Ships in the Night (1/2)

[the_huffster]

Title: Ships in the Night
Pairing: Somewhat Giles/Buffy
Rating: G
Setting: Post-Chosen
Word count: 504
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Summary: A dinner between friends isn't always what it seems

Author's Note: I did not intend for this to be so short, but due to a massive storm that's rolling in I'm posting this now to avoid losing everything in case of a power outage- which is what happened to the original fic I was going to post today. But I'm gonna work the second part to this and it will be longer to make up for this way too short fic.

Author's Note #2: I am working on commenting on all the other amazing entries and replying to the comments on my fic from the other day. Things have just been crazy and it's been a struggle to get to sit down and just write. But I promise I'm not being intentionally rude and ignoring everyone else.

It had started with an invitation to dinner, not that that was uncommon for the Watcher and Slayer. After the collapse of Sunnydale, they had taken some time to see if their friendship could be fixed after all the damage they had done to it since Buffy’s resurrection. The answer had been yes, much to Giles’ surprise. And nearly a year and a half since defeating the First, the two had formed a routine of getting dinner once a week.

They were usually the last to leave the newly formed Council so it had only made sense to Buffy that they make the effort to have some quality Watcher/Slayer time on a more regular basis. And perhaps it had been the familiar routine that was to be blamed for the current feeling of embarrassment that had taken over Giles, and for the look of hurt and rejection on his Slayer’s face. No, that was a lie; his reaction to Buffy trying to kiss him was to blame for the current situation.

“Buffy, um…was this…was tonight a…a date?” he found himself asking.

“I thought that was obvious.” She muttered as she looked down.

A silence settled over them as Giles found himself rethinking the entire evening. For the first time since they had left the Council, he realized that she was wearing something completely different from what she had come into work wearing. In fact, her current attire looked very much appropriate for going on a date. And then there had been the restaurant they had ended up going to at Buffy’s suggestion, it had been a rather intimate atmosphere and little nicer than their usual dinners. There were other details that stood out to him now, and they all pointed to the same conclusion- he was an absolute idiot.

“Obviously I missed some rather important cues.” He sighed as he took his glasses off to clean them.

This was not how he imagined a first date with his Slayer going, and of course he had imagined it. It became very clear to him over the last six months that his feelings had shifted towards a more romantic aspect, but he figured that it would always be a one sided affair so Giles had made no plans to actually act on his feelings.

Clearly, his assumption had been the furthest thing from the truth.

“Perhaps we could try again?” he asked with a hopeful smile.

“I don’t think I can take another rejection, Giles.” Buffy said softly, a small apologetic look in her eyes. “I’ll see you on Monday.”

He wanted nothing more than to call out to her, to stop her retreating form and explain to her that his obliviousness didn’t mean he wasn’t interested. But before he could find the words to do so, the Slayer had already flagged down a taxi and gotten into it. The Watcher sighed softly before making his way to where he had parked, making a mental note to try and fix this before he lost his chance