Title: Birthday
Authors: Eaglewolf
Email: auzzie98@hotmail.com
Date: 18 Dec 02
Spoilers: S6 to be safe
Summary: Giles surprises Buffy for her birthday
Rating: PG13
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Distribution: You want it? You got it :)
Feedback: Always appreciated.
Disclaimer: Joss and his playmates in the sandbox own it.
Notes: Many thanks to Morr - as always.

"Damn it, Xander.  Ten minutes tops you said.  I've been stuck in here for at least thirty," he muttered to himself.  Giles was crouched down in the darkness waiting to hear the signal.  He sighed yet again, wondering for the umpteenth time if Xander's idea really was a good one or not.  Still it would be good to see Buffy again, hopefully her eyes would light up like the last time he came home.

Home.

Home was England now, wasn't it?  He sighed and polished his glasses, waiting for Xander to give him the bloody signal that was meant to come over twenty minutes ago.  Giles put his glasses back on and tilted his head for a second as he heard voices and finally, Xander's voice rang out, "You know what would be really good?  If Giles was here." 

Giles sighed in relief, that was the signal and he jumped up, only realising at the last second that jumping out of a cake when the Slayer was around wasn't exactly the best idea ever. 

Oh well, that's what Xander and jet lag will do to you.  "Happy Birthday Buffy!" He cried.

Buffy who had been missing Giles more than ever today took one look at Giles, promptly burst into tears and ran sobbing from the room.

Giles very carefully climbed out of the cake all the while glaring at Xander, who managed to looked petrified of Giles, and concerned about Buffy all at the same time.

Xander raised his hands in submission, before pointing at the door Buffy had run through.  "She was not supposed to react like that!  She was meant to be happy!  Happy! Not cry-ie Buffy... happy Buffy."

Willow shook her head from the corner. "Giles.  You should go talk to her."

Giles turned to look at Willow and smiled softly.  "Hello Willow."

Willow smiled back. "Hi Giles." She nodded towards the doorway.  "Go talk to her."

"Willow?" His face was full of confusion.

Willow shook her head. "I promised I wouldn't.  Just go talk to her Giles, she needs you." 

Giles looked at the ground for a moment, took a deep breath and nodded.  He put a hand on Willow's shoulder as he passed her, and was grateful to feel her hand come up reassuringly on top of his.  Hugs would come later, after he found out what was wrong with Buffy.

He felt his heart constrict and wondered if it was something he'd done other than agreeing to Xander's infernal idea. 

He needed to get some sleep soon or he was going to keel over.  The jet lag was really starting to take a toll.  He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to keep his emotions as tightly controlled as he needed to if he didn't get some sleep soon.

He looked around the lounge room, and not seeing her, started to ascend the stairs.  He heard a sniffle when he was half way up that made him look up.  Buffy was sitting on the top of the stairs.

"Hi Giles," she said weakly before adding almost as an afterthought, "Thank you."

"Umm, why do I feel like I should be apologizing to you Buffy?"

"No, I'm the one who's sorry."

"Buffy?"

"Giles?" She looked at him as he sat down next to her. "Can I have a hug?" 

"Of course."  Giles wrapped his arm around her, she rested her head on his chest, and he kissed the top of her head gently.  He rested his cheek against the crown of her head, and looked down the stairs.  He idly wondered just how many times Buffy had walked down them wondering if she was going to be alive to go back up then when she got home. 

"Buffy?"

Buffy sniffed in reply, and snuggled down into him more.

"Buffy?" He added a little touch more of concern to his voice.

"Yeah?" She sniffed.

"What's wrong?"

"Giles, I - I..." Buffy sighed. "I just missed you is all."

"Then why run away when I agreed to Xander's ridiculous idea of jumping out of that cake?"

Buffy swivelled her head, and saw his worried expression.  "Umm, was the only thing I could think of do at the time?"  Buffy wasn't sure how to tell him her first impulse had been to jump on him, wrap her legs around his waist and kiss him until neither of them could breathe.

"Buffy,  remember, we made a promise not to lie to each other."

She raised an eyebrow at his admonishing tone and tears rose in Buffy's eyes again. Never would she forget the conversation they'd had many years ago when lying had almost gotten them both killed. 

Buffy was surprised to see Giles blink rapidly, as if he was tried to blink away tears before they could fall.  She sighed.  "Giles, this is something..." She saw the cross she'd given him still hanging around his neck.  Her hand flew to where the one he'd given her rested against her skin. "I don't think you really want to know."

Giles covered her hand with his own, fingering the talisman.  "I never take mine off," Giles said quietly, "Never."  His soft words emphasising how much her gift had meant to him, and he hoped she wouldn't be able to tell how hard he was finding it not to kiss her senseless right now.

Buffy took a deep breath, and opened her mouth to only to close before trying again. It took three attempts before she could blurt it out. "I love you, Giles."

His eyes lit up and he smiled, "I love you too, Buffy.  You know that, even when I'm not here, you, all of you, are always in my thoughts."

Buffy smiled and shook her head, "No, I love you, Giles."

His heart skipped a beat, and his eyes took on a scared yet excited shine, as he felt himself blush furiously. "Buffy, are you..." he swallowed, "telling me you're in love with me?"

It was Buffy's turn to blush. She squirmed to get out of Giles' grip and his hold tightened in response. "Umm... Giles?  You're holding me kinda tight there."

Giles ignored her comment,  "Answer the question."

Oh please oh please oh please, his racing heart pleaded.

Buffy looked at him more closely, "Giles.  You're shaking."

"Buffy?  Is that what you are saying? Are you in love with me?"

Buffy looked up into Giles eyes, and felt her breath taken away.  His guard was down and she could see that he loved her every bit as fiercely as she loved him. 

It was as if she was seeing him for the first time, and when her gaze fell upon his lips, she reached up to tentatively trace them.  She licked her lips without realising it, and inched forward slowly.  She could feel his breath, and she whispered, "Yes," before letting her lips meet his, and they were consumed in a fiery passion.  Their first kiss was everything it should have been; every emotion was expressed and accepted all with just the meeting of their lips. 

"Happy Birthday, Buffy," Giles whispered as he rested his forehead against her own.

"It is.  It really is." Buffy smiled, "My wish came true."

Giles smiled and kissed her again, "Oh yes?"

Buffy grinned. "Yeah, I always wondered what it would be like to see you jump out of a cake.  I could never picture it."

Giles poked her in the ribs, and laughed.  He looked down the stairs towards the kitchen and sobered suddenly, "What about...?"

"Willow knows.  Willow actually stomped my denial to smithereens."  Buffy winced at the memory.  "She was harsh, Giles."

"You too?"  Giles chuckled at the memory.  "She was rather adamant that I admit my feelings to myself I must say."  He caressed Buffy's cheek.  "She didn't need to be, I've known I was in love with you for a long time." He smiled sadly, "A long time."

"The Prom?"

Giles nodded slowly, "Yes.  That night you were so beautiful, and it was then that I realised you hadn't been a child for a long time.  You left your childhood behind long before you walked into the library."

A fog came over Buffy's eyes as she nodded, "Life was... different after Hemmery.  The rules had changed, and I wasn't sure where I fit in anymore.  Then we moved to Sunnydale and I felt right.  Willow, Xander..." she smiled at him and cupped his cheek, "and you.  We were like a set of matching pillows."

Giles laughed, and quirked an eyebrow.  "Matching pillows?"

"Throw rugs?" Buffy grinned, "Hey, I coulda said matching underwear, you know!"

Giles blushed, and started to giggle.  Buffy looked at him, quizzically, which just caused Giles to giggle even harder, soon enough he was having trouble breathing he was laughing so hard.  "Xander.  Underwear." He managed to gasp out.  His laughter was infectious and pretty soon Buffy found herself laughing almost as hard as he was.  They started to get their breath back, and slow the laughter down when Giles grinned and said, "So tell me was Xander the left or right cup of the bra?"

Buffy stopped laughing suddenly, and looked Giles directly in the eyes, "Who are you and what did you do to my stuffy librarian Giles?"

Giles just giggled, and shrugged before suddenly sobering, "People change, Buffy.  Every day we are changing, and we certainly aren't the person we were the day before yesterday." He smiled gently, "We've changed in just the last five minutes.  Ten minutes ago I was crouched in a cake wondering what had possessed me to agree to the idea, and now..." he gently stroked her hand with his thumb, "I'm sitting up here with you, scared witless and even more unsure than I ever have been in my life."

Buffy looked at him, "Unsure?"

"I just know any second now, you are going to remember who I am, and run screaming pretending this never happened." The pain was obvious in his eyes, and yet it was tempered by his love for her.

"What would you do if I did, Giles?" Buffy asked quietly, not wanting to hurt him further, but finding it impossible not to ask.

His eyes lost some of their shine, "I would feel my heart break, again, and wonder if the ache of being away from you would be worth it, even if you weren't in my arms." He stroked her cheek, "Being away from you is almost unbearable, I don't know how I made it through when you were gone."

Buffy smiled sadly, "I'm not leaving you."

Giles smiled back, "Good, because honestly?  I don't think my heart could take it again."

"But... I am scared too, Giles.  You're the man I've measured every man against, and they've always come up lacking.  But now I have you and... I don't want to lose you again."

"You won't." He leaned over and kissed her again, "Happy Birthday, Buffy."

"Thank you, Giles."  She closed her eyes and maneuvered herself around, and rested her head on his chest.  She took a deep breath and seemed to find strength within herself to go on.  "Okay, time for cake."

"Are you sure?" Giles didn't want to let go of her; he loved feeling her head resting against his chest.  "If you're ready..."

Buffy nodded, "As ready as I'll ever be.  Besides," she tilted her head slightly and looked up at him.  "You'll be with me.  I'm stronger when you're with me - or at least I feel stronger when you're with me."  She took his hand in hers and stood up.  Giles stood up with her, and they walked down the stairs together hand in hand.

When they reached the bottom step, Buffy pulled Giles into a big hug. "This is the last chance I'll get to have you to myself for a little while."  They stood there for a good four minutes just enjoying the love flowing between them before they heard Xander telling Willow maybe it was time to go looking for them.

"Willow, Buffy was pretty upset." They heard Xander hiss, "I thought she'd be glad to see Giles.  Think it was funny to have our ex-tweed clad librarian jump out of a cake."

"They need time, Xander.  They have things to sort out.  They'll be back when they are ready."

"Willow, I'd rather risk interrupting them now then go looking for them later and find that Buffy's knocked Giles out for some reason."

"Buffy would never do that!" Willow sounded exasperated - as if she'd been trying to stop him from going looking for them for a long time.

"Willow, it's been half an hour.  I'm all outta patience, I'm going looking."

Giles smiled at Buffy and was rewarded with the most dazzling smile back from her.  "I love you." He whispered.

"I love you, too." She whispered in reply.  They walked into the kitchen to appease Xander's franticness, their hands still clasped together.

"Hey Xand, we're fine." Buffy said smiling.  "I got my wish." She lifted her hand, still clasped with Giles and grinned.  "I got me a great big ball of Watcher loving."

Willow squealed, and wrapped them both in a big hug.  "I'm so happy!  I thought you two would never figure it out. And then I took both of you aside and yelled at you a lot and made you admit to me how you were feeling about each other and now you're together right? I'm so excited, you are together right?"  Willow was positively bouncing all over the walls.

"Yes, Willow.  Buffy and I are together." Giles' smile was a mile wide.

Xander had a lost look on his face.  "Umm, I'm still stuck on 'a big ball of Watcher loving'.  Please tell me that you don't mean that you were gone so long because - oh God, don't tell me, I don't want to know."

Giles blushed, and Buffy let go of him long enough to cuff Xander on the back of the head. "Xander! Mind in the gutter much?"

"Giles?" Dawn spoke up quietly from the corner, and smiled shyly when he turned to look at her. "Does this mean you'll be staying now?"

Buffy looked up at Giles, and sighed.  She stepped away from him and they both felt the separation keenly.  "You know, if Dawnie's not okay with this - I can't be okay with this either." She turned to look at Dawn.  "Are you okay with this?"

Dawn folded her arms, and stood up straighter and asked again, "Giles, does this mean you'll be staying - in Sunnydale? With us?"

Giles took in the look in her eye and stood straighter himself, "Yes.  I will be staying."

"You promise?" Dawn leaned forward a little. "No more leaving me behind?"

Giles nodded, knowing what Dawn was really trying to tell him because he loved her too, in the way he'd never been able to let himself love Buffy - as a father.  "No, no more.  I'm back in Sunnydale - whether I'm with Buffy or not."

Giles took a step backward as a whirlwind made of Dawn rushed into him and wrapped her arms around him tight.  "Then it's so okay you are with my sister.  I know you'll take care of her - of us."  Dawn let go of Giles and rushed over to give Buffy the same treatment, "Just don't you know do gross, disturbing things in front of me."

Buffy laughed, and made her way back to her Watcher.  She whispered in a voice loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.  "She approves of you." 

Giles smiled, and whispered back, "I'm glad.  You're still the one disciplining her."

Buffy pouted, and Giles bent down to kiss her.  They were both giddy, knowing that each had gotten their heart's desire tonight, and their family was happy to see it.

They laughed hearing Dawn's "Eww" in the background.  It was a happy birthday indeed for the Slayer, a change for which she would always be grateful.

END