Fic: Respect to the King
Dec. 5th, 2011 10:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_huffsterTitle: Respect to the King
Author: the_huffster
Pairing: Slight Buffy/Giles
Rating: G
Timeline: Post-Chosen
Synopsis: Buffy drags Giles on a vacation to a Renaissance Festival, hoping to get back something that's lost.
Giles let out a sigh as he finished pitching the tent, turning to look at Buffy. “Remind me why we’re here?”
“Because you agreed to take a vacation and that I could take you to the one thing I think you would enjoy,” the Slayer smiled from the lawn chair she was sitting in, a bottle of water in her hand.
“So you take me to Texas and force me to spend my weekend surrounded by drunks and teenagers who will spend majority of the nights drinking underage and smoking pot?” he rolled his eyes and dropped into the lawn chair next to her. “Yes, I’ll enjoy this weekend immensely.”
“I don’t know,” Buffy gave him a teasing smile as she looked at him. “I’d think the drugs be right up your alley, Ripper.”
Giles opened his mouth to react, stopping himself when he saw the teasing expression on her face. He closed his mouth and shook his head, a small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. Instead of responding, the Watcher just rolled his eyes and leaned back in the chair. Even though he was questioning on allowing Buffy to drag him all the way back to the States for this surprise of hers, he was enjoying her company. It had been entirely too long since they could be around one another without the constant tension between them. Hopefully this trip would help them in fixing the strain on their relationship that had been created during the battle with the First.
While they had made some progress over the last year and a half, there was always something that would set them back. Whether it be Buffy’s petty jealousy over Giles’ new found closeness with Faith, his tendency to distance himself from her whenever she was dating someone, or any number of reasons that had led to one too many arguments, there was always a reason that kept them from getting back to what they had had before the Glory incident.
“So I was thinking that we can wake up tomorrow right when the gates open and buy what we’ll need to dress up…” Buffy’s voice pulled him from his musings, his head snapping in her direction at the words “dress up”.
“I’m not dressing up, Buffy.” He told her.
“Come on! It’s part of the fun, Giles.” The blonde whined, looking at him. “I’ve been to this thing every year for the past three years and I’ve always wanted to dress up. I see how much fun other people have…”
“You can dress up, but I will not.”
“Please, Giles. You can be my white knight in shining armour,”
The Head of Council gave her a glare when he noticed the first signs of her infamous pout, knowing at that moment he was in a losing battle. He could continue to try and get out of taking part in her idea, or he could save his breath and agree to it. Even though Giles would like to think differently, he knew he would agree with or without her using the pout on him. Hearing Buffy refer to him as her “white knight in shining armour” did things to him that he was desperately trying to push away.
“Fine,” he sighed after a moment, shaking his head at the excited squeal she gave.
“You are going to love it, Giles.” She got to her feet and launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a brief hug.
Before he had a chance to return the hug, Buffy was back in her lawn chair. He smiled as he listened to her tell him what she thought would look best on him before deciding that they would just have shop around and have him look for himself.
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They had spent the entire morning buying the pieces for their costume before heading back to their tent to change. Buffy had kept her purchases a secret from him, stating that her costume was a surprise. He had pointed out that that was entirely unfair because she knew exactly what he was buying.
“Just accept that you’re going have to wait to see me,” she had told him as he walked into the tent they were sharing to change into what he had bought.
A while later, Giles had emerged from the tent in his costume- which consisted of deep blue tunic that Buffy picked out for him, leather trousers, boots and a leather belt that went with the leather cuffs he had bought. He felt a blush creep up on to his face as Buffy walked around him, eyeing him.
“You’re missing something.” She said before walking over to one of the many bags she had carried, pulling out a carefully wrapped object.
He watched her remove the item from the wrapping and found himself wondering how she had managed to buy a long sword without his knowledge. Buffy watched him inspect the dulled weapon, smiling as his eyes travelled down to the hilt. Giles looked up at her, a soft smile on his lips.
“You bought me a replica of Excalibur?” he asked.
“It’s corny and cheesy I know, but…”she shrugged before grabbing her bags and disappearing into the tent to change into what she had bought.
Giles looked over the sword as he waited for Buffy, smiling at the dragon that decorated the end of the hilt. He had told Buffy that as cliché as it was, the legend of King Arthur had always fascinated him since he was a boy; he even went as far as to tell her that he had ran around when he was five years old and told his family he was going to grow up to be a knight. If he was being honest with himself, he hadn’t expected Buffy to remember that particular detail about his life. After all, she had never shown any interest in his life, so why would he think she would remember certain snippets he shared with her. But he was holding proof that he didn’t give his Slayer the credit she deserved, that she did remember memories he chose to share with her.
“What do you think?”
He looked up at the sound of Buffy’s voice, his eyes going wide when he saw her. She stood before him in what was clearly a much sexier and feminine version of armour, minus the chainmail. Giles did his bets to ignore the fact that her outfit showed the curves of her body very well, not wanting to make an idiot out of himself in broad daylight.
“Hey, Giles. I asked you what you thought,” the blonde waved a hand in front of him when he failed to give her an answer.
“Hm? Right!” he cleared his throat put his sword in the sheath that came with it, attaching it to his belt. “You look lovely, Buffy.”
“Thanks,” she smiled as she walked over, reaching out and removing his glasses. “Go put in the contacts I packed for you. They’re in the in the front pocket of your duffle bag,”
He rolled his eyes before doing as she asked. She knew he hated wearing contacts simply because it took away the safety net of cleaning his glasses in certain situations, but he had still gotten them when she had made the comment of how much she liked his eyes. He didn’t wear them often but when he had somehow managed to break his glasses and his backup pair several months ago, the Watcher found himself grateful for buying something simply because Buffy had expressed a liking to it.
After a few minutes and a few curses when he had jabbed his eye, Giles reemerged from the tent. Once they had made sure they had everything, the two made their way back to the Renaissance Festival. They took their time exploring the front part of the park and marveling at some of the people who were dressed up. They attended one of the jousting tournaments, “sword fought” with foam swords at a small shop, watched one of the many street acts, and stopped for lunch. Giles felt a swell of pride when he convinced Buffy to try some of his Sheppard’s Pie and gave her a smug smirk when she mumbled about liking it, chuckling when she playfully slapped his shoulder.
Once they had finished with their lunch, they continued their exploration. They stuck to the front half of the park, not wanting to go through everything in one day when they were there all weekend.
“Hey, horny girl! How would you like to try my pickle?” they both laughed at the vendor’s sales pitch to a young woman dressed as a barbarian walked by.
“I can’t believe people buy whole pickles and eat them for a snack,” Giles shook his head as they continued walking.
“I don’t get it either, but what can you do?” Buffy giggled as she looped her arm through his. “I think I’d rather try one of those disgusting look turkey legs before I ate a pickle by itself,”
Giles let out a small bark of laughter, nodding his head in agreement.
“Oi! You two!”
Buffy stopped walking and looked at the vendor who was looking at them. Giles noticed what she was looking at and confusedly pointed to himself.
“Yes, you lovebirds. Come here,” the man waved them over, giving Buffy a flirtatious wink.
Giles narrowed his eyes at the action. He knew it was all an act, but he couldn’t help the small flash of jealousy.
“Calm down, I’m not going to steal your lady from you.” The man chuckled, turning his back and grabbing a red rose- which made Giles realized that they were standing in front of a floral shop. “How about a flower for the lovely lady?”
Buffy gave a blush as she looked down, Giles rubbing the back of his neck.
“Oh don’t be shy, sir.” The vendor said when he saw the reactions. “Nothing says ‘I love you’ like a beautiful flower,”
They spent the next several minutes trying to get out of buying any type of flower that held any sort of romantic meaning, Giles eventually settling on buying a white daisy and giving it to Buffy.
“Thank you, kind sir.” Buffy smiled as he carefully put the flower in her hair.
“Your welcome, my Lady.” Giles bowed his head slightly and held out his arm for her again.
They had bought a few more items before having a quick dinner and then heading back to their spot on the campsite. Within an hour, they had changed out of their outfits and into the clothes they were going to sleep in. Giles had started a fire and was sitting on the blanket he had spread out on the ground, deciding not to bring out the lawn chairs again.
“So, are you enjoying yourself?” Buffy asked as she sat next to him on the blanket, handing him the alcohol they had bought on their way to the grounds.
“You were right,” he mumbled, taking a drink.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” she gave him a grin as she leaned closer to him. “I don’t think I heard you correctly. Did you say I was right?”
Giles glared at her before leaning back on his elbows, staring at the fire in front of them. The next hour was spent with a discussion of everything they had done that day, both giggling excessively over all the comments the vendors had given them.
“I just can’t believe they all thought we were couple,” Buffy giggled as she finished her beer and laid out on the blanket, turning her head to look at Giles.
“They didn’t really think we were a couple, Buffy. It was just an act they put on,” he hoped she couldn’t hear the small disappointment in his voice.
He had had some hope that how they had interacted and all the comments would maybe open her eyes to the potential they could have. But he clearly had been fooling himself into thinking he had a chance of Buffy seeing him as more than her Watcher.
“Tomorrow we’re gonna hit up the back of the park, yeah?” Buffy asked him.
“Yes. And then Sunday we pack up and continue with the rest of our vacation,” Giles confirmed. “We have to be at the airport by nine Sunday evening.”
“Where is it that you’re taking me?” she rolled on to her side, giving him a smile as he stretched out next to her.
“It’s a secret,” he gave her a lazy grin.
The Slayer rolled her eyes and giggled before they fell into an easy conversation. They talked about nothing in particular for a while until Buffy looked at him and smiled.
“Tell me about the adventures of the young knight Rupert Giles,”
Giles chuckled as he turned his head to look at her. He grinned before launching into tales of his childhood, adding a certain adventurous tone to them. As Buffy listened to him, she closed her eyes and let Giles’ words paint a picture in her mind of a child who would pretend he was a knight for King Arthur and the many quests he would go on in the name of Camelot.
It wouldn’t be until they felt the heat of the November sun that either one of them would realize they had fallen asleep outside of their tent. And it wouldn’t be until Giles realized Buffy was snuggled up to him with his arms around her that he knew he couldn’t ignore the fact that he was hopelessly in love with her.
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They had dressed in their outfits again when they woke up, except Giles exchanged the blue tunic for the red one Buffy had also picked out. Once they had entered the park, Buffy led him to the part they hadn’t gotten to the day before
“Wait, there’s something we have to do before we get too involved in all the things.” Buffy said before she took his hand and dragged him off to the side.
She led him to one of the jewelry makers, telling Giles to pick out the two designs he wanted. When he gave her a questioning look, she shook her head and told him to pick. It took him several minutes but he had finally decided on the dragon flying over a castle and a chalice. He opened his mouth to ask her why she had him pick when he saw her turn to the vendor and tell him Giles’ choices, pointing to the silver medallion before handing over the money.
“Buffy, you don’t have to…” Giles began.
“You bought me a flower yesterday, and lunch and dinner.” Buffy cut him off, giving him a smile. “I want to buy you a coin medallion necklace.”
“Let me pay you back,” he went to grab his wallet, stopping when Buffy put her hand on his arm.
“No, this is a gift.” She smiled. “No paying me back.”
Giles tried to get Buffy to agree to let him pay at least half, sighing when he realized she wasn’t listening to him. Instead she was watching as his necklace was being made, a smile on her face as she watched the weight being dropped on to the design plate. It was another few minutes until the Watcher was handed his new possession, Buffy giving him a pointed look until he slipped it over his head and adjusted the length.
“It looks good, Giles.” Buffy told him as she looped her arm with his, looking at it. “You gonna switch up the sides?”
“What?” he glanced at her as they entered the back half.
“Right now you have it so the chalice is facing out,” the blonde explained as they stopped briefly. “The next time you wear it, and there is going to be a next time mister, are you gonna have the dragon facing out?”
“I don’t know,” he answered before they started walking again.
They spent the day the same way they had spent the day before. They looked in the shops and bought a few things before stopping to watch a few street acts. After they had finished watching a small comedy act, Buffy led Giles to a table before leaving him to order lunch. As he waited for his Slayer to return, he found himself thinking back on their vacation.
The first few days of their vacation had been somewhat awkward considering they were both still reeling from yet another argument, this one due to Buffy blatantly sabotaging a date Giles had been on. But once they had finally sat down and talked it out, things had fell into place for them. They had finally found something that resembled what they had had before she died- they joked, they laughed, they teased each other in the way only they could, but they were still lacking the emotional connection they had had the year she died. However, there were moments when Giles would see something in her eyes when she looked at him or hear something in her voice when she teased him.
“You better be in the mood for fish and chips because that’s what I got you,” Buffy announced as she set the basket in front of him, sitting on the other side of the table. “I even did everything you do when you order it back home.”
“Thank you,” he smiled before he began eating.
Lunch went by in a comfortable silence, Buffy lightly kicking Giles’ foot every now and then. Giles shook his head and chuckled as he reached across the table and stole a sip of Buffy’s drink, laughing when she snatched her cup back.
“What was that for?” she asked, glaring at him.
“All’s fair in love and war,” he smirked before standing up, taking their trash to the bin. “Ready to go?”
He held out his hand to help her up, surprised when she didn’t let go of his hand. He was even more surprised when she laced their fingers together as they continued walking around the area. Buffy looked up when she felt him briefly tense, letting go of his hand and walking over to the gypsy cart.
“Come on, Giles.” She motioned the booth. “Wanna get our fortune told to us?”
“Why not?” he shrugged before following her into the booth.
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Nearly an hour later, they left the booth with smiles on their face. As they walked passed the small garden area that had been set up, they took turns telling the other what their fortune had been. Neither one believed a word of what they had been told, but it was all in good fun and that’s what mattered. They entered the area that had been dubbed as “Sherwood Forest” and Buffy cooed over all the little boys dressed as Robin Hood.
“Did you ever dress up like that for Halloween?” she asked Giles.
“No, my father didn’t want me playing dress up.” He answered, running his fingers through his hair. “He barely tolerated me running around the house pretending I was knight or fighter pilot.”
“Well, we’re making up for it now.” Buffy smiled up at him as she rubbed his arm. “Now you get to pretend you’re a knight and look the part.”
Giles chuckled as he gave her a small smile. They continued walking around the area, only stopping once when a vendor yelled for their attention. When they turned to look at her, she encouraged Giles to win a token for his “fair lady”. It only took a moment before the Watcher walked up to the counter, paying for the throwing knives. Buffy watched from the side as Giles carefully threw each knife, never once hitting the bull’s-eye.
“Better luck next time, dear.” The woman told him.
“One more time,” Giles told her, paying for another round.
“Giles, you really don’t…”
“I want to Buffy.” He turned to look at her, smiling before turning his attention to the target.
This time the blonde watched as Giles hit the bull’s-eye three out of five times, a smug smile on his face as he looked at her and told her he could do it. The woman laughed at the exchange between the couple before handing Giles his prize, which was a simple silver band with an elegant design etched into the material. The Watcher turned to face Buffy, a small blush creeping up his neck as he held the ring out to her in his palm.
“Your prize,” he gave her a shy smile.
“Aren’t you going to put it on me?” Buffy giggled at his expression before holding out her right hand, her eyes darting from the ring to her hand.
Giles gave her a smile before sliding the band on to her right ring finger.
“There,” the blonde grinned before she looped their arms again and began walking. “Now we have physical proof that I’m yours.”
“That we do,” he muttered, ignoring the way his heart skipped a beat at her word choice.
The two made their way back to the front of the grounds, making a detour to check out some of the games they had passed up. A sizable crowd in front of a wall grabbed their attention. When they reached the front of their crowd, they watched a teenager trying to throw a tomato at a man locked up in a replica of medieval stocks. They watched the boy try to hit the man, laughing at the taunts thrown the teenager’s way.
“Hey, Blondie!” the man yelled once the teenager finally walked away. “Why don’t you ditch Grandpa there and I’ll show you a good time once the King lets me out of this,”
Giles chuckled at Buffy’s reaction. If it weren’t for the fact that he knew it was just an act, he was sure he would be offended by what was being said about him. Buffy, on the other hand, was not taking the taunts very well. The Watcher felt his laughter wan a little, knowing she was reacting that way because someone was insinuating that she was sexually involved with him.
“I’ll even show you my sword, sweetheart.” The man chuckled as he watched Buffy walk over to the bucket of tomatoes, paying the man standing next to it before picking up one. “I bet it’s bigger than the old man’s…”
Cheers form the crowd sounded as Buffy hit the man in the stocks right in the face. The petite blonde gave the man a sweet smile before walking back to Giles, taking his arm and leading him away from the crowd. They walked in silence until Buffy let out a frustrated sigh.
“He didn’t mean it, Buffy.” Giles assured her. “He was just taunting you to try and get your money. Although, I don’t think he counted on you being able to hit him.”
“That was pretty awesome, huh?” she giggled. “I mean, did you see his face?”
Giles grinned as they continued walking, checking out anything they might have missed earlier.
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The rest of the day had been enjoyable, and now the two were relaxing in front of another fire. Buffy hummed along softly to the radio being played a few tents down from them. Giles closed his eyes and listened to Buffy, a small smile on his face as he stretched out on the blanket.
“So, did you enjoy my surprise?” Buffy asked as she stretched out next to him.
Giles opened an eye and looked at her. “I did,” he turned his head to completely look at her. “You were right in thinking that I would enjoy this.”
“I figure you would because it had to do with history, and I know you’re History Guy outside of all things Hellmouth-y.” Buffy smiled as she scooted closer to him. “And seeing all the knight things here reminded me of you,”
“Oh?” he raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah,”
They share a smile, Giles reaching out to push a strand of hair behind her ear. Silence fell over them as the Watcher pulled his hand back and sat up, staring into the dancing flames. After they left the campgrounds the next day, they only had a week and a half left of their mini-vacation and then it was back to their real lives. And that meant he’d lose moments like this with Buffy.
“Giles?” Buffy asked softly, sitting up as well and tucking her knees under her chin.
“Yes?” he asked, his gaze still on the fire.
“What happens after we head back to England next week?”
“We continue with our lives,” he looked over her, not sure why she had asked that question. “I go back to being Head of the Council, and you’ll go back to Rome…”
“That’s it?” she asked him, and Giles could have sworn he saw hurt flash in her eyes.
“No…I’ll invite you and Dawn to stay with me for Christmas and call you for your birthday.” Giles explained, slightly confused. “Just like I always have. I might make a few more social visits then I have in the past, but I don’t see why things have to change.”
“I can’t believe it. I missed out,” Buffy muttered to herself as she ran her fingers through her hair.
“I’m sorry?”
“Call me crazy, but I was pretty sure that we had something a little bit before Mom died. I would see the way you looked at me and…” Buffy sighed and shook her head. “Then I died. And I came back and I pushed you away and everything just spiraled out of control from there on out. And when you came back with the Potentials I thought that maybe we could work to getting that back. But obviously that didn’t happen…”
Giles just stared at her, trying to wrap his mind around what she was saying.
“And then things got out of hand with Sunnydale being no more and us needing to rebuild the Council and figuring everything out,” she continued, her focus on the slowly dying fire. “There were times over these last few years where I though we could get things back, but something would always happen and we would just go right back to arguing with each other. So I thought maybe if we did something, just the two of us…”
Buffy trailed off and shook her head, slowly getting to her feet. “But I guess it’s too late. Go figure though, I wanted a relationship with you years but kept putting it off thinking that I had all this time to pick up…”
“You wanted a relationship with me?”
“I was hoping that this trip would show me I still had a chance with you,” she got to her feet and looked down at him. “But, like I said, seems like I missed out.”
Giles stared after her as she walked to the tent, mumbling about calling it an early night. He finally got his brain to start working and jumped to his feet, grabbing her wrist.
“You still want a relationship with me?” he asked, wanting to make sure he had heard her correctly.
“Doesn’t matter, Giles.” She turned to face him, giving a small smile. “Even if you did have some feelings for me all those years ago, I passed up my chance. I just…I don’t want to lose you as a friend. I mean, I think we made some major progress in becoming friends again and I don’t want to lose that.”
“Buffy…” he opened his mouth, not sure what to say to her. There was so much and yet he couldn’t find the words.
So he did the only thing that came to mind. Giles leaned down and brushed his lips against hers, moving his hands to her hips. He closed his eyes when he felt her kiss him back before pulling back and shaking her head.
“Giles, don’t.” she whispered as she backed away from him. “I don’t want this turning into a pity thing, okay? I don’t think I could handle that,”
“Buffy, I wasn’t…that wasn’t…” he gave a small frustrated sigh. “The one time I need something to say and I can’t think of anything.”
Buffy just looked at him, puzzlement on her face. She stood looking at him as she waited for him to continue. The wait didn’t take long.
“I didn’t kiss you out of pity, Buffy.” Giles started, trailing off when Buffy held up her hand.
“Giles, please. I feel awful enough as it is, don’t add to it.” She said softly, giving him a sad smile. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
The Watcher stood there as his Slayer turned and retreated to their tent. It was a few seconds before Giles began moving, putting out the fire and rolling the blanket up to toss it in the rental car on top of the cooler. He looked around to make sure he had left nothing out to be stolen before he entered the tent, looking at Buffy’s still form.
“Buffy, are you asleep?” he asked, a part of him hoping she wasn’t while another part hoped she was.
“Almost.” She finally said after a minute. “Giles, I really don’t want to talk right now, okay?”
“But I do. You don’t have to do anything but listen,”
He waited until she turned around to look at him, waiting for him to start speaking.
“I felt it too,” was all that came to mind as he looked from her to the floor. “And there were so many times I was going to tell you after Riley left, but something always came up. And then you died and I just…when Willow told me you were back, I couldn’t help but think that I had been given a second chance. I kept telling myself that once you readjusted to what had happened, I would tell you. But soon it became very clear that you only wanted me around to take care of everything for you, and then…”
“You left.” Buffy shrugged, giving him a small smile to show there were no bitter feelings over that incident.
“Right,” he nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. “And like you said, everything sort of spun out of control after that year. I became busy with rebuilding the Council and you were off in Rome, I never had a chance to find out if we still had a chance. Then the arguing happened and I knew it was pointless for me to hope that you would see me as a potential lover. This weekend…”
“What about this weekend?” the blonde narrowed her eyes.
“This weekend just further proved that I had no chance with you,”
There was a brief moment of quiet before Buffy gave a disbelieving laugh, causing Giles to look up at her in confusion.
“I don’t know what weekend you just had, but I was all over you Giles.” Buffy explained, sitting up and looking at him. “You’re the one who kept saying that everything they were saying was an act. I mean, I know they were just playing their roles but they had to have seen something for them to make those comments. Then you would just dismiss it and I felt…”
“That’s not how I meant that. I was saying it because you would react as if you couldn’t believe a stranger thought you were in a romantic relationship with me.”
“No, I didn’t know how to react. Especially because we just had a fight almost a week ago concerning you and a date with someone else,” she said, looking away from him.
Silence fell over them before Giles chuckled and shook his head. “We really need to learn to communicate better, Buffy.”
“What do you…”
She was cut off by the Watcher leaning forward and covering her mouth with his. He smiled against her lips when he felt her return the kiss, her hands running up his chest until she could wrap her arms around his neck. Giles deepened the kiss as he moved his left hand to cradle her cheek. It wasn’t until Buffy moved to straddle his lap that he pulled back slightly.
“We need to stop,” he whispered, resting his forehead against hers.
“No, we really don’t.” she shook her head before kissing along his jaw, stopping to nibble on his earlobe.
“I want to do this right, Buffy.” He closed his eyes and groaned softly when she tugged on his earlobe before nibbling down his jaw and placing a kiss on his chin. “And as much as I want to continue this…”
“I know.” She sighed, kissing him softly. “But we can’t afford to wait with the life we live. Hell, it was waiting that put us off for all these years,”
“Buffy, please. Just a few dates when we get back, that’s all I’m asking.” He requested, giving her a smile.
“They better be the best damn dates I’ll ever go on,” she mumbled as she moved from his lap and back to her sleeping bag.
“What are you doing?” he asked as he stood up and began unzipping his sleeping bag completely.
Buffy looked over at him, a smile crossing her features when she saw what he was doing. It didn’t take them long to lay out one of the unzipped sleeping bags for them to lay on, and cover themselves with the other one. Giles pulled her until her back was flush against his chest, dropping a kiss on her shoulder.
“Goodnight, Buffy.” He said softly.
“Night, Watcher-mine.” A soft smile came to him at the use of the old nickname.
Within minutes they were both asleep.
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“Why did we have Christmas at our place?” Buffy asked as she helped Giles clean up.
“Because we have always had Christmas at my house,” he smiled as he walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. “And I wasn’t going to let that change just because we’re dating. Besides, this is what I’ve had to deal with every year.”
Buffy dropped the torn up wrapping paper and turned in his arms, her arms encircling his neck. He gave her a smile before brushing his lips against hers.
“Happy Christmas, luv.” He whispered before kissing her neck.
“Happy anniversary.” She grinned. “Can you believe it’s already been three months?”
Giles just chuckled before kissing her one more time before turning to go back to picking up the shredded wrapping paper, muttering about how he shouldn’t have let Willow bring her puppy along. The couple spent the next several minutes cleaning up the living room, each taking turns to quietly sing along to whatever Christmas song was playing.
A few minutes later, the Watcher was looking behind the Christmas tree to make sure he had gotten all of the wrapping paper Willow’s dog had ran off with when a small wrapped box caught his attention. He reached out and took the gift, narrowing his eyes when he read the tag.
“Buffy, do you know who this is from?” he mumbled as he walked over to his girlfriend.
“What does it say?” she asked him, patting the couch cushion next to her.
“It just says it’s for me,”
“Maybe it’s from Santa.” She giggled as she snuggled up to him.
Giles looked at her, rolling his eyes before carefully unwrapping it. The Slayer watched as he tore the emerald green wrapping paper from the box before he slowly lifted the lid. She bit her lip as she waited for his reaction to what was inside the box. When he looked up at her with wide eyes, she merely shrugged.
“I know we haven’t really discussed it but…” she started, trailing off with another shrug.
“You’re pregnant?” he whispered, looking back at the pregnancy test she had placed in the box.
“Yeah, I am.” She nodded, moving a hand to rub his chest. “Is that okay?”
Giles continued to look at the little plus sign, a million emotions playing across his face before he looked back at her. At the worry on her face, he realized he needed to say something. He opened his mouth but nothing came out, no matter how hard he tried to speak.
“Bugger it,” he muttered before leaning forward and kissing her, pulling her closer to him as he leaned back a few inches. “We’re going to be parents.”
Buffy let out a sigh of relief when she saw the boyish grin on his face. She leaned forward and kissed him again, giggling against his lips.
“I love you,” she said, pulling back to look at him.
“I love you too,” Giles grinned before getting to his feet, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet before he picked her up.
They giggled for a few moments before he began walking them to their bedroom, talking excitedly about their future child. Buffy grinned as she rested her head on his shoulder, listening to him talk.
“If we have a boy, I was thinking his middle name should be Arthur.” Buffy said when Giles paused in his rambling, smiling up at him. “After all, I think we should pay respect to the king that essentially got us together. Don’t you?”
Giles chuckled as he walked into their room, bending his head to kiss her softly. “I don’t want to discuss possible baby names. I have other plans right now,”
Buffy rolled her eyes, knowing that he had already agreed with her.
Author: the_huffster
Pairing: Slight Buffy/Giles
Rating: G
Timeline: Post-Chosen
Synopsis: Buffy drags Giles on a vacation to a Renaissance Festival, hoping to get back something that's lost.
Giles let out a sigh as he finished pitching the tent, turning to look at Buffy. “Remind me why we’re here?”
“Because you agreed to take a vacation and that I could take you to the one thing I think you would enjoy,” the Slayer smiled from the lawn chair she was sitting in, a bottle of water in her hand.
“So you take me to Texas and force me to spend my weekend surrounded by drunks and teenagers who will spend majority of the nights drinking underage and smoking pot?” he rolled his eyes and dropped into the lawn chair next to her. “Yes, I’ll enjoy this weekend immensely.”
“I don’t know,” Buffy gave him a teasing smile as she looked at him. “I’d think the drugs be right up your alley, Ripper.”
Giles opened his mouth to react, stopping himself when he saw the teasing expression on her face. He closed his mouth and shook his head, a small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. Instead of responding, the Watcher just rolled his eyes and leaned back in the chair. Even though he was questioning on allowing Buffy to drag him all the way back to the States for this surprise of hers, he was enjoying her company. It had been entirely too long since they could be around one another without the constant tension between them. Hopefully this trip would help them in fixing the strain on their relationship that had been created during the battle with the First.
While they had made some progress over the last year and a half, there was always something that would set them back. Whether it be Buffy’s petty jealousy over Giles’ new found closeness with Faith, his tendency to distance himself from her whenever she was dating someone, or any number of reasons that had led to one too many arguments, there was always a reason that kept them from getting back to what they had had before the Glory incident.
“So I was thinking that we can wake up tomorrow right when the gates open and buy what we’ll need to dress up…” Buffy’s voice pulled him from his musings, his head snapping in her direction at the words “dress up”.
“I’m not dressing up, Buffy.” He told her.
“Come on! It’s part of the fun, Giles.” The blonde whined, looking at him. “I’ve been to this thing every year for the past three years and I’ve always wanted to dress up. I see how much fun other people have…”
“You can dress up, but I will not.”
“Please, Giles. You can be my white knight in shining armour,”
The Head of Council gave her a glare when he noticed the first signs of her infamous pout, knowing at that moment he was in a losing battle. He could continue to try and get out of taking part in her idea, or he could save his breath and agree to it. Even though Giles would like to think differently, he knew he would agree with or without her using the pout on him. Hearing Buffy refer to him as her “white knight in shining armour” did things to him that he was desperately trying to push away.
“Fine,” he sighed after a moment, shaking his head at the excited squeal she gave.
“You are going to love it, Giles.” She got to her feet and launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a brief hug.
Before he had a chance to return the hug, Buffy was back in her lawn chair. He smiled as he listened to her tell him what she thought would look best on him before deciding that they would just have shop around and have him look for himself.
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They had spent the entire morning buying the pieces for their costume before heading back to their tent to change. Buffy had kept her purchases a secret from him, stating that her costume was a surprise. He had pointed out that that was entirely unfair because she knew exactly what he was buying.
“Just accept that you’re going have to wait to see me,” she had told him as he walked into the tent they were sharing to change into what he had bought.
A while later, Giles had emerged from the tent in his costume- which consisted of deep blue tunic that Buffy picked out for him, leather trousers, boots and a leather belt that went with the leather cuffs he had bought. He felt a blush creep up on to his face as Buffy walked around him, eyeing him.
“You’re missing something.” She said before walking over to one of the many bags she had carried, pulling out a carefully wrapped object.
He watched her remove the item from the wrapping and found himself wondering how she had managed to buy a long sword without his knowledge. Buffy watched him inspect the dulled weapon, smiling as his eyes travelled down to the hilt. Giles looked up at her, a soft smile on his lips.
“You bought me a replica of Excalibur?” he asked.
“It’s corny and cheesy I know, but…”she shrugged before grabbing her bags and disappearing into the tent to change into what she had bought.
Giles looked over the sword as he waited for Buffy, smiling at the dragon that decorated the end of the hilt. He had told Buffy that as cliché as it was, the legend of King Arthur had always fascinated him since he was a boy; he even went as far as to tell her that he had ran around when he was five years old and told his family he was going to grow up to be a knight. If he was being honest with himself, he hadn’t expected Buffy to remember that particular detail about his life. After all, she had never shown any interest in his life, so why would he think she would remember certain snippets he shared with her. But he was holding proof that he didn’t give his Slayer the credit she deserved, that she did remember memories he chose to share with her.
“What do you think?”
He looked up at the sound of Buffy’s voice, his eyes going wide when he saw her. She stood before him in what was clearly a much sexier and feminine version of armour, minus the chainmail. Giles did his bets to ignore the fact that her outfit showed the curves of her body very well, not wanting to make an idiot out of himself in broad daylight.
“Hey, Giles. I asked you what you thought,” the blonde waved a hand in front of him when he failed to give her an answer.
“Hm? Right!” he cleared his throat put his sword in the sheath that came with it, attaching it to his belt. “You look lovely, Buffy.”
“Thanks,” she smiled as she walked over, reaching out and removing his glasses. “Go put in the contacts I packed for you. They’re in the in the front pocket of your duffle bag,”
He rolled his eyes before doing as she asked. She knew he hated wearing contacts simply because it took away the safety net of cleaning his glasses in certain situations, but he had still gotten them when she had made the comment of how much she liked his eyes. He didn’t wear them often but when he had somehow managed to break his glasses and his backup pair several months ago, the Watcher found himself grateful for buying something simply because Buffy had expressed a liking to it.
After a few minutes and a few curses when he had jabbed his eye, Giles reemerged from the tent. Once they had made sure they had everything, the two made their way back to the Renaissance Festival. They took their time exploring the front part of the park and marveling at some of the people who were dressed up. They attended one of the jousting tournaments, “sword fought” with foam swords at a small shop, watched one of the many street acts, and stopped for lunch. Giles felt a swell of pride when he convinced Buffy to try some of his Sheppard’s Pie and gave her a smug smirk when she mumbled about liking it, chuckling when she playfully slapped his shoulder.
Once they had finished with their lunch, they continued their exploration. They stuck to the front half of the park, not wanting to go through everything in one day when they were there all weekend.
“Hey, horny girl! How would you like to try my pickle?” they both laughed at the vendor’s sales pitch to a young woman dressed as a barbarian walked by.
“I can’t believe people buy whole pickles and eat them for a snack,” Giles shook his head as they continued walking.
“I don’t get it either, but what can you do?” Buffy giggled as she looped her arm through his. “I think I’d rather try one of those disgusting look turkey legs before I ate a pickle by itself,”
Giles let out a small bark of laughter, nodding his head in agreement.
“Oi! You two!”
Buffy stopped walking and looked at the vendor who was looking at them. Giles noticed what she was looking at and confusedly pointed to himself.
“Yes, you lovebirds. Come here,” the man waved them over, giving Buffy a flirtatious wink.
Giles narrowed his eyes at the action. He knew it was all an act, but he couldn’t help the small flash of jealousy.
“Calm down, I’m not going to steal your lady from you.” The man chuckled, turning his back and grabbing a red rose- which made Giles realized that they were standing in front of a floral shop. “How about a flower for the lovely lady?”
Buffy gave a blush as she looked down, Giles rubbing the back of his neck.
“Oh don’t be shy, sir.” The vendor said when he saw the reactions. “Nothing says ‘I love you’ like a beautiful flower,”
They spent the next several minutes trying to get out of buying any type of flower that held any sort of romantic meaning, Giles eventually settling on buying a white daisy and giving it to Buffy.
“Thank you, kind sir.” Buffy smiled as he carefully put the flower in her hair.
“Your welcome, my Lady.” Giles bowed his head slightly and held out his arm for her again.
They had bought a few more items before having a quick dinner and then heading back to their spot on the campsite. Within an hour, they had changed out of their outfits and into the clothes they were going to sleep in. Giles had started a fire and was sitting on the blanket he had spread out on the ground, deciding not to bring out the lawn chairs again.
“So, are you enjoying yourself?” Buffy asked as she sat next to him on the blanket, handing him the alcohol they had bought on their way to the grounds.
“You were right,” he mumbled, taking a drink.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” she gave him a grin as she leaned closer to him. “I don’t think I heard you correctly. Did you say I was right?”
Giles glared at her before leaning back on his elbows, staring at the fire in front of them. The next hour was spent with a discussion of everything they had done that day, both giggling excessively over all the comments the vendors had given them.
“I just can’t believe they all thought we were couple,” Buffy giggled as she finished her beer and laid out on the blanket, turning her head to look at Giles.
“They didn’t really think we were a couple, Buffy. It was just an act they put on,” he hoped she couldn’t hear the small disappointment in his voice.
He had had some hope that how they had interacted and all the comments would maybe open her eyes to the potential they could have. But he clearly had been fooling himself into thinking he had a chance of Buffy seeing him as more than her Watcher.
“Tomorrow we’re gonna hit up the back of the park, yeah?” Buffy asked him.
“Yes. And then Sunday we pack up and continue with the rest of our vacation,” Giles confirmed. “We have to be at the airport by nine Sunday evening.”
“Where is it that you’re taking me?” she rolled on to her side, giving him a smile as he stretched out next to her.
“It’s a secret,” he gave her a lazy grin.
The Slayer rolled her eyes and giggled before they fell into an easy conversation. They talked about nothing in particular for a while until Buffy looked at him and smiled.
“Tell me about the adventures of the young knight Rupert Giles,”
Giles chuckled as he turned his head to look at her. He grinned before launching into tales of his childhood, adding a certain adventurous tone to them. As Buffy listened to him, she closed her eyes and let Giles’ words paint a picture in her mind of a child who would pretend he was a knight for King Arthur and the many quests he would go on in the name of Camelot.
It wouldn’t be until they felt the heat of the November sun that either one of them would realize they had fallen asleep outside of their tent. And it wouldn’t be until Giles realized Buffy was snuggled up to him with his arms around her that he knew he couldn’t ignore the fact that he was hopelessly in love with her.
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They had dressed in their outfits again when they woke up, except Giles exchanged the blue tunic for the red one Buffy had also picked out. Once they had entered the park, Buffy led him to the part they hadn’t gotten to the day before
“Wait, there’s something we have to do before we get too involved in all the things.” Buffy said before she took his hand and dragged him off to the side.
She led him to one of the jewelry makers, telling Giles to pick out the two designs he wanted. When he gave her a questioning look, she shook her head and told him to pick. It took him several minutes but he had finally decided on the dragon flying over a castle and a chalice. He opened his mouth to ask her why she had him pick when he saw her turn to the vendor and tell him Giles’ choices, pointing to the silver medallion before handing over the money.
“Buffy, you don’t have to…” Giles began.
“You bought me a flower yesterday, and lunch and dinner.” Buffy cut him off, giving him a smile. “I want to buy you a coin medallion necklace.”
“Let me pay you back,” he went to grab his wallet, stopping when Buffy put her hand on his arm.
“No, this is a gift.” She smiled. “No paying me back.”
Giles tried to get Buffy to agree to let him pay at least half, sighing when he realized she wasn’t listening to him. Instead she was watching as his necklace was being made, a smile on her face as she watched the weight being dropped on to the design plate. It was another few minutes until the Watcher was handed his new possession, Buffy giving him a pointed look until he slipped it over his head and adjusted the length.
“It looks good, Giles.” Buffy told him as she looped her arm with his, looking at it. “You gonna switch up the sides?”
“What?” he glanced at her as they entered the back half.
“Right now you have it so the chalice is facing out,” the blonde explained as they stopped briefly. “The next time you wear it, and there is going to be a next time mister, are you gonna have the dragon facing out?”
“I don’t know,” he answered before they started walking again.
They spent the day the same way they had spent the day before. They looked in the shops and bought a few things before stopping to watch a few street acts. After they had finished watching a small comedy act, Buffy led Giles to a table before leaving him to order lunch. As he waited for his Slayer to return, he found himself thinking back on their vacation.
The first few days of their vacation had been somewhat awkward considering they were both still reeling from yet another argument, this one due to Buffy blatantly sabotaging a date Giles had been on. But once they had finally sat down and talked it out, things had fell into place for them. They had finally found something that resembled what they had had before she died- they joked, they laughed, they teased each other in the way only they could, but they were still lacking the emotional connection they had had the year she died. However, there were moments when Giles would see something in her eyes when she looked at him or hear something in her voice when she teased him.
“You better be in the mood for fish and chips because that’s what I got you,” Buffy announced as she set the basket in front of him, sitting on the other side of the table. “I even did everything you do when you order it back home.”
“Thank you,” he smiled before he began eating.
Lunch went by in a comfortable silence, Buffy lightly kicking Giles’ foot every now and then. Giles shook his head and chuckled as he reached across the table and stole a sip of Buffy’s drink, laughing when she snatched her cup back.
“What was that for?” she asked, glaring at him.
“All’s fair in love and war,” he smirked before standing up, taking their trash to the bin. “Ready to go?”
He held out his hand to help her up, surprised when she didn’t let go of his hand. He was even more surprised when she laced their fingers together as they continued walking around the area. Buffy looked up when she felt him briefly tense, letting go of his hand and walking over to the gypsy cart.
“Come on, Giles.” She motioned the booth. “Wanna get our fortune told to us?”
“Why not?” he shrugged before following her into the booth.
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Nearly an hour later, they left the booth with smiles on their face. As they walked passed the small garden area that had been set up, they took turns telling the other what their fortune had been. Neither one believed a word of what they had been told, but it was all in good fun and that’s what mattered. They entered the area that had been dubbed as “Sherwood Forest” and Buffy cooed over all the little boys dressed as Robin Hood.
“Did you ever dress up like that for Halloween?” she asked Giles.
“No, my father didn’t want me playing dress up.” He answered, running his fingers through his hair. “He barely tolerated me running around the house pretending I was knight or fighter pilot.”
“Well, we’re making up for it now.” Buffy smiled up at him as she rubbed his arm. “Now you get to pretend you’re a knight and look the part.”
Giles chuckled as he gave her a small smile. They continued walking around the area, only stopping once when a vendor yelled for their attention. When they turned to look at her, she encouraged Giles to win a token for his “fair lady”. It only took a moment before the Watcher walked up to the counter, paying for the throwing knives. Buffy watched from the side as Giles carefully threw each knife, never once hitting the bull’s-eye.
“Better luck next time, dear.” The woman told him.
“One more time,” Giles told her, paying for another round.
“Giles, you really don’t…”
“I want to Buffy.” He turned to look at her, smiling before turning his attention to the target.
This time the blonde watched as Giles hit the bull’s-eye three out of five times, a smug smile on his face as he looked at her and told her he could do it. The woman laughed at the exchange between the couple before handing Giles his prize, which was a simple silver band with an elegant design etched into the material. The Watcher turned to face Buffy, a small blush creeping up his neck as he held the ring out to her in his palm.
“Your prize,” he gave her a shy smile.
“Aren’t you going to put it on me?” Buffy giggled at his expression before holding out her right hand, her eyes darting from the ring to her hand.
Giles gave her a smile before sliding the band on to her right ring finger.
“There,” the blonde grinned before she looped their arms again and began walking. “Now we have physical proof that I’m yours.”
“That we do,” he muttered, ignoring the way his heart skipped a beat at her word choice.
The two made their way back to the front of the grounds, making a detour to check out some of the games they had passed up. A sizable crowd in front of a wall grabbed their attention. When they reached the front of their crowd, they watched a teenager trying to throw a tomato at a man locked up in a replica of medieval stocks. They watched the boy try to hit the man, laughing at the taunts thrown the teenager’s way.
“Hey, Blondie!” the man yelled once the teenager finally walked away. “Why don’t you ditch Grandpa there and I’ll show you a good time once the King lets me out of this,”
Giles chuckled at Buffy’s reaction. If it weren’t for the fact that he knew it was just an act, he was sure he would be offended by what was being said about him. Buffy, on the other hand, was not taking the taunts very well. The Watcher felt his laughter wan a little, knowing she was reacting that way because someone was insinuating that she was sexually involved with him.
“I’ll even show you my sword, sweetheart.” The man chuckled as he watched Buffy walk over to the bucket of tomatoes, paying the man standing next to it before picking up one. “I bet it’s bigger than the old man’s…”
Cheers form the crowd sounded as Buffy hit the man in the stocks right in the face. The petite blonde gave the man a sweet smile before walking back to Giles, taking his arm and leading him away from the crowd. They walked in silence until Buffy let out a frustrated sigh.
“He didn’t mean it, Buffy.” Giles assured her. “He was just taunting you to try and get your money. Although, I don’t think he counted on you being able to hit him.”
“That was pretty awesome, huh?” she giggled. “I mean, did you see his face?”
Giles grinned as they continued walking, checking out anything they might have missed earlier.
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The rest of the day had been enjoyable, and now the two were relaxing in front of another fire. Buffy hummed along softly to the radio being played a few tents down from them. Giles closed his eyes and listened to Buffy, a small smile on his face as he stretched out on the blanket.
“So, did you enjoy my surprise?” Buffy asked as she stretched out next to him.
Giles opened an eye and looked at her. “I did,” he turned his head to completely look at her. “You were right in thinking that I would enjoy this.”
“I figure you would because it had to do with history, and I know you’re History Guy outside of all things Hellmouth-y.” Buffy smiled as she scooted closer to him. “And seeing all the knight things here reminded me of you,”
“Oh?” he raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah,”
They share a smile, Giles reaching out to push a strand of hair behind her ear. Silence fell over them as the Watcher pulled his hand back and sat up, staring into the dancing flames. After they left the campgrounds the next day, they only had a week and a half left of their mini-vacation and then it was back to their real lives. And that meant he’d lose moments like this with Buffy.
“Giles?” Buffy asked softly, sitting up as well and tucking her knees under her chin.
“Yes?” he asked, his gaze still on the fire.
“What happens after we head back to England next week?”
“We continue with our lives,” he looked over her, not sure why she had asked that question. “I go back to being Head of the Council, and you’ll go back to Rome…”
“That’s it?” she asked him, and Giles could have sworn he saw hurt flash in her eyes.
“No…I’ll invite you and Dawn to stay with me for Christmas and call you for your birthday.” Giles explained, slightly confused. “Just like I always have. I might make a few more social visits then I have in the past, but I don’t see why things have to change.”
“I can’t believe it. I missed out,” Buffy muttered to herself as she ran her fingers through her hair.
“I’m sorry?”
“Call me crazy, but I was pretty sure that we had something a little bit before Mom died. I would see the way you looked at me and…” Buffy sighed and shook her head. “Then I died. And I came back and I pushed you away and everything just spiraled out of control from there on out. And when you came back with the Potentials I thought that maybe we could work to getting that back. But obviously that didn’t happen…”
Giles just stared at her, trying to wrap his mind around what she was saying.
“And then things got out of hand with Sunnydale being no more and us needing to rebuild the Council and figuring everything out,” she continued, her focus on the slowly dying fire. “There were times over these last few years where I though we could get things back, but something would always happen and we would just go right back to arguing with each other. So I thought maybe if we did something, just the two of us…”
Buffy trailed off and shook her head, slowly getting to her feet. “But I guess it’s too late. Go figure though, I wanted a relationship with you years but kept putting it off thinking that I had all this time to pick up…”
“You wanted a relationship with me?”
“I was hoping that this trip would show me I still had a chance with you,” she got to her feet and looked down at him. “But, like I said, seems like I missed out.”
Giles stared after her as she walked to the tent, mumbling about calling it an early night. He finally got his brain to start working and jumped to his feet, grabbing her wrist.
“You still want a relationship with me?” he asked, wanting to make sure he had heard her correctly.
“Doesn’t matter, Giles.” She turned to face him, giving a small smile. “Even if you did have some feelings for me all those years ago, I passed up my chance. I just…I don’t want to lose you as a friend. I mean, I think we made some major progress in becoming friends again and I don’t want to lose that.”
“Buffy…” he opened his mouth, not sure what to say to her. There was so much and yet he couldn’t find the words.
So he did the only thing that came to mind. Giles leaned down and brushed his lips against hers, moving his hands to her hips. He closed his eyes when he felt her kiss him back before pulling back and shaking her head.
“Giles, don’t.” she whispered as she backed away from him. “I don’t want this turning into a pity thing, okay? I don’t think I could handle that,”
“Buffy, I wasn’t…that wasn’t…” he gave a small frustrated sigh. “The one time I need something to say and I can’t think of anything.”
Buffy just looked at him, puzzlement on her face. She stood looking at him as she waited for him to continue. The wait didn’t take long.
“I didn’t kiss you out of pity, Buffy.” Giles started, trailing off when Buffy held up her hand.
“Giles, please. I feel awful enough as it is, don’t add to it.” She said softly, giving him a sad smile. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
The Watcher stood there as his Slayer turned and retreated to their tent. It was a few seconds before Giles began moving, putting out the fire and rolling the blanket up to toss it in the rental car on top of the cooler. He looked around to make sure he had left nothing out to be stolen before he entered the tent, looking at Buffy’s still form.
“Buffy, are you asleep?” he asked, a part of him hoping she wasn’t while another part hoped she was.
“Almost.” She finally said after a minute. “Giles, I really don’t want to talk right now, okay?”
“But I do. You don’t have to do anything but listen,”
He waited until she turned around to look at him, waiting for him to start speaking.
“I felt it too,” was all that came to mind as he looked from her to the floor. “And there were so many times I was going to tell you after Riley left, but something always came up. And then you died and I just…when Willow told me you were back, I couldn’t help but think that I had been given a second chance. I kept telling myself that once you readjusted to what had happened, I would tell you. But soon it became very clear that you only wanted me around to take care of everything for you, and then…”
“You left.” Buffy shrugged, giving him a small smile to show there were no bitter feelings over that incident.
“Right,” he nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. “And like you said, everything sort of spun out of control after that year. I became busy with rebuilding the Council and you were off in Rome, I never had a chance to find out if we still had a chance. Then the arguing happened and I knew it was pointless for me to hope that you would see me as a potential lover. This weekend…”
“What about this weekend?” the blonde narrowed her eyes.
“This weekend just further proved that I had no chance with you,”
There was a brief moment of quiet before Buffy gave a disbelieving laugh, causing Giles to look up at her in confusion.
“I don’t know what weekend you just had, but I was all over you Giles.” Buffy explained, sitting up and looking at him. “You’re the one who kept saying that everything they were saying was an act. I mean, I know they were just playing their roles but they had to have seen something for them to make those comments. Then you would just dismiss it and I felt…”
“That’s not how I meant that. I was saying it because you would react as if you couldn’t believe a stranger thought you were in a romantic relationship with me.”
“No, I didn’t know how to react. Especially because we just had a fight almost a week ago concerning you and a date with someone else,” she said, looking away from him.
Silence fell over them before Giles chuckled and shook his head. “We really need to learn to communicate better, Buffy.”
“What do you…”
She was cut off by the Watcher leaning forward and covering her mouth with his. He smiled against her lips when he felt her return the kiss, her hands running up his chest until she could wrap her arms around his neck. Giles deepened the kiss as he moved his left hand to cradle her cheek. It wasn’t until Buffy moved to straddle his lap that he pulled back slightly.
“We need to stop,” he whispered, resting his forehead against hers.
“No, we really don’t.” she shook her head before kissing along his jaw, stopping to nibble on his earlobe.
“I want to do this right, Buffy.” He closed his eyes and groaned softly when she tugged on his earlobe before nibbling down his jaw and placing a kiss on his chin. “And as much as I want to continue this…”
“I know.” She sighed, kissing him softly. “But we can’t afford to wait with the life we live. Hell, it was waiting that put us off for all these years,”
“Buffy, please. Just a few dates when we get back, that’s all I’m asking.” He requested, giving her a smile.
“They better be the best damn dates I’ll ever go on,” she mumbled as she moved from his lap and back to her sleeping bag.
“What are you doing?” he asked as he stood up and began unzipping his sleeping bag completely.
Buffy looked over at him, a smile crossing her features when she saw what he was doing. It didn’t take them long to lay out one of the unzipped sleeping bags for them to lay on, and cover themselves with the other one. Giles pulled her until her back was flush against his chest, dropping a kiss on her shoulder.
“Goodnight, Buffy.” He said softly.
“Night, Watcher-mine.” A soft smile came to him at the use of the old nickname.
Within minutes they were both asleep.
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“Why did we have Christmas at our place?” Buffy asked as she helped Giles clean up.
“Because we have always had Christmas at my house,” he smiled as he walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. “And I wasn’t going to let that change just because we’re dating. Besides, this is what I’ve had to deal with every year.”
Buffy dropped the torn up wrapping paper and turned in his arms, her arms encircling his neck. He gave her a smile before brushing his lips against hers.
“Happy Christmas, luv.” He whispered before kissing her neck.
“Happy anniversary.” She grinned. “Can you believe it’s already been three months?”
Giles just chuckled before kissing her one more time before turning to go back to picking up the shredded wrapping paper, muttering about how he shouldn’t have let Willow bring her puppy along. The couple spent the next several minutes cleaning up the living room, each taking turns to quietly sing along to whatever Christmas song was playing.
A few minutes later, the Watcher was looking behind the Christmas tree to make sure he had gotten all of the wrapping paper Willow’s dog had ran off with when a small wrapped box caught his attention. He reached out and took the gift, narrowing his eyes when he read the tag.
“Buffy, do you know who this is from?” he mumbled as he walked over to his girlfriend.
“What does it say?” she asked him, patting the couch cushion next to her.
“It just says it’s for me,”
“Maybe it’s from Santa.” She giggled as she snuggled up to him.
Giles looked at her, rolling his eyes before carefully unwrapping it. The Slayer watched as he tore the emerald green wrapping paper from the box before he slowly lifted the lid. She bit her lip as she waited for his reaction to what was inside the box. When he looked up at her with wide eyes, she merely shrugged.
“I know we haven’t really discussed it but…” she started, trailing off with another shrug.
“You’re pregnant?” he whispered, looking back at the pregnancy test she had placed in the box.
“Yeah, I am.” She nodded, moving a hand to rub his chest. “Is that okay?”
Giles continued to look at the little plus sign, a million emotions playing across his face before he looked back at her. At the worry on her face, he realized he needed to say something. He opened his mouth but nothing came out, no matter how hard he tried to speak.
“Bugger it,” he muttered before leaning forward and kissing her, pulling her closer to him as he leaned back a few inches. “We’re going to be parents.”
Buffy let out a sigh of relief when she saw the boyish grin on his face. She leaned forward and kissed him again, giggling against his lips.
“I love you,” she said, pulling back to look at him.
“I love you too,” Giles grinned before getting to his feet, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet before he picked her up.
They giggled for a few moments before he began walking them to their bedroom, talking excitedly about their future child. Buffy grinned as she rested her head on his shoulder, listening to him talk.
“If we have a boy, I was thinking his middle name should be Arthur.” Buffy said when Giles paused in his rambling, smiling up at him. “After all, I think we should pay respect to the king that essentially got us together. Don’t you?”
Giles chuckled as he walked into their room, bending his head to kiss her softly. “I don’t want to discuss possible baby names. I have other plans right now,”
Buffy rolled her eyes, knowing that he had already agreed with her.
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