Chapter Text
The gymnasium lights turned on at midnight and the music stopped. The students that were still there groaned in disappointment, but most had already left the prom, including Buffy, Willow and Xander, along with their dates. Willow had said something about staying up all night and watching the sunrise. It sounded romantic, especially for teenagers who might not have a lot of sunrises left.
Giles, however, was still in the gym, bound as he was by his chaperoning duties. Wesley had ducked out earlier to follow Cordelia, and Giles was grateful for his absence. The less Wesley was around the other high school staff the better. Giles was surprised none of them had yet asked who he was and why he was hanging around. Perhaps living on the Hellmouth taught people to turn a blind eye to all sorts of things, the mundane as well as the supernatural.
As they all filed out of the gym Giles exchanged pleasant “good-nights” with some of those staff.
“You’re not headed to the parking lot?” the math teacher asked as he and Giles turned in opposite directions.
“I need to pick up some books from the library.”
“As if you aren’t around books enough at work, you gotta take them home with you?”
“Yes, well, I actually do like books…” Giles shrugged and tried to look good-natured while thinking that there were some good reasons why he usually avoided most of his colleagues.
Walking towards the library, Giles thought about which volumes he would need to research the Ascension that weekend. He was having trouble focusing though – he suspected that someone had spiked the punch. Not enough that he was drunk, just enough to take the edge off, so by the time he reached the library he was no longer thinking about the urgent matter of how to stop the mayor, but about how the night actually hadn’t been half bad. The children seemed to have had a good time at least, and he liked to see Buffy happy. She certainly deserved it.
When he stepped into the library he was surprised to find Buffy sitting at the research table. Her hair gleamed softly in the moonlight, as did her pink satin dress, and her face, glazed as it was with tears. She seemed just as surprised to see him.
“Buffy! What’s wrong?”
“Nothing! Nothing…” she said, wiping her face with her hand. “I just wanted to be alone.”
“Where’s Angel?”
“He left, we said goodnight, it’s fine, don’t worry. We just… we said goodbye and I wanted to be alone.”
“Oh,” Giles nodded. “I’m sorry to interrupt your, uh, solitude then.”
“It’s okay.” Buffy smiled weakly and got to her feet. “Done with the solitude for the night. Ready to leave the fortress.
“Would you like a ride home?”
“Thanks.”
***
The car ride was mostly silent. Giles thought of asking Buffy if she wanted to talk, or of offering some words of comfort. But he also didn’t want to push her.
As they neared Revello Drive she finally spoke, “Mom will be surprised to see me,” she said listlessly. “She expects me to stay out all night, like she did at her prom. I’m gonna shock her with my self-discipline.”
“I take it this is not a happy prospect?”
Buffy shrugged. “I shouldn’t complain. All-considered it was a better night than I could have expected… a good night even… There was just so much build up, and now… that’s it?”
Giles nodded in understanding. She was let down, of course. He wanted to cheer her up. “I promised you ice-cream, didn’t I?”
Buffy smiled. “You did… but I don’t think anyplace is open.”
“We’ll find somewhere.”
“Okay.”
***
Giles knew, of course, that Buffy would need time to get over Angel, there was no quick fix for that. But he was determined to distract her for a little while at least. After all this was supposed to be a special night for her, it should end on a happy note.
He pulled in to the parking lot of a 24-hour fast food place. “You don’t mind settling for soft-serve, I hope?” He was feeling rather cheerful himself. As sorry as he was for Buffy a part of him felt lighter knowing that Angel would soon be gone.
His good mood seemed to be rubbing off on Buffy. “Hey, all ice-cream is good ice-cream, especially if it’s chocolate.”
Giles bought two chocolate-swirl cones and Buffy asked if he wanted to go for a walk. “This isn’t exactly my idea of appetizing ambiance,” she explained, looking around at the flickering fluorescent lights and depressingly out-dated tile.
“And I think we’re a tad overdressed,” Giles agreed with a smile.
They headed towards a nearby park and meandered slowly along its edge. The balmy summer air carried the scent of night-blooming flowers. Insects chirped from the brush. It was a lively night; the darkness itself seemed to hum with energy.
Giles was amused at the sight of Buffy; it seemed incongruous for a young woman wearing what was honestly quite a sophisticated evening gown to be eating an ice-cream cone as enthusiastically as she was.
Buffy noticed him glancing at her. “What are you smiling at?” She asked suspiciously.
“Nothing,” Giles replied unconvincingly.
“Hey, these things melt quickly, you have move,” Buffy defended herself, finishing off her cone. “See!” She pointed at Giles. “Look at you! You’re dripping!”
“What?” Giles examined at his ice-cream, trying to find the side it was dripping on.
“Here –” Buffy grabbed his cone from him and licked all around the edge, cleaning up the drips. “Fixed!” She exclaimed.
“Thank you so,” Giles said dryly. “You can keep it.”
“Yay.” Buffy smiled, pleased with herself. But then she cringed, looking at Giles’ jacket. “Ooh noo, I was too late! You did get chocolate on you!”
Giles looked down at his suit. “Where?”
“Here…” Still holding the ice-cream cone in one hand, Buffy took Giles’ pocket square with the other and dabbed his lapel. She grimaced, unhappy with the results.
“I have to get it dry-cleaned anyways,” Giles said. He was still feeling light-headed. He wasn’t sure why, any alcohol he had had should have worn off by now.
“Chocolate stains though, you have to get it right away,” Buffy said, continuing with the pocket square. Her bangs fell loose into her face and she tried unsuccessfully to push them back with the hand still holding the ice-cream. Giles tucked them behind her ear for her. Her hair was soft and smooth.
She seemed to get flustered, and, frustrated with the stain, handed Giles back his pocket square. “It’s a shame,” She said with an awkward smile that Giles didn’t quite understand, “You look so dapper.”
***
Instead of heading back to the car Buffy and Giles strolled slowly in the direction of Buffy’s house. They still had some time to kill before she decided it was late enough to return home. Buffy forbade any talk about demons or vampires or anything serious at all. They talked about the night sky, and argued about whether they were looking at an especially bright star or a weather balloon. Giles explained that he still wasn’t used to the stars in California, they were in different places than what he was used to.
“You can’t see them at all in LA, you know,” Buffy said. “The city lights outshine them. You can see so many here.” She tilted her head back, smiling at the sky, and let her gaze get lost in the stars. “They’re like… lots and lots of little Christmas lights. Like every night it’s Christmas in the sky.”
She was happy and unguarded, completely at home in the night, and Giles felt like he was part of something special just being there with her. He looked at her the way she was looking at the stars.
“I suppose that’s one good thing about Sunnydale,” he said gently. “You get to see the stars.”
“I guess…” Buffy became pensive and fell silent.
Giles felt like he had clumsily broken a spell. “What’s wrong?” He asked.
“I just… I wonder if Sunnydale is all there is for me. I’m not going away for college… Will I ever go anywhere else, do anything else… Will I ever fall in love again?”
“Ah…” Giles said softly.
They came upon Buffy’s house and stopped at the end of her walk.
She turned to him. “Does my life just end here? That’s it?”
“No Buffy…” He searched for something to tell her, something that could comfort her but was also true. “I can’t predict the future, but I know you have a lot of life in you, and a lot of love. I’m certain at least that you will fall in love again.” He didn’t know why he was sure of it, only that it seemed impossible for the opposite to be true.
“Maybe I don’t even want to,” she said sadly.
“The time will come when you will,” He replied, comforting. “And it will be different than it was with Angel…That doesn’t mean you’ll forget him, as if it never happened. Everyone you love becomes a part of you, and a part of what you do.”
She looked at him with tears in her eyes.
“Believe me, you have everything to look forward to.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
She hugged him and he placed a hand on the back of her head. He wondered if he had just lied to her and wished desperately that everything he had said was real. Her hair smelled like vanilla and lilac.
She looked up at him with tears still on her lashes, but a genuine smile, and didn’t move from his arms.
He was still light-headed and he didn’t know why. The night seemed to close in on him, warm and sweet, and there was buzzing in his ears. Her eyes were getting closer and he was lost in them…
His lips brushed hers…
She backed away, her face quickly growing red.
“I’m sorry,” Giles said. “I didn’t – I –”
She ran inside.
***
Giles buried himself in research that weekend, and tried not think about how stupid and selfish he had been, and how Buffy must hate him, and how she was right to.
***
On Monday morning he waited anxiously in the library, trying to plan what he would say, how he would apologize, explain himself, beg for forgiveness, but everything he thought of was terrible. “I love you but I know I shouldn’t.” “I betrayed your trust but I won’t again.” What could he possibly say to make things right?
It was just a few minutes until the morning bell.
Buffy walked in.
“Buffy! I’m so sorry,” he started as soon as he saw her. “So sorry – I can’t – I-I mean – I won’t ever – w-what I mean is –”
“Don’t,” she cut him off.
He fell silent.
She seemed awkward and had trouble meeting his eyes. “Just… can we not ruin everything? It was a nice night. I’d like to leave it at that.”
Giles nodded, stunned and relieved.
“Any research updates?” She asked, business-like.
“N-no, not as such,” he replied self-consciously.
The bell rang.
“Well, see you later,” she said, turning to go.
“Yes. Later.”
She was almost at the door when she stopped. She was still for a moment, as if trying to decide what she wanted to do. She turned around.
“Just so you know,” she said quietly, “it was a really nice night.”
She left for class.