Happy 1st anniversary, Solo84!
By Gabriele Schulz

EMAIL: gabi@gschulz.de
RATING: G
DISTRIBUTION: Just Solo84 for this one.
SPOILERS: Mentions events and people up to Season 4
FEEDBACK: Well... yes!
SUMMARY: Buffy and Giles visit a fantastic site on the net. B/G
DISCLAIMER: The characters are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Productions, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television, the WB Television Network, and whoever else may have a hold on them. I do not mean to infringe upon any copyrights.
Quotes are from Solo84's site "The New Buffy/Giles Relationshippers", which can be found at the following URL: http://www.bgshippers.com
I didn't ask for permission, but that kind of would have ruined the surprise. I hope you don't mind Solo.
NOTE: The title pretty much says it all. Then again no it doesn't: Thank you, thank you, thank you, Solo84, for doing such a great job and feeding all the B/G Shippers in need all over the world. Whatever would we do without you?
We love you.
(This is very much not beta-ed, so just kindly overlook all the spelling and grammatical errors.)
DATE: 12/08/99
DEDICATION: Guess ;-) It's of course for Solo.

"What time is it?"

"6 am? I'm not sure. Anyway too late to go to bed again. Not that I think I could sleep again after that sight."

"Yes, I have to admit a decapitated Frosach is quite disturbing."

"But dead fortunately. Now that we're awake and Will's laptop is still here, maybe we could check out that site she told me about."

"What is it about?"

"She didn't say. I just got the the address: http://www.bgshippers.com."

"What is that supposed to mean? Is it about... boats?"

"I have no idea, but I think I heard that term. Let's take a look and find out."

She typed in the URL and soon they saw a page come up.

"'The New Buffy/Giles Relationshippers' It seems to be about us. There's even a picture of us. Why is my hand...?"

But then Buffy had already clicked on the graphic and a new page was loaded.

"Oh, there's another picture of us."

"You look pretty good in that one. That's probably why I look at you."

He blushed slightly. Then he cleared his throat.

"And the title again. On a tombstone, how appropriate."

"I like the blue border. It looks a little like fire and it's a..."

"Heart."

"Yeah, well, you know, I think I remember where I heard the term relationshipper. People call themselves relationshippers or just 'shippers when they like the idea of two people... eh... together."

"Together as what?"

"Well, I guess... hmm... Ithinkitsmostlyromantically."

"Wh-wh... did you ju-just say ro-romantically?"

"Eh, yes. I mean that doesn't mean anything. It's just a handful of people who would like to see us... I mean, who like to see two people together. And there are 'shippers for almost any couple."

Giles didn't say anything, but didn't look at her.

"So what do we click next? Perhaps that."

He pointed at the blue button labeled 'The Watcher'.

"Oh, it's about me."

Buffy rolled her eyes.

"What did you think? That it would be about Wes?"

He ignored her comment and began to read.

"'Giles is Buffy's Watcher.' Not anymore. 'The Watcher's Council may have taken away the title, but in all practical (and unpractical) areas he still upholds the position.'"

Buffy smiled.

"She's right."

"How do you know it's a she?"

"Eh, they almost all are."

"'No longer the man designated to protect, train and care for the slayer throughout her life, he is now the man who does so by choice.'"

"And I'm so very glad that you do it."

He looked at her slightly suprised.

She just smiled at him, then went on reading.

"'Motivated by feelings that can only be described as love.'"

She stopped to look at him as if for confirmation. He returned her gaze for a second then went on reading.

"'Some attest this is the love of a father for his wonderful daughter and some believe that his love is far greater and extends far beyond the level of the latter.'"

He faltered at the words 'his love is far greater...', but then he went on quickly without a pause, not giving her a chance to say anything.

"'He began as a painfully uptight and bookish character, but over the past couple of years he has evolved into something much more. We have learned much about his sordid, rebellious past.' You know maybe we've seen enough of this."

He reached for the display to push it down, but she put her hand on his and stopped him. He didn't move for a second then pulled his hand away.

She went on reading.

"'His dabbling's in the black magic's, but I think... no, I know that there is much more behind that tweedy exterior. He is my favorite character because he is the most unique and interesting (not to mention the cuteness factor.)' She has a point there. 'He is the protector, the rock. Buffy may carry the weight of the world on her shoulders, but he carries Buffy.' You do, you know."

He looked at her trying to gauge her words.

"Where shall we go next?"

"The Slayer?"

"No, let's try something different."

"Coward."

He smiled, but she looked at him stating matter-of-factly:

"Hey, who killed a Frosach today? Not to mention that you have no idea what is still to come."

He looked a little apprehensive. She was right. He had basically no idea what else to expect. And after all she had told him that these people wanted what he had never shared with anyone after finally admitting it to himself. Of course he loved Buffy. And of course that love was by no means just to the extent of parental love. But of course he couldn't tell her that he was afraid to read about the exact emotions he tried to hide with so much effort. But he was also intrigued.

"How about 'Who we are'. Maybe then I'll know more."

Buffy read aloud. He had to surpress a smile at the comment about Angel.

"'...They have protected each other from harm, comforted each other in sorrow and shared many a wry joke in happiness. And man, have I noticed some serious... ahem, sexual tension, along the way.' Do you think they're right?"

He blushed slightly, looked away, then pointed at the link to the pictures.

She thought for a moment whether she should press the issue. Willow had given her the URL for some reason. And she was pretty sure, what the reason was. How could Willow know? She had never told anyone. She had found out only a short while ago and was basically still in a state of half-shock. She never would have thought that she could be in love with Giles. And not just in love, but absolutely, head-over-heals, he's-the-man-I-want-to-spend-the-rest-of-my-life-with in love. Obviously so much in love that Willow had seen right threw her nothing's-up-and-I've-certainly-not-fallen-for-my-ex-watcher demeanour. She wondered if Giles had noticed, too. Then again his blushing and stuttering seemed to indicate shock.

Did it mean that he never thought of something like this? That he never had and never would see her in the way she so desperately longed for?

She sighed and klicked on the link to the pictures.

"Klick 'Miscellaneous -n- Manipulated'."

She did and as the last pictures loaded, Giles' eyes grew huge.

"I can't remember taking such photos."

"That first one is from the 'Who we are' page."

"You scrolled down so fast I couldn't take a real look at it."

He stared at the picture, then at the next.

"I'm fairly certain I would remember taking *such* a photo."

"They are manipulated. She took different pictures and cut them together."

Giles just kept staring at the screen.

"Giles? Giles!"

"What... sorry, I was just thinking about..."

"About what?"

"Eh, nothing."

"About what it would have been like if these were real and not faked?"

"Eh, to be honest yes."

She looked at him surprised that he would admit something like that and pleased that the idea would have such a hypnotic effect on him. Maybe there was a chance... Soon she would know. She had lied, when she had told him that she hadn't been to the site before.

Actually she visited it every day when Willow wasn't there. She loved to read about her fantasies coming true. And if something would get his true feelings out of Giles, it would be fanfiction. But she wanted to let him go where he wanted.

"So what do you want to see next?"

"We've already been there and there, links will lead away from the site, so 'Avi Files' is next. What are avi files?"

"Video files."

"Oh. Oh!"

"No, not what you think. Those are real. Things that really happened."

"How do you know?"

"Ehm, just an assumption. You hardly see fake videos. Video clips sometimes but nothing like... that picture or even... more."

She gulped. He just pointed at the link and she clicked.

"So what avis do you want to see?"

"Let's start with new ones."

She clicked.

"'Poor Giles. No inuendo for him ;-) Of course, it looks like he revels in it, for a moment, nonetheless.' I have no idea what she's talking about. I d-do not *revel*."

Buffy smiled. She scrolled further down.

"Hey, what's that? That's Angel. Was that Thanksgiving? 'Not a B/G moment, but significant nonetheless. It, once again, places Angel and Giles on the same level. They both love her.' Giles, what would I see if I clicked on this?"

"I just... I just pointed out that you don't need Angel's protection anymore."

"That was it?! Giles it says 'They both love her.' I find it hard to believe that's just from you telling Angel to stay away from me."

"No, it was probably because Angel told me that I couldn't stay away from you either."

"'Couldn't'? Sounds like you have no choice."

"Do I?"

They looked at each other for a long moment.

Then Buffy clicked her way to the page to the classic avis.

A smile crossed her face as she saw the first preview picture of Giles carrying her.

"That was the first time you saved my life. And not the last."

"I can still remember you in that cheerleader uniform."

She looked at him intensly until he looked away blushing. God, she couldn't *know* that one of his thousand fantasies involved that uniform.

He quickly took over and scrolled further down.

Buffy wounded.

"'If my father looked at me like this I'd have some serious problems.' What does she mean by that?"

It sounded weak even to him.

He scrolled further down, past the scenes of their relationship that were caused by their greatest pain, until he saw a picture of himself smiling in a tuxedo.

"'He's lookin' miiiighty good in that tux, and it looks like he's lovin' that dress :-)' Did you?"

"Did I what?"

"Like the dress?"

"God, Buffy, you looked... stunning."

"You never told me. You didn't even ask me to dance with you."

"I was going to."

"Really?"

"I swear. I suppose it wasn't meant to be. It probably would have been too perfect a night. Besides..."

"I would have loved to dance with you."

They looked at each other seriously again.

"I guess it's time for fanfiction."

She tried not to seem to eager.

"Wow, that's quite a list. Wait, did I get the dates right. That whole list is just for 5 days?!!!"

"Yep. The archive is down here."

"That's unbelievable. And these are all stories about us?"

"Well, if you want stories, that just have us in them, you can find even more all over the net. These are focusing on our relationship."

"Roman... you mean in these stories we are...?"

She waited for him to say it, but he didn't so she answered.

"I believe most of them are about us being in love, yes."

She looked straight at him. He tried not to avoid her gaze.

"And you want to read them?"

"Don't you? I guess you think they must be really dumb and unrealistic, if you are in love with me."

She was aware that she was fishing, but she couldn't help herself.

"W... I think th quality of any kind of fiction depends very much on the author."

"Giles, that wasn't an answer to my question."

"Eh... yes, I think I would like to read one."

"The other question."

"I don't think a story portraying me in such a manner is necessarily unrealistic. Although I think the idea, that *you* would feel in such a way is a little harder to believe."

"Why do you think so?"

"You've been in love with Angel for s-"

"*Been*! That was past. Now is now!"

"But Riley..."

"Riley is a nice guy, but he isn't you. He never will be."

"Are you saying...?"

"I'm just saying that it's not at all impossible. And I don't like it, if you think that I could never feel that way for you."

"Why?"

"Because... just because."

Yes, she was a coward. But hinting and admitting were two very different things. Point-of-no-return was one of the reasons why she just couldn't tell him without being absolutely sure that he felt the same. Solo84 was right. He was her rock. She needed him. So she couldn't risk to lose him.

Giles started to pick a random story.

As they started reading they sat closer together and more and more often exchanged the same long looks that were described in the stories.

Giles only chose those rated PG-13 or under. He was too afraid that his reaction would be very clear to Buffy. Although she seemed to enjoy reading the stories. Stories in which they were *in love*!

Against his better judgement he felt hope rising in him. Could it possibly be that she returned his feelings? That she would enjoy doing the things in the stories with him? Not only the ones they were reading, but also those he intended to read as soon as she was going to her classes: The NC-17 stories?

He looked at her and she looked back at him with a gaze that was full of promise and hope. Oh God, was he right? And more important, could he risk being wrong?

He was debating with himself when suddenly a crowd of people screamed behind them.

"Happy 1st anniversary, Solo84!"

"But that was on the sixth."

Gabi smiled apologetically.

"Sorry. You know me..."

"Wait a minute. Buffy, I thought you've never been on this site. How do you know that its anniversary was on the sixth? And who are all those people?"

He stared at the crowd that was filling his appartment.

"I guess they are the 'handful of people'. Of course there are more of them. They wouldn't fit in here."

"You mean all of these people believe that you and I should be together? They think that we are in... love?"

Buffy nodded. He turned to take a look at the girl they had been congratulating. And she too nodded her affirmation.

He looked back to the croud.

"All of you? Willow? Xander? Angel??!!"

"We're not blind, G-man. You love her. And now please go ahead and tell her, so that Gabi can end this fic and send her greetings out."

He looked at Buffy, whose eyes were large in expectation.

"Buffy, I... I love you."

"I love you, too, Giles."

The crowd smiled collectively.

Buffy took Giles' face in her hands. And he did the same.

They sat like that, gazing at each other for a long time until Giles hesitantly looked at the crowed then at Solo84.

She nodded and the crowd disappeared. At least Giles couldn't see them any longer.

"Now you can kiss her."

Giles didn't feel disturbed by the girl's presence. It seemed to him that she had every right to witness their first kiss.

He slowly leaned forward and Buffy met him halfway.

After three years their lips met for the first time.

It was the sweetest thing either of them had ever felt.

"Awwwww."

Giles ignored the invisible crowd and as the kiss deepened, he couldn't help thanking God, that there was someone out there who had believed in their love and had managed to finally help them admit their feelings.

He would thank Solo84 later, but right now there were more important things: He pulled Buffy into his arms and carried her upstairs...

The END