Riley came down the stairs and glanced into the living room as he went by - movie still playing, everyone still in their seats, thank God. He couldn't imagine what he would have done if Annie or Kate - or, God, Jack - had tried to find him in the last half hour.  

A little late to be worried about that, he chastised himself. That couldn't happen again. Not in the house. Not while the kids were home.  

What had he been thinking?

Nothing. He hadn't been thinking. Had never been able to where Buffy was concerned. Buffy - who was at this very moment upstairs in his bathroom blow-drying her hair.  

Riley shook his head in amazement. He still couldn't quite believe that she was here, much less alive. Alive she was, however; and so was he for the first time in years.

He walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. Not that he was actually hungry, but he couldn't quite figure out what to do with himself in the ten or fifteen minutes before the movie was over. Not now, when the ramifications of what had just happened were beginning to hit him. Um, pummel him.

Everything up until now had just been reaction: getting over the shock of seeing her. Maintaining coherent thought and speech while sitting next to her. Actually managing to talk about Sam to her. And then...

Well, and then his mind just stopped being part of the equation.

Ramifications, however...

What this meant for the long-term, he couldn't even begin to think about. Especially since short-term ramifications were big enough. Like explaining what had happened tonight to Graham. Like explaining who Buffy was to his kids -- really explaining, not just giving them the 'old friend' routine.  

Like -- in the event of them finding out what had just happened, explaining to them why it was o.k. for him to have done that whereas they weren't even supposed to be talking to anyone of the opposite sex until they were at least eighteen.   Which, considering that Annie apparently had a boyfriend was already out the window anyway. It was a hell of a lot easier to preach safe, responsible sex when you'd been celibate for most of the last decade.

Straightening up, he thought he'd rather concentrate on something that had no consequences whatsoever. Like laundry. Like checking to see if the clothes were dry. Damn excellent idea. He closed the refrigerator door and turned, nearly jumping out of his skin when he saw Dawn standing in the doorway.

"Hey there," she said, smiling. "What'd you do to my sister?"

"What?" he forced out, feeling the heat rise up his neck as he thought about -- in explicit detail -- what he had just done.

"My sister? Buffy?" she asked. "You know - blonde hair. Kind of cute; definitely on the short side." Dawn was obviously amused by his reaction, which, at the moment, could probably be described as a nice, rosy hue and the lack of speech. "Last I saw her," Dawn was saying, "she said she was going to catch up with you instead of watching the movie."

"Oh," he managed. "Right."  

"So did you? Catch up?" She folded her arms in front of her chest.

"Umm... Yeah... A lot of, um, catching up to do," he stammered, willing the blush to recede before Dawn noticed.  

Too late.

Dawn's eyes narrowed. "Where is she?"

"She's, uh, upstairs. Should be down any second." Idiot -- should have just said in the bathroom. Wasn't even a lie. He turned back to the refrigerator door and opened it. Anything to avoid Dawn's shrewd gaze. "You want something to drink?"

Dawn came up behind him and punched him on the arm. "You slept together, didn't you? You guys totally did it already."

He deliberately kept his eyes on the contents of the fridge. "Uhh - Coke? Juice?" There was no way he was going to answer her. As if his bright red face hadn't already totally given him away.

"Geez, it's been how many years since you've seen each other?" There was a smirk in her voice. "Did you even try and talk at all?"

"Of course." He tried to sound indignant but failed miserably.

"Oh yeah?" Her smile turned evil as she launched into a series of rapid-fire questions:  

Evil inquisitor Dawn: "Where's she work?"
Perfectly innocent (or maybe not so much) Riley: "For Angel."

EID: "How many kids does Xander have?"
PIR: "Two."

EID: "What's Giles' son's name?"
PIR: "He has a daughter, not a son."

EID: "What does Willow do?
PIR: "Professor. In Chicago."

EID: "Why'd Buffy move to Boston?"
PIR: "To be closer to you?"  

Riley breathed a sigh of relief when Dawn nodded, satisfied with his answers. That had been exhausting. "Uh, Dawn -- did you need something?" he asked, still a little breathless. "Or were you just looking for Buffy?"

"A bathroom," she replied.

Riley led her into the hall and pointed to a door next to the laundry room he was heading towards. As he was pulling the clothes out of the dryer, he heard the living room doors open and a surge of noise as everyone trooped into the kitchen. He brought the laundry basket in and put it on the table, thinking how odd it was to be standing here, watching them pick out their clothes, going through the motions in such a normal way, when it felt like everything in his life had just changed.  

"Dad - hello! Are you in there?"  

"Huh?" Riley looked down to see Annie tugging his arm. "Yeah. Sorry."

"Can you give Charlie a ride home?" she asked. "He lives in Quincy."

One of the problems with private schools -- friends came from all over the city and suburbs; driving them home could take a couple hours. Generally, Kate and Annie didn't come because it took so long. Usually Riley tried to talk them into it.  

Not tonight.

"We're just past Quincy," Jean said. "I can take him. Does anyone else need a ride?"

The next few minutes were spent figuring out who was driving whom where, Riley ending up with Beth, Dawn, Eddie, and Buffy, who had just slipped quietly into the room. Hair dry, cheeks only slightly flushed, and eyes sparkling brightly.   Wearing yet another set of his clothes.  

She grinned at him and he only barely resisted the temptation to take her in his arms and start kissing her all over again.  

How 'bout some ground rules, Finn? No sex in the house while the kids were home and no touching her in front of the kids. Those would be a good place to start.

Before they left, Riley kissed Annie and Kate good night. It was obvious they were curious, their open stares at Buffy and glances from her back to him giving them away. They didn't say anything, nor did he; he wasn't quite ready to broach the subject.  

"Get Josh set up in the guest room, o.k.?" he said, although there probably wasn't any need -- Josh had spent so many nights at the house that there was already a bed in his name.

While Annie just nodded, Kate gave Buffy a long, hard look before turning to Riley and saying, "You promised you'd make us breakfast tomorrow morning. You are still going to, right?"

Riley decided to ignore the harsh undertone in her voice - Kate was clearly not entirely happy with Buffy's appearance.   And although cooking breakfast had, in fact, slipped his mind, he wasn't about to own up to that fact. "French toast?"

Annie, on the other hand, didn't seem to have any issues. She piped up with, "We need eggs, Daddy."

"O.k." He grabbed his keys off the counter. "I'll pick some up on my way home."  

Once they were out of the house and making their way through the narrow, crowded streets crammed with cars, Buffy asked, "Hard to park around here, huh?"

"There's a parking garage underneath the Common," Riley said. No rent and no mortgage meant he could actually afford a couple monthly spots.  

When they emerged from the alley, Jean stopped. "This is where we get off," she said. "I'm parked on the street." She held out her hand to Riley and grinned. "Thank you. It was a good night."

Before Riley had a chance to reply, Buffy said, "I'm so sorry we barged in on your evening. Thank you for being so understanding."

"Don't mention it," Jean answered. "It was nice to meet all of you." She included Dawn and Eddie in her smile before turning back to Riley. "Just so you know, I'm planning to avoid Sarah like the plague until you have a chance to talk to her. You know she'll be wanting a report first thing. C'mon, boys." With a wave, she turned and headed down the street flanked by Charlie and Ben.

Yeah. Thanks for the reminder. Damn.

"So, Riley..." There was an amused smile on Dawn's face as she spoke. Riley figured it had something to do with her noticing that he and Buffy were very deliberately walking about a foot apart so as not to touch each other.  

"Eddie teaches sailing at one of the boat clubs and they let him use the boats whenever he wants," Dawn continued as they entered the garage's lobby. She pushed the button for the elevator. "I invited Annie and Kate and their friends sailing next week. I hope that's o.k."

The elevator doors opened and they all got in. It took a few seconds for Riley to remember what floor he'd parked on, even though he'd been parking there for about eight years now. Beth was the one who finally ended up pushing the button for level four.

Geez, Ri. Pull yourself together.

As they descended, he answered, "Sure. If you don't mind dealing with them, they're all yours."

"Dawn doesn't mind," Buffy said proudly. "She's doing her dissertation on adolescent psychology. At Harvard. She loves hanging out with teenagers."  

"Really." Riley smiled at Dawn. He actually knew some of the Psych professors there. Small world. Small fucking world. Unbelievable.

"Which car are we taking, Mr. Finn?" Beth's voice came out of the blue and Riley realized they'd left the elevator and were now standing in front of the Chevy Suburban and the Volvo station wagon that looked tiny in comparison.

Riley hit a button on his key ring and the doors to the Volvo unlocked. He actually preferred the Suburban -- it reminded him of the truck he'd had back in high school. Trucks were a pain to drive in Boston, though.

By now the crowds and traffic from the fireworks had disappeared and it was under ten minutes before they pulled up to Dawn and Eddie's apartment in Cambridge. Before Dawn got out, she leaned forward and gave Buffy a quick kiss. "Call me tomorrow," she said emphatically, leaving no doubt in Riley's mind that Dawn knew there was something to talk about.

Well, it wasn't like he'd been what anyone would call suave when he was in the kitchen. He just barely avoided looking at Buffy as Dawn turned to him.  

"The girls have my number," she said. "Tell them to call me so we can set up next week." She started to slide out the door and then instead leaned forward again, surprising him when she threw her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "It's nice to have you back." Then, apparently just for good measure, she punched him on the arm again before leaving the car.

That was unexpected. Nice, too. In a warm and fuzzy you-may-have-screwed-up-everything-but-we-still-love-you way. He looked up to see Buffy smiling at him. She raised her eyebrows, probably because she'd also gotten the point about Dawn figuring out what exactly they'd been doing while the movie was going on. Riley was glad she didn't say anything, though. With Beth in the backseat, Riley knew any conversation would be dutifully reported straight back to Annie and Kate. Possibly, even, before he got home.

"You up for a ride to Natick? Or would you rather I drop you off first?" Despite her asking about how his kids might feel if she 'came around' again, Riley wasn't entirely sure which option she'd pick; he had absolutely no idea what she wanted out of this whole thing. Hell, he had no idea what he wanted. Except that he desperately wanted to be alone with her. God, how he was hoping she'd choose the ride to Natick.

Although the look Buffy gave him clearly conveyed her answer -- 'as if you have to ask,' she also said, "I don't mind the ride. Not that I have any idea where Natick is. Or where we are for that matter."

As they drove, Beth chattered away, pointing out various landmarks to Buffy with commentary like: "That's where Mr. Finn got really mad at Annie and Kate when they were waving to the Harvard crew team" -- and -- "Mrs. Miller swore she saw Ben and Jen standing on that corner -- right there. We didn't believe her."  

Buffy just nodded, obviously trying not to laugh. Although she did look at him and answer, "Yes. I'd have a hard time believing it, too."

Based on the way the tears welled up in her eyes, Riley had a feeling she wasn't really talking to Beth. When Buffy's hand suddenly appeared over his on the gearshift, he knew he was right. He laced his fingers through hers and smiled the rest of the way.

Fifteen minutes later, he stopped the car in front of Beth's house. Beth thanked him for the ride and got out, waving as she reached the front door and walked in.

Buffy turned to him. "Nice neighborhood."

"Yeah - not bad," he answered, at a loss for words now that they were alone again.    

That is, until Buffy grinned and moved her hand over to his thigh, saying, "You are planning on kissing me again, right?"

He could feel the heat rise to his face - not so much because of what she'd said, but because of how much he wanted to. Or, rather, because of how much more he wanted to do. It was just that... Shrugging, he mumbled, "I didn't want to assume..."

She raised her hand to his cheek and her eyes softened. "I forgot that whole part of you. It got lost somewhere along the way."

"Yeah." He looked away. "That whole blood-sucking thing casts quite a big shadow."

She laughed. "Actually, I was thinking more that the kinds of things you were doing earlier this evening weren't exactly gentlemanly." She leaned towards him and began to play with the hair at the back of his neck. "That was a nice shower."

Her breath hit his neck in such a way that he felt it right, well, there. And even just her mentioning the shower... "Hold that thought," he muttered, shifting the car into gear. The last thing he needed was for Beth's mom to come out and see why exactly Kate and Annie's dad was still sitting in her driveway. He pulled away from the house. Turned down another street and parked under a tree.

An impish grin on her face, Buffy looked around. "You know - we should have parked more when we were going out. I never really got to master that art."

Riley unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to her, his hand brushing the hair off her face. He smiled. "That's because you tended to favor guys who were born before there were such things as cars."  

Well, that was a testament to how much he had grown. He could actually say something like that and not feel even a twinge of jealousy. That was nice. That meant other twinges could take center stage.

He pulled her to him and leaned down. She released her own seatbelt and sighed as he kissed her, his hands moving up under her shirt. He had just unclasped her bra when they were interrupted by someone tapping on Buffy's window.

"Do your parents know what you're-" The policeman's voice cut off as their heads came up and he seemed to realize that he wasn't talking to two kids but instead to people who had a good ten years on him. Poor guy.

Although, actually, he was kind of lucky. Riley's instinct had been to go for the taser under the seat. He figured that if the windows hadn't been closed, Buffy would have hit first and asked questions later.

Instead, Buffy's reaction was to say, "We are so sorry, Officer. I promise it will never happen again." Then she did that thing with her hair and eyes that had always been guaranteed to give Riley a hard-on. He figured he wasn't the only one when the policeman shifted uncomfortably and tried not to stare as Buffy leaned forward and very obviously refastened her bra.   Riley stifled a laugh.

"Uhh, that's o.k.," the policeman stammered. "You folks have a nice night."

"Oh, we will," Buffy said, her voice sultry and low, her intention to do just that abundantly clear. She settled back into her seat and fastened her seatbelt, smiling wickedly at the policeman as he walked back to his car. The smile turned to laughter as the police car drove away.  

"Maybe we should get out of here. Wouldn't want to have to make him come back," she said, resting her hand - very high up - on Riley's thigh. "Would we?"

Riley grabbed her hand and placed it on the seat between them. "Um, no. That would be a bad idea." Driving off the side of the road would be a worse idea. No, Jack, Daddy didn't swerve to avoid a deer, he was getting a hand job.  

Riley started up the car and pulled back out onto the street.

"So, where to now?" she asked with a completely innocent look on her face.

He was strangely unwilling to just come out and say what he was thinking, i.e., your bed, right now. Especially because there was a very small, very unwelcome, and yet very persistent voice in his head, saying, If you do this, know exactly what you're getting into. Know how unlikely it is that she wants what you want. Remember how it all went last time around.

As if he could forget.

"Well," he decided to go with, "I have to buy eggs for breakfast tomorrow morning. Kate wants her French toast."

"O.k."   Buffy's matter-of-fact tone made it sound like shopping was precisely what she'd had next on her agenda. "There's an all night grocery near my house. We can stop there - I need some stuff, too. But I hope you know how to get back to Brighton, because I still have no idea where we are."

That one was easy. That he could do. "No problem."

As he drove, he realized that he wasn't sure exactly what to say next. Which of the billion questions to start out with.   Like, for example, how many apocalypses had she averted since he'd last seen her? How many alternate dimensions had she been to?  

And, for that matter, along much more personal lines: what exactly had happened with Spike? With Angel? Riley highly doubted that she was just one of Angel's run-of-the-mill employees; they must have worked closely together. Wasn't that what she had always wanted? A life with Angel? So how was it she was sitting here in this car with him?  

No. Better to start with the small stuff. "So tell me more about what Dawn's doing. How did she end up studying teenagers?"

Buffy shrugged. "I think she's been trying to figure out what those monks were thinking ever since she found out how she was created."

Should have known - with Buffy, nothing ever fell into the "small stuff" category. "Created?" Riley asked weakly. "By monks?"

Buffy was obviously about to come back with a retort when she seemed to stop herself, realizing he wasn't kidding. "How much time do we have?"

Just enough, as it turned out after Riley missed the exit to Brighton. It had suddenly appeared in the rear view mirror as Buffy got to the part about jumping off the tower.

"Heaven?" he muttered.

"Later," Buffy promised.

He took the next exit and worked his way back until they got to a point where Buffy began to recognize her surroundings. She directed him to the store.

"It always surprises me how many people are out at this time of night," she said once they stopped.  

It was true - the market was much more crowded than any retail outlet should be at one in the morning.  

"I like having all the college kids around, though. Good energy." She headed down one of the aisles, calling over her shoulder, "I'll meet you back at the counter."  

By the time Riley got his two cartons of eggs and made it back to the front of the store, she was waiting for him. "That was quick," he said.

She smiled. "I knew what I wanted."

He looked down at what Buffy had thrown on the counter next to his two cartons of eggs: red nail polish, a bottle of Windex, hair elastics, and two boxes of Trojans.  

O.k., then. It appeared they wouldn't be beating around the bush.

Well, he supposed it was a good thing they were shopping near her house and not his - birth control news traveled fast among the old ladies in his neighborhood, one of whom always managed to be standing right behind you at the least opportune moments. His mother would have known before her morning coffee.

"We've got a sale on bandages this week," the cashier murmured as he began ringing everything up.  

It made Riley laugh. Handing over some money, he asked Buffy, "They already know you? I thought you said you didn't have to sla..." Um... "Go out every night."

"I said I didn't have to," she answered. "Doesn't mean I don't do it when I'm bored."

As they left the store, Riley looked around. No one undead seemed to be lurking; there wasn't any of that unmistakable demon-has-been-here smell. "You see a lot of action around here?"

"You kidding? College town like this?" She rolled her eyes. "They're everywhere - haven't you noticed?"

"I try not to. I have people for that."

"Aren't your people supposed to tell you things?" she asked as she got into the car. "Isn't that the point of having people in the first place?"

"Well, yeah, but Graham and I have a deal: he gets the reports from the city, I get the suburbs." Riley slammed his door shut; started up the car. "We try to stay in denial about the things our kids might come into contact with any given day."

"Healthy," she said after they left the parking lot. "Take this right,"

They went up a steep hill and then back down the other side. Halfway down, she pointed to her house. Riley stopped and pulled over. Didn't stop the car, though.

She, of course, noticed right away. "Aren't you coming in?"

"Buffy..." He couldn't quite look her in the eye. He'd gotten to thinking while they'd been doing all that driving and...

He should have said it when she'd thrown down the condoms. It wasn't like he thought they'd been intended for someone other than him. Not tonight at least.

Two boxes. Jesus.    

Riley took a deep breath. "Buffy, what happened tonight..."

She responded exactly as he thought she would, sitting back in her seat and angrily shaking her head. "Don't you dare turn into some guy on me. If you're even thinking about giving me the brush off I will kick your ass so..." Her voice trailed off when he started to grin. "What?" she asked suspiciously.

As much as this was about to suck, he couldn't deny that a part of it brought back some good memories. Memories of a time when she still got irritated. Back when they were on steady ground. "Were you always that cute when you got mad?" He couldn't resist, even though he knew it would only make her angrier.

Which it clearly did. She snapped, "Saying things like that is so not going to help."

No, it certainly wouldn't. It wasn't going to do much for the stalling either. He looked away.  

She was quiet for a minute. Then she asked, "Is this one of those times where you're about to say exactly what you're thinking?"

Riley felt a ghost of a smile flash across his face. He knew he hadn't even come close to explaining himself. All he could say, though, was, "How is it possible that this is happening?" He wasn't sure if he was talking to her or to himself.  

"I... I don't know," she said, looking away. She softly added, "But it is,"

"Is it? Really?" He hesitated before he let the next words come out of his mouth. Ri -- you are a damn fool. A fool for asking this of her. And yet, he couldn't help but say it. He knew he'd regret it otherwise. "I play for keeps, Buffy. I'm not interested in some one night stand." His voice softened when he saw the look in her eyes. Not fear exactly, but wariness. Could he really blame her? "I'm not proposing or anything, but if we're going to do this, we're doing it for real."

The wariness was replaced by a flash of fire. "You think I don't understand that? Don't underestimate me, Riley, and don't patronize me. I'm not who I was then; I would hope you're not either. And believe me, I've thought about this more than you can possibly know."

Truly? He found himself leaning forward, responding to her heated response with one of his own. "Thought about this ?   About us randomly running into each other in some drugstore in Boston? Since when do those Slayer skills let you predict fifteen years into the future?"

"Well, not this exactly, but you," she admitted. "And what happened to us. How we let so much get in the way. I always wondered what would have happened if we had met years later, older and wiser." She took his hand. "I guess now we have the chance to find out."

O.k. Not at all where he'd expected that to go. He was at a loss for words. 'A chance to find out.' That's what she'd actually said. It took him a minute to process that.

The smile came back to his face. In full force this time. "Definitely older," he finally said, wondering if she could even hear the words over his suddenly loudly pounding heart. "Much, much wiser."

"Good," she answered, her voice getting a little scratchy. "Then you're not going to keep me waiting any longer."

"No, ma'am." Hell, no. He started to pull his hand away so he could get out of the car, but stopped when she didn't let go.

Her hand went to his face; a gentle caress of his cheek. "I never stopped loving you," she said. "I was so angry, and it hurt so much, but I never stopped and I'm not about to now that I've found you again." She kissed his hand before releasing it and getting out of the car.

Completely unexpected. You've-just-won-the-lottery-even-though-you-had-no-idea-you'd-entered-it unexpected.

She crossed in front of the car without so much as a backwards glance indicating she had any idea she'd just laid him out on the floor. He counted to ten - that was the minimum for getting back to breathing status. Reaching in the backseat for the grocery bag, he made himself get out and follow her.