WDWG - Chapter 15: Interlude
After the initial excitement wore off, the young Slayers headed off to their original destination. Kennedy squeezed Willow's hand, "See you later, babe," before turning to the rest of the group, explaining as she departed, "We're headed to Rodeo Drive after a quick dip to stalk celebrities."
"Thank God it's not to run up any more charges on the Council's credit card. I never knew how much money teenage girls can spend!" Giles muttered in disbelief, taking a sip of his tea.
"Or Andrew..." Robin added, shaking his head.
"Oh come on, Giles, that's not entirely true. I mean, Buffy's wardrobe in high school alone must've equaled the debt of a small African country." Xander remarked.
"Yes, but I wasn't paying for it." The Watcher countered.
"Considering how many outfits were ruined on patrol, the Council should have provided a clothing allowance!" Buffy pouted, arms folded across her chest.
"But they would have made you wear tweed!" The dark haired man joked, causing those around the table to laugh with him.
Buffy shuddered in horror, "Seriously, my first benevolent order as Co-president or whatever of the new Council is to banish all tweed forthwith!"
"Buffy..."
"Oh come on, Giles! You're never wearing tweed again. Although you can pull it off in a sexy English Indiana Jones kind of way..." She gave her Watcher a racy grin before returning to the subject at hand, "But honestly, can anyone here see Robin in the old Watchers uniform?" Looking around the table, she saw the mortified looks on Robin's and Faith's faces. Willow and Xander just grinned in amusement, allowing the Slayer to continue her diatribe, "I rest my case: cruel and unusual punishment! And come to think of it, I don't think I ever saw Wesley in anything other than an Armani. Care to explain your tweed fascination, Watcher-mine?"
Only turning a slight shade of pink, Giles looked to Robin, "So, you are leaving tomorrow afternoon, then?"
Buffy gave him a look indicating she wasn't done harassing him yet and he answered with a slight glare of his own.
Feeling the need to rescue his new boss, the former high school principal nodded, "The plane leaves at 2:00 pm. I want to have everyone there by noon to get us checked in and through security with plenty of time for the unexpected."
"Oh! We should have a farewell breakfast tomorrow morning." Willow suggested quickly, "I can talk to the hotel management about it."
"That would be great!" Robin responded. "Well, we have some last minute stuff to get done today."
"Yeah, have fun, guys." Faith added as they got up from the table.
Before letting them leave, Giles looked at Robin and said, "I'll make sure to get you the information on the new house by this evening. I am expecting a fax with the details by no later than three this afternoon."
"Great. Well, I've already made arrangements at the Hampton Inn for us, so we can take our time with moving in."
"Thanks, G, but we gotta boogie. We've got some plans for the day." The dark haired Slayer smirked as she grabbed her boyfriend's arm.
Alone, the core Scoobies looked at each other with some amusement before Buffy giggled, "So, what was the fascination with tweed, Giles?"
"Oh come on! I would never fight in an Armani... and neither did Wesley if you recall. In fact, he rarely fought at all!" He protested good-naturedly, then, after taking another sip of his he tea, he turned to Willow and Xander "So, you two, when are you departing for your holidays?"
"Well, I pick up my rental tomorrow afternoon. I've got a black Jeep Wrangler waiting for me, and I figured I would take off after I signed for it. Thought I might drive up the coast and into the Pacific Northwest. Check out the coffee scene in Seattle and then see where I go from there." Xander mused.
"And my flight leaves tomorrow evening." Willow pointed out.
"So soon? I mean, we just got here and we haven't gotten to hang out." Buffy complained sulkily.
"Well, we should hang out today... all of us. And I have to show you how to use your new MacBooks. I mean, I configured them for you and everything! That way we can email and stay in touch." Willow countered.
"Afterwards we can crash your suite, rent movies and order pizza just like old times. I am sure there's something we can make fun of on the movie channels here." Xander added.
"Sounds marvelous. You should call Kennedy and let her know where to join us when she gets back." The Watcher suggested, wanting to be inclusive, but not really wanting to share their time together with anyone else.
"She's got plans today with the rest of the Slay-brigade, we'll just meet back at the room when it's time to hit the sack."
"Things ok there, Will? You guys aren't acting real couple-y all of a sudden." Buffy pointed out.
"Oh, yeah, well, you know, we really talked when we got here and it seems we're more friends than anything. One of those relationships created out of stress and loneliness. I guess now that things have calmed down, it seems all we have in common is that we're female and that we... enjoy each other's company. She's going home for a few weeks before heading to England. We'll see how things stand when we meet up there, but I suspect we'll just remain friends. No big." The red head explained thoughtfully.
Xander burst out laughing and couldn't stop. Tears streamed down his cheek and he almost fell out of his chair. It was definitely an odd reaction to Willow's announcement that her relationship was dissolving. When he steadied himself, he noticed the bewildered looks on his friends' faces. "I'm sorry, it's just that..." and he chuckled a while longer before finally choking out, "You're orgasm friends! Oh, how Anya would have loved that!" Finally gaining control over his giggles, he apologized, "Sorry, that was inappropriate..."
"And so very Anya." Buffy agreed with a genuine smile, giving her best buddy a hug.
XxXxXxXx
The core four spent the rest of the morning getting acquainted with their new computers. Willow had set them up with their own personal domain, , as well as creating their email accounts, including Dawn's. She had decided to forego setting up anything work related, though, until after they all returned from their vacations. Surprisingly, Giles didn't have any problem getting to know his MacBook. While he hated computers, he found them a necessary evil and tackled them with the same aplomb he would any other great foe, much to the amusement of the other three.
Feeling that his waffles had worn off, Xander suggested that it was definitely time for lunch.
"How about a picnic in the park? We've been so cooped up today and it's beautiful out." Willow suggested, and was instantly met with disbelieving looks from her friends. Emerald eyes widening, she asked defensively, "What?"
"Umm. I think the desert sun fried your brain, Will." Buffy deadpanned.
"Oh! Yeah, umm, let's find some place they'll wait on us and feed us three courses or something." The redhead amended quickly.
They decided to eat lunch at a posh little bistro not far from the hotel, and compromising with Willow's desire to eat outdoors, they requested a table on the secluded back patio. The conversation was easy and free flowing. Giles ordered a bottle of dry, fruity white wine to share.
"Very social." Buffy commented winking at him.
"It's not Champagne." He countered.
"It's not brunch or evening. Not appropriate." She bantered back.
"Xand, do you feel like you're missing something?" Willow asked.
"All the time, Will. All the time." He laughed.
After ordering their meals, the girls excused themselves to the bathroom and Giles turned to Xander, "How are you holding up?"
"Eh, it's hard. The nights are worse than the days. Glad I took that room to myself. But... at least I can talk about her and be happy for our time together, I suppose. How did you get through it?"
"I don't think you could make a comparison, Xander. Jenny and I weren't lovers, hadn't made any commitments to each other. I was rather infatuated with her at the time, and had she lived, we might have had a torrid affair, but in the end..."
"I, uh, didn't mean Miss Calendar."
"Oh." Giles replied quietly, taking a long drink of water to clear his thoughts. "Well, I didn't handle that... situation with much grace, did I? I recall quite a bit of scotch, training the damned robot, and playing a lot of guitar in my flat before I left for England. And then I ran away again after she came back." Rubbing the back of his neck, he admitted with reproach for his actions during that time, "I was a fucking coward. I should have been there for all of you..."
"This road trip... Am I running too, Giles?" The young man interrupted, looking up with hurt in his dark hazel eye.
Putting his hand on Xander's shoulder, Giles gave him a look of intense compassion, "No, not at all, my boy. It's not running if you intend to come back, and I know you'll come back to us, Xander. You just need to take some time and you've wanted to do this for years now. You deserve this trip."
"You weren't going to come back? I mean, the second time?"
"One day, probably, for a visit." Giles replied honestly, absently rolling the Pinot Grigio around in his wine glass. "But she was so lost and I couldn't help her. I couldn't... It was like I had lost her twice in the span of six months. I was shattered and she needed to... learn to live again. I don't know... I was wrong..."
Feeling the incredible pain waft off the Watcher, Xander interrupted, "It's ok, Giles. I miss Anya, and I love her. It hurts like hell, but I'll get through it. It wasn't the same as you..." Quickly changing the topic, he continued, "I went down to the police station to see if there was a missing persons list from Sunnydale. None of us was on it. Weird." He shrugged, "Probably because we've all used our credit cards since coming here. My folks were, though."
"I am sorry..."
"I'm not. I don't feel anything. I'm just numb about it. I should feel bad, but I don't."
"I remember the first night you spent on my couch. It was raining and you showed up on my doorstep with your pillow mumbling about a leaky tent and being kicked out of the house. You had a huge test to take the next day - history, if I remember correctly - worth half your grade for the quarter. I was ready to go over and have it out with your father, but you stopped me. You told me it wasn't worth it, they were more like irate landlords than parents and you hadn't thought of them as much more for a long time." Giles reminisced. "It's unfortunate and they didn't deserve to call you son... But it was the first time I allowed myself to think of you... and Willow and Buffy as my family. I'm proud of you, Xander! Through everything, you've persevered. You'll get through all this too."
They shared a look and for the first time in his life, Xander felt he was on equal footing with his father figure. They both had faltered, but there they were, accepting and forgiving. And he wasn't running. And that was of the good.
XxXxXxXx
"You and Giles seem awfully cozy, Buff." Willow probed, washing her hands and fixing her hair in the bathroom mirror.
Applying her shiny pink lipgloss, Buffy sighed, a shy smile creeping up on her lips, "I can't believe how much I love him, Will. And it kills me that he has these bouts of... I don't know..."
"Disbelief?" Her best friend tried to help. "Doubt?"
"Yeah, both, I guess. I mean I try to tell him, show him that he's like... the other half of me, you know? And then, yesterday, he thought I would leave him for Angel."
"Oh..."
"Yeah. I know that's my fault with my stellar track record and all. But I told him I don't love Angel anymore and it was like he didn't believe me. It's not a game to me, Will! It never could be with him." She explained with pleading eyes. "We fought, I realized I was stupid, visited Angel and told him he was history, made up with Giles..."
"Oh! Wow! So you really were late this morning because you guys were... you know?" Willow deduced.
"No, Gutterbrain! Seriously he was on the phone with his uncle for a couple hours this morning. Last night, though..." She replied trailing off with a dreamy look in her eyes.
"Don't need details, just the gist. Spill it, sister!" The redheaded Wicca demanded, leaning against the sink
"Umm... let's just leave it at the man is highly talented and I got robbed of morning smoochies." Buffy blushed and looked down at her hands before adding in a serious tone, "He's the one, Willow. It's cliché, but he's my everything!"
Embracing her best girl friend in a hug, Willow guided wisely, "Tell him, Buffy, because I can tell you, he feels the same way. He's truly happy with you. I've never seen him like this."
Having returned from the ladies room, Buffy and Willow sat down to their meals and the four of them enjoyed the luxury of being wined and dined properly. After dessert and coffee, Willow picked up the tab, explaining as she handed the waiter her card, "When I called my parents to let them know we made it, they put some money in the account and paid off my credit cards, so this one's on me, guys.".
"Thanks, Will!" Xander said, pulling her into a hug.
"Yes, thank you. It's very thoughtful, Willow." Giles added, warmth glowing in his pale green eyes.
When they got back to the hotel, Giles picked up the fax he was waiting for from the desk clerk, made a copy, and placed it under the door to Faith and Robin's room. He also excused himself for half an hour to call Sebastian back with an update from the morning's discussion with the group.
Hanging out, the Scoobies continued to enjoy each other's company throughout the day and concluded their time with pizza, chocolate, and movies back in the suite. Each felt that it was the best bonding session they had ever experienced, sprawled out on pillows and blankets on the floor together like little kids at a slumber party, promising to make movie nights a regular thing once they'd settled down in England.