Hey hey hey! Another reminder that while this story is set in 2010, my attractions and locations are 2017, along with the menu list.

Chapter 14

The first ten minutes of the trip were spent in silence. Giles could tell there was something on her mind, but he didn't want to push her. He knew she would mention it when she felt ready. Instead he looked out the window of the town car as they drove down highway 61. The sight was truly beautiful. Large trees canopied the road from both sides. Spanish moss hung from the branches. The sun peeked through in certain spots, shining like light from god upon the road.

"Giles," Buffy said softly. He turned to look at her. She was looking out her own window. "Did you send people to take Giselle?"

He closed his eyes. He had assumed Antony had called Buffy to tell her all about the blunder. Or that he would if he hadn't yet. "No. I did not. Andrew informed me of Wesley's actions this morning. I'm sorry, Buffy. If I had known..." If he had known, what? He wasn't sure if he would have stopped it himself, to be honest. He would have gone about it in a more responsible way, though.

"Was all of that really necessary?" She finally turned to look at him.

"Honestly, it was out of concern. Wesley was worried about her condition due to the fact that... her Watcher, had stayed behind to look after her. It sounded much worse at the time."

Buffy looked back out her window. "That was how he made it sound," she muttered. She stared out her window a few minutes longer in silence. "How is she?"

Giles sighed. "She appears to be in good condition. Nothing bruised or broken, moves well, strong, everything seems intact."

Buffy sighed. "Then why didn't he come?" Giles didn't have a good answer so he stayed silent. Buffy turned towards him once again. "What more do you know?"

He cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

"Really, Giles? You're the Council Head. You know more than most. What more do you know?"

It was Giles turn to sigh and look out his window. Buffy wasn't sure he was going to answer her at first. "Willow asked me if I was trying to break you and... him up."

"What?"

"Miss Summers, ah, Buffy?"

"Yes, Christian?" She had kind of forgotten about him up there.

"Would you like me to put the partition up?" He looked in the review mirror at her.

She gave him a small smile. "Yes, please. Thanks." The window went up, giving her and Giles some privacy. "Willow asked you what?" Giles reached into his pocket and pulled out the tie that had been left on the nightstand. Buffy gently took it from his hands. "Okay... I'm missing something."

"Willow found that in your room. I forgot it on the table next to the bed. She was quite angry with me, actually."

"Oh."

"She asked what my intentions were. If I had plans to break the two of you up."

"What... did you say?"

"What do you think I said?" he asked desperately.

Buffy ran the tie through her fingers. "I think you told her..." she paused. "I think you told her that you would never do anything to hurt me." She looked up at him to see a small half smile upon his face.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I did tell her that."

"Got it in one," she replied with a grin.

The smile slowly slipped from his features. "Please remember that."

Buffy took a deep breath. "What do you know?"

"I know that Antony called the office on Saturday morning to confirm he was officially on vacation and off duty from the girls. That they were to be given the week off as well until his return."

Buffy clenched her jaw and swallowed but didn't look away. "What else?"

"Buffy..."

"What else, Giles? Tell me."

"Andrew called Leesa and Kimber. They didn't know he had stayed behind."

Buffy gave a short, nervous chuckle and turned away again. "Did Giselle know?" Giles groaned. He knew she would ask that. "I'll take that as a yes."

"He-," Giles stopped himself.

"He what?"

"He was there when Carl and Trish showed up at Giselle's," he muttered. Buffy covered her face with her hands. "It doesn't mean anything, Buffy. I'm sure he was just looking out for her."

Buffy chuckled and dropped her hands. "Yeah, I'm sure that was it."

"It's what I would have done with you," he spoke softly.

"Well, considering we slept together, not your best defense." Giles flinched at her words and turned away. "You know, I can't even be mad at him about it if he did. I mean, I want to be mad, I feel mad, but I can't actually be mad. Not after..."

"Not after I cheated him?"

"You? Giles, no. That's crazy. None of this is your fault."

"Really?" Giles turned more towards Buffy in his seat. "Because I seem to recall very clearly someone telling me I was jealous because I never slept with my Slayer."

Buffy gasped and bent her head down, squeezing her eyes shut. "I'm sorry," she breathed out. He barely even heard her. "I never meant any of those things I said at Xander's funeral. I was... so hurt. He was gone and then you and I fought and... I just wanted you to hurt like I was."

"You succeeded." Buffy sobbed. Giles could feel tears in his own eyes. He moved over and gathered her in his arms. He held her tight as she cried. "I'm sorry, Buffy. I'm so sorry," he uttered. "Tensions were all running high that day. I never even meant to bring it up. Not there anyhow. And definitely not in the manor it happened. We let things get too far and for too long." He kissed the top of her head. She looked up at him and he kissed her lips. He pulled back but rested their foreheads together. "I'm so incredibly sorry."

"We're breaking our truce," she sniffled.

"It's doing us more harm than good at this point." He pulled away and touched her face. "I wanted to apologize so many times. I picked up the phone to call, I have written numerous letters and emails. I even booked a plane ticket to come see you. Twice."

"Then why didn't you come, Giles? Why didn't you call?"

"I thought you hated me," he groaned. "I thought... I thought I had..." he whimpered and looked away.

Buffy forced him to look back at her and she kissed him. A sob escaped him and she held him tightly. "We're both so emotionally handicapped." He chuckled. She pulled away and kissed a couple tears off his cheek. "I missed you so damn much." She leaned forward and kissed him again. She tried to pull back, but he followed her, deepening the kiss.

One of his hands went to the back of her neck and the other to her waist, pulling her closer to him. She moved to straddle his lap, not breaking the kiss. She had her hands on the side of his neck. His slipped under her shirt on her back she moaned at the feel of his fingers gently caressing her skin.

For a while they just kissed. Deeply, sweetly, enjoying the feel of one another. It was different from any time before and they both knew it. They could feel the actual passion, not just lust building between them. They were both secretly terrified.

They broke the kiss and held one another. "My god, Buffy," he breathed.

"Giles," she lightly panted. "Giles, I-."

"Miss... Buffy. We're about to pull in."

Buffy looked around until she found the intercom button. "Thank you, Christian," she replied. She looked down at Giles, still on top of his lap. Emotions were running wild in both their eyes. The car suddenly slowed and lurched as Christian turned onto the dirt road. Buffy moved off Giles and looked out the window as they drove around the back of a church. Slightly down the road they turned into a small dirt parking lot. Buffy turned to see Giles' expression, but he was only looking at her. She smiled. Christian parked the car and Buffy took Giles' hand. "Come on," she said, opening the car door just before Christian did. "You've gotta see this." She exited the car, pulling Giles along with her.

As soon as he got out of the car, he saw it. To be fair, it was rather hard to miss. "Dear lord..."

Buffy, still holding his hand pulled him across the parking lot. "Its call the Angel Oak Tree. Its pretty old, though I'm not sure exactly how old. I've read things that say anywhere from 400 to 15 hundred years old."

"It's... magnificent." The giant tree stood approximately 60-70 feet tall. Its long branches stretched wide and hung down from the tree. They walked into the yard.

"The trunk is 28 feet in circumference. It provides shade for over 17 thousand square feet. Its longest branch is 187 feet long." Giles turned amazed eyes to the woman holding his hand. She shrugged. "I researched it."

"You did research?"

She playfully nudged him. "Shut up."

They slowly wandered the yard hand in hand. They circled the giant trunk and walked under the low hanging branches. They sat on a bench, Buffy's head on his shoulder, just admiring the beauty of the view. Giles turned and kissed the top of her head. "This is wonderful. Thank you."

Buffy tipped her head up to him. "Thank you." His brow furrowed. "For everything. Ever. Just in case I never told you."

Giles smiled. He wanted to lean down and kiss her, but hesitated. Buffy caught his hesitation and sat up, removing her head from his shoulder, but not releasing his hand. "Buffy-".

She suddenly stood. "Come on. Let's go in the gift shop." She pulled him up. He looked down at her with sad eyes. "It's okay. Really. Come on." She lead him towards the wooden shack turned gift shop. Just inside the door was a table set up of handmade sweet grass items. The lady behind the table currently weaving a sweet grass basket smiled sweetly at them.

Christian looked up from the book he was flipping through when Buffy and Giles entered. He gave them a smile and nod before returning to his book. The pair wandered the small shop, looking at all the professional photos and artists renderings of the Angel Oak. Giles purchased and 8x10 print of the tree and Christian got a small cookbook and a bag of Benne Wafers.

Buffy was looking through the selection of shot glasses. She wanted to get one for Jake. "Though he will probably need a flask once married to Dawn." Giles kissed her cheek and said he was going back outside to wait for her. Christian followed him out. Buffy sighed once the guys were out of sight. She twirled the shot glass display slowly, not really seeing any of the options. Things were getting very complicated. She finally just picked a glass, not really caring about the design and paid for it.

Outside Giles was looking up at the tree again. Buffy walked up next to him. He smiled at her and held out his hand. He was holding a rose made from the sweet grass. She took it with a smile and brought it up to her nose to smell it. Giles made had an amused expression and Buffy giggled. "I don't know why I did that."

"I thought it was darling."

"So's your face." Giles laughed and wrapped an arm around her. Together they headed back to the car. "Ready for our next stop?"

"There's more?"

"Oh yeah," she said with a grin. "There is definitely more."

Once inside the car, Buffy lowered the partition. "Hey, Christian, about how long to the next place?"

"10-15 minutes."

"Okay, great."

Buffy sat back in the seat, leaving the partition down. Giles was secretly grateful. They had both felt a switch in their relationship earlier. It was all getting to be too much. Too complicated. Giles had his doubts about Buffy's boyfriend. He had for the last two years. Since Renee had come to him accusing Antony of feeling her up during training. And she was pretty sure he had been fooling around with Angela. Giles had reassigned both girls and hadn't even wanted to send any more to the watcher, but they were seriously short staffed. Most Watchers had 3 Slayers already. As much as he loathed to admit it, he needed him. He had told each of the girls personally before sending them, that if they ever had any problems to go straight to Buffy or Giles himself. He figured he could trust Buffy to handle the situation.

Now there was this... new doubt. He had a feeling he knew what was going on, but without proof he couldn't bring it up to Buffy. Willow's question had shaken him earlier. He feared that whatever he may bring up in regards to Antony would now be viewed as jealousy and an attempt to sabotage the relationship. It was not a fight he was eager to repeat. He didn't think they could survive another one of those.

However, he was now starting to wonder if they could survive this. While he knew their actions would have some serious consequences, he just couldn't bring himself to regret any of them. He worried his hesitation at kissing her at the Angel Oak would be viewed by her as regret. She had pulled away from him both figuratively and literally after that. But the hesitation had not been due to regret, but to fear. However, now that he was thinking about it, he wasn't sure which was worse. His fear was that he was falling for her. And hard. It was true that he always cared for her, loved her. But this was... more. So much more. It was deeper. The passion of their kiss was stronger than anything he had felt in a very long time, if ever. It conveyed so much... no. He wasn't ready to say it. He couldn't say it. Saying it would bring forth everything he was trying to deny. Saying it and not being able to do anything about it, it would wreck him.

"Hey." A soft voice pulled him from his thoughts. He turned and saw the same look in her eyes that he assumed was in his. She gave him a sad smile and gently touched his hand. They laced their fingers together. Giles stared at their joined hands for minutes. When he looked back up, Buffy was watching him. He wondered how long she had been doing that.

"We're here," Christian announced. Buffy squeezed and Giles repeated. Christian slowly drove down the small, wooded pathway to the parking lot. There were a few other vehicles there as well. Giles opened the door before Christian could and gave the man a sheepish grin. Giles held out his hand for Buffy and helped her step out of the vehicle.

They walked across the small parking lot to the path. Giles chuckled. "You brought me to a tea plantation."

Buffy's smile lit up her whole face. "What better place, huh?!" They walked the path to the house turned gift shop and factory. Inside they were greeted by a friendly older woman with a sweet southern drawl. She showed them to the tea tasting station and informed them that the next video tour would begin in just a few moments.

Buffy tried the cold teas, favoring the raspberry the most, while Giles tasted the hot. They would offer sips to one another half way through. He was surprised at the quality of the taste. "Not bad for American," he teased. "Honestly, I didn't even knew you grew tea here."

"It's America's only tea plantation. And I'm glad it holds up to your standards," Buffy winked.

"The tour is starting if you guys are interested," Christian offered. They both followed him up the stairs in the back right corner. In the darkened hallways there was a video monitor hanging from the ceiling. To their right was a big glass wall. On the other side was the tea factory, though no one was currently in there or had the machines running. Less than a minute later, a video started on the screen. It explained that it would be in three parts and last approximately 10 minutes. It went through the different kinds of tea there were, how they were produced based on the leaves age and cooking style, and the process in which they were prepared in the factory. Buffy had to admit she was actually rather interested.

After the tour they walked back into the shop. Buffy picked out a couple different boxes of the tea flavors, as did Giles. They were told of the ride around the fields, but they chose not to go on it. They told Christian he was more than welcome to go on the tour if he wanted but he said no. He had already been on it three times. This year. He did, however, excuse himself to use the restroom.

Buffy and Giles sat at a picnic table just to the right of the shop. They looked out over the tea fields, enjoying the feel of the breeze on their heated skin. "This has been a wonderful day, Buffy. Thank you. I find it rather refreshing to be the one being given the lecture for once."

"I'm glad you are enjoying it so far."

Giles raised a brow. "So far?"

"I'm not done with you yet, Mr. Giles." A glint flashed through her eyes and hit Giles straight in the pants.

Trouble for certain, he thought.

"About 15 minutes again, guys," Christian informed them, loosening up his rigid 'Miss Summer' and 'Mr. Giles' shtick. "We are gonna have to back track a bit."

"Whatever you say, sir," Buffy grinned. Christian smiled at her and held the car door open.

Nearing 15 minutes later, Christian informed them they were about to pull in. They drove down a long, dirt driveway. Up ahead Giles could see a small house. There was an old fashioned pickup truck parked out near the drive. They rolled onward and pulled into a parking lot outside of two buildings. Buffy, not waiting for Christian to get the door, hopped out and extended her hand to Giles. "What is this?" he asked.

"Firefly Distillery!"

He chuckled. " A distillery?"

"Oh, yeah. And winery. Come on!" She pulled him along a few feet before she realized it was just the two of them. She turned back around and saw Christian leaning against the car. "Aren't you coming?" she yelled.

"Can't," he replied. "Driving."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Stay right here," she told Giles. She released his hand and went to Christian. She grabbed his hand and started pulling him along, too. "You don't need to drink, but have some fun, man!"

Christian laughed. "As you wish. I'll go check out the rabbits." He turned to his left.

"There are rabbits?!" Buffy asked. She shook her head. "Rabbits later. Wine first!" She walked Giles to the first building on the right of them.

They were greeted by a friendly lady at the counter. "Hello there! Welcome to Irvin House Vineyard. Are you two interested in a tasting?"

"Yes, please!" Buffy exclaimed.

"Great! It will be about 5 minutes, once the other group is finished. Feel free to look around the shop while you wait."

"Thank you," Giles replied as Buffy started looking around the cute little gift shop.

Soon they noticed a small crowd leaving the back room. A minute later Giles and Buffy were called back. They were the only two in the tasting. They were shown a short video on the history of the winery, the grapes, and the owners. They were given 5 different wines to sample, as that was all the winery produced. Giles' favorite was the "Mullet Hall", a dry red, while Buffy favored "Magnolia", a sweet white. Both decided to each get a bottle on their way out.

"That was rather pleasant," Giles said as they stepped out of the building. "Do they do tasting at the distillery as well?"

"Yeah, actually. That's our next stop." She started walking towards the second building.

Giles stopped. "Buffy, I was joking."

"I wasn't!" she called out as she rounded the corner. There she saw Christian talking with a couple of people who had been in the previous tasting party. "Aww, did you make a friend?" she asked teasingly.

Christian smiled. "We went to high school together."

"Go Trojans!" the man next to him whooped.

Buffy glanced at Christian who gave an apologetic shrug. "Okay, well, we'll be in here."

Christian nodded. Buffy and Giles entered the building. There were shelves of their product all along their right hand side and half of the back wall. The other half consisted of the check out and the bar which stretched down the wall on their right as well. There were people from the same group as before near the end on the left, so Buffy and Giles made their way to the middle back.

"Hey, folks!" greeted a young dark haired lady. "I'm Clara and I'll be helping ya out today. Ever been tasting with us before?" Buffy told the lady no and she reached beneath the bar and pulled out two sheets of paper. "This here is our list of products with a short description. You can choose up to six different ones. I'll give you a minute to look it over."

"Thanks," Buffy said as she looked over the menu.

"These are some interesting flavors," Giles spoke quietly.

"Live a little, Giles."

"Caramel moonshine?"

"I think it sounds delicious."

A couple minutes later, Clara returned. "You know what you want first?" She set a shot glass in front of each of them.

"Well, we gotta try to sweet tea vodka," Buffy said. "It is your signature drink, right?"

"It is one of our more popular ones, yes." She pulled out a bottle and poured a shot into each glass.

Buffy clinked her glass with Giles. "Down the hatch," she stated before tossing the drink back.

Giles took a small sip. Buffy raised a brow at him. "It's meant to be tasted, not guzzled."

"Well, how does it taste?"

"Surprisingly smooth, actually."

Buffy looked at Clara. "He's more of a scotch guy usually." The lady smiled at Giles. He returned it with a tight grin. "Okay, next I want... the Apple pie moonshine."

"I think I'll try to White Lightening," Giles added.

Clara reached under the bar and got Giles first. Then she grabbed another glass and set it in front of Buffy. "Okay, try this alone first. Its the Apple Pie. But just sip this one," she added with a smile.

Buffy took a small sip. "Mmm. That's tasty, Giles. You should try it." She held out her glass to him. He exchanged it with his own and they both sampled the others. Buffy made a face. "Not so smooth after the Apple Pie."

"I would think not. That was rather sweet. Now I have to finish mine as an after taste." He drank the rest.

"Okay," Clara said, "now try the caramel." She poured another shot in the other glass. "Don't worry, I won't count this as one of your six." Buffy sipped then handed it to Giles for a sip. "Now mix the two together and try." Giles raised a brow, but Buffy did as instructed.

After a sip she moaned. "That is awesome together. Here!" She handed the glass to Giles. There was only a sip left so he finished it. "Good?"

Giles looked in the bottom of the glass. "Not as bad as I expected. Actually, not that bad at all." He sat the glass down.

"Okay." Buffy leaned over her list. "Well I was going to try the caramel one but we just did that so how about... the strawberry."

Clara rinsed out the glasses. "I think I'm going to skip the rest of the moonshine and go for the straight vodka," Giles said.

"Coming right up." She poured Buffy's strawberry moonshine, then retrieved the bottle of straight vodka for Giles. Once again the two clinked their glasses together and sipped.

"Wanna try?" Buffy offered.

Giles shook his head. "No. Do you?" Buffy accepted his glass and took a small sip. Her face scrunched up as she swallowed. Giles chuckled. "It's because of all that sweet you are drinking first."

"Yeah, that will definitely mess with your pallet," Clara smiled.

"I'm drinking moonshine to get the taste of Vodka out of my mouth. How weird is that?" Giles chuckled again. "Okay, up next is, do do-do, Sweet Tea Whiskey."

Clara looked to Giles. "Bourbon Ball." She nodded and got their drinks. Giles and Buffy repeated their ritual of toasting, sipping, then sharing. "Not bad," Giles said after having tried both.

"I concur!" Buffy announced, then giggled.

"Looks like she's hit a tipping point," Clara said to Giles.

"She's not much of a drinker."

"Excuse me! I live in Rome, remember? I think it's illegal not to have wine with dinner."

"Rome? Wow," Clara said. "What brings you guys out here?"

"Her sister is getting married. And I'm from England, not Rome."

"This girls' got family coming in from all over the world. Lucky her."

"She's lucky I haven't strangled her yet," Buffy muttered.

"That's sisters for ya. So what's next?"

"I'll try the lemonade," Giles said.

"Make it two." They each sipped their sample. "Mmm! I like it."

"That's another of our more popular ones. Add it to some sweet tea and you've got an Arnold Palmer."

"Never quite understood the appeal of mixing tea and lemonade," Giles said.

Clara reached under the bar and took out the tea vodka. She poured a little in each glass and then topped it off with the lemonade. "Try it out."

Giles eyed it speculatively, but Buffy picked it right up and shot it back. Finally he picked it up and shot it back as well figuring he might as well get it over quickly. "Interesting."

Clara laughed. "You didn't like it?"

"Giles is British. You don't mess with his tea." Buffy smiled at him and he returned it.

"Have you been to the tea plantation?" Clara asked.

"We just came from there," Giles informed.

"You got the English Breakfast, didn't you?"

"Gee, how did you know?" Buffy asked with a giggle.

"Lucky guess. Okay. Last one. What will it be?"

Buffy looked over the list again. "Oh! Java rum!"

Clara rinsed her glass and poured Buffy's shot. "You?"

"I think I have had enough."

"Wanna try my rum?"

"Good lord, no. I don't enjoy coffee on it's own."

"Which one was your favorite?" Clara asked, rinsing out his glass.

"I think I enjoyed the Bourbon Ball best."

"Caramel Apple together for me. Definitely."

"Interested in purchasing?"

"I believe I will, actually." Giles knew he would be needing a drink within the next day or two.

"Everything is on these walls here, so take a look around and I can ring you up right over there." She pointed to the register.

"Thank you!" Buffy said.

"You are very welcome," Clara giggled at her.

Buffy and Giles each bought their favorites. Then they walked back to the first building and bought the wines they liked. On the way back to the car, Buffy wanted to stop and look at the "funny chickens". Once they got back to the car, Christian informed them it would be about 35 to 40 minutes to get back home at this time of day. Giles thanked him and Christian put the partition up as Buffy settled up against Giles. Within minutes, both were sleeping.