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Just So You Know

By Rach

DISCLAIMER: Not mine … you know the drill!
SUMMARY: Where did all the awkwardness go after Tabula Rasa?
RATING: PG
SPOILERS: Up to 'Tabula Rasa'
DISTRIBUTION: Satan's Toady, SU, Magic Man, Untamed Desires. Anywhere else, ask!
DEDICATION: For Topaz, who technically set the task, and for Tonya and her muse, who are rising to the challenge too :)

Anya fished the crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket and stared at it. Her hand hovered above the phone for about a minute before she finally picked up the receiver and dialled. Her heart felt like she'd been running a marathon and might actually jump right out of her throat any second as she listened to it ringing.

"Anya, do we have any …" Xander peered out of the bathroom door, trailing off as he realised she was on the phone. "Sorry, I didn't realise you were on the phone."

Her immediate reaction was to hang up, so she slammed the phone right down. "No! I mean, it's okay, I … uh … was going to … umm … wrong number." Damn.

****

"Hello?" Giles lifted the receiver, and was greeted with a dead line. "Damn." He quickly dialled 1471 and listened to the automated voice on the other end.

"You were called today at 18:32 - we do not have the caller's number to return the call."

"Damn," he repeated. Sighing, he headed back upstairs to finish unpacking the few things he'd brought back from Sunnydale with him.

He'd left without really saying goodbye to anyone, which was hardly what he wanted. Since he got home, he'd had phone calls from Buffy, Xander and Dawn - even Willow had called him, to apologise, and apologise some more. He'd heard what had gone on between her and Tara from Buffy, and he hated to see her unhappy, but he could hardly say he hadn't seen it coming.

The one person he hadn't heard from, was ironically the one person he wanted to speak to the most. He was dying to speak to Anya, but on the other hand, he didn't dare call. He just didn't know what to say - he wanted to say sorry for kissing her, but they were under a spell, and he couldn't help it. Plus, it would be a lie.

He *wasn't* sorry for kissing her - in a way he was glad that Willow's spell had gone so badly awry, because it meant he'd gotten to kiss Anya, with no repercussions as far as her relationship with Xander was concerned.

It didn't mean there was no guilt, though.

****

Anya had taken to cleaning a lot lately. She'd discovered that she could forget about a lot of things when she was cleaning. She put her duster down and looked around the apartment. Even she couldn't kid herself there was any dirt left in there.

For what seemed like the millionth time since Giles left, she reached for the phone. She'd dialled his number so many times that she knew it by heart. She held her breath as it rang, knowing that Xander was out for at least another hour, and nobody else was likely to stop by.

"Hello -"

"Giles, hi!"

"- this is Rupert Giles. I'm not in right now, but if you'd like to leave a message after the beep, I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

****

Giles hung up his coat, dumped his keys on the table, and headed into the kitchen to put the kettle on. As he waited for it to boil, he glanced at his answering machine. It was flashing. He pressed the button, and sat on the arm of his sofa as he listened.

"Hi, Giles, it's … it's Anya. I've been meaning to call … I wanted to clear everything up, about … what happened. I mean, we both know it was just 'cuz of the spell, so we should just … forget about it. I haven't told Xander, just so you know. I think my time is going to run out on your machine, but … I just wanted to call and tell you that … well, I miss you. I miss having you around the shop, and I miss having you to do the paperwork-" Giles laughed at this. "-and I just miss you period. Okay? Good. I'm glad that we-" The machine beeped to indicate the end of his messages.

"Damn."

****

"I'm glad that we -" The machine beeped and cut Anya off. "- talked this out." She muttered. "Damn."

Picking up her duster, she started cleaning again. She dusted the coffee table, the top of the TV and the bookshelves. Then she got out the bleach and headed into the bathroom.

She almost missed the phone ringing, but not quite. When she heard it, she dropped her duster, and ran for the phone.

"Hello?" She spoke breathlessly into the phone.

"Hello, Anya."

"Giles! Did you get my message? I'm so glad you called! I miss you!"

Giles laughed. "I miss you too."

"The shop's still in one piece!"

"I'd expect nothing less from you, Anya."

"This is nice."

"What's nice?"

"That things aren't awkward between us since we kissed and you left." She paused. "I probably shouldn't have said that, huh?"

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