AN: Usual disclaimers. To my lovely readers- I hope you all like this next itty bitty chapter. It took about a year to get finished. (Woops! Sorry!) Please review if you have any thoughts on this fluffy little chapter. Enjoy!

Song for this chapter: Nuvole Bianche - Ludovico Einaudi (no words)

Strength and Frailty - Ch. 6

…about an hour later…

Emotionally exhausted, they lay on top of the faded covers of the bed facing each other. Both their heads shared Buffy's only pillow, their tired eyes trailing across the familiar and beloved features of the other - a freckle here, a wrinkle there, the sweep of a brow, a curve of cheekbone, the point of a chin.

A strange and quiet feeling sat between them - heavy like the weight of anticipation and warm like the first embers of a fire. "Hey, you," Buffy whispered.

His eyes crinkled in a small smile. "Hey."

"Say," she said in a cheerful, matter of fact tone, "did you know that I've been teaching one of my neighbor's kids some of the self defense stuff you taught me?"

Giles barked a startled laugh and replied dryly, "Oh, really?"

"Yup," she smiled.

He grinned back. "I knew there was something familiar about how I got knocked on the head."

"Hey, I don't think I ever knocked your head," she pouted.

"Neither did your student. He simply incapacitated me and the architecture did the rest."

Giles smiled, but Buffy fretted. "Does it hurt much? Do you need any painkillers?"

"No, no." Giles grasped her small hands between his. "I'm fine."

Buffy held his hands tightly for a moment, searching his face for any trace that he was lying. "Okay," she breathed when she found none.

"I must say, I admire how Jacob used what was on hand to take me down," he said lightly. "Only a jacket and a well aimed kick."

"Yah, well, you always used to remind me that anything could be a weapon. I just passed on your wisdom."

"Which, of course, came back to bite me in the arse," he grumbled and was rewarded with Buffy's chuckle.

Seeing his answering smile, she sighed, "God, I've missed you."

"And I you." Giles, leaned across the pillow, tilted his chin up and laid a soft kiss on her forehead. When he looked at her face once more, it was to find that he was much closer to those big, stormy eyes than he had been just a moment before and he became caught in their gaze.

Buffy's fingers started playing with the collar of his black shirt. "Giles?" she whispered.

"Yes?" His heart twisted as he watched her face cave into the saddest expression, chin wobbling, brows scrunched up, and eyes shining with tears again.

"Could we maybe not fight anymore?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"… Buffy." His arms wrapped around her as she sniffled and he kissed her forehead again. "Of course, darling." He kissed one of her closed eyes. "We won't fight." he murmured. He kissed her cheek. Or at least he meant to. But she had shifted or he hadn't aimed very well because Buffy felt a shock run down her spine as Giles' mouth landed on the corner of hers. They both gasped and their eyes flew open to meet in surprise, but neither moved away.

After a moment, Buffy took a chance, closed her eyes, slid her hand against Giles' square jaw, and gently brushed her lips against his. His heart stuttered in the best way possible and, after a split second, he reverently kissed her back.

As for Buffy, the joy in her chest built to near bursting proportions and a fog of happiness seemed to swirl in her head. Nothing in her life had ever felt more right than this. Was this what kissing Giles was like? She'd wondered about it years back, giggling with Willow in the library. She giggled now, bright and giddy. And Giles joined her. Noses an inch apart, they laughed.

"What-" Buffy gasped, trying to rein in her laughter. "What the hell are we doing?"

"I have no idea!" giggled Giles, eyes smiling. "But I think I like it."

"Me, too."

"Really?"

"Truly."

"Madly, deeply?"

"Ugh. I never should have added the pop alt station to the tramp's radio setting."

"I'm quite serious."

"So am I! That song was waaay over played."

"I think we've lost track of the original subject. Allow me to remind you." He gathered her closer and made to kiss her again when, "Ow! Wha-"

"Hey! You! You're married!" Buffy made to smack him upside the head again.

"Wait! No - I was never married!" he shouted. She paused mid-strike and Giles gingerly touched the cut on his head from earlier. "Ow." he said pointedly.

"Oh, god! I'm sorry, Giles. Shit. You're bleeding again. I'll get you a towel, you… you explain." Buffy scrambled up toward the bathroom, muttering, "Hello, recent head trauma, Buffy! Stupid, stupid, stupid…"

Giles chuckled to himself. Act first, question second. Some things never change. He pulled himself up to sit up on the edge of her bed again.

She quickly remerged from the bathroom after wetting a small washcloth, flopped huffily onto the bed beside him, and immediately attacked blood that had seeped from Giles' cut. "You were explaining?"

Giles let her fuss over him and wished he had thought to grab his glasses from the desk for a good polishing. "Well, I- I was never married while I was in England. I took part in Olivia's wedding to an old classmate from my Oxford days. I introduced them, you see. I was a groomsman." He hissed as Buffy scrubbed a bit of dried blood away.

"And?"

"… I was never married?"

"No, I mean, how did we all end up thinking that you'd gotten hitched?"

"Ah, yes. My father-" she scrubbed a little harder. "Ouch."

She shushed him. "Your father?"

"My father had been visiting for a few days when you were… were shot. His caretaker was a Council nurse who suggested that he might enjoy more outings with familiar people or places. I'd usually go our old family home or meet them at Council Headquarters. They came rarely came to my flat, actually. However, that day he must have picked up the phone and relayed erroneous information to whomever he spoke to."

"He had a stroke, right? Multi-infact dementia, was it?"

"Multi-infarct… Yes," he was surprised she remembered, having only mentioned his father in passing years ago. She always surprised him. He watched her nodding her head in contemplation, fiddling with the dry end of the washcloth and realized anew that she might never have surprised him again. It felt as though a great weight sat upon his chest. He might have never again looked upon her face, might never again have heard her voice or gotten a chance to hold her. There was a roaring in his ears. "I should have been here," he croaked. She blinked at the change of subject. "You were shot, Buffy." His voice sounded very distant to his own ears.

"Yup," she said flippantly.

"By a gun."

"Uh huh."

"In the head!" his voice cracked.

"I know it."

"Buffy," he said chidingly.

"I know, I know. I just - I try not to think about it?" He nodded in understanding. "I was in a very low place anyway when it happened, but waking up in that hospital… I dunno. I kind of collapsed in on myself… Kinda like one of those dying stars that turn into black holes, you know? Only I don't think I've imploded or exploded or whatever, yet."

"Do you believe you're likely to implode?"

"I don't know," she mumbled. "Maybe?"

He tugged the damp washcloth out of her hands and tossed it onto the desk, replacing it with his own hands around hers. "Is that why you had everyone keep this a secret from me?"

She shrugged and was silent.

"Is that why Willow and Xander aren't going on patrol with you anymore?"

"It's not safe for them."

He sighed. "Buffy…"

"I'm supposed to be strong, remember? Stand alone?" she sniffled a tiny sniffle. "No giving up, right? Well, I was, and I did, and I didn't."

"Yes, of course, but Buffy, but not this way… Please, don't sacrifice your health and happiness like this. I-I can't bear to lose you again."

"I'm already lost," she whispered.

"No." Giles grabbed her shoulders. "No, Buffy. You're not lost. You- you're right here."

She smiled wanly. "With you?"

"With me. Always," he spoke with fervently. "I promise you."

Buffy studied his face, searching his eyes, while he held her gaze. She seemed to approve of what she saw because Buffy raised her lips to his in a soft kiss. That soft kissed evolved quickly as she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck, his hands smoothed down from her shoulders toward the dip of her waist.

"Mmm. This is nice," she smiled against his mouth.

"Agreed," he murmured, stealing another kiss.

"What are we doing here, Giles?"

He looked at her Buffy had always been beautiful to him. Giles admired her grace and strength. He delighted in her clever wit and sharp tongue - even when he was the one being mocked. He took pride in her discipline and dedication. He even had a soft spot for her terrible puns and inability to pronounce demon names correctly. It would be untruthful to say he'd never considered Buffy in a romantic sense, but to say that he'd always loved her would be accurate - in evolving variations...

"I-I'm not- not very sure. This- this is something I've hardly e-ever contemplated. This- us."

He was stuttering again, and she felt a surge of affection toward her Watcher. "Me, too," she kissed his nose. "This is… Well, it's kind of strange, isn't it? But I like it. And at the moment, I gotta say, I feel much less implode-y."

At this declaration, Giles smiled and said, "I'm glad."

"You're here and you're not married - and I'm all healed, bullet wounds and scratches. And we'll get used to the strangeness." She hesitated. "You're here to stay, right?"

"Yes," he answered without hesitation. "I'm not going anywhere anymore. Er- except to pack my things in England." Buffy's smile lit up the room.

"I'm glad, too."

AN: Please review! Thanks for reading.

to be continued...