Buffy stood outside the Magic Box for the second time in as many nights
tying to force herself to go inside. She was terrified. She was afraid
that maybe this time they had gone too far. That they had both said things
that they didn't really mean and now they were going to be unable to make
it up even after everything that they had been through together.
Buffy put her hand on the door handle and pushed open the door.
* * *
Giles felt awful. Thinking back over time and the things that they had been through together, he had realised something. Firstly, that she was right. They had all done things that were . . .questionable. Not least he, what with his occult. That had nearly killed them three years ago. And even though Spike himself was . . . questionable in himself, he did have to admit that there was less of a threat in him than there was in Angel. Even if something bad happened between Spike and Buffy, the vampire could not actually do anything to hurt them, what with the chip. He had over reacted. And as much as what Buffy had said had hurt him, he knew that she hadn't actually meant it. She had been hurt . . .hurt by him. The very idea made him shudder. So many things in Buffy's life hurt her; he didn't want to be one of them. Not him.
Giles grabbed his jacket and headed for the door just as it was pushed open by a tiny blonde-haired Slayer.
* * * Buffy looked up to see Giles coming towards her with his jacket half on, "Hey."
"Buffy!"
Buffy looked at him and prepared herself for another onslaught. Instead, Giles came towards her and put his arms around her. Buffy only hesitated for a second out of shock before she returned his hug.
Giles pulled back and steered her to the table and chairs with one hand round her back, "I'm so terribly sorry for what I said to you Buffy. You were right I had absolutely no right to say any of it."
Buffy bit her lip and looked at him, "I had no right to say what I said either. I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean it. I really didn't I swear. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't her fault. It wasn't really anyone's fault. It was an accident."
Giles squeezed her shoulder, "I know you didn't mean it."
"I cared for Jenny you know."
Giles smiled at her, "I know that you did Buffy. I know that you did."
"I know that you don't like Spike. I know that it's difficult . . ."
Giles stopped her, "Buffy you don't have to. I over reacted. It just felt like we'd already played this scene, but I know. It's different. I won't lie to you and say that I'm completely comfortable with the situation. But I do know that he seems to make you happy and that's what's important."
Buffy smiled, "He does make me happy. He really does."
* * *
Buffy waved from the door as Giles drove to the airport. God she felt so much better. She had been truly afraid that they might never work it out.
It felt good now that things were back to the way they should be, Giles begging her not to let Anya and Willow destroy the shop as they fought for Xander's attention.
That was another weird situation. And poor Xander stuck in the middle of this completely weird scenario. She would have thought the Xander would have enjoyed having two pretty women fighting over him, but he'd apparently had enough of that during the love spell. Now he just wanted them to get along. The one thing that they didn't seem in the mood to do. Typical.
* * *
Anya glared at the two witches stood in the middle of the shop. They were doing, well . . .something. She had no idea what it actually was but it involved touching stock. She didn't like it. It wasn't theirs. It was the way that she earned money. And they were touching it. Anya took a breath tried to call to memory Xander's humanize Anya rules and walked over to the table.
"What are you doing?"
Willow looked up at her as though she had forgotten that Anya was even in the shop. "Oh. We're going to try out a few spells."
Tara smiled pleasantly, "You see there's this thing you can do where you create light and we thought, what if we could make, like simulated sunlight?"
Willow bounced on her toes in excitement, "Yeah. So there Buffy is middle of the night, and she finds this whole nest of vamps. And then she just goes 'Presto!'."
"Only it won't be 'Presto!' exactly."
"And then whoomph. There's a floating ball of sunlight. Vamps get dusty."
Anya shook her head. God, she had wanted an answer not a five-act play. "That's swell. But you can't use this stuff. Giles has only been gone two days and you're already making trouble. You shouldn't do things while he's gone."
Willow grinned, "You're the fish!"
Anya decided that no matter what Xander thought about one of his two best friends, this girl was insane, "What?"
"The fish in the bowl in 'The Cat In The Hat'."
"What are you talking about?"
Tara decided to cut in, obviously trying to avoid another row between the two. "It's this book, this cat does all this mischief."
"It's so cute, he balances a bunch of stuff including that fish in the bowl, but don't try it for real when you're six. Cause then you're not allowed to have fish for five years."
Anya grit her teeth in annoyance, "You're referencing literature I have no way to be familiar with. You're trying to make me feel left out and you're stealing."
Willow looked shocked, "I'm not stealing! I'm just taking things without paying for them. In what twisted dictionary is that stealing?" Willow seemed to realise the absurdity of this argument in the middle somewhere.
Tara flinched. There was definitely another argument brewing between the two. Well, looked like she was referee. She truly felt sorry for Xander; he so did not deserve this in any way, shape or form, "Willow maybe we should just pay . . ."
Willow was not having any of that however. The redhead hated above most other things being told what to do by Anya. It always seemed to rub her up the wrong way. There was an element there of simply mistrust. After all, Anya had been responsible for her evil twin. And Willow was always afraid that something was going to happen to turn Anya evil, not unlike Angel, and then Xander was going to get it in the neck. And there was another thing, Anya assumed herself equal with Willow in everything, despite the fact that the gang had been together three years longer than Anya had been there. She knew that this was unfair. After all, she expected Tara to be considered equal, but then Tara had never been evil. It was a combination of all these things that made Willow always answer back when normally with anyone else she would let it slide. These things made her answer now. "Anya, Giles would be totally fine about this. Come on it'll be fun." Willow took a breath and tried to relax, olive branch time, "We could show you how to do some stuff, you could be floating pencils by the end of the day."
Anya considered this for a moment, "Sometimes, I miss having powers . . .Oh! Oh! I know what this is. This is peer pressure any minute now you're going to make me smoke tobacco and have drugs."
Willow rolled her eyes and focused on a tube of blue solution. "Look how easy." The tube floated and spun around.
Anya scowled, "Hey! Don't float the merchandise."
Willow turned around started lifting the other things on the counter. She knew that she was being childish but she loved annoying the ex-demon.
"Stop that."
The bell above the Magic Box door jingled as Xander came threw it, "Hey look at this my two favourite girls." His eyes fell on Tara and he smiled, "Three favourite girls."
Anya immediately rounded on Xander, "Xander, Willow's stealing. She's a burglar."
Willow also spun round and appealed to Xander, "Right! The cunning, daylight, in front of everyone, burglar. Xander I'm just doing a spell to help Buffy. . ."
Tara listened and flinched as she saw Xander going rather red in the face. She felt like she should do something. Tell them both to back off a little maybe. She was sorry for him. Couldn't exactly be easy. Before she could say or do anything, however Xander had lost his temper with both of them.
"Okay you know what? I'm tired of being the one in the middle here. I'm not going to let you two drag me into this."
Willow backed off, "I'm not."
Xander was apparently too angry to listen right at this moment, "Whatever the issue is between you two . . .just figure it out without me."
Xander turned and walked out of the shop.
Willow lowered her voice, "You made him mad."
Anya practically growled in response, "Me!"
"Tara. Who do you think he was more mad at?"
Oh no, no, no. She was not going to do this. "YOU know what. I think that you two have some stuff you need to work out. Just really . . . talk."
* * *
Buffy glanced through her notes. New classes always scary but usually kinda fun. And at least only one of her classes now she would be taking on her own. She had been forced by a combination of choices to take twentieth century history on her own. Ick! She really detested history, always had, always would. But now she was taking one class with Willow, one with Tara, and one with both of them. Sounded good to her. To make things even better, when she got home, she had a blonde Spike waiting for her. Yum! Made her day complete. They were going patrolling tonight. After catching up with the gang at the Bronze. Buffy pushed some notes into her bag and followed Tara out of the lecture hall, "God! The professor spit too much when he talked. It was like being at Sea World. The first five rows will get wet."
Tara laughed, "That was just um, you know. Enthusiasm."
"Seemed very much like saliva. Seems, like a good course though."
"Yeah. I think it'll be good."
"You got plans for the after noon?"
"No."
Buffy grinned, "What do you say we go and get Willow and indulge in a little after school hamburger?"
"We could. I was at the Magic Box earlier. And Will and Anya got involved in this little squabble. Xander left them to it."
Buffy almost laughed, "Those two. Well, I think that it might be a good idea to go and make sure that they don't demolish the shop."
Tara smiled, "The ex-demon vs. the witch. Could be kinda scary."
* * *
Willow closed her eye and concentrated, "Spirits of light I summon thee."
"Is it done?"
Red spots danced in front of Willow's eyes as she tried desperate not to scream, "No! Shhhhh! Spirits. . ."
"Sorry I thought that you were done."
Willow spun around and turned on Anya, "Do you wanna screw this up?"
"No." Anya got to her feet and put down her pad, "No I'm sure that you can do that all on your own."
"Anya you know what ever really has you mad, why don't you just say it, like you do every other thought that stomps through your brain."
"I believe I have said it."
Willow shook her head in fury, "No you haven't come on. Let it out."
Both the girls were pushed against the wall as something large, hairy and growling appeared. After a few moments, it turned around and growled at them. The girls turned heard smashing noises as the creature pushed it's way out of the shop.
Willow looked up a moment later, "He's not a ball of sunshine."
Buffy put her hand on the door handle and pushed open the door.
* * *
Giles felt awful. Thinking back over time and the things that they had been through together, he had realised something. Firstly, that she was right. They had all done things that were . . .questionable. Not least he, what with his occult. That had nearly killed them three years ago. And even though Spike himself was . . . questionable in himself, he did have to admit that there was less of a threat in him than there was in Angel. Even if something bad happened between Spike and Buffy, the vampire could not actually do anything to hurt them, what with the chip. He had over reacted. And as much as what Buffy had said had hurt him, he knew that she hadn't actually meant it. She had been hurt . . .hurt by him. The very idea made him shudder. So many things in Buffy's life hurt her; he didn't want to be one of them. Not him.
Giles grabbed his jacket and headed for the door just as it was pushed open by a tiny blonde-haired Slayer.
* * * Buffy looked up to see Giles coming towards her with his jacket half on, "Hey."
"Buffy!"
Buffy looked at him and prepared herself for another onslaught. Instead, Giles came towards her and put his arms around her. Buffy only hesitated for a second out of shock before she returned his hug.
Giles pulled back and steered her to the table and chairs with one hand round her back, "I'm so terribly sorry for what I said to you Buffy. You were right I had absolutely no right to say any of it."
Buffy bit her lip and looked at him, "I had no right to say what I said either. I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean it. I really didn't I swear. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't her fault. It wasn't really anyone's fault. It was an accident."
Giles squeezed her shoulder, "I know you didn't mean it."
"I cared for Jenny you know."
Giles smiled at her, "I know that you did Buffy. I know that you did."
"I know that you don't like Spike. I know that it's difficult . . ."
Giles stopped her, "Buffy you don't have to. I over reacted. It just felt like we'd already played this scene, but I know. It's different. I won't lie to you and say that I'm completely comfortable with the situation. But I do know that he seems to make you happy and that's what's important."
Buffy smiled, "He does make me happy. He really does."
* * *
Buffy waved from the door as Giles drove to the airport. God she felt so much better. She had been truly afraid that they might never work it out.
It felt good now that things were back to the way they should be, Giles begging her not to let Anya and Willow destroy the shop as they fought for Xander's attention.
That was another weird situation. And poor Xander stuck in the middle of this completely weird scenario. She would have thought the Xander would have enjoyed having two pretty women fighting over him, but he'd apparently had enough of that during the love spell. Now he just wanted them to get along. The one thing that they didn't seem in the mood to do. Typical.
* * *
Anya glared at the two witches stood in the middle of the shop. They were doing, well . . .something. She had no idea what it actually was but it involved touching stock. She didn't like it. It wasn't theirs. It was the way that she earned money. And they were touching it. Anya took a breath tried to call to memory Xander's humanize Anya rules and walked over to the table.
"What are you doing?"
Willow looked up at her as though she had forgotten that Anya was even in the shop. "Oh. We're going to try out a few spells."
Tara smiled pleasantly, "You see there's this thing you can do where you create light and we thought, what if we could make, like simulated sunlight?"
Willow bounced on her toes in excitement, "Yeah. So there Buffy is middle of the night, and she finds this whole nest of vamps. And then she just goes 'Presto!'."
"Only it won't be 'Presto!' exactly."
"And then whoomph. There's a floating ball of sunlight. Vamps get dusty."
Anya shook her head. God, she had wanted an answer not a five-act play. "That's swell. But you can't use this stuff. Giles has only been gone two days and you're already making trouble. You shouldn't do things while he's gone."
Willow grinned, "You're the fish!"
Anya decided that no matter what Xander thought about one of his two best friends, this girl was insane, "What?"
"The fish in the bowl in 'The Cat In The Hat'."
"What are you talking about?"
Tara decided to cut in, obviously trying to avoid another row between the two. "It's this book, this cat does all this mischief."
"It's so cute, he balances a bunch of stuff including that fish in the bowl, but don't try it for real when you're six. Cause then you're not allowed to have fish for five years."
Anya grit her teeth in annoyance, "You're referencing literature I have no way to be familiar with. You're trying to make me feel left out and you're stealing."
Willow looked shocked, "I'm not stealing! I'm just taking things without paying for them. In what twisted dictionary is that stealing?" Willow seemed to realise the absurdity of this argument in the middle somewhere.
Tara flinched. There was definitely another argument brewing between the two. Well, looked like she was referee. She truly felt sorry for Xander; he so did not deserve this in any way, shape or form, "Willow maybe we should just pay . . ."
Willow was not having any of that however. The redhead hated above most other things being told what to do by Anya. It always seemed to rub her up the wrong way. There was an element there of simply mistrust. After all, Anya had been responsible for her evil twin. And Willow was always afraid that something was going to happen to turn Anya evil, not unlike Angel, and then Xander was going to get it in the neck. And there was another thing, Anya assumed herself equal with Willow in everything, despite the fact that the gang had been together three years longer than Anya had been there. She knew that this was unfair. After all, she expected Tara to be considered equal, but then Tara had never been evil. It was a combination of all these things that made Willow always answer back when normally with anyone else she would let it slide. These things made her answer now. "Anya, Giles would be totally fine about this. Come on it'll be fun." Willow took a breath and tried to relax, olive branch time, "We could show you how to do some stuff, you could be floating pencils by the end of the day."
Anya considered this for a moment, "Sometimes, I miss having powers . . .Oh! Oh! I know what this is. This is peer pressure any minute now you're going to make me smoke tobacco and have drugs."
Willow rolled her eyes and focused on a tube of blue solution. "Look how easy." The tube floated and spun around.
Anya scowled, "Hey! Don't float the merchandise."
Willow turned around started lifting the other things on the counter. She knew that she was being childish but she loved annoying the ex-demon.
"Stop that."
The bell above the Magic Box door jingled as Xander came threw it, "Hey look at this my two favourite girls." His eyes fell on Tara and he smiled, "Three favourite girls."
Anya immediately rounded on Xander, "Xander, Willow's stealing. She's a burglar."
Willow also spun round and appealed to Xander, "Right! The cunning, daylight, in front of everyone, burglar. Xander I'm just doing a spell to help Buffy. . ."
Tara listened and flinched as she saw Xander going rather red in the face. She felt like she should do something. Tell them both to back off a little maybe. She was sorry for him. Couldn't exactly be easy. Before she could say or do anything, however Xander had lost his temper with both of them.
"Okay you know what? I'm tired of being the one in the middle here. I'm not going to let you two drag me into this."
Willow backed off, "I'm not."
Xander was apparently too angry to listen right at this moment, "Whatever the issue is between you two . . .just figure it out without me."
Xander turned and walked out of the shop.
Willow lowered her voice, "You made him mad."
Anya practically growled in response, "Me!"
"Tara. Who do you think he was more mad at?"
Oh no, no, no. She was not going to do this. "YOU know what. I think that you two have some stuff you need to work out. Just really . . . talk."
* * *
Buffy glanced through her notes. New classes always scary but usually kinda fun. And at least only one of her classes now she would be taking on her own. She had been forced by a combination of choices to take twentieth century history on her own. Ick! She really detested history, always had, always would. But now she was taking one class with Willow, one with Tara, and one with both of them. Sounded good to her. To make things even better, when she got home, she had a blonde Spike waiting for her. Yum! Made her day complete. They were going patrolling tonight. After catching up with the gang at the Bronze. Buffy pushed some notes into her bag and followed Tara out of the lecture hall, "God! The professor spit too much when he talked. It was like being at Sea World. The first five rows will get wet."
Tara laughed, "That was just um, you know. Enthusiasm."
"Seemed very much like saliva. Seems, like a good course though."
"Yeah. I think it'll be good."
"You got plans for the after noon?"
"No."
Buffy grinned, "What do you say we go and get Willow and indulge in a little after school hamburger?"
"We could. I was at the Magic Box earlier. And Will and Anya got involved in this little squabble. Xander left them to it."
Buffy almost laughed, "Those two. Well, I think that it might be a good idea to go and make sure that they don't demolish the shop."
Tara smiled, "The ex-demon vs. the witch. Could be kinda scary."
* * *
Willow closed her eye and concentrated, "Spirits of light I summon thee."
"Is it done?"
Red spots danced in front of Willow's eyes as she tried desperate not to scream, "No! Shhhhh! Spirits. . ."
"Sorry I thought that you were done."
Willow spun around and turned on Anya, "Do you wanna screw this up?"
"No." Anya got to her feet and put down her pad, "No I'm sure that you can do that all on your own."
"Anya you know what ever really has you mad, why don't you just say it, like you do every other thought that stomps through your brain."
"I believe I have said it."
Willow shook her head in fury, "No you haven't come on. Let it out."
Both the girls were pushed against the wall as something large, hairy and growling appeared. After a few moments, it turned around and growled at them. The girls turned heard smashing noises as the creature pushed it's way out of the shop.
Willow looked up a moment later, "He's not a ball of sunshine."