It was late at night, and Giles sat alone in his new flat in London, in his pajamas. He was reading a book, which happened to be one of his favorites, and he had a soothing cup of Earl Grey waiting for him on the coffee table. The peace and quiet was nice. It was a change from his busy life. He did like the quiet, but he did miss the Scoobies. The only thing that didn't bother him was the fact that they wouldn't trampling all over his flat at all hours. Suddenly there was a loud banging at his door, and he jolted upright at the sudden noise. Who could be knocking on his door at this late hour? He set his book down beside his cup of tea, and walked over to the door, grabbing a stake from his weapons chest on the way there, just in case it was an unwanted visitor at the door. He began to open the door slowly, when whoever, or whatever was outside threw the door open. Giles stumbled back away from the door, surprised. His eyes widened as he noticed it was a very angry Buffy who had thrown open the door.

"How could you?!" She shouted at him.

"What are you talking about?" Giles replied rather calmly, although he was completely and utterly confused. He was also shocked to see Buffy in London. He didn't think she'd come to London to see him. He studied her for a moment. She was obviously furious, but she was also tired, judging by the shadow under her eyes. He thought it was probably a case of jet lag, as the time difference was a good few hours.

"You know what I'm talking about!" Buffy said angrily, only now taking notice of the stake in his hand.

Giles knew she had seen the stake, and set it down on the counter. "Actually, I haven't any idea of what you're talking about."

"You brought a gun on the day Glory tried to open the portal! You were going to kill Dawn!"

Giles was quick to respond. "I only brought it as a last resort. I wouldn't have used it, unless it was absolutely necessary."

"Did you think I wouldn't find out?!" Buffy shot at him, seeming more hurt than angry now.

"I was hoping you wouldn't..." Giles replied, looking at her, seeming rather innocent.

Buffy lifted her hand, and slapped Giles across the face. She hadn't even thought of it, it was just her first reflex. Giles's head snapped to the side, his cheek turning red from the impact. He let out a breath, before looking down.

"You bastard..." Buffy said softly, as tears came to her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Buffy... I told you, it was only as a last resort... If we were unable to stop Glory from-"

"It doesn't matter! You were going to kill my sister!"

Giles nodded, slowly walked over to his weapons chest. Buffy watched from further behind, wondering what he was doing. He turned around to face Buffy, holding something. It took Buffy a second to realize that, that he was holding the gun he was going to use to kill Dawn. Giles sighed, as he looked up at her. Buffy slowly took the gun from his hands, both hurt and shocked.

"I can't believe you'd do this..." Buffy said, gripping the gun tightly.

Giles could only watch her silently, not sure of what to say next. The side of his face of which Buffy slapped was still red, and burning, but he didn't say another word. Buffy allowed her tears to fall as she looked up at him.

"I'm sorry." Giles said softly.

"Would you have used this if I hadn't sacrificed myself?" Buffy asked.

Giles nodded slowly. "Yes."

Buffy raised her hand, and Giles flinched, thinking she was going to slap him again. She slowly lowered her hand, containing her anger, and looked down.

"How did you find out, if I might ask?" Giles said softly.

"Xander told me. He said he had seen you wearing it on that night."

Giles sighed, and nodded. "Buffy, please forgive me. I never meant any harm... I couldn't let Glory unleash hell on Earth because you wouldn't sacrifice Dawn. To be honest, if I could go back to that night, I would've shot Dawn in a heartbeat because it would be much better than losing you..." His own words took him by surprise.

Buffy blushed lightly at this, despite her anger. "It really hurt you when I died, didn't it?"

Giles nodded. "Yes. Yes, it did. Buffy, you're my Slayer... More than a slayer, you're my family, which means quite a lot, as I don't exactly have any family left, besides you lot." He looked down, and sighed softly. "You, and the rest of the Scooby Gang, mean the world to me."

Buffy's eyes filled with tears, of which she wouldn't let loose. She looked up into his eyes. It was only then that she realized how much he'd truly been through. How much he had taken away from him. He had no one left, but the gang, and Buffy silently promised him she'd make sure he'd never lose them. She saw so much hurt in his soft green eyes. It was heartbreaking to realize how much he'd been through, ever since he moved to Sunnydale, and met her. On top of it all, she was sure she contributed to how much he'd been hurt, he lost the woman he loved more than anything to the man she herself had once loved, and the rest of the gang had grown to trust. Without a thought, she hugged him tightly, and he hugged her back just as tight. They stood there, in each other's arms for several long minutes. They both felt safe that way, though they wouldn't admit it.

Finally, Buffy looked up at Giles apologetically, and broke the silence. "I'm sorry for coming here, losing it on you, and slapping you..." She said softly, as she reached up, and gently touched his cheek, where she had hit him. She could see that it was still red from the impact of the blow, and sighed softly.

Giles smiled softly. "It's alright. You had every right to hit me."

Buffy let out a small, faint laugh at how these words sounded to her and Giles couldn't help but smile as he heard her laugh.

"I really am sorry, Buffy." He said softly.

She nodded. "I know you are, and I forgive you. I'm sorry, too. Hearing why you brought the gun... It changed the way I thought of it. I understand why you did what you did. You're the best Watcher a girl could ever ask for."

Giles blushed lightly, and let out a soft chuckle. "I'm far from being the best Watcher, Buffy."

"Don't even start with me, Giles. You practically gave up your life for me. I mean, you had a life here in England before you were sent to be my Watcher, didn't you? You gave up everything you had, just to make me the best Slayer I can be. Not to mention I probably made your life a living hell." She said, a slight smirk pulling at her lips.

"That's not true. We may have had our fair share of Apocalypses, but that doesn't mean you've made my life a living hell. You've made it far from a living hell, to be honest. And, I didn't have much of a life here in England before moving to Sunnydale, anyhow. My life was devoted to preparing to be a Watcher."

"Oh my God, Giles. You so need to get out more" Buffy said, giggling.

Giles shook his head, as he continued to blush lightly. "So I've been told"

Buffy continued to giggle, and soon Giles had joined her in giggling. They both giggled for a good few minutes, and had a hard time trying to calm each other down. It was nice to be able to just let loose and giggle again. Giles invited Buffy over to the sofa, and soon, they began sharing stories of their lives, before they had met. Mostly light, humours stories were shared, and the duo continuously giggled like little children.

They giggled until nearly midnight, when Buffy momentarily stopped giggling, in order to yawn.

"Someone's tired, I see." Giles said, smiling softly at her.

Buffy nodded, and ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah, I guess I am. I gotta catch a flight back to Sunnydale sometime soon..."

Giles frowned lightly. "You're more than welcome to stay here for as long as you'd like, Buffy. There's a guest bedroom, of which has never been occupied"

"It's alright, Giles. I couldn't ask you to do that."

"You're not asking me. I'm offering it. And, I could use some company, anyhow. It does get lonely here, sometimes."

Buffy looked up at Giles, a thankful look in her eyes. "Thank you so much, Giles. I won't stay for long, I promise."

"I told you, you could stay for as long as you'd like. It's alright with me"

"Maybe just a few days... I had planned to stay in a hotel for a few days, until I could catch a flight back, but, if you don't mind, I could stay with you until then."

"I don't mind at all." Giles said, with a firm not, and a bright smile.

He was happy, and Buffy loved it. She loved seeing that childish look on his face that so few people got to see. "Thank you. So, so much." She said as she hugged him tightly again.

"You're welcome, Buffy" He said as he hugged her back just as tight.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Buffy pulled away, and looked up at him. "Do you think you could come back to Sunnydale with me? I miss having you around."

Giles thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Of course."

Buffy grinned, and hugged him tightly once again.

"I love you, Giles." She said softly, burying her face in his chest as they hugged.

Giles smiled brightly once again, wrapping his arms around her. "I love you too, Buffy."

THE END

I kind of just threw this story together. Most of the ideas were just off the top of my head, but I did enjoy writing this story. It took about a week in the making, which actually isn't too bad. Anyhow, please R&R! :D