Was It Always Like This?

Chapter 10

Willow was busy discussing flight arrivals with a harried looking airline employee while Xander and Dawn argued over the best position for the “Welcome Home Giles” banner.

Buffy was sitting nursing a coffee, occasionally glancing at the arrivals board. Willow seemed to have finally run out of questions and moved to sit next to her. “Hey” she said quietly. “You OK?”

Buffy nodded and took another sip of her coffee. “Just a little tired after patrol last night” she made the excuse without any thought.

“But I thought you said there was only one newbie?” Willow asked.

Buffy sighed. “Yeah, but I didn’t sleep too well when I got home – sometimes the lack of a good fight is worse than a busy night Wil Willow looked a little confused then a grin lit up her face. “Oh I get it, I remember Faith telling us..”

“Not the same thing” Buffy quickly interrupted and tried to send forgetful thoughts directly to Willow’s memory centre. “Shouldn’t Giles be here by now?” she asked in a shameless attempt to change the subject.

Willow smirked a little. “You lie really badly sometimes, you know?” she suggested and met Buffy’s startled gaze for a few seconds before nodding towards the airline desk. “The check-in clerk said they had some bad weather mid Atlantic but they should be here in about twenty minutes”

Buffy settled back to wait and eventually Xander and Dawn moved to sit next to them. “I hope he doesn’t get airsick” Dawn suggested and looked at the others a little worriedly. “Perhaps we should have left the welcome home dinner till tomorrow”

Willow patted her knee. “He tries to sleep on most of these long haul flights and usually misses all of the meals. He’ll be starving by the time he arrives”

Xander nodded and held up a brown paper bag. “Hence the munchies for the car journey” he stared into the depths. “Twinkies, oreos everything he must have been missing”

The three of them chatted inconsequentially and Buffy was glad to let their conversation wash over her. She was relieved today had finally arrived and wasn’t lying when she told Willow that she hadn’t slept very well, although her friend wasn’t entirely wrong about thesonssons!

However, a large part of her discomfort had been worrying over his return and how they would react to each other. She was the one who had complained that he only ever came back to them when some apocalypse was threatening but at least they all had their well defined parts to play in those scenarios. Now that he was here purely for pleasure and the Hellmouth was quiet, she wasn’t sure how they would all interact, or rather how she would react. She glanced at the others as they laughed at something Xander had said, they all seemed confident and happy about his return, why couldn’t she concentrate on the good and let the bad stuff sort itself out?

He politely let the large family group move ahead of him and took a moment to stretch his cramped legs and lower back before thanking the air stewards and heading towards the arrivals lounge. No doubt they would all be waiting and he wasn’t sure what the dominant feeling was – embarrassment at the inevitable public displays of affection, relief that they were all well or excitement at being back with them. He shrugged his shoulders and rounded the final corner, not realising that his face had decided that a slightly jeg-lagged smile would be the emotion of choice to begin with.

He tried to argue with Xander but the young man was insistent and Giles finally gave up and put an arm round Dawn as Xander carried his bags. Willow moved up to his other side to walk next to him, and the three moved slightly ahead as Xander smiled his thanks at Buffy and handed her the biggest suitcase. “He probably only brought two suitcases filled with books this time around, after all it is a holiday” she suggested.

Xander hefted another bag and sighed. “Someone has got to tell him about paperbacks”

Willow pushed open the door of the Summer’s home and headed towards the kitchen to put the kettle on. Dawn was busy filling him in on her progress at school and Xander helped Buffy take the luggage upstairs. “I’m quite happy to sleep on the sofa” he smiled at Buffy on her return.

“I know how uncomfortable that sofa is and I’ve got slayer healing and younger muscles to help me cope” she smiled sweetly. “Besides, Willow and I are treating the whole thing like a marathon pajama party”

He raised his eyebrows and smiled at Willow as she came into the room with a tray. “Makes me wish I had brought some decent pyjamas” he said quietly under his breath and moved some magazines from the coffee table to give Willow the space to put the tray down.

“Xander could probably lend you some” Dawn smiled at him and nodded towards Xander as he came downstairs.

Xander looked a little puzzled. “You couldn’t possibly have forgotten anything – I think the closet is in the suitcase along with the clothes”

Giles sighed and tried to remember that he would inevitably be overheard if it would cause him embarrassment – that’s just how the powers that be worked for him. “It’s OK” he smiled at the young man. “I think I do remember packing some after all”

He spent the next hour or so regaling them with stories of the work he had been doing for the Council. Buffy looked more than a little grumpy when he mentioned Travers’ name but she soon perked up when he explained exactly where the demon had slashed him and the number of stitches required. Eventually he couldn’t stop the yawn from surfacing and Willow looked sheepishly at her watch. “It must be about one am in London, perhaps you’d like to rest for a couple of hours?”

He shook his head. “No, I’ll be fine. I usually try to stay awake until normal bed time when I come over, it makes the changeover pass more quickly” he yawned again and was sure his jaw was going to crack. “However, a shower might be helpful before we discuss the Guilen information”

Buffy stood up “I’ll just show you where everything is”

“I’m sure I’ll remember” he began but she had already started up the stairs. He smiled at Willow as he turned to follow her. “When I come back down perhaps we can go over the information you have collected since our last email?”

“Are you sure you want to work, perhaps it could wait till tomorrow?” she suggested.

“It will take me a few days to get used to ‘tomorrow’ as a useful concept, I’d rather get started right away if that’s OK with you?” he didn’t wait for her answer, heading upstairs to the bathroom.

Buffy waited for him outside the room he was using and glanced behind him to make sure he was on his own. “Did Willow seem OK to you when you mentioned the research?” she asked in a fierce whisper.

“She seemed a little concerned about tiring me but I think she was comfortable enough” he seemed a little perplexed. “In fact she seems happier than I remember her for some time – do you detect something I should be worried about?”

“Nope” Buffy shook her head but was obviously not entirely sure. “I’m just worried she’s getting a bit freaked about the magic stuff”

He moved past her and opened one of his cases. Gathering his toilet bag he headed towards the bathroom “I’ll know better once I’ve had a chance to talk to her, perhaps you could take Xander and Dawn out somewhere and give us some time to ourselves”

Buffy nodded and started to follow him into the bathroom. “Good plan but you’ll need to be quick because I’ve got to be back at six to get dinner started” He stared at her for a minute with one eyebrow raised and his glasses in his hand. “What, you don’t trust me to cook dinner?” she said defensively and put her hand on her hip.

“Actually I was just wondering whether you were going to stay there while I showered or if you needed anything else before you left” he smiled as she glanced around the bathroom and blushed a little.

“I think you can manage from here, I’ll see you later” she mumbled and pulled the door behind her as she left.