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Chapter Thirty-four

Giles straightened and looked at them. "Am I interrupting?"

"That depends," Buffy said, her defiance sparking up.

"On?" Giles asked, confused.

"If you're here to make Spike feel like shit about himself again."

"Buffy—" Spike started.

"No, son, I deserved that," Giles said, fidgeting slightly. "I'm not here to
uh—"

"Make him feel like shit?" Buffy supplied.

"Buffy, honestly," Giles sputtered. "Your language. I understand that
you're angry with me, but really."

Buffy rolled her eyes, "Fine."

"May I come in or do you wish to go out?" Giles asked the pair.

"How about out?" Spike suggested, "Get a coffee, sit down—"

"That way there will be witnesses," Buffy added dryly and Spike squeezed
her hand.

"There's a café just down the street from here. Meet there?" Spike asked.

Giles nodded, "Very well. Meet you there," and he began his trek to his
car.

Buffy started to go, but Spike held her back.

"Buffy, I know you're angry—" he started.

"Aren't you?"

"I am," Spike nodded, "But he's made the first step and I want to hear him
out. Nothing's going to be solved if we fling accusations about."

Buffy sighed, "You're right, I'm sorry."

He pecked her nose, "Don't be sorry. You love me and your willingness to
protect me is endearing."

She smiled shyly at him. "I promise to hear him out."

He smirked, "Can I scold you later if you don't?"

She smirked back, "Better be careful or I might get out of line on purpose."

"Minx."

"Brute."

He grinned and kissed her quickly. "Come on, let's go meet Dad."

***************************************************************
The trio decided in the end not to sit at the café, but to take a walk and have their chat at a nearby park, settling in on a park bench. Spike and Giles sat next to each other and Buffy sat down next to Spike, holding his hand.

"I know I reacted horribly," Giles began and Buffy tamped down the urge
to retort ‘Ya think?' to that.

Spike must have sensed that urge because he squeezed her hand. She
smiled. He knew her well.

Giles looked up at Spike and he looked sad, worried. "Son, I know I
shouldn't have attacked you the way I did. I was in a state of shock. Joyce
came to tell me what was happening and she was beside herself and I just
reacted. My reaction was poor."

"Been the story of our whole history hasn't it Dad?" Spike said, bitterly.

"Now, you have to admit you've given me a run for my money," Giles said in defense of himself.

Spike nodded abruptly, "I have."

"I know since your marriage you've been a changed man, William. You've
always been impulsive and headstrong—much like me. It's caused us to
butt heads over the years. I can't take all the responsibility for that and I
think you'd agree."

Spike stood and Buffy forced herself to sit still. Spike stared down at his
father. "You accused me of preying on her. For all the trouble I might have
given you, Dad, I didn't deserve to be accused of doing that."

Giles hung his head and Spike continued. "Then you told me it was sick and
wrong. God, you don't even know the issues I was having with that whole
thing. You don't know it's the reason why I left, the reason why Dru . . . " he
trailed off.

Giles' head popped up. "No, Son, that was not your problem."

"You don't know—"

"Joyce told me."

Spike's eyes widened and Buffy shot up. "Jesus, what the hell?" she hissed.


"Buffy, calm down," Giles said firmly, "She told me because she wanted to
get me to come out here and talk to you. She was very upset with me. The
thing she didn't realize though was that I--" he took a deep breath and looked up at Spike. "You're a better man than I William. You can admit
your follies, where as I still have trouble. You're stronger than you realize. It took me so long to come and see you after all that mess because I felt
guilty. I felt horrid for how I'd treated you and I didn't know how to make it
right. I was sure I'd ruined you and that the last thing you needed to see
was me."

Buffy bit her lip to keep from speaking out. Spike stared down at his father. "The one person that could have made it all better for me was you, Dad," he said softly.

"I'm not going to lie to either of you and tell you that the thought, even
after I'd come to terms with it, made me feel that it was in someway wrong.
That doesn't mean however, that I'm going to stop you or keep you from
being together." Giles sighed, "Will, when I introduced you to Buffy and
Joyce, I saw the chance for you to have a normal family again. It broke my
heart when your mother died. You loved her so much and then she was
taken from you; from us.
When I met and fell in love with Joyce it was like I was able to do right by
you and give you a family. I gave you a mother and a sister." He looked
over at Buffy, "In you, I found someone who I could be a father to. In your
mother, I found a mate for life." He looked back up at Spike, "When you
told me you were together, I thought I'd failed somewhere."

"It has nothing to do with you, Dad."

Giles nodded, "I realize that now."

"I love her Dad. I always have. It wasn't something I ever acted upon
when we were kids. I couldn't do that and I thought that just by feeling this
way I was doing wrong by you, by Joyce, by Buffy. . . I thought I was sick.
When you attacked me that night I felt that my fear had been confirmed.
Dru had told me I was wrong and then you just confirmed it. You wouldn't
even listen to me."

Giles stood, "William, you're not wrong. You're not sick. My God," he shook
his head, "I'm sorry for what I did."

"So you accept us?" Spike asked.

"Son, I would never turn you away, never. If I hadn't been so bull headed.
Maybe we can help each other you and I? You can teach me some patience
and I'll . . . I'll do anything to help you feel better about yourself, William."

"I'm getting there, Dad. It hasn't just been therapy that's helped me, but
it's been Buffy, Dad. She loves me like no other has or ever could."

Giles looked over at Buffy and smiled. "I always thought she had such a big
heart." He smiled, "She always did have a soft spot for you."

"Would you guys hug already?" Buffy exclaimed, welling up in happy tears.

The men chuckled and embraced, Giles doing something Buffy had never
seen him do: Cry. She knew he must have before when his wife died, but
she'd never seen it in all the ten years he'd been her father.

Separating, Spike reached for Buffy and she jumped at his side, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Buffy, might I say that you've picked a great man," Giles told her. Buffy
smiled and jumped at Giles, giving him an impulsive hug.

"I know."

"You never really were much interested in dating and I always worried
when the day would come you'd start. Now I don't have to worry about
liking the bloke."

Buffy smiled and went back to Spike's arms. "Yeah, I think I'll hold on to
this one for quite a while."

Spike smiled down at her, relief evident on his features.

"Would you come back home, now?" Giles asked, "I'm not going to say that
I'm all right with uh. . . certain relations under my roof, but rest assured I
would have issue no matter whom you were with. Perhaps it's time for you
to find a place of your own, William?"

Spike smiled, "One step ahead of you Dad. Buffy and I were about to look
for a place when you showed up."

Giles drew back, startled, "Really? Both of you living together? So soon?"

"We have lived together before," Buffy pointed out.

"And we know all about each other's disgusting habits," Spike added.

Buffy grinned up at him and he grinned back at her.

"For the time being, do you think you could come home? No sense in
wasting your money by staying in a hotel." Giles said.

"Yes, Dad."

"Yes, Giles."

Giles grinned. "Cheeky group we have here huh? Come now, let's get your
things and go home."





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