TITLE: Creative Writing
AUTHORS: Michelle (mrsdrake@sff.net) & Ragna (WritingGoddess@aol.com)
RATING: FRT
CLASSIFICATION: Buffy/Giles
SUMMARY: Buffy writes a class assignment that ends up changing her life.
SPOILERS: Set in season 4, prior to "Hush."
DISTRIBUTION: Any sites with Ragna's fic up: you all have unspoken permission. I write it, you can post it. Everyone else just keep Michelle & Ragna's name on it and let us know.
DISCLAIMER: If you don't recognize it, chances are it's my own creation. If you do, I don't own it. They belong to Joss, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB & Mutant Enemy. This is purely for fun.
FEEDBACK: Please send it offlist and let me know it's feedback; I do rapid delete on my account due to a lot of spam.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Michelle started this fic in response to the following challenge from Bekc, and I (Ragna) took it up where she left off. The challenge is:

That's the challenge folks =) Have fun with it, Rating is totally open, hot, steamy smut is great, sad, smoochies tears is great too.

Buffy's life is full of adventure and wacky goings on. There's enough unbelievable things happening in Buffy's life to make a great short story, there's enough angst and surpressed emotions in her life to make some great poems. Just have fun with it =)

***

Buffy sat at the table staring at the blank sheet of paper. Several times she had picked up the pen and put it down again.

"Whatcha doing?" Dawn's sudden voice almost made Buffy jump out of her seat.

Buffy caught her breath before answering, "Homework."

"What kind?" Dawn asked as she sat down.

"I have to write a paper." Buffy told her, picking up the pen once again.

"What's it about?" Dawn persisted.

Buffy sighed. "I have to write about someone I admire. It has to be written in first person, and I can't use any names. I don't know what to write."

"That should be easy. Just write about Giles."

***

For once, Dawn had a great idea. Buffy realized she could really write this. There was just one problem: while the life of a Slayer would seem unbelievable to most people, she didn't doubt for a moment that there would be someone in the class who would realize it was all true.

But...

The teacher had never said anything about a bit of poetic justice. Or in Buffy's case, a bucketful of outright lies to cover up all the freaky parts or her life that Giles was involved in.

***

It took her about three hours, but when Buffy leaned back in the computer chair, staring at her work, she felt a sense of accomplishment she normally felt after she staked ten vamps in a night and avoided tearing one scrap of clothing.

"So, how'd it go?"

"Better than I thought," Buffy said. "Want to read it?"

Dawn shook her head. "Why not let Giles read it? Bet he'd be flattered."

Buffy shook her head. "Nah. I'd be embarrassed."

In reality, Buffy realized, she'd be terrified. Because in this essay, Buffy hadn't just written about how much she admired Giles. She also admitted how she really felt about him. And it was a lot more than admiration...

***

Dawn picked up the manuscript when Buffy wasn't looking. She wondered why Buffy had even asked her to look at it; it was a very personal piece, and there was only one person other than the teacher who should read it. And this guy, he would enjoy it.

***

Buffy was going ballistic. It was an hour until class and her paper was gone! She's set it by the computer, Dawn had come in, they'd talked, Dawn left...

"DAWN!"

"Yeah?" came a mumbled voice from upstairs; Buffy hated days where she had to go to school and her sister didn't.

"Where's my paper?"

"Oh. Gave it to Giles. I thought he'd like it."

Buffy turned purple, or some color close to that. "I didn't want him to read it," she said, pacing around. "Oh, God, how am I going to get it back? It was my only copy."

"Call him," Dawn said as she came down the stairs.

Buffy glared at her sister and reluctantly dialed Giles' phone number, agreeing to meet in five minutes.

***

Buffy decided looking nice wasn't a bad idea and, besides, she'd be on a campus full of college men. She wasn't dressing up for Giles. No, sir. She was dressing up to dress up for Giles.

She shook her head as she inched closer and closer to his apartment. She was an idiot. She should have just told him that over the last year or so her feelings had changed from daughterly to not-so-daughterly. But it was too late now; he knew and she'd have to deal with the fallout.

***

Giles opened the door, a wide smile on his face. The first thing he did was hand her back her assignment.

"Please, sit. How long do you have until class?"

"About forty-five minutes." She squired in her seat a little.

"I read the story. Found it very interesting." He paused for a moment. "The age difference between us doesn't bother you?"

Buffy let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "No...not really."

"And are you sure? I don't want you to get hurt...I've never liked seeing you get hurt."

Buffy smiled at him, her fear and unease melting away. "You wouldn't hurt me. I don't think ya can."

Giles motioned for her to come over to him. He placed his hand on her cheek, caressing it, then her jawbone, and then he grasped her chin lightly and pulled her lips to hiss for an electrifying kiss.

She moved onto his lap and snuggled next to him, never letting his lips move away from hers until she had to take a breath. She stayed snuggled as she said, "Maybe I won't kill Dawn for giving you the story after all."