Title: Trouble
Author: Froxyn
Rating: FRT
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Timeline: Two years post-series, AU.
Synopsis: Buffy and Giles are together, however…for how
much longer?
Author’s
Note: Album fic. Song and lyrics can be found here. Special thanks to wyvernwolf
for agreeing to beta this project.
Rupert Giles sat on a park bench
overlooking a small pond. Children were
chasing the ducks, squealing with delight.
However, Giles paid them no attention.
His mind was elsewhere at the moment.
Mainly he was wondering if he’d completely destroyed his relationship
with Buffy.
He wasn’t a jealous man by
nature and he wasn’t really sure what had come over him. All he knew was that he had walked into his
office to find Buffy wrapped up in Spike’s cold arms. She had tried to explain…he thought he
remembered her saying something about
He knew that had he walked in to
find her anyone else’s arms…even Angel’s…he wouldn’t have thought twice about
it. But it wasn’t anyone else. It was Spike…the vampire who had tried to
rape her three years earlier. It was
Spike…the vampire who had tried his best to pull Buffy into the darkness
permanently…and had nearly succeeded.
He had lost his temper, thrown
Spike across the room and grabbed the stake that had a permanent home on his
bookshelf. He had been fully prepared to
vacuum Spike’s ashes from the carpet and had only stopped when Buffy screamed
his name.
Spike had smiled, but it hadn’t
reached his eyes. He wasn’t a happy vampire, he didn’t find amusement in the situation. Giles didn’t care though…all he cared about
was the fact that the woman he loved had stopped him from driving a stake
through the demon’s shriveled heart.
He had said things that he
didn’t mean. Even as he said them, he
knew he didn’t mean them. But he
couldn’t stop himself…not even as he watched Buffy’s eyes fill with tears. After his tirade ended, he had glared at
Spike and dared him to still be there when he returned.
And then he simply stormed out
of the office, ignoring Buffy’s pleas for him to come back.
He took a deep breath and
scanned his surroundings. He didn’t
remember coming here, but wasn’t surprised that he did. After all, this was where he had proposed to
Buffy just six months earlier.
He looked down as a soccer ball
rolled over his left foot. A young boy
of about seven came running up, breathing hard even as he smiled at Giles.
“Sorry,
mister. My brother don’t
have the best aim.”
Giles returned the boy’s smile
and lightly kicked the ball back to him.
“It’s quite alright. No harm done
at all. Be careful around the pond,
though.”
The boy nodded quickly. “Yeah, Mum already told us ‘bout that. Have a good day, mister.”
“You too.” Giles responded,
watching the boy run back to his brother.
He and Buffy had discussed
having children, and were actively trying to have a baby. He felt his throat constrict as he fought
back his tears.
“Christ, what have I done?” He whispered to himself.
He didn’t stop his tears this
time, wiping his eyes as he stood up and walked back towards his office. He wasn’t sure if she would still be there,
but he had left his car in the Council parking lot. Even if she had left, he'd still need the car
to get home.
And hopefully she would be
there.
* * *
He took a deep breath and pushed
his office door open. It was late, the sun had set when he was halfway back to Council
Headquarters. As a result, no one else
was in the building…at least, not on this floor.
Walking into the room, he
glanced to his left and inhaled sharply.
Buffy was curled up on the couch, her arms wrapped tightly around his
jacket. He closed the door quietly,
realizing that she had fallen asleep.
He silently made his way across
the room and knelt next to the couch.
Lifting his hand, he gently stroked her cheek as he whispered her name.
“Buffy?”
Her eyes snapped open and he
wasn’t surprised to find them reddened from tears.
“You came back…” She whispered back, slowly pushing herself
up.
“Buffy, I…God, I’m so
sorry.”
She lowered her eyes, swallowing
hard as she wiped the back of her hand over her face. She draped his jacket over her lap and
cleared her throat.
“I know how you feel about
Spike, but…what the hell was that about?”
“I…you were…he was…” He sighed sadly and shook his head. “I…was jealous.”
Buffy looked up and furrowed her
brow. “You don’t get jealous…I’ve tried
to make you jealous and couldn’t.”
“I think it’s more the fact that
I don’t understand. I don’t understand
how you can allow him to touch you…not after everything he did.”
“You left me, Giles. And I forgave that.”
Giles stared at her
incredulously. “He tried to rape you!”
“Yeah…and as horrible as that
was, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as you getting on a plane.”
He fell into silence, trying to
gather his thoughts. After a few
minutes, Buffy exhaled and turned to face him.
“Giles?”
“I have…issues…with Spike. I…I’ve never hated anyone the way I hate
him.”
“Giles…”
“He tried to take you from
me. He tried to turn you against me…and
it nearly bloody worked.”
Buffy shook her head and placed
her hand on his arm. “But, it
didn’t. God, if anything, it brought me
closer to you. Because…you
were there for me when he died.
As much as you hated him, you comforted me over him.”
“I’ve never been able to bear
seeing you in pain.” He whispered. “And…this time I’m the one who caused it.”
“He’s in love with
Giles met her eyes and tilted
his head questioningly. “He came to you
for advice on love?”
“I know about love.” She answered matter-of-factly. “Well, I know about love where you’re
concerned.”
A tear rolled down his cheek as
his breath hitched. “I…I didn’t mean
anything I said.”
The corner of her mouth twitched
as she lovingly wiped the tear from his skin.
“Yes, you did.”
When he started to protest, she
placed two fingers over his lips. “You
may not have meant what you said in relation to Spike and me. But, you did
mean what you said about killing him.”
“I’m sorry.” He murmured under her fingers.
“I know.” She whispered, leaning into him and placing a
soft kiss on his cheek.
He bit his lip and met her
eyes. “Just like that, you’ve forgiven
me?”
“Yeah…weird,
huh?”
“Why?” He questioned, covering her hand with his and
stroking the back of her hand.
“Because I love you and…”
“And?”
She took his hand and, after a
moment, placed it on her stomach.
“And…it’s not just the two of us anymore.”
His eyes widened as he glanced
down at his hand. “Buffy, we…we, uh…”
“Are having a
baby.” She finished for him. “And we’ll need to discuss tonight’s events
in a bit more detail later, but…right now…I just want to spend some time with
my child’s father.”
He swallowed, gently rubbing her
stomach, and gazed into her eyes. “I
never meant to hurt you.”
Leaning into him, she warmly
kissed his lips. As he began to respond
to the kiss, he knew that he still had things he needed to say….wrongs that he
needed to right. But, when her hands
began unbuttoning his shirt, he realized that she was right.
They could talk about it further
later. Right now he just wanted to bask
in the knowledge that they were having a baby.
And for the time being, there was no more trouble.
~ End