Chapter Eleven

*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*

Willow was sitting on her bed in their dorm room staring at the door when Buffy came in the next morning.

Buffy closed the door behind her and then met the gaze of her roommate. "Hey"

"Details. Now"

**

Three hours later the two girls had finally finished rehashing Buffy’s night with her watcher and were on to the whole gang concept.

"I can’t say I hate the idea. I mean, people think we are anyway, right?"

Willow frowned. "Buffy, what about teachers? I mean, we’d have to act the part, right?"

"Why? How?" Buffy’s eyebrows drew together and she stood up and headed towards her closet. "What would we really do differently? Willow, you dress in perky colors during the day...and then when we go patrolling, you get into comfortable clothes. We all do that. So, this is just...wearing the comfortable stuff all the time"

"I think it’s more than that"

"Ok, so, we’d be a little less discreet, and a little tighter as a group. But we back each other up anyway. We’re already a gang, Will. We just don’t act like one"

The redhead shrugged. "Maybe that counts for something?"

Buffy didn’t say anything for a minute. She pulled a pair of worn, fitted jeans from her closet and took her leather pants off, changing. The jeans hung low, showing some skin before her silk t-shirt started. She pulled the t-shirt off and chose a black shoestring tank-top instead, slipping it over her head. Grabbing a bottle of body spray from her desk, she finally turned around to face the hacker.

"Do you honestly think you have to pop bubble gum and use nothing but slang in order to look like you’re in a gang?"

Willow rolled her eyes. "Of course not. And I’m not arguing that we aren’t a gang. I guess it’s pretty obvious that we are. I’m saying...to advertise it?"

Buffy shrugged. "Hiding it seems to buy us nothing but trouble. Let’s try the other way for a while and see if it works"

**

"Ms. Summers. So nice of you to join us"

Buffy raised an eyebrow at her professor and slipped into her seat. "Sorry. Late night"

"I can imagine" His eyes swept over her, taking in the black shirt, the tight jeans and the leather jacket she’d slipped back into before leaving the dorms. "Still in costume I see"

She frowned. "Why do you think that?"

The professor’s head snapped up at that, and their eyes met for a moment before he cleared his throat nervously and turned back to his notes. "I assume you’ve all gone over the material already, so let’s discuss.."

 

  

AN: It’s my own little world. Therefore, I have Giles with a life. And friends.
Deal with it. :p

Chapter Twelve

*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*

Xander *didn’t* bother changing his clothes before he went into work, mostly because he never got home. Anya barely let him out of her bed when he said he needed to get to work or he’d get fired.

So, needless to say, when he walked onto the construction site, a few people stared.

Xander ignored them, shed his jacket, grabbed a hard hat and got to work.

The fact that a few guys who’d been at the party last night kept their distance hardly registered.

**

The knock at the door came an hour early, and Giles dashed downstairs to open it. "One moment. Sorry. Rather a long night, and I’m just getting ready"

Larry Dodge and Michael Wellington nodded and came in, settling onto his couch. They watched with amusement as their friend raced around the apartment, looking for something.

"What’d ya lose?"

"Glasses. Damn. She must have moved them" Giles ran back upstairs and his two friends exchanged glances.

"She?" Larry twisted on the couch to call upstairs. "Who is ‘she’?"

"Buffy!"

"Ok, so who’s Buffy?"

Giles came back downstairs and looked at his best friend incredulously, but then stopped. No, he’d never mentioned her, had he? He’d tried so hard not to mention any of his night time activities...

He sighed. "Buffy is.." looking around, he spotted a photo on the end table and pointed at it. "Her. The blonde in the middle. The redhead is Willow, the boy is Xander"

Michael was closer so he reached over and picked the photo up, then let out a low whistle. "Wow. How long you been seeing her behind our backs?"

Giles grunted. "I’ve known her since I moved here, and long before I met either of you. However, last night was the first time the relationship became romantic" He sighed again, and made his voice nonchalant. "We’ve been heading the gang together since we put it together...but we weren’t...involved until last night" He shrugged and finally spotted his glasses on the coffee table. "Though, apparently I wasn’t the only one who’s been wanting to be"

Again his two friends exchanged looks, but this time with raised eyebrows. "Gang?"

Giles managed to look startled. "You’re kidding? I always thought it was rather obvious"

 

Chapter Thirteen

*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*

Buffy didn’t bother knocking. Well...she never bothered knocking, and this time wasn’t an exception. She and Willow barged right in, the blonde talking as she went.

"Ok, one of those annoying guys from the LA gang was hanging around classes today. Oz hit him when he grabbed Willow’s ass. Tell me again why we can’t just k-oh. Hi" Frowning, Buffy turned to Larry and crossed her arms. "You are?"

Larry just swallowed. Michael managed to find his voice and held out a hand. "I’m Michael. The silent one is Larry"

"Uh huh. Where’s Ripper?" Glancing around the room quickly, Buffy took the stairs two at a time, calling his name. Willow raised an eyebrow at the hand, and Michael quickly pulled it back in.

"You’re Willow, right?"

The redhead nodded and dropped her bag on the table, sitting in the chair in front of the spare laptop she kept here.

Larry cleared his throat and stood up, coming to stand next to Michael. "We’re friends of Rupert’s"

Biting her lip, the hacker nodded again. "Kay. And...you call him Rupert. I’m sure he loves that"

"Actually, no. We call him Giles. He said he prefers that"

"He does" Buffy thumped down the stairs and dropped her coat over the arm of her favorite chair, curling up in it. Willow turned back to her computer and switched it on, effectively dismissing the two men. They sat down on the couch again, facing Buffy. "He doesn’t like Rupert. Says it’s stuffy. It’s either Ripper or Giles"

"Why Ripper?"

Buffy just grinned. Then she looked over at Willow. "He’s in the bathroom"

Willow nodded and didn’t look up.

Michael cleared his throat. "So.."

The slayer raised an eyebrow. "So. You’re friends of Ripper’s huh?" She raked her eyes over them and shrugged. "Interesting"

"What does that mean?"

Buffy shrugged. "It means, ‘interesting’. Why? Do you feel that it should mean something else?"

Michael was about to say something when Giles thumped down the stairs. Buffy smiled at him and he came over and took her hand, pulling her up and kissing her, quite thoroughly. Willow sighed.

"Thank god. You two were killing us with the repressed sexual tension!"

Giles turned and glared. Michael and Larry’s eyes widened and Larry almost regretted not standing so he could step back, but Willow just grinned at him and went back to her computer.

Rolling his eyes, the watcher turned back to Buffy. "How was your day?"

She pouted. "That guy who was ogling me last night at the party? He was hanging around campus today. Grabbed Will’s ass and Oz hit him" She looked up at him and rested her chin on his chest. "I really don’t see why he has to keep breathing"

Giles raised an eyebrow and looked at Willow, who shrugged. "I’m fine, and he won’t be seeing out of that eye for a while. Buffy’s just antsy"

"I see" He looked down at the blonde head on his chest and kissed it. "We’ll go out tonight, ok? I’m sure we’ll find something to take care of that"

Michael quietly stood up and cleared his throat.

"Oh, yes!" Giles kissed Buffy’s head again and gently pushed her back. "We were planning to go to lunch today. See you tonight?"

The slayer nodded and grabbed her bag. Stretching up and kissing his cheek, she brushed past the two men in front of the couch and grabbed Willow’s arm. "We’ll be at the dorms. The others’ll be there too. Just come get me" She grinned back at him and Willow waved as they jogged out the door.

Larry stared after them for a minute, then turned back to Giles. "Ok. Well, there will be some explanations at lunch. And we’re going to Jack’s. I need a beer. Or five"

Giles chuckled and nodded, grabbing his coat and following his friends out.

**

"Where the hell are you today?" Xander waved a hand in front of his friend and shook his head. "Could you come back from there now?"

"Sorry" Kyle sighed and glanced at a brunette climbing the side of the building. "It’s just...look at her!"

Xander shook his head. "Wow. I mean, I’ve seen crushes...but this one beats ‘em all" He glanced at his watch and nodded. "Tell you what? Let’s go to Jack’s for a beer, ok? You’ll feel better with some food in your stomach"

"Right. Sure. Whatever you said" Kyle’s eyes were still on the woman. Xander sighed and grabbed his arm, dragging him away.

 

Chapter Fourteen

*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*

"Alright." Larry took another drink of his beer. "Let's do this again...you're the head of a gang...you and this girl." Giles nodded. "You have been since before we met you." Another nod. "You two..." he vaguely gestured, "last night." Nod. "And...what? What else changed? Why all of a sudden are you being so open when you were obviously hiding?"

Giles blinked. "I was not aware we were hiding. I'm certain most people in this town are aware of the situation."

Michael sighed and nodded, earning him an incredulous look from Larry. He shrugged. "Well, I didn't know. But looking back, I should have. I mean, I mention his name and people tense up. Especially that bartender...Willie, I think."

Giles suddenly let out a bark of laughter. "Tense?" He laughed again, harder, and took his glasses off to clean them. "Yes, I believe he would be. Buffy uses him as her personal punching bag when she wants information most days."

Larry raised an eyebrow. "Well...that's kinda sad. He gets beaten on regularly by a little girl?"

The watcher's face turned stony and he slowly raised his head, meeting Larry's eyes. When he spoke it was quietly, with a hard edge to it. "I would not throw such terms around carelessly, if I were you."

Larry just nodded, his eyes going wide, as he shrank into his seat a bit.

Thankfully, from Larry's point of view anyway, there was a distraction at the door as two boys came in. Jack came out and told them they have to leave, that they weren't welcome here because of a fight the a few nights before. One of the boys shrugged and started to leave. The other one, however, who looked rather familiar to Larry and Michael, was starting to get into it with the owner, claiming that the fight was not his fault, he only got involved when some man had started in on a defenseless girl, and how *dare* Jack try to keep him out. The boy's friend was pulling at his arm, trying to get him to leave, but he wasn't budging.

Giles raised an eyebrow, watched the exchange for a minute then sighed, and got up to go over. Michael caught his arm and frowned.

"Is it really any of our business?"

The watcher blinked at him. "That's Xander. So, yes, it is."

Michael let go of Giles' arm and looked back at the boy. [He looks taller than he did in the picture], he decided. [That's why I didn't recognize him.]

Larry, however, noticed the major difference. In the picture, Xander had been smiling, and had looked kind of goofy.

But angry, the boy was downright scary.

The two men watched Giles go over and speak quietly to Jack, who was still arguing with Xander. After a few minutes he came back and picked up his coat. "I'm leaving. If you're coming, come."

And he walked out the door without a backwards glance. Xander shot one last glare at the owner and followed the older man. And from the corner of the room, Larry and Michael heard someone shout to Jack that he'd just done something incredibly stupid.

Less than a minute after the proclamation, Giles' two friends were out of their seats and running to catch up with him.

[Better a friend than an enemy.]

Chapter Fifteen

*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*

Giles and Xander stormed into Buffy's dorm room. The college freshman flopped onto one of the chairs, but the watcher started pacing, glaring at nothing at all and popping his knuckles.

The slayer raised an eyebrow. "Ok, give."

Xander raised his hand. "I was booted from a really nice, convenient bar because there was a fight the other night."

Willow frowned from the floor, where she'd been studying. "Wasn't that the night that girl was attacked?"

"Yeah, but Jack didn't seem to feel that was pertinent to the situation."

"Ahh." The hacker glanced at Giles. "And now the group protector is in pissed-off mode."

"Yep."

Buffy stood up and got in Giles' path, stopping the pacing, then pulled his head down into a long, slow kiss. Xander wolf-whistled about halfway through, but they ignored him. When she finally let go so they could catch their breath, the Englishman was decidedly calmer.

"Better?"

Giles simply wrapped his arms around her waist and dragged her mouth back to his, biting and suckling at her tongue.

Willow rolled her eyes and went back to her studying, and therefore did not get to see the expression on Joyce Summers' face when she burst into the dorm room, calling her daughter's name.

However, according to Xander later, it was 'one for the books'.

**

An hour later, Joyce was still yelling at Buffy, who was on Giles' lap, despite her mother's repeated attempts to get her to sit *anywhere* else.

"And he's as old as *I* am! To say nothing of the control he has over you..."

Willow sighed and stood up, stretching, then came over and took Joyce's arm. "Mrs. Summers, what say we go for some coffee, and I explain what's going on?"

Joyce stopped for a minute, blinking as if she didn't know where she was, then looked at Willow, really realizing she was there for the first time. After a minute, the mother nodded, and Willow led her out calmly, followed by Xander who had to get back to work.

The instant the door was shut, Buffy turned to face Giles, straddling his lap.

"Hi."

Giles smiled and kissed her, deeply and thoroughly, before answering, and when he did, it was a whisper against her lips. "Hi."

 

:: On To Chapter Sixteen ::

 


:: Back to TrinityLast's Page ::
 :: Back to Author's Page ::
:: Slightly Over The Edge ::