"BBBRRRIINNGG!!!"

Willow reached over to turn off the alarm. Slapping her hand around a few times, she finally managed to shut it off. Rolling over, she looked around, a bit disoriented.

"Where am I?" she wondered aloud.

Then it dawned on her. Giles' Apartment.

She was at his apartment. She was going to be living there at least until second quarter starts. Pulling back the covers, she got out of bed and stepped out from behind the curtain. Glancing upstairs, she idly wondered if Giles was up yet. It was 8:15.

'Hmmm... maybe he's a late sleeper.' she mused as she gathered her robe and proceeded to the bathroom.

******************** 
Ten minutes later: 

"Damn!" she cursed loudly, twisting and turning the 
faucets. 

She'd been trying for the last ten minutes to get more 
water pressure, but all she was able to get was a 
little trickle. No matter how much twisting and 
turning she did,nothing more would come out. 

"Guess I'll just have to use the upstairs bathroom" 
she mumbled, as she gathered her shower carry. 

Moving quietly up the stairs, as not to wake Giles, 
she finally made it to the bathroom. Reaching out to 
turn the knob, the door opened suddenly and Willow 
stumbled forward. 
Seeing movement, Giles reached out and grabbed her, 
holding her steady. It took a few seconds to realize 
it was Willow he was holding. Willow who was pressed 
to his naked chest. Oh boy. 

Blushing, Willow pulled back embarrassed. "I'm sorry, 
Giles. I...I.." she fumbled, her eyes rooted to his 
chest. His muscular, firm chest with the light 
sprinkling of honey colored hairs. 

'Oh my! I really need to shower now' she thought, as 
she glanced down quickly, noticing he was wearing only 
a green towel. 

"There's nothing to apologize for. Are you all right?" 
he asked, wondering how he was able to speak, since it 
seemed his whole body was focused on Willow. 

She was standing there in a silky, green robe that 
ended about mid-thigh. He quickly ran his eyes from 
her cleavage down to her luscious long legs and back 
up to her emerald eyes. 

'I think I might need to take a shower. Again' he 
mused. 

Interrupting her,"So...you said something is wrong 
witht he downstairs bathroom?" he asked, clearing his 
throat. 

She nodded. "There's no water pressure. I twisted and 
turned the knobs till my hand turned red. Still 
nothing." she dropped her gaze. "So, I thought I'd 
come up here 'cause I have a class and I really need 
to shower. I'm sorry for interrupting you.." 

"Nonsense, Willow. I'm finished." he stepped out. "The 
bathroom's all yours." 

She smiled and shut the door. Leaning against it, she 
let out the breath she didn't even know she was 
holding. 
Giles in a towel. 

'God, how am I going to survive 3 months seeing Giles 
in a towel. I might go stir crazy with all that 
manliness around.' 

Turning on the faucets, a hot spray of water shot out. 
Smiling, she started to undo the robe, then stopped. 
Inhaling the air, she grinned. the bathroom smelled 
like Giles. Dial soap with the faint smell of Finesse 
shampoo. A yummy combo. 

Curiosity getting the better of her, she opened the 
medicine cabinet and looked inside. There were the 
usual staples one would expect to find in a man's 
bathroom. 

Shaver, shaving cream, toothpaste, toothbrush, 
aftershave... 

"Ooh, what's this?" she picked up a small bottle. 

Bayberry aromatherapy oil. Hmmmm....oil, Giles... 

"Bad thoughts, Willow" she chastised aloud. she moved 
a few things around and noticed some more bottles. 

Mint, rosemary, lavender...Lavender! 'Like me!' she 
thought. 

closing the cabinet, she gave a quick sweep of the 
bathroom. She'd never really taken time to inspect it 
thoroughly. It was nicely decorated. 

Green border with matching curtains.Gold tassels 
holding up the curtains with matching gold bathroom 
set. Fluffy, dark green towels mixed in with gold face 
towels. 

So intent on the decor, she didn't realize how steamy 
the room was getting. 

"AAH!!" she hopped in the shower, closing the curtain. 

****** 
Giles' Bedroom: 

With the door locked, Giles dropped his towel to the 
ground. Walking over to the closet, he made a mental 
note to call the plumber about Willow's bathroom. 

Willow's bathroom. 

He liked the sound of that.Living with her was turning 
out to be interesting so far. Seeing her in that robe 
was what he'd imagined her to be. 

Not that he'd ever thought about her like that. Okay, 
the idea may have crossed his mind a few times. At 
night. In Bed. 

She looked...scrumptious. 

A delightful combo of innocence and sensuality. The 
thought of seeing her in that green silk robe for the 
next three months, sent an excited shiver down his 
spine. 

"What am I thinking?"he said aloud. 

Willow, friend, colleague,....lovely woman. 

He shook his head and grabbed his clothes throwing 
them on. 

******* 
Ten minutes later: 

Cleaning his glasses, as he walked down the stairs, 
he called out,"Willow, what would you like..." he put 
on his glasses and looked up. And gasped. 

Willow was sitting in the recliner, one leg propped up 
on the coffee table, massaging lotion into her legs. 
His eyes were fixated on her hands as they rubbed 
lotion up and down, into her shapely legs. 

Extraordinary. 

"Would I like what?" she asked. 

"Ummm...breakfast." he blinked rapidly and headed for 
the kitchen. 

'Is it possible to die from too much sexual tension?' 
she asked himself. 

"What do you have?" 

"Well..." he opened the fridge and peered inside. " I 
have a few eggs, some ham, juice..." he opened the 
freezer," ..no hash browns, though." 

He went over to the bread box. "I have a couple slices 
of bread." 

"Giles, don't you ever eat?" Willow asked, plunking 
herself down on the stool. 

He gave her a withered look. "Yes, I do. It's just I 
haven't had time to go grocery shopping." he started 
up the kettle and placed two cups on the counter." 
Hmm...we can go tomorrow, if you like? I think i have 
some fish for dinner." 

"I'd like." she jumped off the stool and came around 
to the kitchen." What can I make?" 

He glanced at her. "Well..." 

"Giles, we agreed. Halvsys on food, cleaning and 
cooking. And I can cook." she went to the fridge. 
"With my parents gone all the time, it was either 
learn to cook or starve." 

He looked at her, his heartstrings tugging slightly at 
the thought of her being all alone. " Willow, i didn't 
mean anything. I remember the agreement. It's just i 
don't mind at all.." 

She turned her hands on her hips,. "Giles, it doesn't 
matter if you mind or not. The point is I want to pull 
my weight around here and that means doing some of the 
cooking." she removed the eggs and the ham. "I'll cook 
breakfast, you do toast and set the table. Okay?" 

Seeing her 'resolve' face, he knew when he was licked. 
"Okay." he opened a drawer, removed the utensils. 
Carrying them and the placemats, he headed over tot he 
table. 

As he was setting the table, she called out, "How do 
you want your eggs? Scrambled, poached, over easy, 
hard boiled or omelette?" 

"Scrambled, please." 

She grinned." Scrambled it is." she began to crack the 
eggs and started to hum softly.Watching her for a 
moment, Giles couldn't help but smile. 

'Resolve face' he thought. 

******* 

Willow set two plates down while Giles brought over 
the drinks. He stood there, waiting for her to respond 
to his table setting. 

She grinned brightly. "Giles this is beautiful. You 
went all the way out for breakfast?" she sat down as 
he did the same. 

Pouring orange juice for them both, he replied, "Well, 
this is a special breakfast." he raised his glass, "In 
honor of our first breakfast as roommates and many 
more to come." 

She clinked her glass with his. "To us." she stated 
taking a sip while looking over the rim. 

Giles had set the table, using black and gold 
placemats with black cotton napkins in matching black 
and gold napkin holders. Instead of regular drinking 
glasses, he used wine glasses for the orange juice and 
his beast porcelain cups for the tea, In the center of 
the table, he added a black vase filled with silk 
flowers and miniature pewter salt and pepper shakers. 

"How is it?" Willow asked nervously. 

"It's delicious. You did the ham just how i like it. 
Not too burnt, not too rare, just right." he smiled 
appreciatively. She beamed. 

"So, what are you doing today, Giles?" she asked in 
between bites of food. 

He shrugged. "I'm not sure. I'm becoming quite used to 
being a 'gentleman of leisure'. I'm not bored yet." 
she smiled. "I'll probably putter around the apartment 
today. Organizing that sort of thing. What about you?" 

"Well, I have my psych class, then I still have to buy 
a couple books, then I have to get my Sunnydale 
Savings card." she sipped her tea. 

"Sunnydale Savings card? What's that?" 

"It's like an i.d card that'll get you discounts on 
school supplies, copying, lecture notes things like 
that." He nodded, biting into his toast. "did they 
have anything like that at Oxford?" 

"Oh no. That would have required them to be generous 
which they weren't." he ate a forkful of eggs. 

"Did you like college, Giles?" 

Looking thoughtful, he answered. "Yes. There were a 
few good moments." he paused before continuing. "But, 
it's hard to say. At the time, I hated the tedious 
studying, my impending duty. It wasn't so much as I 
hated the material, I loved it. It was just....just 
knowing that everything I was studying for was a 
requirement by the council. That was what killed it. I 
didn't have the luxury like you do in picking and 
choosing my classes." he sipped his tea. "You're very 
lucky, Willow." 

She nodded. "I know." she hesitated before continuing, 
"Ummm... is talking about Oxford a touchy subject for 
you, Giles? I'm sorry if I pried..." 

"Willow, no. You weren't prying. It's just..." he 
said, searching for the right words. "I don't know how 
to describe it...It's complicated in a way. I do 
promise I'll tell you all about my college 
experiences." he paused, "Good ones and the bad ones." 

She smiled softly. "Thanks, Giles. I'd like that 
alot." She finished up her breakfast and headed over 
to the kitchen. 

Running the water, she opened the cabinets till she 
found the dish soap. Squirting a couple of drops in 
the hot water, she dropped her plate in. Giles came up 
and placed his hand on her shoulder. 

"Willow, you don't have to do the dishes. Let me. 
Besides, what time is your class?" 

"Ten." 

He glanced at the clock." It's 9:15 now." 

"Yikes! I still have to get my bag ready..." she 
trailed off. 

"Go to it! I can handle this." he shooed her away with 
his hand. 

While she gathered her things, he asked. "Do you need 
a ride?" 

"Well..." 

"Don't say anymore. I'll give you one." 

"You sure?" 

"I'm sure, Willow. What were you going to do if I 
hadn't offered? Walk? It's a bit far for that." he 
smirked. 

Throwing her bag over her shoulder, she swatted his 
arm, "HA! HA! Very funny. I was thinking more along 
the lines of a bus." 

Grabbing his keys, he opened the door for her. "And 
what time does the bus come by?" 

She shrugged. "I'm not sure. I kinda figured one would 
eventually come by." She ignored his pointed look. 
"Well, I don't have a schedule yet. I'll pick one up 
today on campus." 

"Willow, you are an original." 

"Why so I feel like I've just been insulted?" she 
asked him as they headed to the parking lot, both of 
them chuckling away. 


************ 

Part 3 coming soon!