Buffy continued to run. She didn't stop until she got where she was going,
although she had no idea where exactly that was. Still, she finally came to
stop, her breath labored, cheeks a pretty pink, a few light beads of sweat
forming on her forehead. She was hunched over, trying to catch her breath.
When she finally looked up, she realized she was standing before the door to
Giles' apartment.

Buffy's eyebrows shot up in surprise of where her legs had lead her, but she
shrugged when she realized how fitting it was that she come to him, her sorta
Watcher. He *was* the one that Oz went to for advise and the only person who
knew about Oz's attraction to her. Raising her fist, Buffy knocked lightly at
the door, hoping that she wasn't disturbing him. "Just a minute," she heard
Giles' call faintly.

A few seconds later, he had the door open and was looking out at her with
surprise. "Buffy, is something wrong?" he quickly asked, visibly tensing for
bad news.

Buffy shuffled her feet aimlessly and looked down. "Um, do you think I could
come in?" she asked.

"Yes, of course," Giles told her, stepping back to allow her into his
apartment. He watched her silently as she stood in the middle of his living
room, looking around at the various wall-hangings and books that lined his
walls. Though she had been in Giles' apartment many times, it felt to her as
if she were seeing it for the first time.

After only a few minutes of waiting, Giles became impatient. "Buffy, is there
something the matter? You look a bit out of breath. Were you in a fight?" he
asked. He grew worried when she didn't immediately answer him. Crossing the
room, Giles put a gentle hand on her upper arm. "Is it nightmares?" he
questioned her in a soft, understanding voice.

"A living nightmare is more like it," she told him in a hoarse voice.
Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Giles lead Buffy over to the couch and
urged her to sit down.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" he asked her. Giles drew himself up in
surprise when Buffy covered her mouth with her hand and started to giggle.
"Is there something you find humorous, Buffy?" he asked indignantly.

"I...I'm...s-sorry, Giles," Buffy stuttered out between fits of what was
verging on hysterical laughter. "It's just that....whenever something
happens...you always offer tea." It took her a few more moments of laughter,
while Giles stared down at her with a slightly amused smile on his lips.
Finally, Buffy sobered up. "Got anything stiffer?" she asked.

After dropping his jaw in surprise, Giles walked over to his counter and
poured her a glass of amber alcohol. "It's scotch," he told her as he handed
it to her. "Sip it and you best not tell your mother I supplied you with
liquor," he told her, shuddering a bit when he thought of what that Summers
woman might say to him if she knew.

Buffy took a sip, cringing at the wicked taste. "Thanks, Giles," she told him
and pulled her legs up under her, sitting on his couch Indian style.

"Now, do you think you might be able to tell me what brought you to my door
at..." he looked at his watch, "midnight?"

When she looked up at Giles again, her eyes were squinted with an accusatory
gaze. "Why didn't you ever tell me that Oz told you he was attracted to me?"
she asked in a clipped voice.

Giles sighed and took off his glasses to clean them. He always did that when
he wanted to buy some time before an uncomfortable conversation. "I was
wondering when you might come to me," he told her, sighing once again. "So,
he told you then. I thought he had, noticed the discomfort around the two of
you. Would you like to tell me what happened?"

Buffy took a deep breath and slugged back the rest of her scotch. She winced
and shuddered, putting a hand over her stomach. "I told you to sip it," Giles
pointed out as he bit back a smirk. Buffy looked up and glared at him.
Quickly, the glare fell away and Buffy sunk back against the sofa, screwing
up her face.

"Giles," she whined and fell to her side. "Why did he have to tell me? I
don't want to know that my best friend's boyfriend has the ya yas for me. How
am I supposed to react to this?"

Giles pushed himself away from the wall he was leaning against, back over to
the counter. After pouring himself a drink and slugging it back, he went over
and sat next to Buffy. "Perhaps, I'm not the best person to come to with
matters of the heart, but I suppose that I'm the only one you have to talk to
about this."

Buffy nodded, her lower lip stuck out like a pouting three year old's.
Sitting back up, she leaned her head against Giles shoulder. "Giles, what am
I gonna do?" she asked sadly.

"Well, I suppose the question is, Buffy, do you have feelings for Oz?" Giles
asked, surprising her by his lack of stutter. She only nodded sadly. "You do
have Willow's feelings to think about, as well as your own. Buffy, you've
been so sad for so long. Do you really think keeping something like this from
Willow is going to help with your depression?"

Buffy's head perked up and she stared at him. "Who says I have a depression?"

"Buffy," Giles said, cocking his eyebrow at her.

"Okay, okay, can't keep a thing from the Watcher guy, sheesh," she said,
resting her head on his shoulder again. "That still doesn't answer my
question. What do I do?"

"Buffy, I-I-I-I can't give you the answers, because I don't rightly know. I
do know that both you and Willow have the right to be happy. You've always
been able to talk to Willow. Perhaps you and Oz ought to tell her about
what's going on," Giles suggested.

"But if I tell her, she'll hate me forever. I can't lose Willow, I don't know
what I'd do if I lost her," Buffy complained, tears brimming in her eyes.
"B-but I feel something for Oz. I don't know what it is, but it's something.
And I never thought I'd be able to feel something for another man again."

As Buffy's tears spilled over and made their way down her cheeks, Giles
wrapped an arm around her shoulder and held her tightly in a hug. "Buffy,
it's right of you to think of Willow's feelings, but you should also think of
your own. As well as Oz's. That's all I can really tell you."

"Ya know, Giles," Buffy said, wiping her cheeks clear of her tears. "You
really weren't much help at all." She laughed a bit when he gave her an
abashed look. "But thanks. For just being here for me, like always."

Resting her cheek against his chest, Buffy wrapped an arm around Giles' waist
and let out a long sigh. A small smile played on her lips as he began
stroking her hair comfortingly. "Night, Giles," she said, before slipping
into a light slumber.