Title: Chip Tooth Smile
Author: Froxyn
Rating: FRAO Overall/FRM This chapter
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Timeline: AU, one year post-series...no Dawn, Anya survived Sunnydale.
Synopsis: A year after Sunnydale, there are quite a few changes in the Scoobies' lives. There are more changes to come.
Author’s Note: Special thanks to A for taking the time to go through this project for me. This fic is inspired by the album Chip Tooth Smile by Rob Thomas. This is not a typical songfic. (Lyrics and .mp3s can be found on the CTS index page)


Chapter Ten - The Worst in Me


Buffy walked into Giles’ office, opening her mouth to call his name as she closed the door. She glanced over at the sofa on the other side of the room and laughed softly, quickly deciding not to call out his name. She walked over to the sofa and knelt down on the floor, smiling as she lifted her hand to stroke Giles’ hair. Giles…who was sleeping peacefully, stretched out on the sofa…ankles crossed and his left arm curled under the back of his head.

He stirred slowly, sighing softly as he opened his eyes to find Buffy smiling at him. He lifted his right hand from where it was resting on his abdomen and gently touched her cheek.

“Hello.”

“Hey…you must be more tired than you were letting on at lunch.”

He slid his hand to the back of her neck and pulled her to him, covering her mouth with his and quickly slipping his tongue into her mouth. She returned his kiss, equalling his passion as she placed her right hand on his chest. When she heard the soft groan come from him, she pulled back and stared into his eyes.

“God, I love that sound.” She murmured, fingers toying with his tie.

“What sound?” He asked, glancing at her lips.

“That…growly thing you do at the back of your throat…when you’re getting really turned on while we’re kissing…”

“I make no such sound…” He replied with a grin, capturing her lips again.

When he groaned again, she pulled back and grinned at him. “That sound.”

“Ah…” He mumbled, leaning back into her.

He paused when she raised an eyebrow at him. “What?”

“You seem to be breaking this unspoken rule about no playing in your office…”

He ran his thumb over her bottom lip, smiling as she stifled a moan, and looked into her eyes. “One…you can’t break a rule that is unspoken. If it’s unspoken, then one can assume that it hasn’t been properly discussed. Two…I’m not playing.”

She glanced at the door and cleared her throat. “I, uh…the door isn’t locked.”

“I want you, Buffy.” He whispered, uncrossing his ankles and tugging her until she took the hint and climbed on top of him.

“Giles…”

He glanced down, sliding his hands along her thighs as she settled against him. “A little further up…”

“The door…” She started, closing her eyes as he moved her until she was resting directly over his erection. “Jesus, Giles…” When she felt his hands move to her hips as he gently thrust up against her, her eyes snapped open and she stared at him.

“No…we’re not doing this here!” She shook her head when he started to speak. “What’s gotten into you? You’ve barely held my hand in here, much less…” She sat back and gestured towards their clothed, but touching, groins. “What the fuck?”

“I can lock the door…” He said simply, lifting his left hand and gesturing towards the door with a small flourish as he muttered a word in a language that was definitely not English. He smiled as the click of the lock sounded loudly. “See? It’s locked…”

“So not the point, Giles.” She said, carefully climbing off of him. “What’s going on?”

He rubbed his eyes, clearing his throat as he sat up. “I, uh…I’m sorry. You’re right, we shouldn’t…not here.”

She sat down next to him, staring at him in concern. “What’s going on?”

He blushed lightly and rubbed the back of his neck. “You…well, I was having a dream…that you interrupted.”

“Oh…” Her eyes widened as his blush deepened. “Oh!”

He pushed himself up from the sofa and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Yes, quite…”

“So…that was what? Like, sleep sex or something?”

He snorted a laugh, shaking his head. “Not at all. I was awake and well aware of what I was doing. I was just…quite aroused when you woke me.”

She tilted her head, glancing towards his groin. “Still?”

“Yes. But, I’m in control now.” He offered her a warm smile before moving behind his desk to grab his jacket from the back of his chair. “What time is it?”

“4:30ish. That’s why I came by…to see if you were ready to go. We need to stop by the shops for popcorn and drinks…”

“Ah, right. Movie night…is it at mine or yours this time?”

She laughed and walked to the door. “Yours.”

He grinned as she attempted to turn the doorknob. When she gave him a look of exasperation, he whispered a word and the lock opened.

“You shouldn’t do magick like that.” She said as she opened the door.

“I know, it’s rather – ”

“Sexy.” She interrupted. “It’s sexy and it makes it hard for me to stop things when I need to stop them. So, you shouldn’t do it.”

He nodded as he followed her out, pulling the door closed behind him. “I’ll have to remember that…”

* * *

Willow took a sip of her drink, glancing over Buffy and Giles who were sharing the larger of the two sofas. She smiled as she watched Giles absently stroke his fingers along the top of Buffy’s shoulder. She was pretty sure that he wasn’t even aware that he was doing it.

Buffy caught her looking and smiled. “What’s up, Will?”

“Huh? Oh…I was just wondering how long you guys have actually been together. You’ve never said…”

“Nine weeks.” Giles answered.

At the exact same time, Buffy answered as well. “Six weeks.”

Anya paused the movie and the three of them stared at Buffy and Giles, who were currently staring at each other.

“Nine weeks?” Buffy asked, turning her body to face him. “Seriously?”

Giles lowered his arm from the back of the sofa and stared at her. “It’s been nine weeks tonight…”

“Yeah, since we…” She shook her head. “How can you possibly count that as the beginning of our relationship?”

“Because that when we…when I came back and we…” He looked absolutely flustered as he ran his fingers through his hair. “You don’t?”

She stared at him incredulously. “You left in a panic and we didn’t talk for three weeks!”

Xander’s eyes widened. Willow’s mouth dropped open. Anya grabbed a handful of popcorn.

“I came back.” He offered, a slight tone of sadness in his voice.

“You left…I asked you to stay, to talk. You wouldn’t!”

Xander coughed lightly, causing both Buffy and Giles to look at him. “So, you guys…um…the night we were at Buffy’s for the anniversary?”

“Sex.” Anya supplied, patting Xander’s knee. “They had sex.”

Xander slowly turned towards Anya. “Yeah, got that, An.”

“And then Giles did the awkward guy thing and left.” Anya continued.

“Got that too, Anya.” Xander replied.

“I didn’t do the…I wasn’t awkward.” Giles argued. “I panicked…there were extenuating circumstances. But, in my defence, I came back to try to rectify – ”

Anya shook her head quickly. “You’re never gonna rectify something like that. If you leave, you leave…no matter the circumstances.”

“See?” Buffy said, gesturing towards Anya. “She gets it!”

Giles glared at her. “Do you really want to continue this line of arguing? Because, I know we can go all night.”

Anya snorted. Buffy opened her mouth to retort and then realised what he’d said. A slow smile appeared on her face.

“Mm-hm…”

Anya snorted again. Xander spluttered around the drink he’d just taken. Willow’s eyes widened, as did her grin. Giles rolled his eyes.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake…” He muttered, standing up and storming into the kitchen.

Buffy got up and followed him.

Xander looked at Willow. “Did they really just have an argument over how long they’ve been together…based on the first time they had sex?”

Willow nodded, amusement dancing in her eyes.

Anya chewed another piece of popcorn. “Buffy’s right, he can’t count those first three weeks – even if they did have sex all night.”

* * *

“Giles…”

Giles slammed the refrigerator door shut and grabbed the bottle opener. “I don’t want to argue about something this stupid…”

Buffy arched an eyebrow. “It’s not stupid, but you honestly can’t count those first three weeks. We weren’t talking…I didn’t even see you…and you cloaked yourself from me. But, what are you really angry about?”

He popped the cap off the bottle and tossed the bottle opener onto the counter. “Probably the fact that our friends now know that we had sex all night and then I panicked and left you.”

“You came back.” She replied with a gentle smile.

He took a long drink from the bottle and shook his head. “Don’t…”

She sighed heavily and crossed her arms over her chest. “Let it go, Giles.”

As much as he wanted to take a deep breath and allow the situation to de-escalate, he felt the anger begin to well up inside him again. Buffy saw it in his eyes and furrowed her brow.

“Seriously? Why the hell are you getting so worked up over this?”

“Don’t, Buffy…” Giles warned, tightening his grip on the beer bottle.

“No, no…you’re not going to bottle this up too…why is this – ”

“It’s nine weeks, Buffy. Not six. It has to be nine…”

“That makes no sense. Even you know, logically, that you’re wrong. I don’t understand why you’re being so argumentative – ”

“Because that night I admitted to myself that I love you! I fucking love you!” He bellowed.

Buffy’s eyes widened. Giles dropped the bottle from his grasp, taking a step backwards as it bounced on the floor and spilled the remainder of his beer over the tiles.

“Giles…”

He shook his head quickly, eyes filling with panic. “No…no, no, no…fucking hell!”

He turned and nearly ran out of the room. Buffy stared after him, unable to move.

* * *

Giles’ exclamation had been clearly audible from the living room. Xander, Willow, and Anya all stared at the kitchen door…and then their eyes followed Giles as he rushed out of the room and down the hallway.

When Buffy didn’t chase after him, Willow stood up and gestured towards the kitchen.

“I’ll go check on her. Why don’t you guys get things packed up? We’ll head out after I talk to Buffy, okay?”

Xander nodded silently. Anya sighed and tossed the rest of the popcorn in her hand back into the bowl.

Willow glanced down the hall, not surprised to find it empty. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the kitchen.

Buffy was standing there, her left hand holding onto the kitchen island as she stared blindly towards the door. An empty beer bottle was resting against the bottom of the refrigerator, beer was splattered in puddles on the floor tiles.

“Buffy? You okay?” Willow asked softly, making her way to her…carefully avoiding the beer on the floor.

“He’s never said it before.” Buffy whispered, shaking her head.

Willow narrowed her eyes in confusion. “Never said what?”

“That he loves me. He’s never said it…” A tear slipped down her cheek. “And the first time he says it, we’re arguing…and I’ve never felt that he loves me less than I do right now.”

“What? He’s never said it?”

“No, but there are reasons…I was okay with that, I understood.” Buffy glanced at Willow, wiping her eyes. “But, I never doubted he loved me…even though he didn’t say it. And the first time he says it, he screams it in anger…”

“Buffy…”

Buffy took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair. “I hate to do this, but…do you think you guys can clear out for tonight? I really think Giles and I need to talk…and – ”

“You don’t need to explain. Xander and Anya are already packing up. I just wanted to check on you before we left. If you need anything…call, okay?”

Buffy nodded, but said nothing. She walked out of the kitchen and made her way down the hallway. She didn’t even look at Xander or Anya. She made an internal promise to apologise to them both tomorrow. She needed to get to Giles.

Willow picked up the empty beer bottle and placed it on the counter before quickly cleaning up the beer from the floor. Xander and Anya were waiting at the door for her when she came out of the kitchen.

The house was silent…and none of them knew if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

* * *

Buffy opened the bedroom door to find him sitting on the bed, staring at the floor. She walked in and sat down next to him. They sat in silence for a few moments before she decided to start whatever this was going to be.

“You, uh…you kind of left me hanging out there. Dropped a pretty big bombshell on me…”

He nodded slowly, still not looking at her. “I’m sorry.”

“For what? Yelling at me? Yelling that you love me? Or leaving me out there on my own afterwards?”

“All of it.” He replied softly. “That’s not how I ever envisioned telling you – and I have thought about it quite a lot.”

“Are you okay?”

“You amaze me, Buffy. I fuck up, yet again…and the first thing you do is see if I’m okay. I don’t even…” He shook his head sadly. “I’ve nearly told you so many times…in much more acceptable manners. And…this is how it comes out. And I still didn’t even say it properly.”

“When have you almost said it before?” She asked, moving a bit closer to him.

“Every time we make love.” He replied on a whisper, reaching over and placing his hand on her knee.

Feeling the tremble in his hand, she covered it with hers and squeezed gently. “Giles…”

He sighed heavily and moved from the bed to his knees in front of her. He exhaled and brought himself to eye level with her. His heart was racing as he met her eyes. He gazed into her eyes for a few moments and then he felt a wave of calmness wash over him.

He took a deep breath and gently squeezed her knee.

“Buffy, I love you.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “I love you too.”

He laughed nervously and lovingly wiped away a tear as it slid down her cheek. “I, uh…I’m fairly terrified at the moment.”

“I know.” She whispered, moving forward to put her arms around his neck. “We’ve got this, yeah?”

He nodded as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her shoulder.

“It’s…never easy. And I know I don’t make things any easier at times.” He said softly.

“Luckily, you’ve got me to balance that out then, huh?” She said with a smile, placing a warm kiss on the side of his neck.

“You’re still not going to count the first three weeks, are you?”

“Fuck no…” She said with a laugh.

He smiled brightly and held her even tighter.


Chapter Eleven - Tomorrow

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