Title: Unchained Melody
Date: 4th September 2003
Author: Jacinta
Disclaimer: Joss and Co. owns everything. I own nothing but my warped mind.
Pairing: B/G
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Season 6, say up to and including Tabula Rasa, just to be safe; then it deviates off into my little world ;)
Distribution: Sure, you want it you can have it, just let me know where it goes
Summary: Those darn dreams just won't leave her alone.
Feedback: yes please ;)
Authors Notes: Big thanks again to my beta Milk, who has threatened, yelled & cussed at me to finish this very much delayed sequel to May I Have This Dance, which you can find here

The world around them started to fade away as Giles' face inched closer, his lips pausing to hover millimeters away from hers. Warm breath washed over her lips, teasing them, taunting them, but he made no move to close the gap. Buffy whimpered in frustration, weaving her fingers though the hair at the nape of his neck, drawing his head down to finally meets hers.

Buffy groaned as the blaring of her alarm clock woke her abruptly from her dream, again. "God damn it!" Buffy growled as she thrust her arm out to grab the offending object and hurl it towards the opposite wall, gaining only a little satisfaction as it exploded into many tiny pieces.

This had been the tenth time she'd had the dream. The only differences in them were that after each dream, she could recall slightly more detail than from the previous ones. She could now probably recite half of the words to the song that played as Giles danced with her, the feel of his hair in her hands, his breath on her face, even the clothes they wore.

That was the one thing making her believe it was a fantasy dream and not a prophetic one; the dress she was wearing in her dreams she didn't even own, let alone even having seen before. In her heart though, she couldn't let go of the hope that maybe, just maybe, her dream might come true.

"Geez Buffy, get over it already..." she grumbled to herself throwing back the covers. "He's not coming; he hasn't even sent you a card or tried to call you. It's already my birthday; if he was gonna do something, it'd have happened by now."

On that depressing note, Buffy dragged herself out of bed and got changed, slowly heading downstairs to get breakfast ready. I wasn't long before Willow and Dawn emerged from their respective bedrooms, both wearing happy faces and carrying brightly wrapped presents in their arms.

"Happy Birthday," they cheerfully intoned in chorus, placing the gifts on the counter, hugging Buffy on each side before filling their plates with food.

"Thanks guys," Buffy replied, the smile on her face not quite reaching her eyes. The only good thing happening in her life at the moment was that she had realized before it had been too late how Spike had been playing with her feelings, trying to make their relationship more than what is was supposed to be; nonexistent. That the realization had to come with the departure of Giles is what hurt the most.

Buffy had been so out of sorts after she'd been brought back; everything seemed so different, especially since Giles wasn't there. When he'd come back from England she'd become so overwhelmed with emotions, holding onto him so tight that he almost couldn't breathe. Her heart had fluttered so strangely when he'd caressed her cheek, making her stomach toss uneasily.

This wasn't right; he wasn't supposed to make her feel like this. He was supposed to stay in his nice little labeled box of Watcher - dependable, trustworthy, fatherly. not this warm, touchable, kissable man. It was too much of a change to the nice orderly emotionless world she made around her to cope with being ripped out of heaven.

Buffy had quickly built up a wall around these strange feelings, determined to keep them from surfacing again. She'd almost lost her control again later that night when making up the sofa for him to sleep on. His soft declaration that he was glad she was back too, coupled with his hand reaching out for hers, had left her wanting nothing more than to crawl into his embrace and never leave; but she couldn't allow that.

Instead she pushed him away; first emotionally and then physically; and in the process she'd allowed herself to become a pawn to Spike's game, truly believing that she was worthless and didn't belong in the 'light'. Through all this Buffy had become totally closed off, unable to feel anything. Desperate to regain any feeling, she'd let Spike kiss her - that she had only felt disgust didn't matter, it was better than the cold world she'd built around herself.

And then came that fateful day where Giles informed her he was leaving, making her so mad at him that not a single word he said penetrated her brain. It wasn't until a few nights after he had flown back to England, that her subconscious mind replayed that conversation to her in her dreams. This time though she listened to what he was saying. But instead of getting angry and yelling at him, she gently took his hand and agreed with him, telling him that she would take back control of her life and stand on her own two feet and pleaded with him not to go, telling him how much she needed his presence in her life.

She awoke from that dream with tears rolling down her cheeks, clutching her pillow as she had clutched Giles' hand, and she took that first step into dismantling the emotional walls she'd created. It had taken a while to get her life back on track, but she'd done it, with the help of her friends and sister. With a final sigh into her coffee she dragged her mind back from the past and into the present. Putting her cup down on the counter, she reached for one of the gifts Willow and Dawn had laid in front of her and started ripping into the paper.

***

With the day off from work, Buffy spent a lazy day at home, only doing the odd chore around the house. There weren't any big plans for a celebration for her birthday-- at her request-- so she went for a little nap in the early afternoon. She awoke a few hours later, still feeling a bit dreary, so decided to have a nice warm relaxing bath.

A much refreshed Buffy exited the bathroom half an hour later, pausing in shock upon entering her bedroom and seeing a new dress spread out upon her bed with a note lying on top.

It wasn't the unexpected gift that kept her immobile in the doorway; it was the fact that the dress she now gazed at was one she new very well - for she had dreamt of wearing it before, ten times to be exact. With a trembling hand she stepped forward and picked up the note, trying to take slow deep breaths to calm her wildly beating heart.

Buffy,
I know you said you didn't want any sort of party this year, but
we couldn't just do nothing to celebrate your birthday, so we decided
that we'd take you out to dinner tonight.
Hope you like the dress; we all pitched in to find/buy it. Be ready to
leave by 6pm as that's when Xander is coming by to pick us up.

Happy Birthday,
Love Dawn.

Glancing at the clock Buffy saw that she had just under an hour to get herself ready. Swallowing back the nervousness that had arisen, she quickly went about preparing herself for what might very well be a dream come true.

Xander arrived promptly at six, giving Buffy a low wolf whistle as she descended the stairs, the soft folds of the dresses skirt clinging to her legs with every step. "My, my, my. doesn't the birthday girl look particularly stunning this evening," said Xander as Buffy reached the bottom of the stairs and twirled around slowly, showing off the exquisitely designed dress that clung to every curve; its thin straps and plunging back exposing quite a lot of skin.

"Why thank you kind sir," replied Buffy, taking his proffered arm and heading out to the car with Willow and Dawn in tow.

Xander's gift to Buffy was to take them all out to dinner at a nice quiet, classy little restaurant in town, followed up with a few drinks and dancing at the Bronze to work off all that scrumptious food. They'd all had a few dances and were now sitting at a small table sipping their drinks and making comments on some of the more unique dancing styles present.

The upbeat song faded away as it ended, flowing into the haunting melody of an old, but somehow familiar, love ballad. Buffy sighed wistfully as she looked around at all the couples on the dance floor as they moved to hold each other closer, swaying softly to the music.

Oh, my love, my darling
I've hungered for your touch
A long, lonely time

It was at about this point that Buffy realized why this song seemed familiar to her; it was the song she had heard night after night in her dreams. She quickly cast her gaze around the room, looking for that one particular face amongst the crowd.

And time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine?

She searched in earnest, barely breathing, but came up empty handed.

*God, how could I have been so stupid! It was just a silly dream. it wasn't about to come true. of course he wouldn't be here. why should he?! I did a damn good job of driving him away,. forever.*

A solitary tear slowly slid down her cheek as she closed her eyes and let the music wash over and through her.

I need your love
I oh I need your love
God speed your love to me

"May I have this dance?"

Buffy's eyes flew open and she spun around slowly, her eyes coming to focus upon his wide chest. Traveling upwards past his neck, she beheld those lips she had dreamt of these many past nights. Finally coming to rest on his eyes, Buffy felt herself falling under the spell those beautiful green eyes cast upon her. Unable to answer verbally, she gave a slow nod in reply.

Lonely rivers flow to the sea, to the sea
To the open arms of the sea
Lonely rivers sigh, wait for me, wait for me
I'll be coming home, wait for me

His hand took hold of hers, leading them out onto the dance floor. Reaching the middle, Giles turned and pulled Buffy against him, raising her arms to drape around his neck. His hands caressed her arms as they descended, leaving her skin tingling from the contact. Buffy shivered even more as she felt his thumbs brush along the side of her breasts before his hands moved down further, wrapping around her waist and pulling her flush against his body. Throughout all this, Giles' eyes remained unwavering from hers, searching for any sign that she wished to stop.

It took Buffy's every ounce of willpower she had to keep breathing as their bodies began to sway with the music, his hips brushing hers in a sensual rhythm.

*Oh God, it's happening again. it's all just a dream.*

Oh, my love, my darling
I've hungered, hungered for your touch
A long, lonely time

Buffy couldn't help the tears that began to flow from her eyes as he held her closer, his hands tracing small circles on her back.

"What's wrong luv?"

"I can't live through this dream again."

"Dream?... but Buffy ."

Buffy continued on as though she hadn't heard his words. "Each night you're here, you guide me out onto the dance floor, you take me in your arms, you hold me close and you move to kiss me. Then I wake up and you're not there. and my heart breaks all over again. I-I can't do it anymore; my heart isn't strong enough to loose you again." With that Buffy buried her head against his chest and cried even harder, her whole body shaking with her grief.

And time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine?

Giles moved his hands up to cradle Buffy's face, slowly raising her head till he could look into her eyes again. "Buffy, this isn't a dream. I'm here and I don't plan on going anywhere, if you don't want me to."

"Really?" Buffy managed to choke out through her lessoning tears.

"Really really," Giles responded with a small grin as his thumbs wiped away the tears from her cheeks.

"Then I want you to stay... forever," said Buffy as she threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled his head down to crush her lips against his, determined this time to actually kiss him - dream or not. His arms slid down her body again to pull her flush against his own as their tongues dueled for supremacy in each others mouths; their passion reaching its crescendo as the music did.

I need your love
I oh I need your love
God speed your love to me

The world around Buffy seemed to fade away into nothing as the dieing strains of the music resonated in her ears; aware only of the heat flowing throughout her body from every place her body was touching Giles'. She felt complete again; whole. she'd finally found her little piece of heaven on Earth, and it blinded everything else with its luminescence.

***

The blaring of an alarm clock woke her from the most restful night's sleep she'd had in long time. Buffy wearily stretched out an arm to turn off the offending noise and burrowed back under the blanket, only to have her eyes fly open again and her heart suddenly seized up at the notion that it was assuredly just another dream; that Giles had not really came back.

These terrifying thoughts were quickly subdued though by the long arm that wrapped itself around her waist to pull her back against a warm body as Giles snuggled up to her, placing a soft kiss behind her ear. Buffy twisted around to face him, returning the kiss with one of her own to his temple before settling back onto her pillow to watch him sleep, content in the knowledge that he was back home - to stay.

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