Title: The Six Inch Rule
Series: The Six Inch Rule
Author: Saint Buffy
Pairing: B/G
Rating: PG-13 I think, for mild sexual references and violence
Spoilers: Season Three, but not really
Feedback: Much appreciated
Disclaimer: I know, I know, they don't belong to me. Don't sue.
Summary: Joyce is coming to terms with her discovery of Buffy's birthright, and makes one demand in response, asking Buffy and Giles to stay at least six inches away from each other at all times. How will they manage?
Author's Note: I'm returning to the good old library days. (Faith is good, Angel is sulking in Crawford Street, Giles is still Buffy's official watcher.)
This was inspired by something I read at Chosen. Apparently, on the voice over for the season one DVDs, Joss was talking about a six-inch rule, where Buffy and Giles weren't supposed to get within six inches of each other, in case it looked like Something Else. I loved the sound of that.

"Harder!"

The library was quiet, the lights dimmed, and the school was deserted. The only sounds came from themselves, her soft grunts and his words of encouragement.

"Harder. Squeeze me…right there," Giles said, breathing hard. "Yes!" Buffy groaned.

"You're so big," she said, panting heavily.

Giles straightened.

"You're not swinging your hips. Take my weight on your hips and twist me round."

"Okay."

He moved back into position, one arm wrapped around Buffy's waist. She grabbed the top of his arm and swung, and this time, the new move worked and Giles sailed over her hips to land on the mat beneath them. Buffy followed through, pushing his chest down with one hand as she straddled him and brought out her blunt old training stake.

"I did it!" she yelled triumphantly, pressing the tip of her stake into his chest. Giles stared proudly up at her. "Slayer move number three hundred and fifty, and it's all mine."

"Good work, Buffy," Giles said warmly, giving her one of his rare smiles. She smiled back down at him, glowing from his praise and the thrill of her achievement.

The noise of someone clearing their throat interrupted them. Slayer and watcher looked up as one, to see the stern figure of Joyce Summers, arms folded, standing over them.

Buffy scrambled off his hips quickly, and bounced to her feet.

"Mom!" she said, still a little breathless. She gave a hand to help her watcher up. "What are you doing here?"

"Actually, I wanted to have a chat with you and Mr Giles," Joyce said, giving Giles a look as he rose to his feet. Ever since Joyce had found out that Buffy was the slayer, she had been giving Giles these looks, looks Buffy recognised as her mom's `I'm choosing to blame this on you' stare, the most frightening in Joyce's repertoire. The slayer moved instinctively in front of her watcher, trying to shield him from her mother's eyes.

"What, er, what would you like to discuss?" Giles asked nervously, gesturing towards the table. The three of them moved to sit down, Joyce on one side of the table, Giles on the other. Buffy looked around, noticing that the other chairs were spread around the library, and perched on the arm of Giles's seat instead. Joyce cleared her throat again.

"I've been thinking, about this whole thing with Buffy, and I've got some questions," she begun. Buffy and Giles exchanged a look.

"Questions?" Buffy prompted. Joyce seemed to take a deep breath.

"Mainly about the relationship between the two of you," she said, nodding accusingly across the table. Buffy frowned.

"Why-" she began, feeling Giles tense in his seat beside her.

"Mrs Summers, I assure you, nothing… improper has ever occurred between your daughter and I," he said stiffly.

"Mom!" Buffy said, suddenly working out what her mother was implying. "Please!"

"I have nothing but respect and admiration for your daughter," Giles continued, and Buffy felt another glow. She rested her hand on his shoulder, silently thanking him as they faced Mrs Summers.

"I'm not questioning that," Joyce said, although her tone implied otherwise. "I just want to show you two how it looks, from the outside. Buffy has been spending night after night alone with you in this deserted place-"

Both Buffy and Giles objected to this, Buffy getting her words in first.

"Mom, it's not like that! Willow and Xander are around most of the time- and it's not like that!"

"I would never dream of compromising Buffy in any way," Giles added, seemingly calm. Only Buffy heard the undertone of anger powering his speech.

Joyce looked from one face to the other, unbending.

"Nevertheless, I am willing to support Buffy with her… work, if both of you follow one rule," she said, in a seemingly reasonable tone of voice. Buffy braced herself for the worst.

"What?" she asked suspiciously. Joyce took a deep breath.

"For the sake of decency, I want you two to stay at least six inches apart at all times. I don't want you laying your hands on each other," she decreed.

Buffy saw Giles's hurt look before he suppressed it, and it only made her angrier.

"Mom, that's ridiculous," she cried. "How can we train if he can't touch me?" For a moment, she wondered why she was complaining about the loss of Giles's touch, but she squashed it. The way her mom was talking, you would have thought they were groping at every opportunity. Suddenly she felt Giles's shoulder beneath her hand, and tightened her grip stubbornly. "We're not doing anything wrong!"

"Surely you can train with Faith," her mother replied calmly.

"I want Giles!" Buffy replied, aware of how that sounded, but for the moment, unable to care.

"Buffy," Giles said quietly. "If your mother is willing to support your role as the slayer, then the least we can do is adhere to her wishes." He punctuated his words by taking her hand in his, so gently and carefully it almost hurt, and lifting it from his shoulder. He moved away, letting go of her, and fetched another chair.

Buffy watched him, and glared at her mother.

"This is stupid," she said, knowing that Giles's agreement left her no choice but to follow.

"But you'll do it?" her mother asked, and stood as Buffy nodded sullenly. "Thank you. Both of you."

Giles gave Joyce a weak smile from where he sat at a distance. His smile faded as he looked at Buffy, trying silently to communicate something Buffy couldn't understand.

"Shall I take you home?" Joyce asked, and Buffy rose.

"As my training has been pretty much wrecked, you may as well," she said, and stormed out of the library without another word.

Buffy couldn't bring herself to speak to her mother on the way back. She was so angry with her, for coming to all the wrong conclusions about her relationship with Giles. Just as Giles had begun to settle down, and lose some of his self-consciousness, Buffy thought. They would both be watching themselves from now on, censoring their speech, wondering how it looked if they were alone more than five minutes.

"I'm just trying to protect you, Buffy," her mother said as they pulled into Revello Drive.

"You can't protect me, Mom. I'm the slayer. I'm the one who does the protecting," Buffy said bitterly.

"I'm your mother, it's my job to look after you," Joyce replied. "You can't shut me out."

"I'm not!" Buffy replied, frustrated. No matter what, her mother always managed to hijack the moral high ground, turning everything into this same old fight. "I know you worry about me, but it's totally misplaced! Giles and I have never done anything wrong."

"You hid your relationship from me, Buffy," her mother said. "You lied to me."

"To protect you! Giles said-" Buffy realised as she spoke that anything prefixed with `Giles said' was probably not going to win her mother round, but it was too late now- "Giles said it would be safer if you didn't know, if you weren't in the line of fire. And we are not having a relationship," she finished through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry, Buffy, but I've made up my mind," Joyce said firmly, pulling the car onto their drive, and Buffy knew that it was the end of the conversation. < Of all the things she could have picked to protect me
from, > Buffy thought, remembering endless vampires, demons and heartbreak. < She chooses Giles. >

Giles stood in his kitchen, weighing two potatoes in his hands. Finally choosing one, he threw the other back in the direction of the sink and started to peel. He watched absently as the knife worked over the wet skin, his mind somewhere else.

With someone else. Giles had told one memorable lie today. It troubled him slightly that he wasn't sure if it was the only one, but- one memorable lie.

"I would never dream of compromising Buffy in any way." He had stopped short of giving Mrs Summers his word on the matter as he realised as soon as he said it, that he was lying through his teeth. He dreamt about compromising Buffy in many, many ways, every day, when he was with her, and when he was alone.

He sighed as he worked a knot out of the vegetable, mind slipping to ideas of touching his slayer, running his fingers through her hair, kissing her face and her mouth.

< Never going to happen, > he reminded himself harshly. Her words replayed themselves in his mind, the flush of something he had felt when she said `I want Giles.' To train with, of course. Nothing more. She thought the whole thing was ridiculous.

The last thing he wanted to do was lose her trust, lose the easy relationship they had developed, that had seen them through so much.

He stared down, and for the life of him, couldn't remember what fate he had planned for the potato in his hand. < Pull yourself together, man > he thought sternly, trying to clear his mind of the slayer's all- pervading presence, and failing as usual.

Moments later, the sorry vegetable had been discarded, and Giles was pouring himself the first drink of a long evening. He had already been trying not to wrap his arms around his slayer since she appeared on his doorstep that day after the summer; Joyce's rule took his idea to extremes, but in a way he was glad. In training, Buffy's slender body over his was sometimes almost more than he could bear. At least, this way, although it would be awkward, he would be safe. She would be safe.

Willow and Xander were arguing about something when Buffy entered the library the next morning.

"I did not," Xander said, looking hunted. Buffy glanced around, dropping her bag on to the library table, and spotted Giles coming out of the book cage. He looked exhausted.

"You did," Willow said, looking through a book on the table. Giles gave Buffy a look, asking her silently if she was okay. She smiled a little sadly in reply and settled at the table.

"What have you done this time, Xand?" she asked with a sigh.

"Nothing, that's the whole point," Willow replied before he could speak. "He promised that if I did his trig homework last week, he'd go to Math Club with me for the competition on Friday."

"I did not!" Xander tried one last time, then caved under a look from his friends. "Okay, okay, I'll do it."

"Why isn't Oz going with you?" Buffy asked Willow.

"The Dingoes are playing that evening," Willow said, shooting a triumphant look at Xander. Buffy nodded.

"Oh yeah," she said, distracted by the sight of Giles disappearing into his office. < Is he avoiding me? > she wondered, more aware of his movements than ever before.

"How was training last night, Buff?" Willow asked, making Buffy refocus on her friends.

"Oh, you know," she shrugged, and considered telling them what had happened. "The usual," she finished lamely, as the bell rang.

Willow and Xander got to their feet.

"Ooh, it's chemistry!" Willow said excitedly as Xander and Buffy groaned. "Come on, you guys."

"You go ahead," Buffy said, gesturing towards the door. "I'm just going to talk to Giles about something."

They gave her funny looks, but left, still arguing about Math Club.

Buffy put her head around the office door. Giles stood with his back to her, going through a file on his desk. She shuffled her feet a little and he turned.

"Good morning," he said, smiling awkwardly.

"Hey," Buffy replied softly, leaning against the door. She folded her arms. "I'm not happy."

He gave her a searching look, and turned back to his desk.

"It could be a lot worse," he said, looking down at his file. "She could have forbidden us to see each other."

The romantic connotations of the phrase struck them both at the same time, and they smiled ironically.

"See what she's done, though?" Buffy said quietly, moving to perch on the edge of Giles's bookcase. He moved back instinctively. "She's made everything…"

He watched her face as she tried to think of the right word, green eyes unreadable. "Different," Buffy finished, wrapping her arms around herself.

"I'll call Faith, and ask her to stop by for training after school," Giles offered, obviously trying to make Buffy feel better. She smiled weakly at him.

"Thanks," she said, wanting to add, `but it won't be the same.'

"You'd better get to class," he said eventually. Buffy met his eyes again, wondering if he was feeling as uncomfortable as she did.

"Yeah," she agreed miserably, and left the office.

Chemistry had never been Buffy's favourite subject, but she found it even harder to concentrate than usual. She felt that she and Giles had silently decided not to tell the others about their new rule, and Buffy was glad. Things were weird enough between them without the others watching their every move.

"Are we Bronzing tonight?" Xander asked as they left the class, swinging his arms, relieved to be free again. Buffy shrugged.

"I'm going to be training with Faith, then patrolling, but after that I could put in an appearance," she said.

"Quite the slayer socialiser," Xander teased in reply.

"Training with Faith? What happened to Giles teaching you those new moves?" Willow, ever the vigilant best friend, wanted to know.

"Oh, that's all over. On to slayer synchronicity now," Buffy improvised, wishing she'd thought this part out in advance.

"No more watcher-slayer stuff?" Willow asked, sounding confused.

"No. The watcher-slayer bondage is all over. Bonding. Bonding is all over." Buffy felt a slow blush rise through her face as Xander and Willow giggled over her mistake. "Yeah, yeah, I made a mistake," she added, trying to sweep the slip aside. It was bad enough that Willow had noticed something strange about the sudden halt in her training with Giles, without Buffy putting even more ideas in her head.

"Funny mistake," Xander said, grinning like a small child. Suddenly he frowned. "Bad mental images though."

Faith was waiting for her as Buffy entered the library after school. The second slayer had set up the dummy and dumped a selection of weapons on the library table, and now stood in her sweats, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet. Giles was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey," Buffy said, dropping her bag in a corner. She missed Giles suddenly, acutely, but told herself not to be stupid. She had seen him earlier, and would see him again tomorrow. Nothing had changed.

"Hey, B," Faith said, crackling with energy. "Let's get to it."

They had trained together before. Giles said it was good for them to learn each other's style, each other's moves, so they would work better as a team. Buffy saw the sense in that and concentrated on studying the other slayer's moves, copying when she admired, and making suggestions when she didn't.

It wasn't the same, though. There was a sense of underlying competition between them, and a lot of time wasted as they chatted idly about various subjects. As a result, when the slayers split up to patrol the cemeteries, dividing the town between them, Buffy still felt the restless energy her training sessions usually dispelled, and her usual level of focus was impossible to achieve. Still, she managed to dust two vamps easily, almost wishing she had kept the second around for longer before delivering the mercy blow.

"God!" she shouted in frustration as the second vampire dispersed in front of her. For the life of her, she couldn't understand why she missed training with Giles so much, missing his instruction, his support, his-

She stopped her brain from continuing at this point, but unlike her mouth, which could be closed, her mind continued despite her instructions. She missed his touch, some part of her said, missed the feel of his body, his solidity and- warmth. The warmth of the human body was something fascinating to the slayer, since her encounter with Angel. Giles lived; he breathed, he ate and slept. He was the only man she had ever known to feel so alive to her, even beneath the layers of tweed. His touch, sparingly given, had always been reassurance and safety to Buffy, humanity and foundation. She had thought that Angel was her whole world; now she knew she had been wrong.

With a scowl, Buffy marched out of the last graveyard to the park where she was meeting Faith. Her mom had destroyed all of that, she thought, taking the most natural thing in the world, the relationship between a watcher and a slayer, and making it seem sordid and cheap. When there was nothing else like it, Buffy thought. She could have lovers and friends and wonderful teachers and nothing would ever compete. Faith was waiting for her, once again, when Buffy arrived at the park.

"Any fun?" she asked, hopping down from the back of a bench.

"Depends if you would call two baby vamps fun," Buffy replied. Faith's face fell.

"Oh," she said. Suddenly she brightened. "I had a little red demon, that was kinda new."

"Good for you," Buffy said with a smile. They began to walk out of the park in silence. Buffy remembered she was going to meet her friends at the Bronze, and wondered if she should change out of her patrolling outfit.

"Maybe we could-"

A sudden scream interrupted them, and both slayers turned instinctively to the left. A woman stood, frozen, screaming for longer than even Buffy's slayer lungs could have managed.

"Where's the bad guy?" Faith yelled above the woman's screaming, a stake suddenly in her hand, as both slayers ran towards the woman.

Buffy reached the woman first, and grabbed hold of her arms.

"Hey," she said, trying to calm her down. The woman was still screaming, scratching wildly at Buffy with her nails. "You're-"as Buffy spoke, she saw long cuts opening on the woman's face and neck, as if someone was attacking her with a knife. "What the-"

The woman's scream finally gave out, and she collapsed. Buffy lowered her to the ground and frantically checked for a pulse.

"She's dead," she said, unable to believe what had happened.

Faith ripped the woman's sleeve up to reveal long cuts up her arms. More blood was seeping through chest, and staining her trousers.

"What the hell?" Faith wondered as they examined the body further. "But there's nothing around," she continued, confused. Buffy looked down at the woman's frozen, terrified face. Someone else she hadn't managed to save.

"Let's go," she said roughly, getting to her feet. "Nothing we can do here."

Buffy sat at the library table, worrying a bracelet between her fingers. Giles watched her, trying to keep his face smooth, wishing he could reach out and-

"The coroner's report says she died of a massive heart failure," Willow reported from behind the computer. Giles shook himself, and nodded.

"Scared to death," he said.

"I don't understand, Giles," Buffy said, twisting the bracelet into knots. "She was so scared, and there was nothing attacking her. Absolutely nothing. I mean, she had all these cuts, they kept just appearing all over her-" Buffy stopped herself and swallowed. "Do you have any idea what could do that to someone? I've never seen anything like it."

Giles sat back with a sigh. "Nothing comes to mind," he admitted. "Some demons are, er, unpleasant enough to cause their victims to die of fright, but they would have to be present, obviously, to have such an effect. And the cuts, no, I've never come across anything like that before."

"Neither have I," Buffy said miserably.

The bell rang, interrupting as Willow opened her mouth to speak.

"I'll check the net after class," Willow promised, standing up. Willow, Oz and Xander rose from their seats and headed automatically for the door. Giles stood, pushing his hands awkwardly into his pockets, as Buffy gathered her books together.

"Did she hurt you?" Giles asked softly when the library doors had shut. Buffy slipped her books into her bag and looked up at him. She pulled her sleeves up wordlessly to reveal the red scratch marks the woman had left.

Seeing the dramatic lines which crossed up Buffy's arm, Giles hissed and immediately reached for her arm.

Their eyes met as his hand hovered, inches away from her flesh. He lowered it reluctantly.

"Do they sting?" he asked, managing to speak almost normally, although he couldn't tear his eyes from hers. Buffy shook her head silently. "Or hurt, more than you think they should?"

"No," she replied, pulling her sleeve down slowly. He swallowed and looked away.

"Probably nothing supernatural about them, then," he said, retreating a few paces.

Buffy stood for a moment longer, hesitating over something.

"Are you all right?" he asked her softly, wishing her could take her into his arms and soothe away the obvious shock of this poor woman's death. But they would never touch each other like that, he reminded himself, even before the six inch rule.

"I have to get to class," she said hoarsely, and left before he could say another word.

"And I might have been infected by some supernatural scratches," Buffy said, slamming a cupboard door shut, "And Giles couldn't examine the marks because you won't let him touch me!"

Joyce shut the door of the dishwasher and stood to confront her daughter again.

"Are you infected with something supernatural?" she asked.

"No, but that's not the point," Buffy retorted. "The point is… the point is, this rule is stupid and it's affecting my slaying."

"I'm sure you'll adjust."

"I shouldn't have to adjust!"

"Buffy, listen to me." Joyce folded her arms over her chest and fixed her daughter with a stare. "Last year you had sex with a man, a vampire, before you even told me you were dating him. Then I find out that you've been spending all of your spare time in the company of a man old enough to be your father-"

"That's got nothing to do with it!" Buffy cut in, then wondered why the hell she had said such a thing.

"And you've been sneaking around behind everyone's back with Angel…" her mother took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, but you can see why I can't trust you."

Buffy stared at her. "You're saying you can't trust me with Giles because of the way I behave with Angel? God, Mom, what kind of a girl do you think I am?"

"Buffy! How dare you talk to me like that!" her mother said, and Buffy knew that the battle was lost. She turned and stalked upstairs without another word.

Buffy was still furious the next morning, her anger driving her out of bed and out of the house before her mother got up. As a result, she was at the school far too early. She sat by herself in the student's lounge for a while, staring at nothing, then pushed herself up and went to the library.

"Giles?" she called as she came in, then slowed to a halt in the quiet space. The library table was still covered in books, as it had been when she left. Giles's tweed jacket was slung over a chair, and the book cage was open. The book cage was never left unlocked unless Giles was there.

Buffy walked towards his office, feeling as if she should keep quiet. She knocked for some reason then poked her head around the door.

"Giles?"

He was asleep, face down on his desk, slumped over an open book. Buffy crept towards him.

He wore the same clothes he had been in the day before, she noticed, realising with a pang of guilt that her watcher hadn't been home since yesterday. His waistcoat and tie had been discarded, his shirt now creased and used-looking. His left arm lay over his desk, with his glasses nestled in the curve of his fingers. His right arm was bent beneath his head as a pillow.

Buffy crouched on the floor beside him, looking up into his sleeping face. Hair standing on end, he wore the preoccupied expression of the deeply asleep, his breath coming steadily through his nose, his long eyelashes, eyelashes Buffy herself would kill for, resting on his cheek. Buffy was fascinated. She had never looked at her watcher so closely before, but now she took everything in, the shadow of a day old beard, an old scar on his neck, the creases around his eyes and mouth. She lifted a finger, wanting to run it along the line of his cheekbone, and froze.

Her mother. The rule. And anyway, what would she say if he woke up? Good morning Giles, I was just taking advantage of you being asleep to feel you up?

It wasn't the first time she had come into the library first thing in the morning to find Giles asleep at his desk. Usually she roused him with a quick shake of his shoulder and a sarcastic comment. Today she couldn't bring herself to do either. The marks under his eyes were so dark he looked as if someone had smeared makeup over his skin. Buffy wondered how little sleep he had got in the last few days, resting her head against the side of his desk, content to watch him sleeping for the moment. She read him, as if he was a book she was about to be tested on, probing her feelings, memorising the sight in front of her.

He snorted in his sleep. In the quiet room, the sound jolted Buffy back a few inches, and she scrambled to her feet. He didn't stir.

"Giles?" she said. "Giles." More firmly this time, trying to wake him up. He didn't move.

Buffy glared at him and debated whether or not to touch him. He always woke up when she did that, she recalled, and hesitantly reached out to touch his warm shoulder.

"Giles," she murmured again, squeezing his shoulder slightly, "Time to wake up." His muscles felt firm, relaxed beneath her hand. Buffy sighed. "Come on, Giles." She moved her hand from his shoulder to his face without thinking, and smoothed back some of his ruffled hair.

His eyes fluttered open prettily, and landed on her face. He smiled.

"Buffy…" he murmured warmly, voice a little rough from sleep. Then his eyes opened wider, and he sat up. "What?"

Buffy removed her hand from his hair as if she had been burnt.

"Morning, Giles," she said, trying to sound casual. "Have a good sleep there?" He was red, embarrassed, trying to make himself more presentable.

"I, er," he said, fumbling to put his glasses on. "What are you doing here?"

Buffy's mind went blank for a moment, before she thought of the books that lay scattered around them.

"Research," she said, "I was wondering how the research was going."

"Oh. Oh, er, yes, it's going quite well, actually," he said, scrabbling around on his desk for something.

"You know what did it?" Buffy asked. Giles nodded.

"I am fairly sure. There is a demon- very rare, hardly documented, but luckily a watcher from the seventeenth century-"

"Giles." She kept her face calm, bored looking, although hearing his familiar digressions had sent a surge of something new through her body.

"Oh, er, sorry. I think it was a tracarla demon."

"Tracarla?" Buffy sat on the edge of his desk.

"Yes. They don't have any- any physical body, in this dimension, yet they infect the minds of the victims to make them think they are being attacked." Buffy frowned.

"But Giles, I saw the cuts appearing on this woman- they were definitely there."

Giles nodded, running a hand through his hair absently.

"They were real. The demon," he said, and sighed. "It's particularly unpleasant. They force the idea of a physical attack into the victim's mind, and then it manifests."

Buffy stared at him. "That's gross," she said. Her watcher nodded up at her. "They think they've been cut, so they are?"

"Quite," Giles said, giving her a strange smile and rising to his feet. Buffy moved back to let him past, feeling the material of his pants brush against her bare leg. < Just broken the rule, > she thought, then remembered the heavy touching she had been doing a few minutes earlier and put the whole line of thought to one side.

"So how do I kill it?" she asked, following Giles into the main part of the library.

"That's, er, that's the part I don't yet know," he admitted. Buffy was silent, looking at the books piled high on the table, at the signs of Giles's almost permanent residence in the library.

"Thanks," she said abruptly. He turned to her, looking confused.

"I'm sorry?"

"For all this," she said, waving a hand at the books. "It must be hard work."

He looked away, embarrassed.

"I honestly don't mind it," he assured her.

"But you must rather be at home, watching the- or, with a good book," she amended, remembering her watcher's tastes.

"Actually, I- well. Thank you, Buffy, but it's nothing."

She stared at him as he flicked through the books on the table, wondering what he had been about to say. Then she thought of his home, his small, neat apartment, and added to it an image of Giles there by himself, reading a book or making a pot of tea. By himself.

"Do you get lonely?" she asked, then wished she hadn't. It was all her brain's fault, for thinking harder about her watcher in one morning than she had for the rest of the time she had known him, leaving her with no time to run questions past her mind before she asked them aloud. He looked up at her, startled, almost dropping the book he held.

"I, er, well, I- why do you ask?" he stuttered, obviously avoiding the question. Buffy shrugged, embarrassed.

"I was just thinking," she said, coming to sit at the table. She took a book and began to look through it, not caring that it wasn't in a language she even recognised, trying to give her watcher space to recover.

He sat opposite her, watching intently, head on one side. "Thank you for showing an interest," he murmured, so politely that Buffy almost missed the sarcasm in his voice. She glared at him.

"Excuse me. I was just-" the bell rang, cutting her off, and Buffy grabbed her bag. "I'll see you later."

She hurried out so fast she almost missed his quiet goodbye.

< This is insane, > she thought in English. The teacher droned on about something, but Buffy was past the stage of even knowing what the woman was talking about. It would be ironic, if it wasn't so… ironic. By trying to prevent Buffy and Giles from touching each other, her mother had filled Buffy's head with thoughts of touch, which were escalating into thoughts of stroking that soft hair she had felt earlier, running her hands over her watcher's body, she thought stubbornly, imagining how little her mother would like that.

As the day wore on, Buffy's thoughts about her mother, her anger towards the woman, slowly faded, leaving the image of her watcher untainted in her mind. He crowded her vision, blurred it, making her look at the world through a screen of Giles. The subtle scent of his clothes, the lull of his voice, the essence of his movements surrounded her, shutting her off from the rest of the world. She barely heard what her friends were talking about as they ate lunch, picking at her meal, not even noticing what she ate.

< This is insane, > she thought once again. < I only want what I can't have. > She knew enough to know that this was sound territory, psychologically speaking. The grass is always metaphorically greener.

"It's a bunch of crap, anyway," Xander said, cutting through her thoughts. Buffy looked up.

"Xander," Willow said warningly. He waved her off.

"It is. So he was locked up. At least he could see the chick he loved. Arcite couldn't even do that."

"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked abruptly.

"Nice to see how involved you get in our conversations," Cordelia shot back. "The English lesson," Willow explained. Buffy stared at her blankly. "Chaucer? The Knight's Tale?"

"Also nice to see your involvement in English class," Xander added.

"Two guys are in love with the same woman," Oz explained. "One- Arcite- gets banished. He's free but he'll never see the woman he loves again."

"The other guy, Palamon, is locked up in a tower. He can see the woman every day, but he has no freedom," Willow finished. The others looked at Buffy expectantly.

"Seeing's no good if you can't touch them," she said, then winced inwardly. "I just mean…" she tried to sound more like herself, sitting up in her seat and pushing her lunch away. "They both sound pretty crappy to me," she finished lamely.

"You okay, Buffy?" Willow asked. The slayer looked up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. Willow's look stayed the same. "I mean, I'm kinda worried about this new demon…"

"Have you spoken to Giles about it?" Willow asked.

"Yeah," Buffy said. "He said that it's probably a…" she couldn't remember the name of the demon and waved a hand instead. "A demon, that infects people's minds. They think they're being stabbed so they are. Then they die of fright."

The Scoobies took this in silently for a moment.

"But… slayable, right?" Xander said. Buffy shrugged.

"Not sure. It doesn't have a physical presence, which makes it kinda hard to pummel."

"We'll think of something, Buffy," Willow said encouragingly, and the others nodded.

"We could force it into a lamp, like with the evil guy in Aladdin," Cordelia suggested with a triumphant smile.

"Something like that," Buffy agreed, then stood up. "I'm going to check in with Giles," she said, and the others stood as well. Willow gathered a stack of books up, looking excited.

"Research mode," she said, half to herself, a feverish look in her eyes. Buffy and Xander exchanged a look.

"That's my girl," Oz replied, and the group headed towards the library.

The phone rang several times before anyone answered. Giles paced up and down his office, nervous, glancing through the window, half expecting to see Principal Snyder bearing down on him. He smiled humourlessly at the thought. This rule was getting out of hand- he couldn't think of Buffy without imagining touching her, kissing her, pushing her on to the desk in his office and-

"Hello?"

"Buffy?"

"Giles?"

He sat back on his desk.

"I think I have an answer to the problem of the tracarla demon," he said, opening a book in front of him. "Can you come to the library?"

"No problem…" The phone was silent for a moment. "Did you see the news?" Her voice was quiet.

"I did. Buffy, there was nothing you could have done."

"I know… I know. But this creep has killed two people now."

"He won't kill again, Buffy, I promise." He was always making her promises, he thought. He only hoped he could keep this one. "Do you know where Faith is?"

"No… she's not at the motel?"

"No. I'll try again, but I imagine you could handle this by yourself," he said, trying to keep the pride out of his voice and only partly succeeding. He imagined her smile.

"I'll be there in ten minutes." She hung up. Giles replaced the receiver slowly, and ran a hand through his hair and sat at his desk.

"Giles?" Buffy let the library door swing shut behind her, stepping quietly into the darkened room. He appeared in the doorway to his office. "Hey."

She walked towards him, stopping a few feet away.

"Good evening," he said, watching her face.

"What's the what?" she asked, trying to be businesslike, bracing her hands against her hips. He looked away, gesturing into the office.

"I'm making a- a potion which should kill the demon."

"How?" Buffy asked, following him into the office. Herbs and roots were scattered over the desk, and the kettle stood nearby. Buffy picked up a strange looking root and sniffed it warily. "I knew there was a reason I was worried about your cooking."

He gave her a look and began to boil the kettle.

"All I have to do is mix the ingredients, let them stew for a few minutes, then, er, bless them in the name of a Babylonian God."

"Then add salt and bring it to the boil," Buffy quipped. Giles sighed and turned to her.

"Buffy, please," he began, but she waved him off.

"I'm sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood," she said, inadvertently straying into unspoken territory. Giles turned away.

"It won't take long," he said.

She watched as he spoke the words of the blessing, awkwardly in a language which was apparently just as unfamiliar to him as it was to her. They waited a moment, both watching the murky liquid, before it mystically cleared, the greenish tinge vanishing. Giles nodded in satisfaction.

"There we are," he said, deftly pouring the potion into an old jam jar. He tightened the lid and turned to pass it to her. Buffy reached out her hand.

Their fingers brushed accidentally as he handed her the jar. A simple touch, fingers together, innocent and gone in a moment. They both froze.

"Sorry," Giles said, and backed away a few feet.

That was it.

"For God's sake!" Buffy cried, leaping to her feet, the potion banging onto the surface behind her. He looked up. "This is totally ridiculous-"

"Buffy," Giles began, but Buffy had crossed the space between them and wrapped her arms around his startled neck. Before she realised what she was doing, she had lifted herself on to her toes, roughly pulling his head down to kiss his mouth.

She shut her eyes stubbornly, feeling his widen in shock. His arms were frozen by his sides for a moment before he lifted them to try and gently prize her away.

As soon as his hands fell on her shoulders, Buffy felt a breath go out of him, his resolutions vanishing. She smiled against his mouth as he pulled her closer, mouth tasting hers gently, then more passionately as she responded.

They drew away slowly. Her eyes opened warily to look into his.

"Sorry," she whispered, still wrapped in his arms, her hands resting against his warm chest. "I didn't mean to do that." She stopped him as he began to move away. "Well I kinda did," she amended, and reached up to kiss him again.

This time was slower, filled with wonder. They both shivered as their tongues brushed together for the first time, and Buffy felt herself weaken in his arms as he explored her mouth. She opened her eyes as he reluctantly drew away.

"Buffy, this can't… we can't do this," he said, brushing her hair away from her face, his eyes tender and sad. Buffy gripped his arm.

"What?"

"You're a student here, it wouldn't be right," he explained softly. Buffy shook her head.

"Who cares? I want-"

"I care," he interrupted gently. "I'm sorry, Buffy, but I would feel I was taking advantage of you."

"You wouldn't do that," she insisted, refusing to let up her grip on his arms. "I know you."

He shook his head. "I can't, Buffy, it would be wrong. I'm so sorry."

She stared up at him for a long moment, unable to take it in. "If you can be patient, until after you graduate, I'll wait for you," he offered. Buffy nodded slowly, leaning forward to rest her head against his chest.

He stroked her back soothingly as they clung together.

"Graduation. That's not too long," Buffy said, and he nodded, both of them trying not to think that she might not make it.

"I'd better go get the demon," she said eventually, pulling away with a nervous laugh. Giles released her, stepping back, running a hand through his hair.

"Yes, I suppose you should," he said. Buffy picked up the discarded jam jar of potion.

"I drink this when the demon attacks, and it poisons it," she reiterated. Giles nodded.

"Like flea treatment for cats," he answered again. Buffy nodded, unable to look up at him.

"I guess my mom's rule still stands, then," she said eventually.

"Until graduation," Giles answered. She looked up at him. "I promise."

She smiled. "See you then."

Life wasn't so bad, she thought, heading purposefully to the park where the demon had killed before. She had Giles by her side, and some day she would be able to show the world how much he meant to her. Until then, he was in her life, feeling the same way she did, and she had friends, and family, and a demon to kill.

Buffy smiled to herself, and went to do her sacred duty.

END

ARCITE