Title: Misunderstandings - Part 1
Rating: FRAO (Adults Only)
Pairing: Buffy/Giles (eventually)
Summary: Another birthday has tragic consequences for Buffy
Setting: set after season seven
Warnings: contains non-consensual sex
Disclaimer: These are not my characters. They belong to Joss, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB & Mutant Enemy. This is purely for fun.
pt 1 ~ pt 2 ~ pt 3a ~ pt 3b ~ pt 4 ~ pt 5 ~ pt 6 ~ pt 7 ~ pt 8 ~ pt 9 ~ pt 10 ~ pt 11 ~ pt 12 ~ pt 13 ~ pt 14 ~ pt 15 ~ pt 16
* * * * * * * * * *
For once, Buffy was looking forward to her birthday. Things were actually going well for a change. The Council had been rebuilt; they weren’t living on a Hellmouth; and she was in love. She still couldn’t believe it. She was in love, real love, the kind that would last forever.
It had been six months since she had accepted Giles’ invitation to go out for coffee. Their relationship had progressed slowly from that point. Giles had courted her, making her feel like a princess. He was always a perfect gentleman, and she had been certain he would do something special for her birthday.
That’s why she worried when he didn’t ask her on a date for her birthday.
“Don’t worry, Buffy,” Willow told her. “I’m sure he just wants to surprise you.” Willow sighed. “You guys have been taking it slow, right?”
“Yeah,” Buffy answered as she sat on the couch.
“Well, maybe he wants to do something exciting, spice things up a bit. I’m sure he’s just planning a surprise.”
“Or he’s bored and wants to dump me,” she said glumly.
Willow sat down next to her. “Buffy, I’m sure that’s not it at all. If it’ll make you feel better, I could drop a few hints for you.”
“Hints?” asked a voice from the doorway.
“Buffy thinks you forgot her birthday,” Willow blurted out, barely pausing for breath.
“Willow!” Buffy shouted in a mixture of horror and embarrassment.
“I should go,” Willow said as she stood. “We’ll talk later.”
Stunned, Buffy watched as Willow hurried from the room, leaving her alone with Giles.
* * * * * * * * * *
“Buffy, it can’t be helped. I must go,” Giles insisted, his voice filled with regret.
“Send someone else,” Buffy suggested desperately.
He sat next to her on the couch and took her hand in his. “I wish I could, but I’m the only one qualified to handle the situation.”
“But my birthday. . .”
“I promise we’ll celebrate as soon as I get back.”
Buffy looked skeptical.
Giles caressed her cheek, catching a falling tear. “We’ll do something special, just the two of us.”
“You’ll hurry back?” Buffy asked, her eyes shining with tears.
Giles nodded. “I’ll return home as quickly as possible.” He leaned in and gave her a kiss that promised much more to come.
“You should go now,” she told him as she pulled away, “or else I may not let you leave.”
“I love you, Buffy.”
“I love you, too.”
Buffy watched as he stood and walked out.
* * * * * * * * * *
“Come on, Buffy,” Dawn pleaded. “You have to go. We can’t have your birthday party without you.”
“I don’t want to go.” The petulance in her voice was clear, even to her.
“So, you’re just gonna sit here and mope all night?” Dawn asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.
“Yep,” Buffy answered, crossing her arms across her chest. “That’s the plan.”
“Giles would want you to enjoy your birthday.”
“What if he calls?”
“We’ll take your cell phone with us. He knows the number,” Dawn answered.
Buffy knew Dawn wouldn’t take no for an answer. “All right, but don’t expect me to have fun.”
* * * * * * * * * *
It was the most uneventful birthday party Buffy had ever had. There was cake, ice cream, and punch. Both Xander and Willow danced with her. Even when Faith and Robin arrived, nothing much happened, aside from a few of the new slayers giving them jealous looks.
Of course, the new slayers looked at her and Giles that way, too. She wasn’t sure what it meant or if it meant anything at all.
Buffy opened her gifts without much emotion. They were just what she’d expected. Dawn and Willow gave her new clothes. Xander gave her movies. She received a variety crosses and weapons from the slayers.
Buffy began to think of excuses to leave the party when Faith called to her. “Hey, B.” She pointed to some of the girls who were dancing. “Let’s show them how to really dance. You know. The way we used to. It’ll be fun.”
“Faith, I don’t want-”
Faith interrupted, “I’m not taking no for an answer.”
“What about Robin?” Buffy asked.
Faith glanced at Robin and smiled. “He’s okay with it as long as I save him a dance. He’s not much for our kind of dancing.”
She pushed Buffy onto the dance floor. Soon, as the music filled her head and her body began to move, Buffy forgot her grief and began to enjoy herself.
* * * * * * * * * *
The first thing Buffy noticed when she woke was the pounding headache. Then she realized she was naked.
“What happened? How did I get home?”
She didn’t remember much after she and Faith had danced the previous night.
She tried to remember as she threw on sweat pants and a t-shirt. “I was dancing with Faith, and I started feeling woozy. Willow thought someone might have spiked the punch.”
Buffy walked to the bathroom and saw her clothes scattered all over the floor. “I must have been really drunk,” she mumbled. She shrugged it off, figuring Willow or Xander would call and tell her what happened.
Forgetting about it for a while, she brushed her teeth and thought about taking a shower. When she heard a noise downstairs, she decided against the shower.
“Dawn? Is that you?” Buffy shouted as she headed down the stairs. “I thought you were spending the night with friends.” She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and gasped at the sight before her.
Giles stood near the fireplace drinking from a mostly empty bottle of Scotch. He turned to look at her, his eyes cold and flat.
“Finally crawled out of bed, I see.”