Giles had rarely been so grateful to reach his front door. It had been a long night; passing the time helping Buffy study for her SATs only compounded the usual tedium of waiting for vampires to rise.
Honestly, the day that girl takes her schooling seriously will be the day I take up HTML programming Giles thought as he unlocked the door and stepped inside, smiling at the thought of what Jenny's face would look like if he asked her to teach him about JavaScript, whatever that was.
The apartment was completely dark, except for a small light on in the kitchenette.
"Jenny?" Giles called softly as he closed the door behind him, "I'm home."
There was no reply.
Giles hung up his coat and scarf, put his briefcase on his desk and went into the kitchenette. According to the clock on the microwave it was 12:47. Jenny was probably asleep. But she had apparently left a plate of neatly saran-wrapped left-overs for Giles's dinner on the counter. He popped it into the microwave and sighed.
It was odd that since they had started living together, just before Buffy returned, it seemed as if he and Jenny were spending less time together than before. Giles supposed it was because they felt less obliged to schedule dates and the like. But at least they were together at night.
After he had eaten his dinner and washed up, Giles quietly climbed the stairs to his bedroom and carefully opened the door. He smiled to see Jenny at last, as she lay peacefully curled up on his bed. She was wearing a pair of his pajamas and was hugging a pillow tightly, her dark cropped hair falling over her eyes. For a moment Giles stood looking at her, wondering what he had done to deserve to have such a creature lying in his bed.
After he had changed and slid into bed besides her, Giles kissed Jenny softly on the cheek and whispered, "Jenny, are you asleep?"
"No" she sighed in reply.
"Good" Giles said and continued to gently kiss her face and neck.
Jenny didn't respond except to ask "did you see your dinner on the counter?"
"Mm hm" Giles replied. When Jenny still didn't turn to face him, he stopped
kissing her to brush the hair out of her eyes. "Is something wrong?" He asked.
Jenny was silent for a few moments before she spoke, "Rupert, what was I wearing today?"
Giles was taken aback by the unexpected question. "Uh... um, well..." he stammered, even more surprised when he realize he didn't have an answer. He had left for school early that morning and hadn't seen Jenny the entire day.
At last Jenny turned to face him with a weary smile. "We don't see much of each other these days, do we?" she said.
"Well, we-we're seeing each other now" Giles smiled a little and leaned in to kiss Jenny again.
She let him for a while before gently pulling away. "I'm not just in this relationship for the sex, you know" she said seriously.
"I-I know" Giles stammered, a bit confused.
"So why can't we spend some time together doing, you know, something else?"
"Well, I-I've been busy. Buffy's training --"
"Of course, the Slayer, the most important person in a Watcher's life."
"Jenny, don't --" Giles didn't appreciate being made to feel guilty about a situation he couldn't help.
"I-I know. I'm sorry. Being a Watcher is important" Jenny said sincerely, but she couldn't keep some sarcasm from resurfacing as she continued, "it's your sacred duty."
"Jenny, I-I... i-it's not that I wouldn't rather spend time with you --"
"It's just that you can't. I know" Jenny sighed, "but Rupert, if Buffy can slay, and go to school and have a social life, why can't you be a Watcher, and a librarian, and have time for us?"
"Well, Buffy isn't necessarily a good example of skillful time-management. Her studying for her SAT isn't exactly progressing well --"
"You were helping Buffy study tonight?" Jenny asked, her voice suddenly cold.
"Yes..."
"Oh." Jenny turned away from Giles and stared at the ceiling instead.
Giles was getting exasperated. He didn't even understand why they were having this argument. "Jenny, she... I-I-I have to do something to --"
"Do you? I didn't know tutoring was part of the Watcher job description" Jenny said, still engrossed by the ceiling.
The volume of Giles's voice was rising, "She can't very well slay if she's - if she's 'stressed out' about school."
"But that's just it, Rupert," Jenny said, turning to face Giles again, propping herself up with her arm, the volume of her voice rising to match his, "Buffy's not stressed out. Not compared to you at any rate. You take everything far too seriously --"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Giles said sarcastically as he sat up, "I didn't know vampires and demons and-and impending apocalypses weren't to be taken seriously. I suppose I should re-examine my priorities."
"Just lighten up once in a while. You don't have to be Mr. Responsibility all the time. Take a break and have fun! What's the point of saving the world if you aren't going to live in it?"
"Saving it so that others can live?"
"Well what if one of those others wants to live with you?" Jenny said, quieting down, adding uncertainly, "Rupert, don't I matter too?"
"Of course! How ca-can y-you-you --" Giles was annoyed by Jenny's attitude. Had she forgotten how he'd almost died for her? Giles looked at Jenny, baffled about what it was she wanted, and saw her large dark eyes looking just as confused back at him. He realized they were both feeling the same way about where their relationship was at -- lost and unsure -- and calmed down. "I... I'm sorry" he said, although he didn't know for what, "maybe... maybe we should just go to sleep" and he turned over, pulling the covers up to his chin.
They lay there in silence for a while, Jenny staring glumly at the ceiling, until she ventured to ask, "Rupert, are you asleep?"
"No" he muttered.
"Good" Jenny said lightly.
Giles turned over slowly to face Jenny again.
"Y' know, it's still part of what I'm in this relationship for" she said grudgingly and turned her head to look apologetically at Giles, "I've been missing you."
She moved closer to Giles and kissed him softly. He let her.
