__Everyone Has an Opinion__
By Andrea
The car pulled up to the entrance of Dodd Hall with
five minutes to spare. Opening the door, Willow turned
to him.
"Thanks, Giles. I'll see ya later." She slipped out,
ready to close the door when she heard him say,
"Willow. Do you need a ride home?" he asked concerned.
She smiled gratefully. "No thanks, Giles. I'll just
take the bus after class." she checked her watch. "I
should be home at around 3:00."
He nodded his agreement. "That's fine. I'll be home so
you don't need to worry about a key. We'll just go
tomorrow to make a duplicate."
"Okay,I'd better go. Thanks again, Giles." She gave
him one last bright smile before he left.
Running up the stairs, she managed to slip into the
seat between Buffy and Oz, just as Professor Walsh
took the podium.
Buffy leaned over, "Where were you? I didn't think you
were going to show."
"Yeah. I was wondering myself." added Oz.
Reaching down to pull out her notebook, Willow stated,
"Oh!..Well you see...the shower wasn't working so I
had to use Giles' then by the time I cooked breakfast
and we ate it, it was like ten to ten.." She turned to
smile at both of them. "Thank goddess, Giles gave me a
ride this morning or else I'd have really been late."
"Whoa! Hold on just a minute!" Buffy turned to her
aghast. "What's this about you and Giles' shower? What
are you doing at his apartment? In his shower?"
"I'm curious myself.." piped in Oz.
Willow smiled innocently. "Oh! Sorry. I'm living with
Giles."
Buffy stared. "Ummm...why? I thought you were in the
dorm." Oz looked at her expectantly.
"I thought I was too, " she explained, looking from
one to the other. "I went to the housing office and
they informed me that they lost my application."
Buffy interrupted. "Lost it? How could they do that?"
Willow shrugged. "The lady said that sometimes the
college makes mistakes and unfortunately I was on the
receiving end." She sat up. "So anyway, after she told
me there was no spots left and all, I was walking
around and ran into Giles. We had coffee, I told him
what happened and he invited me to stay with him."
"How long?" asked Oz.
"Till next quarter. That's when I can check back with
the housing office and see if any rooms are available.
You know, in case someone drops out or doesn't want to
live there anymore." she said, focusing her attention
on Pro. Walsh. "Now shh!! Lecture's started." she
pointed with her finger at Pro. Walsh speaking.
At that, the trio tuned in to the lecture. Buffy and
Oz contemplating what Willow had just told them, each
one having a different, but as yet, spoken opinion on
the whole thing.
************
After lecture:
Gathering her books, Willow stood up ready to walk
out when Buffy grabbed her arm. "Will? You don't have
another class do you?" she asked. Willow shook her
head no. "Good.. Let's grab something to eat."
"Okay. " Willow turned to Oz. "Wanna join us?"
"Can't. Dingoes. " He told her, reaching for her hand.
"But, I'll walk you to the union."
They were walking along, silently when Buffy spoke up.
"I still can't believe you're living with Giles. There
was no one else?"
Willow shook her head. "Nope. My parents rented our
house, Xander's living in the basement, so no-go
there. And Oz.." she squeezed his hand. "I love you
but there's no way I'm living with a band."
"Understood." he answered.
"So, Giles was all that was left?" Buffy continued,
still unable to believe any of this.
"Yes. Why do you keep asking?"
"No reason. It's just wiggy. I mean Giles for god's
sake!" Buffy wrinkled her nose. "How about you Oz?
Don't you think its a little odd?"
"No. I've seen odder." he answered, calmly. "It's
cool. Hey, babe there's Dingoes. Gotta go."
"Okay. "Willow replied, leaning in to kiss his cheek.
He waved goodbye, walking down the walk to join the
rest. Willow turned to Buffy. "See? Oz is alright with
this. No problems."
"Yeah, Will." Buffy muttered as she followed Willow
into the union.
******
Looking around for an empty table, Willow asked. "Do
you see anything?"
"Nope." Buffy replied, scanning the Treehouse. As
usual, the tables were completely full, this being the
lunch hour and all. Glancing around one more time, she
spotted an empty table in the corner. "Over there. I
see one." she exclaimed and led Willow to the corner.
Plopping down into the chair, Willow exclaimed. "Gods,
I thought we'd never get through that line. It seems
every UCer is at the Treehouse."
Buffy sat down quietly. She couldn't seem to shake
this uneasy feeling that seemed to be settling over
her.Noticing Buffy's quiet, Willow asked.
"Buff..You're awfully quiet. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. " she answered as she viciously speared her
salad.
"Yeah, right. Like I believe that." Willow said.
Taking a bite out of her canoli, 'Hmm...these are
really good!' she thought, she said thoughtfully, "Is
this about me living with Giles?"
"No.." she trailed off.
"Buffy." Willow said pointedly.
"He's my Watcher!" she replied a little too sharply
than intended.
Willow shrugged. " And the sky's blue. So, what?"
Buffy looked up stunned. "So what? This is Giles.
Giles we're talking about. How can you live with him?"
"Buffy, you make it sound like I'm living with an
ogre. You're right. This is Giles. Which means it's
turning out to be great. " She sipped her drink, "You
know, so far. Giles is really easy to live with. We
share the responsibilities and the cooking.." She took
another bite out of her canoli.
"And the bathroom?" Buffy asked suspiciously.
Willow raised an eyebrow. "Not usually. Giles gave me
the downstairs bathroom to use but today there was
this problem with the plumbing and I had to use his."
she paused, her eyes twinkling. "Not at the same time
of course." 'I wish' she thought wickedly.
"Of course." Buffy replied, shoving some salad into
her mouth.
Noticing Buffy's slight discomfort, Willow asked
bluntly. "Do you have a problem with me living with
him, Buffy?"
"Yes! No.. I don't know." Buffy dropped her fork.
"It's just.. we had this whole living on campus ideas,
partying, staying up late and else. And now you're
living off campus and even an half an hour away."
"Buffy, I wanted to live on campus too. But, sometimes
things don't go as planned." Willow stared intently at
Buffy before continuing, "And Giles?"
"And Giles what?"
"Does it bother you that the person I'm living with is
Giles?" Willow asked tentatively. " 'Cause it
shouldn't."
She was quiet for awhile before she spoke. " I know it
shouldn't bother me. It doesn't really... " Buffy
trailed as Willow gave her a look. "Okay. It does. A
little. Ever since Giles was fired and he's not my
official Watcher, I didn't really think anything of
it. Then, when I needed his help and the whole Olivia
thing...I kinda felt that he wasn't going to be there
for me anymore. That we weren't as close as before. "
She looked at Willow surprised, "Which I was surprised
since I never really thought about it before now with
you living with him."
"You think that the two of you will get further apart
than you are now. And that I'll get closer to him."
She nodded. "I know it's silly. I'm glad you two are
living together. Not together in that sense but,...you
know what I mean, right?"
Willow nodded. "Buffy, nothing's changed. Giles is
still your watcher, he'll still be there for you. I
mean, remember he came to help us with the whole
Wednesday vampire thingy." Buffy nodded in
remembrance. "And the fact that we might grow closer
is inevitable when two people share the same place.
Besides, look at it this way, with me and Giles
staying together, we'll be researching around the
clock and you'll be able to kill the demons faster."
Buffy replied. "Great. You and Giles speed demons. "
Willow started to laugh at that and soon Buffy joined
in.
********
"Hey G-man! Don't you have any junky food?" asked
Xander as he peered inside Giles' refridgerator. It
was nearly empty except for some eggs,and other
breakfast type items. Healthy food. No cakes, no
leftover take-out, no nothing.
"No, Xander I don't have any what you call 'junky'
food." Giles responded, looking at the spine of a
book. "And how many times do I have to tell you not to
call me G-man?"
"At least a few more hundred." Xander replied,
shutting the door. Rummaging around in the cabinets,
he finally extracted some Oreo cookies. Stuffing a few
into his mouth, he grabbed the juice and headed for
the living room. Plopping down on the couch, Xander
asked. "You really do need to get some junk food. Or
else I might waste away to nothing." Giles gave him a
pointed look. Well I might!"
"I didn't say a word, Xander." Giles responded
innocently. "Don't worry. Tomorrow, Willow and I will
go to the grocery shopping and your strength will be
back to normal."
"Good." Xander answered. Realization dawned at what
Giles said. "What do you mean Willow and you are going
grocery shopping? No wait..let me guess. You now have
Willow doing your errands for you. Very smart, Giles."
"Xander." stated Giles firmly. "I do not have Willow
running around town for me. Willow and I are going
shopping together because I think its only fair that
she have an input on what groceries she wants in the
house."
"Why would Willow keep groceries here?" asked Xander,
having no clue whatsoever.
"Because she lives here." Giles said nonchalantly.
Noticing Xander's silence, he turned to see the boy
sitting there with his mouth hanging open. "Xander?"
"You. Willow.Living together." replied Xander in
shock.
"Yes, she's living here with me." answered Giles as he
strode to the kitchen to make some tea. Putting the
kettle to boil, he continued. "Willow's moved in
because the idiotic University lost her housing
application and she had nowhere to go."
Xander regained some sense of speech asked. "Are the
two of you sleeping together? As in the same bed?" he
shuddered. "'Cause if you are, that image is almost
enough to make me not have sex again. In this
lifetime. I mean, you and Will..."
"Enough!" Giles yelled, slamming the kettle on the
stove. "I get the picture, Xander. To answer your
question, Willow and I are not sleeping together in
any sense. Her room is right behind that curtain." he
pointed to the chinese curtain in the far corner.
Xander followed Giles' finger. "Good. I mean, the idea
of you and my best friend..."
"I know, I know." Giles cut him off before he could
finish. Taking his tea into the living room, mumbling
something about 'foolish young men who speak before
they think', he sat in the armchair, sipping his tea.
"So, how'z it working out so far?" Xander asked
curiously.
"Very well." he assured him. "Except this morning."
"What happened?"
Smiling somewhat, he answered. "Oh, nothing major.
It's just do to plumbing complications, she had to use
my bathroom to take a shower."
"Shower?" Xander squeaked, his mind flashing to images
of a naked Willow and his face betraying to Giles what
he was thinking about.
"Yes. And the funniest thing happened.." Giles
continued, getting a somewhat perverse joy at shocking
the teen. "We both bumped into each other as I was
leaving and she was coming in. We both bumped so hard,
my towel almost fell of." he said, lifting his teacup
to drink, hiding a smile.
"T-t-t towel?" Xander sputtered.
"Yes. Don't worry, I didn't complete lose it. Just
almost.There's a difference." Giles responded, his
voice slippery.
"Was she....?" Xander trailed, unable to continue.
"Was she naked?" he asked and Xander nodded. "No. Just
in a short robe." Giles replied, barely able to
contain his laughter as Xander's jaw dropped like
Roger Rabbit's. "I don't understand why you're
shocked, Xander. Little things like this happen
everyday."
He shook his head. "No way, Giles. Little things like
you in a towel running smack dab into a beautiful
woman, not to mention my best friend, don't happen
everyday. If that was the case, I wouldn't be sitting
here talking to you, right now. I'd be in Maui with
Elle McPherson." Standing up, he paced. "I don't know
Giles. Maybe Willow shouldn't live here. Not with a
broken bathroom and near nakedness around every
corner." he clasped his hands. "Hey, she could live
with me downstairs. Mom wouldn't mind. In fact, she'd
probably like it, hoping some of Willow's smarts might
rub off on me."
"Xander," Giles said patiently. "Willow thought this
through already. And this was the best place for her."
"When did you suddenly become Professor of
Willowology?" he turned to Giles suddenly. "I'm her
best friend. I've known her the longest."
"Maybe, but not exactly the best." he muttered as he
raised her cup.
"What did you say?" Xander asked sharply.
Giving him a dirty look, Giles shrilled. "I said that
Willow knows her own mind. She explained to me that
she went through every option and this was the best."
he stared at Xander intently. "Why do you object so
much to her staying with me? I'm not a stranger, you
know."
"But you're a man! Will's never lived with a man
before. Well, except her father,but that doesn't
count." he babbled as he paced around the room.
"Are you sure that's the only reason?" asked Giles.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm asking you if me being a man is the real reason
you're bothered by Willow staying here or something
else." he asked directly.
"Of course it is. What else would it be?" Xander
practically yelled.
"How about the fact that you're afraid of not being as
close to Willow as before?" Xander opened his mouth to
speak, but Giles raised a hand to silence him.
"Xander, you've only mentioned best friends at least
four times in the past five minutes. It's as if you're
trying to reassure yourself and inform me of how close
your friendship with Willow is. And where you stand in
her life."
"I don't need to do that. I know where I stand. I'm
her best..." Xasnder stopped abruptly, staring at the
floor sheepishly.
"Xander, you have nothing to worry about." Giles sat
and motioned him to do the same. "Willow's staying
with me has no bearing on your relationship with her.
I'm not trying to 'steal' her friendship from you, you
mean too much to her for that to happen. And it's to
be expected that when two people who live together
will become closer than before." he looked at the
young man. "Besides, with Willow being here, you'll
definitely have an endless supply of 'junky' food on
hand. She'll make sure of that."
Xander perked up at that. "Well, when you put it that
way, how can I protest?" Giles just smiled.Then Xander
eyed him in all seriousness. "You are getting
Willow's bathroom fixed, aren't you?"
Giles just grinned.
* * *