Chapter 12: Caught in the Act

Giles stood in the doorway staring at the scene before him in horror, he had known his son and Buffy were close, he just hadn't known they were that close. Buffy and Spike were still in the bed with the covers pulled up over them. They looked almost as embarrassed as Giles himself; they felt just as embarrassed as well. After a moment, Giles cleared his throat

"Um, I think we need to talk, don't you. I'll meet you downstairs in a few moments" He turned and left the room as quickly as possible. Spike looked at Buffy and saw her face bright red with embarrassment.

"You ok luv" he asked softly

"Um, I'm not sure, was Giles being here a dream?" she squeaked He shook his head no

"Oh, well then I'm not ok" she told him

He looked hurt, he assumed that she regretted what they had done

"I'm sorry" he told her quietly

"For this?" she asked gesturing her had between them. At his nod, she continued "well, I'm not. Spike this was a two-way thing, I didn't have to do it. I could have stopped it but I didn't want to. So if you regret it-"

"No, Buffy of course I don't regret it. I love you" he told her She smiled softly at him and leaned in to place a gentle kiss on his lips

"We better go downstairs, he'll be wondering what's keeping us" she told him softly

He nodded and stood up and put his trousers back on, while Buffy slipped on the pyjama's she had in his room. Silently they left the room and went downstairs where the found Giles pacing up and down the living room. He looked up when he heard them enter.

"Sit down you two, we need to talk" he said seriously

"Dad"

"William let me speak please" Giles interrupted as he took his glasses and began to clean them furiously

"Now, I realise that you are both old enough to make your own decisions and technically Buffy there is nothing I can do if you decide to have sex. My concern is that you Buffy, are still a minor, Spike you are not, which makes your sleeping with Buffy illegal.

"Buffy, I like you, I do. I care about you as if you were my own daughter, and if you want to be with William I can't stop you and I would not be entirely unhappy, but it would complicate things rather a lot"

He paused for a moment expecting one of them to say something, but neither did so he resumed his little speech

"And I do not wish to see either of you hurt. William has been hurt before. Now I know he probably hasn't told you in what way he was hurt and it's not my place to tell you but-"

"I know, he told me" she said in what was barely a whisper

Giles was surprised to hear that his son had told anyone of the ordeal he had been through but he knew that he would only tell someone he cared for and trusted, so he continued

"Well, if you know Buffy then you will understand my worry. I don't want to see him hurt again, that incident almost destroyed him and I can't allow it to happen again. I am not saying you would deliberately hurt him, but Buffy, you have a boyfriend" he finished

This statement brought the two crashing back to earth. In truth, Buffy had forgotten all about Riley. Suddenly she had no choice but to remember, and she had to say something, she knew Giles was waiting

"I know, Giles none of this was planned, I care about Spike. I don't even like Riley, I'm only with him because of my father" she tried to explain

"So are you going to break things off with him?" the older man inquired

"No, she's not" Spike spoke for the first time Both Giles and Buffy looked at him, shocked expressions on their faces. Spike continued

"Look, Buffy has no choice but to keep this up a little while longer. Yes, I hate it. Yes, I wish we could be together, but it's not possible just now. It would only make things for Buffy. I love her dad, and I only want what's best for her, so she'll have to keep this up until she finds a suitable way out"

"Can you handle that son?" Giles asked

"Honestly, I don't know. But I love her, so I'll try" he said with conviction He then looked over at Buffy with tenderness in his eyes and a loving smile on his face

"Everything will work out. If it's supposed to" he said softly

Watching the two of them together Giles could see how much they cared about each other. He could see it in the way they looked at each other.

"Well, if that's what you want then I will support you. It's your choice" Giles sighed "Buffy could I speak to you alone for a moment" She nodded and Spike got up to leave, he kissed her forehead before he left. When he was gone, Giles started talking

"Buffy, how much do you care about my son" he asked

"I don't know Giles, I think I might love him. But I've been hurt before too" she told him.

"I understand that, but Buffy he doesn't know the truth, that is unfair"

"Giles I know that. I want to tell him but that is what will lead to his being hurt. If my father found out he would take Anthony away, I don't know what I would do if that happened"

He wiped away the tear that had fallen down her face, and talked soothingly

"Buffy, I think you and Spike could be good for each other, however, I think you need to figure out what you want and how you're going to get it. That includes for your future, you need to decide what will make you happy, before you can be happy" he finished gently

He turned and left the living room leaving Buffy alone in the living room. She sat there all night, alone with her thoughts. Making decisions.