Chapter 9: The Daily Grind

Amazingly they didn't have to drive very far. As Giles worked his way around the rotary in the center of town, swearing at the crazy drivers, Willow spotted a place. The sign said, The Daily Grind. On the door, the small establishment boasted open mike nights and poetry slams. Giles pulled the rental into a parking spot, grateful for the ease of parking in small towns, and stepped out into the night.

The couple grabbed a cozy table in the corner and ordered their drinks. Willow munched on some biscotti and enjoyed the peace of the place. It was open mike night and a college-age student was playing the guitar and crooning out a fairly decent version of Black by Pearl Jam. She rested her hand comfortably in Giles' hand.

A thought rushed to her.  When the waitress came by with their drinks, she asked,

"Is there a sign up sheet to sing tonight?"

"Nope. It's dead in here tonight. All the college kids have gone home for the summer. It's pretty much a free for all, whoever wants to step up to the mike."

Giles could see where she was going with this and smirked, shaking his head.

"No, Willow."

"Oh come on Giles, your guitar is in the trunk isn't it?" she gave him her most pathetic puppy dog eyes look and squeezed his hand. "Please."

He sighed in defeat.

"You know that's not fair, begging and all." He gave her one last look before he headed out to the car. Her eyes danced with excitement, and that was reward enough.

§

Giles slipped back through the front door of The Daily Grind with his guitar casually slung over his shoulder. He stepped up to the small stage area which was now empty and sat down on the creaky wooden stool.

Willow watched on as he tuned his guitar with ease. He looked so natural sitting up there casually plucking at the strings. She thought that despite his skill as a watcher, he must have missed his true calling to perform. He looked younger somehow, a youthfulness playing across his features.

As he tuned his 6-string he was privately grateful at Willow's suggestion. He had always felt a level of release and relaxation when he sang. Although tonight's audience only consisted of a half dozen coffee addicts, that really didn't matter. Willow was there. He slid the microphone closer and looked over at her.

"I've always enjoyed a variety of music, so it's rather difficult to decide what to play tonight," he smiled shyly at his audience, a modest natural showman. "I'm usually one for the more dated songs, but I think I shall play a little Chris Isaac tonight. This one is called Wicked Game."

As his fingers began to pluck at the metal strings, Willow sat transfixed. The melancholy music washed over her and she felt a shiver run up her spine at the first sound of his beautiful sultry voice. His head bent with the weight of the tune.

The world was on fire and no one could save me but you.
It's strange what desire will make foolish people do.
I never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you.
And I never dreamed that I knew somebody like you.

No, I don't want to fall in love.

No, I don't want to fall in love.

With you. With you.

His eyes lifted and met hers. It was so much easier to sing to her than to open himself up with his own words.

What a wicked game to play, to make me feel this way.
What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you.
What a wicked thing to say, you never felt this way.
What a wicked thing to do, to make me dream of you and,

I want to fall in love.

No, I want to fall in love.

With you.

Willow gripped her coffee mug and let her mind reel with the emotions of the day. She could feel herself falling hard for Giles. She marveled at the small things like the angle of his cheekbone and the intensity of his gaze as his eyes burned into hers. And she knew that she needed to be with him. 

As he strummed the final notes of the song he continued to lock eyes with Willow. He could see the flush that had risen to her cheeks and the rise and fall of her chest over her quick breathing. He wasn't sure how slowly he could bear to take things with her. The skin of her freckled shoulders glowed in the flickering light of the candle on their table, beckoning him.

§

Amidst the scattered applause, the bell on the coffee shop door rang, announcing the latest patron. Giles broke Willow's gaze and was shocked to see Bridget's mother standing in the doorway shaken and looking about frantically. As soon as she spotted him she hurried forward.

"Mr. Giles!" she grabbed his arm while trying to catch her breath. He could see Willow throwing some money on the table and rushing over. "You must come quickly."

"Claire, it's alright. Calm down and tell me what's going on." He easily slipped into the Watcher's persona, the voice of reason and intellect. He led her and Willow out of the coffee shop ignoring the blatant stares.

Claire slipped into silence however stepping away from Willow as if snarled at by an unseen predator. Willow had a similar reaction, stepping off the sidewalk, backing away from the woman. Giles watched, completely puzzled by their reactions to each other.

"Willow, this is Claire, Bridget's mother. Claire, this is Willow, a…friend of mine," he hoped an introduction would ease whatever this immediate tension was about. He could see the lines of stress between Willow's eyes as she stared at the woman.

"You have incredible power," Willow whispered and took another step back.

"So do you," Claire raised an eyebrow, looking very similar to her daughter in that moment. "I'm sorry, it's just that I've never met anyone else that's had…"

"Me neither."

Giles could see the two of them begin to relax a little bit, although still on guard. Now that he thought about it, when he carried Claire to his car this afternoon he had felt the waves of power coming off her. But it didn't register to him at the time because he was so used to feeling the similar sensation when he was with Willow. Now that the two of them were together in the same space, the air almost felt like it had a charge to it.

Claire redirected her focus to Giles.

"Mr. Giles-"

"Rupert, please," he interrupted as he placed his guitar back into the trunk of the rental car.

"Ok, Rupert then, we just performed the blessing with the Disc of Ages-"

He interrupted her again with his eyebrows furrowed,

"You performed the blessing without us!"

"Yes," she ignored his accusatory tone. "But something has gone terribly wrong."

"Well I'm not surprised. I'm sure that one of the members of the coven is now possessed by Forelic, the demon spirit that was trapped inside the disc."

Willow stepped into the conversation, familiar with the blessing ritual.

"You mean, you didn't put a binding field around Disc of Ages before you blessed it. Are you insane!" she yelled at the woman. Claire finally had enough of the two against one blame-game.

"That's enough out of both of you." She held a hand up, motioning for them to remain silent. "Now, be quiet and listen to me." Giles and Willow shared a look of disbelief that coven would make such a foolish move, but they remained silent and let Claire continue. "Mother planned on releasing Forelic's spirit so that it could possess one of the girls. It was the only way we could begin to find out where the other coven is planning on opening the hellmouth."

"That's the most dangerous, foolish idea that I've heard-"

"I said be quiet Rupert. There's more…" He could see Claire gathering her emotions. "Forelic inhabited Bridget."

Giles felt Willow's shock in addition to his own. As far as he knew, Forelic wasn't the type of demon who would allow itself to be exorcised without killing its host. Giles knew that he had over-reacted that afternoon and had been hoping to talk things out with Bridget eventually. But now, it didn't seem like there was much hope for that. And obviously Claire held onto the same knowledge.

"We've locked Bridget up in one of the rooms in Mother's castle. But we aren't having any luck getting information out of Forelic. And the exorcising spell that Mother had isn't working."

"Giles, let's go back to the castle. I think I can help Bridget," Willow offered Claire a ray of hope. Giles and Willow slipped back into the rental car and told Claire that they would meet her back at the castle.

"Are you sure Willow?" he asked once they were alone. "I don't want that poor woman to get her hopes up."

"No, I'm not 100% sure, but I have a few tricks still up my sleeve. I'll just have to try them and see if they work. I mean, what do we have to lose?"

Giles frowned in irritation.

"What do we have to lose??? …how about EVERYTHING, Willow."

"Why? Do you think I can't handle the magicks," the hurt in her voice was evident.

"It's not that I don't have faith in you, Willow. Quite the contrary, really. It's just that you just learned today how to push back the dark magicks. You can't expect yourself to be able to go into a real situation and magically fight a demon without a little more practice."

Willow sat in silence for a few minutes. Giles' stomach churned in fear and worry that he had just said the wrong thing to her and that she would hate him for it. She finally spoke, her voice barely a whisper at first, but then gaining strength with each word.

"Giles, I'm not like other girls. Sometimes I wish to God that I was. I wish I could never have learned that vampires and demons were real, that there's a thwarted apocalypse every 6 months, that good people can be overtaken by evil demons. But that's my life now.

"I chose to help use my magic for good, not only because I wanted to help, but because I felt that I was given a special ability to help. All of my life I've been the quickest learner in my studies in and out of school. I taught myself how to work my magic.

"I know that I am special. I know that I can do this. I know that when other people can't find a solution to a problem, that I can. I haven't always used my abilities for good, but I'm ready to take responsibility for my gift. And if I'm the only one who can save Bridget, then I'm going to do it." Willow took Giles' free hand and held it in her own. "You have always believed in me Giles. And that's something that I carry with me all the time. It's like a badge of pride and a well of strength that I draw from. That you believe in me. I need you to believe in me now."

The fire in her eyes was one of the things that he loved about her. He had watched her grow over the years from a young, insecure girl into a confident woman. She would do this alone, but she wanted him by her side. And of course he couldn't imagine himself anywhere else. He smoothed her hair.

"I believe in you Willow, more than anyone in my life." The looks of sincerity on his face caused her heart to squeeze with emotion. She let her eyelashes fall and leaned until their lips met.

"Good," she pulled away slowly and smirked.

Giles pulled the car onto the road and Willow began to tell him about her plan.