Buffy's eyebrows shot up in surprise of where her legs had lead her, but she shrugged when she realized how fitting it was that she come to him, her sorta Watcher. He *was* the one that Oz went to for advise and the only person who knew about Oz's attraction to her. Raising her fist, Buffy knocked lightly at the door, hoping that she wasn't disturbing him. "Just a minute," she heard Giles' call faintly.

A few seconds later, he had the door open and was looking out at her with surprise. "Buffy, is something wrong?" he quickly asked, visibly tensing for bad news.

Buffy shuffled her feet aimlessly and looked down. "Um, do you think I could come in?" she asked.

"Yes, of course," Giles told her, stepping back to allow her into his apartment. He watched her silently as she stood in the middle of his living room, looking around at the various wall-hangings and books that lined his walls. Though she had been in Giles' apartment many times, it felt to her as if she were seeing it for the first time.

After only a few minutes of waiting, Giles became impatient. "Buffy, is there something the matter? You look a bit out of breath. Were you in a fight?" he asked. He grew worried when she didn't immediately answer him. Crossing the room, Giles put a gentle hand on her upper arm. "Is it nightmares?" he questioned her in a soft, understanding voice.

"A living nightmare is more like it," she told him in a hoarse voice. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Giles lead Buffy over to the couch and urged her to sit down.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" he asked her. Giles drew himself up in surprise when Buffy covered her mouth with her hand and started to giggle. "Is there something you find humorous, Buffy?" he asked indignantly.

"I...I'm...s-sorry, Giles," Buffy stuttered out between fits of what was verging on hysterical laughter. "It's just that....whenever something happens...you always offer tea." It took her a few more moments of laughter, while Giles stared down at her with a slightly amused smile on his lips. Finally, Buffy sobered up. "Got anything stiffer?" she asked.

After dropping his jaw in surprise, Giles walked over to his counter and poured her a glass of amber alcohol. "It's scotch," he told her as he handed it to her. "Sip it and you best not tell your mother I supplied you with liquor," he told her, shuddering a bit when he thought of what that Summers woman might say to him if she knew.

Buffy took a sip, cringing at the wicked taste. "Thanks, Giles," she told him and pulled her legs up under her, sitting on his couch Indian style.

"Now, do you think you might be able to tell me what brought you to my door at..." he looked at his watch, "midnight?"

When she looked up at Giles again, her eyes were squinted with an accusatory gaze. "Why didn't you ever tell me that Oz told you he was attracted to me?" she asked in a clipped voice.

Giles sighed and took off his glasses to clean them. He always did that when he wanted to buy some time before an uncomfortable conversation. "I was wondering when you might come to me," he told her, sighing once again. "So, he told you then. I thought he had, noticed the discomfort around the two of you. Would you like to tell me what happened?"

Buffy took a deep breath and slugged back the rest of her scotch. She winced and shuddered, putting a hand over her stomach. "I told you to sip it," Giles pointed out as he bit back a smirk. Buffy looked up and glared at him. Quickly, the glare fell away and Buffy sunk back against the sofa, screwing up her face.

"Giles," she whined and fell to her side. "Why did he have to tell me? I don't want to know that my best friend's boyfriend has the ya yas for me. How am I supposed to react to this?"

Giles pushed himself away from the wall he was leaning against, back over to the counter. After pouring himself a drink and slugging it back, he went over and sat next to Buffy. "Perhaps, I'm not the best person to come to with matters of the heart, but I suppose that I'm the only one you have to talk to about this."

Buffy nodded, her lower lip stuck out like a pouting three year old's. Sitting back up, she leaned her head against Giles shoulder. "Giles, what am I gonna do?" she asked sadly.

"Well, I suppose the question is, Buffy, do you have feelings for Oz?" Giles asked, surprising her by his lack of stutter. She only nodded sadly. "You do have Willow's feelings to think about, as well as your own. Buffy, you've been so sad for so long. Do you really think keeping something like this from Willow is going to help with your depression?"

Buffy's head perked up and she stared at him. "Who says I have a depression?"

"Buffy," Giles said, cocking his eyebrow at her.

"Okay, okay, can't keep a thing from the Watcher guy, sheesh," she said, resting her head on his shoulder again. "That still doesn't answer my question. What do I do?"

"Buffy, I-I-I-I can't give you the answers, because I don't rightly know. I do know that both you and Willow have the right to be happy. You've always been able to talk to Willow. Perhaps you and Oz ought to tell her about what's going on," Giles suggested.

"But if I tell her, she'll hate me forever. I can't lose Willow, I don't know what I'd do if I lost her," Buffy complained, tears brimming in her eyes. "B-but I feel something for Oz. I don't know what it is, but it's something. And I never thought I'd be able to feel something for another man again."

As Buffy's tears spilled over and made their way down her cheeks, Giles wrapped an arm around her shoulder and held her tightly in a hug. "Buffy, it's right of you to think of Willow's feelings, but you should also think of your own. As well as Oz's. That's all I can really tell you."

"Ya know, Giles," Buffy said, wiping her cheeks clear of her tears. "You really weren't much help at all." She laughed a bit when he gave her an abashed look. "But thanks. For just being here for me, like always."

Resting her cheek against his chest, Buffy wrapped an arm around Giles' waist and let out a long sigh. A small smile played on her lips as he began stroking her hair comfortingly. "Night, Giles," she said, before slipping into a light slumber.

Once he heard her breath steady, Giles slipped out from under her. Arranging her into a more comfortable position on his couch, Giles draped a thin cover over her. Standing up straight, Giles looked down at his young charge, once again mourning for her and all of the things she would never be able to have. Flipping off the light, Giles headed upstairs for a fitful sleep.

The End

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