Chapter 3
Buffy bade her mother goodbye and ran into the safety of Starbucks, heading straight toward her usual table, toward her friends.
Willow waved as her best friend practically ran to the spare seat and sat down quickly, clutching her little bag to herself. The green eyes were wild and it was obvious to anyone who knew the girl something significant had just happened.
"Are you ok?" the red head asked, taking the bag from her friend and placing a coffee into the empty hand instead. Buffy grasped it and drank down the strong sweet mix.
"Buffy," Cordelia smirked. "Something wrong?"
Her head shot up fast, her face beet red. "No!" she exclaimed. "Should there be?"
Cordelia took in the panicked expression and her curiosity peaked. It was obvious something had pierced the usually cool expression of Buffy Summers and she was going to find out what it was. "You seem hazy, and what's going on with the whole red face look?"
Buffy stood, dragging Willow to her feet. "I need to get home. Want to come with Wills?"
Willow sensed her urgency and quickly agreed grabbing their belongings, they left together.
The brunette girl watched them go smiling; she leaned over to the perplexed Harmony. "We are so going to get to them bottom of this."
****
Willow and Buffy started the short walk to the Summers' home, the red head keeping quiet until her friend was willing to talk.
Buffy looked at Willow trying to decide whether she could trust her friend with the night's happenings. She could admit all to her friend and get an honest and intelligent opinion to her predicament or she could stay quiet until she burst like a dam.
She took the manicured nail she had been chewing on from her mouth and made her decision, she would tell her.
They went straight to her room, strategically avoiding all other persons in the house. They did not want to be captured by either mother or father to recite their day's activities to them and make nice. "Willow," Buffy began both seating themselves comfortably on the bed. "Can I talk to you?"
"Of course! That's what I'm here for."
"This has to be kept strictly secret though, you cannot repeat a word to anyone," she insisted.
Willow put a hand on her shoulder and gave her best resolve face. "I promise to you, whatever you say to me will go no further than this room."
"Well it's about the voluntary work at the church," she began, her hand starting to wring. "Remember I told you about the younger priest there?" She received an interested nod. "Well... heandIkissedandIranawaylikeabigbaby."
"Woah, hold on there, Buffy!" she exclaimed. "Slow down and say that again."
"Me and Father Giles kissed and now I'm a big perv," she said slowly and sullenly she recited the evening in detail to her friend.
Green eyes widened in disbelief. "You kissed a priest. Buffy how could you!"
"It just happened. I didn't go there planning to defile the priest!"
"I'm not saying you did, Buffy. Did you want him to kiss you? Did you let him or did he force it on you?"
"No!" Buffy exclaimed. "It wasn't like that. I wanted him to kiss me!"
"This is not a good thing. Tell me you are not going back tomorrow?"
She looked into her hands. "I have to. If I don't my father will kill me! I can't tell them what happened, can I?"
"No," Willow admitted. "But, you cannot let this happen again. I think he has abused his position, Buffy, I really do. He should never have let it happen."
Buffy threw herself back on the bed. "I know! But the thing is Willow; I can't stop thinking about him. All I want to do right now, is go back there and finish what I started."
The other girl then giggled, which took Buffy by surprise. "You do realise this is so typically you?"
Buffy nodded a little smiling forming on her lips. "Yeah, I know. I always get myself into these situations."
"All I can say is Buffy, this can not happen again. You have to be platonic with him." A little eyebrow rose and she smiled with her own resolve face, ignoring her chest screaming "like hell". "I will be strong, Wills. There is no way that's going to happen again. I will act like nothing happened and ignore it."
The red head nodded and hid her doubt; Buffy was simply a force of nature and generally not known for her adhesions to her self inflicted vows or any vows for that matter.
****
Before she knew it, Buffy was back in the activity room quietly helping children at the opposite end of the room to the priest. They had not spoken a word to one another so far apart from a cursory greeting.
Every so often they would raise their eyes and soon as contact was made they would immediately look elsewhere and busy their hands, both itching to glance upon the other again.
Father Giles was experiencing inner turmoil for the first time in his life. He had never before questioned his actions and had always considered himself to be above the normal distractions of the mortal man. He had accepted a long time ago that a woman and family would never be his; that the calling within was something bestowed upon him by a higher power. Not once since taking his vows had he regretted or examined that choice. Now he was stood, being tempted by a woman, nay; a girl against everything he had come to hold dear and value.
Buffy Summers had been introduced to him only a few days prior and in that short time, she had caused uproar and chaos in his safe world and he could feel the cracks forming. A frown appeared on his usually calm face as he averted her gaze once more, how could this be? How could this girl make him feel this way, not only was he a priest but her age too; he was a grown man, an adult, how could he feel this way toward a virtual child? He cursed himself and sent a small prayer to his employer, begging for an answer and solution to his problem.
Buffy's head shot down again and she kicked herself for it. She begged herself to stop behaving in such a way and to calm down. I have control of my eyes; she chanted under her breath like a mantra but was helpless to prevent her eyes from drifting again.
They had managed to keep to their respective corners and before too long Father Giles called a halt to the proceedings. He bade the children farewell and asked if Buffy could stay back for a moment.
She rose from her chair slowly and waited for the children to leave.
"Now," the priest said quietly when they were alone. "Buffy, I don't want you to say a word. I need to say a few things and then I would like for you to go home, ok?"
Buffy nodded her head and remained silent, she noted however he kept the distance between them both, presumably as a safety measure.
"What I did last night was very wrong," he started. "I should never have placed you nor myself in that position. I'm sorry Buffy, I truly am and it will never happen again. You can feel assured that whatever happened was a mere slip up and something which I feel sure we can both forget about." He held up a hand to silence her when she tried to interrupt and gave her a sincere smile. "Your mother will be waiting for you; you had better go to her."
Buffy turned and slowly left the room, her insides crushed and deflated. She knew in her heart what he said had been true and that it was wrong and that it should never happen again but it had hurt to hear him voice it, despite the obvious unhappiness in doing so. She never turned around to see his face crumple into misery.
He watched her leave dejectedly and wondered if this were some kind of test that had been placed before him, a test of his faith. He pursed his lip and set about tidying away the materials knowing that with a little determination and strength he would pass this test of faith.
****
Cordelia watched Buffy open the door of her mother's Mercedes with a forlorn face. The two girls had become enemies many years ago, the brunette seeing the blond as competition. Buffy's father was "new" money and simply could not compete in her social arena, but somehow the blond remained popular and Cordelia felt under attack by her mere presence. The fathers' of the two girls were also steadfast competitors which only increased the animosity felt. Money was a powerful drug to be used to gain status, the problem was, Buffy's father had more.
She started the engine of her Boxter and allowed the car across the street to pull away before she left. Cordelia knew full well that something was going on with little miss perfect and she was determined to exploit it. She sneered, something must have happened to rock the blonde's world; she felt it in her blood. She just needed to know what. Glancing back at the church through the rear mirror she pondered what possibilities lay within the church as a means to explain her behaviour.
Buffy bade her mother goodbye and ran into the safety of Starbucks, heading straight toward her usual table, toward her friends.
Willow waved as her best friend practically ran to the spare seat and sat down quickly, clutching her little bag to herself. The green eyes were wild and it was obvious to anyone who knew the girl something significant had just happened.
"Are you ok?" the red head asked, taking the bag from her friend and placing a coffee into the empty hand instead. Buffy grasped it and drank down the strong sweet mix.
"Buffy," Cordelia smirked. "Something wrong?"
Her head shot up fast, her face beet red. "No!" she exclaimed. "Should there be?"
Cordelia took in the panicked expression and her curiosity peaked. It was obvious something had pierced the usually cool expression of Buffy Summers and she was going to find out what it was. "You seem hazy, and what's going on with the whole red face look?"
Buffy stood, dragging Willow to her feet. "I need to get home. Want to come with Wills?"
Willow sensed her urgency and quickly agreed grabbing their belongings, they left together.
The brunette girl watched them go smiling; she leaned over to the perplexed Harmony. "We are so going to get to them bottom of this."
****
Willow and Buffy started the short walk to the Summers' home, the red head keeping quiet until her friend was willing to talk.
Buffy looked at Willow trying to decide whether she could trust her friend with the night's happenings. She could admit all to her friend and get an honest and intelligent opinion to her predicament or she could stay quiet until she burst like a dam.
She took the manicured nail she had been chewing on from her mouth and made her decision, she would tell her.
They went straight to her room, strategically avoiding all other persons in the house. They did not want to be captured by either mother or father to recite their day's activities to them and make nice. "Willow," Buffy began both seating themselves comfortably on the bed. "Can I talk to you?"
"Of course! That's what I'm here for."
"This has to be kept strictly secret though, you cannot repeat a word to anyone," she insisted.
Willow put a hand on her shoulder and gave her best resolve face. "I promise to you, whatever you say to me will go no further than this room."
"Well it's about the voluntary work at the church," she began, her hand starting to wring. "Remember I told you about the younger priest there?" She received an interested nod. "Well... heandIkissedandIranawaylikeabigbaby."
"Woah, hold on there, Buffy!" she exclaimed. "Slow down and say that again."
"Me and Father Giles kissed and now I'm a big perv," she said slowly and sullenly she recited the evening in detail to her friend.
Green eyes widened in disbelief. "You kissed a priest. Buffy how could you!"
"It just happened. I didn't go there planning to defile the priest!"
"I'm not saying you did, Buffy. Did you want him to kiss you? Did you let him or did he force it on you?"
"No!" Buffy exclaimed. "It wasn't like that. I wanted him to kiss me!"
"This is not a good thing. Tell me you are not going back tomorrow?"
She looked into her hands. "I have to. If I don't my father will kill me! I can't tell them what happened, can I?"
"No," Willow admitted. "But, you cannot let this happen again. I think he has abused his position, Buffy, I really do. He should never have let it happen."
Buffy threw herself back on the bed. "I know! But the thing is Willow; I can't stop thinking about him. All I want to do right now, is go back there and finish what I started."
The other girl then giggled, which took Buffy by surprise. "You do realise this is so typically you?"
Buffy nodded a little smiling forming on her lips. "Yeah, I know. I always get myself into these situations."
"All I can say is Buffy, this can not happen again. You have to be platonic with him." A little eyebrow rose and she smiled with her own resolve face, ignoring her chest screaming "like hell". "I will be strong, Wills. There is no way that's going to happen again. I will act like nothing happened and ignore it."
The red head nodded and hid her doubt; Buffy was simply a force of nature and generally not known for her adhesions to her self inflicted vows or any vows for that matter.
****
Before she knew it, Buffy was back in the activity room quietly helping children at the opposite end of the room to the priest. They had not spoken a word to one another so far apart from a cursory greeting.
Every so often they would raise their eyes and soon as contact was made they would immediately look elsewhere and busy their hands, both itching to glance upon the other again.
Father Giles was experiencing inner turmoil for the first time in his life. He had never before questioned his actions and had always considered himself to be above the normal distractions of the mortal man. He had accepted a long time ago that a woman and family would never be his; that the calling within was something bestowed upon him by a higher power. Not once since taking his vows had he regretted or examined that choice. Now he was stood, being tempted by a woman, nay; a girl against everything he had come to hold dear and value.
Buffy Summers had been introduced to him only a few days prior and in that short time, she had caused uproar and chaos in his safe world and he could feel the cracks forming. A frown appeared on his usually calm face as he averted her gaze once more, how could this be? How could this girl make him feel this way, not only was he a priest but her age too; he was a grown man, an adult, how could he feel this way toward a virtual child? He cursed himself and sent a small prayer to his employer, begging for an answer and solution to his problem.
Buffy's head shot down again and she kicked herself for it. She begged herself to stop behaving in such a way and to calm down. I have control of my eyes; she chanted under her breath like a mantra but was helpless to prevent her eyes from drifting again.
They had managed to keep to their respective corners and before too long Father Giles called a halt to the proceedings. He bade the children farewell and asked if Buffy could stay back for a moment.
She rose from her chair slowly and waited for the children to leave.
"Now," the priest said quietly when they were alone. "Buffy, I don't want you to say a word. I need to say a few things and then I would like for you to go home, ok?"
Buffy nodded her head and remained silent, she noted however he kept the distance between them both, presumably as a safety measure.
"What I did last night was very wrong," he started. "I should never have placed you nor myself in that position. I'm sorry Buffy, I truly am and it will never happen again. You can feel assured that whatever happened was a mere slip up and something which I feel sure we can both forget about." He held up a hand to silence her when she tried to interrupt and gave her a sincere smile. "Your mother will be waiting for you; you had better go to her."
Buffy turned and slowly left the room, her insides crushed and deflated. She knew in her heart what he said had been true and that it was wrong and that it should never happen again but it had hurt to hear him voice it, despite the obvious unhappiness in doing so. She never turned around to see his face crumple into misery.
He watched her leave dejectedly and wondered if this were some kind of test that had been placed before him, a test of his faith. He pursed his lip and set about tidying away the materials knowing that with a little determination and strength he would pass this test of faith.
****
Cordelia watched Buffy open the door of her mother's Mercedes with a forlorn face. The two girls had become enemies many years ago, the brunette seeing the blond as competition. Buffy's father was "new" money and simply could not compete in her social arena, but somehow the blond remained popular and Cordelia felt under attack by her mere presence. The fathers' of the two girls were also steadfast competitors which only increased the animosity felt. Money was a powerful drug to be used to gain status, the problem was, Buffy's father had more.
She started the engine of her Boxter and allowed the car across the street to pull away before she left. Cordelia knew full well that something was going on with little miss perfect and she was determined to exploit it. She sneered, something must have happened to rock the blonde's world; she felt it in her blood. She just needed to know what. Glancing back at the church through the rear mirror she pondered what possibilities lay within the church as a means to explain her behaviour.