Giles suddenly stood. He ran both hands roughly through his hair and growled in frustration. He grabbed his glass off of the table before kicking it over, spilling the books across the floor. He downed the glass of its contents and, not feeling any better, threw it against the wall.

"So," a voice behind him caused him to turn, startled. "Not good news, I'm guessing."

"Buffy," he breathed, a startled expression upon his face. He looked around at the damage he had caused. Turning back to her, he opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Sorrow occupied his face and he shook his head, turning away from her once again.

Buffy stepped more into the room. "Giles?" Worry dripped from her voice. "You're starting to scare me."

He laughed sardonically. "Scare you? I'm terrified!"

"You..." She took small steps forward. "You really found nothing?" Her voice was so small, his heart broke at the sound.

"Perhaps we should reconsider asking the others."

"No," she firmly stated. She stood before him now. "They don't need to know. They have all been through so much all ready."

"As have you." His eyes pleaded with her to see it his way.

Buffy put her hand on his forearm and sat on the couch. He sat beside her. "It's my job, Giles. It's what I am meant to do. My calling, my burden. Not theirs."

"Our calling. Our burden."

She smiled softly at him. "Ours. You and me." She sighed. "Right to the end." She looked to the mess of books on the floor. She didn't see Giles' eyes fill with water or bite his bottom lip to stop from trembling. "It was always my fate to die," she said, barely above a whisper.

He grabbed her face and turned her attention to him. "Listen to me." His voice was low and shaky. "I'm here for you. Always." He kissed her forehead. "I won't let anything happen to you." He kissed her cheek.

"Giles," she muttered.

"I can't have anything happen to you," he whispered into her ear as he stroked his thumb across her cheek. Buffy felt a tear drip onto her shoulder. She closed her eyes as she felt her own tears start to form. She touched the side of his face that was not resting against hers. He turned into her touch and kissed her palm. "I couldn't go on without you."

"Giles," she said once again to pull his attention. He pulled back just enough to bring his lips around to her own. At first, she just froze, but as she felt his lips move against hers, she couldn't help but respond in kind. She found his lips to be incredibly soft, but tasting very much like scotch. Part of her knew he was drunk. Part of her knew she should put a stop to this. But most of her was focused on the tongue that slipped into her mouth and now she wasn't ready to let it go.

She pulled herself in closer to Giles. He put an arm around her and hoisted her into his lap. She straddled him as he continued to caress her tongue with his. As Buffy started to feel his arousal, she moved her hips against him, looking for any type of friction. Giles moaned as he thrust up to her. Buffy broke the kiss and hung her head back as they continued to grind against one another. She could all ready fell the pleasure building up inside of her.

Suddenly, Giles' arms tightened around her. He flipped them so she lay on her back. He immediately went to the button on her jeans. Once open, he roughly pulled her pants and panties down and off, along with her sneakers. Before she even registered her half nakedness, Giles had his face buried between her thighs.

Buffy called out and thrust up into his tongue. She grabbed his head and held it still as she moved herself against his face. He put an arm under her hips and slightly raised her up for a better angle. She pulled his hair, removing him from her warm, wet center. She roughly pushed him onto the floor as she sat herself up. Giles did not look scared or frightened. Only incredibly turned on. Buffy dropped to the floor and moved her body up over his until her knees were just above his shoulders. Giles roughly grabbed her waist as she lowered herself onto his expecting mouth. It wasn't long before he slipped a finger into her and she began riding his face. Soon enough she called out, legs shaking to where she could barely stay upright.

He didn't give her much time to come down from her high. Once again he flipped them. He undid his own pants, not even bothering to take them off completely before plunging himself into her. She cried out again and wrapped her legs tight around his waist. He pounded into her, hard and fast. He felt her tighten around his cock as she clawed at his shoulders, calling his name.

He sat back on his haunches and lifted one of her legs up onto his shoulder for a deeper penetration. As she came a third time, Giles released himself into her, both of them calling out the others name in ecstasy.

He started to reclaim his breathing and removed himself from her. He sat back against the front of the couch, finally discarding his pants, but pulling back up his boxer briefs. Buffy continued to lay still and stare at the ceiling. "Wow," being the only thing she seemed capable of saying. After a minute of silence and neither person moving, a soft chuckle escaped Buffy. "I mean, wow, Giles. It's a good thing I'm dying cuz nothing will beat that." She turned her head to see him. He had his elbow propped on the couch and his face being covered by his hand. Her smile faded. She brought herself up into a sitting position. "Giles?" He didn't react. She moved to be next to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder. When he still didn't react, her lip slightly trembled. Had she just made an earth shattering mistake? So much so that Giles couldn't even bring himself to look at her? Her eyes began to water. "Please," she whispered. "Talk to-".

She was interrupted by Giles making a small sound. Then another. It was a snore.

He was sleeping.

Buffy wasn't sure if that made things better or worse, but couldn't help the small, relieved chuckle that escaped her. She quickly wiped at the offending tears on her cheeks. She retrieved her pants and slipped her bottoms on. She grabbed a couple of throw pillows and the afghan from the couch. Once she lay Giles in a more comfortable sleeping position, she covered them both with the blanket. She kissed his nose and he made a small, happy noise in his sleep. She took a moment to notice how adorable he looked when he wasn't completely freaking out about something, which was most of the time. But even then he had some sexy worry lines.

She laid down and snuggled into him. He wrapped an arm around her waist and nuzzled her hair. "I love you, Buffy," he spoke quietly, sounding more than half asleep.

"I love you, too, Giles," she whispered. Then Buffy closed her eyes and soon followed him into dreamland.