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Inside to Outside	By : Cyberwulf Category: -Buffy the Vampire Slayer > Het - Male/Female > Buffy/Giles Views: 5908 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Inside to Outside
- 2-2/6
- 3-3/6
- 4-4/6
- 5-5/6
- 6-6/6
- 2
- 3
- 4
Title: Inside to Outside 3/?

Author: Cyberwulf

Rating: Still 12s (PG-13)

Disclaimer: Joss and ME own all the characters, and have shares in the plot. ‘Emma’ was written by Jane Austen. Details about Giles’ family are entirely my own invention.

Spoilers: Takes place during and instead of “A New Man”; contains dialogue from “A New Man”.

Summary: What if, instead of a Fyarl demon, Ethan had turned Giles into something else?

Distribution: Ask me first, and tell me where it’s going.

Feedback: Feed the Wulf! cyberwulf_1andonly@yahoo.co.uk

Author’s Note: // // denotes thoughts.

Buffy bounced up and down impatiently. Now that she’d had a chance to get used to the idea of young Giles, she was sure that she wouldn’t act like such a ditz around him. Even though she *had* dreamed about him last night. Naughty dreams involving leather and a motorbike. She spotted him suddenly, wending his way through the other students milling around campus.

“ Hey, Giles!”

Giles looked up and smiled when he saw her. He hitched up his sports bag a little and made his way towards her.

“ Hello.”

Buffy couldn’t stop herself from running her eyes over his body. The shiny black tracksuit he wore really suited him. And showed off his muscles. Especially his thigh muscles. She felt his gaze on her and tried to snap out of it.

“ You – you look nice,” Buffy managed. “ Is that a new jogging suit?”

Giles grinned shyly. “ Yes, actually.”

Buffy suddenly noticed a group of girls standing a few yards away. They were looking at Giles the way she’d been looking at him a few minutes earlier.

“ Don’t turn around,” she said quietly, “ but those girls over there are checking you out.”

His smile grew. “ I know.”

Buffy smiled back. Seeing Giles so happy made her happy, too.

“ Well, mustn’t dally,” Giles declared.

“ Then come with me,” Buffy replied.

“ English too?” one of the girls remarked, loud enough for them to hear.

Giles giggled. Buffy frowned in puzzlement. She’d never heard Giles laugh like that before. She wondered why.

He caught her expression and took it as disapproval. “ Sorry. It’s just been a while since I turned any heads.”

“ You really like all this attention, huh?” Buffy teased.

Giles blushed a little. “ Well, it is rather nice, knowing so many members of the opposite sex find one attractive…”

Buffy swatted him on the arm. “ Ego much?”

She was pleasantly surprised when he butted her playfully with his shoulder.

“ Oh, you wanna play rough, huh?”

Buffy gave Giles a push that sent him stumbling away from her.

“ Hey!” he protested. “ That almost knocked me over!”

“ Well, you should know better than to touch a Slayer then, shouldn’t you?” Buffy replied innocently.

Giles tapped her on the shoulder.

“ Touch,” he hissed. He patted her on the head. “ Touch, touch, touch, touch…”

“ All right, mister, you asked for it!” Buffy exclaimed. She reached up and put Giles in a headlock, forcing him to bend down.

“ No, Buffy, no –”

“ Say uncle!” Buffy yelled.

“ Never!”

“ Say it!”

Giles grabbed her around the waist and began to tickle her unmercifully.

“ Hey!” Buffy giggled. “ No fair! Cut it out!”

“ *You* say uncle.”

Buffy was laughing too much to get anything out. She’d never seen Giles like this – all frisky and playful. She liked it.

“ Buffy!”

The Slayer looked up. Instantly she let go of Giles and moved out of his embrace. She gazed up at the tall, sandy-haired young man in front of her.

“ Riley.”

Buffy blushed guiltily. The shock of young, impetuous, hottie Giles had completely obliterated one very important detail from her mind. She had a boyfriend. A boyfriend who should have been the one giving her naughty feelings, not Giles. Before she had time to process her conflicting emotions, said boyfriend had pulled her into his arms and planted a soft kiss on her mouth.

“ Thought we were supposed to meet up for training,” Riley murmured. “ Instead I find you wrestling with another guy.”

His joking smile didn’t quite match the darker expression in his eyes. Buffy chose not to notice. She stepped back a little and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

“ Oh – uh, Riley, this is, uh, Rupert,” she managed, waving a hand in Giles’ direction. “Rupert, Riley.”

Riley looked at the dark-haired young man, who was still bent over, resting his hands on his thighs. He gave Riley a little wave.

“ Hello,” he said breathlessly.

Riley shot the other guy a fake smile.

“ Hi,” he replied. Suddenly he frowned. “ Don’t I know you?”

“ No!” Giles answered, straightening up. He winced inwardly at his defensiveness. “No, I don’t think so.”

“ You definitely look familiar,” Riley insisted. “ You look just like…” He turned to Buffy. “ What was that guy’s name? You know, the old retired guy I met at your birthday party?”

Buffy saw Giles scowl at ‘old’ and ‘retired’.

“ You mean Giles,” she told him. “ And he’s not *that* old – he’s only the same age as Maggie.” Giles rolled his eyes. “ And he’s not retired, he just doesn’t have a job right now.”

“ Right,” Riley replied. He turned to Giles. “ You look just like him, only younger.”

“ Well, that’s because…” Buffy scrambled for an explanation. “… because Rupert is… Giles’ nephew.”

“ Oh.”

“ I invited him to come train with us,” Buffy went on. “ I hope you don’t mind.”

Riley’s gaze flicked to Giles, then back to Buffy.

“ Naw, I don’t mind,” he answered with another fake smile. He put his arm around Buffy’s shoulder. “ Let’s get going. We’ve only got ninety minutes before the aerobics club get the gym.”

As the couple headed off, Riley looked over his shoulder and directed a glare at Giles. The Watcher turned away to hide his smirk.

Mr. Teutonic Good Looks felt threatened.

“ C’mon, G- Rupert!” Buffy called.

Hearing her say his first name did funny things to Giles’ insides. //‘Rupert’. I could get used to that.// Trying not to let his delight show too much, Giles adjusted his sports bag and sauntered after them.

“ So, whaddya think?” Buffy asked as they entered the gym.

Giles looked around. “ Very spacious. I like the crash mats against the walls,” he added, gesturing towards them. He looked at Buffy. “ They’ll come in handy when you inevitably hurl me across the room.”

Buffy smiled, then winced as Riley smacked his fist loudly into his hand.

“ Are we gonna train, or what?” he asked.

Buffy shot him a glare, which the soldier completely missed.

“ Yes, of course,” Giles declared. He shed his tracksuit top. Underneath he was wearing a black T-shirt with the picture of a panther printed on it. Buffy felt a little disappointed – a white T-shirt would’ve ended up all see-through, giving her a good view of those muscles and dark chest hairs she had been admiring the night before. Riley scowled, then peeled off his long-sleeved T-shirt, revealing a dark green vest. He caught Buffy’s eye and gave his muscles a flex. Buffy turned away and rolled her eyes. //What a poser.//

Giles stretched his arms over his head, and Buffy and Riley copied him. As the warm-up progressed, Buffy winced at a few of the stretches. She and Riley usually skipped the warm-up and got straight to the sparring. She glanced at Giles. His new body was a lot more flexible than his old one. She glanced back at Riley, who was standing with his feet twice shoulder-width apart, struggling to touch his head to his left knee and not fall over as he did so. Giles had better balance than Riley had, she noted. Giles moved onto the next stretch. Buffy looked up at him to make sure she was doing it right. And also just to look at Giles, at the way his clothes clung to his body and… Buffy felt a heat that had nothing to do with physical exertion. She looked away and forced herself to concentrate on what she was doing.

“ And relax,” Giles declared finally.

Buffy closed her eyes and took deep, slow breaths, allowing the burning sensations in her muscles to fade away. She opened her eyes and awaited the next instruction.

“ All right,” Giles announced. “ Let’s work on some basic training.”

Buffy blushed nervously. Giles raised an eyebrow.

“ Have you been neglecting your basics?”

Buffy blushed more.

“ Kinda,” she admitted.

Giles shook his head, but smiled anyway.

“ Okay, feet shoulder-width apart, left hand out, right hand back on your hip…”

“ Hey!”

Both of them turned to look at Riley, standing, arms folded, by the vaulting horse.

“ Who says you get to call the shots?” he challenged.

“ Oh – um –” Giles was at a loss. He had completely forgotten the other man was in the room. He had also completely forgotten that he looked the same age as Riley. No soldier would take kindly to being bossed around by a fresh-faced youngster. Suddenly he wished he still had the air of authority that went with his grey hair and older appearance.

Buffy rescued him.

“ *I* say,” she declared. “ Rupert’s a fourth Dan, black belt.” She glanced at Giles for confirmation and he nodded. “ He’s been practising martial arts since he was a little kid. He knows what he’s talking about. So if he says we need to work on our basics, then we’ll work on our basics.”

“ Oh yeah?” Riley replied. “ Well my basics are just fine.” He stalked over to the punching bag. “ You guys just let me know when you wanna do some real training.”

Buffy glared at him, then turned back to Giles. He flashed a grateful smile.

“ Right then, left hand out, right hand back,” he said again. “ Ten punches, stomach height, just punching relaxed for now. To my count…”

As he put her through her paces, Buffy began to realise just how much she’d missed training with Giles. With Giles there was structure and organisation. Without him, she’d almost completely forgotten about practising proper, clean techniques, and she’d let the basic exercises slide because – well, because they were boring. The rough-and-tumble part of training was the fun part. The trouble was, she ly fly felt as if she’d really pushed herself afterwards – she almost never had a sparring partner who was comparable in speed and strength to her. But basic training, where the object was to perform her kicks and punches with as much precision and power as she could muster, over and over again, really tested her abilities and gave her body a good work-out. Buffy executed another side thrust kick, blowing out a breath as she landed.

“ Pull your leg back in towards your body after you strike,” Giles admonished. “ Don’t just fall into your stance. Come on, just five more…”

And, Buffy reflected as she continued, it was good to get some expert feedback on how she was doing.

Riley scowled at the couple training at the other side of the room as he pounded his fists into the punch bag. This Rupert guy bothered him. Well, Rupert himself didn’t bother him, but the way he and Buffy interacted did. They had a rapport, and, Riley suspected, a history together, both of which excluded him. And he didn’t like it. Riley hit the bag harder.

“ Okay, relax,” Giles said at last. He turned his back to Buffy and hitched up his pants a bit. Buffy barely held back a whine at the way the shiny black material hugged his butt. //Get a hold of yourself,// she admonished sternly. //I’d sure like to get a hold of Giles -// Buffy turned away and adjusted her ponytail, scooping up all the stray strands of hair that had worked their way out of her scrunchie. She turned back to find Giles waiting for her.

“ Ready for some sparring?” he asked.

“ Hey!”

Riley steadied the punching bag and stalked across the room. “ You mind if I train with my *girlfriend*, Rupert?”

He said Giles’ name as if it was a dirty word.

“ No, not at all,” Giles replied. He turned away and headed over to where he’d left his sports bag. Riley watched him go, then turned to Buffy and smiled smugly. The Slayer felt like smashing his face in. Riley put up his guard.

“ You threw me across the room last time,” he declared, “ but this time I’m taking you down.”

Buffy took up her stance. “ And this time I won’t hold back.”

Giles unscrewed the cap of his water bottle and took a few sips. He placed it back in his bag and cautiously approached the combatants, who were circling each other warily. A smile was playing around Riley’s face, while Buffy was the picture of determination. She held her opponent’s gaze, watching for any clue as to where the blow was going to come. Riley’s eyes flicked briefly to her stomach. Buffy stepped off-line, neatly blocking his kick, and counter-attacking with a punch aimed at Riley’s head. The soldier just managed to get out of the way, and jumped back out of range. The two circled each other again. Riley darted forward and threw a few jabs.

“ You’re too far away, Riley, that’s not going to work,” Giles remarked. Riley shot him a dark look and was almost hit by one of Buffy’s roundhouse kicks. He just managed to dodge her. He threw a punch of his own, aimed at her stomach, but she moved and took it to the upper arm.

“ Sloppy,” Giles called, shaking his head. “ Both of you.”

“ You wanna *shut up*?” Riley snapped. Buffy frowned. She feinted to the left, and then, not even waiting to see if he went for it, she came in from the right with a series of punches. Riley managed to fend her off. He threw a kick. In a flash Buffy closed him down, stepped inside his guard and aimed a punch at his head, pulling it at the last minute. She tapped Riley lightly on the chin.

“ Congratulations,” Giles remarked. “ You’ve just been knocked unconscious.”

Riley turned and scowled at him. “ Maybe I’d’ve done better without the running commentary,” he snapped.

“ I’m just telling you what I see,” Giles replied. “ There’s no point in, in training if you don’t know what you’re doing wrong. You’re just wasting your time.”

Riley marched up to Giles and got almost nose-to-nose with him.

“ You know, if you’re such an expert, why don’t you show me what you’ve got?” he challenged.

“ Well –”

“ Go ahead, Rupert,” Buffy agreed. Giles looked past Riley. His Slayer had a mischievous gleam in her eye. “ Show him.”

“ All right,” Giles replied. He took up his stance and Riley put his guard up.

“ And don’t hold back,” the soldier insisted.

Buffy watched as the two fighters circlach ach other , sizing each other up. Normally she would’ve been rooting for Riley, but right now she really hoped he got his ass kicked. He was being such a jerk today. The silence in the gym was deafening. Suddenly, as if he couldn’t stand it any more, Riley surged forward, sending a flurry of punches at Giles. The Watcher stepped backwards, blocking each blow calmly. He lunged forward, under Riley’s guard, and landed a light punch to the other man’s stomach before withdrawing to a safe distance.

“ Hey, what was that?” Riley demanded, staring at Giles in disgust. “ I thought I said don’t hold back!”

“ Very well,” Giles answered. He darted forward and punched Riley in the belly as hard as he could. The youth staggered back and fell on the ground, bent double.

“ I think we have a winner,” Buffy declared.

“ No fair!” Riley gasped out. “ I wasn’t ready!”

“ You said not to hold back,” Giles replied. He extended a hand to help Riley up. Riley pushed it away and rolled onto his knees. He stood up and crossed to the other side of the room, where he’d left his sports bag. He opened it up.

“ Oh, now don’t be like that,” Giles declared.

“ I’m not being like *anything*,” Riley spat. “ I just remembered I got somewhere to be, that’s all.” He called to Buffy. “You coming?”

Buffy folded her arms. “ We’re not done training.”

“ No, that’s all right,” Giles interjected quickly. “ We can finish for today.”

“ Just because he can’t handle-”

Giles gently turned her away from Riley and lowered his voice.

“ I don’t want to cause any trouble,” he said quietly. “ We can train some other time.”

“ Like tomorrow?” Buffy replied. “ Same place, say an hour earlier?”

A glow of happiness went through her when she saw a smile spread across his face.

“ If, if that’s what you want –”

“ I do want,” Buffy assured him.

“ You coming or not?” Riley called.

Buffy sighed impatiently.

“ I’m sorry about him,” she told Giles. “ He’s usually such a nice guy. I don’t know what his problem is.” She turned away and collected her stuff, then joined her glowering boyfriend at the door. “ Bye, Rupert.”

“ Man, who does that guy think he is?” Riley grumbled, rubbing his bruised stomach. Buffy rolled her eyes and tuned out Riley’s grousing. She rarely got to see Giles fight against a non-supernatural opponent. Vampires and demons knocked him out so often, it was easy to forget that against regular guys he was quite a skilled fighter. Not to mention a good winner. She glanced at the guy slouching along beside her again. If only Riley wasn’t such a bad loser.

***

The following afternoon found Buffy heading towards the student parking lot again. She hadn’t seen Riley all morning, and that suited her fine. He’d been sulky and moody since they’d left the gym the previous day. She had a strong feeling that seeing her with Giles had bothered him, and had tried several times to reassure him. When he insisted on wallowing, though, Buffy’d given up. She had better things to do than stroke his stupid ego. In fact, she wasn’t sure if she even wanted to be with Riley any more. After seeing Giles, Riley just didn’t do that much for her. And his childishness yesterday hadn’t exactly won him a place in her heart. Giles would never act that way. Something up ahead caught her eye and she smiled. Speaking of Giles…

He was leaning against the wall, thoroughly absorbed in a copy of ‘Emma’. He was wearing the black tracksuit from yesterday, and his sports bag was at his feet. Buffy’s tummy did flip-flops. How many guys had she seen today actually reading? For pleasure?

A couple of jocks barged past her, tossing a football between them.

“ Sorry!”

Buffy scowled as they ran ahead. //Muscle-bound jerks. Give me the intellectual guys any day.// She strolled up to Giles.

“ Hey, you.”

She startled him and he nearly jumped.

“ Oh!”

Buffy couldn’t help giggling.

“ I’m delighted you find sneaking up on me and almost giving me a heart attack amusing,” Giles huffed.

“ Aw, don’t be mad, Giles,” Buffy replied. He folded his arms and tried to look annoyed. Buffy pouted. Giles’ expression softened.

“ Come on then,” he sighed. He put his book into his sports bag. “ Let’s get to it.”

Buffy took him arm as they walked towards the gym.

“ Riley not with you?” Giles asked, trying to act nonchalant.

“ Nope,” Buffy answered brightly. “ I wanted you all to myself today.”

A surge of heat flooded Giles at her words. He swallowed and willed his body to behave itself. Buffy continued, apparently unaware of the double meaning in her last sentence.

“ Plus, he was such an idiot yesterday. And I don’t wanna have him glaring at us during training again.

“ Neither do I,” Giles admitted.

They entered the gym. Buffy unconsciously licked her lips as Giles took off his tracksuit top. Today he was wearing a white T-shirt that hugged his body in all the right places. //Concentrate, Buffy!// She turned away and started stretching.

***

Riley emerged from his dorm. He was no fool – he’d seen the way Buffy looked at Rupert yesterday, and had been giving Buffy the cold shoulder ever since. But now he felt in a better mood. She’d been punished enough. Time to go kiss and make up.

He glanced at his watch. It was almost four. Chances were she was training in the gym, or on her way there. He headed over.

***

Giles and Buffy had been training intensely for almost an hour. Buffy was impressed at Giles’ new levels of strength and stamina – for a change, he was really holding his own. Of course, she had to admit she was a little distracted – young Giles looked good, but young, sweaty Giles looked even better. Especially now that his clothes were starting to cling. She took a moment to admire his biceps and it was her undoing. He lunged in and threw a punch. Buffy grabbed his arm and threw a punch of her own. Giles grabbed her arm in turn and pulled her in closer to him.

“ Now what?” he asked softly.

Buffy gazed up at him. She could feel the heat radiating from his body, could smell his aftershave and deodorant mingled with sweat. Before she knew what she was doing, she’d stood on tiptoe and was kissing him. He didn’t respond at first, but after a few seconds he slid his arms around her waist and began to kiss her too. Buffy’s legs went weak, and she pressed herself against his body. One hand was tangled in his hair, the other creeping lower. She gave his butt a squeeze and he moaned into her mouth. God, he tasted and felt so good…

The door opened suddenly. There was no time for them to spring away from each other, to try and pretend that they hadn’t been doing what they’d been doing. All they could do was turn and stare at the furious young man in the doorway.

“ I knew it,” Riley snarled. “ I knew it!” He stalked towards them. Giles stepped forward, blocking his path to Buffy.

“ Look, Riley –”

“ Outta my way,” the soldier growled, shoving Giles aside. He glared at Buffy. “ I shoulda trusted my gut. Anyone could see there was something going on between you two –”

Giles tried to intervene again.

“ Listen, this is all my fault –”

“ Yeah, I’ll bet,” Riley drawled sarcastically. “ I’m sure you forced her to put her tongue in your mouth and her hand on your ass.” He turned to Buffy again. “ No wonder the buzz was you were easy –”

He had no time to finish his sentence. Giles grabbed him by the collar and flung him against the wall. He advanced on the other man, his eyes cold and hard.

“ You’d better be very careful what you say next,” he growled.

“ I’m not afraid of you,” Riley spat. He looked at Buffy. “ Tramp!”

For the second time in as many days Giles buried his fist in Riley’s stomach. The commando slid to the floor, severely winded. Giles crouched next to him and grabbed Riley’s hair, forcing him to look up.

“ I suggest you leave before something unpleasant happens,” the Watcher hissed. Riley took his cue and got up painfully. Buffy stared as he hobbled to the door. She realised with a start that she’d just seen Ripper in action.

Giles watched Riley leave through narrowed eyes. He was glad he’d had the chance to teach the little jumped-up Territorial a lesson. No-one spoke about Buffy that way –

Buffy. Riley was Buffy’s boyfriend – or had been, until a few minutes ago. Giles turned to his Slayer.

“ Buffy, I’m so sorry,” he said. “ I, I should’ve stopped you, should’ve pulled away –”

“ Then why didn’t you?” Buffy asked. “ I mean, was it just because I’m woman-shaped, because if so, why me? I mean, there’s tons of prettier girls and, and you could get them –”

He shushed her gently. “ It’s not that.”

“ Then what?” Buffy asked. “ Why else would –” Understanding hit her and she stared up at him, eyes wide. “ You mean you –”

He nodded, blushing shyly.

“ How long?” Buffy asked softly.

Giles shrugged.

“ I don’t know,” he admitted. “ It’s as if one day I turned around and you’d become a beautiful young woman… and I was suddenly hopelessly in love with you.” He managed a brief smile. “ Buffy, I don’t expect anything of you –”

“ Wanna go get some ice-cream?” Buffy asked.

Giles frowned in puzzlement.

“ I beg your pardon?”

Buffy traced her finger in little circles on his T-shirt.

“ You, me, ice-cream…” She looked up at him and smiled. “ Date?”

Giles gazed back at her in surprise and joy. “ I – I’d love to.”

“ Great,” Buffy replied. “ I’ll see you in ten.” She picked up her towel and headed out.

Giles snagged his own towel from the vaulting horse and wiped his face with it. He’d never imagined it was possible to be this happy. //Date. She said ‘date’. Buffy and I are going on a date. I have a date with Buffy. Well, all right, it’s just going for ice-cream, but she still said ‘date’.// He frowned suddenly. There was that niggling feeling again. He shook his head and ignored it. He picked up his sports bag and headed for the male showers.

After all, it didn’t do to keep a lady waiting.

***

“ How can you eat all that? I’m getting a bellyache just looking at it!”

“ ’Cos it’s ice-cream,” Buffy replied. “ And ’cos I’m the Slayer.” She took another bite of her dessert – three scoops of chocolate, one scoop of strawberry and a cherry – and continued. “ Anyway, I can’t believe you got – purple!”

“ It’s called ‘Fruits of the Forest’,” Giles corrected. “ And it’s very nice.”

“ Chocolate’s nicer,” Buffy teased.

“ Yes, well, I have this notion that if something contains fruit, it must be good for you,” Giles replied. “ Even if that something is ice-cream.”

“ Sounds like Mom logic,” Buffy remarked.

“ Mom logic?” Giles repeated in puzzlement.

“ You know,” Buffy explained. She had another spoonful of ice-cream before continuing. “ It’s okay for Mom to break her diet and have waffles for breakfast, but only if she makes them for me, because then they have no calories.”

“ Ah, I understand,” Giles replied. “ Like the way my mum used to buy biscuits when she was slimming, because they were ‘for the children’.” He had some ice-cream before adding thoughtfully, “ Though, to be fair, we *did* eat most of them.”

Buffy listened, intrigued. Giles never talked about his family. She realised she knew next to nothing about his childhood or home life. Suddenly she wanted to know everything.

“ What was your mom like?” she blurted out. Giles stared at her in surprise.

“ Pardon?”

“ Your mom,” Buffy repeated, painfully aware of the blush creeping into her cheeks. “Do – do you miss her?” Giles continued to look puzzled. Buffy went on, unable to stop talking. “ I mean, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to – if, if she’s dead or something and it’s too painful or –”

“ She’s not dead,” Giles interrupted gently. “ She and Dad are very much alive, they’re only in their seventies. I call them every week.”

Buffy smiled gratefully. “ Thanks for stopping me mid-babble.”

Giles smiled back.

“ Anyway, why the sudden interest in my parents?” he asked.

Buffy shrugged.

“ I just realised that you know stuff about my family, like how Dad’s a deadbeat and Mom works at an art gallery,” she answered. “ But I don’t know any stuff like that about you. Except that your dad was a Watcher, too.”

“ You never asked,” Giles replied simply.

“ Well, I’m asking now,” Buffy declared. “ So… you got any brothers or sisters?”

“ Two brothers and two sisters,” Giles told her. “ I’m the eldest.” He paused and thought. “ Which is ironic, since now I look like I’m the youngest.”

Buffy grinned.

“ Whoa, a big family,” she remarked. “ What’s it like, growing up with all those kids?”

“ Noisy,” Giles answered with a smile. “ And messy. Especially when we were younger. But there was always someone to play with. Or to stick up for you. We were very close, the five of us.”

“ Wow,” Buffy remarked. “ I always kinda wanted a kid brother or sister. I guess Mom and Dad decided I was enough trouble by myself.”

“ Nonsense,” Giles declared. “ They decided they didn’t need to have any more babies because you were perfect.”

Buffy grinned, blushing at his compliment.

“ Besides,” Giles went on, “ the trouble with little brothers and sisters is you never stop worrying about them, no matter how old they get. You look at them when they’re forty and they’re *still* your baby brother or sister.”

They’d finished their ice-cream. Buffy glanced at her watch.

“ Yikes!” she exclaimed.

“ Trouble?” Giles asked.

“ Sorta,” Buffy said apologetically. “ I’ve got this assignment that’s due for tomorrow. I really oughta go do some work on it. Sorry.”

“ Not at all,” Giles replied. They stood up and left the ice-cream parlour. Giles held the door for Buffy and let her go first. Buffy smiled. He was such a gentleman.

“ Walk me back to the dorm?” she asked.

“ Delighted.”

They made their way back to the campus in companionable silence. At some stage during the journey Giles’ arm snuck around Buffy’s waist, and Buffy’s arm did likewise. Giles gave a small sigh as UC Sunnydale loomed into view. The walk was far too short. They reached Buffy’s dorm building. Giles looked down at her.

“ Well, here we are,” he remarked.

“ Uh-huh,” Buffy replied. She put her arms around his neck. “ Hey, you wanna come with me on patrol tonight? I’ll come by your house at about eight?”

Giles pulled her a little closer. “ My dear, you’ve just made my night.” He leaned down and kissed her. Buffy whimpered a little when he pulled away.

“ Until eight.”

“ See you then,” Buffy said softly. She watched as Giles headed off.

Suddenly, eight o’clock seemed very far away.

***
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