__Taking Care of Business__
By Andrea
"Giles, are you sure you don't want me to stay?"
Willow asked concerned. The bloody gashes he'd
received still looked dangerous to her and she didn't
want anything to happen to him.
Smiling at the redhead, Giles said. "It's quite all
right, Willow. I don't want to keep you from
anything."
"You aren't." she muttered sadly. Giles picked up on
the tone of her voice and asked. "Willow, is something
wrong?"
She looked up at him and shook her head. "No, I'm
fine." 'Just a nerd' she whispered under her breath.
Giles heard her and his heart broke. Ever since, she'd
come from the fraternity house,Willow hadn't been her
usual vibrant self. She had, of course, been as
helpful as always but there was a quietness about her
that he hadn't seen in a long time.
As she was explaining her experience at the
fraternity, she kept mentioning how she wasn't a nerd
anymore and that Percy was the culprit. He mildly
recalled Percy, the boy that Willow had tutored her
senior year. But, the only thing he did remember was
the boy's arrogance, the way he flaunted his status as
star athlete. He was the type that 'Ripper' in the
olden days would have tossed aside, so to speak. To
think that this excuse for a man had produced a
familiar insecurity in Willow that he hadn't seen in
months made him angry.
She had lost some of her confidence after Oz had left
and was just now slowly regaining it back. But now,
after that prat's comment, he feared that she might
not recover this time.
"Giles?"
Snapping out of his thoughts, he turned his attention
to her. "Yes,Willow?"
"I was wondering if there was anything more you needed
to be researched about the Hellmouth opening. I can
come by tomorrow if you want?" she asked.
"Er.."he stuttered as an idea formed into his head.
"No, that's quite all right."
"Are you sure?"
He nodded. "Yes. You've worked hard tonight. You
deserve some relaxation."
"Okay." she opened the door and smiled. "Good night,
Giles."
He smiled softly at her. "Good night, Willow." he shut
the door and began his plan.
****
Next morning:
He pulled into the parking lot a little after 8:00 in
the morning. He'd wanted to take care of business
before anyone got up. He wanted to be in and out
before anyone noticed.
As he walked along, he thought over what he was about
to do. Potentially dangerous and possible jail time
accompanied him but it was worth it. She was worth it.
'More than she knows' he mused wistfully.
Reaching his destination, he sauntered up the stairs,
tension in his every step. He was finally going to
come face to face with that pompous jerk who had made
a grievous mistake when he decided to insult the one
person who meant everything to him. And now he was
going to correct it.
Standing in front of the door, he pounded on it, the
loud reverberations echoing through the quiet hallway.
He waited briefly before knocking once more, a little
louder this time. He heard footsteps and some
grumbling behind the door and smiled inwardly at the
occupant's discomfort.
"What do you want?" the guy asked grumpily as he
opened the door.
"Percy?"
"Yeah." he scratched his head. "Who are you?"
He smiled evilly." Call me Ripper."
***
Later that same day:
KNOCK! KNOCK!!
Getting up from the bed, Willow went to answer her
door. "Percy!" she opened the door wider. "What are
you doing here? And what happened to your face? You
look like you went 12 rounds of boxing."
"You could say that." he shrugged. "Rosenberg.
Er..Willow. I just wanted to apologize for last
night."
"Last night?" Willow said before it dawned on her.
"Oh, the nerd comment."
Percy nodded. "Yeah. I didn't mean it." Willow raised
an eyebrow at him and he noticed. "No, seriously I
didn't mean it. It was just there was this girl,Leanne
who had legs that.."
Willow raised her hand. "That's okay. I don't need
details." she crossed her arms over her chest. "Why
are you apologizing, now?"
"I don't know." he admitted. "I felt bad, I guess." he
looked at Willow straight in the eye. "I know, it's
lame but it's the truth."
Willow smiled. "Thanks, Percy. For whatever reason,
I'm glad you came by."
He grinned widely at her."You're pretty cool, you know
Rosenberg."
"I've been told that before." Willow said, causing
them both to chuckle.
"Well, I'd better go." Percy offered.
"Okay."
He turned to leave but not before saying over his
shoulder. "See you around."
As Percy left and Willow closed the door, a tall
figure stepped out of the shadows. He had a
satisfactory smile on his face that spoke volumes. He
had seen the exchange between the two and had been
pleased.
'That boy certainly takes direction better than I
thought' the man mused as he walked up to Willow's
door.
Knocking twice, he waited patiently for her to answer.
He wondered if...
The door swung open. "Giles!" Willow exclaimed in
delight.
"Hello,Willow." he offered, his heart warm at her
smile.
"Giles, you'll never guess who stopped by." she began
as she grabbed his arm and pulled him willing inside
her room, smiling all the way.
* * *