Title: An Honest Man 1/4
Author: Sweetdoggie (stirling_summer@yahoo.com)
Pairing: Giles/Buffy
Rating: FRM
Summary: Buffy has trust issues and Giles sets about to help her..
Spoilers: None
Note: set after season 7, Xander and Willow are away, Dawn is in college, Buffy and Giles share a house in England.
Disclaimer: No permission has been granted to use the characters.. They are owned by their creator, Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB, and Mutant Enemy. This story is non-profit and is intended solely as entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended.
Buffy sat tucked into the large overstuffed chair in the house she shared with Giles while she waited for him to come back from grocery shopping. She had pulled a book from her backpack and was reading it as a sort of guilty pleasure, keeping half an ear open to listen for her Watcher’s return. She would need to hide the book or he would tease her unmercifully. Buffy liked to keep pristine his image of her never touching a book. He didn’t know that she was a closet reader and read whenever she had the opportunity. Which, granted, wasn’t as often as she’d like when she had to work and take care of her sister and her Watcher. Since she had totally given up on dating though, her reading time had expanded. So far, it seemed like a fair trade. No book had screwed her over and dumped her. No book had promised to love her then left her for her own good. No book had lost it’s soul the next morning. All in all, she liked books a whole lot better than men.
She was so engrossed in the story and didn’t hear him till he was fumbling at the front door with two sacks of groceries. Quickly trying to hide the evidence of her passion, she tucked the book behind the chair cushion and rose to give him a hand.
“Hey, let me help you.” She took a bag.
“I swear, I don’t know why they make these bags so cheaply. Look, the bottom of this one is totally gone.” He frowned at the ripped bag as he juggled its contents.
She stuck out a hand in time to catch a falling can. “I guess they make them cheaply so that they can save money or something.”
They struggled into the kitchen and put the food away. “That young man at the grocery store inquired about you.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“He seems nice enough.”
“He probably is.”
“I can’t help but notice you haven’t been on a date for some time.”
“I’m pretty much done with that.”
“What? I don’t understand.”
“I’m not dating again. It never turns out well for me.”
“That’s not right, Buffy. You are a young woman, you should go on dates and enjoy yourself.”
“Nope. Not for me, Watcher-mine. Not going there again.” She made a deliberate effort to change the subject. “What did you get for supper?”
“I bought chicken. What do you mean, you’re not going there? Going where?”
She looked at him carefully. “I mean, I’m not dating again. Not ever.”
“Buffy, a few bad experiences doesn’t mean you should give up entirely. You just need to find the right man.”
“No, I don’t. I’ve decided I don’t need or want a man. Too high maintenance.”
“What do you mean?”
“Men are way too much work. I’m not having another relationship. First of all, how would I explain things to him?” She shook her head. “Too much trouble. Men expect you to want to kiss them and eventually he’d want sex. I’m not doing that to myself again.”
“I realize that your last relationship with Spike was traumatic, but…”
“It wasn’t just Spike. Actually, he was one of my better choices if you want the truth. No soul, no hidden motivations, he didn’t expect me to suddenly declare my undying love for him,” she nodded to herself. “If it hadn’t been such a crappy time for me, he’d have been the ideal boyfriend. I could have him and totally not be involved with him at the same time.”
“I fail to see how that is a good thing!”
“Well, look at my dating record. I loved Angel with all the passion of my teenaged soul. I didn’t know about the curse. We had twenty minutes of petting and five minutes of actual sex. Was that worth the next year? I don’t’ think so. Then there was the massive blunder that was Parker Abrams. I didn’t know about scoring. He taught me that. Then there was the whole boring mistake of Riley. Everything was fine as long as he got to be the dominant partner. I had to pretend I couldn’t do stuff so that he would feel needed. It was like dragging a hundred and eighty pounds of wet blanket around with me. And the sex was pedestrian.” She shook her head. “The more I think about it, the whole Spike thing was much less complicated. He wasn’t a good choice, but he helped me when I needed it.”
“He was an evil vampire!”
She shrugged. “Yes, but he loved me from the bottom of his soulless heart. I was his obsession. Vamps have that a lot, you know. They get an idea in their head and can’t think of anything else.”
“That doesn’t make it right.”
“It doesn’t make it wrong, either. I’ve thought a lot about the Spike thing and I’ve pretty much decided that, all in all, it helped me cope. At any rate, I just don’t need another man to have to deal with.”
He bit his lip and turned away, pulling a packet of chicken from the bag. “You need to date someone who won’t treat you like an object or a conquest. Have you, have you ever thought about dating an older man?”
“No. For one thing, I don’t know any and for another, well, I just don’t want the effort of getting involved with an outsider again. And what if I did like him? What if he wanted me to give up my life here? Maybe go away with him someplace that didn’t have you or my friends? Plus, I have obligations here. Somebody has to train the new Slayers.”
“What if it were someone who already knows that sort of thing? Who wouldn’t make you go away with him?”
“Like who?”
“Like me.”
“Like you?” She looked blank. “You think I should date…you.”
“Not if you find the idea repugnant, of course.”
“Strangely, I don’t. It sounds kind of intriguing, but has bad idea written all over it.”
“And why is that?”
“Because I love you and if we started dating, we’d eventually have sex and then you’d find some way to leave me and break my heart. It’s what always happens. And because it was you, it would kill me.”
“I love you too and I wouldn’t leave you. I’ve promised you that I’ll be with you forever. I don’t see why you can’t accept that.”
“Because you left me before.”
“That was for your own good.”
“Uh huh. It always is. It doesn’t make the pain one jot less to know that, though. What’s to stop you from doing it again, for my own good, of course?”
“Because I promise you, I won’t make that mistake again. I nearly pined away that year without you in my life. I was terribly relieved when Willow got into trouble. It was the excuse I needed to come home to you.”
“And then you left again.”
“You weren’t ready yet.”
“Pretty high handed of you to make those sort of decisions with my life.”
“It was my job to prepare you to live in the world. I did what I thought was best, and frankly, I must have done something right because you are still with us.”
“I just don’t think it would be a good idea.”
“You have to get past this idea that all men are going to betray you. It’s simply not true.”
“Hah! You know what? Let’s stop talking about this while we’re ahead. I’ll put the kettle on if you want tea.”
“No, I don’t want tea. I want to finish this discussion. Now, are you willing to go out with me or not?”
“Not!”
“Elizabeth Anne Summers! Will you quit being so bloody obstinate for once in your life and listen to your Watcher?”
“You just want to gain my confidence so that I’ll date you and then when I’ve let down my last barrier, wham, you’ll go off to Timbuktu or someplace. You, you damned… Man!” She slammed the kettle down on the stove and stomped out of the kitchen.
He followed her and grabbed her by the arm. “You listen to me, young woman! I will not betray you! I’ve bloody loved you for years and I’m going to continue to love you till my dying day!” He shook her. “Now, you are going on a date with me and that’s the end of it! I’ll make reservations for a nice restaurant and you can damn well put on a decent dress and accompany me. At the end of the evening, I will bring you home and you will give me a goodnight kiss. I trust I have outlined my plans to your satisfaction?” He shook her again. “Good. Now, go up to your room and have a nap. You need to calm down. I’ll call you when supper is ready.” He turned her around, pointed her at the stairs, and whacked her on the butt. She was so stunned that she actually went, getting as far as the top of the stairs before he yelled out that if she so much as thought of leaving the house, he’d put a spell on her.
She got up to her room and threw herself on the bed fuming at his high handedness. ‘So, Mr. Giles wants to date me! Oh, you can trust me, Buffy. Hah! I have a bridge I want to sell you, Buffy. It’s cheap, just the cost of your heart.’ She muttered to herself, tossing on the counterpane angrily. Strangely, she felt like she wanted to cry. Turning to her pillow, she punched it before burying her face in the cotton ticking.
~*~
She didn’t even realize that she had fallen asleep and certainly didn’t hear her Watcher call her for dinner an hour later. He came up to get her, expecting to find her full of wroth, but smiled when he realized she was sleeping. Setting down softly on the edge of her bed, he let his hand stray upwards and push the curl of hair back from her face.
“Buffy, dearest? It’s time for supper. Why don’t you get up and wash your face, love?”
“Giles?”
“It’s just me,” he reassured her. “Aren’t you hungry?”
“I’m always hungry.”
“Then come on and I’ll feed you.”
She sat up and rubbed her eyes, looking like she was five and not nearly twenty-four.
Buffy allowed him to guide her into the bathroom where he ran warm water and wet a cloth before washing her hands and face for her as if she really were a small child. When he had dried her off, she surprised him by leaning against his chest. “I’m scared.”
“Don’t be, beloved. We can make this work together.” His hands stroked her back comfortingly as he placed a soft, chaste kiss on her forehead. He led her downstairs and seated her at the kitchen table. Dawn came in just as he was dishing up the food.
“Am I too late for supper?”
He smiled happily at the younger girl. “Just in time.”
They ate quietly for a while, Dawn looking between them curiously. “Are you guys fighting again?”
“Sort of,” Buffy mumbled, not meeting anybody’s gaze.
“You’re sister is being extraordinarily stubborn.”
“I’m trying to keep myself safe.”
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
She snorted and continued to look down at her food.
Dawn spoke up. “Um, for somebody who missed the first round, would you guys care to enlighten me on the current topic for feuding?”
“I asked Buffy on a date and she persists in viewing me as some sort of monster of iniquity that will betray her.”
Dawn’s mouth dropped open momentarily. “Buffy? You know Giles wouldn’t ever hurt you.”
Buffy’s lips thinned stubbornly. “He left me before. What if I start dating him and then he dumps me? It’s been known to happen.”
“This is Giles we’re talking about. He wouldn’t do that.”
“He’s a man, isn’t he? That’s what they do.”
Dawn rolled her eyes. “Where are you taking her?”
“I thought about that nice Greek place downtown.”
“Oh, good choice. Humphrey took me there the other night. It had absolutely great food.”
“Humphrey?”
“That blond Watcher-in-training? You know the one; his folks were Watchers and were killed by the bomb. It was only luck that he was away that day trying to pass a field test.”
“Oh, yes. I knew his parents in a casual sort of way. They were good people.”
“So’s Humphrey.”
“He just wants you to fall in love with him so he can break your heart,” Buffy threw out.
“Geez, Buffy. Not every guy is a butthead, you know.”
“Oh really? Couldn’t prove it by me.”
“What about Xander? He’s a good guy.”
“He left Anya at the altar. Didn’t even have the guts to face the music himself.”
“He was really sorry.”
Buffy sneered. “They’re always sorry. So what?”
“Whoa, kinda bitter, aren’t you?”
“I don’t want to date again.”
“It’s Giles. He won’t hurt you.”
“So he says.”
“Buffy, quit being a dope. If Giles does something stupid, you can always kick his ass.” She flashed the Watcher an apologetic grin. “Sorry, Giles.”
“Quite all right, Dawn. Please help me get your sister to see reason.”
Between the two of them nagging her, Buffy thought she might go crazy. “Oh, all right. One date. One dinner, One kiss. That’s it” She crossed her arms over her chest defensively.
“That’s all that we need do tomorrow,” Giles agreed calmingly. “We shall monitor our progress carefully.”