Response to Comfort

[rayne-y-daze.livejournal.com]

Title: A Pain Shared
Fandom: Buffy
Pairing: Giles/Xander - preslash
Word Count: 500
A/N: Written for slashthedrabble. Takes place during the summer of Buffy's disappearance.


"Hey, G-man. Any word on Buffy?" Xander discreetly ignored the pained wince his question elicited. It had been a few days since he'd seen Giles and had begun to worry. He knew that Giles was hurting. The man was human, after all. But to just disappear like this was very unlike the man he'd come to know. Looking around the apartment, he could see that his worry was justified.

Giles looked worn. New lines traced their way across his face, and his eyes were dull and grayish. His apartment looked worse. All the curtains were drawn, leaving the place blanketed in gloom. Books, papers, and spell components were strewn on every flat surface available. One thing he didn't see, though, was food clutter. A quick peek into the kitchen showed no dishes in the sink. "Um… Giles, when's the last time you ate?"

"Xander, this is none of your concern. Please leave me be."

Xander returned to the living room where Giles was carelessly sprawled across the sofa. "Gotcha. Only, since one of my friends is missing and another one seems to be turning into Golem under our noses, I may have gotten confused about what is and isn't my concern."

Giles raised a shaky hand to his face. "Xander, please. Go home."

"No. You're scared; you're hurt. I get that. You know why?" When he got no response, he grabbed Giles' jaw and moved it to make the man look him in the eye. "'Cause she's my friend, and I feel the same way." He released Giles' jaw and sighed. "Thing is, I can't do anything about that friend right now. And neither can you."

A shuddering sigh, and Giles looked at Xander. He took in the look of concern shadowing and aging the face before him. Giles wasn't sure how much more he could take. His body still hurt from Angelus' tender mercies. His heart ached over the loss of his slayer. And now, he could add this boy's pain to his list of failures. He felt his throat tighten as tears he'd withheld for weeks threatened to surface. "I'm sorry." And the tears came.

Xander didn't know what to do. Giles was the strong one, yet he was shattering before his eyes. Without thinking, Xander reached out and pulled Giles to him, wrapping his arms around the sobbing man as tightly as he could without hurting him. While Giles cried, Xander could only act on instinct. He rocked, he whispered, he kissed and he cried with him.

Finally, after several minutes, Giles began to calm. It was then that he realized what Xander was doing. He raised his head so that he could see the boy's face. "Xander?"

Xander lowered reddened eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean—"

Giles put a finger to Xander's lips to quiet him. "We'll talk later. For now, come here." And with that, he pulled Xander into his arms and the two of them just relaxed, finally finding some peace in slumber.

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