There Was a Time 1/1 (BtVS)

[gilascave]

Title: There Was a Time When All of This Seemed Normal
Author: James
Pairing: Giles/Xander
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2400
Disclaimer: not mine, no profit made
Summery: Everyone knows. Well, almost everyone.
Notes: Written for lostgirlslair for the Giles/Xander ficathon. I got all of your requests in but one; I hope that's OK. Also, it's possible I took a liberty with canon; my recollection of the relevant eps of Angel are fuzzy. Consider it AU from the final ep of Buffy!



Once upon a time, Xander would have been mortified to know there would come a day when it wasn't at all unusual for him to fall asleep in Giles' room with a book on his lap. His younger self -- pre-Buffy -- would have laughed off the notion of studying a book that long into the night, although the idea of falling asleep reading wouldn't have surprised him. After meeting Buffy and Giles, and various vampires, demons, and insects, the idea of studying wouldn't have shocked him as much.

At pretty much any point in his life, he would have mortified to hear the part about Giles' bedroom. That was before everything changed, and before Giles moved the bulk of his personal library into his bedroom.

The house they lived in was on the huge side of large, having been built a hundred years earlier as a boarding school. Which, Xander supposed, it still sort of was. There was a floor set aside for the Slayers, another for the baby slayers and the attic level was reserved for the original Scoobies. When Xander wasn't wandering around the globe looking for new Slayers, in the evenings after everything else was said and done, Xander liked to check out the books that Giles had acquired in his absence. Rather embarrassingly often, Xander would fall asleep in the chair, book on his lap and Giles sound asleep just a few yards away in bed.

The 'public' library was downstairs, and Xander did spend a great deal of time there, but at least it was only because he was harassing the girls about doing their homework.

Truthfully, more than one part of his current lifestyle would have sent his younger self into spasms. Classroom instructor, homework nagger, tackling dummy; but he'd been tutored by the best, himself, and he often said that Willow was a good tutor tutor.

He didn't say it when she was around because she had a tendency to thump him playfully on the arm, and she didn't believe in pulling her punches. "I'm just a girl," she'd say, batting her eyes all innocent and winsome. "Not like I'm a Slayer, and you get hit by them all the time."

Xander would point out that he was wearing pads then, and he got to hit back. But Willow would just do that thing that made him remember her at age seven, when she wanted his cookie, or soda, or pencil, or for him to do his math homework.

It helped knowing now she was a witch, because he could pretend she'd been using it unfairly, back then. Xander didn't say that when she was around, either.

He was safe at the moment, of course; no one in Giles' bedroom but himself, Giles, and a bunch of books Xander had finally learned not to speak Latin in front of. He glanced over towards the bed on the far side of the room, and wondered for the seventeenth time if it wouldn't be better if Giles moved a small couch in -- or let him move the books into Xander's room.

The lump on Giles' bed wasn't moving and Xander had no idea when he'd gone to bed. Setting aside the book on Froshiarian Demonic Contracts, he tiptoed quietly towards the door. Thoughts of breakfast, and coffee, and more breakfast hurried him towards the stairs. If he reached the kitchen after the girls did, breakfast tended to consist of granola cereal and green smoothies.

"Oh! Xander." Buffy came to a sudden halt in front of him, giving him a brief look of confusion before smiling. "Good morning."

"Um. Morning." Xander stood still and waited while Buffy blinked at him like she wanted to say something.

Finally she said, "You're up."

Xander blinked back at her. "I am. On both feet, with gravity maintaining its ever-present pull. Which I appreciate, as it makes falling so much more fun."

Buffy winced. "Sorry about yesterday. Carrie's a little enthusiastic."

"She's also ten. I shouldn't be getting bruised by ten year old girls, even if they are as strong as a vampire. It's embarrassing, even around other vampire hunter support staff."

"Do you want me to talk to her?" Buffy frowned briefly, but Xander had had this conversation before.

"Nah. Don't want them to learn bad habits. Just remind me to wear more pillows. Maybe I'll get one of those sumo wrestler suits!"

Buffy just laughed, and Xander heard his stomach give a rumble.

"Gotta go, feed the beast before the girls eat all of the fruit loops. I'll catch you later."

"No hurry," Buffy called after him, but Xander didn't stop to find out what she meant. He headed downstairs and found the kitchen thankfully free of any masses of Slayers. He made a beeline for the fridge, then behind him he heard Willow's surprised voice say, "Xander!"

He glanced over. "I am me," he said, grabbing the milk. He started towards the cabinet where the cereal was kept, and found Willow frowning at him. He paused. "Am I not me? I'm not a evil robot again, am I? Do I have horns? Did I grow a mustache while I wasn't looking?"

Xander tried, and failed to stop himself from brushing his fingertips over his chin. No beard, just the usual stubble. One small relief.

"No, I just...." Willow shook her head. "Got hungry, huh?" She smiled.

Xander stared at her. Maybe she was the evil robot this time. "Every morning like clockwork. Been this way for years -- I'm surprised you didn't notice."

"Xander," she scolded, thumping him on the arm. He flinched, but she'd pulled her punch for a change.

"Is there something odd about me wanting breakfast? Or is it lunchtime already and I didn't notice?"

Willow giggled, putting a hand in front of her mouth quickly. Xander paused, waited, then continued when she didn't say anything. He glanced at the clock: barely ten past eight.

"What's going on? Where are all the girls? Shouldn't they be mobbing the kitchen, screaming about protein shakes and eating all my cereal and fighting over who ate the last of the eggs?"

"They're on a camp out, remember? We told you - Andrew and Faith took the girls to the lake to camp out last night. Buffy and I and Kennedy are heading up there in half an hour to take them on a nature hike." Willow grinned. "So you have the place to yourselves for the entire morning."

Xander's jaw dropped. "The girls were gone last night?"

"Didn't you notice?" She paused, then gave him -- dear god, a wink. "Or maybe you didn't. I should run, really, and catch up with Buffy. We'll be out of here quick as we can. And we promise to call before anyone comes home."

"Um. Thanks?" Xander realised he was still holding the milk and cereal in his hands. He set them down and reached over for a bowl. She moved past him, towards the double doors that would lead to the dining room. She stopped with her hand on the door and looked back at him.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, Mister." She winked again, then hurried out.

Xander stood still, cereal bowl in his hands, and stared after her.

He counted to five, then checked his chin again. No beard. He poked his arm. No sensation of gears or wires or other evil robotic parts. No horns sprouting out of his head, and after a quick look, he determined that the sky was blue and the sun was yellow and the yard was full of broken pieces of wood.

All perfectly normal.

Xander put the milk away and wandered out of the kitchen with the box of Fruit Loops, munching them dry.

"Hey, Xander!" Andrew came running up. He stopped beside Xander and reached in the box, grabbing a handful of cereal. Talking around each bite, he said, "Buffy said to tell you we'll call before we head back. And Kennedy said to tell you the phones are set to forward to Willow's cellphone. And Willow said she already saw you this morning so I don't have to tell you anything from her."

"OK, what's going on?" Xander gave Andrew the sternest stare he could.

Andrew eeped, and his eyes grew wide. "It wasn't my idea, honest! Are you mad? Why are you mad? Did you want a party instead? The younger girls said we should throw you a party, but Buffy and Willow thought this would be better. We can throw a part--"

Xander clamped his hand over Andrew's mouth. "A party for what?" He waited, then dropped his hand when he realised why Andrew wasn't answering. "Sorry. A party for what?"

"Your anniversary?"

"My anniversary of what?" Xander thought back, but couldn't remember much of anything odd that had happened on the day's date, in any year of his life.

"Um. Yours and Mister Giles. Anniversary." Andrew was beginning to stammer a bit and turn a little pale.

"Me and Giles anniversary. Of-- What?"

"Willow said it was today. Are we off? Willow swears it was today.... or last night, really, but... It isn't today?"

"Excuse me," Xander said, thrusting the box of Fruit Loops at Andrew and headed for the stairs.

He tried to think of what he was going to say when he got to Giles' room, but all he could think was 'anniversary'. He knocked, but opened the door without waiting for a reply. He found Giles just sitting up, still in bed, obviously just having woken up.

"It's our anniversary," Xander announced.

Giles looked at him. "Our anniversary of what?" he asked, reaching for his glasses. He put them on and focused on Xander.

"They wouldn't tell me that part. Well, I didn't stick around to ask. But Buffy and Willow and Andrew all made a point of... not saying anything, actually. Except that everyone is out of the entire house for the day, the girls were gone all night last night on a camping trip and I swear I didn't notice. And Willow winked a-- they think we're sleeping together!" Xander felt like smacking his forehead as all the hints and innuendo came crashing down at once.

"Well, technically we were sleeping in the same room," Giles said, agreeably.

"I think they meant we're having sex. For a year!"

"I don't know about you, but I don't have quite that much stamina." Giles looked around and reached for the robe tossed across the foot of his bed.

"You're not freaking out."

"The idea that everyone thinks I'm having sex with you does not seem like cause to freak out. Nor does the idea they planned to leave us alone to celebrate. It's really rather thoughtful of them."

"But...? Please tell me there's a but in here somewhere." Xander blushed furiously when Giles gave him a dry look. "They think we're having sex, when all I did was fall asleep reading a book."

"Which you tend to do every time you're home," Giles pointed out. "Whenever you're not working, you're here, reading. And when you're away, you phone me -- ostensively to talk about what you've found or haven't found, or ask after the girls, or to have me harass Willow in your absence. Which I still refuse to do, mind, because I'm not entirely stupid."

"But the sex part. How does any of this mean we're having sex?"

"Ah. That might be the way neither of us can manage to get through a training session together without 'accidentally' touching each other. Or the way you always stare at me when you're leaving, or the way I keep watching for you even after you're gone."

There was a distinctly strange look on Giles' face now, one which Xander realised he didn't have to be a genius to figure out. "Should there be sex?" he asked, trying to sound neutral.

"I believe that depends," Giles answered, his own voice even, giving Xander very little hint of what he should say in reply.

Except Giles wasn't laughing. And he wasn't saying that it was a misunderstanding.

And he wasn't wearing anything under his robe.

Xander blinked and tried very hard not to stare. Or look. Or think about the fact that he hated the days on the road when he called home and Giles wasn't available to answer. Or the way he looked forward to digging into Giles' library, which always seemed to have new books in it as if Giles ordered them just so Xander would have something new to read.

Or the way Giles had started volunteering to help Xander with training sessions, demonstrating moves and never in a hurry to get up when he'd dragged Xander down to the mat after a fall.

He thought about how much he loved traveling the world, seeing places he'd never dreamed of and finding girls whose lives had changed suddenly, without warning, and helping them to understand. And how it all paled to when he came home.

"So you're saying, everyone knows but me?"

"Looks that way," Giles said.

"You couldn't have told me?"

Giles shrugged. "I didn't know... how you felt. If you felt anything. Under the circumstances I figured it was best to let you make up your own mind."

"I didn't know I had anything to make up my mind about," Xander protested. "The only reason I didn't flunk out of high school was because we blew it up and our grades went with it. Remind me to thank Buffy again." Xander took a deep breath, then said, "So today's our anniversary."

Giles smiled. "The first time you fell asleep in that chair, reading."

Xander took another deep breath, then stepped closer. "So. Today is our anniversary." He continued to walk forward, heart beating loudly enough he wondered if the girls out by the lake could hear.

He stopped when he'd nearly bumped into Giles and tilted his head slightly.

Giles smiled, and Xander's heart gave a thud. "Yes. Happy Anniversary," Giles said, and kissed him.

the end