W.C Academy

As the incredibly long day wound down, Buffy and Graham had wandered back into her office. Graham stood silently watching her take a seat behind the best looking exhausted.

"Oh, hey, I never asked you, where are you staying?" Buffy looked at him.

Graham took a seat he had been previously occupying. "Um, I, uh, I don't really know yet."

Buffy suddenly perked back up. "What do you mean you don't know yet?"

"I mean, I didn't think that far."

"How could you not think about that?"

With an innocent expression, Graham held his hands between his knees. "Because I didn't think you'd hire me."

His words lingered in Buffy's mind slowly sinking in. Her serious frown slowly extended into a smile of amusement. "You can just stay with me."

"What? No."

"No? What do you mean, no?"

Graham shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, "I mean, no, I'm not going to crash on your couch that's too much."

"You wouldn't be sleeping on the couch." Buffy rolled her eyes. "I have an extra room. Dawn's bedroom is currently va—"

"No. Thank you, but that's just way too much." Graham refused to be her charity case. "You've already given me too much. I don't want anything else from you."

"I'm offering."

Graham sat back in the chair with his arms folded across his chest. "I'm a horrible guest."

"I'm not changing my mind." Buffy gave him a sly smile.

"I'm not neat." Graham shook his head sitting back in the chair and crossed his legs.

"I have a maid who comes once a week."

"I watch ESPN… a lot. I don't watch anything else."

Buffy shrugged, "I could learn more about sports."

"I don't grocery shop and when I do, I get burgers and beer."

"An American classic."

"I never change the toilet paper roll when it runs out."

Buffy smiled holding her hand under her chin and smiled, "You'll have your own bathroom."

Graham sat in a long silence staring at Buffy as she smiled at him teasingly. "I'm always late on rent."

He smiled to himself finally winning the "great debate".

Slowly, Buffy leaned forward as if to tell him a secret over the desk. "It's rent free."

"No." Graham stood from the chair disbelievingly. "Absolutely not."

"Graham," She said his name calmly but it had fallen on deaf ears.

Graham paced back and forth shaking his head. "I will not take a rent-free offer."

"You didn't want to take the rent paying offer either." She argued.

"No. You've already done way, way too much for me. You gave me a job. I'm not a charity case, Buf. I refuse to be."

Buffy frowned feeling as if she had unintentionally insulted him. "It's free for me too, Graham." Graham paused mid-step faced Buffy. "The Watcher's Council pays for it. They pay for everything. So, I'm going to ask you again." Her eyes never left his. "Would you like to take the extra bedroom that was formally Dawn's?"

Minutes past of silence without Graham's answer. He released a breath of defeat and grumbled, "Shit."

Graham followed Buffy down to a hidden basement which stored cars. He watched as Buffy went to a valet man handing him the keys. She stepped back to Graham to wait for the car's arrival.

"It will be just a minute." She said to him as he adjusted the strap of the duffle bag hanging off his shoulder.

The sound of a car's screeching wheels echoed off the concrete walls. A cherry red 1970 Ford Mustang Coupe pulled up to them. The valet tossed Buffy the keys in her hand and accepted her generous tip.

Buffy moved to the driver's side door and slipped on her sunglasses. "Are you coming?"

A slow grin swept across Graham's mouth. "Hell yeah!" Graham stepped around to the passenger's side door and tossed the duffle bag in the back seat.

With a whistle of approval, Graham smoothed his hand across the dashboard then the seat he sat in. Graham then ran a hand over the steering wheel completely in love.

He's a car guy. Buffy watched on with amusement. Little by little, she was really finding out who this man was. Though they had known each other way back when they didn't really know one another. Graham was a total stranger to her.

The Lansbury Flats

Knightsbridge, London

The cherry red Mustang came to a shortstop in a reserved parking space outside the apartment building.

Buffy turned off the ignition and looked at Graham who sat in the passenger's seat grasping the edge of the seat and the side of the door. His face was pale as a ghost.

"Are you okay? Are you not feeling well?" Buffy asked him with genuine concern.

Graham cleared his throat regaining his control. "That was… uh, fast."

"I know the trip from the Academy to the flat isn't that far…" Buffy continued oblivious to Graham's actual meaning. She was a fearless driver in a foreign land which petrified Graham to the core. "Hey? Are you there?"

Graham shook himself from his thought and reached Buffy's gentle gaze. "Ye—yeah." He opened the door and got outstanding on shaky legs.

A doorman stood at the door and smiled greeting Buffy as she entered inside. "Good afternoon, Ms Summers. A pleasant day?" The doorman asked.

"A very pleasant day but how many times do I have to ask you to call me Buffy?"

"At least one more time, Ms Summers."

Buffy smiled at the man's quick-witted humour. "Oh, Bill, this is Graham Miller. He is going to be a new resident here."

Graham eyed the doorman carefully. He could see he held great affection for Buffy by the way he glared. Bill was older, in his sixties Graham guessed. He wasn't as tall as he or as fit. He appeared to be the sort of gentleman that enjoyed a good novel by the fire with a cup of tea.

"Oh? What apartment will he be staying in?" Bill asked.

"With me," Buffy said much to Bill's surprise. "He'll be taking Dawn's bedroom."

"How is the other Miss Summers?"

With a smile, Buffy said, "She's great. She's loving Oxford and she sends thanks for that Charles Dickens novel you lent her. She's sending you her research paper."

Bill returned the smile feeling a jolt of pride. Over the last five and a half years, Bill and the Summers women grew to be great friends. Bill took a special kind of interest in the sisters. Something deep inside of him told him that these women were special.

"We should be going now. Have a great rest of the day Bill." Buffy headed on towards the elevator.

Graham went to follow when Bill stepped directly in his path blocking him. "I'm on to you, chap. If you do anything, I mean anything to that girl, I will be looking for you personally."

Over the years in the military, Graham had mastered numerous variety of skills one of which was the neutral expression. He could remember his commander at Boot Camp hammering in his head how important it was not to let anyone see your true emotions. They should never know what you are thinking.

"I would never do such a thing, sir. I come with only the best intentions." He told the older man politely though inside he was laughing.

Graham moved around Bill heading towards the elevator. Buffy stuck her head out of the open doors curious to what was taking Graham so long.

"What's taking you?" She asked.

"Nothin'," Graham said stepping into the elevator meeting Bill's eyes as the doors closed in front of him.

10th Floor, Flat #7

The elevator doors opened to a long hallway. Buffy stepped out first, followed by Graham. The hallway was lit with the sunshine and fluorescent lights that were overhead.

Buffy stopped to a wooden door and turned the key in the keyhole. She opened the apartment door and stepped inside. She faced Graham opening the door wider for him to enter.

Graham took a deep breath, not in a million years did he think he would be in this sort of position. He never thought he'd be here in England working alongside the Vampire Slayer. In fact, he never would've thought the klutzy girl from the cafeteria was a Vampire Slayer.

"I can give you another grand tour but I think its pretty self-explanatory. Um, down that hallway is my room." Graham followed her pointing finger with his eyes. "And down this hallway is your room. It's pretty cleaned out. If there's some stuff still lying about just throw them in a box and I'll take care of it. Oh!" Buffy suddenly shouted as she dashed off into the open concept kitchen. She opened a drawer and took out an extra, extra, extra silver key. "Here you go. Pretty much everyone has a key to this place. Dawn... Willow... Xander... Giles... Half the time they don't even use it. Willow can teleport."

"Nifty."

"If you're hungry... um... There really isn't anything to eat. A have drunk Diet Coke and vanilla yoghurt. I'm not a cook. How about, while you settle down, I'll order us a pizza?"

Graham nodded his head with a small smile. "Sounds good." He picked the duffle bag beside his feet and headed down the hallways where the bedroom was.

Graham opened the door and flicked on the light. The bedroom was bigger than he expected. He suspected Buffy stayed in the master bedroom. He could only imagine how big that bedroom was.

No! Bad thought! You can't think about Buffy's bedroom. That's wrong. She's still Riley's girl, dude. Graham scolded himself.

He dropped the duffle bag on the ground and went to the bed and sat down. He ran a hand through his short brown hair and slid that hand over his bearded face. How the hell did you get here man? Seriously dude. How did it happen?

30 Minutes Later

Graham stepped out of the bedroom inhaling the sent of pizza delivery. He rounded the corner to find Buffy standing at the counter island breaking apart the pizza slices. He smirked and leaned his elbows on the counter.

"How much do I owe you?"

"Think of it as a welcoming gift," Buffy suggested picking up the plate in her hand. She stepped around the island and headed towards the couch. "But you're ordering the next take-out meal."

Graham chuckled taking the pizza box and followed her lead to the couch.

Buffy curled her ankles under herself and looked at Graham curiously. "For as long as I've known you, I really don't know much about you." She said. "In fact, I don't know anything about you."

"You never needed to."

"What do you mean?"

Graham swallowed and continued, "You didn't need to care. I was just the "best friend", I wasn't Riley. You had no reason to even notice me. You didn't need to ask any questions. You had all the information you needed."

With a frown, Buffy prepared to argue. "That's not true."

"Yes, it is." Graham wore a slanted smile. "And that's okay because I felt the same way. Riley was in love with you and that's all I needed to know. I didn't need any more information than that."

A flinch of guilt washed over Buffy's face. Graham was absolutely right. She never had the need or desire to get to know her ex-boyfriend's best friend. He was just the super cute guy that hung around with them and occasionally did some missions with Riley while he was still at the Initiative.

"I want to get to know you now," Buffy announced. She sat up a bit straighter and placed the plate down in front of her looked at Graham fully. "When were you born?" She asked.

Graham finished chewing his slice and said, "May 1st, 1976. You?"

Buffy bit into the pizza and answered while chewing, "January 19th, 1981. Where did you grow up?"

"Chicago."

"Do you still have family there?"

"I do."

"Siblings?"

Graham reached over to the coffee table for another pizza slice. "A brother. Younger named Joey. He's an ass."

Buffy smiled, "Were you a Varsity athlete in High School?"

"Starting quarterback. Did you letter in anything, volleyball perhaps?"

"No," She shook her head. "I was a cheerleader."

With a snap of his fingers, Graham said, "That was my second guess. I can't imagine you being a cheerleader in Sunnydale though."

"I tried but you're right... The supernatural occupied most of my time. Before Sunnydale, I went to school at Hemery High in L.A. That was before I was even called as a Slayer."

"What were you like then? Before being called, I mean."

Feeling slightly embarrassed, Buffy tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "I was your typical run of the mill Valley Girl. I was a self-absorbed pillowcase. Back in those days, everyone wanted to be me. Then I was called and became the weird crazy girl who burns down gyms."

"Why'd you move to Sunnydale? Because of your calling?"

"No," Buffy shook her head. "I thought I was long, long past that "phase". No, Mom and Dad divorced. Mom wanted to make a clean start, so we moved. She really just wanted to be as far away from my Dad and his secretary girlfriend. It was just my incredible luck that the new town we moved to happened to be a Mecca for the supernatural. The kids at Sunnydale only knew me as the freaky girl with hey in her hair. I'd show up every time there was something strange going on. I think they thought I was in some sort of gang or something..."

"You're not a freak, Buffy."

"Tell that to the class of '99."

Graham laughed finding her quick-witted humour refreshing and much needed. He sat back on the couch and listened to her talk more about her trivial high school days as the "Class Freak" turned "Class Protector".

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