Title: Argue
Author: Froxyn
Rating: FRT
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Timeline: S5, no Glory, no Dawn, Riley’s gone.
Synopsis: Buffy discusses her feelings after her and
Riley break up.
Author’s
Note: Album fic. Song and lyrics can be found here.
“It wouldn’t have
worked anyway.” Buffy stated
matter-of-factly as she dipped her spoon into a mountain of hot fudge covered
ice cream.
Giles used his spoon to
push the melting concoction around in the bowl in front of him. “What do you mean?”
She shrugged as she
swallowed a spoonful of the dessert and then met his eyes. “I don’t know. He just...he held on too hard, you know? Always trying
to say the right thing. If you have to
try that hard, it isn’t going to work.”
Giles smiled
softly. “My, how you’ve grown.”
“Living with the
possibility of dying each night will do that to you.” She laughed, sobering when he lowered his
gaze. “Hey, Giles...I was just
joking...”
“I know.” He replied quietly, pushing his bowl to the
side. “But some things shouldn’t be
joked about...your near-death experiences are at the top of that list.”
Buffy was quiet for a
moment and then sighed. “I never really
knew him. If I did, I would’ve seen this
coming miles away. Kinda like I really
don’t know you.”
Giles furrowed his
brow. “You most certainly know me,
Buffy.”
“I know Giles the
Watcher...I know a little about Giles the Teenager, Master of
Rebellion...” Her eyes sparkled as he
gave a shy smile. “But, I really don’t
know Giles the
He regarded her
carefully and then cleared his throat, folding his hands on the table as he
gave her a brief nod. “What do you want
to know? If you want to get to know
me...the man...now’s your chance.”
“How much will you
tell me?” She asked quietly.
Giles stared at her,
hearing the flirtatious tone of her voice.
The tone didn’t surprise him...there had been a few tense moments
between them over the past few weeks.
Even before Riley had left. No,
what surprised him was the fact that he could feel his control slipping...and
he realized that there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.
His eyes darted to
her lips and then resumed his stare.
“How much do you want to know?”
Buffy’s skin flushed
lightly at the low timbre of his voice.
She watched his eyes darken a shade and knew, without a doubt, that she
hadn’t imagined the sudden shift between them.
“As much as you’ll
tell me...and more.”
He smiled and sat
back in his chair, giving her a gentle nod.
“Ask.”
“Not here.” She responded. If this was going to end up where she hoped it would, she didn’t want to start
it in an ice cream parlour. “Let’s go
for a walk.”
He arched an eyebrow,
gesturing towards the window without breaking their mutual gaze. “It’s dark...we live on a Hellmouth.”
“Yeah, but...I’m the
Slayer. And you’re my Watcher.” She smiled as she slipped out of the booth
and grabbed her jacket. “Pretty sure we
can take care of ourselves, Giles.”
He pulled his wallet
out of his jacket pocket and dropped a ten dollar bill onto the table. “And each other.”
“Yeah...and each
other.” She agreed, her smile growing as
his eyes twinkled.
* * *
They had talked as
they walked down the street, laughing as he answered the questions she had
decided to ask. When they ended up next
to the pond near his apartment complex, he sat down on a park bench and smiled
as she sat down next to him.
“What else would you
like to know, Buffy?” He asked softly,
glancing up at the full moon.
“Well, I know your
favourite color, your favourite band...and let me say that I’m really glad you were just joking about
the Bay City Rollers!” She grinned as he
chuckled. “You’ve told me the meaning of
life according to Rupert Giles...”
She looked at him
curiously as a slow smile appeared on his lips.
“What?”
“It, uh...it doesn’t
sound so bad when you say it.” He
shrugged a shoulder and rested his arm along the top of the bench, his fingers
barely brushing against her soft sweater.
“My name...”
“Oh...” She turned her body towards him and bit her
lip nervously. “There’s something that I
don’t know yet...”
“Hm?” He murmured as his thumb gently stroked her
shoulder.
“Is there something
more?” She rubbed her palm against her
thigh and stared into his eyes. “Or...is
it just flirting?”
His thumb stopped
moving.
“Between us, you
mean?” He asked softly, exhaling slowly
when she nodded. “There’s something
more. Much more.”
When he didn’t make any
effort to move at all, she sighed. “And
yet...you do nothing...”
“I have my
reasons.” He replied before rubbing his
thumb against her shoulder again.
“Should I point out that you’ve done nothing either?”
“But...you know how I
feel, right?”
He nodded
slowly. “I know...but, in this instance
I think that ignorance is my best defense.”
When her brow
furrowed, his smile grew and he shifted just a bit closer to her. “I needed you
to know how you feel. And you
didn’t...not until recently.”
“Oh.” She whispered. “But...um...how do you feel?”
“Like my reasons for
not kissing you are fading away.” He
replied on a soft whisper, moving his hand until his fingers lightly stroked
her jaw. “And when they’re gone...I’ll
want more.”
“When will that
be?” She asked, her voice
trembling. “Because...my reasons are
already gone.”
“And you still
haven’t kissed me.”
“Giles...”
“If this is what you
want...if I’m what you want...” He swallowed and moved his hand back to the
top of the bench, resting his thumb against her shoulder. “You need to take that step because...I still
have a few of my reasons, Buffy.”
“Well, let them go!”
He shook his head
slowly. “I can’t. You...you have to take them from me. I can’t just let them go.”
Buffy opened and then
closed her mouth, annoyance in her eyes.
When she shook her head in frustration, Giles again gently stroked her
shoulder with his thumb.
“What is it?”
“I...can’t believe I
was getting ready to start a huge argument over who was going to kiss who
first.”
His eyes
brightened. “This isn’t something we
should argue about, love.”
“We shouldn’t be
arguing about anything right now,
Giles.” She replied, her voice deep.
Before he could say
anything else, she leaned into him and covered his mouth with hers. He hesitated for only a moment, waiting for
her arms to slide around his neck before allowing her tongue entry to his
mouth.
As he wrapped his
arms around her and became an active participant in the kiss, he felt his final
reasons simply slip away. Just as he
suspected, he felt his wants increase and he smiled as he pulled from the kiss
and looked into her eyes.
“Come home with me,
Buffy.”
She read his
intentions in his eyes, along with the desire and...love. He loved her...it was there for her to see,
shining proudly in his darkened green eyes.
She just hoped that he could see the same in hers.
When he inhaled
sharply and his smile grew, she knew that he had. And after another warm, lingering kiss, she
ran her fingers through his hair and gave him a gentle nod.
“I’d love to.”
So many times in the
past, things had worked out differently than he had wanted them to. He smiled adoringly at her as he stood and
pulled her up with him.
This time wasn’t one
of those times.
~ End