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summer_of_giles2017-06-18 05:11 pm
the_huffster) wrote in summer_of_giles2017-06-18 05:11 pm
Entry tags:
Sign of the Times (1/3)
Title: Sign of the Times
Pairing: Eventual Buffy/Giles, but for this part there are mentions of Buffy/Spike
Rating: Between a PG-13 and a light R
Setting: Comic!verse, starting with 2 years after Giles is brought back
Warning: Since Giles is a teenager going through puberty, certain things happen in situations so be forewarned that this part is going to mention that
Summary: Giles thought puberty was bad the first time around, but he's quickly learning that it's a whole lot worse the second round
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Word count: 2,975
A/N: So this fic is gonna be made up of 3 parts that have at least 5 different vignettes and I know it says comic!verse, but the only thing you really need to know is that Giles died and was brought back as a 12 year old. Also, sorry for the late posting...work turned into a nightmare so I wasn't able to post this a few hours ago like I had wanted. And shout-out towill_conqueror1 for giving this a quick look over
When you were young
Giles looked at himself in his bathroom mirror, completely mortified by what had just happened; although he wasn’t sure if he was more embarrassed by the fact that he couldn’t control himself or by the fact that Buffy had walked in on him masturbating. No, that was a lie. He was more embarrassed by the fact that Buffy had walked in.
Of course, it just seemed to be one embarrassing situation after another since Angel had brought him back two years ago. And the root of every situation was the fact that, while mentally he was a grown man, physically he was a teenager going through puberty. He hated it the first time around, and this second round was really no different; the exception being that he didn’t have to endure the teasing comments from his friends who were clearly enjoying being older than him now.
He looked at his reflection and took a deep breath, preparing himself for going to face his Slayer. Not that she was still in his apartment; as soon as he yelled for her to get out and she realized what exactly he had been doing, she quickly backed out of the apartment and slammed the door shut. That was the downside to sharing the building with the whole Scooby gang; even though he had his own apartment he was never really alone.
A knock on his bathroom door pulled him out of his thoughts. Giles slowly opened the door, giving a sheepish smile to an embarrassed looking Slayer.
“I, um…I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” she asked tentatively, her gaze glued to the ceiling.
“No. I was just…just collecting my thoughts.” He said lamely.
“Is that a euphemism?”
His eyes went wide as he stared at her, his blush returning with a vengeance. “N…no. I was just trying to…to figure out how to apologize.”
“Why do you need to apologize? You’re not the one whose privacy was invaded.” Buffy pointed out as they made their way to his kitchen. “I’m the one who needs to apologize. Which is why I’m over here- to say sorry for just walking in without knocking.”
She went to perch up on the counter while Giles sat at the chair by the breakfast bar. An uncomfortable silence fell over them as he looked at the top of the breakfast bar, his fingers drumming softly on it. Two years later, and he still had no idea how to act after he embarrassed himself due to his hormones.
“I am sorry you had to see that, Buffy. I, uh…I don’t really know…” her chuckle cut him off and drew his gaze to her.
“You’re fourteen, Giles. And going through puberty. Pretty sure it’s natural for you to come across a porno on TV and need to jerk off.”
“I used to have better control of myself.” He pouted.
“You also used to be a grown man who didn’t have his hormones going all over the place.” She pointed out. “But maybe you should reconsider locking your door, just in case that happens again.”
“I know what channel it’s on now, I can avoid it.”
He hadn’t meant for his tone to sound defensive, but that’s exactly the way it came out. And the slight break in his voice downplayed the look of determination on his face, which caused both Slayer and ex-Watcher to laugh. It took a few moments before the laughter died down and they just smiled at each other.
“You came over for a reason, is something going on?” Giles asked after a minute, wanting to shift focus away from the current topic.
“Just wanted to see if you wanted to come over for lunch.” Buffy hopped off the counter and smiled as she watched him get down from the chair.
“Promise not to tell the others what you walked in on?” even though he knew the answer, he was still hopeful.
“Come on, horn dog.” Was the only answer he received.
Giles huffed in annoyance and glared at Buffy as she ruffled his hair before leading him out of his apartment.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Collide
“I know you don’t want to be a hundred percent Watcher guy, but that still doesn’t mean we’re not going to keep your fighting skills sharp.” Buffy said as they walked into one of the apartments they had made into a small training room. “San Francisco isn’t a Hellmouth but it’s still dangerous.”
“You say this as if I haven’t lived here for three years.” Giles pointed out as he leaned against the wall, watching her roll out the mats. “You don’t have to say this every time we train, Buffy.”
“I warned you that I was going enjoy being the older one now.” She laughed softly. “So let me enjoy being the teacher, mister grumpy pants.”
“I’m not grumpy.” He protested as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants.
“Then why are you getting moody over training? You like training.”
“I just want to do it later.” Giles knew damn well he was being difficult, but he wasn’t about to tell her that he had been kept up all night by her and the guy she was casually seeing.
She gave a playful roll of her eyes as she looked at him. He made no move from where he was, his posture and expression daring Buffy to try and make him train. They stared at each other for what seemed like several minutes as they waited to see who would break first; and like always, it was him. He sighed and made his way over to the mats.
“You know you’re never going to win, Giles.” Buffy smiled as they began stretching, chuckling when he just rolled his eyes.
It wasn’t long before they were circling each other as they waited for the other to make the first move. He could feel his impatience growing but he had years of training in hand to hand combat; not even death and resurrection could take that discipline away from him. He smirked just as Buffy made the first move, which he easily sidestepped.
For nearly forty-five minutes the two sparred, trying to catch the other off-guard. And as impatient as Buffy was, Giles was just as cocky the longer they sparred. And like every time they sparred, his cockiness caused him to be taken down by the Slayer.
“Ha. I win.” She smiled as she looked down at him.
Her smile dropped at the smirk on his face and her eyes went wide as he flipped them over. His smirk turned into a grin of triumph when it became clear that he had the upper hand.
“Seems I won after all.”
They shared a brief laugh before Buffy looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Since when did you start carrying stakes in your sweats?”
Giles quickly jumped to his feet and turned so his back was facing her, his hands shoved in his pockets as he blushed profusely. He stammered out an apology as he mentally berated himself for the lack of control he had over his body. He heard Buffy get to her feet behind him and prepared himself for the teasing to continue. His eyes closed as Buffy placed her hand on his shoulder.
“Giles, it’s okay. It happens.” She assured him.
“It shouldn’t.” he grumbled. “We’re friends and I should control myself better, and you shouldn’t have to worry about…this.”
“Am I really going to have to remind you that I get that you don’t have the best self-control because of puberty and hormones?” she asked with an amused tone. “Because if I am, let’s just record it and you can play it every time you need to.”
“Just because you understand doesn’t mean you’re not feeling…grossed out or objectified.” He could practically feel her roll her eyes before she walked around to face him.
“Stop it, Giles. You’re fifteen, it’s not like you’re doing things on purpose. And even though you’re going through the change again and you’re different than before you died, you’re still Giles. You’re still a good guy and still my best friend.” Buffy said as she looked at him.
He looked at her for a moment before smiling when he realized she didn’t want to hit him.
“Why don’t we go over techniques?” he asked as he took a step back, watching as she nodded and went to grab two water bottles. “And work on your patience as well, something I can’t believe we still have to do considering how long you’ve been the Slayer now.”
“What can I say? I’m stubborn.”
He shook his head as she laughed softly.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Human
He blew out a puff of smoke, a cigarette hanging between his fingers. It was nearly two in the morning and Giles found himself up on the roof of the building, looking out at the flashing Coke-a-Cola sign that marked the edge of the Tenderloin. Like many nights over the last year, Giles found himself being kept up by Buffy. But unlike many of those nights, this was the first time that his body had reacted to the sounds she was making. It was also the first time he had fantasized about her.
For three hours he had tried to block out the noise coming from across the hall and to keep his mind off of the Slayer, but it had done no good; if anything it had gotten worse and he had gone to take a cold shower, but even that didn’t work. So he had relieved himself, feeling ashamed that his mind produced images of Buffy.
Now he was on top of the room with a cigarette nearly an hour later, and his mind was still running through fantasies of the Slayer. With each fantasy, Giles hated himself even more. He may not be her Watcher anymore, but he was still her friend and thinking about her like that was a violation of her trust. Just because he was fifteen didn’t mean he could do that. And if he was being honest with himself, he was getting tired of everyone using that as a way to excuse his actions.
He flicked some of the ash off of the cigarette and sighed softly. The ex-Watcher could just hear Buffy telling him that she wasn’t offended or horrified, that he was still going through puberty. But the more situations that called for that conversation, the more he was starting to wonder if puberty and hormones were entirely to blame.
Hopefully that was just the case, because the alternate was something Giles wasn’t sure he could handle at the current moment, if ever. He sighed and tossed the cigarette to the sidewalk below. As much as he wanted to stay on the roof, he was starting to get cold even with his jacket on. He just prayed Buffy was finally done so he could try to get some sleep.
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Disenchanted
“Where did you get cigarettes?”
Giles closed his eyes when he heard Xander behind him. All he wanted was some quiet before he went to bed, and since Buffy and Spike had made that impossible he had gone up to the rooftop.
“Spike has so many packs lying around, it isn’t hard to swipe a few.” He mumbled around the cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. “What are you doing up here?”
“Probably the same thing as you.” Xander pointed out as he leaned against the railing, looking at the lit up Coke sign.
“You’re sneaking up to the roof to smoke?” he asked before taking a drag.
Giles kept his eyes focused on the city in front of him, hoping if he ignored his friend long enough that Xander would stop staring at him.
“Is it the fact that Buffy’s having sex, or is it who she’s having sex with?” Xander finally asked.
“Why would I care if she’s sleeping with Spike again?” he muttered, flicking off some of the ash.
“Because I know you, Giles. I mean none of us are exactly happy that they’re sleeping with each other again.”
Giles just sighed and threw the cigarette off of the roof. He had gone up there to get away from the sounds coming from Spike’s apartment, not to get into a conversation about what was happening in said apartment.
“But you seemed overly upset.” Xander continued, glancing over at the sixteen year old. “Anything you wanna share with the class?”
“I just don’t understand why she would go back to him. It’s not exactly like she’s been struggling with seeing other men, but she went back to him. And then they think we’re stupid, like we don’t know they’re having sex.” The voice in the back of his mind was telling him to stop talking, but Giles couldn’t stop himself. “They need to either just start dating again or just admit they’re friends with benefits, but whatever it is I still don’t understand why Buffy would go back to him.”
“They were in love, Giles. When you break up with someone you love, it’s hard to let that go. Especially when you live in the same building as them.”
Giles sighed and turned to look at Xander. He knew he should just end the conversation there and go back to his apartment, maybe listen to music or something. But he needed to get out of the current conversation before he let something slip.
“But their break up was completely different from yours. Dawn’s emotions were set back and she had to deal with everything before she could fall in love with you again, you didn’t hurt her or break her heart. But that’s exactly what Spike did.” Giles inwardly kicked himself for continuing. “Buffy could have a normal relationship, Xander. The world knows about slayers and what our life consists of, and she can be with someone her age. Someone alive. But she chose Spike, and it’s like he didn’t care about what she gave up. When you proposed to Dawn, Buffy talked to Spike about getting married and he shot that idea down.”
“And then she talked to him about adopting a kid and he wouldn’t even talk about it. We all know why they broke up, Giles. It’s really not worth getting so upset about.”
“It’s not just that, Xander. It’s the fact that being with him means Buffy is giving up dates that don’t involve slaying, being out during the day, not having to worry about the sun coming through the windows, going on picnics…doing things couples do during the day. He doesn’t care that she’s willing to let all of that go to be with him. She should be with someone who can give that and more to her.”
Xander stared at him as silence fell over them, and Giles knew he had given himself away. He looked down in some feeble attempt to keep Xander from seeing what his agitation for what it really was.
“Is it just someone, or do you really mean you?” even without looking up, Giles would hear smirk on his friend’s face.
“Good night, Xander.” Was all he said as he turned and made his way towards the door, knowing there was no point in denying it.
He paused when he heard Xander call his name, his fingers gripping the doorknob. He kept his back to the other man and braced himself for any teasing thrown his way.
“I won’t tell anyone.”
“Thank you.” Giles said before leaving the rooftop.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The Mess I Made
He looked around the boxed up apartment, a backpack slung over his shoulder and a duffle bag at his feet. It had been months since his conversation with Xander, and in that time he realized that he needed to leave San Francisco; and not just because he was afraid that Buffy would catch on to the fact that he had feelings for her (although he still wasn’t sure if it was just puberty or not).
Ever since he had arrived in the city, he had been trying to fight the fact that he was different than before his death; that his role in the group had drastically changed. And with his feelings for the slayer having been noticed by Xander, Giles knew this was the perfect time to leave and rediscover himself.
Giles had put off telling Buffy about his plans to leave considering their history, and as expected she had been upset; although, now that he thought about it, she had seemed overly upset. And days later he still couldn’t figure out why she had been furious with him, so much so that she had been avoiding him. Although it didn’t help when their conversation had escalated to the point where they started saying things to hurt the other, and while he knew it was his idiotic teenage mood swings that caused him to lose control of his anger that didn’t mean he could take back the things he had said.
At his going away dinner the previous night, the sixteen year old had hoped that Buffy would be there so they could have a moment to talk everything out but she never showed up. And that had hurt more than he would ever admit because he knew just how long Buffy could go without speaking to him. After all, they hadn’t been talking the whole year before he had died.
The sound of Xander’s voice on the other side of the door told the small part of Giles that Buffy wasn’t going to say goodbye at the last minute. He let out a sigh and tried to push back his hurt as he made his way to the door, hoping that maybe putting distance between him and Buffy would allow them to salvage their friendship.
Pairing: Eventual Buffy/Giles, but for this part there are mentions of Buffy/Spike
Rating: Between a PG-13 and a light R
Setting: Comic!verse, starting with 2 years after Giles is brought back
Warning: Since Giles is a teenager going through puberty, certain things happen in situations so be forewarned that this part is going to mention that
Summary: Giles thought puberty was bad the first time around, but he's quickly learning that it's a whole lot worse the second round
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Word count: 2,975
A/N: So this fic is gonna be made up of 3 parts that have at least 5 different vignettes and I know it says comic!verse, but the only thing you really need to know is that Giles died and was brought back as a 12 year old. Also, sorry for the late posting...work turned into a nightmare so I wasn't able to post this a few hours ago like I had wanted. And shout-out to
will_conqueror1 for giving this a quick look overWhen you were young
Giles looked at himself in his bathroom mirror, completely mortified by what had just happened; although he wasn’t sure if he was more embarrassed by the fact that he couldn’t control himself or by the fact that Buffy had walked in on him masturbating. No, that was a lie. He was more embarrassed by the fact that Buffy had walked in.
Of course, it just seemed to be one embarrassing situation after another since Angel had brought him back two years ago. And the root of every situation was the fact that, while mentally he was a grown man, physically he was a teenager going through puberty. He hated it the first time around, and this second round was really no different; the exception being that he didn’t have to endure the teasing comments from his friends who were clearly enjoying being older than him now.
He looked at his reflection and took a deep breath, preparing himself for going to face his Slayer. Not that she was still in his apartment; as soon as he yelled for her to get out and she realized what exactly he had been doing, she quickly backed out of the apartment and slammed the door shut. That was the downside to sharing the building with the whole Scooby gang; even though he had his own apartment he was never really alone.
A knock on his bathroom door pulled him out of his thoughts. Giles slowly opened the door, giving a sheepish smile to an embarrassed looking Slayer.
“I, um…I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” she asked tentatively, her gaze glued to the ceiling.
“No. I was just…just collecting my thoughts.” He said lamely.
“Is that a euphemism?”
His eyes went wide as he stared at her, his blush returning with a vengeance. “N…no. I was just trying to…to figure out how to apologize.”
“Why do you need to apologize? You’re not the one whose privacy was invaded.” Buffy pointed out as they made their way to his kitchen. “I’m the one who needs to apologize. Which is why I’m over here- to say sorry for just walking in without knocking.”
She went to perch up on the counter while Giles sat at the chair by the breakfast bar. An uncomfortable silence fell over them as he looked at the top of the breakfast bar, his fingers drumming softly on it. Two years later, and he still had no idea how to act after he embarrassed himself due to his hormones.
“I am sorry you had to see that, Buffy. I, uh…I don’t really know…” her chuckle cut him off and drew his gaze to her.
“You’re fourteen, Giles. And going through puberty. Pretty sure it’s natural for you to come across a porno on TV and need to jerk off.”
“I used to have better control of myself.” He pouted.
“You also used to be a grown man who didn’t have his hormones going all over the place.” She pointed out. “But maybe you should reconsider locking your door, just in case that happens again.”
“I know what channel it’s on now, I can avoid it.”
He hadn’t meant for his tone to sound defensive, but that’s exactly the way it came out. And the slight break in his voice downplayed the look of determination on his face, which caused both Slayer and ex-Watcher to laugh. It took a few moments before the laughter died down and they just smiled at each other.
“You came over for a reason, is something going on?” Giles asked after a minute, wanting to shift focus away from the current topic.
“Just wanted to see if you wanted to come over for lunch.” Buffy hopped off the counter and smiled as she watched him get down from the chair.
“Promise not to tell the others what you walked in on?” even though he knew the answer, he was still hopeful.
“Come on, horn dog.” Was the only answer he received.
Giles huffed in annoyance and glared at Buffy as she ruffled his hair before leading him out of his apartment.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Collide
“I know you don’t want to be a hundred percent Watcher guy, but that still doesn’t mean we’re not going to keep your fighting skills sharp.” Buffy said as they walked into one of the apartments they had made into a small training room. “San Francisco isn’t a Hellmouth but it’s still dangerous.”
“You say this as if I haven’t lived here for three years.” Giles pointed out as he leaned against the wall, watching her roll out the mats. “You don’t have to say this every time we train, Buffy.”
“I warned you that I was going enjoy being the older one now.” She laughed softly. “So let me enjoy being the teacher, mister grumpy pants.”
“I’m not grumpy.” He protested as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants.
“Then why are you getting moody over training? You like training.”
“I just want to do it later.” Giles knew damn well he was being difficult, but he wasn’t about to tell her that he had been kept up all night by her and the guy she was casually seeing.
She gave a playful roll of her eyes as she looked at him. He made no move from where he was, his posture and expression daring Buffy to try and make him train. They stared at each other for what seemed like several minutes as they waited to see who would break first; and like always, it was him. He sighed and made his way over to the mats.
“You know you’re never going to win, Giles.” Buffy smiled as they began stretching, chuckling when he just rolled his eyes.
It wasn’t long before they were circling each other as they waited for the other to make the first move. He could feel his impatience growing but he had years of training in hand to hand combat; not even death and resurrection could take that discipline away from him. He smirked just as Buffy made the first move, which he easily sidestepped.
For nearly forty-five minutes the two sparred, trying to catch the other off-guard. And as impatient as Buffy was, Giles was just as cocky the longer they sparred. And like every time they sparred, his cockiness caused him to be taken down by the Slayer.
“Ha. I win.” She smiled as she looked down at him.
Her smile dropped at the smirk on his face and her eyes went wide as he flipped them over. His smirk turned into a grin of triumph when it became clear that he had the upper hand.
“Seems I won after all.”
They shared a brief laugh before Buffy looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Since when did you start carrying stakes in your sweats?”
Giles quickly jumped to his feet and turned so his back was facing her, his hands shoved in his pockets as he blushed profusely. He stammered out an apology as he mentally berated himself for the lack of control he had over his body. He heard Buffy get to her feet behind him and prepared himself for the teasing to continue. His eyes closed as Buffy placed her hand on his shoulder.
“Giles, it’s okay. It happens.” She assured him.
“It shouldn’t.” he grumbled. “We’re friends and I should control myself better, and you shouldn’t have to worry about…this.”
“Am I really going to have to remind you that I get that you don’t have the best self-control because of puberty and hormones?” she asked with an amused tone. “Because if I am, let’s just record it and you can play it every time you need to.”
“Just because you understand doesn’t mean you’re not feeling…grossed out or objectified.” He could practically feel her roll her eyes before she walked around to face him.
“Stop it, Giles. You’re fifteen, it’s not like you’re doing things on purpose. And even though you’re going through the change again and you’re different than before you died, you’re still Giles. You’re still a good guy and still my best friend.” Buffy said as she looked at him.
He looked at her for a moment before smiling when he realized she didn’t want to hit him.
“Why don’t we go over techniques?” he asked as he took a step back, watching as she nodded and went to grab two water bottles. “And work on your patience as well, something I can’t believe we still have to do considering how long you’ve been the Slayer now.”
“What can I say? I’m stubborn.”
He shook his head as she laughed softly.
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Human
He blew out a puff of smoke, a cigarette hanging between his fingers. It was nearly two in the morning and Giles found himself up on the roof of the building, looking out at the flashing Coke-a-Cola sign that marked the edge of the Tenderloin. Like many nights over the last year, Giles found himself being kept up by Buffy. But unlike many of those nights, this was the first time that his body had reacted to the sounds she was making. It was also the first time he had fantasized about her.
For three hours he had tried to block out the noise coming from across the hall and to keep his mind off of the Slayer, but it had done no good; if anything it had gotten worse and he had gone to take a cold shower, but even that didn’t work. So he had relieved himself, feeling ashamed that his mind produced images of Buffy.
Now he was on top of the room with a cigarette nearly an hour later, and his mind was still running through fantasies of the Slayer. With each fantasy, Giles hated himself even more. He may not be her Watcher anymore, but he was still her friend and thinking about her like that was a violation of her trust. Just because he was fifteen didn’t mean he could do that. And if he was being honest with himself, he was getting tired of everyone using that as a way to excuse his actions.
He flicked some of the ash off of the cigarette and sighed softly. The ex-Watcher could just hear Buffy telling him that she wasn’t offended or horrified, that he was still going through puberty. But the more situations that called for that conversation, the more he was starting to wonder if puberty and hormones were entirely to blame.
Hopefully that was just the case, because the alternate was something Giles wasn’t sure he could handle at the current moment, if ever. He sighed and tossed the cigarette to the sidewalk below. As much as he wanted to stay on the roof, he was starting to get cold even with his jacket on. He just prayed Buffy was finally done so he could try to get some sleep.
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Disenchanted
“Where did you get cigarettes?”
Giles closed his eyes when he heard Xander behind him. All he wanted was some quiet before he went to bed, and since Buffy and Spike had made that impossible he had gone up to the rooftop.
“Spike has so many packs lying around, it isn’t hard to swipe a few.” He mumbled around the cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. “What are you doing up here?”
“Probably the same thing as you.” Xander pointed out as he leaned against the railing, looking at the lit up Coke sign.
“You’re sneaking up to the roof to smoke?” he asked before taking a drag.
Giles kept his eyes focused on the city in front of him, hoping if he ignored his friend long enough that Xander would stop staring at him.
“Is it the fact that Buffy’s having sex, or is it who she’s having sex with?” Xander finally asked.
“Why would I care if she’s sleeping with Spike again?” he muttered, flicking off some of the ash.
“Because I know you, Giles. I mean none of us are exactly happy that they’re sleeping with each other again.”
Giles just sighed and threw the cigarette off of the roof. He had gone up there to get away from the sounds coming from Spike’s apartment, not to get into a conversation about what was happening in said apartment.
“But you seemed overly upset.” Xander continued, glancing over at the sixteen year old. “Anything you wanna share with the class?”
“I just don’t understand why she would go back to him. It’s not exactly like she’s been struggling with seeing other men, but she went back to him. And then they think we’re stupid, like we don’t know they’re having sex.” The voice in the back of his mind was telling him to stop talking, but Giles couldn’t stop himself. “They need to either just start dating again or just admit they’re friends with benefits, but whatever it is I still don’t understand why Buffy would go back to him.”
“They were in love, Giles. When you break up with someone you love, it’s hard to let that go. Especially when you live in the same building as them.”
Giles sighed and turned to look at Xander. He knew he should just end the conversation there and go back to his apartment, maybe listen to music or something. But he needed to get out of the current conversation before he let something slip.
“But their break up was completely different from yours. Dawn’s emotions were set back and she had to deal with everything before she could fall in love with you again, you didn’t hurt her or break her heart. But that’s exactly what Spike did.” Giles inwardly kicked himself for continuing. “Buffy could have a normal relationship, Xander. The world knows about slayers and what our life consists of, and she can be with someone her age. Someone alive. But she chose Spike, and it’s like he didn’t care about what she gave up. When you proposed to Dawn, Buffy talked to Spike about getting married and he shot that idea down.”
“And then she talked to him about adopting a kid and he wouldn’t even talk about it. We all know why they broke up, Giles. It’s really not worth getting so upset about.”
“It’s not just that, Xander. It’s the fact that being with him means Buffy is giving up dates that don’t involve slaying, being out during the day, not having to worry about the sun coming through the windows, going on picnics…doing things couples do during the day. He doesn’t care that she’s willing to let all of that go to be with him. She should be with someone who can give that and more to her.”
Xander stared at him as silence fell over them, and Giles knew he had given himself away. He looked down in some feeble attempt to keep Xander from seeing what his agitation for what it really was.
“Is it just someone, or do you really mean you?” even without looking up, Giles would hear smirk on his friend’s face.
“Good night, Xander.” Was all he said as he turned and made his way towards the door, knowing there was no point in denying it.
He paused when he heard Xander call his name, his fingers gripping the doorknob. He kept his back to the other man and braced himself for any teasing thrown his way.
“I won’t tell anyone.”
“Thank you.” Giles said before leaving the rooftop.
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The Mess I Made
He looked around the boxed up apartment, a backpack slung over his shoulder and a duffle bag at his feet. It had been months since his conversation with Xander, and in that time he realized that he needed to leave San Francisco; and not just because he was afraid that Buffy would catch on to the fact that he had feelings for her (although he still wasn’t sure if it was just puberty or not).
Ever since he had arrived in the city, he had been trying to fight the fact that he was different than before his death; that his role in the group had drastically changed. And with his feelings for the slayer having been noticed by Xander, Giles knew this was the perfect time to leave and rediscover himself.
Giles had put off telling Buffy about his plans to leave considering their history, and as expected she had been upset; although, now that he thought about it, she had seemed overly upset. And days later he still couldn’t figure out why she had been furious with him, so much so that she had been avoiding him. Although it didn’t help when their conversation had escalated to the point where they started saying things to hurt the other, and while he knew it was his idiotic teenage mood swings that caused him to lose control of his anger that didn’t mean he could take back the things he had said.
At his going away dinner the previous night, the sixteen year old had hoped that Buffy would be there so they could have a moment to talk everything out but she never showed up. And that had hurt more than he would ever admit because he knew just how long Buffy could go without speaking to him. After all, they hadn’t been talking the whole year before he had died.
The sound of Xander’s voice on the other side of the door told the small part of Giles that Buffy wasn’t going to say goodbye at the last minute. He let out a sigh and tried to push back his hurt as he made his way to the door, hoping that maybe putting distance between him and Buffy would allow them to salvage their friendship.
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As much as I wanted to keep Buffy and Giles' friendship solid, making them at odds is what I thrive on lol
I plan to have the next part up later today (work this past week has been hell).
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*ahem*
Fantastic piece. Am very much looking forward to the next parts (and looking at the calendar, that seems like it might be soon *dances*).
I loved the way you opened the piece, with Buffy catching Giles getting better acquainted with Madam Palm and her five lovely daughters. Not only hilariously (wonderfully) awkward, but it brought out the strong points in Buffy and Giles' friendship so beautifully. And I love how Giles' feelings for his Slayer build with each section, and that he's unsure whether he really feels that way or if it's just a combination of teenage hormones and a beautiful woman.
I can't wait to see where you go with this!
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I'm also happy to hear that you're looking forward to the rest, which (if anyone knows me and my fics) is gonna be a bumpy ride lol
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But I'm glad that you're enjoying this so far, and very happy to see I got the whole he might be "old" bit. Even though I had stated it, I still wasn't sure if I was really making that come across in this part.
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This was a great start to the overall story! Really enjoyed the dynamics between mini!Giles and Buffy and Xander.
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But I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and the dynamics between everyone. Also...sorry for the late reply...work and life and such