CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: BETTER

Giles sat with Buffy's head in his lap.  He had gently sat her up so he could sit with her like that, gently stroking her hair.  He saw her begin to stir and looked to Wesley.

Wesley nodded and headed towards the kitchen, pouring a cup of tea for the girl.  She hadn't eaten in nearly three days, and she needed something in her stomach.

Buffy opened her eyes groggily and tried to sit up. 

She was quickly hugged by Dawn, who launched herself at the still shaky girl.  Buffy smiled and hugged her sister back.

"You're okay," Dawn whispered.

"Yeah, I'm okay Dawnie," Buffy assured her.  "No more Latin for me."

Dawn smiled and let her sister go.  Giles helped Buffy into a sitting position and watched as she took in her surroundings with confusion.  She looked towards her Watcher.

"Uh…where are we?" she asked.

"My apartment," Wesley answered, coming back into the room with a cup of tea for the Slayer.  He handed it to her and she smiled at him gratefully.

"Uh huh…why are we in Wes's apartment?" she asked.  She looked towards Wes and grinned.  "It's a nice place by the way."

"Thank you," he replied.

"We needed you to be in LA," Giles explained.

"I'll take your word for it," Buffy said.  She curled herself into a ball tiredly and rested her head on Giles' shoulder.

Wesley handed his cordless phone to Buffy.

"You should probably phone your friends.  They're been somewhat worried about you for the last few days," Wesley said.

Buffy smiled and took the phone from him.  "Poor guys.  I probably scared them half to death, huh?"

"I think that's an understatement," Cordy said from her position on the couch.

Buffy looked towards the other girl, not having noticed that she was in the room.

"Hey Cordy," she greeted.  "I vaguely recall thinking that I owed you a thank-you for something."

Cordy grinned at the vagueness of the Slayer.

"Well, you're welcome," Cordy replied. 

"How did you guys know what was going on anyway?" Buffy asked to Wesley and Cordy.

Cordy put her hand up.  "That would be cos of me," she admitted.

"You had a vision about me?" Buffy asked.

Cordy nodded.  "Yup.  It wasn't fun I'll tell you that."

"I'm sorry," Buffy said sincerely.

"Not your fault," Cordy replied.  "The Powers were sending a warning.  And it's a good thing they did.  Another day and we woulda been too late."

Buffy almost couldn't believe how much Cordy had changed since High School.  It was a change for the better, that much was for sure.  She seemed compassionate, almost bordering on sympathetic.  Then again, no one could see the things that Cordy had seen and not change.

"We're just lucky that Faith agreed to help with the spell," Wesley said.

Buffy nodded thoughtfully. 

"I'd like to see her.  I mean, properly this time," Buffy said. 

"Properly?" Giles asked.

"The enjoining spell.  It kinda joined us through a dream.  We…we finally made our peace with each other.  I still want to see her though," Buffy explained.

Giles nodded.  "We can arrange that if you'd like."

"I'd like," Buffy said.

Giles breathed in deeply and mentally prepared himself for the question he couldn't believe he was about to ask.

"You could go and visit Angel if you wanted to," Giles said.

Buffy hesitated.  There really wasn't any need to see him.  They had said all that had needed to be said when they had met after she had been brought back.  They had realised that they were two people who had loved each other deeply who couldn't go back to what had been.  Buffy had had enough problems in her life without having to deal with Angel as well at the time.  She didn't really need him in her life anymore, and that had surprised her.

"I think he might be offended if I didn't at least say hi," Buffy said.  "Plus, I really wanna see you're new office."

Giles felt relieved that she had seemed reluctant about seeing Angel.  He was glad that the girl was finally over the brooding vampire, and that he and Buffy could finally pursue the relationship that they had wanted to have since before Buffy's twentieth birthday.  It had been over a year and half since they had been together, and Giles was aching to hold her again.

Buffy stood up and looked towards Wes.  "Don't suppose I could borrow your shower for a few minutes?" she asked.  "I'm kinda feeling…well, the word gross comes to mind."

"I wasn't gonna mention it if you weren't going to," Dawn teased.

Buffy just smiled tiredly and ran her hand through her younger sister's hair. 

Wesley chuckled and pointed down the hallway.  "First door on the left.  There's a spare towel already in there."

"Thanks."

She stood shakily, Giles helping her as she walked. 

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked quietly and they got to the door to the bathroom.

"I'll be okay," she replied.

"Maybe you should take a bath, rather than a shower," he suggested.  "Just in case."

She quickly looked down the hall and saw that they were out of earshot.

"You could join me," she whispered cheekily.  "Just in case."

He flushed bright red.  "B-Buffy."

She smiled and stood on her toes to lean up to him.  She kissed him gently and sighed with contentment as she pulled back.

"I've been wanting to do that for months," she said.

"I know the feeling," he replied.

"And we can right?  I mean…you are staying?" she asked.  She was almost afraid of his answer.

His answer was to bend down and kiss her again.

"I'm not going back to England," he assured her.  "Not unless you're at my side."

She smiled gratefully and hugged him around his waist, leaning against him heavily.  She went to pull away and felt her knees buckle a little.  Giles was quick to catch her.

"My stalwart, standing fast," she said.

He looked at her surprised.  He had assumed she hadn't heard a single word of what he had sung to her two months earlier.  She gave him a smile and reluctantly took herself from his embrace.  She turned and walked into the bathroom.

He went to walk away but her soft whisper stopped him.

"I wasn't joking about you joining me."

He whirled around to see her grinning at him.  He just smiled back and shook his head. 

"When we're at home."

Home.  She liked the sound of that.  She had known that her life had been good only three days ago.  But now, Giles was back and they were together.  He wasn't leaving, and she was finally standing on her own two feet.  Life had been good.

But now, life was better.

END

(awww!  Feedback is always good!!)