at the two of them nervously, "behave."

They watched her walk away, then turned back to regard each other.

William spoke first, “She’s be bit bit nervous about us meeting again.”

Giles nodded, “Yes.”

William cleared his throat, “I only know that she told me that you were very much like a father to her in the past and I think that she still would like to have your approval. Perhaps more than her own father’s.”

Giles didn’t quite believe this, but he couldn’t help being pleased at hearing it none-the less.

“Does she see her father at all?”

“We saw him right after Christmas.”

“Ah, you’ve met him, then. What did you think?”

William stopped to think about Hank for a moment, “Seemed nice enough and all. Think he’s trying in some ways to make up for the past, but some things can’t probably be made up for. Like leaving your wife and abandoning your daughters, I should think.”

Giles nodded, “I tend to agree. And what does Buffy think?”

“I’m not sure she thinko muo much about him, but I think...no, I know it’s affected her.”

“How so?”

William paused, beginning to wonder if he shouldn’t have brought this up at all, if he wasn’t talking out of school.

“That men that she loves leave her,” he said finally, looking up at Giles, who flinched inwardly; knowing that he had been one of those men, albeit at the time, he thought it was best, “but I wanted you to know,” William continued, “I never will. Not ever again. Wouldn’t have before, if I hadn’t lost my memory.”

“I...Elizabeth told me, um...rather gave me the impression that you didn’t approve of our relationship before, back in Sunnydale,” he said.

Giles nodded and William continued.

“I wanted to assure you that I’ll never do anything to hurt her, I love her, she’s everything to me.”

“I know you do, William. And I know Buffy loves you, too. But love doesn’t always preclude hurting someone, otherwise people would never break up, never divorce...”

“That’ll never happen!” William said, with finality.

Giles regarded him silently for a few moments, “For what it’s worth William, I do believe you have the best intentions and I appreciate you communicating this to me. I told Buffy and I’ll tell you, I want only for her happiness and well being. She deserves that, more than you know.”

William took a deep breath, glad that he’d been able to speak up for himself and his feelings for Elizabeth.

Giles ed ued up his glass and tipped it towards William, indicating that they were all right here and William did the same, just as Elizabeth came back to the table.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soon after, Giles looked down at his watch, noting it was almost 9:00pm. “Oh dear, it’s getting rather late and hav have a plane to catch in the morning from Los Angeles. I was going to spend the night at Wesley’s apartment, but I probably shouldn’t be driving that distance right now,” Giles said, nodding towards Buffy. “Are there any motels up in this area? I didn’t see any earlier, but I wasn’t really looking for them, either.”

“Um...not really, only expensive little bed and breakfast places.”

“Well, guess that will have to do then. Could you possibly point me in the right direction?”

Buffy looked at William and he nodded.

“Why don’t you stay the night with us, Giles?” William spoke for them.

“I don’t want to inconvenience you two, really a bed and breakfast place will...”

“You won’t be, Giles. We have an extra bedroom, it even has a bed,” she said, smiling.

“Well, if you’re quite sure,” he hesitated, looking at them.

They both nodded.

“Then thank you, I at.” t.”

As they walked out of the restaurant, Buffy noticed that neither William nor Giles seemed to be feeling any pain.

“Giles, I don’t think you’re in any condition to drive,” she said.

“Oh, nonsense, Buffy, “I’m purrfectly fit to drive the short distance, just not...” he stumbled forward, only missing actually going all the way down, by William grabbing onto him in time.

“What do you say we leave your car here until tomorrow morning, Giles?” Buffy asked.

“Oh fine,” he relented, following her and William to her car.

“They had just started to pull out of the parking lot, when suddenly Giles exclaimed, “Oh bollocks!”

“What is it Giles?” Buffy asked.

“My clothes, they’re in the boot.”

“Oh,” Buffy said, turning around.

William looked at her, “Boot?” he mouthed.

“British expres for for the trunk,” she told him.

“Oh,” he said. Considering he didn’t know what a car was eight months ago, or didn’t remember in any case, he couldn’t fault himself for not knowing what the rest of the world called certain parts; even the English speaking parts.

“Boot,” William snickered, after Giles had gotten out of the car, “clothes in his boot.”

“She” Bu” Buffy said, but giggled, too, at the image he’d painted in her mind.

They made it home in once piece, with William and Giles singing old patriotic and university songs.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Very, nice home you have,” Giles said, as he walked in.

“We like it,” Buffy said.

“I can very well see why. Really different from what you were used to, isn’t it Buffy?”

Buffy nodded, hoping Giles wasn’t going to say more on the subject. She preferred not to think about the house in Sunnydale, especially when she was feeling rather vulnerable. Like right now, with both Giles and William existing in the same space.

“You’ve lived here how long now, Buffy?”

“Since about two days after you dropped Dawn and me off at my dad’s apartment, after...Sunnydale,” she said, quietly.

Giles was surprised. He looked at her, “That soon?”

“I just had to,” she said, “please, Giles...”

He nodded, then turned to William.

“Have anything to drink?” Giles asked.

“I don’t think you need...”

“I’ll get us something,” William said, earning a glare from Buffy.

“I need to call Wesley,” Giles said, “have you a phone? I think my cell is back in the rental.”

“Here, you can use my phone,” Buffy said, after fishing it out of her purse.

“I’m back,” William said, as he came in from the kitchen carrying a bottle of wine and three glasses.

Buffy motioned to Giles on the phone and William made a silly face, which she interpreted as ‘oops.’

She rolled her eyes at him, as she walked over to the couch where he was looking for somewhere to set the bottle and the glasses down. She moved some things on the end table and he set them there.

“William, I don’t think you need anything else to drink. Neither does Giles for that matter,” she warned.

“Aw, mum!” he said, grinning at her. “Won’t have much; okay?” he said, walking over to her and trying to give her a hug, which she deflected.

“I mean it William, you’re going to get sick if you drink much more, you’re already half plastered.”

“Plastered,” he said, rolling the word around in his mouth.

“Funny word. Plashtered. I’m already plashtered,” he said, trying to grab her again.

She pushed him down on the couch, “Knock it off,” she hissed at him. That got his attention.

“Come ‘ere,” he said, looking up sadly at her, “please...”

She sat down next to him, not looking at him.

“I’m sorry I’m acting like such a prat right now. I’ll be good, really I will. I’ll only have one more glass of wine, then I’ll switch to water, alright?”

She turned to him, “I’m not trying to be your ‘mum’ here William, or put a damper on your fun, but I just...I don’t want you to get sick and I don’t want Giles to see us fighting about this...”

“And if I keep drinking, we’re going to fight?”

She looked him squarely in the eyes, “I think you can count on that.”

He nodded, not doubting her for a moment; “I’ll be good, okay? I promise. I can be good,” he said, looking at her with sad puppy dog eyes.

“I’m holding you to that,” she said, relenting. She leaned over and kissed him, because he looked so contrite.

“Oh, sorry,” Giles said, interrupting the moment, as he stepped into the living room.

“That’s alright. Did you get in touch with Wesley?”

“Ah, yes. Everything’s fine. He’s going to meet me at the airport tomorrow before my flight, so we can catch up on some last minute things we need to discuss.”

“May I?” Giles asked, pointing to the wine.

“Go ahead,” Buffy said, but put her hand over one of the glasses, “none for me, thanks.”

“Um, only half a glass for me, please,” William said, looking over at Elizabeth, who gave him a small, but approving smile.

They talked for a while about life in Julian, as well as Xander, Willow, and Dawn.

Giles told them he’d had dinner with Dawn and met John.

“I like him,” he told them.

“Yeah, we do, too,” Buffy said, “all of us do.”

“You think it’s serious?”

“I think so,” Buffy said, “I wouldn’t mind if it was.”

William nodded.

“Um...speaking of serious,” she said, looking over at William, who looked at her questioning before understanding what she was about to do. He took her hand, smiling at her.

“Yes?”

“We have something to tell you,” she said, squeezing William’s hand. “William and I are engaged, Giles. We’re getting married next Valentine’s Day,” she said, looking at him hoping for a favorable reaction.

“Buffy! William! Congratulations!” he said, leaning over to give her a hug.

“Thank you,” she whispered to him, surprised by how well he seemed to be taking the news.

“Be happy,” he whispered back.

“I am. I will be.”

“William,” he said, extending his hand to William and they shook.

“I know you’ll take good care of her,” Giles said, smiling, but his eyes were serious.

“I will,” William said solemnly.

“Well,” Giles said, “I think this calls for a toast, you too, Buffy.”

Buffy poured herself a half glass full of the wine.

“Buffy, William,” Giles started, shaking his head ever so slightly. “All I can say is that you’ve come back together, despite things in this world that, for all intents and purposes should’ve kept you apart,” he glanced at Buffy who knew more than William what he was talking about, “all except love, that is. Which when all is said and done, is what we all want, and what counts in the end. Cheers,” he said, clinking his glass with theirs.

“Cheers,” they echoed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Goodnight, Giles,” Buffy said, “I’ll make sure you’re up by 6:30, so you can get ready to leave.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it, Buffy, especially since you’re off tomorrow.”

“No big. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight Buffy.”

Buffy took the glasses out to the kitchen and put them in the sink, before getting the bottle of aspirin and a bottle of water and going back into the bedroom.

William had just come out of the bathroom and was sitting on the side of the bed, “What time should I set it for?”

“6:30.”

He groaned, but didn’t say anything. She knew he hated to get up that early on the weekend.

“You don’t have to get up, I just have to get Giles up and drive him to his car.”

“Don’t be silllizalizabeth,” he said, pulling her towards him, “not going to let him go off without saying goodbye.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s important to you, that’s why.”

She kissed the top of his head as she stood between his legs, appreciating once again, the selfless way he expressed his love for her so many times.

“Here,” she said, handing him the bottle water and aspirin.

“What’s that for? I don’t have a headache. Not even plastered anymore, only slightly loopy, ” he said grinning up at her, as his hands roamed over her back and hips.

“Just some insurance. Wine can give you a nasty hangover. Come on, just take them, you’ll thank me in the morning.”

“Or I could just thank you now,” he said, as his hands cupped her rear, pulling her closer again.

She looked down at him, with her resolve face. He sighed, holding out his hand as she put the aspirin into them, opening the bottle of water and handing that to him as well.

“Give it,” she said, before he could put the cap on. She took a swallow, then took some aspirin, too.

She capped it and put it on the bedside table, as William once again, pulled her towards him.

“Wait, wait,” she said, trying to get out of his grasp, “I gotta go use the bathroom and brush my teeth first.”

“Aww!” he groaned.

“I’ll be right back.”

“Hurry,” he said, lying down to wait.

Buffy did what she usually did before bedtime and came back into the bedroom less than 5 minutes later. The room was dark, except for a single candle burning when she crawled in bed and put her arm around William.

He mumbled something and then let out a soft snore.

“Some red-hot lover you turned out to be,” she whispered, smiling as she reached up over William to blow out the candle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


There was knocking both in his head and on a door.

“Yeh? Yes, what is it?”

“Giles? It’s 6:30, time to get up.”

“Huh? Buffy? Oh, okay,” he mumbled, getting his bearings as he looked around at the bedroom.

“There’s a towel on the sink for you and there’s an extra razor, too, if you need one.”

“Thank you, that’s very kind of you,” he said, getting up and making his way to the bathroom.

Afterwards, he went out to the kitchen. He found a teakettle and poured some water into it and put it on the stove. While the water was heating, he walked out to the back porch, getting his first glimpse of the woods behind their house. It was a lovely, peaceful area and he could see why it had afforded Buffy the respite that she’d needed from the world. As to why Spike had ever come to own this, he was still unclear.

Giles was walking back into the kitchen from the porch the same time William was walking in from the dining room.

“Morning, Spike,” he said.

“Morning, Wa...?” William looked up, a strange look of shock and recognition on his face and in his eyes all of a sudden, then gone in a fraction of a second.

Giles mirrored William’s shock as well.

“Giles, I...wa...? Water. Water for tea? Ah...have it on already, good,” William said, his head suddenly pounding as he looked at Giles.

“Ah, yes. Tea. Sorry, William, I didn’t mean to call you Spike.”

“That’s alright,” William said, distractedly, as he turned away and took the kettle off the stove to pour their tea.

Buffy came into the kitchen, brushing her hair as she did. She immediately sensed the strange atmosphere.

“What’s up?” she asked, cautiously looking between Giles and William.

“Nothing, Buffy. How did you sleep?”

“Fine,” she said, looking at William whose eyes were on his teacup.

“Coffee?” he asked her.

“Please.”

He turned around to start the coffee, as his head pounded further.

“I’m going to go get my stuff, I’ll be right back,” Giles said, leaving the kitchen.

Buffy walked over to William and put her hand on his arm, making him jump.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” he said, “just...it’s nothing.”

“Did Giles say something to you? Because when I walked in here, you both were acting like...I don’t know what.”

“No, he just said good morning to me. Called me Spike, but that’s all,” William said, looking up at her concerned face. “Really that’s all, luv.” he said, trying to reassure her.

She studied him for a minute. “How’s your head?”

“Sort of miserable.”

She made a sympathetic face and put her arms around him, “Better eat something light this morning, then. And drink some orange juice. And some water. Alcohol tends to make you dehydrated.”

y, Iy, I will,” he said, smiling at her, “I’m fine, really.”

“I’m back,” Giles said, as he came into the kitchen.

“You hungry?”

“No, not really. I should be getting off now, though. Is that alright with you, Buffy?”

“Sure, I’m ready if you are.”

“Good then. I really need to talk to Wesley before I leave.”

“I’ll go get my purse,” Buffy said.

Giles waited a moment, until Buffy had left the room before speaking.

“William, before Buffy comes back I wanted to give you this,” he said, handing him a small card, “it’s my address in London and my email, in case you ever want or need to talk about anything. Anything at all.”

William didn’t say anything, just took the card and slipped it into his pocket. For some unexplained reason, his heart was pounding in tandem with his head.

Finally he looked up at Giles to find the older man studying him intently. Finally Giles nodded at him, just as Elizabeth came into the room.

“Okay, I’m ready, Giles. Let’s go!”

“William, it’s been very good ee yee you again. I hope you and Buffy will consider coming to England for a visit someday.”

“Thank you,” William said, “that would be great.”

William stood in the front doorway watching as the car drove off. He then went over to his desk and took out his notebook and after writing the date on the top, wrote one word before closing it again.

Watcher.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


“I can see why you loves ars area,” Giles said as she drove them down the road towards the gate.

“I really do.”

“Buffy, I think...I think William may have had some sort of flashback this morning.”

“What? Why? In the kitchen? What happened? What did you do, Giles?” Buffy asked, as she clenched the steering wheel as hard as she could.

“I just said good morning to him, but I accidentally called him Spike.”

“He told me that much, when I asked him what was wrong. But there must have been something else, Giles. Think!”

“That was it, Buffy. But when I called him Spike, he started to call me Watcher, like he always had, but when he realized it, he changed the Wa to water, as in water for tea.”

“Well, maybe that is what he was meaning to say, Giles.”

“I don’t think so, not if I go by the expression that was on his face when he realized what he’d almost said. Didn’t you tell me that he had flashbacks sometimes.”

“Not for a long time, and they weren’t just a word-type thing, but full-blown terrifying, nightmare-type flashbacks.”

“Um...well, maybe my being here made him remember something.”

Buffy didn’t say anything for a moment, “Why wouldn’t he with the rest of us then? Willow? Xander? Dawn?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because my place in your life was directly related to what you were, The Slayer.

“That wasn’t all,” she said, softly.

“Of course not, I didn’t mean...you know what I meant in relation to William, though.”

She nodded.

“Buffy, may I make a suggestion?”

“Couldn’t stop you if I wanted to.”

“Do you train anymore?”

“That’s not a suggestion, that’s a question,” she quipped.

Giles gave her a sideways glance, sighing.

She shook her head, guiltily, “Um, not for a while. I taught self-defense for a while, but I just...couldn’t handle it.”

“You really should, Buffy. You and William, both.”

“Yeah, sure. How am I going to explain that?”

“You’re smart, Buffy. I’m sure you could figure out some way, which would still protect him from the truth, if that’s what you’re bound and determined to do. But you shouldn’t forget what this world is really all about. Or to put it another way, that the world of demons, vampires, and monsters still exists, and the fact that Spike was given this gift...well, I would think that might just attract some jealousy and resentment, and I don’t just mean Angel’s.”

“Giles, I know this, but he’s protected, as in protection spell. Willow was given permission from the coven to protect him for the next 2 years.”

“And after that?” he asked, making a mental note to himself to ask Willow why that particular time frame.

“After that, I’ll deal. Or ask for an extension. I don’t know. But...your point is taken and even without demons, there are enough good reasons in the world to know how to protect yourself,” she said, pausing as she thought about this, actually not for the first time. “Probably more reasons than in Victorian times, huh?”

“Well, I daresay, that William probably would’ve been better off, had he known some of that back then, too. Wouldn’t you, Buffy?”

Her eyes grew large when she realized what he was saying; “That’s a hard call for me to make, Giles. If he’d defended himself against Dru, then there never would have been a Spike. Good for those whose lives he wouldn’t have taken, but bad for the world in general, if he hadn’t been there to save it. Personally, bad for me, if he’d never been around to become who he is now, so it’s kind of hard to wish that. But in theory at least, I agree,“ she said, grinning.

“Fair enough,” Giles said, laughing.

She pulled the car behind his in front of the restaurant.

“Well, we’re here,” she said, sadly, realizing this was good-bye.

“Yes, we’re here,” he said, turning to her. “It’s been very good to see you, Buffy. I’ve missed you, more than you know.”

“Me, too, Giles,” she said.

They walked over to his rental together, hugging when they got there.

“Think about all that we’ve talked about,” he said, as he slipped into the driver’s seat.

“I will. And I promise to stay in touch, too.”

“Good. I hope so. Good-bye, Buffy,” he said, as he started the engine.

“Good-bye, Giles,” she said, and watched as he drove away.

END CHAPTER 124

Sorry about the long delay, but sometimes, it's like a whole sectio upd update just seems to be better served up together, like a meal...eggs and bacon, coffee and milk, ice cream and more ice cream...damn, this diet is making me think of food metaphors. LOL

Enjoy and R&R...can't eat, must be nourished by FEEDBACK!

As always, thanks to my Beta Judy for finding not only spotting my grammatical errors, but discussing the story with me, so I have another perspective and telling me when an idea seems to be off center.

Congratulations to Judy, also. She became a grandmother last week! Welcome to the world, Griffin!

Thanks all you guys on AFF for your reviews!