“I’ve already told you …there were no details. Just that three Maunitites were rumored to have an exchange planned at this location sometime tonight. We have to be patient. These things can take time.” He tried to draw his attention back outside, looking around the darkened park landscape in front of them.
“You have any more candy?” She asked sheepishly.
Giles couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He looked back at Buffy with a stunned expression. “My god woman! You’ve finished off three bars already?”
“I’m bored, Giles!” She said defensively. “I need something to keep me from spacing off. Entertain me,” she ordered teasingly with a grin spreading across her lips.
“How on earth could I possibly entertain you?” He glanced back outside and noticed a young couple walking along a path, talking and holding hands as they almost seemed to skip merrily into the shadows. He envied their air of pureness.
“I don’t know. Tell me a story,” Buffy suggested and began to twist the empty candy wrapper between her fingers. “Tell me about your youth. Oh…no…tell me about your Ripper days.” She seemed unexpectedly excited.
Giles glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and grinned, “Over my dead body!”
“That can be arranged and you’re in luck. This Slayer’s got an introductory offer going,” Buffy waited for a moment to see if Giles would give in then felt bad for prying. “It’s ok. I know you don’t like revisiting the good ‘ol days.”
“Buffy, entertain yourself,” he suggested softly and stared forward.
Buffy looked around the inside of the car and spotted the substandard stereo. “Fine. I’ll just put on some tunes.” She began to fiddle with the knobs.
“Fine. Just be sure to keep it…”
The radio blasted deafeningly and Buffy desperately turned knobs and hit buttons aimlessly until there was silence.
“…quiet.” Giles winced with his eyes shut, obviously irritated.
“Sorry. I think I’ve got it now.” She smiled and clicked the radio back on, adjusting it to a more delicate volume.
Giles watched her adjust the knobs, impatiently skimming through the selection of stations. Her enthusiasm made him smile; he’d missed her. She stopped at the sound of a rap-like hip-hop song and Giles groaned. He hadn’t missed her that much.
“I think not…unless you wanted to see me escape from this vehicle screaming insanely and gladly plunging to my death into the very Hellmouth itself.” He started to scan through the musical offerings and settled on a more classic rock station.
“Well hello Mr. Overreaction,” Buffy smiled and listened for a moment, trying to recognize his selection. The song started with the soothing picking of an acoustic guitar and the sounds of the audience at the live performance cheering. Buffy recognized it but couldn’t remember its name or the artist. It had to be something her mom had forced on her during one of their mother, daughter and other irritating younger daughter outings. She decided to allow Giles his peaceful moment and listened.
I took my love, I took it down
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
‘Till the landslide brought me down
Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life
Well, I’ve been afraid of changing
‘Cause I’ve built my life around you
But time makes you get bolder
Even children get older
And I’m getting older too
Oh, take my love, take it down
Climb a mountain and turn around
If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide will bring it down
If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide will bring it down.
The cheers of the audience made Buffy glance over at Giles who no longer looked diligently outside the window. His eyes were cast downward to his lap where his hand rested, his gaze focusing on the onyx ring on his finger.
“Associations?” Buffy asked cautiously, not really wanting to intrude but wondering why he listened to a song that bothered him so.
He snickered quietly and peeked over at her, quickly shying away from any real eye contact. “A bit…yes.”
“That’s what you get for not letting me pick.” Buffy decided he was being way to moody and that the situation called for a Buffy choice in tunes. She began to search the stations until she heard something she just had to hear. “Oh…I used to love this movie! Kevin Costner rocked my world.” She repositioned herself and settled in to listen to what she considered an old favorite.
If I should stay
I would only be in your way
So I’ll go, but I know
I’ll think of you ev’ry step of the way
And I will always love you
I will always love you
You
My darling, ooh
Bittersweet memories
That is all I’m taking with me
So goodbye–please don’t cry
We both know I’m not what you, you need
And I will always love you
I will always love you
After looking at Giles for a quick assessment of his mysterious frame of mind, she realized this choice was also having the completely opposite effect she’d intended. ‘What’s with him tonight?’ she thought and began to switch through the stations again.
“Wha…the song wasn’t over. What are you doing?” Giles gasped with a unexpected amount of disappointment.
“Therapy session’s not doing you any good here Giles. We are in dire need of some party tunes,” Buffy was determined to find something that wouldn’t set Giles off into regretful deep-thoughts retrospective heartbreaky mode.
“But…I was…enjoying that.” Giles murmured feebly and watched her tune in other stations.
“Yes, I could tell by the big ‘stake me now’ grin on your cheery face. I’ll find something more happy…more shake your booty.”
“Will you just choose something and be done with it!” He was beginning to loose patience with her indecision.
“Your one of *those* people. Set the stereo to one station and god forbid if anyone ever thinks of changing it. Can’t have any variety or adventure.” She continued to search and Giles rolled his eyes, growing dangerously close to tearing the vile unit from it’s home and tossing the annoying thing out the window. “You probably can’t stand to interrupt a song either. Have to hear it to the end or the planetary alignment will go all kooky or something.”
“Now whose overreacting? See here…would you please…just pick a bloody station…anything…here…” he reached out to take over the selection process and found his attempt foiled by Buffy’s hand abruptly brushing his away. He pulled back, aghast at her unprovoked attack then found himself more determined then ever to seize control over the very instrument of his torment. He swatted her hands away and managed to just glance the tip of a button before Buffy tackled his hand with hers and quickly worked the radio with her other. Giles countered with a tricky hand faking her out in one direction then managed a flanking maneuver between her arms with the other and landing a successful full on button press. ‘Victory!’ he thought then saw Buffy grinning wickedly as she slipped a hand past his and struck a blow for the Slayer. Giles gave up, falling back against the drivers seat and removing his glasses to tidy them up a smidgen in an attempt to collect his temper.
“Enough…we’ll listen to your choice. Let’s see what inviting emotions this lovely little ditty can rouse in me, shall we?” He spoke with all the sarcasm he could muster. Buffy leaned back in triumph and realized she had no idea where she’d finally left the radio setting. She listened to the odd alternative industrial sounding tune. ‘Good…this couldn’t possibly cause any emotional reaction for him.’ she thought and stared forward, listening confidently.
I wanna f#@k you like an animal
I wanna feel you from the inside
I wanna f@*k you like and animal
My whole existence is flawed
You get me closer to god
‘SHIT!’ Buffy thought with her eyes wide with embarrassment, she wanted to shrivel up and hide in the ashtray. What on earth was running through Giles mind with this wonderful choice in music? She could see Giles in her peripheral vision, sitting completely still and staring forward out the window. Though she really wanted to look at him, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“Would you excuse me for a moment?” she asked as impassively as she could and opened the car door, listening to the charming chorus ringing out again. The second the door closed behind her, she fell to her knees laughing hysterically.
Giles let his head fall forward, leaning his forehead against the steering wheel and shutting his eyes. He blindly fumbled around with his fingers to shut off the stereo. With a click, the car was serenely quiet. The only sound he could hear was Buffy’s uncontrollable laugher and Giles felt a giggle coming on. The whole scene was utterly ridiculous but seemed so perfect in its spirit. Every song played held some truth in regards to his relationship with Buffy, though the finale was a bit crude for his tastes but he couldn’t argue with the sediment. What was so perfect about the unintended soundtrack to the evening was that Giles knew Buffy was completely oblivious to his feelings. She was probably laughing at the harsh language being spoken in earshot of her Watcher. He started to chuckle at the outlandish thoughts going through his troubled mind; thoughts of how he’d planned to reveal his feelings to her this time and how the musical ambiance of the evening seemed to be speaking his heart. But the crude tension- breaker ended the mood, like so many other apocalypses that seem to interrupt a moment’s peace between them. His chuckle turned into a full-on laugh as Buffy opened the door and rejoined him. She closed the door and huffed and puffed, trying to catch her breath. Giles settled down as well and glanced over at her, taking in the beautiful sight of her flushed cheeks and warm smile. He loved her with all his heart but couldn’t tell her. It wasn’t meant to be.
“These demony guys are no-shows Giles.” Buffy chuckled, still not completely under control.
“I suppose your right. Lets give it fifteen more minutes then we can go,” he offered.
“How ’bout we give ’em one more song, then we go.”
Giles glanced over at her with a foreboding look but couldn’t deny her compromise. He nodded with a slight smile and reached for the stereo just as she did. Their hands brushed together, and Giles paused, ready to give in and let Buffy take control once again. He froze as her fingers tickled along the back of his hand, delicately caressing the knuckles and drawing tenderly along his fingers until wrapping around his hand with a gently squeeze.
“Your choice,” she smiled and let go, leaning back into the seat and waiting for Giles to pick.
He turned on the radio and took only seconds to find the perfect song. Settling back into his seat with a warm smile decorating his lips, watching Buffy as the song played.
Oh yeah I’ll tell you something
I think you’ll understand
When I say that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
Buffy smiled, letting out a faint sigh as she lowered her head. Giles expression turned serious as he watched her reaction.
Oh please say to me
You’ll let me be your man
And please say to me
You’ll let me hold your hand
Now let me hold your hand
I wanna hold your handAnd when I touch you
I feel happy inside
It’s such a feeling
That my love I can’t hide
I can’t hide, I can’t hide
Buffy raised her head and looked over at Giles, her eyes staring at him with a baffling weightiness. He wondered if she’d noticed something out the window on his side of the vehicle. He decided to check and quickly glanced over his shoulder, not noticing anything out of the ordinary. As he turned back to ask what was wrong, Buffy’s fingers glided along his thigh and slipped under his hand, interweaving her fingers with his.
Yeah you got that something
I think you’ll understand
When I say that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
She rubbed her thumb along his, playfully provoking him to join in on the fondling. He gently stroked his thumb over hers, pinning it to his thigh as he stared deeply into her serious gaze, searching her eyes for something he prayed might be there.
And when I touch you
I feel happy inside
It’s such a feeling
That my love I can’t hide
I can’t hide, I can’t hide
Buffy’s face blushed as Giles lifted her hand and gripped it softly, pulling it to his chest, guiding her closer to him. She shifted forward and leaned in, her eyes glistening under the dim streetlights. Giles bowed towards her, bringing her hand to his face and shutting his eyes, delighting in the sensation of nuzzling the delicate skin against his cheek As his eyes opened, he watched breathlessly as Buffy lightly kiss his lips, barely touching his silken flesh with hers. She pulled back and looked into his devastatingly emerald green eyes, licking her lips with a smile. Buffy wrapped her free hand around the back of Giles neck and pulled him to her, their lips finally meeting in a passionate embrace.
Giles felt his chest constrict under the pleasure welling within him. He couldn’t experience enough of her, he wanted to drink her in and savor the union for the miraculous phenomenon it was. He let his hands draw tenderly along her back until they rested on the back of her head, entangled in her soft hair. He was happy.
Yeah you got that something
I think you’ll understand
When I feel that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
Buffy couldn’t believe what she was doing, what he was doing. Kissing Giles was so beyond any customary activity she’d generally associated with him but it was so wonderful. His attentive lips cascading along hers, not allowing any bit to be ignored; it made her want to cry for missing out on the blissful contact sooner. She wanted so much more.
They slowly separated from their kiss, both flushed and panting as they smiled at each other’s aroused faces.
“The songs over.” Buffy whispered, pressing her lips to his but pulling back quickly with the knowledge that if they started again, she wouldn’t be able to stop.
“So it is,” Giles sighed, tickling her lips with his hot breath.
“Time to go…that was the deal,” she whispered and nibbled at his bottom lip.
“I’m afraid I have to breach that contract,” his mouth pressed to hers, urging her to give in to her desire. His tongue licked her lip as he nibbled at it affectionately.
She couldn’t resist him, every bit of her body cried out for him. She glided her hand down his chest and stroked his jeans, feeling the throbbing results of her attentions toward him.
“There’s a stiff penalty for that,” Buffy smiled as Giles kissed down her neck.
“So there is,” He snickered as her hand wickedly taunted his flesh. “Come with me…” he whispered as he crawled over the stick shift knob into the back seat.
‘We aren’t going anywhere,’ Buffy thought as she pursued her prey. ‘He’s going to entertain me after all!’
Ok, here’s the music credits:
Landslide by Fleetwood Mac the (live performance from the reunion, The Dance)
I Will Always Love You, sung by Whitney Houston but written by Dolly Parton.
Closer by Nine Inch Nails.
And of course: I Wanna Hold Your Hand by the Beatles.
