Giles stared at Xander, his jaw twitching lightly.  “Did you really just say that?”

“Uh…yeah?”  Xander replied, darting his eyes between Willow and Buffy.  “Did I say something wrong?”

Giles’ jaw twitched again.  Buffy grinned, Willow rolled her eyes.  Xander continued to look completely perplexed as to why Giles was annoyed.

Willow pushed her chair back and smacked the back of her hand across his upper arm.  “Come on, let’s go pick up dinner and I’ll explain to you why you are…very wrong.”

Buffy chuckled as Xander sighed and stood up as well.  He looked at her and shrugged a shoulder.

“Well, it makes perfect sense to me…”

“Oh, I’m sure it does.”  Buffy said, her chuckle turning to a laugh.

She glanced at Giles, who was still staring at Xander.  She looked back at Xander and gestured towards Giles with a nod of her head. 

“You probably should get going…now.” 

Xander shook his head and followed Willow towards the door.  Buffy watched them, reminding them to grab extra plum sauce.  Willow gave her a thumbs up as she nudged Xander through the door.  When Willow closed the door, Buffy turned her head and looked at Giles.

Xander and Willow may have thought that his jaw twitch was because of Xander’s seemingly very stupid suggestion…but, she was certain it was due to something completely different.  She grinned, her fingers continuing to glide along the inner seam of his jeans.

“You okay?”

“What do you think you’re doing?”  He asked, trying to be annoyed with her…and failing miserably.

Her grin grew as she slid her hand to cover the bulge in his jeans.  “I’m having a very hard time keeping my hands to myself.”

He blinked slowly, lifting his hand to the side of her neck.  “Obviously.”

He pulled her towards him, covering her mouth with his as she pressed against his erection.  He groaned softly, pushing his tongue into her mouth as he guided her to sit on table in front of him.  He grumbled when that meant that her hand was pulled from him.

She broke the kiss and laughed softly at him.  “Hey, I would’ve been perfectly happy to sit where I was…”

He placed his hands on her knees, licking his lips as he looked up at her.  “We don’t have much time for this.”

She curled her arms around his neck and leaned forward, gently kissing his lips.  “Then we better get to it, huh?”

He slid his hands up her thighs, nodding as he pushed his chair back.  She stared into his eyes, her hands sliding down his chest as he stood up.

“Here?”  She asked, glancing towards the door.

“Probably wouldn’t be the wisest move.”  He admitted with a lopsided smile before taking a step back.  “Come with me.”

She arched an eyebrow at him when he took hold of her hand and pulled her from the table.  “Where are we going?”

He took another step towards the hall.  “The bedroom.”

“Giles, if we go to bed, we’re not coming back out for ages…”

His eyes sparkled as he continued leading her into the hallway.  “I said the bedroom…not bed.”

She stopped walking and tightened her fingers around his.  “Then what’s wrong with here?”

“Here?”  He asked, allowing his eyes to drift down her body. 

She moved quickly, pushing him against the wall – hard enough to knock a photograph from the hook holding it.  His arm shot out, his hand smacking the frame to the wall before it fell to the floor.  Buffy grinned brightly.

“Nice reflexes.”  She said, reaching out and taking the frame from him.  She rehung the photo and then placed a hand on his chest, holding him against the wall.  “And yeah…here.”

“Buffy…”

“You know as well as I do…”  She interrupted, pulling his belt free.  “…we don’t have time for a fuck.”

His eyes darkened as she quickly unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans.  She licked her lips as she pushed his jeans and boxers down to his thighs, smiling as his cock stood out proudly in front of her. 

“We do have time for me to make you come, though.”

He stared into her eyes and shook his head.  And then in a move that surprised her, he picked her up and turned and pushed her against the wall.

“No…we both come.”

“Giles – ”

“We both come.”  He repeated.  “We have time.”

“Not if you’re wanting to fuck right here.”  She grinned as his eyes darkened another shade.  “You know it takes me forever to come like this…”

“Then we go to the bedroom.”  He murmured, sliding his hand underneath the skirt she was wearing.  “And the more time we spend discussing this, the less time we have.  So, could you please stop arguing the point and…”

“And what?”  She breathed as his fingers edged underneath her underwear.  “What do you want to do?”

“You know what I want, Buffy.”  He whispered, inhaling sharply as she reached between them and curled her fingers around his erection.  “Please…let’s go to the bedroom.”

“You know what I find interesting?” 

His eyes closed briefly as he tried to maintain control when she started stroking him.  “What?”

“You’re actually holding me against the wall.  You could take me into the bedroom at any time, but here you are…holding me up, my legs wrapped around you…your cock in my hand…and you’re still asking for me to go to the bedroom with you.”

He stared at her for a moment, processing her words.  Then he snorted a soft laugh.  “Ah fuck…”

She laughed as he turned and carried her two doors down the hall.  He gave her a playful glare as he walked into the bedroom and tossed her onto the bed. 

“Thought we weren’t going to bed?”

His fingers made quick work of the buttons on his shirt and he grinned at her as he let it drop to the floor.  “We aren’t.”

“Oh…”  She murmured as he gently pulled her towards the edge of the mattress.

He hooked his fingers in the waistband of her underwear and pulled them down her legs, sighing heavily as he dropped them to the floor.  She gave him a questioning look and he stepped between her thighs.

“If we had the time, I’d be on my knees right now.”  He whispered, his tone thick with desire.  “Fuck, I love the taste of you.”

“No time…”  She replied, sounding almost sad about it. 

He guided his cock into her, grunting softly as he pushed his hips forward until he was completely embedded within her.  “No…no time now.  But, later…we’ll have time later.”

“You asking me to stay tonight?”

“Yeah…”  He nodded, sliding his hands along her thighs and pushing them out slightly.  “Because we need more than what this is going to give us.”

“I can…call Willow.  Ask her to…”  She inhaled sharply as Giles pulled his hips back.  “…to, uh…pick something else up?”

“I just want to fuck you right now, Buffy.”  He tightened his fingers on her thighs. 

She nodded quickly, biting her bottom lip as she gripped his forearms.  “Then fuck me.”

He stared into her eyes as he slammed his hips forward.  She gasped, then cried out his name on his third thrust. 

“Christ, I love you…”  He muttered, picking up the pace as her nails dug into his arms.

* * *

“How much time should we give them?”  Xander asked, pulling into the parking area of the Chinese restaurant.

“I guess just the standard.  I mean, they don’t know that we know what they’re doing – so they’d be rushing, you know?”

Xander nodded, killing the engine and sighing.  “Things would be much simpler if they’d just come clean.”

Willow grinned at him.  “Of course, it would.  But, that has to be their idea.  And they’re not ready to tell us yet.”

“Why is that?”  He turned to look at her, shaking his head in confusion.  “They have to know that we’d be okay with it.”

“It’s not about us, Xander.  It’s about them.  Maybe they just want it to be just them for a while longer.”

“So, we just leave when we notice them getting horny?  Give them time to…work it out?”

Willow laughed and patted his knee.  “Something like that.  Look, they’re happy…we’re happy for them.  They’ll let us in soon enough…we just have to give them time, okay?”

“Yeah…”

“Good thinking though.”

His brow furrowed.  “What do you mean?”

“Suggesting that they give Ethan a call to help out with a spell just to annoy Giles.”

Xander stared at her for a moment longer, then cleared his throat.  “Oh, yeah…um, that.  Yeah, well…you know…”

Willow shook her head in disbelief.  “That was a real suggestion?  What the hell are you even thinking?”

“I don’t know.  Thinking outside of the box?”

She snorted.  “Yeah, well…maybe jump back in that box.  Because if you don’t, Giles is liable to give you a smack upside the head.  And I’m not going to stop him next time.”

Xander rolled his eyes and climbed out of the car.  “I’m going to go get the food…”

She rolled down the window as he walked around the car.  “Don’t forget the extra plum sauce!” 

“As if I would.”  He chuckled, making his way up the three steps to the restaurant door. 

* * *

“Holy…shit…”  Buffy panted heavily.

Giles rubbed his hand over her hip before leaning down and pressing a kiss to the crook of her neck.  His breath was hot against her skin, but she shivered at the sensation. 

“You okay, love?”  He asked, his thumb rubbing circles against her skin.

“Mm-hm…”  She murmured, looking over her shoulder at him.  “What are you doing?  Rubbing it into my skin?  It’s not lotion…”

He laughed, taking a step back from her and pulling his boxers and jeans back up.  “I’ll go get a warm cloth.”

She rolled onto her back and grinned lazily up at him as he fastened his jeans.  “Come here.”

He glanced at his watch and shook his head.  “Oh, we do not have time for that…”

“You look like you’ve been thoroughly fucked…”

He snorted a laugh and reached down, taking hold of her hand.  “As do you.” 

“I love you.”  She whispered, suddenly sounding very emotional.

He pulled her up and adoringly pushed the hair back from her face.  “I love you.”

“We should probably tell the guys about us soon.”  She said softly, placing her hand on his chest. 

Feeling his heart race and then slowly calm was one of her most favourite things concerning post-coital relations with him.  She furrowed her brow at that thought.  Post-coital relations…such a Gilesy thing to think.  She chuckled and he looked at her curiously.

“My thoughts sound a bit like you these days.”

“Do I want to know?”  He asked, a smile playing at his lips.

“Probably not.”  She rubbed her hand over his heart and sighed heavily.  “What do you think?  About telling the guys soon?”

“I have no issues with people knowing about us, Buffy.  You know this.”  He covered her hand with his and ducked his head slightly to catch her eye.  “But, this seems suddenly important.  What is it?”

“You’re him.”  She said simply.

“I’m…who?” 

She took a deep breath and leaned forward, placing a kiss just above his right nipple.  “The one.  You know how you always hear about ‘the one’?  The one person who you’re destined to be with, the one person who completes everything about you, the one person you’re pretty sure would run to the end of the world for you if he needed to.  That’s you…you’re my one.”

His eyes glistened lightly.  “I’m glad you’ve come to that realisation.”

“You were already there, huh?”

“Been there for a while.”  He admitted with a smile.  “Just needed to wait for you to run out of line and come back.”

“How long has it taken me?”

He leaned down and kissed her lovingly.  “The length of time isn’t important, love.”

“The night we spent together in Sunnydale?”

His smile faded as he stared at her.  “I…didn’t think you remembered that.”

“I didn’t.  Well, for a long time I didn’t.  A lot of things didn’t fit in properly when I came back…some memories seemed to just…get tossed aside because it was too hard to get them into their proper places.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

She narrowed her eyes at him.  “Why didn’t I tell you that I didn’t remember?  Um…”

He shook his head, lifting his hand and gently caressing the side of her face with his palm.  “Why didn’t you tell me when you did remember?”

“Because I was so angry with you.”  She whispered.  “And then we worked through all of that and then we became friends again…and I didn’t want to ruin that by bringing it up.  And then…we got closer…and I was afraid to tell you that I remembered.  And then…we were together – and it was so very different to what it was that night.”

“That was desperation and fear.”

She nodded slowly.  “And what we found was…us.  We were safe and things are so much calmer.  And when I realised that I was really in love with you…there didn’t seem to be much of a point.  So much time had passed, so many emotions had evolved and grown…and we are very different to what we were then, as people.”

“Ah…”

“But, you loved me then.  Didn’t you?”

“I’ve always loved you, Buffy.  In one way or another.”

“That’s a non-answer.”

“Yes.”  He whispered, slipping his fingers through her hair.  “I loved you…and I was so scared that I was going to lose you.”

“You did.”  She exhaled slowly.

He gave a slow nod.  “Yes, I did.”

“And…this is not where I expected this conversation to go.”

“It probably needed to.”  He replied.  He looked at her for a long moment and then sighed.  “I’ve been thinking about something.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound at all omin – ”

“Will you move in?”  He interrupted, leaning into her and resting his forehead against hers.  “Here, with me…”

“You want me to live with you?”

He cradled her face between his hands and kissed her, slowly…deeply.  When he felt her hand rest on the button of his jeans, he pulled from the kiss and looked into her eyes. 

“Yes.”

She was quiet for a moment and then smiled.  “Okay.”

He smiled brightly at her and moved in for another kiss.  He was interrupted by the front door slamming shut and Xander’s voice calling out.

“Giles?  Buffy?”

“Damn!”  Giles grumbled, bending down to grab his shirt. 

Buffy giggled softly, pulling a fresh pair of underwear from one of the drawers he’d given to her a couple of months earlier.  She slipped them on and gave him a quick kiss.

“See you out there.”

He smiled warmly at her as he buttoned his shirt.  She left the room, silently closing the door behind her.  He chuckled to himself, running his hand through his hair. 

* * *

“Did you get – ”

“Extra plum sauce, yeah.”  Xander interrupted with a playful roll of his eyes.  “Where’s Giles?”

“Maybe making tea?  I don’t know…I was in the bathroom.”

Willow hid her smile.

“I went to find a book.  I remembered reading something about the correlation between Reapers and Leviathan.”  Giles stated as he walked into the room carrying a book.

Xander looked up, a carton of food in his hand.  “Reapers and Leviathan are real?”

“No, but Croshun and Ablen are.  Reapers and Leviathan are loosely based on them.  Perhaps we can find a weakness here.”  He dropped the book onto the table and shrugged a shoulder.  “It’s a work of fiction…a longshot, but it could point us in the right direction.”

Buffy looked at him, sighing softly as she watched him rub the side of his neck.  And in that moment, she made a decision.  He gave her a questioning look as she walked over to him.  His eyes widened slightly as she reached up and placed her hand on the back of his neck. 

Xander’s eyes widened more as he watched Buffy pull Giles towards her and kiss him.  “Um…”

“Hush.”  Willow said, nudging him with her elbow. 

They both watched as Giles wrapped his arms around Buffy, returning her kiss after a brief hesitation.  He ended the kiss slowly and looked into her eyes.  She smiled up at him, gliding her fingertips along his jaw. 

“You okay with this?”

He nodded slowly.  “Mm-hm.”

She turned towards Willow and Xander, resting her hand on Giles’ lower back.  “So…there’s this thing…”

“Yeah, we’ve known for a while.”  Xander blurted.

Willow rolled her eyes and stared at him.  “Seriously?”

“What?  We have.”

Willow sighed heavily and looked at Buffy and Giles.  Buffy tilted her head slightly.

“How long have you known?  And…why didn’t you say anything?”

“Figured you’d tell us when you were ready.  And we figured it out about a month ago.  How long have you actually been together?”

“Almost five months.”  Buffy answered with a crooked smile. 

“This is…more than just physical?”  Willow asked, moving her eyes from Buffy to Giles and then back to Buffy.     

“We, uh…”  Buffy paused, glancing up at Giles – who merely smiled at her.  “You gonna help out here?”

“But, you’re doing so well.”  He replied, eyes sparkling with amusement.

“Asshole.”  She muttered jokingly.

“It’s more than just physical.”  Giles confirmed to Willow.  “Much more.”

Xander sat down at the table and smiled. 

Giles cleared his throat and gestured towards the table.  “Let’s eat before the food gets cold.”

As they all sat down, Giles carefully looked over the table.  “Did you happen to get extra plum sauce?”

Xander snorted a laugh and handed him a large container of the sauce in question.  Willow furrowed her brow as she looked at Buffy.

“You asked for the sauce for him?  Not you?”

“Ew…no, I hate the stuff.”  Buffy watched him open the container and shuddered.  “He, on the other hand, could probably live on it if necessary.”

Giles handed her a set of chopsticks and gave her a wink.  “I’d choose you over plum sauce any day.”

“Ah…true love.”  Buffy said with a laugh.

Xander stared at them in bewilderment.  Willow glanced at him and then laughed softly. 

“What’s wrong with you?  It’s not like this is a big surprise…”

Xander slowly turned his eyes to her.  “Yeah, but…did you just hear what he said?”

Willow just looked at him, waiting for him to continue.  Xander’s shoulders slumped.

“He’s turning into one of us instead of being all British and stuffy and…Giles.”

“Oh, trust me…he’s not nearly as stuffy as he’d like you to believe.”

Xander’s eyes snapped to Buffy and he held up one hand.  “You…stop.  I don’t need to know about what goes on behind closed doors between you two.”

Giles chuckled and dipped a piece of steamed broccoli into the plum sauce.  Buffy moved closer to him, giving him a slow wink as she placed her hand on his thigh.  He inhaled deeply and gave her a warning look as she ran her fingertips along the inner seam of his jeans. 

She cleared her throat in an effort to not laugh and removed her hand.  He gave her a nod of appreciation…and allowed her to see a promise in his eyes.

They’d continue this later. 

For now, dinner…then a bit more research.  After all, there was a demon on the loose.

He smiled and passed the cashew chicken to her as Xander and Willow steered the conversation back to the demon in question.  He thought for a moment, swallowing his mouthful of food and then gestured towards Xander with his chopsticks. 

“You know, maybe Ethan could help with this…”

Everyone stopped talking and stared at Giles in disbelief.  Giles smiled before continuing.

“It actually wasn’t a bad idea, Xander.”

“Huh?  Then why did you get super annoyed at me?”

Giles shook his head slowly and Buffy grinned brightly.

“He wasn’t annoyed.  Frustrated, yes…but, not annoyed.”

Xander’s eyes widened.  “Hey, you!  No…no, no, no…we’re not going there.”

Giles watched them as they playfully bickered amongst themselves.  And then he thought, not for the first time, that these people who fell into his life so unexpectedly in Sunnydale were far more than mere people.

They were family.  Each taking a different role in his life – something like a nephew, younger sister, and…lover.

No…not lover.

Soulmate…as trite as that sounded. 

He leaned back in his chair and smiled.  He was quite alright with ‘trite’.