Jealousy 5

Buffy stretched on the couch. Giles had already left but she could still remember what it felt like to wake up in his arms. She sighed. It had felt so nice to lie next to him all night. She hadn't wanted the morning to come. She frowned. Of course he'd been the perfect gentleman. She should have made him drink some scotch. A lot of scotch. Who knew when they'd have another quiet night. Willow, Tara and Dawn would all be back home tonight and it would be the usual zoo. Buffy grabbed Giles' pillow again and buried her face in it.


Later that night, while Buffy started to clear the dinner plates, she cast a nervous eye on the clock. Giles was late. Very late. Buffy had called Anya and Anya had told her that Giles had left a few hours ago. Buffy couldn't imagine where he might be. Well, actually she could but she was trying hard not to think of that. Besides, Giles had told her that Sally was going home today. Buffy bit her lip. No one noticed Buffy's nervousness. They were all getting caught up on their various adventures.

Buffy heard Giles' car pull up. She dropped the casserole dish on the counter and ran to the front door. Buffy yanked it open just as Giles reached the front door. Giles tried to walk in but he wasn't able to. Spike was standing in the shadows; his final spell-casting demon skulking behind him. He grinned at the look on Giles' face. Spike waited for the perfect moment to have the demon say the second part of the spell.

Buffy took an involuntary step back. Giles tried again, but it was as if there was an invisible wall keeping him out. Giles sent her a confused look. "I can't seem to come in." He put up a hand and felt the barrier.

Buffy was starting to feel a black hole growing around her heart. "Giles, where have you been?"

"I took Sally to the airport, down to LA. I just got back." Giles finally took in the sound of Buffy's voice, and the look on her face, and he put two and two together. "Buffy, I'm not..." Spike prodded the demon and the second part of the spell was cast. Spike grinned again. God, he loved irony. He couldn't imagine a more fitting end for the Watcher.

Buffy gasped as Giles' face changed to one of a vampire. She started to shake her head and her eyes filled with tears. "Oh, God, Giles."

Giles tried to get in again, concerned about her tears, wanting to console her. His eyes widened in alarm as he watched her pull a stake out of her pocket. Giles put his hands up. "Buffy, I'm not a vampire."

Buffy angrily brushed the tears off her face. "Right. Tell that to your face."

Giles started backing down the steps towards the front path. "Buffy, stop, think this through." He ran a hand over his face but it felt completely normal to him.

Buffy let out a sob. "What were you going to do? Get me to invite you in so you could kill me, kill us all?"

Giles' heart was starting to pound. He backed up some more. Buffy walked outside, slowly but inexorably heading his way, stake poised for the kill. Giles looked up as he heard a scream. Dawn was in the doorway, her face aghast. "Is that Giles? Is he a vampire?" She crumpled to the ground, crying.

Buffy nodded grimly, answering her sister. "Yes. He is."

Giles kept backing up. He was to the sidewalk now. "Buffy, I'm not. It's a spell. Someone's making you think I'm a vampire."

Buffy hesitated for a second then she kept coming. "That's just what you'd say to get me to trust you."

Giles saw his death in her eyes. "Buffy, please...don't do this."

Buffy started to cry. She tried to harden her heart. She kept up a mental litany. It's not him, it's not him, it's not him. The problem was that it sounded just like him. She tried to think of Angel. Tried to think of everything that had happened because she had hesitated to do her duty. She couldn't let that happen again. She couldn't. She closed her eyes and then she realized what a mistake that was. His voice crooned to her.

"Buffy, just come to me. Feel my heartbeat. I won't hurt you. I would never hurt you. Please, I love you."

Buffy let out a wrenching sob and fell to her knees. She couldn't do it. Giles ran to her and wrapped his arms around her. Buffy bared her neck. She gritted out the words, just loud enough for Giles to hear. "Just do it. Bite me. Turn me. I'd rather be a vampire with you than have to live without you." She closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the fangs to puncture her skin.

Giles just held her more tightly. "Oh, Buffy. I can't live without you either."

Buffy's eyes opened again when she realized that Giles wasn't biting her. In fact, he was...he was kissing her. Kissing her neck, kissing her jaw, kissing her lips. He took one of her hands and he put it on his chest. His heart was pounding. She sat back and looked at him. Looked at his vampire face. Giles then raised her hands and put them on his face. She could see the ridges, but her hands only felt his face. His wonderful, wonderful human face. Her thumb grazed his lips and he let out a moan. Buffy pulled his face towards hers and this time she kissed him. They were both on their knees, arms around each other, bodies pressed tightly together, their lips exploring, tasting, their true feelings for each other finally coming out.

Spike's jaw dropped. Putting a hand up to keep the demon from leaving, Spike ran over to Buffy and Giles, pulling Buffy away. "What the hell are you doing, Slayer? He's a bloody vampire. Stake him."

Buffy was laughing and crying at the same time. "No, no he's not. His heart is beating; he's warm. It's a spell." She reached for Spike's hand and tried to put it on Giles' face. Spike pulled his hand back as if he'd been burned. He cursed under his breath.

Tara, Willow and Dawn had come out of the house by now and were approaching, Dawn still with tears falling down her cheeks. Giles looked at them. "I'm really not a vampire."

Knowing her Slayer sister was right there, Dawn bravely but warily walked up to Giles and put her hand on his chest. She let out a huge sigh of relief when she felt his heartbeat. She turned to Willow and Tara. "He does have a heartbeat."

Willow came over next, looking at Buffy. "So, why does he look like one? And why were you kissing him?"

Buffy faced Giles. She leaned forwards and kissed him again. "Because I love him. I never realized how much until right now, when I almost lost him."

Giles looked at her with wonder. "Oh, Buffy, I love you too." They started kissing again.

Buffy kissed her way to his ear. "I can't believe how good you feel."

Giles couldn't agree more. "I can't believe I never did this before."

No one else heard that comment, except for Spike. He pulled them apart again, glaring at Giles. "What do you mean, never did this before?" He shifted his glare to Buffy. "You've been shagging all week, remember? After he paid you all that money."

Buffy's eyes widened. Giles protested on their behalf, or he tried, Spike's comments about the two of them shagging causing a heated sensation to flow through his body. "No...we...I..."

Buffy interrupted. "Spike, what are you talking about? I never even kissed Giles until tonight, until right now." She turned to look at Giles and grinned. "Although now that I've started..." She sent an inviting look Giles' way that created an answering grin on his face.

Willow went back to the matter at hand. "I don't understand. Why would someone want to make Giles look like a vampire?"

Buffy frowned and looked up at Spike who was still hovering over her and Giles. Her frown deepened. "What do you know about this?"

Spike swallowed. "Nothing. Why do you think I had anything to do with it?" As Buffy's eyes developed a dangerous glint Spike looked around, eyeing the demon still skulking behind the tree. He pointed. "Look, there's a demon, it must have been him. Let's get him." Spike started to move towards him. The demon's eyes grew wide with alarm and he ran for it, eluding Spike's hastily thrown punch.

As soon as he ran down the street the effects of the spell dissipated. Buffy let out a gasp of relief as she ran her hands down Giles' now visually unvamped face. "Okay, that's better. That's much, much better." His face looked so good to her. She moved in to kiss him again.

Giles stopped her. The look he sent her was full of love. "Buffy, while I'm very, very grateful that your feelings for me stopped you from killing me, you know that you must never allow me to bite you if I become a vampire. You know that, right?" The thought that she had so willingly bared her neck to him both thrilled and terrified Giles.

Buffy put her hand on his face. "Giles, I told you the other night that you were the most important person in the world to me. I meant it then, and I mean it even more now. You're the other half of me. I can't do this without you. I can't. I won't."

Giles pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. "Oh Buffy."

Willow, Tara and Dawn watched the romantic storyline play out in front of them, their mouths open. The three of them could feel the genuine love and affection emanating from both Buffy and Giles. It was the only thing keeping an expression of disgust off of Dawn's face. Willow and Tara were enraptured. They both sighed.

Spike, on the other hand, was appalled. He yanked them apart one more time. Giles stood, pulling Buffy up with him. He grabbed Spike by the lapels of his coat. "If you do that one more time, I'm staking you." Giles shook Spike. "Are we clear?" The dangerous gleam in his eyes was very clear.

Spike nodded. He was confused. "You haven't been shagging all week?"

Giles shook his head. "Not that it's any of your business, but in all honesty, I never even thought of Buffy that way until..." He looked at Buffy. "...until that night at the Bronze."

Buffy's jaw dropped. "Is that what was going on that night?"

Giles let go of Spike and turned to face Buffy, frowning. "You mean when you were practically having sex out on the dance floor?"

Buffy waved her hand dismissing that fact as unimportant. "You were really wanting me that night? It wasn't just cuz you were drunk?"

Giles groaned. "God, I never wanted anyone more in my life. That's why I got drunk."

"You wanted me even more than Sally?"

Grinning, Giles replied, "More than anyone."

Spike stepped in, looking at Buffy but pointing at Giles. "But you wanted him, right?"

Buffy shook her head. "No, I mean now I do, but no. Not until Sally showed up, you know, Giles' friend from England." She spoke to them all, but to no one in particular while she gazed at Giles. "Boy, all she could talk about was how good Giles was..." She remembered that Dawn was there so she cut that sentence off. "Well, she just kept pointing out all of the goodness that was my Watcher. By the time she left with him it was all I could do not to jump him myself, after I clawed her eyes out."

Giles leaned in to give her a quick kiss. "All quite unnecessary, I assure you." He clarified. "The eye clawing bit that is. Feel free to do whatever jumping you feel is required."

Buffy was practically humming. "I think I feel the need for a lot of jumping."

Spike was biting his lips to keep from screaming. Every conversation he'd had with Buffy and Giles this week was taking on an entirely new slant. He'd done this. He'd brought them together. He'd made them fall in love with each other. Spike stood up straight. No, Frank had done this, him and his magic challenged group of deficient demons. Time to go do some punching and maiming. He threw a disgusted look at Buffy and Giles and stomped off.

Giles and Buffy stood there, looking at each other, loving each other. Willow was shaking her head. "I still don't understand why Giles looked like a vampire."

Tara looked over at Buffy and Giles. "We can figure it out tomorrow." She reached for Willow's hand and after a quick glance at Buffy and Giles, Willow grinned and followed Tara and Dawn into the house.

Buffy put her hands on Giles' chest. "Feel like getting jumped now?"

Giles grinned back and nuzzled her neck. "In a house full of people? I think not."

Buffy drew back, surprise on her face. "No jumping?"

"Buffy, I fully expect our first time to be quite a noisy and long lasting affair. I don't really want an audience."

Buffy pouted. "Well, when...?"

Giles started nuzzling her again. "Won't they all be gone all day tomorrow?"

Buffy started nuzzling him back. "We'll have the house to ourselves for hours."
Giles kissed her. "That will get us started, at any rate."

Buffy groaned. "Tomorrow seems so far away."

Giles looked at her tenderly. "I'm already yours, Buffy. And tomorrow will just be the first of all the rest of our tomorrows. We've found each other, and I'm never letting you go."

Buffy sighed. "God, talented lips, wonderful hands, gorgeous and now he's romantic to boot."

Giles softly laughed. "Keep that up and there might be jumping tonight after all."

Buffy's eyes lit up. As they headed towards the house she kept talking. She never could resist a challenge.

The End

November 18, 2001



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