Hey! I've posted two chapters tonight so make sure you read chapter 8 before reading this one!

Don't forget to leave me a review or just say hello!

Chapter 9: O Soave Fanciulla

*Jenny*
I was so excited to finally take a shower, shave and brush my teeth. I desperately needed one from the moment I woke up in my grave. I remembered how terrified I was with the dirt falling on my face. I shuddered thinking about it. I decided to focus on where I was now.

I didn't want to say anything to Rupert but this place had looked as if it had been abandoned for a couple weeks. Clothes had been tossed everywhere. I had even noticed dried flower petals on the floor. The place reeked of booze and bad food. The moment Rupert and I had walked in, he was flustered and rushed me upstairs to settle in. I assumed he wanted time to clean up, so I decided to take my time.

I stepped out of the shower and looked through the bag of clothes Sanarah had brought for me. I quickly noticed a theme. Everything was short, flowy and amorous. She must have planned this. Not that I really minded, I loved to see him squirm. I really did.

I smiled sliding into a long flowy black dress. The dress had a deep v-neck that stopped about an inch above my navel. Very thin straps held the dress up above my shoulders and crossed behind my back. A sheer black fabric gave another layer to the bottom half of the dress. The black fabric beneath the sheer covering had a long slit high up my right side, showing off my good leg.

I've been told I have the body of a dancer. Maybe I was in a different life.

When I saw that Sanarah had also stashed me some jewelry and basic make-up, I realized I had just made a new best friend. I reshaped my eyebrows, applied mascara and lightly used eyeliner around my eyes. A wide smile stretched across my face after I had applied the finishing touch, a bright red lipstick. Her jewelry was also very simple. I accessorized my outfit with a metallic gold cuff bracelet and matching choker. I didn't have any shoes for my new outfit but I was satisfied with being barefoot. I put a very small ring on my index toe. I hadn't dressed up this much in a long time. However, I also had plans to dress down tonight, which I also haven't done since the Burning Man festival last summer. I felt beautiful tonight, and I had to remember to thank Sanarah the moment I saw her.

I splashed myself with some perfume before making my grand entrance into the living room.

The moment I had stepped out of the upstairs bathroom, the wonderful smell of food had overwhelmed me. I began salivating. It had completely vacated the smell that the condo previously held. I looked over at his bedroom and it had been cleaned, his bed made. Everything in this condo seemed to be a different shade of mismatched green, which I assumed might be his favorite color. Books were everywhere. Where there wasn't wall, there were shelves. I slowly made my way down the stairs and could see that the stairs and living room had also been swept and cleaned.

Before I reached the bottom step, there had been a knock on the door. I froze, forgetting that Sanarah was coming back tonight with my medicine. I suddenly felt completely overdressed for the company. Rupert had made his way to the front door, and I listened.

"Sanarah!" He greeted her cheerfully, "Come in. I was hoping you could join us for dinner?"

"Wow Mr. Giles, I think this is the happiest I've ever seen you."

I slowly continued my path down the stairs until I could see them both in the doorway. Sanarah handed Rupert a brown paper bag.

"I'd love to stay but I think tonight should be just you and Ms. Calendar." She looked over Rupert's shoulder and saw me. I mouthed thank you to her as clearly as I could. She smiled in return, "Looks like you two are going to have a very special night."

"A-are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Rupert took the paper bag from Sanarah.

"I can't thank you enough, Sanarah, for everything you have done."

"Don't mention it. I'll be back tomorrow in case we decide we want to go check on Lucy."

"I think Jenny would love that."

"Goodnight."

"Yes, Goodnight."

Rupert closed the door and flipped a kitchen towel over his shoulder. He kept his head down as he shuffled his hand through the brown bag.

"What...?"

He pulled a small square packaged condom from the bag. The moment he recognized what it was, he noticed me standing in front of him. The brown bag slid from his hand and made a thud once it hit the rug beneath him. The two medicines fell out and rolled around the floor. His green eyes stared at me. He still held the condom in his other hand. It took a long pause before he could react. He quickly hid the condom in his back pocket.

"Hi." I smiled watching him stumble, "What are you making for dinner?"

"Hm?" He said, clearly not listening as his eyes were focused on my chest.

He had never seen me so dressed up before. "For dinner… Rupert."

"Oh!" He closed his eyes and turned to go back into his kitchen. He kept his gaze down as he spoke. "Well, it's funny actually, I haven't been home for a while so I didn't have much here to cook. So I'm actually just cooking some meat and hoping that I can think of something to put together."

"Let me help!" I said excitedly, loving the challenge.

"N-no, a-actually it would be better if you-"

He was interrupted when I bent over to open the fridge.

"You have some tortillas, tomatoes, and lettuce! This wasn't a challenge at all." I admitted disappointed.

"What can we make with that?"

"Tacos?" I looked over at Rupert curiously, "Seriously Rupert, you need to get out more. Here, just cut these up." I handed the tomatoes and lettuce over to him. He took them from me, grabbed a large knife from a small shelf, and began cutting the tomatoes. "Hey, at least we finally get that Mexican food you promised me."

"Well, I hadn't promised I would make it." He said wryly.

"We will get some real Mexican food soon. But tonight let's work with what we got. No… Rupert dice the tomatoes. Dice them."

"Y-you look great Jenny." He said without looking over at me as I began to cut the lettuce.

"Thanks. I really owe Sanarah for this!" Rupert continued dicing the tomatoes in silence. He wouldn't even glance at me, "Rupert is something wrong?"

"No."

"Then why won't you look at me?"

He slowly put his knife down and took a deep breath. "Jenny I've been busy with the Watcher's Council for years. It's been a long time since I..." he stopped. But he didn't need to continue, I knew what he meant.

"Are you scared?"

"Very."

"Well, we don't have to do anything tonight. We can take it slow..." Rupert softly kissed my forehead.

I continued cutting the lettuce as he put his diced tomatoes into a bowl and walked around the Island to put the bowl on the counter.

"I'm going to need help rubbing tonight."

He almost tripped as he slammed the bowl onto the counter, catching himself. He looked at me with the largest eyes. I smiled at him, "The medicine." I reminded him, "Doctor said I need it all over."

"Y-yes o-of course. I-I'd love to." He put his kitchen towel down from his shoulder onto the counter and looked down nervously, "W-where d-do you need me to rub?"

"Well, they bit me all over." I began putting the lettuce into a bowl, as Rupert had and walked around the island to also place it on the counter. I continued to taunt him when I stood next to him, "I mean look at me. From my ankles to my knees, to my thighs." I put my leg through the slit of the dress, and his stare was attending to my newly exposed skin. I continued, "My arms, my neck, my back, between my breasts. I'm really counting on you to get it all for me and everything in between."

"I-I'll be very thorough." He assured me, looking down again. He walked passed me and back into the kitchen. "We can get started after dinner." I turned around to see him again in the kitchen. He appeared as if he had a brilliant idea.

*Giles*
I realized that the only way to beat her at this game was to taunt her back.

"Sounds like you'll have to strip down to your underwear in order for me to be VERY thorough."

I watched her carefully.

"Oh, Sanarah didn't pack me any underwear."

I burned my hand on the stove. I hadn't realized that I had leaned into it. She held in a snicker, and I could see it clearly in her expression.

"Well, my ingredients are ready. Are you?" She said hiding her smile.

"Yes!" I said still in pain from the stove top, "My meat is ready."

"Oh really." she purred.

"Damn! I-I-I mean for the tacos."

I couldn't handle this anymore. Rupert Giles was so bad at trying to seduce women. But there was one part of me that wasn't. Ripper was great. At this point, I didn't know what else to do and for one moment I didn't want to be a bumbling idiot in front of Jenny Calendar. What would Ripper do?

*Jenny*
He turned off the stove and for a moment I started to feel bad. He did seem like I had pushed too far and gotten really mad. If he really needed to go slow, I should respect his wishes. I watched him carefully as he turned off the stove. Trying to read him right now was rather difficult.

He walked out of the kitchen. "Forget it."

His tone was angry.

"Rupert I'm sorry. Let's just eat dinner. I'll stop, I promise."

"You better not." He demanded. He moved so close that there was no space between our bodies. He pressed his forehead against mine. One hand held my chin and the other had moved through the slit of my dress and had a firm grip on my ass. "I'm just getting started."

My body became numb with excitement. I couldn't wait for him to touch me everywhere. I couldn't wait to explore his every squirm. He kissed me roughly. Something bothered me about this. He wasn't himself. He noticed my hesitation and pulled his lips away from mine.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to have sex?"

I shook my head. He tilted his head in confusion.

"I want to make love."

Rupert understood. His expression softened, and his hand fell from my dress. He bent down and grabbed the medicines.

"I'll meet you upstairs." He instructed.

"But what about dinner?"

"Nothing that my meat and a bottle of bourbon can't cure." He said with a sweet smile on his lips.

"Rupert Giles." I said walking up the stairs, "You sure know how to cook me a good meal."

When I reached the top of the stairs, I knew I didn't have a lot of time until he arrived. I noticed the candles around the room, so I rubbed my hands together and opened my palms, breathing into them. This breathed life into every candle in the room, a trick I learned in college. I noticed the record player next to his bed. I didn't recognize the record or the names on the record. It read,

O Soave Fanciulla From "La Boheme"
Written by Giacomo Puccini
Performed by Jonathan Welch and Luba Orgonasova
Courtesy of Naxos Recordings.

I decided Rupert was into it, considering he owned it. I flipped the on the switch of the record player, and the music sounded very operatic. I turned around and saw Rupert standing at the top of the steps holding a bottle of bourbon. He smiled endearingly at me. He admired the candles around us as I turned off the lights. The glow from the candles kept the room dimly lit. The sounds from the record began to swell, getting louder all around us. I looked over at Rupert and something about him had changed as he was standing there.

He looked petrified. The bottle of bourbon in his hand had crashed onto the ground. Shattered glass had exploded all around his feet. And the bourbon created a running puddle dripping down the stairs.

"Jenny." He sounded breathless.

He turned the light switch back on and ran over to his record player. He flipped the switch off, opened the cover and grabbed the record from inside. He threw it hard against the floor and it shattered along with the glass. He looked at me with wide eyes and grabbed me in the tightest hug.

"Jenny!"

"Rupert what is going on?!" I was terrified. I didn't know what to think. It was as if he had suddenly gone crazy.

"This is how I lost you."

"What?" I finally hugged him back, stroking the back of his head.

"I'm sorry Jenny, I had a flashback." He sat down on the side of the bed, and I followed him, watching him closely. "I-I… I don't want to think about it. Did I hurt you? Are you okay?"

"That's okay Rupert." I rubbed his side, "I'm here. I survived. But the bourbon didn't make it."

"I have another on the bookshelf." He said unphased.

"Alright, Rupert," I said standing from the bed. "You relax. I'll be back."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm grabbing us some dinner and another bottle of bourbon. We can eat in bed."

"But you wanted to have sex."

I playfully rolled my eyes at him, "It's not my first cold shower with you, England. I can wait."

"I-It's not?!"

I winked back at him.

I carefully maneuvered around the broken shatters on the floor and was about to head downstairs before Rupert called out to me, "Jenny, your ass, it felt great."

"I know."

We spent the rest of the night in bed laughing for no reason while sipping our bourbon and eating our leftover tacos. I had never felt so safe in my entire life. I've never felt so at home. We left the mess on the floor to clean for tomorrow, and I decided to sleep in the dress since Sanarah didn't leave me much in the area of pajamas. But, I'm sure that was on purpose.

"I'm going to have to make you a key," Rupert said gleefully.

"Until then you'll just have to keep the door unlocked." I joked.

He kissed my forehead.

I fell asleep in his arms. Our hands never disconnected.