"You really love him, don't you?" Roger asked as Giles disappeared into the kitchen to talk the phone call.
Fred nodded and smiled. "Very much. He makes me happier than I remember being in a long, long time."
"Is he...the news said that the investigator who exposed that professor who sent you to Pylea was in England. It was him, wasn't it?"
"Yes," she answered, looking toward the kitchen and thinking about the moment he had walked into her room with that letter of apology and award. She would always remember the look in his eyes and what he must have gone through, all for her.
"Then you're right. He is one of the good guys."
When Rupert came back out, she nodded. As they headed for the door, she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing when her mother swatted her father.
"I'll explain everything to him," her mother said, giving her a reassuring smile.
Fred nodded and then turned her head to look at Rupert. "I'm ready," she told him. Her heart started pounding slightly in her chest. They were finally getting a chance to be alone. Finally.
Together, they walked out of the house and got into the car.
"I've been looking forward to this for a week now," she told him, settling into the passenger's seat. "I just didn't expect it to be over here. I know I've said it before, but I'm so glad you decided to come."
“I’m glad also, Fred,” Giles said as he started the car. Once he was out of the driveway, he reached over and took Fred’s hand into his. “I thought about you all the time. I even called Dawn by your name when I had to speak to her. " He blushed and ducked his head a little. "Thank goodness that she doesn't know you and didn't question me. Not that I don't want to brag about you to the whole world. I just figure you'd want to be there too when I tell the rest of them."
He closed his mouth, not wanting to upset Fred and followed her directions to the motel. "I see your father likes Angel quite a bit," Giles said. He realized he sounded a bitter and sighed. "I don't get along with Angel and once we get to the motel, I'll explain to you why." If he was going to ask Fred to marry him, then she needed to know about Jenny.
Giles squeezed her hand and smiled when he saw the motel come into view. He pulled up by the front desk and opened the door. "I'll get us a room. Be back in a few minutes and lock the doors when I get out," he said, shutting the car door behind him.
Fred felt herself melt a little bit at Giles' words - she was really on his mind that much? She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised. He had been on her mind just as much. That was how come she had ended up having to tell her mother about him after she had walked into things a few times. And the fact that he wanted to brag about her made her feel so loved.
"I'd like to be there, too," she told him. They were in this together and would tell the others together, even if Willow did accuse them of knowing that they had been clinchy in his office the day he had offered her the job.
When they reached the motel, she did as he asked and locked the doors to the car. As she waited, she considered what Rupert had said about his relationship with Angel. She wanted to know what exactly had happened between them that caused the tone she heard in his voice. It had to involve Angelus. Since she had returned with them from Pylea, she had heard various bits of stories though nothing concrete - just that Angel had a curse on him that gave him his soul, but that soul could be lost during a moment of perfect happiness, and that had happened in Sunnydale, and things had gone very, very bad. How bad she didn't know. Wesley hadn't been there, and Cordy and Angel never seemed to want to talk about. The way Rupert spoke, she was afraid that the very, very bad had personally involved him, and the idea that Angel might have hurt him made her heart constrict.
She wanted to know, though. She had to know. This was the man she loved, more than she ever thought it would be possible to love someone, and even if it meant finding out something bad about someone who had been a friend.
Giles spoke to the man in the main office, glad he could get a good rate since he'd be staying for multiple nights. He knew he could write it off as Council business but he didn't want to be like Travers and take advantage. When he came back out, Giles smiled at Fred and pulled them in front of a room. "Lucky number three," he said. He got out of the car, opened her car door and led her inside.
He wanted to ravish her the moment they stepped in but Giles remembered he'd said he would tell her why he disliked Angel so much. "Come and sit with me," he quietly said, sitting on the bed. Once Fred was beside him, he took a deep breath. "You probably already know about Angel losing his soul in Sunnydale. It was bad for a while. He harassed Buffy and broke into Willow's house and left her a threatening note."
Giles took a shuddering breath and pulled his glasses off. "I was dating a woman named Jenny Calendar. She was a computer teacher at the high school. Buffy found out Jenny was a descendant of the gypsy clan who had cursed Angel. I was so angry that she didn't tell me so I stopped talking to her." It was hard for Giles to talk about what happened since he'd suppressed most of it. "Jenny was upset so she decided to help us, hoping I would stop being angry with her. She found the spell to put Angel's soul back in and had to translate it. We started talking again and made plans to meet after she was done. I left her in the computer lab alone."
He took another deep breath and looked down at the carpet of the room. "Angelus came to the school and killed her. Then he brought her body to my flat and placed it in my bed. I came home to all these roses lying about and candles lit. And I found her, dead in my bed. I went after Angelus and almost got killed. Jenny's death… it was the first time I'd ever had to bury a loved one. For months after, I kept thinking I should've stayed at the high school. Then she wouldn't be dead."
Giles looked over at Fred, his eyes filled with tears. "I know Angelus isn't Angel but whenever I see Angel, I see the person who murdered Jenny. And that's… that's why I was afraid to let you go in England. I can't lose you Fred. I don't want to know what it's like not having you here."
Fred sat beside Rupert on the bed, listening as he told her the story of what had happened with Angelus in Sunnydale. Her heart felt like it was breaking for him. She had known it had been bad, but she had never imagined this.
The image of him coming home and finding a romantic setting, then discovering the woman he was in love with in his bed - it made her feel ill. And to know that such an horrific tragedy had been visited upon him by the person she had lived in the same building with for two years, by the vampire stopped from being a monster by a curse that could easily be broken - and had been broken...
Tears sprang up in her eyes when she saw him about to cry as well. Now she understood why Cordy hadn't been able to deal with Angel after she had come back from wherever she had been and where she had apparently been shown everything he had done as Angelus.
"Oh God, Rupert, I'm so sorry you had to go through that," she whispered to him, reaching over and cupping her hand to his face. Her words sounded wrong somehow. What could you really say to a loss like that? She just didn't know what else she could say. "I can't even fanthom..."
It had been bad enough to lose Wesley, her best friend, someone she cared about deeply. But she couldn't imagine being subjected to this. To having a monster take away...to have something take Rupert from her. She knew if her father had heard this story, he would never have said what he had to Rupert. In fact, he probably never would have let her stay in Los Angeles, no matter what she had wanted at the time.
"I love you, Rupert. You won't lose me," she promised, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him to her. She had known when she had refused to go with the others to Wolfram and Hart that it might end up putting them on opposite sides. Now she knew for sure which side she would always be on. "I never want to lose you either. You're part of me now, and we'll face whatever comes our way together, no matter who we might be against...even if it's Angel."
Giles held Fred tight and allowed everything to come out. All the fear he'd felt during the past week that he was going to be told she was gone, killed by some monster. He buried his head against her shoulder and quietly sobbed, knowing that nothing would ever happen to her. She was safe and he was going to make sure she stayed that way.
He had a planned though, a big one but he didn't want to wait for all of it to come together. Looking at her and wiping the tears from her cheeks, he smiled. "Andrew is currently calling your parents to find out your ring size. Then he's going to call me back tomorrow and tell me so I can buy you a ring. I spoke to your father and he has given us his blessing," he said, taking her hands into his. "I want to marry you, Fred. I want to live in a house with a fence around the back garden. I want our home to have hardwood floors so I can hear our children running through the hallways. And I want all of this with you. I know it's not a proper proposal but I promise to give you once I get the ring. It would be my honor if you'd agreed to be my wife."
Giles slid off the bed and kneeled before her. "Marry me and make an old man the happiest person in the world?" he asked, looking up at her.
Closing her eyes against her own tears, Fred held him, cradling his head against her and running her hand over his hair. She knew all she could do was just be there. She couldn't change what had been done to him or what he was feeling, but she could hold him and love him, and that was what she intended to do as long as she could.
When the sobs finally faded away, she was surprised to see him smiling at her and wondered what he was thinking. Then he told her how he was planning to buy her a ring and that her father had given his blessing, and Fred felt herself starting to smile herself. She wanted all that he talked about too. Not so long ago, she hadn't thought it would ever be possible, but she wanted it now, and she wanted it with him.
She was about to open her mouth to say something when he suddenly slid to the floor on his knees. She felt her heart pounding in her ears and tears starting to come to her eyes again. "You're--you're not old," she found herself saying before she realized that he had actually asked her to marry him. "Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I'll marry you. Of course, I'll be your wife."
"Really?" Giles dumbly asked when Fred said yes. He took a deep breath and shook his head. "You said yes. Oh. You said yes!" He got up from his knees and sat down beside her. Giles pulled her closer and deeply kissed her. "I love you so very much, Fred." He leaned forward and kissed her again, sighing at the feel of her tongue on his.
Pulling away, Giles tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I want to give you the world, Fred. No matter how cheesy that may sound. And did it bloody ever," he said with a small chuckle. "How about I stop talking and finish what we started earlier." He leaned over and gave her a soft kiss before pulling her shirt over her head.
Giles ran his fingers over her stomach, loving the feel of her soft skin. He ran his hands around to her back and undid her bra. Watching the straps fall off her shoulder, Giles removed it from her and dropped it to the floor. He started to nibble on her neck, moving up it's pulse. When he got to her ear, he softly nibbled on it and whispered, "If I do this right, am I excused from helping you pack?"
"I love you too," she whispered against his lips. She couldn't believe it. They were going to get married. She smiled at him when he pulled away from the kiss. "Don't care if it sounds cheesy or silly or anything like that. To me, it sounds wonderful."
She raised her arms so he could take her shirt off then wrapped her armd around him, kissing his jawline by his ear while he also took off her bra. She let out a shudder when she felt his teeth teasing her gently.
"I'm almost done anyway," she told him. "I have almost everything I want to take packed up, so I'll be finished by the end of tomorrow morning anyway. Amazing what you can get done when you're trying not to think of other things."
She reached between them and unbuttoned his shirt, running her hands underneath and over his torso. It felt so good to touch him again like this. They had spent so much of their weekend together exploring each other, but she didn't think she would ever tire of this.
She then pulled the shirt off completely and tossed it over her shoulder onto the floor.
Giles smiled against her neck and released her long enough so she could pull his shirt off. "Good because I do believe we won't get much packing down if I were there," he murmured against the skin of her breast. He moved his mouth to his nipple and suckled on it as his hands moved down and unbuttoned her jeans. He encouraged her to raise her hips so he could pull her jeans and knickers down.
She was a sight to behold and Giles stood up and pulled off his trousers and boxers before scooping her up into his arms. He carried her to the side of the bed and carefully laid her down. Her hair was sprayed out on the pillow and she truly looked like a goddess. "So beautiful," he murmured as he kneeled before her legs.
With one hand running up her thigh, Giles moved closer and softly pressed his erection against her. "Have I told you how much I missed you?" he softly asked. He slowly pressed himself inside of her and hissed at the feeling. Being with her was the most comfortable feeling he had ever known. He ran his hands over her sides before leaning down to kiss her.
Giles started to slowly move inside of her. She was so tight and wet and warm and she seemed to engulf him with everything she was. "God, Fred," Giles shudder as he ran his hand down her stomach and started to stroke her nub. "You're bloody perfect!"
Fred nodded and smiled. "Very much. He makes me happier than I remember being in a long, long time."
"Is he...the news said that the investigator who exposed that professor who sent you to Pylea was in England. It was him, wasn't it?"
"Yes," she answered, looking toward the kitchen and thinking about the moment he had walked into her room with that letter of apology and award. She would always remember the look in his eyes and what he must have gone through, all for her.
"Then you're right. He is one of the good guys."
When Rupert came back out, she nodded. As they headed for the door, she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing when her mother swatted her father.
"I'll explain everything to him," her mother said, giving her a reassuring smile.
Fred nodded and then turned her head to look at Rupert. "I'm ready," she told him. Her heart started pounding slightly in her chest. They were finally getting a chance to be alone. Finally.
Together, they walked out of the house and got into the car.
"I've been looking forward to this for a week now," she told him, settling into the passenger's seat. "I just didn't expect it to be over here. I know I've said it before, but I'm so glad you decided to come."
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He closed his mouth, not wanting to upset Fred and followed her directions to the motel. "I see your father likes Angel quite a bit," Giles said. He realized he sounded a bitter and sighed. "I don't get along with Angel and once we get to the motel, I'll explain to you why." If he was going to ask Fred to marry him, then she needed to know about Jenny.
Giles squeezed her hand and smiled when he saw the motel come into view. He pulled up by the front desk and opened the door. "I'll get us a room. Be back in a few minutes and lock the doors when I get out," he said, shutting the car door behind him.
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"I'd like to be there, too," she told him. They were in this together and would tell the others together, even if Willow did accuse them of knowing that they had been clinchy in his office the day he had offered her the job.
When they reached the motel, she did as he asked and locked the doors to the car. As she waited, she considered what Rupert had said about his relationship with Angel. She wanted to know what exactly had happened between them that caused the tone she heard in his voice. It had to involve Angelus. Since she had returned with them from Pylea, she had heard various bits of stories though nothing concrete - just that Angel had a curse on him that gave him his soul, but that soul could be lost during a moment of perfect happiness, and that had happened in Sunnydale, and things had gone very, very bad. How bad she didn't know. Wesley hadn't been there, and Cordy and Angel never seemed to want to talk about. The way Rupert spoke, she was afraid that the very, very bad had personally involved him, and the idea that Angel might have hurt him made her heart constrict.
She wanted to know, though. She had to know. This was the man she loved, more than she ever thought it would be possible to love someone, and even if it meant finding out something bad about someone who had been a friend.
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He wanted to ravish her the moment they stepped in but Giles remembered he'd said he would tell her why he disliked Angel so much. "Come and sit with me," he quietly said, sitting on the bed. Once Fred was beside him, he took a deep breath. "You probably already know about Angel losing his soul in Sunnydale. It was bad for a while. He harassed Buffy and broke into Willow's house and left her a threatening note."
Giles took a shuddering breath and pulled his glasses off. "I was dating a woman named Jenny Calendar. She was a computer teacher at the high school. Buffy found out Jenny was a descendant of the gypsy clan who had cursed Angel. I was so angry that she didn't tell me so I stopped talking to her." It was hard for Giles to talk about what happened since he'd suppressed most of it. "Jenny was upset so she decided to help us, hoping I would stop being angry with her. She found the spell to put Angel's soul back in and had to translate it. We started talking again and made plans to meet after she was done. I left her in the computer lab alone."
He took another deep breath and looked down at the carpet of the room. "Angelus came to the school and killed her. Then he brought her body to my flat and placed it in my bed. I came home to all these roses lying about and candles lit. And I found her, dead in my bed. I went after Angelus and almost got killed. Jenny's death… it was the first time I'd ever had to bury a loved one. For months after, I kept thinking I should've stayed at the high school. Then she wouldn't be dead."
Giles looked over at Fred, his eyes filled with tears. "I know Angelus isn't Angel but whenever I see Angel, I see the person who murdered Jenny. And that's… that's why I was afraid to let you go in England. I can't lose you Fred. I don't want to know what it's like not having you here."
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The image of him coming home and finding a romantic setting, then discovering the woman he was in love with in his bed - it made her feel ill. And to know that such an horrific tragedy had been visited upon him by the person she had lived in the same building with for two years, by the vampire stopped from being a monster by a curse that could easily be broken - and had been broken...
Tears sprang up in her eyes when she saw him about to cry as well. Now she understood why Cordy hadn't been able to deal with Angel after she had come back from wherever she had been and where she had apparently been shown everything he had done as Angelus.
"Oh God, Rupert, I'm so sorry you had to go through that," she whispered to him, reaching over and cupping her hand to his face. Her words sounded wrong somehow. What could you really say to a loss like that? She just didn't know what else she could say. "I can't even fanthom..."
It had been bad enough to lose Wesley, her best friend, someone she cared about deeply. But she couldn't imagine being subjected to this. To having a monster take away...to have something take Rupert from her. She knew if her father had heard this story, he would never have said what he had to Rupert. In fact, he probably never would have let her stay in Los Angeles, no matter what she had wanted at the time.
"I love you, Rupert. You won't lose me," she promised, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him to her. She had known when she had refused to go with the others to Wolfram and Hart that it might end up putting them on opposite sides. Now she knew for sure which side she would always be on. "I never want to lose you either. You're part of me now, and we'll face whatever comes our way together, no matter who we might be against...even if it's Angel."
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He had a planned though, a big one but he didn't want to wait for all of it to come together. Looking at her and wiping the tears from her cheeks, he smiled. "Andrew is currently calling your parents to find out your ring size. Then he's going to call me back tomorrow and tell me so I can buy you a ring. I spoke to your father and he has given us his blessing," he said, taking her hands into his. "I want to marry you, Fred. I want to live in a house with a fence around the back garden. I want our home to have hardwood floors so I can hear our children running through the hallways. And I want all of this with you. I know it's not a proper proposal but I promise to give you once I get the ring. It would be my honor if you'd agreed to be my wife."
Giles slid off the bed and kneeled before her. "Marry me and make an old man the happiest person in the world?" he asked, looking up at her.
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When the sobs finally faded away, she was surprised to see him smiling at her and wondered what he was thinking. Then he told her how he was planning to buy her a ring and that her father had given his blessing, and Fred felt herself starting to smile herself. She wanted all that he talked about too. Not so long ago, she hadn't thought it would ever be possible, but she wanted it now, and she wanted it with him.
She was about to open her mouth to say something when he suddenly slid to the floor on his knees. She felt her heart pounding in her ears and tears starting to come to her eyes again. "You're--you're not old," she found herself saying before she realized that he had actually asked her to marry him. "Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I'll marry you. Of course, I'll be your wife."
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Pulling away, Giles tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I want to give you the world, Fred. No matter how cheesy that may sound. And did it bloody ever," he said with a small chuckle. "How about I stop talking and finish what we started earlier." He leaned over and gave her a soft kiss before pulling her shirt over her head.
Giles ran his fingers over her stomach, loving the feel of her soft skin. He ran his hands around to her back and undid her bra. Watching the straps fall off her shoulder, Giles removed it from her and dropped it to the floor. He started to nibble on her neck, moving up it's pulse. When he got to her ear, he softly nibbled on it and whispered, "If I do this right, am I excused from helping you pack?"
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She raised her arms so he could take her shirt off then wrapped her armd around him, kissing his jawline by his ear while he also took off her bra. She let out a shudder when she felt his teeth teasing her gently.
"I'm almost done anyway," she told him. "I have almost everything I want to take packed up, so I'll be finished by the end of tomorrow morning anyway. Amazing what you can get done when you're trying not to think of other things."
She reached between them and unbuttoned his shirt, running her hands underneath and over his torso. It felt so good to touch him again like this. They had spent so much of their weekend together exploring each other, but she didn't think she would ever tire of this.
She then pulled the shirt off completely and tossed it over her shoulder onto the floor.
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She was a sight to behold and Giles stood up and pulled off his trousers and boxers before scooping her up into his arms. He carried her to the side of the bed and carefully laid her down. Her hair was sprayed out on the pillow and she truly looked like a goddess. "So beautiful," he murmured as he kneeled before her legs.
With one hand running up her thigh, Giles moved closer and softly pressed his erection against her. "Have I told you how much I missed you?" he softly asked. He slowly pressed himself inside of her and hissed at the feeling. Being with her was the most comfortable feeling he had ever known. He ran his hands over her sides before leaning down to kiss her.
Giles started to slowly move inside of her. She was so tight and wet and warm and she seemed to engulf him with everything she was. "God, Fred," Giles shudder as he ran his hand down her stomach and started to stroke her nub. "You're bloody perfect!"
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