Title: A Perfect Burst
Author: Froxyn
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Rating: FRAO
Synopsis: Dawn has a new hobby – one that brings some interesting things to light.
Timeline: AU, S5. No Glory, no death.
Author’s Note: As always, thank you A.


“Photography, huh?” 

 

Dawn nodded as she smiled brightly at Willow.  “Yeah – it’s an elective being offered this year.”

 

Willow grinned as she handed the camera back to Dawn.  “Well, just be careful – photographers at schools in Sunnydale tend to go off the deep end sometimes.”

 

Dawn furrowed her brow.  “Huh?”

 

“She’s talking about the time this guy was taking pictures of all the girls at school and then decided to try beheading Cordelia to finish off a Bride of Frankenstein project.  Junior year was an interesting time.”  Xander closed the book he was reading and pushed it across the table towards Willow.  “And there’s nothing in that.”

 

Willow rolled her eyes at him.  “Well, there’s no shortage of books.  Find another one.”

 

Xander stood up and started walking across the room.  He stopped when he heard the rapid shutter clicks on the camera and turned back around.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Dawn shrugged a shoulder.  “Mr. Thompson said that if you take bursts, you’re more likely to find the ‘perfect picture’.”

 

“Then why are you taking pictures of me?”  Xander said with a goofy grin. 

 

“You can buy the next roll of film for me.”  Dawn laughed and took one more picture before standing up. 

 

She walked around the shop, angling the camera this way and that as she took random pictures.  She turned slowly…click, click, click…and saw Giles going through a packing list.  She paused and took a few more and then furrowed her brow. 

 

Just as she held the shutter button down, the bell sounded over the door and Giles looked up and smiled.

 

“Buffy, hello…”

 

“Hey, how’s it going?”  Buffy asked before looking at Dawn.  “And…what are you doing?”

 

Dawn smiled and held the camera up.  “Photography classes.  Maybe one day I’ll be good enough and you can take me on patrols – then I can take pictures of your demons.  And if they get away, you can have a decent picture to show Giles instead of saying something like ‘it was yellowish – but not like snot’.  Which obviously isn’t a good enough description for Xander.”

 

Xander sighed heavily as he dropped a couple of books on the table and sat back down.  “She’s not wrong.  Got anything else for me?”

 

Buffy leaned against the counter and shrugged a shoulder.  “It had this weird grey line that ran from the tip of its nose to the top of its head where it branched out.”

 

Xander stared at her.  “Yeah, helpful.”

 

Buffy chuckled and then looked at Giles.  “Can I talk to you about something for a minute?”

 

“Of course.  You can help me go through the latest delivery.”  He said, gesturing towards the stairs that led down to the storeroom.

 

“Fun…”  She muttered, but followed him down.

 

Dawn looked over at Willow and Xander and then picked up her bag.  “I think I’m going to go walk around town and practice.  Unless you guys need any help?”

 

“Nah, you go on Dawnster.  No need for all of us to be stuck here trying to interpret Buffy’s descriptions.”  Xander said with a laugh, handing Willow a book.

 

Willow took the book, taking a bite out of an apple as she opened it.  “What do you think she meant by ‘branching out’?  Like a tree or a squiggly, wiggly mess?”

 

Dawn laughed…and quickly made her way to the door.

 

* * *

 

“So…what’s in this latest deliv – ”

 

He turned quickly, cutting off her question by capturing her mouth in a kiss.  A kiss that he deepened swiftly, cradling her face between his hands as he nudged his tongue between her lips.  She wrapped her arms around him, curling her fingers in the material of his shirt in the middle of his back.  She returned his kiss just as hungrily, murmuring softly as he took a step forward and pushed her towards the desk in the corner.

 

She trusted him to not let her bump into anything and then groaned into his mouth as he lifted her to sit on the desk.  She pulled from the kiss as he stepped between her thighs.

 

“Well, then…”

 

He smiled at her, eyes a slightly darker shade as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.  “I missed you.”

 

“We had breakfast together.”

 

“Mm-hm…and that was quite a few hours ago.”

 

She slid her hands up over his shoulders, allowing her fingers to lightly toy with the soft hair covering the nape of his neck.  “I missed you too.”

 

“This is becoming harder…”

 

She glanced down and grinned.  “Yes, it is.”

 

He rolled his eyes, but didn’t stop her when she ran the backs of her fingers over the front of his trousers.  “Difficult.  It’s becoming difficult.”

 

She stopped and looked up at him, nodding in agreement.  “Yeah, it is.”

 

“I love you, you know.”  He whispered, lightly caressing her ear with his thumb.

 

“I love you, too.”  She replied, closing her eyes at the gentle contact.  “Can you kiss me again?”

 

“I can…”  He whispered, glancing at her lips.

 

“But, you won’t?”  She asked, curling her right leg around the back of his thigh.

 

He shook his head slowly.  “Not here, not…now.”

 

Her fingertips traced the knot of his tie.  “Just one?”

 

“I’ll want more, Buffy.  I want more.”  He said, exhaling deeply.  “And I can’t let it go further here.  Not with the others upstairs.”

 

You started it…”  She said playfully. 

 

“Obviously, I thought I’d be satisfied with a kiss.  Obviously, that was an erroneous thought.”  He answered with a grin. 

 

“And this is one of the many reasons that we should talk more about coming clean to the guys.”

 

“So we can have sex in the storeroom of my shop?”

 

“No.”  She tilted her head and smiled at him.  “Maybe.  But, not exactly what I meant.”

 

He stared at her for a long moment, clearly having an internal debate.  With a heavy sigh, he took a step back and ran his fingers through his hair. 

 

“Will you stop by the house after patrol?”

 

“You’re going to send me out in this state?”

 

He regarded her carefully and then shook his head.  “Stop by before…”

 

She smiled brightly at him, then looked at the box sitting on the floor.  “So, this delivery…”

 

He smiled back and gestured towards the box with a nod of his head.  “Come on, there’s some really interesting stuff in it.”

 

She laughed and slid off of the desk.  “Giles, it’s a magic shop delivery…there’s always really interesting stuff in it.”

 

“Fair enough.”  He said, allowing his eyes to drift down her body as she walked by him towards the box. 

 

“Giles…”  She said, grinning as she pulled the top off of the box.

 

“Mm?”  He mumbled, taking two large steps to stand behind her.

 

“You put us on pause…so, take a deep breath and let’s get this done, okay?”

 

“And if I’ve changed my mind?”

 

She turned around and arched an eyebrow at him.  “Then that would be hormones taking over – because logical you would never change his mind about this.”

 

“Fine.”  He grumbled, an air of disappointment hanging in his tone.  “Delivery…and then home.”

 

“Sounds like a plan to me.”  She said with a wink, earning her one of his soft smiles that made the butterflies in her stomach make their presence known.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Dawn walked into house and went straight over to the sofa where Willow was sitting.  She dropped her bag on the floor as she sat down and pulled out a packet of pictures.

 

“What’s that?”  Willow asked, looking up from the book she was reading.

 

“The pictures I took earlier today.”  She replied, quickly flicking through the pictures.  “Are you still researching?”

 

“Ugh…no, I got tired of that.  Taking a break and reading some spells.”

 

“Fun…”  Dawn said in an amused tone.  Then she laughed loudly and handed a picture to Willow.

 

Willow took it and started laughing with her.  “Oh, you need to frame that one!”

 

“I know…Xander’s expression is hilarious!”

 

She continued going through the photos, passing the really funny ones to Willow.  Dawn’s laughter came to an end when she lifted a picture and really looked at it.  It was one of Giles, glancing towards the front door of the shop.  She quickly pulled out the next one to see Buffy in the background, having just walked in. 

 

But, it wasn’t Buffy that Dawn was intrigued with.  It was the look on Giles’ face…the sparkle in his eyes that had been captured perfectly.  She stared at it for a minute and then looked at Willow. 

 

“So…have you noticed this before?”  She handed the photo to Willow and looked at her expectantly.  “I mean…well, what do you see?”

 

Willow’s eyes widened slightly.  “Wow, uh…well, we thought we’d noticed something a while ago.  But, then we didn’t.  We thought that maybe he’d had some feelings and was able to work through them and move on.  Obviously…that’s not the case.  In fact, if I were going to put a name to it…I see love there.  Like, major love.”

 

“Uh-huh…”

 

Willow then focused on Buffy in the background.  “Um…can I see the next ones?”

 

“Uh-huh…”  Dawn said distractedly and handed her the stack of photographs.

 

Willow quickly flicked through them until she found what she was looking for.  She grinned and then looked at Dawn. 

 

“Pretty sure it’s a mutual feeling.” 

 

“Um…huh?” 

 

Willow handed her the photo and pointed to Buffy’s image.  “Look…”

 

Dawn studied the picture, expecting to feel a bit uncomfortable at the thought of her sister and her Watcher possibly being in love.  What surprised her was that she didn’t feel uncomfortable.  Yeah, it was weird…but, weird in the way that it was weird for any adults to be in love.  Anya had told her more than once that she’d feel differently as she got older, but for now…love was weird. 

 

But, she saw more than love in the picture.  She saw happiness – she couldn’t remember Buffy ever looking that happy before.  She had obviously loved Angel – but their relationship wasn’t what she would have considered to be a happy one.  And Riley…Dawn stopped herself from rolling her eyes at the mere thought of Riley.  Anya had called him a douche-nozzle…and that was pretty accurate. 

 

This though…Buffy and Giles were happy…and in love…if they were reading the picture correctly.  The fact that Willow was seeing the same thing kind of made her believe that they were definitely reading it correctly.

 

“You okay with this, Dawnie?”  Willow asked when she noticed that Dawn had fallen into deep thought.

 

“Huh?  Oh…yeah, actually.  I mean…look at her.  She looks happy, Willow.”

 

“Yeah, she really does.  And he looks absolutely smitten.”

 

Dawn nodded in agreement and then met Willow’s eyes.  “How come we’ve never noticed this?  I mean, it’s pretty obvious…”

 

Willow smiled.  “That is like a second in time.  Giles is the master of keeping his emotions close to his chest.  Obviously, so is Buffy these days.”

 

“They kind of fit…don’t they?  More than like a Watcher/Slayer thing – the two of them…they fit.”

 

“Yeah, they do.”  Willow sighed softly and handed the photo back to Dawn.  “This is an amazing picture.  I think maybe you should have it framed and give it to Buffy.”

 

“But, they don’t know we know.  If they wanted us to know, they’d tell us, right?  And…why haven’t they told us?”

 

“Because neither one of them have had the best record when it comes to love.  And maybe they just want to be themselves for a while.”

 

“Well, how are we supposed to pretend we don’t know?”

 

Willow tapped the photo with her index finger.  “Give that to her and she’ll know we know…and we won’t have to pretend.”

 

Dawn snorted a laugh.  Willow grinned and picked up the television remote.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“Giles…”  Buffy moaned, sliding her fingers into his hair as his mouth found her neck.

 

“Mm?”

 

“Please don’t stop…” 

 

He lifted his head, looking into her eyes as he maintained his leisurely pace.  “As if I would…”

 

“It’s just…you’re the first person to understand…”  She started, stopping when he hit that spot again.  “Oh, fuck…”

 

He smiled, taking hold of her hand and lacing their fingers together before pressing the back of her hand against the mattress.  “I’ve never been about the fastest journey, love.  Go too fast, you miss a lot of the scenery.”

 

“Did you just compare sex to taking a road trip?”

 

He laughed and leaned down to brush his lips across hers.  He groaned softly as she shifted underneath him, resting her knees against his sides for a moment before curling her legs around him.  That slight change in angle changed many things and he inhaled sharply before pushing his upper body up and looking down at her. 

 

“Do you need more?”

 

“Uh…mm…yeah.  Yeah, I think so…please?”

 

He gave her a brief nod, then moved to kneel between her thighs.  “All you have to do is tell me what you want, Buffy.  I will give you anything you want.”

 

She licked her lips as she ran her nails down his torso.  “And if I need?”

 

He nodded slowly, placing his hands on her thighs and gently pushing them further apart.  “Tell me what you need, love.”

 

“I need…I need you to…god, fuck me, Giles…”

 

His eyes darkened another shade and his hands tightened on her thighs.  The muscle in his jaw twitched as he gave another nod…then suddenly pulled out.  She started to protest, but moaned instead when he quickly rolled her onto her stomach and gripped her hips.  He pulled her up onto her knees and pushed his cock back into her, smiling as she cried out his name. 

 

He glanced at the headboard and then gave her a couple of extra hard thrusts, nudging her further up the bed.  He grinned as she looked over her shoulder at him, silently questioning him.  He continued his thrusts, his right hand on her hip…his left sliding up her back to her shoulder.  He squeezed her shoulder gently before gliding his hand down her arm.  When he reached her hand, he wrapped his fingers around her palm and lifted it from the mattress.

 

Before she could say anything, he placed her hand on the headboard.  She smiled and muttered a soft “oh…”, and then lifted her right hand as well.  He paused his thrusting and she nearly groaned in frustration.  Then she felt him lean over her back…his thick cock heavy within her…his fingers brushing her hair to fall over her left shoulder…his tongue flicking against the back of her neck, followed by a graze of his teeth. 

 

“Oh god…”  She moaned, knuckles whitening as her grip tightened on the headboard.

 

And then it happened. 

 

His mouth moving to the juncture of the back of her neck and shoulder…that spot that he had discovered would make her tremble when a certain amount of pressure was applied.  His teeth scraped, nibbled…his tongue bathed…and then he sucked – hard.  And she screamed his name, along with a few colorful phrases that he was sure to ask her about later. 

 

And when her inner walls began to quiver around him, he resumed his thrusts.  Hard, purposeful…yet, incredibly mindful and tender.  He suddenly released her flesh and moved his mouth to her ear – his breath hot against her skin as he spoke.

 

“Whatever you need, Buffy.  Whatever you want.  I will give you anything and everything, for as long as you allow me.  I love you.”

 

She answered with a loud groan, crying out as she came forcefully.  The heat of her fluids through the thin latex barrier was enough for him to fall over the edge with her.

 

“Oh fuck, Buffy…”  He growled, covering her left hand with his as he came.

 

His chest heaved as he fought for breath.  He lowered his mouth to her back, placing a soft, warm kiss between her shoulderblades.  She trembled as he shifted, carefully pulling his softening cock out of her.  She rested her forehead against her left forearm, her fingers still holding onto the headboard – just not as tightly.

 

He quickly removed the condom and tossed it into the small wastebin under the bedside table.  He smiled lovingly as he looked at her. 

 

“You okay?” 

 

“Mm…more than…”  She mumbled with a slight chuckle.  “Jesus, that was intense…”

 

“Too intense?”  He asked, gently stroking her hip as he laid down.

 

She shook her head, letting go of the headboard and lowering herself into his arms.  “Nope…just perfect.  Kinda like you.”

 

He looked at her through glazed eyes and brushed the damp hair back from her face.  “Can you stay tonight?”

 

“Mm…maybe.  Will need to call Will to see if she can stay with Dawn.”

 

He grinned and reached for the bottle of water on the bedside table.  He took a large sip, then handed it to her.  She took it, but narrowed her eyes at him as she swallowed a mouthful.

 

“What?”

 

He licked his lips, his eyes sparkling as he gazed at her.  “Might want to wait a bit before you call.”

 

“Hm?”  She took another drink, then leaned over him to drop it back onto the table.

 

“You sound very much like someone who has had a very pleasurable evening.”

 

She rolled her eyes and laughed, lowering her body and resting her head on his chest.  “You and your words.”

 

He laughed heartily, wrapping his arm around her.  “You seemed to like my words a great deal.”

 

“You have a filthy mouth at times, Rupert Giles.  And I gotta say…I don’t hate it one little bit.”

 

He grinned, closing his eyes as he stroked her hair. 

 

* * *

 

Willow picked up the phone before the second ring.  “Hello?”

 

“Hey, Will.”  Buffy’s voice came through.  “Listen, something came up during patrol and Giles and I need to figure out what’s going on.  I’m not sure how long this is going to take…are you okay to stay with Dawn?”

 

Willow grinned at Dawn, but kept her voice calm and neutral.  “Sure, not a problem.  Is everything okay?”

 

“Yeah, yeah…all good.  Just need to figure out next steps and such.  Thank you!  Is Dawn still up?”

 

Willow bit back her laugh as Dawn’s eyes widened.  “No…she fell asleep during the movie.  I’ll wake her up in a little while so she can go to bed.  Stay as long as you need, I’ll just crash here tonight.”

 

“Awesome, thank you so much!” 

 

“Goodnight, Buffy.  Say hi to Giles for us, okay?”

 

Willow and Dawn burst into giggles as soon as Willow had ended the call. 

 

* * *

 

Buffy hung up the phone and furrowed her brow.  Giles ran his fingertips along her arm.

 

“Everything alright?”

 

“Huh?  Oh…”  She shook her head as if she were clearing a thought and smiled as she laid back down next to him.  “Yeah, all good.  Will’s going to stay at the house.”

 

“Then…what’s the meaning of this look of deep thought?”  Giles asked, pulling her back into his arms.

 

“Probably nothing.  Just a weird vibe.”  She rolled onto her side and looked into his eyes.  “A vibe that I’m not going to concern myself with right now.”

 

“No?”

 

“Nope.  Have much better things to concern myself with.”

 

He smiled adorably and closed his eyes as she leaned in for a kiss.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

The next morning, Giles followed Buffy through the front door of her house.  They were greeted by the sounds of laughter coming from the kitchen.

 

Buffy chuckled softly.  “Sounds like she woke up in a good mood at least.”

 

“Mm-hm…”  He agreed, glancing at the stack of photographs on the table.

 

He was getting ready to mention them, when she slipped her hand into his and gently squeezed.  His eyes darted to her, even as he squeezed back. 

 

“I want to kiss you.”  She whispered.

 

“I want the same.”  He whispered back.  Then he glanced towards the hall and sighed.  “Probably not prudent, given the circumstances.”

 

She nodded sadly and gave his hand one more squeeze before letting go.  He blew out a soft breath and shoved his hands into his pockets as he followed her down the hall to the kitchen.

 

Dawn grinned broadly as they walked into the room.  “Hey, how did the research go?”

 

“A little closer to some answers, I think.”  Buffy answered.  “What are you guys doing?”

 

“Well, we were going to make breakfast, but…couldn’t be bothered.  So, we’ve just been talking.  Hey – so you know that photography class I’m taking?  The instructor was telling us about bursts and how you can get some really amazing pictures out of what you think is nothing.”

 

Buffy narrowed her eyes as her sister rambled.  Giles pulled an apple out of the fruit bowl and took a bite. 

 

“Okay…”  Buffy drawled, glancing briefly at Willow.

 

“Yeah, anyway…I got this yesterday in a burst.”  Dawn continued, picking up a frame and handing it to Buffy.

 

Buffy’s eyes widened.  Giles moved to stand next to her, craning around her to have a look.  And then he promptly choked on his bite of apple. 

 

Willow quickly handed him a glass of water, smiling as he took it from her. 

 

“Um…”

 

“I kinda think you two have something you should probably tell us.”  Dawn said softly.

 

Buffy looked up at Giles.  “Um…”

 

“It’s pretty clear to see in that.  Unless, you know…it was just a fluke…”

 

Buffy bit her lip, trying to come up with the words to say.  Giles sighed and placed the partially eaten apple on the countertop. 

 

“It’s not a fluke.” 

 

Willow arched an eyebrow at him, surprised that he was the one to speak.  A smile pulled at the corner of Dawn’s mouth.  Giles placed his hand at the small of Buffy’s back.

 

“What you see there is the truth of where we are.”  He continued carefully.

 

“And…where are you?”  Dawn asked, looking from Giles to Buffy.

 

“In love.”  Buffy answered after a beat.  “With each other.”

 

“How long?  And…why didn’t you tell us?  Why didn’t you at least tell me?”  Dawn asked, sounding slightly confused…but, not accusatory.

 

“Five months or so?”  Buffy replied, inhaling slowly as she watched both Dawn and Willow.

 

“Riley was still here…”  Willow stated quietly.

 

“Yeah.”  Buffy whispered.  “One of the reasons we kept it quiet.”

 

“You and Giles…while Riley was still here?”

 

Buffy narrowed her eyes at Willow.  “Really?”

 

Dawn darted her eyes between the two.  Giles cleared his throat. 

 

“Buffy…”  Willow said, reaching over and placing her hand on Buffy’s arm.  “I didn’t mean that to sound like I was judging you.  Because I’m not.  I’m just wondering how we all missed that.”

 

“Is that why you didn’t stop Riley when he was leaving?”  Dawn asked, leaning against the counter.

 

Buffy shook her head.  “No, I didn’t stop him because I don’t do ultimatums.  And…Giles and I weren’t together together then.  We were just…”  She looked up at him expectantly.  “What were we then?”

 

“Exploring newly-acknowledged…feelings.”

 

“So…making out but no sex?”  Dawn asked with a grin.

 

Giles rolled his eyes.  Buffy tilted her head and looked at her sister closely.

 

“You’re not…wigged out…by this?”

 

Dawn scoffed.  “Wigged out?  No one says ‘wigged out’ anymore.  But, no…you two kinda fit together.”

 

“We…fit?”  Giles asked, his fingers lightly stroking Buffy’s back.

 

“Yeah, like…you’re just better people when you’re together.  And you’re totally in sync with each other.  I mean…have you seen the two of you train together?”

 

Giles’ fingers stopped moving, his eyes quickly lowered.  Buffy bit her lip again.  Willow watched them, smiling as she noticed the skin behind Giles’ ear begin to pinken.

 

Dawn’s eyes widened.  “Oh my god…that’s when it happened the first time?  When you were training?  And…holy shit, that’s why you don’t want me hanging around while you’re training!”

 

“No…I don’t want you hanging around because you knock things over and you distract us.”  Buffy said, shifting even closer to Giles.  “And…watch your language.”

 

Giles gently pulled the picture out of Buffy’s hand and studied it.  He looked at Dawn, his eyes warm. 

 

“This is a beautiful picture, Dawn.  May I have it?”

 

Dawn grinned at him.  “Yeah, but not yet.  I’m going to use it in a display on how the teacher was right – bursts can capture the perfect picture.”

 

Giles raised an eyebrow at her.  Dawn tapped her fingers on the countertop. 

 

“I mean…if you guys are okay with that.  That’s kinda outing you…”

 

Buffy smiled after a brief moment.  “I think I’m okay with being outed…”  She looked up at Giles, glancing at his lips.  “You?”

 

He nodded slowly, moving his hand to her hip.  Willow watched them, then caught Dawn’s eyes and gestured towards the door with a nod of her head.  Dawn grinned and nodded back.

 

“So, uh…Willow and I are going to go…maybe catch up with the others.”

 

“Uh-huh…”  Buffy said distractedly.

 

“You want us to tell them or do you want to wait?”

 

“What do you think?”  Buffy asked Giles.

 

I think if you don’t stop looking at me like that, I’m not going to be able to stop myself from…

 

Giles smiled, stopping his thought.  “I think I’d much rather not be there for that discussion.  We can answer all of the who’s, what’s, when’s, why’s at a later time.”

 

Buffy snorted.  “A later time?  You do realize that Anya will be beating down your door, right?”

 

“And what’s up with that?”  Dawn asked suddenly, looking very confused.  “I mean…she’s always up in your business.  How does she not know?”

 

“All up in my business?”  Now Giles looked very confused.  “What does that even mean?”

 

“You know…knowing what’s going on in your life.  Or at least, trying to know what’s going on.  What’s up with that?”

 

“I’m not sure there’s anything up…”  Giles replied carefully, suddenly understanding the line of questioning.  “I’m fairly certain that it’s just Anya.  She can be quite…intense.”

 

“Uh-huh…so, how does she not know?”  Dawn repeated.

 

“Who’s to say she doesn’t?”  Buffy answered, doing her best to not tremble when she felt Giles’ fingertips tighten against her hip.  “I mean, she’s pretty intuitive.”

 

“If she knew, she’d say something.  Wouldn’t she?”

 

Willow laughed suddenly, shaking her head.  “Probably not – she likes money too much and if she gives Giles too much hassle over orgasms, he’d fire her.”

 

Giles looked at Willow quickly, his skin reddening just above his collar.  Willow smiled apologetically. 

 

“There are more photos in the living room, if you want to look at them.”  Dawn grinned as Giles looked a bit taken aback.  “There were some pretty interesting things in the cemetery that I got pics of…”

 

“Ah…”  Giles said, almost relieved.  “We’ll look through them.”

 

Dawn tilted her head slightly and looked at both of them.  Buffy furrowed her brow.

 

“What is it, Dawn?”

 

Dawn smiled slowly and exhaled softly.  “Just you two.  I’m really happy for you.  I’ve never seen you look at anyone the way you look at him.  And…I kinda think you two are right where you’re supposed to be.  I don’t know if that’s a Watcher/Slayer thing or not, but…it’s right.  You know?”

 

“It’s a love thing, Dawn.  There’s nothing supernatural about it.  This time.”  Buffy returned with a smile of her own. 

 

“This time?”  Dawn asked.  She thought for a second and then shook her head, grabbing Willow’s arm and taking a step backwards towards the back door.  “Yeah, I don’t need to hear about any supernatural stuff between you too…nope, not needed.  See you later!”

 

Willow laughed, allowing Dawn to pull her with her.  “We’ll let them know you’re exploring newly-acknowledged feelings…”

 

“Thanks, Will.”  Buffy said, watching them as they slipped out the back door and closed it behind them. 

 

She looked up at Giles when he sighed heavily.  “What’s wrong?”

 

“You realize that they’ll all assume that you were unfaithful to Riley, yes?”

 

“I was.”  Buffy offered, jumping up onto the countertop.  “Maybe not physically, but definitely emotionally.”

 

She reached out and curled her fingers into the front of his shirt, gently tugging him forwards.  When he placed his hands on her thighs, she smiled.

 

“My heart was yours well before Riley left.” 

 

“And you say I’m corny?”  He teased, leaning down to kiss her.

 

“Corny….but, photogenic…”  She teased back, tilting her face up to meet him.

 

He grinned.  She grinned back.

 

And then he kissed her.

 

And she kissed him back.




~ End

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