__Thinking Clearly__
By Andrea
The same night:
Buffy threw open the door and stomped up the stairs.
She felt anxious and antsy. Not to mention slightly
angry.
Giles thought she was Willow.
She didn't know who she was more mad at. Giles for
assuming it was all right to kiss her or herself for
enjoying the kiss. And to top it all off, he thought
it was Willow who he was kissing. He couldn't tell the
difference?
Okay, so the lavender perfume didn't exactly help. And
he was incoherent. And he had his eyes closed. But
still....
"You'd think he'd have been able to tell his own
Slayer from Willow." she muttered aloud.
Rounding the corner, she halted. Standing there was
Parker with some girl. By the looks of it, some trampy
girl.
Great.
She looked upwards," Slow night huh, God?" she
whispered.
Walking towards her room, she noticed that Parker had
left the girl. Seeing this as an golden opportunity,
Buffy sidled up to her.
"So, you're Parker's latest gal?"
The girl nodded enthusiastically. "Uh-uh. He's so
sweet. Just like a teddy bear. Don't you just want to
squeeze him all over?"
'Yeah. Squeeze the air out of him.' she thought. Aloud
she asked, "So, it's serious?"
"Yup. Tonight...well...I think...we're gonna, you
know."
"I know." Buffy leaned in closely. "Would you like
some advice on Parker?"
"Advice? Sure."
"Well, if tonight's the big...you know.." Buffy
glanced around to make sure no one was there. "If I
were you I'd get the XX small condoms. If you know
what I mean."
The girl's eyes widen. "What do you mean?"
"Well,..you know how guys when their ready to go they
describe it as 'their horsy is ready to come out of
the corral'"
The girl nodded.
Buffy continued, "Well, in Parker's case, its more
like
'his pony's ready to come out of the corral.'"
The girl gasped and Buffy smiled satisfactorily and
flounced away. Her work was done here.
Turning the key into the lock, she opened the door
quietly. The room was dark and as Buffy adjusted her
eyes to the darkness, she noticed Willow sleeping. Not
wanting to disturb her, she quietly went to her drawer
and pulled out her jammies.
Changing quickly, she set her alarm and slipped into
bed. Looking over at Willow, Buffy stared at her for a
moment. She felt an unfamiliar ache of jealousy rise
up and she didn't understand why.
'Why am I jealous?' she thought.
Slipping down into the covers, she closed her eyes,
wondering about Giles & Willow and her place in Giles'
life.
***********
Next morning:
"BBEEPP!!" Buffy reached over and slammed her hand
down on the alarm. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes
tiredly. Glancing at the clock, she noticed it was
9:00.
Great.
She'd barely gotten any sleep, due in part to all the
dreams she had. They were all ironically about Giles.
Her and Giles.
Just Giles.
Giles and Willow. The majority of them were about
these two.
Throwing the covers off, she jumped out of bed and
noticed Willow's side was empty. 'She probably left
for class already,' she thought as she made her way to
her closet.
Standing there, while contemplating on what to wear,
she bounced up and down trying to get some energy in
her body. Working the kinks out of her muscles, she
pulled out her sweats and a T-shirt.
What she needed was a good run before class. It might
help get her mind off the whole Giles kissing thing.
Also, hopefully put some pep into her step. Grabbing
her keys, she headed for Drake Stadium.
**********
Drake Stadium:
Buffy was on her tenth lap around the track. The
track was almost empty, except for the occasional
jogger and walker. There was also a handful of people
in the bleachers, doing step-climbing.
This was the way Buffy liked to run. Few people,
plenty of quiet time to think clearly. And think she
did.
She tried to figure out how she was going to face
Giles. After last night, things would be awkward to
say the least. Well, it might be if he remembered.
What was she thinking?
He thought it was Willow helping him, so there would
be no reason for him to be awkward around her.
On the other hand, she kinda wanted to confront him.
She knew she should just let it go, but for some
reason she couldn't. It just kept gnawing at her,
pesterign her.
What was she going to say to him anyway? What could
she ask him?
Gee, Giles how long have you wanted to boink Willow?
or
So, everytime you & Willow were researching alone,
were you thinking about smootching her?
or
So the next time Oz goes wolfy, is that going to be
your big chance?
She shook her head. She couldn't ask him thses
questions. Even though, she was curious about his
answers.
Pumping her legs faster, Buffy began to sprint around
the track, passing everyone, trying to runaway from
her thoughts.
Slowing somewhat, she thought about the other thing
that was bothering her? Why was she obsessed about
this? I mean this is Giles for god's sake. He was her
Watcher. He's...
Hey, maybe that's it! I'm bothered becuase he is my
Watcher and I'm the Slayer and it's his job to guide
me and be there for me.
Running for awhile, she suddenly stopped in her
tracks.
"Wait a minute. Hold the phone." she said aloud. "Now,
Wesley was also my Watcher. But if it had been him
thinking I was Willow, I'd probably could care less.
But why is it with Giles, I care to the point of
obession."
A jogger came by and looked at her strangely. Buffy
gave him a penetrating look and said, "What are you
looking at? Haven't you ever seen someone talk to
themselves before?" she spat out at him.
Turning around, Buffy began to pace. "If it's not
because he's my Watcher, then what is it?" she
muttered.
Sitting on the grass, she spread her legs and
stretched. As she stretched to the right, she was hit
with a sudden realization.
"Oh no. It can't be." she shook her head." The reason
I've flipped out is because ......I want Giles?"
Nah. I mean this is Giles. British, tweed-wearing,
book-loving, ex-librarian who probably doesn't
remember what it's like to have fun except.......
When he's Ripper.
Ripper, wolfish-grinning, laid-back, tough as nails,
Ripper. The man who's wanton enough to have sex on top
of a car, the man who seemed nonplussed about me
catching him and what's her name? Olivia .Her in
nothing but his shirt and him in a silk robe.
She thought about him. Jade green eyes, firm chest,
expressive face and a behind so tight that you could
bounce a quarter off of it.
OH GOD!
Buffy fell back until she was laying sprawled on the
ground. This can't be happening. She was having warm
fuzzy feeling for her Watcher. And her Watcher was
having warm fuzzy feelings for her best friend.
Could life get anymore complicated than that?
* * *