Giles came into the kitchen, a broad smile on his face. It was hard to believe that less than twenty-four hours ago he had been resigning himself to remaining forever at arms length from that which he had desired most.

And now?

Now the very thing he thought he would never have, never hold, was in his bathroom showering, no doubt using all the hot water. Let this be a lesson, you great silly idiot.

A knock came at the door and Giles frowned slightly. I wonder who it could be? No one that would actually knock would be here at this time of the morning. Moving to the front door, he opened it wide to reveal Xander, Willow and Oz. Xander, with one hand clamped firmly over his eyes, and the other two with twin looks of exasperation and amusement.

Giles stared. "Xander... Why on earth are you..."

"Because if you and Buffy made up and got together-which I'm really hoping you did, by the way-I didn't want to see anything that I wouldn't want to see."

Giles sighed expansively but even his customary irritation at Xander's inane comments failed to surface, his good mood was so complete.

Good Lord.

Aloud, he said dryly, "And you really think I would answer my door like that?"

Xander removed his hand from his eyes and blinked for a moment as he thought that over. "Er, um, good point. May we come in?"

Willow lifted the box she carried. The warm, yeasty smell of fresh donuts wafted from it. "We brought breakfast. Unless the two of you would rather be alone? We just wanted to celebrate our friends being happy." A look of consternation crossed her features. "Oh. Unless you didn't. Didn't get together that is... Then we wouldn't want to celebrate- commiserate maybe. Unless you'd rather just be alone- er, in either case?"

Giles took pity on her and pried the container from her hands with a reassuring smile, his stomach growling loudly again at the smell of the treats. "A celebration is indeed in order. Come in, please."

An enormous grin spread over the redhead's face and all three came into the house. "So where is Buffy?" Oz asked, glancing around as Willow perched on a stool. Xander claimed the other.

"She's showering," Giles said as he placed the box of donuts onto the counter in front of them after moving back into the kitchen. He pulled a short stack of plates from the cupboard and handed them to Willow. "I don't suppose you remembered the jellies?"

"Of course I did, Giles." Willow grinned at him as Oz cracked open the box and swiped out a donut before biting into it with relish.

"We'll even be generous," he said around a mouthful of pastry, "and leave one for you."

"It had bloody well be more than one!"

Oz swallowed with a grin. "So, all went well last night? Buffy was ok?"

Giles ducked his head in acknowledgement. "In-indeed. I found her and apologized. She forgave me. It went better th-than I had any right to hope." He heard the shower shut off. "As far as your other question, if you wait a moment, you may ask Buffy yourself." He pitched his voice to carry through the closed door, hoping to preclude his Slayer emerging less than dressed. "Buffy, love, we have company."

Buffy emerged from the bathroom a moment later, her hair damp at the ends, dressed in a pastel blue tank top and soft cotton slacks. Giles had long ago offered her space in his closet to keep a stash of clothing. There were too many times she had appeared upon his doorstep filthy and tattered from fights. Buffy had been gleeful to realize there was now another use for her stock besides cleaning up after patrol and she had teased him about practically living with him already before her mind had caught up with her mouth and she realized what she had said. Giles had only smiled at her.

Buffy broke into a wide grin and moved to hug her friends. "I thought I heard voices! Hi, guys."

"Did you leave any hot water?" Giles asked with a smile.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Of course not. You had a chance to join me."

Xander abruptly choked on his donut. Oz pounded him on the back as Giles maintained a lofty expression. "And if I had, our poor friends would be still standing on the doorstep."

"Or we would have just walked in-" Oz mused.

"And maybe," Willow pointed out, with a look of earnest helpfulness, "seen something we didn't really want to see-"

"Giles," Xander whispered fervently, "thank you for being available to answer the door!"

Willow rolled her eyes and pointed at the box on the counter. "We brought you donuts in celebration, Buffy." With a squeal of glee, Buffy claimed a plate and a chocolate donut. When all had followed suit, with Giles selecting a jelly-filled of course, they settled into the living room, Oz into the armchair with Willow perched on the arm, Giles with Buffy next to him on the end of the couch nearest the stairs, and Xander on to the opposite end.

"So," Buffy said, and Giles could hear the suppressed grin in her voice. "I understand that certain someones blabbed a thing that I told them in confidence."

Giles hid a smile behind taking a bite of his donut and said nothing.

Willow's smile faded, "Aw, you can't be too mad, Buffy, can you? It was all Xander, anyway."

Xander sputtered. "It was not! Okay, maybe it was mostly me. Or all me." He shrugged. "It's a little hazy."

"Are you mad, Buffy?" Oz asked quietly.

She shrugged. "A little irritated, maybe. But not too much. After all, who knows what would've happened if you hadn't meddled?"

A wave of regret washed through Giles then stilled as she reached over and gently squeezed his hand. He knew she had forgiven him. Still, it would be quite some time before he forgave himself.

"So," he murmured, kissing the top of her head, "What would you like to do today?"

"It's Saturday, so no classes for any of us. I'm thinking... shopping."

He groaned. "You're going to make me go to the mall, aren't you?"

"Hey, you asked. I want to go to the mall and show off my handsome Watcher. Deal."

"Sh-show me off?"

"Relax. Nothing too bad. Just want to hang out with my friends, walk around arm in arm with my guy and grin at all the envious stares."

Giles rolled his eyes. "Your guy?"

"Yep. So, are you gonna keep repeating things that I say in question form or are you gonna give in and come to the mall with me?"

He sighed. "Very well. I will go to the mall with you."

Buffy broke into a wide grin.

Giles went on, "However, I'd like to have a shower first, now that my water heater has had a chance to reset."

She leaned over and kissed him on the nose. "Excellent. I'll join you." She turned back to the others, with a bright smile, "Meet you guys at the mall later?"

Giles frowned slightly as the others murmured agreement and moved toward the door. "But you already showered..."

"So? You didn't join me earlier. It's not my fault I'm more of an opportunist than you are."

Xander's sputter of protest and pained wail was cut off by the sound of the door closing.