For a while Buffy and Giles just stood holding each other close. After what had just happened it felt good to be together. When Buffy began to stir Giles pulled back slightly and looked down at her.
"Are you alright, love?" he asked gently.
Buffy looked thoughtful. "Strangely, yeah. I think we needed to do that. You know, sort out where we are, lay down what we are. I needed to tell him about you and he had to hear it. I feel . . . sort of like I've had a huge weight taken off me."
"What is it you Americans call it? Ah, yes, closure."
"Closure. That sounds right." Buffy looked at him closely. "Are you alright Rupert?"
"I think so. Closure is a marvelous thing." He smiled down at her, only now noticing something. "You called me Rupert."
A look of surprised delight crossed Buffy's face. "I did, didn't I? Cool. Must be a side effect of the closure thing."
When he leaned down and kissed her she was surprised by how much she needed that; the knowledge that he really was here and really did love her.
"So, how has your birthday gone so far?" Giles asked when they decided they needed some oxygen.
"Great until the Angel thing, but I seem to have got the gut-wrenching horror part out of the way early so I'm hoping the rest will be fun," she grinned at him and placed a kiss on his neck. "A lot of fun."
"Later," he promised groaning as she kissed his throat again. "For now, ah, we have other matters to attend to."
"But I like these matters," Buffy pouted at him, knowing that always distracted him.
"You, my love, do not play fair," he complained.
"I'm trying not to. Am I succeeding?"
He glared at her. "Will you stop that? At least, for now, later though . . ."
She sighed and stepped back from him. "So, what are you gonna do?"
Giles produced a black scarf from his pocket and Buffy giggled at him. "Rupert, I'm shocked. I thought you were a decent, respectable man."
He decided not to say anything. When she got into a playful mood like this there was no way he would ever win against her. Instead he tied the blindfold around her eyes and instructed her not to peek. She looked a lot better than she had when he left in the morning; the dark circles under her eyes were gone and there was a little color in her face.
Buffy was feeling slightly puzzled. She could hear Rupert moving around the room and then she thought she heard him go out into the hall. Near the front door, she thought, she heard him stop and pick something up and then he was striding back to her. He took her arm and began leading her, carefully telling her when she had to go down steps so she did not fall but otherwise being mysterious. The Basement? What's down here? When they got to the bottom of the stairs he left her again and she heard muffled giggles and rustling. After a minute Rupert was back again and began leading her across the floor. When they stopped he removed the blindfold and she stood blinking in the sudden light. Then she blinked again at the sight before her.
The Basement had been decorated with streamers and a banner saying 'Happy Birthday Buffy'. The table where they usually researched was piled high with food and presents and her friends were gathered around it grinning. Xander and Willow were there of course, but somehow Anya and Cordelia were there too. How did they sneak in?
"Happy Birthday love," Rupert said as he kissed the top of her head.
"Yeah, Buff, Happy Birthday," Xander repeated.
"Happy Birthday! Are you surprised? I hope you are 'cos this is a birthday surprise and they only work if you're, you know, surprised. I know you don't normally like a surprise parties but we figured if the world tried to end tonight we could always postpone, and now, well, it hasn't so . . . surprise." Willow was quite excited and she had drunk two glasses of Pepsi already, so the combination of caffeine and excitement was impressive.
"Thanks guys," Buffy said, smiling.
Willow started up the music while Xander eyed the food hungrily, and the party began. As Buffy relaxed and chattered she found out that it had actually been a fairly last minute plan and Cordy had been smuggled in while she was asleep that morning. She gaped when she realized that the crash she had heard earlier that evening had actually been Anya trying to sneak in the back door rather than Angel, and laughed when Willow said she had almost had a heart attack every time Buffy went past the Basement door during the day.
This birthday was actually turning out to be better than her previous ones. Seeing Angel again had been one of the hardest things she had ever had to do but it had been important and she felt that now she could be happy with Giles without feeling as though all the unresolved issues with Angel were hanging over her head. Her feelings had changed while his had not, but it was something he had to deal with and she could not and would not help. She wanted to go on with her life and not look back anymore, and her life was with Giles. Rupert, she corrected with a grin. God that feels good to say.
***
Later that night when everyone had gone to bed Buffy lay staring down at Rupert. "Do I get my present now?" she asked and kissed his shoulder.
"I thought I already gave you something," he protested with a grin.
"Tickets to the Ice Show are not what I was talking about. I mean they're great, and I can't wait to see it, but you promised . . ."
"What, exactly, did I promise?"
"You are a tease," Buffy accused as she began trailing her hand over his chest.
"And what were you earlier?"
"I wasn't teasing, I was completely serious. You were the one who wanted to wait till later. I'm sure the others wouldn't have minded waiting for half an hour."
"Half an hour?"
"Maybe an hour."
"Xander had already eaten half of those Cheesy things by the time we made out appearance."
Buffy let her hand wander lower. "There was enough food there to feed an army. I'm sure there would have been stuff left. You just wanted to get there to stuff your face. Admit it. I saw you scarfing those chicken wings."
"Love, you talk to much."
"Don't you have a saying about pots calling kettles black?"
"Shush."
*finis*