__Guess Who's Coming to Dinner__
By GylzGirl
Buffy lightly circled Giles' nipple with her finger as the first light of day filtered in through his loft window. He blinked his eyes open and she smiled. "Morning Wonderful."
"Wonderful?" He returned the smile.
"Mmhmm. Wonderful eyes," she traced his eyebrow. "Wonderful mouth," her finger moved over his lips. "Wonderful chest," her hand rubbed down his torso, gently swirling through the hair there. "Wonderful..." her mouth covered his as she let her hand travel lower and encircle him.
As she began to stroke him to attention, he brought his hand to cover hers and removed it from his penis, instead bringing it to rest over his navel. She broke the kiss and looked at him quizzically. "No fruit for Buffy?"
"It's not that I'm not enjoying the attention Love, but you'll be late if we start this now. You have that appointment with the housing department at UC Sunnydale, don't you?" She smiled and bent her head to place luxurious kisses down his neck and across his collarbone. He grinned. "All right. What aren't you telling me?" He felt her sigh against his skin before her eyes met his again.
"It's nothing really. I just...sorta...wanted to ask you something that now I'm thinking may not be the greatest idea or maybe the timing may just not be I don't kno..." Giles silenced her with a long tender kiss. She blinked up at him.
"Now, take a deep breath and just tell me. We'll sort through it."
"I...I don't want to live in the dorms."
"You want to stay home?"
"No."
A rather large smile spread across Giles' face when he finally understood. "You want to...move in here with me?"
She lowered her gaze. "Could I?" He grasped her gently by the arms and pulled her tightly against him as he kissed her in response. He felt her smile. "I take that as a yes?"
"How soon?" He slipped his hand into her hair, his thumb rubbing pleasant circles at the base of her neck.
"Hmm...today?" He laughed. "You know me. I'm not one for wasting time much any more."
"You'll have to help me clear space. And we'll have to see if Oz's van is available."
"Yea!" She began kissing his neck again in earnest. When she lapped at the hollow of his throat, he made a low growling noise. She pulled back and studied his face.
"Buffy?"
"There's um...something else."
"What?"
"My Mom's coming back into town on Friday. And I've sorta been telling her about my great new fella all summer and she wants him to come to dinner at the house on Saturday."
He sighed loudly. Her eyes traveled down as he picked her hand up off of his abdomen and redeposited it onto his penis. At her questioning look, he answered, "I suppose you'd better enjoy it while it's still here. Because after your mother finds out about us..." His words trailed off in a hiss as she squeezed him and ran her hand up and down his length.
Buffy leaned up and kissed his jaw. "Don't worry. It's going to be fine."
******
"It's going to be a total disaster Will!" Buffy sat on a bench outside the mall with her best friend.
"I wish I could say I disagreed with you, but your Mom's not exactly Take Surprises in Stride Woman. You didn't even drop her a hint that it could be Giles?"
"I tried. I told her it was someone I'd been close to for years. That it was someone she knew." She covered her eyes with her hand. "I think she thinks it's Xander."
"Oh joy. Didn't you tell her it was an older guy?"
"I told her he was older than me, which Xander is by three months. That was enough to buy her a first class ticket on the denial train."
"And Saturday night you're painting a tunnel on a big ole boulder huh?"
"Looking like it."
"Well, you'll just have to see what happens. You can't control your mother's reaction. You just have to roll with it and hope for the best."
"Hope for the best in Sunnydale?"
Willow's brow furrowed as she thought about that. "Okay, subject change. How do you like being shacked up with Giles?"
Buffy's face immediately brightened. "Living in sin is definitely perk-filled. I mean, it took a couple days for him to figure out that the reason I was taking so long in the bathroom was that I was waiting for him to join me in the shower. But we got that taken care of." She smiled.
Willow smiled too. "Aww, that's...really leading me into a naked Buffy and Giles visual place where I don't want to be."
"Sorry. Okay, how about this? Smell me." She held out her sleeve and the redhead took a sniff.
"You smell Gilesy."
"I know! Since our clothes are mingling in that big armoire of his, all my stuff smells this way. It's like I get to take him around with me all day."
"Are you going to tell your Mom on Saturday that you guys are living together?"
"No. I figured I'd save that one up for her second heart attack."
"Then you might want to leave out an outfit to de-Giles it."
"Good point."
******
Buffy had spent an hour picking out what to wear to the dinner. At first, she had picked out a sweet little pink flower print dress. When she saw it on, she realized all she needed was pigtails and a big lollipop to look even more like a little girl; an image she desperately needed to avoid this evening. Next, she tried on a tight black dress with a plunging vee neckline. It was far too sexy. Again, not an idea guaranteed to engender sympathy in her mother. In the end, she chose burgundy slacks, a champagne colored blouse and wore her hair long. She took a deep breath as she headed down the stairs.
Giles leaned against the arm of his sofa wearing a crisp white shirt and black pants, his jacket draped over his arm. He looked up, hearing Buffy on the stairs. "You look beautiful," he smiled.
Buffy's jaw dropped. "You...you have to change!"
"Why? What's wrong with this?" He stood and looked down at himself.
"You can't wear this to tell my Mom! If she sees you looking like this, all she's going to be thinking about is you and me having sex!"
"Don't be ridiculous! What makes you think that?"
"Well...because it's all I can think about when I look at you in that outfit." She grinned slowly.
"Ha bloody ha. What are you trying to do? Kill me before your Mother gets the chance?"
"I'm the Slayer. I promise I won't let her kill you."
"I feel safer already." He sat back down on the sofa arm.
Buffy moved to his side and leaned her head against his shoulder. "So. Are we ready for this?"
"Well, we’ve faced the Hellmouth together. Twice."
She laughed. "Good old Multiple Audrey Two has nothing on my Mom in a tiff."
"If she's anything like her daughter, I believe you." He crooked his arm and smiled gently down on her. "Shall we meet our fate?"
She sighed and took his arm. "Here goes."
******
Buffy smiled as Joyce threw open her front door and embraced her tightly. "Oh honey! I've missed you so much!"
She patted her mother's back. "Oxygen becoming an issue Mom." Joyce moved back and looked into her daughter's face. "I missed you too. How was France?"
"I'll tell you all about it over dinner. Oh," for the first time, she noticed Giles' presence there. "Mr. Giles. How um...nice to see you too. Come on in." She ushered them both inside and shut the door. "Have you come to meet Buffy's new boyfriend too? Isn't it exciting? Buffy, is it Xander? You have to tell me!"
"It's not Xander, Mom."
Joyce's brow furrowed. "It's not Oz is it? He's with Willow still?"
"No Mom, it's not Oz."
"Well, I don't think I've met any of your other friends. I thought you said I knew him?"
Buffy steadied herself. Giles gave her a reassuring nod. "It's Giles."
Joyce appeared perplexed. "What's Giles?"
She reached out and held his hand. "Giles...is the man that I'm in love with."
"He's what?"
Calmly, Buffy stated, "I think you heard me Mom. I know it's probably a shock, but..."
Joyce's eyes were locked on Giles. "Oh it's not a shock at all. I should have seen this coming a mile away." She moved directly in front of him. "I could see the way you looked at my daughter. You told me you only wanted to protect her. You couldn't get me out of town fast enough could you?"
"Joyce..."
"Shut up! Don't you dare talk to me after what you've done."
"Mom, the only thing he's done is love me."
"I don’t want to hear it. Buffy, he's using you. He's having some sort of mid-life crisis and you're his trophy. I thought I raised you to be smarter than this."
"It's not like that. Give me a little credit. You know Giles loves me."
"Yeah. And I bet I know just what he loves most about you."
"You're out of line." Giles stood.
"And you're not out of line having sex with my daughter? Get the Hell out of my house!"
"If he leaves, I leave Mom."
"He's too old for you Buffy. Wasn't your life Jerry Springer enough without you jumping into bed with a man that I've slept with?"
Buffy stepped forward. "He never would have slept with you if he hadn't been under a spell. I'm supposed to throw away the best man I've ever met just because of an unfortunate mistake that wasn't even his fault? What Mom? You sleep with a guy and you think you've ruined him for all other women? Ego much?"
Joyce pulled her arm back and slapped her daughter's cheek with all her strength. Buffy's eyes filled with tears. Physically, her Mother's strike had barely phased her. The fact that her mother had just slapped her across the face nearly made her collapse. Before she knew what was happening, Giles had seized Joyce by the arms and had her pinned against the wall.
"I understand that this was the last thing you were expecting tonight and I understand that you're upset. We're willing to sit down with you and listen to any objections you might have. We're willing to try to assuage any reservations you may have. But you will NEVER hit Buffy again. If you do, not even she will have the strength to pull me off of you. Do you understand?"
Joyce just stared at him, wide-eyed. Giles felt Buffy tug weakly at the back of his jacket. "Giles, I want to go please."
He released her Mother, turned and placed his arm around her shoulders as he walked her out the door.
******
Buffy had silently stared ahead at the road on the drive home. When they reached their apartment, Buffy had gone upstairs without a word. She changed out of her clothes and got into bed. Giles joined her soon after.
She lay with her back to him on the opposite side of the bed. He watched her carefully, the slight shake of her shoulder the only sign that she had finally broken down. He scooted over till he lay flush behind her and brought his arm down across her stomach. Her sobs grew louder. He turned Buffy against him and cradled her.
"My Mom hates me," she choked out.
"No. Your Mother hates me. I'm so sorry my Love."
"It's not...not like I expected her to accept it. I just didn't think it would be this bad. That it would hurt this much."
"And I think perhaps somewhere deep down you were hoping just this once she'd see that you were happy and that would be enough for her?"
"No." He crooked a finger under her chin and tilted her head up to look at him. "Maybe."
"I'll do anything to make this better for you. I know how important she is to you. If you want to take some time apart, to try to get her used to the idea?"
"No!" She touched his cheek. "She'll either accept and be a part of our lives or she won't. Either way, I'll adjust. I can't be without you Giles. You're the only person in my whole life that makes me completely happy. We wasted so much time being proper. I don't want to lose another minute with you."
He gazed at her with adoration and brushed his hand back through her blonde hair. Giles leaned forward and kissed her tenderly.
* * *