Title: Obeying Nature 6/?
Author: Adele
Disclaimer: The characters are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Productions, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television, the WB Television Network, and whoever else may have a hold on them. I do not mean to infringe upon any copyrights.
"A bicycle"
"What do you mean it's a bicycle? It looks nothing like it." Buffy furrowed her brow in concentration as she squinted up at the sky.
"Look right there. There's the steering, right below is the wheel, and a little to the right you see the pedals and the seat," Giles explained while pointing his finger. Dressed in their dry clothes while their wet ones were hanging on a tree, Giles and Buffy laid on their backs in the grass, heads close together, cloud watching.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't bikes supposed to have two wheels?" Buffy said with a smothered giggle.
"Yes, well, I can't help it if the wheel was stolen. I just call them as I see them." Giles huffed humorously.
"Ok, I give. What about this one then?" Buffy's hand indicated a small cloud to their left. It took a few seconds before Giles responded, and Buffy waited in anticipation.
"The most beautiful sight I've ever seen," came his soft-spoken response.
"Huh?" Buffy turned her to him with a confused look.
Her breath caught as she saw Giles' green eyes looking directly at her. Before she had the chance to say another word, his hand gently caressed her cheek. He turned towards her and covered her mouth with his. A million butterflies fluttered in Buffy's stomach as his lips gently moved over hers.
She almost mewled in protest when she felt his lips release hers, but he only raised himself to lean on his elbow, cover half of her body with his, and lower his mouth to hers again. Their lips met and clung together as passion exploded between them. Buffy wasn't able to hold back a moan when Giles' tongue stroked against hers.
Before he lost all restraint, Giles ended the kiss and raised his head so he could look into her eyes.
"Buffy, I'm sorry, but I need to ask. What . . . I mean, when, ah. . . "
Buffy placed a finger on his lips. She knew what he was trying to ask. Letting her fingers run down his cheek slowly, she gave him an understanding smile before she started speaking.
"Giles, before I died, we were closer than we'd ever been before. There was a connection that I couldn't explain. I knew I cared deeply about you. I felt you cared about me, too." His nod made her smile. "But there was too much going on at the time for me to really explore it. I couldn't really think about what those feelings were. I wanted to, because I felt that something had shifted. But, well, we both know what happened next: the Swan Dive of the Century." Giles only looked her seriously in the eyes as his hand came up to stroke her cheek.
"You died." he whispered. Seeing the pain in his eyes, she wanted to hit herself for being so flip about it. She hadn't meant to hurt him. She should have realised how much her death must have pained him.
"Yeah" she whispered in return and used a hand to stroke his back soothingly. "And we don't need to go through everything that happened after that. I am dealing with it. Willow is better. And I'm actually happy to be back now, despite the whole heaven thing."
She took a deep breath before she continued.
"But it was the day that you came back from England that I finally understood those feelings I had before I died. When you hugged me everything became clear as glass. I realised that I was in love with you."
That last admission came out as a whisper, and for a second she was worried about how he would take it. When she saw his eyes mist, she felt her own tear up. He said nothing, only lowered his mouth to hers again, and kissed her senseless until they had to stop for air. With closed eyes he leaned his forehead against hers as he drew in a shaky breath.
"Oh god, Buffy. I have been in love with you for so long." He gave her a brief kiss before giving her such a wonderful happy smile that Buffy reciprocated tenfold.
"You have? I had no idea. When I first realised my own feelings it terrified me. I knew you cared, but I thought it was like I was your daughter. That's why I've been pulling away from you so much lately, Giles. I was worried you'd find out, and everything would be ruined between us."
Giles shook his head adamantly, "Buffy, even if I hadn't returned your feelings, I would never have let them come between us. I hope you know you can tell me anything."
Buffy gave him a loving smile, "Well, I don't have to worry about that now, do I?"
Giles chuckled, "No, you don't."
"There were times", she continued, "that I thought I saw something in your eyes. But it was gone so quickly that I never found out for sure."
"Well", Giles said with a rueful smile, "I've had bit of practice." That made her laugh, and Buffy couldn't stop from giving him another kiss. She had never been as happy as she was at this moment. When she released his lips, she pulled him into a tight embrace, marvelling over the fact that he was now hers. And she was his.
Her smile sobered when she heard a small voice in the back of her head trying to remind her it wouldn't last. She only tightened her hold on Giles and pushed the voice away.