STANDING: CHAPTER THREE
Daniel knocked on Giles' door, waiting patiently for it to be answered. He leant against the wall, trying to work out how the two of them had become such good friends in the space of two weeks.
Daniel still hadn't been able to get any more information out of Giles in regards to his 'friend' in California, and from the looks of things, he hadn't heard from her since he had left.
The door opened and he grinned at his friend. "You ready or what?"
Giles nodded reluctantly and stepped out of his apartment, closing and locking the door behind him, carefully pocketing his keys.
"My wife has someone she wants you to meet," Daniel warned, not expecting Giles to stop short in the hallway.
Daniel turned and saw Giles' look. "Oh, come on. It'd be good for you to get out and actually meet some more people Rupert. If you don't like her, you'll never have to see her again, I swear."
Giles just glared at him, but started walking again, albeit a little slower.
"I don't suppose you could uh.ask her not to try and set me up with anyone else?" Giles asked politely as they stepped into the elevator.
Daniel looked at him, wondering why he was so hesitant about meeting new people. After you got through the rough exterior, Rupert was extremely kind, unswervingly loyal and sometimes downright funny. Emma, Daniel's wife, had told him that Rupert was 'extremely good looking and should try and settle down soon.'
Rupert, however, wanted none of that.
"I'll tell her. But, I still don't see why you don't want to go and meet people," Daniel said. Of course, he had a vague idea of why Rupert was so reluctant. He was fairly certain it was due to a young and gorgeous blonde Californian girl by the name of Buffy Summers.
"I don't object to.to meeting new people," Giles said defensively. "I just don't like being.'set up' with people."
Daniel rolled his eyes and patted Rupert's back. "You may not mind being set up with this woman. Emma says she's a beauty."
It was Giles' turn to roll his eyes. "And no doubt your wife has told this woman god knows what about me."
Daniel grinned as they stepped out of the elevator and walked out of the building.
"Probably. No doubt Joanna now thinks you wear white robes and can walk on water," Daniel said. Emma thought the world of Rupert ever since she had met him. She also thought that Rupert was a big softie at heart.
"So, where are we meeting them?" Giles asked.
Daniel pointed to a small café across the street. "Just in there."
Giles nodded, breathed deeply and walked inside. He spotted Emma sitting with an attractive woman with short brown hair. Emma waved Rupert and her husband over to the table and the two men sat down, Daniel sliding in next to Emma in the snug benches, leaving Giles to sit with Joanna.
"Jo, this is our neighbour, Rupert Giles," Emma said. Without even looking at Emma, Giles could tell she was smiling widely. "Rupert, this is my good friend Joanna Green."
Giles and Joanna shook hands. "It's just Jo," she said, blushing a little.
He nodded and gave her a small smile. "It's nice to meet you Jo."
Emma smiled, delighted that everything seemed to be going extremely well. She only wanted to make Rupert smile a little, though she knew that it as bordering on impossible. Sure, he smiled those little tight smiles, but she wanted to see his eyes dancing with laughter. She just didn't know how to get that to happen.
And, if things between Rupert and Jo didn't work out, she didn't know what she was going to do. She was running out of single female friends and colleagues, and Jo was the last.
She looked at Daniel who looked just as hopeful as they watched Jo and Rupert bluff their way through small talk.
~*~
Buffy smiled at the sight of her younger sister being chased across the sand by a wet Spike. He was wearing an old faded pair of jeans without a t- shirt, mainly due to the fact that he didn't own anything to go swimming in. Probably because he had never thought he would ever be going to the beach.
Xander sat beside her, still waiting for Anya, Willow and Tara to arrive. He grinned knowing how ecstatic Buffy would be when they got there.
Dawn squealed and hit Spike a little as he picked her up easily, tossing her over his shoulder. He raced towards the water, ignoring her protests and please for him to let her down.
He threw her (carefully) into the water and quickly raced out of her reach so she couldn't pull him under. She came up, spluttering for air and glaring at Spike.
"No fair! I didn't wanna get my hair wet," she cried.
Spike shrugged and kept backing away from her. He suddenly grinned and stayed in the one spot and let Dawn pounce on him. He pretended to fall and went under water.
Dawn giggled at her revenge and waited for him to come up. She waited for several seconds before she started getting worried. "Spike?"
She tried to see him under the water, but couldn't see him anywhere. "Spike?" she called a little louder.
Dawn looked up at Buffy who came running at the look of panic on her sisters face.
"What is it? What's wrong?" she asked.
"It's Spike. He.he.he went under, and he hasn't come up yet! I can't find him!" Dawn exclaimed. "What if.what if he can't swim? What if he's drowned?"
Buffy grinned and almost laughed. She brought her hand up to her mouth to cover her smile.
"What are you smiling about?" her sister demanded, still panicking. "Spike could be drowning and you're laughing!"
"I'm sorry," Buffy apologised, a half laugh coming from her lips. "It's just.Spike's a vampire. He doesn't breath."
Dawn looked confused for a second and then was grabbed around the waist and dragged under the water.
Both Spike and Dawn emerged, their hair sticking to their faces. Dawn glared at Spike and hit him hard across the chest. He rubbed it, surprised that she had managed to hurt him, even just a little.
"Jerk!" she cried.
She struggled to get out of the water and ran back to her towel, humiliated and trying to get over her state of panic.
She watched as Spike and Buffy spoke. She had to admit, the whole thing had almost been worth it to see her sister smiling and laughing again. It was amazing to see the changes that had taken place in her sister ever since Giles had left.
Whatever he had said to her had definitely worked to get her to get her act together. Buffy had a paying job and was hanging out more and more with the gang and with Dawn as well. Spike and Buffy seemed to have developed a really close friendship, and even though it wasn't the romance that Dawn and Spike had hoped for, Spike was more than pleased with what Buffy was willing to offer him.
"How long do you reckon she'll stay mad?" Spike asked.
Buffy grinned and shot a look towards her sister. She pretended to be engrossed with a magazine that had been stashed in her backpack.
"She once went without talking to me for three weeks," Buffy said, smiling. "But.if you apologise.maybe a week and a half."
Spike smirked and ran his hands through his wet hair, shaking his head and making his hair stand slightly on end. Buffy looked out at the water and saw a small buoy floating in the water about five hundred meters out.
She grinned and threw off the open t-shirt that had been covering her two piece costume.
"Race you to that orange buoy thingy?" she asked playfully.
Spike looked out and saw what she was talking about. He grinned back. "You're on Slayer."
"Alright. On your marks. Get set. Go!" she yelled pushing him down into the water so she could get a slight head start.
"Oi!" she called, quickly regaining his balance and setting after her.
Xander and Dawn watched in amusement, grinning at one another. Dawn stood up to get closer to watch and cheer them on. Xander stood up, just to stop his legs from getting pins and needles.
"Come on Buffy!" Dawn yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth to project her voice further.
Spike and Buffy were swimming hard. He hadn't swum in years, but his vampiric strength was allowing him to keep up with her. He had to admit that she was in incredible shape, even after being dead for three months.
Buffy reached the floating buoy first, tapped it and turned back, the swimming made easier now that they were going with the current instead of against it. Spike reached the buoy a moment later and quickly turned, taking after her.
For a moment, they were tied, both of them aware that the other was next to them. Somehow, Buffy seemed to latch on to one of the waves, body-surfing with it almost to the edge of the sand. Spike struggled to catch the next one in order to keep up, but couldn't quite get the hang of swimming with the wave.
Buffy stood up and moved out of the water, grinning at Dawn and Xander over her victory.
Dawn gave her a hug, congratulating her. Spike finally reached the sand and lay there, panting pathetically. Buffy gave him a small kick, not even hurting him in the slightest.
"Big faker," she accused.
He rolled over and rolled his eyes into the back of his head. Dawn laughed at his strange behaviour, unaccustomed to seeing the vampire so care-free.
He grinned and looked up, seeing Dawn upside down.
"Forgive me Nibs?" he asked, giving a fake pout.
She laughed and kicked sand into his hair. He yelped in surprise and stood up, glaring at her.
"Hey! No fair!"
Dawn went to run, but as she turned, she found herself face-to-face with a grinning Willow.
"Will!" she cried, wrapping her arms around the red-headed witch.
"Ah! You're wet Dawnie," Willow complained, but returned the hug anyway.
Buffy grinned at her friend and greeted Tara and Anya. "So.what's with the lateness guys? Xander was being all secretive."
Anya and Tara were wearing grins to match Willow and Xander's and Anya held up something for Buffy to take. She took a set of keys, confusion still on her face.
"It's a gift," Anya said plainly, as though she was stating the obvious.
"Uh huh. A set of keys," Buffy said. She looked towards Spike who just shrugged.
"Beats the hell outta me," he commented.
Xander went to make a comment about vamps and hell, but Willow's look told him to leave it in the air.
"It's from Giles. He uh.he knew that you don't exactly have.well, he said transportation, but he could have just said that you don't have a car, but.being Giles, he had to be all British and stuffy so.well, he said it a lot better over the phone, but.you get the idea," Willow rambled.
Buffy shook her head, still confused by what little information she had.
Anya saw the look of confusion and pointed up to where Xander's car was parked. Next to it was Giles' red BMW. Buffy's eyes went wide.
"He's giving me his car?" she asked incredulously.
Xander nodded wistfully. "Watcher's pet," he teased fondly.
She grinned, recognising the phrase. "Wow."
Dawn jumped excitedly. "Oh my gosh. We have a BMW! Oh, I can't wait to tell Janice!"
Spike grinned at the young girls enthusiasm, but he was still watching Buffy's reaction. He was resigned to the fact that he and Buffy could only ever be friends, and, the truth be told, he was fine with that. He had asked her when Giles had first left if she loved Giles, and.her answer had been extremely vague, as though she didn't know the answer herself. More and more, he had been wondering about how much she actually did love Giles.
Maybe it was time to give the Watcher a kick up the arse as well.
Buffy finally grinned, the shock leaving her face. "Cool," she said.
The group smiled and began walking up to where everyone had already put their belongings down. For now, it was time for fun.
Daniel knocked on Giles' door, waiting patiently for it to be answered. He leant against the wall, trying to work out how the two of them had become such good friends in the space of two weeks.
Daniel still hadn't been able to get any more information out of Giles in regards to his 'friend' in California, and from the looks of things, he hadn't heard from her since he had left.
The door opened and he grinned at his friend. "You ready or what?"
Giles nodded reluctantly and stepped out of his apartment, closing and locking the door behind him, carefully pocketing his keys.
"My wife has someone she wants you to meet," Daniel warned, not expecting Giles to stop short in the hallway.
Daniel turned and saw Giles' look. "Oh, come on. It'd be good for you to get out and actually meet some more people Rupert. If you don't like her, you'll never have to see her again, I swear."
Giles just glared at him, but started walking again, albeit a little slower.
"I don't suppose you could uh.ask her not to try and set me up with anyone else?" Giles asked politely as they stepped into the elevator.
Daniel looked at him, wondering why he was so hesitant about meeting new people. After you got through the rough exterior, Rupert was extremely kind, unswervingly loyal and sometimes downright funny. Emma, Daniel's wife, had told him that Rupert was 'extremely good looking and should try and settle down soon.'
Rupert, however, wanted none of that.
"I'll tell her. But, I still don't see why you don't want to go and meet people," Daniel said. Of course, he had a vague idea of why Rupert was so reluctant. He was fairly certain it was due to a young and gorgeous blonde Californian girl by the name of Buffy Summers.
"I don't object to.to meeting new people," Giles said defensively. "I just don't like being.'set up' with people."
Daniel rolled his eyes and patted Rupert's back. "You may not mind being set up with this woman. Emma says she's a beauty."
It was Giles' turn to roll his eyes. "And no doubt your wife has told this woman god knows what about me."
Daniel grinned as they stepped out of the elevator and walked out of the building.
"Probably. No doubt Joanna now thinks you wear white robes and can walk on water," Daniel said. Emma thought the world of Rupert ever since she had met him. She also thought that Rupert was a big softie at heart.
"So, where are we meeting them?" Giles asked.
Daniel pointed to a small café across the street. "Just in there."
Giles nodded, breathed deeply and walked inside. He spotted Emma sitting with an attractive woman with short brown hair. Emma waved Rupert and her husband over to the table and the two men sat down, Daniel sliding in next to Emma in the snug benches, leaving Giles to sit with Joanna.
"Jo, this is our neighbour, Rupert Giles," Emma said. Without even looking at Emma, Giles could tell she was smiling widely. "Rupert, this is my good friend Joanna Green."
Giles and Joanna shook hands. "It's just Jo," she said, blushing a little.
He nodded and gave her a small smile. "It's nice to meet you Jo."
Emma smiled, delighted that everything seemed to be going extremely well. She only wanted to make Rupert smile a little, though she knew that it as bordering on impossible. Sure, he smiled those little tight smiles, but she wanted to see his eyes dancing with laughter. She just didn't know how to get that to happen.
And, if things between Rupert and Jo didn't work out, she didn't know what she was going to do. She was running out of single female friends and colleagues, and Jo was the last.
She looked at Daniel who looked just as hopeful as they watched Jo and Rupert bluff their way through small talk.
~*~
Buffy smiled at the sight of her younger sister being chased across the sand by a wet Spike. He was wearing an old faded pair of jeans without a t- shirt, mainly due to the fact that he didn't own anything to go swimming in. Probably because he had never thought he would ever be going to the beach.
Xander sat beside her, still waiting for Anya, Willow and Tara to arrive. He grinned knowing how ecstatic Buffy would be when they got there.
Dawn squealed and hit Spike a little as he picked her up easily, tossing her over his shoulder. He raced towards the water, ignoring her protests and please for him to let her down.
He threw her (carefully) into the water and quickly raced out of her reach so she couldn't pull him under. She came up, spluttering for air and glaring at Spike.
"No fair! I didn't wanna get my hair wet," she cried.
Spike shrugged and kept backing away from her. He suddenly grinned and stayed in the one spot and let Dawn pounce on him. He pretended to fall and went under water.
Dawn giggled at her revenge and waited for him to come up. She waited for several seconds before she started getting worried. "Spike?"
She tried to see him under the water, but couldn't see him anywhere. "Spike?" she called a little louder.
Dawn looked up at Buffy who came running at the look of panic on her sisters face.
"What is it? What's wrong?" she asked.
"It's Spike. He.he.he went under, and he hasn't come up yet! I can't find him!" Dawn exclaimed. "What if.what if he can't swim? What if he's drowned?"
Buffy grinned and almost laughed. She brought her hand up to her mouth to cover her smile.
"What are you smiling about?" her sister demanded, still panicking. "Spike could be drowning and you're laughing!"
"I'm sorry," Buffy apologised, a half laugh coming from her lips. "It's just.Spike's a vampire. He doesn't breath."
Dawn looked confused for a second and then was grabbed around the waist and dragged under the water.
Both Spike and Dawn emerged, their hair sticking to their faces. Dawn glared at Spike and hit him hard across the chest. He rubbed it, surprised that she had managed to hurt him, even just a little.
"Jerk!" she cried.
She struggled to get out of the water and ran back to her towel, humiliated and trying to get over her state of panic.
She watched as Spike and Buffy spoke. She had to admit, the whole thing had almost been worth it to see her sister smiling and laughing again. It was amazing to see the changes that had taken place in her sister ever since Giles had left.
Whatever he had said to her had definitely worked to get her to get her act together. Buffy had a paying job and was hanging out more and more with the gang and with Dawn as well. Spike and Buffy seemed to have developed a really close friendship, and even though it wasn't the romance that Dawn and Spike had hoped for, Spike was more than pleased with what Buffy was willing to offer him.
"How long do you reckon she'll stay mad?" Spike asked.
Buffy grinned and shot a look towards her sister. She pretended to be engrossed with a magazine that had been stashed in her backpack.
"She once went without talking to me for three weeks," Buffy said, smiling. "But.if you apologise.maybe a week and a half."
Spike smirked and ran his hands through his wet hair, shaking his head and making his hair stand slightly on end. Buffy looked out at the water and saw a small buoy floating in the water about five hundred meters out.
She grinned and threw off the open t-shirt that had been covering her two piece costume.
"Race you to that orange buoy thingy?" she asked playfully.
Spike looked out and saw what she was talking about. He grinned back. "You're on Slayer."
"Alright. On your marks. Get set. Go!" she yelled pushing him down into the water so she could get a slight head start.
"Oi!" she called, quickly regaining his balance and setting after her.
Xander and Dawn watched in amusement, grinning at one another. Dawn stood up to get closer to watch and cheer them on. Xander stood up, just to stop his legs from getting pins and needles.
"Come on Buffy!" Dawn yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth to project her voice further.
Spike and Buffy were swimming hard. He hadn't swum in years, but his vampiric strength was allowing him to keep up with her. He had to admit that she was in incredible shape, even after being dead for three months.
Buffy reached the floating buoy first, tapped it and turned back, the swimming made easier now that they were going with the current instead of against it. Spike reached the buoy a moment later and quickly turned, taking after her.
For a moment, they were tied, both of them aware that the other was next to them. Somehow, Buffy seemed to latch on to one of the waves, body-surfing with it almost to the edge of the sand. Spike struggled to catch the next one in order to keep up, but couldn't quite get the hang of swimming with the wave.
Buffy stood up and moved out of the water, grinning at Dawn and Xander over her victory.
Dawn gave her a hug, congratulating her. Spike finally reached the sand and lay there, panting pathetically. Buffy gave him a small kick, not even hurting him in the slightest.
"Big faker," she accused.
He rolled over and rolled his eyes into the back of his head. Dawn laughed at his strange behaviour, unaccustomed to seeing the vampire so care-free.
He grinned and looked up, seeing Dawn upside down.
"Forgive me Nibs?" he asked, giving a fake pout.
She laughed and kicked sand into his hair. He yelped in surprise and stood up, glaring at her.
"Hey! No fair!"
Dawn went to run, but as she turned, she found herself face-to-face with a grinning Willow.
"Will!" she cried, wrapping her arms around the red-headed witch.
"Ah! You're wet Dawnie," Willow complained, but returned the hug anyway.
Buffy grinned at her friend and greeted Tara and Anya. "So.what's with the lateness guys? Xander was being all secretive."
Anya and Tara were wearing grins to match Willow and Xander's and Anya held up something for Buffy to take. She took a set of keys, confusion still on her face.
"It's a gift," Anya said plainly, as though she was stating the obvious.
"Uh huh. A set of keys," Buffy said. She looked towards Spike who just shrugged.
"Beats the hell outta me," he commented.
Xander went to make a comment about vamps and hell, but Willow's look told him to leave it in the air.
"It's from Giles. He uh.he knew that you don't exactly have.well, he said transportation, but he could have just said that you don't have a car, but.being Giles, he had to be all British and stuffy so.well, he said it a lot better over the phone, but.you get the idea," Willow rambled.
Buffy shook her head, still confused by what little information she had.
Anya saw the look of confusion and pointed up to where Xander's car was parked. Next to it was Giles' red BMW. Buffy's eyes went wide.
"He's giving me his car?" she asked incredulously.
Xander nodded wistfully. "Watcher's pet," he teased fondly.
She grinned, recognising the phrase. "Wow."
Dawn jumped excitedly. "Oh my gosh. We have a BMW! Oh, I can't wait to tell Janice!"
Spike grinned at the young girls enthusiasm, but he was still watching Buffy's reaction. He was resigned to the fact that he and Buffy could only ever be friends, and, the truth be told, he was fine with that. He had asked her when Giles had first left if she loved Giles, and.her answer had been extremely vague, as though she didn't know the answer herself. More and more, he had been wondering about how much she actually did love Giles.
Maybe it was time to give the Watcher a kick up the arse as well.
Buffy finally grinned, the shock leaving her face. "Cool," she said.
The group smiled and began walking up to where everyone had already put their belongings down. For now, it was time for fun.
