TITLE: Bad Judgement 2/10
AUTHOR: Lily2332
FEEDBACK: Yes!
DISCLAIMER: They’re not mine, don’t sue.

PART TWO: "THE PROBLEM"

The slayer paced impatiently as she waited for Giles to come back down. She started up the stairs, turning halfway up and marching back down again. Buffy repeated this three times before acknowledging to herself how nervous she was. Not nervous, she realized.....excited. There were a million things that she always secretly wanted to know about Giles, and had subconsciously been planning over the past 24 hours exactly how she would find the answers to them.

Finally he appeared at the top of the stairs, wearing the clothes that she’d carefully picked out for him. She’d known the jeans would be tight, but hadn’t anticipated how they would look molded over his body. The leather jacket belonged to him, but he’d tossed it out after the first band candy incident, not knowing that Buffy had saved it from the dumpster. He strolled down the stairs purposefully, knowing that she was watching, and relishing the expressions playing out over her face. When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he walked over to Buffy and slowly slid the jacket off of his shoulders, tossing it onto the couch, giving her a questioning look.

"Well? How do I measure up, Buffy? Is this how you wanted me?" He stretched out his arms, displaying the results of her scheme. So he knew....but didn’t care? Of course he didn’t care, she reminded herself. As long as he was on the candy he’d want to stay that way.

"Um...yeah, you look great." She told him, taking a step back. He was having a difficult time grasping the boundaries of "personal space."

"Really? So you intended for the pants to fit this snug?" A grin flashed over his face, "All right, then. Do I get to pick out your clothes, in turn?" His eyes roamed over her body, eventually returning to her face. "What’re you going to church or something?" He commented on her outfit that she’d specifically chosen because he’d so liked it.

"What!?" She was offended, partially because she’d thought he would be pleased. "You-you said that it’s very.....mature! And....flattering!"

He laughed, an unrestrained kind of chuckle, that sounded so very un-Gilsey. "Yes, I remember." He mused. " I liked it. After watching you prance around wearing next to nothing while you train, it was a welcome break to be able to concentrate on something other than whether you were wearing a bra that particular day."

Her face on fire, Buffy vowed then and there she would never again leave home without a bra. Maybe even two or three, she thought irrationally as she turned away in what she knew should be anger at his brazen comments. She looked at her watch. The gang would be here any minute now. <please hurry.>

"Hey....so what’s the plan?" He asked, gesturing broadly, "Where’s the party?" He went for the door.

"No! Giles, I have an idea!" Buffy cried, a little more desperately than she’d intended. But he could *not* go out on his own like this. He’d definitely end up in trouble. She closed the door softly, leaning against it just in case. "Are you up for a road trip? A week at my dad’s cabin?"

He thought for a moment, his mood brightening slightly. "That depends....is your daddy going to be there?"

Something in his tone made her a little queasy. "No. Just the guys. Willow, Xander, Oz, you, and me." Hearing a scuffling approaching the door, she grabbed the handle, throwing it open.

"Guys!" She squealed, embracing each of them, weak with relief. Xander immediately checked out Giles, and gave Buffy an admiring look.

"I can’t believe that you actually got him on the candy." He said under his breath, but Willow overheard, gasping.

"What!? No!" But with one look at Giles, who was greatly enjoying the commotion, she could see for herself that it was true. Her hands flew to her face, eyes wide. "Buffy! Why-how-wh-wh-I can’t believe you did this!"

Oz merely watched the group in amusement. It would probably take his girlfriend the whole trip up there to finally grasp and accept this new development, but it would take Buffy less time than that to figure out that she was in way over her head.

FRIDAY 6PM:

They weren’t even on the freeway before she’d figured that one out. For starters, Giles was driving much, much too quickly, and his free hand kept finding it’s way over to her thigh; her protests just seeming to entertain him. "Giles!" She practically shouted, scooting away to the very edge of her seat. He grinned and eyed her speculatively.

"How long have we known one another, Buffy?" He asked

"Going on four years." She replied hesitantly.

"Right. So I call you ‘Buffy’ and you call me ‘Giles.’"

"And?"

"And....you should call me something friendlier. Rupert, or better yet, Ripper." With these words he trailed his fingers down her thigh, and she slapped his hand away.

"Friendlier." She repeated. "I don’t think that’s neccessary. At this point you are the friendliest person I’ve ever met.......And that’s not a compliment." She added with what she hoped was an intimidating glare.

Xander interrupted by handing a candy bar up to Giles, which he took and devoured hungrily. Buffy watched him as he ate, torn between snatching the snack from his hands, flinging it out the window or just opening the door and flinging herself onto the pavement. She was in waaaay over her head, she realized, and maybe she had started out in control, but now Giles, or God forbid, Ripper, was holding all the cards. Giles was going to kill her when he was off the candy. Buffy slumped down into her seat.

"What’s wrong, luv?" Giles asked, taking a ramp off the freeway. "You’re not having a good time? Don’t worry, you will be later." Her head snapped around to look at him, and he was giving her a private, meaningful look. She blushed in spite of herself

"Don’t count on it." She snapped.

They pulled into a gas station, and Oz took his place up in the drivers seat. Giles ran into the mini mart, returning a few minutes later. They discussed the situation while he was inside, Buffy being by far the most stressed out. The rest of the gang seemed amused and not at all concerned about the whole mess, much to the slayer’s dismay. Were they blind? Nevertheless, they all shut up once Giles returned, finding a place in the back next to Buffy. She crossed her arms around her chest protectively, looking out the window. It was hard to ignore him. His presence was inexplicably magnetic and charming, and this irritated her to no end. She peeked at him as he unzipped his jacket, several packs of cigarettes falling onto his lap.

"Giles!" She said, hating the fact that it was about the tenth time since they’d started driving that she’d scolded him in that shocked, offended tone. She sounded like a nagging mother. "Please tell me that you paid for those!"

He didn’t answer her, instead lighting up one of the cigarettes and cracking the window slightly open. He stared as her as he took a drag, narrowing his eyes. "It’s Ripper, I told you."

Buffy clenched her jaw. It was as though he were purposely pushing all her buttons. "You shouldn’t smoke." She said curtly, turning to look out the opposite window.

"In our line of work, I really don’t think that smoking will be the death of me. Might as well enjoy it while I’m still around." He exhaled a cloud of smoke as the guys up front began to sing a traveling song that Buffy didn’t recognize.

She continued to stare out of the window, realizing that in a twisted way she was getting her wish of further insight into Giles. "Is that really what you think?" She asked sadly. "That we’re going to be killed?"

Even in his irresponsible state, the watcher could see how his words had affected her. He put his hand on hers. "Hey now, of course we’re not going to be killed." He said in a gentler tone. "We’re going to give them hell, the two of us."

Somewhat appeased, Buffy turned her attention to her friends, who were still singing. What they lacked in skill and knowledge of the lyrics, they made up for by the fact that they were a nice distraction.

"Besides." Her watcher added, pulling her over close to him. "I’m not going anywhere until I get a chance to finish this-" As she opened her mouth to ask him what he meant, his mouth covered hers demandingly. Her protests made it as far as her throat, never reaching her lips as she was too busy parting them for his eager tongue. When she became aware of his hands trying to slide up her skirt, and pulled away angrily.

"You-you’re not *ever* going to finish that, so forget about it." She admonished him, hoping he wouldn’t notice the redness spreading up her neck and onto her cheeks. Not wanting to give him a chance to reply, she hopped up into the seat next to Xander.

"That’s it!" She hissed to them, not caring if Giles heard. "Starting right now, he’s off the candy! I don’t care how much trouble I get in, no more!" They just stared at her smiling these goofy smiles.

"What!?" She crankily demanded.

Willow turned all the way around from the front passenger seat. " Buffy, he’s not that bad. I think we should keep him on the candy. Just for our fun week. All in favor?"

"Aye." Oz and Xander voted in unison. Willow gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Sorry Buffy, but the majority rules. Giles is going to be a horny criminal for the next few days." Xander pointed out gleefully. She began to feel a slight throbbing in her temples, and squeezed her eyes closed.

"No...you don’t understand, Xand, he is driving me *crazy*!" She rubbed her forehead in an attempt to ease the pain.

The slayerettes exchanged pleased glances. "We know. He’s driving you crazy. Got it. Now get back there and keep an eye on him." Oz said firmly.

Buffy returned sulkily to her seat in the back, crossing her arms against her chest. She felt herself crossing over the line from cranky to downright bitchy, but couldn’t stop herself. She was scared. Of Giles, and of herself. She was in big trouble. If she kept him on the candy any longer, she’d end up either having to fight him, or.........she groaned at the alternative. If she got him off the candy, he’d never forgive her for such a breach of trust. What had she been thinking? She closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the seat. For now, the candy was the safest bet until she figured out what she would tell her watcher.

Suddenly, the van veered to the right, then the left, Buffy flew off her seat, slamming against the window. When she got back in an upright position, her eyes blazing, Giles was sitting in the drivers seat, Oz beside him, shotgun.

"What happened?" She demanded of Giles.

He gave her an innocent look, lighting up yet another cigarette. "What the hell are you talking about?" He tried to sound offended.

"What happened?" She repeated, feeling like an idiot mother whose children were pulling one over on her. She sat kneeling between the two front seats.

"It’s all right, Buffy" Willow broke in, seeing that her friend was about to lose it. "Giles and Oz just switched places. It was his idea." She pointed at Giles. "He wanted to drive, but didn’t want to stop. It’s ok." Her words were calm, but her wide eyes and breathlessness gave away her previous alarm.

"He is *not* Giles." Buffy clarified, making her way to the back to lie down. *Her* kind, understanding, non-groping Giles would never pull such a reckless stunt.

"Let me know when we get there."

NEXT