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Author's Chapter Notes:
A/n: Riley makes Buffy an offer; Wesley is in trouble, and Giles stops by Buffy's house with something to say in this chapter.

Spike doesn't appear in this chapter but he is mentioned. I promise though that more Spuffy is on the way.

Disclaimer: any recognizable plots, dialogue or props are not mine. They're Joss's and his partners and subsidiaries and I am making no money off of them.

The chapter is slightly edited.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN

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Wesley jerked the door open to the Magic Shop as he ran inside. "Ana!" he shouted his pet name for the former demon as he turned the "open" sign to "closed".

"I need those books on breaking the Curse right away! We may have to escalate our time—" the British college student stopped short as he took in the devastation to the tiny store. Books were all over the floor, urns and vases were upturned, and worse yet, his girlfriend was nowhere in sight.

Wesley was about to phone 911 when he saw a tall, good looking vampire in full game face come out from the shadows. "Don't be so modest, Wes! Tell us all about the time table!" Angelus chirped.

Drusilla drew in closer to Wesley and stroked his cheek. "Ohh, look, brother!" she said. "College boy is all afraid!" She smiled with hunger etched on her vampire face as she heard his rapidly beating heart.

"Hmm…" Angel purred, "you're right, Dru!" He studied the skinny, geeky younger man who was controlling the urge to pee.

"He is a thin one, but maybe we should taste him right now," Angel suggested.

"No!" Darla cried as she joined the pair. "I have plans for him, and for the demon."

Drusilla drew away from Wesley and jumped up and down, clapping her hands. "Oooohhh!" she squealed. "We get to play! We get to torture them later!"

Angelus fixed the college boy with a cruel stare as he mocked, "Guess what, Wes ol' boy: you've just been invited to a party in William's honor!"

Wesley's bravado came to the surface as he said, "Why don't you just kill me and have done with it, you pillocks?"

Darla gestured and the four of them found themselves in a basement, where the Library Science major saw an unconscious Anya chained to a wall.

"You know as well as I do, dear boy, that live bait works best!" the blonde vampire responded.

Angelus savagely grabbed the smaller man by the neck and shoved him against another wall. Before Wesley could fight back, he found himself chained.

His eyes fell on a third set and he wondered who the other victim might be, and what the vampires had in mind for all of them once the terrible trio was done.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Buffy came home and saw Riley and her mother in the living room with Doctor Giles. Joyce was laying comfortably on her living room couch; Giles and Riley were quietly talking, and Buffy heard the television blasting from Cordelia's room upstairs.

"Hey, BethAnne!" Riley greeted cheerfully, using the name Buffy hated. "I came by to see your mother and she was here with her doctor. She is getting better, isn't that great?"

"Wonderful..." Buffy said quietly. She wondered why Riley couldn't have called her by her full name, like Spike did. Buffy also asked herself why she found Spike's Cockney more appealing no matter what he called her. Noticing her distress, Riley frowned.

"You don't sound too happy about it," he observed. Buffy looked at her boyfriend and her mother's physician.

"I've…got a lot on my mind lately," she said.

"You mean work and stuff?" Riley asked. Buffy nodded.

"Yeah," she told the Commander.

Riley hugged her, planting a wet kiss on her lips. It was all Buffy could do not to gag. Her mind cast its thoughts to a different male kissing her, his lips cool, dry, and full of passion. When Riley had kissed her, his tongue felt like sandpaper. Spike's was soft, and yielding where she sought dominance; yet hard and unrelenting when it plundered her mouth and took all she had to offer.

Buffy wanted so much to hold him, her vampire, not Riley, and this time, she welcomed those feelings. She moaned and deepened the kiss which, of course, Riley thought was directed at him.

Instead of welcoming it, however, Riley whispered, "Buffy, this really isn't the place....Your mother and Giles, remember?"

Her eyes fell on the physician and her mother, then back up to Riley. White hot annoyance coursed through her. Buffy didn't know why Riley had to be such a prude! It wasn't like they were in public. Even if they were, she thought, why should she hold herself back from the one she loved? Buffy didn't let herself examine that question, since she was starting to rethink her choice of a boyfriend just then and it scared her more than anything.

"I've been telling Giles the good news, Beth," Riley was saying as she looked at him, "and I want to tell you." He took a small velvet box out of his Army jacket pocket. Behind him, on the couch, Joyce stirred.

"Oh, Riley," she said, causing Buffy and Riley to turn toward her. "I'm sorry I conked out." Buffy's mother's eyes fell on the soldier.

"Did you tell her?" she asked. Riley shook his head.

"Not yet," he responded. He kneeled down in front of Buffy, taking her hands in his and putting the ring box into her left one.

"BethAnne Summers: will you marry me?" he asked. Buffy's jaw hit the ground, even as her mind screamed, NO!

Aloud, the youngest of the Summers women said, "Wow! This is quite a…proposal!" she yelled.

Riley got off of his knees as she opened the box to peer at the engagement ring, its tiny diamond resting in its gold casing. The Commander took out his cell phone and hit the photo option on it.

"Before you answer me, take a look at this!" Riley exclaimed. Buffy saw the picture of a huge house on the California coast. It was large an ostentatious looking, big enough for twelve and not very cozy like Spike's house was. The young woman decided that she really hated it on sight.

"Like it?" Riley asked, waiting patiently for her to answer.

Buffy knew she should say something at least half way decent. "It's really…somethin'," she told her beau, the man she was really starting to think of right now as an ex beau.

"Isn't it, though?" Riley responded, totally cheerful. "I put several down payments on it, and in two more months, it will be OURS! I've got everything arranged. There's even a room for your mother and sister, and many guest rooms! I also am in line to be a Captain, so you can stop working two jobs!" Buffy didn't see Joyce's reaction behind her. Her mother was clearly upset about something, Giles noted.

"Really?" Buffy asked. Giles crossed to the front door.

"Well, you need to talk about many things," he said, but Buffy restrained him.

"No, since you heard this before I did…" she gave Riley a scathing look because he had told Giles first about the marriage proposal, "you can stay."

Riley and Joyce started to protest, but Giles said, "yes, I will, thanks. Perhaps I could offer all of you some tea?"

Joyce responded, "That would be wonderful, thanks." When Giles meandered to the kitchen, in effect leaving the soldier and the two women alone, Joyce looked at her daughter, her eyes indicating that she wanted to talk to Buffy about something.

"Honey," Buffy began, putting on the ring and steering Riley to the door, "I'm so, so glad that you're thinking about me, and about my family. But I need to think about this. It's a major change, and it's my future, and I need to deal."

Riley said sympathetically, "I understand." He pulled her into a hug, and Buffy thought that, while she liked Riley's cologne, she liked Spike's clean-with-a-hint-of-musky scent better.

He kissed her and left. Once Buffy and her mother were alone, Joyce gave her daughter a disappointed look.

"What is it, mom?" Buffy asked.

Joyce shook her head, saying, "Why did you lie to me, and to everyone?"

Buffy was totally confused. "Lie?" she repeated. "What do you mean?"

Joyce stared at her as though she had stolen a cookie out of a jar. "I called Mr. Piedmont at the retail store. He said that you quit your job three days ago," Joyce reported. "Is it Riley?"

"No," Buffy told her mother.

"Then what is it?" Joyce asked. "Are you in some kind of trouble? And, why did you act that way with Riley as though you almost despised him?"

The younger Summers mind flew to Spike and their shared kisses, but she answered, "I don't hate Riley, and I'm not in trouble! Why would you think that?"

Joyce was instantly contrite. "I'm sorry, dear. I didn't mean to accuse you of anything! But why did you leave the second job and not tell anyone?" Her mother inquired.

When Buffy couldn't come up with a suitable reply, Giles emerged from the kitchen, saying, "Oh, Joyce, believe me: Buffy's intentions were honorable. She merely wanted to surprise you by saying she got a higher paying second job working for me. I told her to keep it a secret until I came by to visit. I figured we could tell you and Riley together." Buffy's eyes met Giles, and she smiled, grateful for his quick thinking.

"Why didn't you say something earlier, Rupert?" Joyce wanted to know. The tea kettle whistled just then. Buffy went into the kitchen and turned off the stove. She set the kettle on the side of the burners.

"I came to say something tonight, but Riley beat me to it with his more important news," Giles answered.

Joyce looked at her daughter, her disappointment evaporating in the wake of her pride that Buffy would take the initiative to seek a higher paying position, and with Joyce's doctor! "I think that calls for a celebration," her mother said, rising. "I'll just walk over to the Gourmet Market and get us some meals. I hope you all don't mind: they have great food and I don't feel much like cooking tonight."

"Mom, are you sure you should…?" Buffy wondered, her eyes meeting Giles to see what he would say.

"I don't mind, sweetheart, and it's not too far," her mother replied. She put on a light jacket and opened the front door, saying, "I'll get us some Beef Lasagna and come right back." Joyce left the house and got into her car.

Buffy heard Cordy's TV being turned off. Giles went into the kitchen and, after arranging two cups on a tray along with the various things that went into Earl Grey tea, he brought the items into the living room.

As he served Buffy and himself, she asked him, "All right. How did you know where I was, 'cause I know you do somehow, and why did you lie to my Mom and Riley?"

Giles drank a huge mouthful of tea without milk or sugar, then said, "Because I need to discuss a very important matter with you, and I need to do it alone." The doctor's grave expression told the girl she'd better sit down for this one.






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