Title: Love at First Bite - part 1 of 5
Author: Michelle
Rating: FRM
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Summary: Giles wears a cheesy Dracula costume for Halloween. Strange things begin to happen.
Spoilers: None really
Timeline: Season five but without Riley.
Disclaimer: These are not my characters. They belong to Joss, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB & Mutant Enemy. This is purely for fun.
Thanks to everyone that helped with this.
Buffy looked at the clock again - 8:15. "Where are they?" she asked herself just before the phone rang. "Hello."
"Hey, Buff. I can't make it to the party. Something's come up."
"Will, this was your idea," Buffy protested. "You have to come."
"Sorry. I'd come if I could, but there's. . . stuff, and I just can't make it," Willow said before hanging up.
"Great. First Anya canceled. Now Willow can't come, and Tara won't come without her. How am I supposed to have a slumber party by myself? That's no fun." She finally stopped babbling when she heard a knock at the door.
Buffy opened the door and had to take a step back when she saw who was there. "Giles, what are you doing here?" He was wearing a vampire costume. He looked like something from an old black and white horror movie. He might have looked dashing - except for the cape with the upturned collar and the slicked back hair. She blinked several times. "I thought you were. . . What are you doing here?"
"I was told there was a party," he said simply.
"It was supposed to be a girls' night kinda thing," Buffy told him.
"Not a costume party?" Giles asked.
"No. Why would you think that?"
"Willow led me to believe I should wear a costume." He stepped back. "Perhaps I should leave."
"No," she blurted out. "Please stay. No one else is coming. They all canceled on me. If you leave, I'll be here alone."
"Well, I feel ridiculous in this costume. I have a change of clothes in the car. Maybe I should -"
"Don't. I like the costume," she admitted. "It's a little cheesy, but I like it. It reminds me of the old horror movies I sometimes watch with Dawn. As long as you don't try to talk with a bad accent or put in fake vampire teeth, we'll be fine. We can even pretend that this is actually a costume I'm wearing. She gestured to the satin pajamas and bathrobe she was wearing."
As he walked inside, he asked, "And what costume would it be?"
"I'm a damsel in distress," she said as she shut the door.
**********
"We didn't have anything special planned," Buffy said as they walked to the kitchen. "We were going to eat a lot, watch scary movies, tell ghost stories."
"I'm certain Anya would have told some interesting stories." He walked to the stove and picked up the tea kettle. "I'll make some tea while you prepare the snacks."
"This could be fun," Buffy said as she began slicing some apples. "We can do some Watcher/Slayer bonding. We don't do enough of that. We can still tell stories. I'm sure you have lots of stories to share." The sound of Giles almost dropping the teapot made her spin around. Unfortunately, she lost control of the knife she was holding and cut her hand. "Ow!"
In an instant, Giles was by her side, taking her hand in his. Rather than wrapping her hand or running it under the faucet, he brought it to his lips and kissed it, then sucked the blood from the wound.
Buffy was shocked, but didn't pull her hand away. Instead she placed her other hand on his chest. 'He's still warm, and he's got a heartbeat,' she thought. 'So, what's going on? He's never done anything like this before.' She cleared her throat. "Giles? Maybe you should get the first aid kit."
He stopped abruptly and dropped her hand. "The first aid kit," he mumbled before leaving the room.
By the time he returned, she had washed her hand. He dried it gently before applying the bandage. "Thanks. I don't know what happened," she told him. "I guess the knife just slipped."
Any response he might have made was interrupted by the whistle of the tea kettle. He turned and pulled it off the stove. "Go pick a movie to watch. I'll bring out the tea and snacks."
She spared him a worried glance before leaving the room. "This is gonna be a strange night."