Six Inches Between Us

When they entered the dining room, Giles sent Greg a withering glare as he seated Buffy in her chair. He let his hand brush her shoulder as he seated himself next to her, earning him a smile that made the butterflies in his stomach increase in tenfold.

Dinner was passed with much laughter. Greg told every forbidden tale about Giles’ past. Giles almost died of embarrassment, especially when Buffy sprayed her wine all over the table after a particularly mortifying story.

Despite the laughter at his expense, Giles had never felt happier. The fact that Buffy occasionally placed her hand on his when he blushed the most made him reconsider his decision to throttle Greg. The humiliation was well worth it.

When dessert was over, Buffy announced she would do the dishes, and Giles offered to give her a hand. They stood in the kitchen at the sink together, Buffy in gloves and Giles with a towel. Giles started to repair the damage that Greg had inflicted on their relationship. If lying was needed, so be it.

“You do realise that Greg was kidding, right? Not even half of those stories were true.” As he spoke, Buffy gave him a look with raised eyebrows and a smile, as if she didn’t believe a word he was saying. “Well, ok, maybe they were true, but he seriously exaggerated them to make them more entertaining.”

“Uh huh.” She said with a tone that said that she was merely humouring him. Giles looked at her and then grinned.

“Brat” he said. He suddenly scooped up some soapsuds from the sink and put them on her nose.

“Giles!” Buffy giggled. She tried to wipe away the suds with a gloved and sudsy hand and ended up with more suds than she started with. Giles couldn’t help but laugh as he valiantly lifted his towel to her face to wipe the suds from her cheeks and nose. Once again they were standing close to each other, and Buffy felt her stomach clench in anticipation. Giles dropped the towel and cradled her cheeks in his hands as he lowered his lips to hers.

Nothing prepared them for the onslaught of emotions that came from the gentle meeting of their mouths. Giles captured her lips more firmly, sending tingles of pleasures shooting all the way down into her toes. Buffy had to stifle a groan as he moved his hands from her face to run them through her hair and press her closer to his body. Her arms circled his waist and she let the flat of her hands run up his back. That earned a tha throaty murmur. Another quickly followed as she let her tongue taste his lips and run along the seam of his mouth. Giles tightened his hold on her and let his tongue tangle with hers. Neither of them were able to stifle a moan from the sensation.

Giles realised they needed to stop before it was too late. He regretfully eased himself out of the kiss. He placed his forehead against hers with eyes closed and realized he had to try to catch his breath.

After a moment he opened them and slowly raised his head as Buffy opened hers.

“Oh my God” Buffy said. “That was amazing.”

Giles, who didn’t have control of his voice yet, only nodded and smiled before he bent his head again and gave her a soft kiss. He cleared his throat about to speak just as Greg’s voice drifted into the kitchen.

“I’ll go and see what’s taking them so long.” When he entered the kitchen he found Buffy facing the sink industriously scrubbing dishes and Giles getting cups from the cupboard for coffee.

“Still slaving away at the kitchen? Do you guys want some help?” Before either had the chance to respond Greg exclaimed. “Giles! Why is your shirt wet? Did Buffy decide to clean you up as well?”

Giles turned and bit back a grin as he saw Buffy staring at her wet gloves with a dawning and startled expres.
.

“Ha bloody ha. Just some water that went astray, nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about.” Giles then placed his cup on a tray and motioned for Greg to grab the kettle as he said to Buffy.

“Come on Buffy, leave the rest to soak, I’ll help you with them later.” Buffy turned with a flirtatious smile and told Giles “I’m counting on it” as she followed Greg towards the living room.

For a second all that Giles could do was watch her retreating back. He shook his head and smiled as he went to join the others in the living room.
*****
An hour later, owedowed yawned and sent Giles and Greg an apologetic smile. “Sorry guys, I had an early start this morning. I’m actually supposed to head over to Tara’s tonight, so if you don’t mind, I think I’ll head out.”

Greg, who had watched Buffy and Giles for the last hour, had to admit defeat. They both kept the lids tight on their emotions. They were getting nowhere. That meant he had a lot of work ahead of him before he left town. He had thought that some progress would be made after he pissed the Slayer off in the kitchen talkingut Gut Giles’ women, but when they returned, no real improvement had seemed to occur. Sure, there were enough sparks to set off an entire warehouse of fireworks, but that seemed like it.

He sighed and stood as Willow walked to the door with Buffy and Giles following behind.
“I suppose it’s about time for Rupert and I to go as well” Greg said when he saw Buffy unsuccessfully hide a yawn. “It has been a pleasure.” He kissed both Willow and Buffy goodbye as Giles called him a cab.

Willow grabbed their coats. As she opened the door the cab pulled up in front of the house.
Giles gave both Willow and Buffy a quick hug, regretfully keeping his embrace with Buffy short since the others were standing right next to them. There was so much he wanted to say, but this wasn’t an appropriate time.

Buffy smiled regretfully at him as Willow let them out. With a final look at Buffy, standing in the doorway, Giles walked Greg to his cab. He double checked to make sure the cab driver was human and relaxed when he saw a cross hanging from his rear view mirror.

“Good night guys, walk safely!” Buffy said pointedly to Giles and Willow who were headed off in opposite directions.

With a sigh she closed the door and moved to the couch to watch some television before she went to bed. She had hoped that somehow Giles could have stayed, but the opportunity hadn’t arisen. Oh well, she thought. I guess Letterman is the only man who’ll keep me company tonight.

In the cab, Greg was deep in thought, trying to figure out a way to help Giles and Buffy before he had to leave. It was clear that Giles was going to let his attraction slide. He thought Buffy was the one he needed to work on. An idea suddenly struck him, and he told the cab driver to return to the house.

As they approached he told the cab driver to wait and stepped out of the car. Just as he was about to cross the lawn he heard his name being called.

It was Willow.

“What are you doing here?” he said.

Willow chuckled. “Probably the same as you are. I’m going to talk Buffy into putting some moves on Giles. It’s exhausting to watch all these sparks. And sexual tension between them is driving me nuts. Giles is too stubborn to do anything, but Buffy’s brave, so I figured with a little probing she would eventually do something. If nothing else, I’m willing to resort to threats.”

Greg started laughing and admitted that was his sentiment exactly. Both turned and crossed the lawn towards the living room window just to make sure she was still up. What they saw through the window stopped them both.

Buffy tried to get into the spirit of Letterman, but her thoughts kept straying back to the incredible kiss in the kitchen. She jumpedn shn she noticed a figure appear in the living room doorway.

“Giles! Where did you come from?” Her heart was beating a mile a minute, and it wasn’t because he had startled her.

On his way home Giles had been unable to stop thinking about Buffy. Rashly he decided to return.

He smiled at her, “The kitchen door. I figured you might be in there cleaning up. Instead I find you here slouched on the couch watching television. Shocking, simply shocking.”

Buffy smiled as she stood and breathlessly asked, “Why did you come back?”

With a slight blush he answered, “To help you finish the dishes.”

TBC