Chapter 4:
Far away

This is around two weeks later after chapter 3 occurred. I hope you enjoy reading!

''Buffy…'', a voice from afar echoed. Its tone dark, stern and filled with a pinch of concern.

No response.

Darkness surrounded her. Her world unlit. She tried to rub her eyes to see some form of light- any kind, to awake herself from this sinister world, but it was in vain. It seemed unfamiliar yet familiar. Yet.. she was alone. And as ominous as it was, and as appalling as it felt, she cried out, she screamed out, ready to face the detestable, threatening world.

Someone should be out there to help her, awaken her…

Right?

''Buffy!'', the voice suddenly said out loud, blatantly piercing through her ears, her mind aware as she felt a soft and gender caress on her shoulder, it attempting to gently wake her up.

But.. still, it seemed so far away..

Abruptly, something wet came to her senses and she jumped up, waking up. '' 'The hell?'', she practically yelled out.

She took a closer look at her surroundings and hoped to catch her invader red-handed. Willow sat in a seat across hers, rolling her eyes lightly as she blushed. Giles was standing next to her, his left hand covering a part of his face, anxiously rubbing his forehead with his index and middle finger. And Xander.. well, he stood at the other side of her, grinning like a madman as he pointed at her with his index finger, it appeared to be covered with something wet.. something see-through..

''Xander, what the heck!,'' Buffy squealed, ''Don't tell me you just gave me a wet willy..''

''…I didn't just gave you a wet willy?'', he replied rather hesitant, trying to get of the hook by giving her the hopeful puppy eyes.

Buffy shot him a glare and tried to get the saliva out of her ear as she looked around the room, ''So, did I miss anything important?''

''Oh, nothing important, really, just the findings of my research,'' Giles practically growled at her as he placed his hands on his sides, tilting his head as he did so, ''And if I remember correctly; you asked me to do the bloody research in the first place.''

She immediately focused her attention on her Watcher. He sure seemed awfully uptight today, what was up his butt? Oh, that voluptuous butt…

A blush appeared on her cheeks, reddening as she looked away, her imaginative mind filling with vivid pictures as she tried to come up with some sort of excuse for her behavior. ''I'm sorry, Giles. It's just that I've had some trouble sleeping as of late..''

Giles immediately sat down on the seat beside her, eyebrows heavily frowned as he placed his hands on the table, about to reach out for hers, ''Are you all right?''

Meanwhile, Willow had made her way towards Xander and pulled him along with her by the ear, ready to leave the library and leave both Giles and Buffy alone, giving them some privacy. Of course, being the eavesdropper as he was, Xander had to fight back and struggle like a bitch in heat, though, Willow proved to be a worthy enemy, in fact: the strongest one in this battle.

''Yea, I'm fine, just tired,'' she paused and immediately placed her hands onto her lap, far, far away from his, ''a lot. It'll be fine, though.''

''Since when are you having trouble sleeping?''

Steamingly hot Giles sex...

''For about two weeks now..'', Buffy immediately looked away, looking down at her hands as she bit onto her lower lip.

Giles sighed, took his glasses off and closed his eyes for a brief moment. ''Buffy..,'' he sighed once more, opening his eyes as he touched his forehead lightly, '' Why didn't you come to me any sooner and tell me about this?''

''Because… I..,'' she hesitated, ''I didn't want to put any more weight on you. I know you're finding it difficult to leave Sunnydale and all..''

A smile appeared on his face, but it quickly turned into a sad one, ''That's very thoughtful of you, Buffy, but I rather have you tell the truth than acting as if you're happy for me..''.

There was a brief moment of silence before Giles got on his feet and started to make his way towards his office, hands into his pockets, but he stopped dead in his tracks, being halfway there with his head hung down. Buffy had forced him to stay in the same room and listen to her. ''But I am truly happy for you, but I'm also sad because you'll be leaving us.. the gang..we've shared so many great moments together.''

He chuckled and tried to glimpse a look at her as he looked over his shoulder, ''Oh, right, slaying demons, fighting evil, stopping the world from being completely vanished and destroyed.. that's what I call such great and wonderful moments..''

Buffy laughed, ''But you have to admit that we've had our fun moments as well. And it did made us stronger as a group. We've bonded; we're a very close group. There's nothing we can't handle..together''. We need you..

Giles smirked in response as he thought back at their time spend together. ''You're right…,'' he sighed and turned round, his eyes facing downwards, ''Buffy.. I don't know what to do..''

She rose up from her chair and made her way to him, facing him and standing only mere inches away. Her eyes penetrative and welling up with tears. She wasn't ready for this: she needed answers, but more importantly, she needed him. He couldn't abandon her like this and leave for good within the next couple of months.

''Don't go..''

A/N: I wrote this around the end of September, but figured it would be better for chapter 5 instead of 4. Almost 2 months later and I still haven't come up with chapter 4, so it seemed better to make this chapter 4. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, let me know!