Slayer Training: Drunk Edition

Jan 28, 2012 03:23

 Title: Slayer Training: Drunk Edition
Author: the_huffster
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Rating: PG-13
Timeline: Post-Chosen
Synopsis: Giles watches Buffy work out. Turns out that wasn't something he should do when he's drunk
Author's Note: Written for the  Drunk!Giles ficathon

Giles stumbled into the small house he shared with Buffy- although recently he began wondering why they were still living together. A voice in the back of his mind told that things had taken a turn for the worse between them the first night they slept together, but the alcohol he had consumed quickly silenced that voice. He threw his keys in the general area of where the hallway table was, not really bothering to make sure the keys had even made it near the table. He struggled out of jacket on his way to the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of scotch- which he managed to spill most of it on the counter instead of into the glass.
The Watcher downed the drink, pausing in pouring another glass when he sounds coming from one of the rooms in the house. His mind automatically went to the prick Buffy had been flirting with at the bar she had taken him to, images of her interaction with the cocky son of a bitch flashed in his head. He slammed the glass down and made his way to the back of the house, figuring he’d take out his anger and insecurities on the heavy bag while his Slayer shagged her one night stand.

Of course, what he hadn’t counted on was finding Buffy going at it with the practice dummy. Judging from the way she kept her focus on the dummy, the drunken Watcher was sure she didn’t even know he was in the room with her. He crept over to the stack of training mats in the corner across from him, leaning against them as he watched the blonde. After nearly 10 minutes of watching her, Giles let himself slide down against the wall until he was sitting on the floor.

The more he watched her, the more he let his mind wander to the many different scenarios he had wished the night would’ve ended with. His eyes roamed over her body as she went through her training routine, a smug smirk coming to his face when he noticed the fading bruise from their quick morning shag. Giles highly doubted that the prick Buffy had chatted up at the bar was capable of making Buffy scream in pleasure the way he could.

“What?” his head snapped up to find Buffy glaring at him, letting him know he had said his last thought out loud.

Giles opened and closed his mouth, looking for something to say. Buffy rolled her eyes when he didn’t respond and went back to punching the heavy bag. It was another few minutes before the Slayer turned around and glared at him.

“Is there a particular reason you’re still here, Giles?” she snapped.

“I live here,” Giles said, struggling to his feet and leaning against the wall as soon as he was standing.

“I meant in this room,” she clarified. “Unless you plan on sparring with me, then get out and go be drunk somewhere else.”

“No, I…we need to talk, Buffy.”

They stood looking at each other in silence for a few moments.

“Any time you want to start talking, I’m listening.” Buffy was not in the mood to deal with him when he was like this.

“This has to stop.” He muttered. “I can’t keep sleeping with you and then watch you…throw yourself at other men.”

“Then stop sleeping with me. It’s that simple,”

“It isn’t that simple, Buffy.” Giles sighed as he looked at the floor. “I can’t just give up being with you. Granted, this isn’t the relationship that I wanted for us but I’m so in love with you that I’ll take what I can. I just can’t watch you flirt with other men while I’m standing right there and then listen to you fuck them, I can’t do that…”

“You’re in love with me?” Buffy whispered, staring at him with wide eyes.

Giles stopped talking when he heard the question and felt himself sober up quickly when he realized what he had let slip out. A million thoughts raced through his mind as a voice told him to just tell her while another voice demanded that he backtrack and blame the alcohol. He scrambled for words, looking at the floor as if it held the answers he was looking for.

“Giles, please.” Buffy said softly, taking a step towards him.

“I didn’t mean it,” he found himself muttering.

“Oh.”

He looked up when he heard the hint of sadness in her voice, but dismissed that thought when he saw the indifferent expression on her face. As he reached a hand out, Buffy took a step back and gave him a small smile.

“We’ll talk more about this in the morning when you’re sober,” she told him as she began walking out of the room. “Night, Giles.”

The Watcher just watched her leave the room, mumbling a small “goodnight” before sliding back down to the floor. He knew that he had just screwed everything up by letting his feelings slip out.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Morning, Sleeping Beauty.” Buffy teases as Giles entered the kitchen, his hand messing up his hair even more. “I made you scrambled eggs and toast.”

“I’m not hungry,” he mumbled as he grabbed a bottle of water, sitting at the kitchen table.

“You say that, but I’ve seen you drunk like you were last night. You get cranky if you don’t eat when you’re hung-over.” She set a plate in front of him and sat across the table.

Giles stared at the plate and pushed the eggs around with his fork. He couldn’t look at her, nor did he know what to say to her. Silence settled over them and the Watcher did his best to ignore the feel of her eyes on him. He was beginning to wonder how much longer he was going to have to sit in silence when Buffy cleared her throat, grabbing his attention.

“Giles, we’ve known each other a really long time now. Right?” she waited for him to nod before continuing. “So we’re friends, despite our past discriminations.”

“I’ve never stopped considering you my friend, Buffy.” He told her, his eyes locking with hers for a brief moment.

“Good, because you’re my best friend Giles. And friends can trust each other and be honest with each other, right?” it took him a minute to realize she was waiting for him to acknowledge what she had said. He made a small sound of agreement before she continued. “Right. I just…I wish you could be honest with me without using alcohol as a crutch.”

Giles stared at her in shock. Surely she had taken his accidental confession as the ramblings of a drunken old man, she had to have believed him when he said he hadn’t meant those words. Shock soon gave way to confusion as he heard Buffy elaborate. She went on about how she wish he would have said something earlier if he was so bothered with their relationship, how it would have let her known that she could have moved on faster without worrying about him, and how it would have saved her a lot of confusion and sleepless nights.

“What do you mean?” he interpreted her. “You wanted this to be casual.”

“No I didn’t. I wanted a relationship with you, Giles.” Buffy explained. “You were the one who never said anything. You were either gone by the time I woke up or you would just wake up and say a quick good morning and then leave. And you always act as if nothing happened between us until the next time we sleep together.”

“So you show that you want to be with me by throwing yourself at other men in front of me?”

“I thought I could coax you into showing me something to let me know you didn’t think of me as some one night stand!” her voice had raised in volume, taking the Watcher by surprise. “And last night when you said you were in love with me, I had thought I finally got what I wanted. But you took it back, and you sounded less drunk then when you had said it.”

It hit him exactly how well his back tracking had worked, and the hurt flashing in her hazel eyes made him realize he didn’t want her thinking she meant nothing more than a convenient shag for him. Giles pushed away the plate and looked at Buffy. The Watcher took a deep breath and grabbed her hand.

“I’m sorry I made you feel this way, Buffy.” He began, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. “I do love you…”

“You said you didn’t mean it. Don’t try to make me feel better,” the blonde cut him off and looked down at their hands, trying to hide the fact that she had tears in her eyes.

“I didn’t want you to find out that way.” He admitted after a moment. “I didn’t want to be drunk and arguing with you when I told you I was in love with you. I want a relationship with you, Buffy.”

Silence fell over them as the Slayer took in what he had said. Giles felt his heart pound in his chest as he waited for some response from her. After several nerve wracking minutes, Buffy finally looked at him.

“I love you, Giles, I do. And I want a relationship with you. But,” and he felt his heart drop as soon as he heard her say “but”. “You were drunk last night. And I know you’re not know, but I don’t know that you’re not just saying this for my benefit.”

“Buffy, I…”

Giles fell silent when she raised her free hand, signaling that she wasn’t done yet.

“We can start over though. No more one night stand type sex, no more throwing myself at men to get your attention. Just you and me, taking this one step at a time.”

A small smile came to Giles as he caught the meaning of what she was saying. Buffy let out a small giggle at the boyish expression on his face at the hope of a future with her, both knowing they had a real chance at a relationship. The Watcher smiles as she excused herself to go get ready for the day, pausing on her way out of the kitchen.

“Oh, and Giles?” she looked over her shoulder at him.

“Hmm?"

“No more drinking when something’s bothering you. I thought we had gotten over that when I was in college,” she gave him a playful glare when he shrugged and gave her a sheepish smile. “And no more drunken training sessions…unless I’m drunk too and we’re doing a completely different kind of training.”

Giles narrowed in slight confusion, blushing slightly when Buffy sent him a wink and smirked.

“Don’t be so embarrassed, Giles. We’ve done plenty of not so Watchery/Slayery activities in there,” Giles turned even redder at the reminder.

At Buffy’s laugh as she left, he shook his head. He was in for an interesting relationship.

slayer training: drunk edition, fic: btvs, buffy/giles

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