Title: Tumblin' Down 9/?
Author: Elisabeth
Email: dragonydreams@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.dragonydreams.com/
Rating: NC-17 (eventually)
Pairing: Willow/Giles
Summary: What if Riley hadn't been there to pull Willow out of harm's way during "Wild at Heart"?
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over these characters. I am merely borrowing them from Joss et al.
Distribution: My site, the usual lists, anyone with previous permission. Anyone else - please ask.
Feedback: Yes please! It makes me happy and keeps me writing.
Author's Note: Thanks to my wonderful Betas for all of your help and encouragement.
Willow was dressed and seated on the couch when Xander bounded into the apartment, without knocking.
"Hiya Wills," he greeted the redhead, dropping down next to her on the couch and pulling her into a quick hug.
Willow tried not to wince at the jostling as she returned his greeting, "Hey Xan."
"So how was the big day?" he good-naturedly asked.
Willow blushed, remembering her recent bathing at Giles' hands. "It was wonderful," she sighed.
"Geez, Will, there's no reason to get all misty over getting some stitches out."
"Stitches, right," Willow agreed, sobering. "I'm just really happy that they're gone."
"Did it hurt?"
"Not really. There was some tugging…" Willow paused as Xander began to turn a little green. "It didn't hurt. I'm a little sore now from the skin being pulled though."
"Sore from what?" came a feminine voice from behind.
Willow turned her head to see Buffy closing the apartment door, setting her backpack on the floor.
"Hey, Buff."
"Hey, Wills. I say again, 'Sore from what?'"
"Stitch removal," Xander answered, making a face.
"How was the bath?" Buffy slyly asked.
Willow ducked her head as her face turned bright red. "What bath?"
"The one you've been dying to take for the last two weeks," Buffy reminded her.
Giles, who had overheard Willow and her friends from his loft, decided to intervene. Walking down the stairs, he said, "Ah good, everyone's here."
Willow sent him a grateful look and mouthed, 'Thank you.' He nodded imperceptibly, turning his eyes back to their guests.
When Willow returned her eyes to Buffy she received another look which clearly said, 'Girl talk later.'
Xander's eyes were slightly glazed over from all the talk of Willow and baths, so he wasn't able to send Willow any silent messages.
"Yes, the troops are gathered. Is it time to circle the wagons?" Buffy wryly asked.
"I should probably be asking you that question," Giles returned, sitting in his favorite chair. "Anything interesting turning up on your patrols?"
"P-patrol?" Buffy squeaked. "Oh, um, patrol… nothing unusual. I see a vamp, I slay a vamp." She sat up straight, hoping no one caught her slip.
"Oh, Buffy," Giles sighed in disappointment, realizing that his slayer was shirking her duties.
"How's Riley?" Willow knowingly asked.
"He's good," Buffy shyly admitted, looking at her hands.
"Who's Riley?" Xander piped up.
"Buffy's new boyfriend," Willow answered.
"He's not a vampire is he?" Xander cautious asked.
"No!" Buffy exclaimed. "Why would you ask that?"
"Well… Angel," Xander gestured. The girls gave him withering stares and Xander suddenly felt very small. Thinking on his own track record he asked, "He's not some other kind of demon is he?"
"No, he's your average, ordinary, human guy." Buffy stated, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Xander, I wouldn't dig too deep if I were you," Willow told her oldest friend sympathetically. Then she whispered, "Anya."
Xander looked properly chastened.
"Are we finished categorizing everyone's significant others?" Giles wearily asked from his corner.
"Yes, Giles," the three on the couch said together, then burst into giggles. Giles rolled his eyes.
"Let me summarize then," he offered. "Buffy has been too busy with her new boyfriend to notice anything unusual on patrol. Xander has been too busy with Anya to know about Buffy's new boyfriend and Willow had her stitches out today. Does that about cover it?"
"Uh, yeah," Buffy nodded.
"Right then, I'll leave you to catch up with Willow. I have some errands to run anyway," Giles said as he stood.
"Hey, Xan, would you mind getting me a soda?" Willow asked her friend. Wanting a moment alone with Giles she suggested, "Buffy, why don't you go grab something to drink too."
Buffy gave Willow a strange look, but shook it off as she joined Xander in the kitchen.
"What was that all about," she whispered from the relative privacy of the kitchen.
Xander shrugged. "Roommate stuff?"
They poked their heads through the window between the kitchen and living room just in time to see Giles quickly kiss Willow's smiling mouth; her hand rested on his chest.
Xander opened and closed his mouth several times before sound would come out; his eyes were wide as saucers.
"That was just a friendly, 'I'll see you later' kiss, right?" he desperately asked the blonde.
Buffy shook her head to clear the image from her eyes. She felt slightly nauseous. "Oh, God I hope so."
Nervously they risked another glance, relieved to see that their friends were only speaking quietly now. The subtle glow that remained on their faces unnerved the occupants of the kitchen.
Xander quickly grabbed a couple of sodas out of the refrigerator, handed one to Buffy and headed back to the living room.
Giles abruptly stood when Xander and Buffy entered the room.
"Are we interrupting anything?" Xander snidely asked.
"Of course not," Giles replied.
"Nope. What would you be interrupting?" Willow nervously asked.
"I don't know. You tell me."
Willow and Giles shared a nervous glance. One that didn't go unnoticed by Buffy.
"Are you two, like, together now?" she quietly asked.
Giles removed his glasses, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket to clean them, avoiding looking at Buffy. Willow paled and her eyes grew wide – a sure sign that she had something to hide.
Willow and Giles hadn't really discussed what was happening between them, so neither was sure how to answer. They both wanted to believe that they were a couple, but they weren't certain of the other's feelings.
Willow decided to take the initiative. "Kind of." She sighed with relief when Giles took her offered hand, squeezing it reassuringly.
"Kind of?" Xander spluttered. "How can you 'kind of' be together?"
"We haven't really discussed it," Giles supplied, returning his glasses to his face.
"But there have been smoochies," Willow admitted.
"Ugh, bad visual place," Xander protested, covering his eyes.
"Buffy?" Giles quietly entreated the slayer. She hadn't said anything since posing her assumption. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she quietly answered. She swallowed, the said a little louder, "I'm happy for you."
Buffy wasn't sure how she felt about her best friend getting together with her watcher, but she knew better than to say anything else before she had a chance to examine her feelings. Just because she'd always considered Giles to be like a father to her didn't mean the others felt the same way. She grabbed Xander's sleeve and started pulling him out the door.
"Come on Xan, let's get you out of here before you put your foot in your mouth."
"But… but didn't you hear what they said?"
"Yes, I did. But we need time to absorb everything. Then we can give them our full support," she calmly explained. A little too calmly.
"Thank you, Buffy," Giles said, feeling a tremendous amount of pride for his surrogate daughter.
"Yeah, thanks," Willow agreed.
"We'll see you guys later."
Buffy pulled the still protesting Xander out of the apartment, leaving the couple alone.
"That went better than I expected," Willow sighed as Giles settled next to her on the couch, pulling her into his arms.
"That it did. Although that wasn't the end of it I'm sure," he agreed.
"You know Xander's going to bring up the age thing." Willow pointed out.
"And Buffy will question my patriarchal role in the group."
"And how soon this happened after Oz…"
"So how will we answer them?" Giles uncertainly asked.
"I don't know. Like you said, we haven't really talked much about what's going on here, aside from the fact that we both want to kiss each other."
"That I do," Giles agreed, demonstrating his point for several minutes.
"But is it more than just kissing feelings?" Willow asked when her mouth was free.
"Yes," Giles softly admitted. Willow's eyes widened in hope, as his hand began to caress her hair. "I promise that I won't rush you to do anything you're not comfortable with, but I would love to have a relationship with you Willow."
Willow didn't resist the urge to kiss him before giving her own answer. "Is it too soon after Oz? I honestly don't know. I don't have a whole lot of experience in the relationship department to know when too soon to move on is after having your heart broken. I want to be with you, I love waking up in your arms and I love kissing you. Is that enough to build a relationship on? Because I'd like to do that."
As much as he knew the answer might pain him, Giles had to ask, "Do you still love him?"
"Of course," Willow sadly admitted. "Am I in love with him? I don't think so. It's kinda hard to stay in love with someone after seeing them cheat on you and then skip town without so much as an explanation or a good-bye. What about you… and Olivia?"
"I was never in love with Olivia," Giles admitted.
Willow feigned shock, "Giles!"
He ruffled her hair. "You know as well as I that people don't always get together out of love. Olivia and I are friends, sometimes more, but nothing serious, and never for long."
"So you just sleep with her when you're on the same continent?" Willow asked, honestly curious. This is a side of Giles she'd never seriously contemplated before.
"Without being crass, yes. Willow, you must understand…"
Willow cut him off, "I get it. No need to get defensive. You were lonely."
"Yes, I was. Especially with you lot off discovering your own paths. So when Olivia mentioned that she would be in California…"
"You agreed to see her." Giles nodded. "I'm glad she was able to make you feel better. I'm sorry we kind of abandoned you when school started."
"You had a lot going on," he reminded her, grateful that she wasn't condemning him for his actions. "You had to adjust to living in a dorm and college life and… everything."
"That's no excuse," Willow protested. "You're our friend and we neglected you."
"If you're offering to make it up, I'll take it under consideration," Giles playfully offered.
"I think I'm up for the challenge." Willow met Giles' mouth, teasing his tongue with her own, making promises for future payments.
"Three months," she panted when they separated.
"Three months for what?" Giles asked, his kiss-fuzzy brain having no idea to what she was referring to.
"Until we can, you know, be together," Willow blushed and stammered.
Giles' eyes grew bright and he lifted an eyebrow in comprehension. "Why three months?"
"Doctor's orders," Willow said.
"That's why you didn't want me to come in with you?" Giles was floored that she'd already had the foresight to ask the doctor about making love with him.
"Yeah." Willow's blush deepened. "Just in case you wanted to… I wanted to make sure it wouldn't interfere with my healing."
"Three months," Giles repeated, suppressing the groan of disappointment, of desire. Her admission that she wanted him was enough to make him want to carry her to her bed and spend hours pleasuring her.
"At least it'll give us time to get to know each other as a couple," Willow giggled, reading Giles' expression for what it was.
"And to get your friends used to the idea of us being together," Giles agreed.
Willow began to giggle, drawing a questioning glance from Giles. "Sorry," Willow apologized, catching her breath. "I was just thinking that you should prove to Xander how not old you are the same way you showed me."
Giles joined her laughter this time. "I don't know that I'd be able to carry him around the apartment as easily."
"Then you can just carry me around in demonstration," Willow suggested.
"Now that I'd be happy to do. I love having you in my arms."
Willow sobered. "Xander will come around, eventually. Once he realizes that you make me happy, he'll be all for it, so long as he doesn't have to see it."
"Buffy won't be so easy to convince." Giles lamented.
"I know. She was pretty wigged when Olivia was in town and realized that you have a personal life that doesn't revolve around her."
"I remember. She couldn't wait to get out of the apartment," Giles mused.
"I think some part of her actually wanted you to get together with her mom," Willow told him conspiratorially. Giles looked at her in shock. "After the whole mind-reading thing when she found out about you two the night of Band Candy, after she stopped freaking out over the idea of her mom having sex with you, in public, she kinda warmed to the idea. Not of you two having sex, but, well, you know she already sees you of like a surrogate father, and her mom's her mom. I think that in her mind she wanted her mom and "dad" to be together."
"Did she tell you this?" Giles asked in awe. He had never even considered Joyce as possible dating material, even after she found out about Buffy being the Slayer, or even after that night when they were acting like teenagers. One of the main reasons he'd always considered her off-limits was the very fact that she was Buffy's mother. Should they have a relationship, and it not work out, it would have devastated Buffy even more.
"No, she never said it out loud. But best friends can tell this kind of thing from what isn't said. She'll be fine with us once she gets over the fact that you won't become a part of her family. Then she'll just have to deal with the fact that her father-figure is dating her best friend."
"That may take some time," Giles sighed, knowing how stubborn his slayer could be when things don't go as she planned.
"I know. But we've got time to wait."