Part 21 -Time off
Tuesday

"So, nothing's resolved?" Willow asked. She, and Buffy were sitting
on the school's front lawn after school. It was a nice day, and
neither really felt like going to either of their homes. Oz was out
of town, he and the Dingoes were playing L.A. that evening.


"No," Buffy said, shaking her head. "Visiting the dentist for a root
canal would be more enjoyable than what I'm dealing with here, for
the past week. Xander doesn't believe that I want him. He thinks I'm
just saying it. He thinks he's second choice. I don't know how to
convince him. Angel. Angel I convinced to stay, because of the
Ascension. But he avoids me as best he can, and when I do catch up
with him he avoids the topic of us. At this rate, I'm going to go
crazy before anything gets resolved."

"Don't say that," Willow said, patting her friend on the hand
comfortingly. "Who do you want to be with?" she questioned.

"I don't know," Buffy replied. "I love Xan, Willow. And I never have
felt like I made the wrong decision when I decided to give us a
chance. But he's right when he says I still love Angel. If Xan and I
hadn't been together, I might have gone back to Angel now, no matter
how dangerous we are together."

"Does Angel know about you and Xander?" Willow asked.

"Yeah," Buffy nodded. "He's been back for two months, Will."


Willow frowned, obviously confused. "Why...."

"He saw that I was with Xander," Buffy answered. "He didn't want to
mess things up for me. In other words, he did the 'noble Angel'
thing. 'I had every right to move on.' Etcetera, etcetera."

"Do you think he still loves you?"

"I know he does," Buffy said with a sad sigh. "It's not something he
hides well, and I finally cornered him on it and he admitted it. I
can't believe he doesn't hate me for sending to Hell, but that's just
like him to be understanding. And, all he had to hold on to while he
was in Hell were memories. Memories of us, and the few happy moments
we shared before everything came crashing down. So I guess holding on
to that love kept it alive in his heart."

"And then there's Xander," she continued. "He's my best friend,
Wills, there's something so amazing about being with someone who
knows you so well. I don't have to try to pretend, I can just be
myself. He loves me, even though he knows all my faults. I can't let
that go."

She looked over at Willow and shrugged, "So the moral of the story is
I am one messed up chick," she said half-jokingly.

Willow shrugged, and said, "I wish I had some really good advice, but
I don't know what to tell you. Other than follow what your heart
tells you?"

"I'm trying," Buffy said. "It's just that my heart is really torn
right now. I guess I'll figure it out eventually. I hope it won't be
too late."

"Well, I gotta go," Willow said. "We're on for tonight, Girl's Night
Out, right?"

"Yeah, I definitely need some time off from Slaying," Buffy said.
Angel had offered to do Patrol himself, and she'd taken him up on the
offer. "Meet me at Giles'. He wants to do some training this
afternoon."

Willow gave her a quick hug before heading in the direction of her
house. Buffy then turned to go to Giles' apartment.

********
Giles' Apartment
5 pm

"Oomph," Buffy fell to the floor, her feet having been knocked out
from under her by Giles. "Geez, Giles," she muttered, getting to her
feet.

"You're not paying attention," Giles reprimanded, laying his staff on
a nearby table. "If you don't concentrate when you're out on patrol,
something much worse will happen to you."

"I know, but I wasn't on patrol, I was trying to hit you with a big
stick." Buffy said. "I couldn't concentrate on hitting you with the
stupid stick, big deal. Sue me."

"Buffy--"

"I'm not in the mood for your lectures, Giles," she warned, giving
him an irritated look. "I've got a lot on my mind right now. So I'm
sorry if I can't be Miss Perfect Slayer all the time, but I'm doing
the best I can!!" she ended in a yell, and stomped into the kitchen
for a bottle of water.

"Yeah, that was great," she berated herself when she had calmed
down. "He's just doing his job, and trying to get you to do yours."
She sighed, and walked back into the living room, Giles was standing
where she'd left him. She offered him a bottle of water, and
said, "I'm sorry. I didn't have any right to take it out on you like
that. I'm just really on edge lately."

"I understand completely," Giles replied, taking the water from
her. "You are handling everything remarkably, in my opinion."

"Thanks," Buffy smiled at him. "Now I owe you a 'being knocked on
your butt moment', don'tcha think?" she asked, taking her staff and
getting into fighting stance.

"You can certainly try it," Giles challenged with a smile, taking his
staff and swinging at her.

She blocked the thrust, knocking his staff to the side, and followed
through with a thrust at his torso. He jumped back and tripped over a
chair landing on the floor on his rear end. Buffy giggled, "And that,
I guess will have to do for your 'being knocked on your but moment.'"

"Feeling better?" Giles asked ruefully, as he got to his feet.

"Much," she grinned. "Nothing like winning a sparring session to
improve my mood."

"I would hardly say you won," Giles protested. "Just because I have
two left feet--"

"Admit it Giles, she kicked your ass. Which is just the way we want
it," Willow said. Buffy and Giles looked up at her standing in the
doorway grinning.

"And why do none of you knock anymore?!" Giles said in irritation.

"Don't even pretend you mind," Buffy said with a smile. "You like us,
admit it!"

"Never!" Giles replied in mock horror, but the twinkle in his eye
gave him away. "Well, I suppose that's good enough for today,
Buffy...Angel's patrolling tonight, correct?"

"Yeah Giles," Buffy replied. "That's okay, right?"

"Yes, of course," Giles said. "I just wanted to make sure everything
was under control for the evening. Your mother and I are going to a
movie."

"It's all taken care of," Buffy assured him. "Come on, Wills. Have
fun, Giles," she called. She turned back, "But not too much fun,
because that's just gross," she added.

*********