the_huffster | Fic: Plan Beach

Title: Plan Beach
Author: the_huffster
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Rating: G
Timeline: Season 3
Synopsis: Buffy drags Giles to the beach

“Buffy, I don’t understand why I’m being dragged along?” Giles sighed as he watched Buffy rummaged through his things.

“Because you’ve complaining about the heat, and yet you do nothing about it.” The Slayer answered, pausing enough to look over her should at him. “Who honestly wears tweed in the summer? Especially in California?”

Giles rolled his eyes when Buffy returned to her search, grumbling under her breath. He waited a few more minutes until the blonde turned around to glare at him, her hands resting on her hips.

“Why don’t you own any swim trunks?” she demanded, cutting him off before he even had a chance to answer. “Never mind, I’m taking you shopping and you’re getting you something suitable for the beach.”

“Buffy…” he sighed, running his hand through his hair.

“No protesting, mister. We have 3 hours until we need to be at the beach with the rest of the gang.” She interrupted him as she grabbed one of his hands and pulled him to his feet, stopping when she noticed what he was wearing. “But first, you’re changing into some jeans and a regular shirt.”

He opened his mouth to argue the fact, closing it when she gave him a pointed look.

“Very well. I’ll be down in a few moments,”

Buffy gave him a grin before running down the stairs to wait for her ex-Watcher.

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Giles rolled his eyes when he heard his name being called from the shoreline, his attention going back to the book he had brought with him. He may have allowed Buffy and the Scoobies to drag him to the beach, but he’d be damned if he actually did anything that required him to shed the plain white shirt he had thrown on before leaving his apartment. During the hour they had been at the beach, each of the teenagers had tried to coax the ex-Watcher into joining them in whatever activity they had been doing. And each one had failed.

“You are no fun, you know that Giles?” Buffy yelled from where she was kneeling, Willow and Oz continuing tor bury Xander in the sand.

He just gave her a sarcastic smile, not entirely bothered by her comments. The blonde had resorted to trying to antagonize him into joining them. Needless to say, it was working as well as the other attempts. He sighed as he leaned back in the folding chair they had brought, his right hand reaching for one of the bottles of water in the cooler next to him as he continued to ignore them.

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“Watch it!” Giles yelled when the Frisbee Xander had thrown bounced off his head.

“Maybe we should call it quits on this thing, Xand.” Buffy giggled as she jogged over to the older man, plopping down on the sand next to him.

“Now what are we gonna do?” the dark haired teenager asked, letting out a yelp when Willow kicked sand at him.

Buffy laughed as she watched her friends chase each other into the water, a water fight quickly breaking out between the three of them. Giles rubbed his temple as he tried to understand how Xander’s aim was that off. The two sat in silence for a moment before Buffy looked up at him, a smile on her face.

“I’m not going into the water, Buffy.” He told her, his gaze focused on the words of his book.

“I wasn’t gonna ask that,” she moved to her knees and rested her elbows on the chair’s armrest, her head in her hands. “I want ice cream.”

“And?” he looked over at her, knowing exactly where this conversation was going.

“And you should take me to get some, seeing as how there was that ice cream cart we passed when we walked to this spot.” She explained, her pout slowly forming when she saw that he was about to shoot down her idea.

Giles gave a sigh once he caught sight of her pout. He had a difficult enough time saying no to her on a regular basis without that pout on her face. Buffy gave a small yell of triumph when he marked his place in his book, quickly jumping to her feet and helping him up.

“From now, you’re no longer allowed to use that pout on me.” He told her as they made their way down the beach towards the ice cream cart.

“Why would I stop using something that gets you to do whatever I say?” she gave him a wink before walking ahead of him, leaving him trailing behind her with a slightly confused expression on his face.

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Giles had ended up buying a chocolate cone for Buffy and cherry vanilla cone for himself once they reached the cart. Once the ice cream was bought, they had made their way back to the others at a much slower pace than on their walk over. He hadn’t missed the fact that the situation resembled a date, but he doubted that had been Buffy’s intention. After all, why on earth would an 18 year old want to see a man of his age as dateable?

“How’s your ice cream?” he asked her just as he finished his cone, needing the silence to be broken.

“Good. Can’t go wrong with plain ol’ chocolate,” Buffy grinned, holding out her cone for him. “Wanna have a lick?”

“I know what chocolate tastes like, Buffy.” He chuckled, taking a small lick anyways. “Delicious,”

They shared a smile as Buffy moved the cone away from him, wincing when a drop of her ice cream landed on his shirt.

“I guess that wasn’t such a great idea, huh?” she muttered as she quickly brought the cone back to her. “It’s melting faster than I thought it would.”

“Well, it is the middle of the summer Buffy. Heat tends to melt ice cream,” he grumbled as he looked at the chocolate stain on the shirt. “Wonderful. Now I have a stain on a white shirt,”

Buffy gave him an apologetic smile as she finished her ice cream, stopping her tracks as Giles did his best to rub the stain out with his hand. Even though he knew it was pointless, he needed to do something to try and save the shirt. Heaving a sigh, the ex-Watcher just stared at her.

“There is a way you can fix that,” she told him as she took a step closer to him.

“And how’s that?”

Without giving him an answer, the Slayer quickly removed his shirt and grinned as she took a step back from him. Giles just glared at her while he mentally berated himself for not reacting fast enough when she removed his shirt.

“Give it back, Buffy.” He told her, holding out his hand for the shirt.

“Giles, we’re at a beach! It’s okay for you to be shirtless here,” she told him, dancing just out his reach. “Why would you even bring a shirt in the first place?”

“Do you honestly want me to believe that you want to see me without a shirt?”

Before she could answer, he lunged for her and cursed when she avoided him. He quickly composed himself and chased after her. The chase went on for a few minutes until he finally caught her, his arms wrapping around her waist just as she threw his shirt away from her. It wasn’t until the clothing landed in water that the ex-Watcher realized he was waist deep in the ocean. With his arms around Buffy’s waist, her back pressed against his chest.

“See? It wasn’t that hard, was it?” she giggled as she turned around in his arms, looking up at him.

“Pardon?” he asked, puzzlement in his green eyes.

“You getting in the water, wasn’t hard.” She explained, her arms moving to wrap around his neck.

Giles took a deep breath and willed his body not to react to the fact that his nearly naked Slayer was pressed up against him while she played with the hair just above the nape of his neck.

“What are you doing, Buffy?” he whispered, his arms dropping to his side.

“I was really hoping you would be smart enough to figure it out by now, Giles.” She answered, a smirk on her face.

“Figure what out?”

“You clearly haven’t been picking up on the looks I’ve been giving you since graduation, so I thought a trip to the beach might make you more aware.” At the confusion still on his face, Buffy rolled her eyes and sighed. “Looks like I’m gonna have to spell it out for you.”

He was going to ask her what she meant, but never got the chance as she pulled his head down and kissed him. His hands went to her waist as his mouth opened for her on its own. He pulled away after a moment and just stared at Buffy, both of them trying to catch their breath.

“Buffy…” he trailed off, not knowing what to say.

“I know, Giles. I kinda figured out that you had feelings for me,” he told him, smiling at the panic in his eyes.

“How?”

“I heard you talking in your sleep after you took me for ice cream after we blew up the school.” She laughed at the confusion still on his face. “I came by after I left because I forgot my house keys, and you were asleep on the couch.”

“Oh.” He muttered, his eyes moving to the water as a blush crept up his face.

“God, you are so adorable when you blush!”

When he looked back up, he saw Buffy smile at him in adoration. She leaned up and placed a soft kiss on his lips as her right hand moved to rest on his chest, her smile growing.

“After that night, I figured that it would be okay if I acted on the feelings I have for you too.” She told him, giggling at the shock on his face.

“You…uh, I mean…” he stuttered, staring at her with his mouth open. “I, um…really?”

“Yeah,” she said, her left hand running through his hair. “I thought that if I made this enough like a date than maybe you would see it. Clearly you’re not as smart when it comes to flirting as you are with everything else,”

Giles chuckled before smiling at the blonde. “You want a relationship with me?”

“Uh-huh,” she nodded. “Is that okay with you?”

“That’s very okay with me,” he grinned before bending down and kissing her again, smiling against her lips when she kissed him back.

“We should get back to the gang,” Buffy mumbled as she pulled back. “They’re dying to know if Plan Beach worked,”

Giles just laughed before lacing their fingers and turning to walk out of the water, stopping when Buffy gave his hand a small tug.

“Don’t you want your shirt?” she motioned to the whit material floating next to her.

“I’m at the beach, Buffy.”

They shared a smile before walking back to the shore and towards the others. Just as they reached their friends, Buffy leaned up and whispered so only he could hear her.

“And just so you know, I wanna see you without any clothes at some point.” She kissed his cheek before running over to Willow, Oz, and Xander.

Giles stood in shock for a few moments before following her, shaking his head when Xander nominated the ex-Watcher to be buried in sand.