TITLE: “One Thing Leads to Another”

AUTHOR: Alessandra “Pamela”

EMAIL: alessandra@...

RATING: NC17 overall

DISTRIBUTION:  My sites… anyone else, just ask.

FEEDBACK:  I would love it if you were so inclined. :)

SPOILERS:  This takes place after “The Gift” except Buffy didn’t die.

SUMMARY:  Buffy and Graham run into each other and find out they get along *really* well.  But will their loyalty to Riley keep them apart?

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” characters or situations (I will even give my story ideas to Joss in exchange for a day on the set).  I am borrowing them, without permission, and I mean no harm to them.  They all belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox, and Warner Brothers.  I wrote this purely for entertainment and not at all for profit.

NOTE: Moe is a goddess!  Best beta reader ever, I swear.  And Andra rocks too, for sitting and reading and helping me plot.  I’m super lucky to have them both!

***

Graham groggily came awake to the shrill sound of the phone ringing as the throbbing in his head hit him like a ton of bricks.  What had he done and who up there hated him so much?

Groaning, he rolled over and picked up the receiver.  As he held it to his ear, he became aware of a body beneath him.  Looking down, his eyes met the horrified ones of Buffy Summers, his best friend’s girlfriend.

The girl he had spent the night before having sex with.

“Oh God!” they exclaimed in unison as Graham slammed down the phone, without ever even hearing who it had been and Buffy scrambled to cover herself with a sheet.

Wrapping the bedspread around his waist, Graham looked at the girl again and asked, “What did you do?!”

“What did *I* do?” she repeated, “What about you?”

“Oh God,” he said again, noticing the hickey on her neck, “Do you really have to ask?”

Buffy shook her head, trying to deny what they had obviously done, the memories of which were slowly penetrating her mind, “Where are we?”

“My place,” he answered, still staring at her and silently admonishing himself for thinking she looked awfully sexy with her hair all messed up in his bed, wearing only a sheet.

“Stop staring at me, Graham,” she cried, looking around the room, “Where are my clothes?”

“I don’t know!  Why do you think I’m any better off than you?”  he sighed, climbing off the bed with the bedspread still around his waist and began searching for clothing.

“Because you’re the one who got me drunk and brought me back to your place to seduce me,” she accused, getting up as well.

“You cannot be serious!  Did you *completely* forget last night?!”

“No, unfortunately, I have bits and pieces.  Right now, I am remembering you convincing me to do body shots pretty well.”

“Uh, you enjoyed them, Honey, and begged me to do it,” he retorted.

“In your dreams,” she yelled, the search for clothing forgotten, “Trust me, if I was sober, there is no way I’d let you do *that* to me.”

“Maybe so… but you were already drinking before I got there and I didn’t convince you to *keep* drinking once I was there, so if you were wasted when I was wasted and suggested body shots, this is as much your fault as it is mine.”

Buffy put her hand on her forehead, knowing he was right.  “I can’t believe this.  I have never ever done anything like this before.  I’m not the type of person who has one-night-stands.  Oh God, a one-night-stand!  And with you, of all people, Riley’s friend.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said, attempting to comfort her, “You got drunk and made a mistake.”

She felt tears well in her eyes, but refused to let them fall.  She would *not* cry in front of him.  “I’ve ruined any chance I had with Riley.  Even if he *does* come back and wants to give our relationship another shot, when he finds out that I slept with you, he’ll never speak to me again.”

“Riley never has to know.  Look, you two may very well get back together in the future, but you aren’t together right now.  As of this moment, you’re single and free to sleep with anyone you want.  You didn't cheat on him. He doesn’t need to know and he doesn’t *have* to know, because we can pretend this never happened.”

Buffy looked up at him with wide eyes, “Really?  You aren’t going to tell Riley?”

He shook his head, “Like I said, you didn’t cheat on Riley, and knowing that we… slept together… would only hurt him, even though we really didn’t do anything wrong.  So by not telling him, we’re protecting him.”

“So, we forget this and never tell anyone and it just goes away,” Buffy said.

“Exactly,” he nodded.

“Good,” she replied, breathing a sigh of relief, “Now, if I can just find my clothes.”

Together, the two of them managed to find her shoes, skirt, and bra in the living room, but had no luck when it came to her shirt and panties.  Buffy started to get panicky as she searched everywhere, racking her brain to remember where she had taken it off.

Standing in the middle of the living room, Buffy frantically clutched the clothing they had managed to gather.   “It has to be here somewhere, I’m positive I had it when we got here.  I can’t go home without a shirt on!”

“I don’t know where it could be,” Graham said, a little calmer, “We’ve looked everywhere.  Do you want to just borrow one of mine?  I’m sure if your shirt is here, I will come across it and then I can return it to you.”

Buffy slowly nodded her head, wondering if this was all routine to Graham, since he certainly seemed a lot calmer than she was.  As a thought hit her, she frowned and asked, “Um, do you know where my car is?”

“Probably still at the bar,” he replied as he walked back to his room, trying to think of a shirt that wouldn’t be way too big and obviously a man’s shirt on her.

“Of course,” she sighed, and considered calling one of her friends to pick her up, but immediately discarded the idea.  She definitely didn’t want anyone to ever find out about this and there was no way they wouldn’t find out if they had to come over to Graham’s and find her wearing one of his shirts.

Graham emerged with a white dress shirt, figuring it was better than nothing, and asked, “If you want, I’ll go ahead and walk with you back to the bar.”

“No, I’ll be fine alone.  You can shower or whatever,” she replied, taking the shirt from him, “Thank you.”

“No problem.  You can change in my bedroom if you want.”

Buffy nodded and walked briskly into the bedroom, shutting the door behind her.  Graham ran his hands over his face, still in shock.  This was so out of character for him.  He had only gotten as drunk as he’d been the night before a handful of times, and he had *never* brought a girl home with him before.  And Buffy; of all the girls in the world, why did she have to be the one that he just couldn’t resist?  Even though he’d always found her attractive, immediately after he had first seen her, she’d been the girl that his best friend had a thing for, and then she was his best friend’s girlfriend - two very off-limit categories.

So why was it that with some alcohol, he’d managed to lose all resolve to be respectful to Riley’s feelings and had sex with Buffy - several times - and now couldn’t stop thinking about how much he wished he could do it again?

Buffy emerged from the bedroom a moment later and, much to his dismay, Graham found her even more attractive wearing his shirt with a knot tied in front.

“Thanks again for the shirt…. I’ll wash it and return it to you… maybe tomorrow?”  she asked.

“That’ll work.”

“Good,” Buffy said, nodding as the two stood awkwardly, trying to avoid each other’s eyes, before she jerked her head towards the door, “Well I’ll just… go.”

“Okay, bye.”

“Bye.”

Confused, embarrassed and mad at himself, Graham watched as Buffy left the apartment, knowing things would never be the same again.

***

“So, did you go find yourself a boy toy and have a wild fling last night?”

Buffy almost dropped the carton of milk she had retrieved from the refrigerator as she jerked her head to look at her younger sister at the kitchen counter.  Dawn laughed at her own joke, too caught up in her new issue of Teen People to notice Buffy’s reaction.

“I just stayed home and watched TV,” Buffy lied, trying to appear calm.  Of course Dawn wouldn’t know the truth, how could she?  She hadn’t gotten back from her friend’s slumber party until several hours after Buffy had returned from Graham’s and the sleeveless turtleneck Buffy wore conveniently covered the hickey Graham had left.  The secret was safe.

“There’s a shocker,” Dawn retorted, “You know, Buffy, you really should go out.  Melinda’s mom *did* say that I could come over to her house whenever I needed to.  I can spend a night there so you can go out and meet someone.”

Buffy smiled, touched by her sister’s thoughtfulness, “That’s okay, Dawnie.  I don’t think I can take another relationship right now.”

“Why not?  Everything has calmed down and it *has* been six months since Riley…”

“Fled?  Let’s face it, if I keep dating, the Sunnydale tourism bureau is going to come have a talk with me.  I’m going to deplete the population.”

Dawn rolled her eyes, mentally cursing Riley for what had to be the hundredth time since he had left for Belize the previous December.  As much as he had annoyed her with the kiddo comments and the way he’d put his big old hand on her head and ruffle her hair, she’d always liked Riley to some extent.  Even though she’d loved Angel more, Buffy had always been sadder when he had been around, so it had made Dawn happy to see how happy Buffy was with Riley.  And then when he’d taken her to the park when her mom was sick, Dawn had decided Riley was definitely okay and worthy of her sister.  But then he’d gone and betrayed Buffy, and left her *again*.  Now Buffy had a complex and Dawn wanted to feed Riley’s family jewels to her friend Hayley’s gerbils.

She watched as Buffy studiously made mashed potatoes and decided that it was for her own good to start dating again.  What were the odds of yet another guy being idiotic enough to dump Buffy and run out of town?

***

“Thirty-nine, forty,” Graham counted as he finished his last set of arm curls.  If anything good came out of his one-night-stand with Buffy, he’d get really toned.

It had been a day since their uncomfortable morning-after and Graham couldn’t get her out of his head.  He’d tried watching TV, but couldn’t focus.  He’d tried reading a book, but had only read the same paragraph for half an hour, as his mind kept drifting back to her.  The only thing he had found success with had been lifting weights and working out.  Even still, Buffy was always there, just below the surface.

It was so ironic that the one girl he couldn’t touch was the one girl who got under his skin, into his mind.  And try as he might, he couldn’t seem to forget her.

He stripped off his shirt and walked into his bedroom, deciding he needed a shower.  Maybe then he could go out and socialize.  Being with other people could help him forget Buffy.  Unfortunately, she was the *only* person he knew in Sunnydale.

Stepping into the shower, Graham let the water run over his body, washing the sweat and grime off his skin.  He was due to start setting up the Sunnydale Headquarters the next day and he was starting to worry that he wouldn’t be able to get anything done because a certain petite blonde would occupy all his thoughts.

Grimacing, he closed his eyes and imagined her.  She was opening the shower door and giving him that smile that drove him wild as she made herself at home under the spray of water.  As her hair grew soaked, Graham admired the rivulets of water that trailed a path over her tanned skin.  Even though most of the time he had seen her naked had been when he was drunk, he knew her body like the back of his hand.  He could clearly recall the way her nipples looked, hard and rosy, jutting from her round, full breasts.  How perfect her legs were, firm and strong, yet still soft, and how she wrapped them around him when he was inside her.

His mind shifted from his memories, back to his fantasy, as Buffy stepped closer to him, her eyes boring into his as she placed her hand on his chest, “Hi.”

“Hi,” he replied before Buffy covered his mouth with her own.

Their tongues dueled as their hands explored each other’s bodies.  Buffy moved her hands over his buttocks, gently kneading his flesh before they moved around to the front of his body to find his hardness at full attention.  He moaned into her mouth as she stroked him with one hand and caressed his sac with the other.

And then she was on her knees, swallowing his length enthusiastically.  Graham’s eyes rolled back in his head as her talented tongue worked it’s magic.  No other woman could make him feel this way.  It was incredibly frustrating and exhilarating at the same time.

Hooking his hands under her arms, he lifted her, those amazing legs moving around his waist automatically.  Pressing her against the wall of the shower, Graham reached between them and guided his cock to her entrance, sliding into her with a sigh of contentment.

Buffy moaned and thrust her hips toward him, “Yes...”

He quickly began moving inside her, getting closer to release with every stroke.  She was so hot, so tight and those muscles…  Graham didn’t think he could ever get enough of her.

Buffy reached her orgasm, her timing perfect as Graham was reaching his as well.  He spilled his seed inside her as nonsensical sounds erupted from deep in his throat, vaguely feeling Buffy’s nails dig into his back.

Graham groaned as he looked down at his hand holding his now shrinking manhood.  He couldn’t believe he’d resorted to masturbating in the shower while imagining Buffy.  This was beyond sick!

Thoroughly disgusted with himself, he quickly finished his shower before getting out and dressing, then finding himself wondering where he would go.  Out to dinner all by himself - possibly one of the most pathetic things in the world?  Out to a bar like he did two nights earlier, which had gotten him in this situation in the first place?  Sunnydale didn’t have a lot going for it.  When he had lived with all his friends, every night had been fun.  There had always been someone to hang out with, but now all he could do was sit home and think about Buffy.

Deciding a night at home was his best option, Graham pulled out the telephone book and placed an order for a pizza before flopping down on the couch and grabbing the remote.  After several minutes of channel surfing, he settled on a horror movie on the Sci-Fi channel.

Despite the fact that the movie wasn’t all that great, time passed quickly and before he knew it, there was a knock at the door.  He got up and went to answer it, pulling out his wallet so he could pay the delivery person.

However, when he opened the door, instead of finding a sixteen year old kid, he found the object of nearly all his thoughts for the past 48 hours standing there.

“Buffy,” he said quietly, surprised.

She gave him a small, strained smile, “Hi, I was, um, returning your shirt.”

“Oh, oh, uh, come in,” Graham told her, stepping aside so she could enter the apartment.

Buffy awkwardly walked past him, the shirt she had borrowed the morning before in her hands.  “I washed it and everything, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Thanks,” he smiled, taking the shirt from her.

“Well, thanks for letting me borrow it.  I appreciate it,” Buffy replied, then felt stupid, “Since I would have been topless otherwise.”

“How are you doing?”

“Other than feeling like a big idiot for going out and getting so drunk that I didn’t know what I was doing, I’m fine.”

“Hey, don’t worry - you aren’t the first person to do something when they were drunk that they wouldn’t even consider if they were sober.  And you weren’t alone in this, you know.  I did it too,” he consoled.

Buffy shook her head, “I just can’t believe we did that.”

“I know; it’s been thirty-six hours and I still can’t believe it,” he sighed.  “Um, by the way, there’s something I have been wondering about.  Last year, you and Riley… well, I know that you were using condoms and we didn’t use condoms last night.  So should I worry?  I mean, I’m clean and I would assume you are too, but there is still…”

“I went on the pill last summer,” she answered quickly.

“Oh, good.”

Buffy couldn’t help but laugh, “This is ridiculous.  We really think we’re going to be able to pretend that nothing ever happened between the two of us?  What if Riley does come back and we do get back together?  You and I can hardly even look at each other, he’s gonna know *something* is up.”

He sighed, “I know, you’re right.  We just have to calm down.  It’s not like we killed somebody.  We slept together, and we’re both single, so it’s not like what we did was even wrong, really.  There is the whole Riley factor, but like I said before, we aren’t really betraying him.”

“Yeah, we were drunk.  If we were sober, we never would have slept together, at *least* because it would hurt Riley to know that,” she agreed.

“Exactly.  It wasn’t our fault, really.”

“It wasn’t!  It was Willy’s fault.  I should go kick his ass.”

Graham smiled, “What do you say we just don’t let the guilt and regret get to us?  The best thing we can do it forget this happened and move past it for Riley’s sake and if we keep thinking about it, that will never work.”

Buffy returned the smile, finding it easier to talk to Graham now that they had everything out in the open.  She remembered now that she had always thought he was a nice guy.  “Maybe we could try to be friends?”

“I’d like that a lot,” he said, “You know, I don’t know many people in Sunnydale anymore, and I think we always got along.”

“We did,” she agreed, “I have friends, but they’re all paired up.  It would be nice to have another single friend to hang out with.”

They were interrupted by another knock at the door.  Graham tossed the shirt on the arm of the couch and turned towards the door, “This time it’s gotta be the pizza.”

Sure enough, as soon as he opened the door, he was hit with the delicious smell of pizza.  He quickly paid the kid and returned to Buffy, “Want to stay and have dinner with me?”

She shrugged her shoulders, since Dawn had gone to the roller rink with her friends and wouldn’t be home until after eight.  “Sounds nice.”

“Great,” he replied, “Let me go just get the table ready.  I thought I’d be eating alone and was going to be a total guy and eat on the couch.”

“Hey, the couch is fine with me.  Then we can watch… is that Disturbing Behavior?”

He smiled sheepishly, “It was the only thing on.”

“It’s not too bad, as far as horror movies go.  Most of the ones they make these days would be more aptly called ‘horrible’ movies.  At least this one is somewhat plausible,” Buffy replied, then continued at Graham’s incredulous look, “You really think there hasn’t ever been mass brainwashing in Sunnydale?”

Only on the Hellmouth could two people sit and enjoy a pizza while discussing eggs that hatched creatures that then latched on to normal people and made them slaves to Mother Bezoar.  Despite the bizarre factor, Buffy and Graham found they enjoyed each other’s company.

“God, I’m full,” Buffy groaned, patting her stomach.

“Well, you ate three slices.  You’re so tiny; I figured you’d only eat one.  I never would have offered you food if I knew you ate so much,” Graham teased her.

Buffy smacked him on the arm playfully, “You are, like, five pieces!”

“I’m a growing boy!”

“Oh please,” she rolled her eyes.

Noticing she had a bit of spaghetti sauce smudged by the corner of her mouth, Graham couldn’t help but grin at her.  He grabbed a napkin and lifted it up, “You have some sauce there.”

“Oh,” she said quietly, allowing him to wipe her face.

Before they knew it, their faces were mere inches apart as they stared into each other’s eyes.  Slowly, they closed the gap between them and kissed each other tenderly.  After a moment, they pulled apart, remorse written all over their faces.

“We shouldn’t,” she whispered.

Instead of replying, Graham kissed her again, with more force as his passion grew.  Buffy reciprocated, her hands moved up to play with the short hairs at the base of his neck while Graham’s roamed over her back.

When they broke apart the second time, they were both panting, and not just from a lack of oxygen.  The little voice inside each of their heads that was reminding them how wrong this was became increasingly hard to pay attention to.

“Do you want to stop?” Graham asked.

Buffy knew that if she said yes, they would stop, immediately.  Graham may not be able to find the will in himself, but he could do it for her.  Unfortunately, she didn’t possess the will either.  She hastily shook her head before covering his mouth with her own, giving him a soft, yet fervent kiss before feeling his tongue touching on her lips.  She opened her mouth and allowed him entrance, their tongues engaging in the most friendly of battles.

Graham’s hands found the hem of Buffy’s top and pulled it over her head, tossing it on the floor beside the couch before she pulled his sweater off.  Her bra soon joined the clothes on the floor and they wrapped their arms around each other, kissing passionately as their naked chests crushed against each other, creating a most delightful friction.

Graham pulled away from her lips only long enough to say, “Bedroom.”

They bumped into the recliner, the coffee table twice and the wall, but they managed to make it into the bedroom without having to stop kissing.  Once beside the bed, they realized things would move a lot faster if they let go of each other for just a moment and quickly pulled off the rest of their clothes.

Nude, they climbed on the bed and back into each other’s arms.  Graham kissed her deeply on the mouth before moving his lips to the side of Buffy’s neck, kissing the faded hickey possessively.  He continued to kiss a trail down to her shoulder and beyond, coming to her breast and suckling her nipple before teasing it with his tongue.  Buffy moved her hands to his head, interlacing her fingers in his hair as he switched to the other breast, giving it the same treatment.  She was amazed at how well he seemed to know what drove her wild and began moaning loudly.  All too soon, he abandoned both breasts, ignoring her cries of protest, and kissed across her abdomen before he found himself at the juncture between her thighs.  He placed her legs on his shoulders and kissed the inside of each thigh before tenderly caressing her center with his mouth.  It was featherlight and frustrated Buffy beyond belief.  As though he knew just how far to push her, Graham kissed her again, with more pressure, before darting his tongue out to touch her aching clit, making her arch off the bed.

“Oh, Graham!”

She was dripping with moisture that was so sweet and distinctly *Buffy*.  Graham lapped it up like a starving man, running his tongue up and down, managing to make contact with her clit with each stroke.

In no time, Buffy was writing wildly and babbling incoherently as she was wracked with a powerful orgasm.  Graham continued to greedily drink her juices until she stilled, trying to catch her breath.

Moving back up her body, he placed wet kisses as he went until they were once again face-to-face.  Buffy put her hand on the back of his head and pulled him down to kiss her almost violently as she wrapped her legs around his waist.  Graham gripped his erection, rubbing the tip against her slit, mercilessly torturing her until the need became to great and he slowly slid inside.

Their mating was somewhat slower than it had been when they were drunk.  They still felt an intense desire, but had the control to try and savor the intense sensations they felt as Graham pulled almost all the way out of Buffy, only to thrust back and fill her completely.  Bracing himself on his elbows, he never ceased in his kisses.  Whether they were on her mouth, face, neck or breasts, Graham’s lips were always on Buffy.  The Slayer felt frenzied, moaning continuously as she lightly scraped her nails over his back and lifted her hips to meet his thrusts.

Their need only grew and with it grew the pace and force of their thrusts.  Graham pounded inside her, now moaning as well.  Feeling his climax coming, he slid a hand between them and stroked her clit, almost immediately bringing her to her second orgasm of the night.  No match for those amazing Slayer muscles, Graham could no longer hold off his release and spilled himself deep inside her, moaning her name loudly.

Not thinking about the fact that she was strong enough to kick his ass to next week, Graham rolled the both of them so that he was on bottom with Buffy resting her head on his chest so that he wouldn’t crush her.

The two were silent for a few moments, calming down after the passionate sex and remembering how they really weren’t supposed to be doing what they had just done.

Graham heard Buffy sigh before she said, “Why did we do that?”

He was quiet for a moment, considering his answer carefully.  “Well, to be perfectly honest, it was amazing sex.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle, “Yeah, it was.  But we both agreed that for us to have sex is to betray Riley and this time we didn’t even have being drunk as our defense.”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged, “Neither of us are nymphomaniacs and it’s not like we go around just having casual sex.  Maybe we just needed it.”

“Why did we need it?”

“We’re lonely?”

“I’m sure that if I just tell Riley I had sex with his best friend because I missed him, that will make it all better.”

“You won’t tell him,” Graham replied, “Even if we aren’t drunk, we’re still two single people and this isn’t wrong.  Nothing has changed from the original plan.  We don’t tell Riley.”

Buffy lifted her head and looked him in the eye, “And we don’t do this again?”

“Right.”

“Okay,” she sighed and sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest.  Shyly, she picked her pants and panties up off the floor and slid them on, modestly covering her breasts with her arms as she retreated to the living room to get her bra and top.  While she was gone, Graham put his boxers and pants back on.

A moment later, a fully dressed Buffy returned, carrying the shirt Graham had worn earlier.  “Here you go.”

“Thanks,” he said, giving her a grateful smile before putting it back on.

He watched her slide her shoes back on and tried to work up the nerve to ask her the question that kept going through his mind.

Once she had all her possessions back on her body, the two of them walked back to the living room and Buffy grabbed her purse.

“Well, I’d better be going; it’s getting kind of late.”

Graham opted not to point out that it wasn’t even eight o’clock yet and instead gave her a slight nod.

“Goodnight,” Buffy said quietly, opening the door.

“Uh, Buffy,” he said quickly.

She paused and turned to look at him, “Yeah?”

“Can we still… did you change your mind about us being friends?”

Buffy shook her head, “I’d still love to be friends with you.”

He couldn’t help but smile in relief, “Great; I’ll call you soon then.  We can do something.  I mean, not sex-something.  We can go to the movies or, you know, innocent, just friends stuff.”

She laughed, “I know what you mean.  I’ll see you, Graham.”

“Bye,” he called after her, watching as she walked down the hall of the apartment building before shutting the door after her.

With a sigh, Graham turned around and collapsed on the couch, wondering if they really could just be friends.  What was up with him?  Sure, Buffy was beautiful, but it’s not like he had no control of his body.  What was it about her that made him want her more than he’d wanted anything in his life?

The cushions in the couch had gotten messed up during their makeout session and one of them was now crooked, allowing Graham to find the top Buffy had been wearing that first night.  It must have gotten jammed into a crevice.

Picking up the stretchy purple top, Graham brought it to his face and inhaled deeply, still being able to detect Buffy’s perfume on the clothing.  Pulling it back to look at it, he found that it had gotten a bit dirty being buried in his couch.