A/N: PLZ REVIEW

Chapter 4

It didn't take long to get where they were going, within ten minutes they were right in the middle of main street and Xander was pointing to a small magic shop

"Rupert Giles owns the shop" he told her "has done for a couple of years"

Buffy nodded mutely, a little anxious about what was going to happen next. Things hadn't excatly gone to plan so far, she knew she had a week but she wated to find the poet as soon as possible. She continued to walk along b eside Xander in the direction of the shop

"Thank you for all your help today" she said as they neared the destination

"No problem, always ready to help" he insisted. She smiled warmly. She looked at her surroundings, it was quiet and there wasn't a lot of shops, completely different from Los Angeles but in this case that wasn't a bad thing. They approached the shop, and the bell above the door rang as Xander opened the door for her.

Looking around she saw shelves and shelves of what she could only imagine were magic books, artifacts and charms. Anything related to the world of magic. The shop was not large but she found it to be very quaint. Everything was perfectly set out. There was a spiral staircase that led to more books and things but she didn't know what kind exactly. There were only a couple of customers browsing the merchandise. She saw a pretty blonde woman watching themm carefully from her place behind the counter. nWhen she saw Xander go over she realised that she must be the fiancee he had told her about. She left them for a momentm, watching as he gave her a kiss. After the greeting seemed to be finished with, she went over to stand beside them. Xander looked at her and turned to his fiancee

"Honey, is Giles around?" he asked

"No, he stepped out, can i help?"

"No, this is Buffy, she's looking for Giles, do you know when he'll be back?"

"He shouldn't be long" she turned to Buffy "You can wait if you like"

Buffy smiled "Thanks" she said accepting the offer

"I'm Anya Christina Emanuella Jenkins. Soon to be Harris" Anya introduced her self offering her hand to Buffy

Buffy shook it

"I'm Buffy, Buffy Summers" she said "It's nice to meet you"

"So why are you looking for Giles?" Anya asked

"Oh, i'm looking for the person who lived in a house he's letting out, i was hoping he could help me" Buffy told her

"Oh, ok. So do you like magic?"

"Not really it's not my kinda thing" Buffy admitted

Nothing else was said as they heard someone come through the door, Buffy expected and hoped to see the man she was looking for, but was surprised to see Willow and Tara come in instead. They seemed equally surprised

"Buffy, hey" Willow squealed excitedly "isn't this just so cool"

Buffy rolled her friend

"Yeah it's great Will" she looked at Tara who was smiling at Willow's obvious excitement. Buffy then felt rude and rushed to introduce the newcomers

"Oh, this is my best friends Willow" she pointed to the redhead "and Tara her gorlfriend, and another of my best friends" Buffy finished

"Hi, nice to meet you" Xander shook both of their hands in turn, followed by Anya who asked very bluntly

"Hi, do you like magic, are you going to spend money in my store?" Willow and Tara giggled at the abruptness, Xander looked a little bit emabarassed, Buffy just thought it seemed normal.From the moment Anya had introduced herself, Buffy had the feeling that she was tyhe kind of person who said what they had on their minds.

"So Buffy, what are you doing here?" Tara inquired

"Waiting for the owner, he owns the house that is the address i'm looking for but the person i'm after doesn't live there. I was hoping he could help me" she filled them in on what had been happening since they had parted that morning

"So no luck so far?" Tara asked sympathetically

"Not yet, but things can only get better"

"Yeah" Tara agreed

The five of them soon got involved in conversation on why they were in Sunnydale, but Buffy didn't really want them to know the real reason, so when Xander asked the question she thought quickly to come up with a plausible reason

"Well, i'm looking for someone and it's spring break so we thought we'd kill two birds with one stone and have a holiday down here for the week"she said

"Yeah, and it is so nice. Really quiet but so homey" Willow chirped "i like it here already" Buffy could see a glint of something in her eye but couldn't really pinpoint what it was

"It's an ok town, a bit boring but it's nice" Xander agreed. He told them how he had lived there his whole life and worked in construction. He told them a bit about what it was like to grow up and start a career in the small town.

"I alweays wanted to-" Willow was cut off when the door opened again. This time a misddle aged man with glasses came through the door

"Giles" Anya started as soon as he approached "this woman is looking for you"

Giles looked at Buffy

"Yes, how can i help you?" he asked in a refined English accent

"Mr Giles, i was wondering if i could speak to you for a minute"

"Of course" he motioned for her to follow him, she did so and he took her into a small back room where a small office was "What can i d for you?" he asked as he motioned for her to take a seat.

She cleared her throat before she began "Mr Giles, this may sound crazy, but a few days ago i found something, a poem. There was something about it that just drew me in and there was a name, address and date on the back of it. I just wanted to find the poet, see i'm studying English Literature and this poet has just created an interested for me. I assumed that the name on the back was the poet. It was the name Kensington" she got no further, the man removed his glasses and began to rub at them with the corner of his sweater

"Miss, what was your name?"

"Summers, Buffy Summers" she told him

"Buffy, i highly doubt that Kensington was the poet. Maybe the subject, not the poet. I have an idea who the poet may have been. Where exactly do you attend college?" he questioned

"UCLA"

"I thought so, Buffy, i believe the poet you may be looking for is William Giles"

"But that would be" the question wasn't completed as he knew what she meant

"Yes, my son. However, he dpesn't really talk to people often any more and it is not my place to tell you anything regarding that poem or the subject. I'm sorry" He was sincere in his apology, but he also knew hios son

"I understand that, but Mr Giles, i just really would like to talk to your son, even if it's just to return the poem, if he doesn't want to aspeak to me then i will respect that, i just would like to have the chance" she looked at the man, pleading with her eyes for him to give in.

Giles wasn't sure there were a lot of reasons why he shouldn't do this and also many why he should. William hadn't spoken to many people since all this had started, and finished, maybe someone had to speak to him about the subject and maybe someone that didn't know all about it would be better. He could see that Buffy really wanted to meet him, but it wasn't enough

"Tell me why you want to meet him, what was it about the poem?" he neededn a good reason

"Well, i'll be honest, i'm not completely sure. It just affected me, drew me in. I felt something in the words. They were full of love and he words themselves were unusual and it just gave me the impression that someone special either had to have written them or have been the subject. Something tells me it was the first"

Giles looked atv her, she seemed so genuine about everything, and he had to admit it wasn't as though she wasn't willing to leave it be if that was what William wished. He thought for a few moments

"Ok" he gave in "i'll give you his address, but i want you to promise that if my son wishes not to discuss this with you or anything else then you will accept that and let it go. I do believe that my son needs to talk about it but if he says no, then please let it be"

Buffy smiled, becoming excited "I promise, if he doesn't want to talk to me then i will return the poem and leave him alone. I swear" she held up her right hand as means of giving him her word

"Very well" he opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out a small card, writing something on the back of it "here is his address. I'm trusting you Buffy to keep your promise" he said as he gave her the card

"I will, i promise i will" she stood up and headed to the door

"Thanks again Mr. Giles" she said from the door before running out.

The people in the main store looked at Buffy as she came running from the office

"Good news then Buff?" Willow joked, seeing the smile on her friend's face

"I got the address, the poet's i mean. I'll see you later" she barely stopped to say the words and she was gone before anyone had the chance to even say goodbye.

Buffy had run as fast as possible back to where she had left her car. It had taken only a few minutes because of how fast she was going. Half an hour later, she was pulling up in front of an apartment buiolding. They were respectable looking. She started wondering about what kind of person William Giles as she got closer. She got in the levator and when up the 3floors to where his apartment was. As she walked along the corridor she breathed deeply, trying to calm the rising nerves she was feeling. After so many false starts, she was finally having some luck and she seemed to have found what she had come here looking for in the first place. Stopping in front of his door, she took one last deep breath before knowcking. She stood patiently. It didn't take long before she heard someone walking around. She would hae knocked again, but she heard the footsteps coming closer to the door and decided that he must have heard her knock.

The door was thrown over just a moment later, Buffy was face to face with a very handsome man. Only a year or two older than herself. He had messy bleached blonde hair, with a bit of brown at the roots, he had very high, gorgeous cheekbones, and blue eyes. Eyes that she saw a lot of hurt and sadness in.

"Can i help you?" he asked in a deep, English accent, a lot less refined than his father

"Um yeah, my name is Buffy and i was hoping i could speak to you. Your father gave me your address" she said

He frowned a little, but shrugged "I guess, come on in" Buffy stepped inside. The house wasn't untidy but it wasn't neat. It was lived in but not a mess. She followed im to the living room, he motioned for her to sit, which she did, looking at her he said

"So"

"Um, ok, the thing is, i'm studying English Lit at UCLA and i was using a book for my final British Lit assignement and i found something in one of the books i was using that i think belongs to you" she waited for a response but got none, she reached into her back pocet and pulled out the poem holding it towards him. He took it and looked at it

"I really liked it and i saw the stuff written on the back and i kind of wanted to find you. Something about your poem got to me and i just wanted to talk to you about it"

He reacted then

"Nothing to talk about, thanks for the poem back but i don't want to talk about it" he told her in a voice that said he wouldn't compromise

"If that's what you want, but i just want you to know that i think you're a great poet and the words really affected me, i would have liked to spend time with such a great writer" she wasn't trying to change his mind, she promised she wouldn't push and she intended to stick to that. He gave her a small smile

"Thanks"

"Listen, i'm in town for a week, if you change your mind, this is my cell phone number" she handed him the card as she stood

He took it "Ok"

She smiled as he showed her to the door, "Bye" she said as she walked out

"Bye" he replied

As he shut the door Buffy walked slowly to the elevator, while he leaned against the door, looking from the card to the poem that was still in his hand. He did wnat to talk about it, but could he talk to her.