Then it's the first day of school.
He's the first person she stops to talk to when she arrives.
And she's coy for the first time in her life.
The moment he saw her in the quad, he was stammering under her warm, welcoming gaze. Completely at her whim, Rupert issued an invitation to join him.
She tells him about the festival and relishes in his falter over naked. She can't stop looking at him or smiling. It's easy and conversation flows between them.
Ever since she decided to keep him as a friend, she hasn't been able to stop thinking of him as anything but a friend. It's been driving her crazy. It helps that he's just as happy to see her.
"Wait, you really have a copy of..?" Jenny trails as she realises they're not alone in the faculty room. Though the other teachers are ignoring Rupert and Jenny in favour of bemoaning their less-than-stellar students, Jenny can't say the title of the book out loud. "I've been trying to get my hands on a copy of that book for years."
"Well, I've just added it to the library collection if you wish to borrow it."
"I'm going to take you up on that offer," she tells him as he passes her the milk. "My first class doesn't start until the second period so we have time to catch up."
He returns her smile and leads the way out of the busy faculty room. They fall into step with each other as they walk back down the stairs, towards her classroom and the library. The halls are quieter as the students are in their first period.
They stop as they come to the junction in the halls in front of the library doors. He looks down towards her class and she glances at the library before their eyes meet. Her face is as warm as his expression.
"Did you need any help putting your displays back?" His voice is full of an offer.
Jenny wrinkles her nose and shakes her head. She's suddenly wishing she waited until she saw him instead of swiping a ladder from the janitor early this morning. "Way ahead of you, I grabbed a ladder this morning."
"So, you don't need anyone tall this morning, then?"
"I don't know about that." He ducks his head, a pink flush blooms on his cheeks and reaches the tips of his ears.
She can't help smiling at him while internally damning the phrase 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'. She hates the cliché, but his dorky smile has been on her mind since before she left for the summer. It seems her resolution to keep him as a friend has just made it worse.
Jenny looks past his shoulder, looking for something to distract them, possibly somewhere to hide away from the school population because she wants to make sure the three months apart haven't created a flux of false feelings.
"We could swap stories," she suggests, gesturing vaguely at the library behind him. "You can tell me all about your new additions and I can tell you about my friend Mel and the people she met this summer."
Rupert nods slowly and turns on his heel to hold the door open for her as they enter the library.
Rupert only relaxes once Buffy composes herself. She pulls back from Angel's protective, comforting embrace and wipes at her eyes while avoiding the eyes of the vampire with a soul and everyone on the balcony.
Rupert glances between the teens. Xander stands close to Willow as she blinks away the chloroform or whatever else the vampires used to keep them sedated. Cordelia groans behind him as she screws up her face and shakes her head. Her eyes widen in disgust as her hand drops to the floor and she gags as she lifts her hand to see it coated in the thick dust covering the floor. He swallows his sigh. Though he's standing, he still feels the effects of the drug in his eyes and limbs which are ebbing slowly away.
Behind him, there's shuffling on the floor and he turns to see Jenny sleepily tilt her head from side to side to work the kinks out of her neck. He can't help wondering when and where she was taken. She's safe though, that's what matters. He can't see other injuries apart from the bruises forming on her wrists and, most likely, calves and ankles from where they were bound and hung upside down. He can't feel any other injuries apart from aches and pain in his extremities.
Rupert swallows a sigh and looks down at his slayer and feels out of his depth. This isn't a new feeling. It's been almost constant since he met Buffy nearly six months ago now, it feels like longer though. His training as a Watcher never accounted for the slayer's individual demeanour, or, more accurately the change of the times. He reads the diaries of Watchers' who came before him daily. And, simply, they're out of date.
Rituals and mechanics are the same, but the demons among them have adapted to the changes of the modern world. They have a prime example in Angel, a vampire with a soul. None of the diaries would allow for him to exist, let alone aid the slayer. There is no nuance, something he once attributed to his dislike of computers. Jenny has tried her hardest to change his mind. He's stubborn and he's quickly learning she's just as stubborn.
Buffy, confident, brash, clever and resourceful, seemingly took it all in her stride. She's adept and remarkable to Rupert. Yet there are moments when he realises how young and fragile she is. She is sixteen and knows she'll likely die in a fight yet she strides into each fight because she understands no one else can fight like she can.
The night she faced the Master after emotionally breaking down to himself and Angel the night before comes back to him as he watches her now, squaring her shoulders and saying something quietly to Angel which makes his concern give way to a small smile. Buffy sniffles again and nods shakily. Angel hovers close, as though he's afraid she'll break again. She doesn't, though. She turns on her heel and looks up at Rupert and her friends, glassy-eyed and tear-stained cheeks, no matter how she tries to hide it.
Rupert thinks about how he once ran from his own fate, allowing his arrogance to prevail and compensate for his fear of his destiny. He'd been so relieved the Watchers Council accepted him back after he killed a man, that he lost himself in their teachings and, hoped, by staying steadfast to them he'd be able to guide Buffy through her own moments of wavering.
When faced with it, those teachings abandoned him, and he realised they always would.
Buffy needs anchors in the world; her mother, Willow and Xander are those for her.
Over the summer, he thought about it long and hard.
He also needs to be an anchor for her. He may have to train and prepare Buffy, but he can do that with compassion and empathy given his own rebellion when faced with the oppressive fate his father insisted upon.
"What did they hit us with?" Jenny comments as she finds her feet and pulls herself to her full height.
"I believe it was chloroform," he informs her. She sways slightly and Rupert reaches out to steady her as her hand finds his forearm. Jenny rights herself, shaking off the dizziness.
"And probably the least of our concerns considering what they intended to do or could've done to us," Jenny deadpans as she looks down to check on Cordelia. "We need to get out of here."
"I agree."
His words catch Xanders' attention and the young man helps Willow, catching her around the waist as he leads her down the ladder to the ground level and Buffy and Angel. Cordelia follows them, groaning as in between glancing around at Jenny to make sure she's following her.
Buffy moves to her friends while Angel looks around at the abandoned factory, cocking his ear in the direction of the sewer entrance. He relaxes a fraction. "They're retreating," he tells the group.
"So, here's an idea, why don't we retreat in the opposite direction?" Xander asks, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "Before they decide to try this little resurrection ritual again."
Buffy looks over at Xander holding Willow upright, an unreadable expression on her face, before taking charge. "I'll take the lead. Angel, you bring up the rear in case any of the vamps double back after us."
They manage to get outside without any problems and Rupert feels himself waking up in the face of the slight night breeze. The group closes in as they walk towards the Bronze where Cordelia parked her car before she was kidnapped. Cordelia offers them a lift back to the school where his car is parked, only it becomes clear that seven of them don't fit into the five seats available.
"I can walk home, guys," Buffy assures them, looking reluctant to be with her best friends just yet. Angel moves closer to her, obviously intending to walk with her. Giles once again finds himself looking between them. He steps away from the car once Xander and Willow join the popular girl in her car. He'll walk with Buffy and Angel.
"Are you okay to drive Cordelia?"
"I think so," the popular girl confirms. "Besides, I don't want to leave my car here or tackle the walk home in these heels." She glances over his shoulder at Jenny. "Miss Calendar, I can drop you home, if you like."
Rupert looks over his shoulder at the other member of faculty, shifting on his feet to allow her to pass him if she wants to get a lift home. She leans down to look into the car.
"Thanks, Cordelia, but I need some air, I'm going to walk this off," she politely declines. She catches Rupert's eyes as she straightens to her full height. She offers him a small smile.
"If you're sure," Cordelia replies, starting the engine.
"Seat belts everyone," Rupert advises as Willow grips the door tightly as the car jerks forward before pulling away from the curb. They watch the tail lights as they drive off into the distance.
The rest of them walk quietly towards the residential part of town. Buffy is silent for the most part as she walks between Angel and Rupert. The only time she fleetingly makes eye contact with any of them is when they reach Jenny's block.
"I'm really sorry, Miss Calendar," the teen apologises.
"This wasn't your fault, Buffy," Jenny counters lightly, clearly unsure how or why Buffy blames herself.
Rupert keeps his thoughts to himself. Buffy's apology is less about this evening and more about shutting the rest of them out. He thinks it'll be harder for her to apologise to her friends in the morning.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Jenny tells the girl meaningfully. Buffy's face softens into an approximation of a smile as she nods.
Rupert turns to his charge. "I'll be a few minutes, alright?"
"We'll wait for you," Buffy promises.
Jenny leads him down the path to her apartment and hesitates at the door. They linger for a second, a different feeling coming over them from the last time they were here. Neither of them considers sitting on her bench.
"Are you really alright?"
"I survived Burning Man, I can survive this," she tells him.
He looks at her, assessing her words, searching for any sign of anxiety or lasting effect of their encounter this evening. He finds none, yet it may be too soon to tell.
"Are you alright?"
"Hmm?" He's surprised by her question, no one asks him if he's alright. It's an odd experience.
"You looked like you weren't."
"I'm sorry, it's been an evening."
"Yeah," Jenny agrees breathily. She glances over at Buffy and Angel, talking quietly at the curb. She looks conflicted. "I'll let you go, Buffy needs your company more than I do tonight." She pauses. "But, you know where to find me, if you need me."
"Thank you," Rupert tells her, longing in his voice. From her tone, he knows she understands he needs some time to reassure himself about Buffy's state of mind after her breakdown.
He's thought a lot about Jenny and the last time they were stood in front of her door. Her smile, her eyes, her thoughtfulness. He must admit, he envisioned an alternative ending to that parting more than a few times.
"Good night, Rupert," Jenny leans in and kisses his cheek, her lips brushing the corner of his lips.
"Good night, Jenny," he murmurs and watches as she opens her door and turns on her hall light. He returns her little wave before she closes the door behind her. He decides then that he would like their nights to end differently, he just has to figure out how to ask her.