Time to party! Que the obligatory "Watcher Song!" You know the one...
Chapter16
Willow and Portia had an arm around each other as they walked down the sidewalk to the next bar giggling. Dawn was between Buffy and Nessa, their arms linked together. They had already been to three different bars and were on their way to the last. It was short for a bar crawl, but Dawn knew once they got to Dudley's, they wouldn't want to go anywhere else.
"You guys are going to totally love this next place," Dawn said as they strolled up near the doors. "It's got pool tables, dancing, karaoke, and..." Dawn ran the few feet forward and held the door open for her friends.
Willow's, Portia's, and Buffy's eyes widened as they took in the scene. There was a blue glow about the whole place with a spotlight shining onto the stage. Belting out a tune in a voice that was an octave or two lower than usual for the song was someone in a corset and fishnets with a feather boa wrapped around them. Heavy makeup was applied and it was obviously a wig. The beehive was just too perfect to be otherwise.
"Drag queens."
"Not into the show?" the bartender asked Giles as he sat at the bar drinking his beer. He was at the end of the bar closest to the stage and next to the wall. The one that kept his back to the entertainment. The other 5 were lounging in club chairs next to the stage about 15 feet behind him.
Giles looked at the bartender, wearing a name tag 'Roni'. "Not my usual scene."
"Pretty, half naked girls aren't your thing?" she asked with a crooked smile. He smiled back with a silent chuckle. "Or is it just not the right girl?"
"Maybe it isn't girls at all," he suggested.
"Nah," she shook her head. "I saw you check out Jannie when she was back here earlier." Giles tilted his head. "The small blonde girl in the leather."
"Ah." Giles could feel himself blush and was thankful for the dark lighting. "She, uh, she reminded me of someone is all."
"See? Not the right girl." Roni turned to help someone who was attempting to get her attention down the bar.
Giles glanced over his shoulder at the group of boys sitting at the stage. Andrew was just sitting back, not really watching, but not participating in the conversation with the others either. He felt bad for the boy. He knew this wasn't exactly Andrew's type of place. Mostly he was surprised to see Andrew wasn't on his phone. He was the epitome of workaholic.
Truth was Giles didn't think he could do his job without Andrew. He acted as a personal assistant, but he was not. Andrew was much higher up the chain of command than most realized. If Andrew had not come with him on this trip, he would have left him in charge. Everyone underestimated Andrew and Giles kept that as an advantage. Andrew saw and heard almost everything. He was the one who told Giles about Bethany and Mark. True, Andrew hated Mark from the beginning, but he wasn't one to lie about another. Giles wasn't much surprised over Bethany's affair as he should have been. He could feel things between them growing distant since before Xander's death. He had tried to reach back out to her, but when he realized he was the only one making an effort, he knew it was near its end. Had he been upset when he found out? Of course. Hurt and angry, even. But surprised? Not so much. And Andrew had been there for him. He had not talked much with anyone else on the matter. There were nights when Giles did not want to go home that he would sit in his office in front of the fireplace that was in it, drinking his scotch and Andrew would come in and sit with him. Sometimes they talked, sometimes they just sat. Andrew once tried to talk Giles into calling Buffy, but it never happened. Giles had remained silent, sipping his drink, like Andrew had never said anything at all. It wasn't brought up again.
As if he could sense eyes on him, Andrew turned to see Giles watching him. Giles lifted his glass in a greeting. Andrew excused himself from the others, not that they were really noticing him anyway, and walked over to Giles. "I was invited out why?" he asked.
Giles turned back to the bar. Andrew stood next to him. "Because Dawn wanted you to feel included."
"Yay me."
Giles chuckled. Roni walked back over to them with a smile. "Can I get you something, sweetie?" she directed to Andrew.
"Something strong and sweet."
"Like you?" Giles smirked. Andrew stuttered. "I got just the thing for you, baby." Roni turned back to the shelves behind the bar, concocting his drink.
"Having fun?" Giles asked.
"Oh yeah," Andrew deadpanned. "I spent most of my life wanting to be part of the popular jock group. Is this what that was like?"
"I honestly have no idea."
"Almost joined the swim team once." Andrew made a show of shuddering. "We know how that turned out, though."
"Sometimes I am amazed anyone made it out of that school."
Roni came back with a hurricane glass filled with an orange liquid. It was decorated with a couple cherries and a small pineapple chunk. "Pineapple upside down cake," she said pushing it towards him. Andrew eyed the drink. "Come on. I didn't poison it. Try it."
Andrew picked up the glass and took a sip. He hummed and took another drink. "That's good. Thank you." He offered the glass to Giles who shook his head no.
"Oh, I get it," Roni said. "You're together."
Giles nearly choked on his beer. "No," Andrew answered. "No no. Not a couple. We work together."
"Ah. What do you do?"
"I run a school. Back in England," Giles answered.
"Hogwarts?" Roni smiled.
Giles chuckled. "Yes. Hogwarts. You found me out."
"Well, Dumbledore, I have a surprise for you." Roni looked over his shoulder and waved someone over. Andrew turned to see who she was waving at and his mouth slightly opened. A girl in a crop top with a tie longer than her mini skirt walked up behind them. She placed a hand on the shoulder of each guy. "We have our very own Hermione."
"Dawn, how did you even find this place?" Buffy asked her sister as they waited for their drinks at the bar.
She shrugged. "Happy accident." She grabbed both drinks and handed Buffy hers. They turned to the dance floor. "Isn't this awesome?"
"You just never struck me as the drag show type."
Dawn rolled her eyes. "It is so much more than that. Besides, its karaoke night! And we are gonna sing!"
"Oh god, please no."
"Oh yes!" They got back to the table were Nessa was sitting alone. "Where's Willow and Portia?" Nessa pointed to the far right side of the stage edge. The girls were there dancing together. "Did you find some songs yet?" Dawn sat next to Nessa and looked over the song book with her.
Buffy had some of her drink before setting it down and going over to her two friends. She jumped in behind Willow and started dancing with them. Soon Buffy was joined by someone she didn't know with their hands on her hips dancing behind her. Buffy figured what the hell and let loose.
Jake stepped back into the room from the restroom and went over to Christian who was talking with someone in a booth. They had a short conversation that Christian nodded in agreement about. Jake walked back over to his groomsman. Christian kissed the hand of his lady friend and walked over to Andrew and Giles at the bar. "Having fun?" he asked them. He knit his brows together as he looked at Giles. He moved in for a closer look and Giles backed up slightly. Christian chuckled. "You know you have lipstick on your ear?"
"Fantastic," Giles growled as he grabbed a napkin and started wiping at his ear.
"Guess that answers that question. Hate to cut this short but we are moving on."
"Are we going back to the inn?" Andrew asked hopefully.
Christian shook his head. "Not quite. Jake has made a request stop."
"Where to?" Giles questioned.
Christian smiled. "Oh, I don't want to ruin the surprise." A loud groan came from the table Jake and the others were at. Lance looked as if he was trying to convince his friend against leaving. Whatever was said ended in Jake's favor, Giles assumed. The three other guys stood and started heading out of the club. Christian settled the tab (with Lance's card, of course) and the rest of the group went out to the car.
"Next up," announced Miss Patti O'Furniture, the 'House Queen', "We have Miss Buffy Summers!"
Buffy turned to Dawn with wide eyes. "What did you do?!"
"You wouldn't pick a song so I picked one for you." She started pushing Buffy towards the stage. Buffy had had a few more drinks since getting to Dudley's and wasn't feeling her full Slayer strong self. "Come on! It will be fun! BUF-FY! BUF-FY! BUF-FY!" Dawn started chanting loudly, which lead others to start chanting as well.
Before she even knew what was happening, Buffy was standing on stage with a microphone shoved into her hand. "I don't even know what I'm singing," she growled at Dawn.
"Look at the screen!" she called back.
The first few notes of the song started before Buffy actually read the words and she scrambled to figure it out. Finally it hit home and she smiled. She totally had this.
Come home in the morning light
My mother says when you gonna live your life right?
Oh mother dear we're not the fortunate ones
And girls they wanna have fun
Oh girls just wanna have fun
Buffy continued with the song as her friends stood in front of the stage dancing and singing along with her. She felt carefree and loose as she sang her heart out to the room. Just as she was finishing her song, she caught sight of a few people standing in the middle of the dance floor just watching her. At first she thought it was weird, but then realized she recognized one of those people. She finished her song and people applauded. Miss Patti got back on the stage and was saying something, but Buffy wasn't paying attention.
She made her way through the crowd trying to get to the familiar face. Once he was in sight again she called out, "Giles!" He gave her a big smile and she launched herself at him, wrapping her legs around his waist, not caring who saw her. She saw Jake giving her an amused look over Giles shoulder. "Hi, Jake!"
"Hi, Buffy. Great job up there."
"Thanks! Dawn should be over that way somewhere," she waved vaguely behind her to the right, leaning back just a tad to far and Giles had to grab her so he wouldn't drop her on the floor. She gasped and giggled, then gasped again. "Andrew! You're here, too! Yay!"
"Are you drunk?" Giles asked her.
"Not yet," Buffy dropped her legs back to the floor, "but let's finish the job!" She grabbed Giles hand and walked him to their booth. When they got there, Dawn already was wrapped around Jake and had her tongue practically down his throat. "Hey!" Buffy yelled at her. Dawn stopped and gave her a look. "Didn't you have a friend whose sister choked to death on her boyfriend's tongue or something?"
Dawn's mouth dropped open. "How do you even remember I said that?!"
Buffy shrugged. "Just do."
"Well, it sounds like one hell of a way to go," Jake declared before pulling Dawn in for another kiss again.
The room applauded once again and Buffy realized it was not because of her future brother's antics, but the person on stage had finished their song. "Oh!" Buffy grabbed Giles' arm. "You have to sing!"
"I have to sing?"
Dawn jumped in. "Definitely! You have such a lovely voice, Giles." She hugged him, leaning against his chest.
Giles looked at Buffy quizzically. "She is drunk," Buffy clarified. Giles nodded and patted Dawn's back. "Okay, okay!" Buffy said pulling at Dawn. "Go hug your own boyfriend!"
Giles eyes widened, as did Dawn's, unfortunately. Not too drunk to miss that, he thought.
"Boyfriend?! Giles is your boyfriend now?"
"That's not what I said!"
"That is what you said!"
"Well," Buffy huffed, "that's not what I meant!"
Willow came pushing her way into the group. "Dawnie, come on! You're up!"
Dawn looked to the stage as Miss Patti recalled her name. "Oh! That's me!" All previous conversation already forgotten, she bounced to the stage.
Giles looked at Buffy with a smirk. She caught his gaze and furrowed her brow. "What?"
"Boyfriend?" She gaped like a fish out of water. Giles chuckled and lifted her chin, closing her mouth. Then he leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I'm getting a drink," he said in her ear so she could hear him over Dawn's Genie in a Bottle. As he turned for the bar he heard Buffy shout Andrew's name again. Looking over his shoulder he saw Buffy crushing the poor boy in a bear hug.
Buffy and Andrew plopped into the booth laughing. "Oh my god," Andrew said. "I can't believe I just did that."
"You did great! Giles, didn't he do great?" Buffy asked.
Giles smiled. "You both did wonderfully." The two had just been up on stage singing I Got You, Babe. It was rather entertaining.
"What song did you pick?" Buffy leaned over towards him.
Giles finished off his beer and shook his head. "I didn't."
Buffy's eyes went wide. "You didn't pick a song? Why? Why not?!"
"Thought I would sit this particular activity out."
Buffy shook her head, eyes round as could be. "No no no, Giles! Dawn won't let you. If you don't pick a song-" Buffy was cut off by Miss Patti announcing Rupert Giles to please take his turn at the stage. Now his eyes were round as saucers. "Dawn will pick one for you..." Buffy finished with a grimace.
"Dear lord."
"Come on, Giles!" Dawn appeared next to him and started pulling him up. Portia assisted and he couldn't resist her Slayer strength. "I picked a great song for you." They pushed him towards the stage. He slowly climbed the few steps up and gave a feeble smile to Miss Patti.
She looked him up and down. "My my my, aren't you just adorable," she purred. A few cat calls came from the audience. He was sure he could hear Buffy even. "Oh darling, what brings you here tonight?"
Giles cleared his throat. "In the States for a wedding. Stag night."
Miss Patti started to fan herself. "Handsome and British? If I had ovaries they would explode." The audience laughed. "Please, for the love of, well, everyone in this room, tell me it isn't your wedding." She picked up his left hand and made a show of checking for a ring.
Giles smiled. "No, not mine."
"Well, then I call dibs." She winked suggestively. "You look like you have seen some trouble in your day. Probably caused a bit of it yourself, too, huh?" Giles felt his cheeks grown warm. "Oh, how I do love me a bad boy," Miss Patti growled. She turned dramatically and plucked the extra microphone from it's stand. "Here you go, love." She patted his cheek. "Serenade us to Hell and back."
The audience cheered and Giles looked to Dawn. She was jumping up and down whistling right in front of the stage. Buffy and the other girls were right there next to her. The chords started and Giles rolled his eyes at Dawn's choice. At least he knew he could sing it.
Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I'll be watching you
He winked at Buffy as he sang the last line and the girls all giggled.
"A little on the nose, don't ya think?" Buffy asked Dawn. Dawn giggled and playfully nudged her sis.
Every single day
Every word you say
Every game you play
Every night you stay
I'll be watching you
He continued with the song, really getting into it. It had been a while since he last sang for anyone but himself. Well before the divorce even. He had forgotten how exhilarating it could be. It helped that he liked this song. He knew why Dawn had picked it for him, but there was a deeper meaning now behind the words and he tried his best to get them out to Buffy.
Since you've been gone I've been lost without a trace
I dream at night I can only see your face
I look around but it's you I can't replace
I feel so cold and I long for your embrace
I keep crying baby, baby, please
He finished out the rest of the song trying to pour everything he was feeling out with the words. Once the song had ended, the place erupted in applause, stunning Giles. But that wasn't as stunning as when Miss Patti came back on stage and grabbed Giles' face, planting a quick but hard kiss on his lips. Cat calls emitted from the crowd and Giles just blushed and started to exit the stage.
He was coming down the steps when he noticed Andrew standing at the bottom. The look on his face froze Giles. "What is it?" he asked the younger man. Andrew looked at the floor and closed his eyes. Giles was still frozen on the step halfway down. "Andrew, what's wrong?" he asked a bit more forcefully.
Andrew shuffled his feet then looked up at him. "We lost two."