TITLE: “One Thing Leads to Another”

AUTHOR: Alessandra “Pamela”

EMAIL: destructo-girl@...

RATING: NC17 overall

DISTRIBUTION:  My sites… anyone else, just ask.

PREVIOUS PARTS: Can be found at my site - http://destructo-girl.com

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: This has not been beta read, so please excuse any mistakes. 

***

“What’s going on?” Graham asked as he rushed into the office.

The men immediately burst out laughing and the stressed look on his face.  He frowned… until a few people stepped to the side and he found Riley Finn grinning at him.

“Surprise!”

“That’s a good word for this situation,” Graham replied, shocked.  This was the last thing he had expected.  Realizing it wouldn’t do for him not to be happy his friend was there; he forced himself to smile.  “What are you doing here?”

“I decided to take you up on your offer,” Riley explained.

“You’re gonna work for me… live here?”

The other man nodded, “Yeah… uh… let’s go talk in your office.”

“Sounds good,” Graham nodded, leading his friend into the small room… and away from the prying ears of everyone else.

“I realized how ridiculous it is to hide from Buffy.  You know me, I don’t like living in tents in South America… and I don’t want a strictly office job at some base somewhere.  Here I have the stability of a real place to live… but I can go out at night and hunt demons.  I decided it was too great an opportunity to pass up, just to run from my past mistakes.  I’m not going to give it up just so I never have to deal with what happened with Buffy again.”

He nodded, “That’s great and, um, what *are* you going to do about Buffy?  I mean, it’s pretty inevitable that you’ll run into her.  Sunnydale is just too small.”

“I know that and I had a *long* flight here to think about it,” Riley replied, “On the one hand, it’s scary.  My relationship with her hurt me like I have never been hurt before.  But on the other, the way it felt when I was with her… I’ve never felt that with anyone else and I really doubt I ever will.  I’m still in love with her, Graham.  That doesn’t mean we’re getting back together, but I’m gonna go see her and apologize and try to convince her to give us a second chance.  I’ll beg if I have to.”

Graham felt his heart breaking.  This was, without a doubt, his worst nightmare.  After the night and morning he had shared with Buffy, they were so close, and now Riley was back.

Before he was forced to reply, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in!”

The door opened and Jack Sanders stuck his head in.  “Hey, we were talking out here and thought maybe we could all go out to lunch together, celebrate Finn’s arrival.”

“I’m game,” Riley grinned.

“Yeah, sounds great,” Graham nodded.

As they walked out the door behind Jack, Riley asked, “What’s up with you?  You seem kind of distracted.”

Jack turned and smirked, “Yeah, and where were you this morning, Miller?  We tried calling your place and just got your machine.”

Riley laughed, “That’s right!  You were with a woman?”

“Damn, it’s a good thing he didn’t beat the hell out of us.  Obviously he still wishes he were with her,” Jack added.

Graham smiled for their benefit, “Nah… it was just a fling.  Temporary fun.”

Oh, how he wished that were true.

***

“I really appreciate you letting me stay with you,” Riley said as he carried his duffel bag in through the door of Graham’s apartment behind his friend.

“No problem, you know you’re always welcome,” Graham replied.  He found he was quite torn.  Riley had always been a good friend to him, and it was good to have him back around… but this royally screwed up whatever chance he’d had with Buffy.

“Well, I promise to start looking for a new place right away,” Riley vowed, setting his bags down and flopping down on the couch.

“Tired?” Graham asked, grabbing a can of soda for each of them from the refrigerator and joining Riley in the living room, handing his friend one.

“Thanks.  Yeah, I’m a bit jet-lagged, plus I had an early morning.  Still, I’m buzzed.  I can’t wait to start working with you guys again.  So many of your men worked with us in the Initiative; it’s like a reunion.  And, of course… Buffy.”

“Yeah… Buffy…”

“So, have you seen her?  I mean, like you said, Sunnydale is small.”

Graham considered lying, just telling Riley he hadn’t seen her or that he’d just run into her at the grocery store or something.  But he knew between Dawn and Buffy’s friends, he would find out about all the time they had spent together and that would make him suspicious.  So, he would have to go with the truth.

Well, most of the truth, anyway.

“Actually, I did run into her pretty soon after I got here.  We started talking and we’ve gotten pretty friendly.  We hang out sometimes,” he said.  There.  Not a lie at all.  They were very friendly… much more friendly than Riley would like, but definitely not enemies.

“Really?  That’s great!  Now things will be great…. If she takes me back, that is,” Riley said.  “Is she, um, you know, has she been… is Buffy single?”

“I don’t believe she has a boyfriend,” Graham answered vaguely, not quite willing to tell concede that Buffy wouldn’t consider being with him instead of her ex.

Riley grimaced, “What about dating?”

“She never mentioned any to me.”

“Well… that’s encouraging.  Of course, she may slam the door shut in my face, but I stand a lot better chance at winning her back if she doesn’t have a new man.”

“When do you think you’ll go see her?”

“Actually,” Riley answered, checking his watch, “maybe I will head over there now.  It’s almost three, so Buffy should still be home.  She may go out in a few hours… it’s Saturday, after all.”

“That’s fast.  You just got here.”

“I know, but Graham… well, you haven’t met *the* girl yet, but when you’ll do, you will understand why I feel like I am going to explode if I don’t see her soon.  I haven’t been able to go more than an hour without thinking about her since I left.  I missed her more than I thought I could ever miss anyone.”

Graham wanted to tell him how wrong he was.  He just needed some time to get his head together and figure out what he wanted and what he should do.  Should he try to fight for Buffy?  Should he step aside and let Riley be with her?  It didn’t matter because it was out of his hands.  Riley was heading over there and Buffy would be the one to decide if she wanted to give them another shot.

“Yeah… maybe someday I’ll see what you mean.”

Riley took a deep breath and stood, “I’m gonna do it, then.”

“Okay,” Graham nodded, deciding he just couldn’t bring himself to wish him luck.  He also couldn’t bring himself to offer Riley the use of his car.  He'd let his friend enjoy a nice walk to Buffy’s house.

“Great.  Well, I don’t know how long I’ll be.  I’ll give you a call if I think we’re going to be a while, okay?”

“Sure,” he said, then realized that Riley didn’t know about Joyce.  A part of him thought he should let him go see Buffy and find out the hard way, let him feel guilty for making Buffy be all sad when she had to say her mother was dead.  But despite that, Graham couldn’t bear to do it.  He was willing to bite the bullet and give Riley a head’s up, an advantage, because he couldn’t do that to *Buffy*.  It would make things easier for her if she didn’t have to explain… and that was worth losing as far as Graham was concerned.

“Uh, Riley, one more thing,” he spoke up.  “Buffy’s mother is dead.”

Riley visibly paled, “What?  I… I thought she made it through okay?  The brain tumor was gone.”

“She had a complication afterwards, an aneurysm.  It was pretty sudden  She was fine one day and Buffy found her dead the next,” he explained.

“Oh God… I thought it was bad before, but this… I’m such an asshole.”

Graham resisted the urge to smirk and instead kept his face impassive.  Much to his dismay, Riley wasn’t discouraged by this turn of events and decided it was still worth it to try and see if Buffy could forgive him.

As his friend left, Graham dug around the kitchen to find some heavy liquor.  He’d just lost his only chance to be with the person he loved more than any other on Earth… it was time to get wasted.

***

When the doorbell rang at half past three, Buffy frowned and went to answer it, figuring it was Dawn.

“You’re early and why are you ringing the doorbell, anyway?” she asked as she opened the door and found Riley standing on the other side.  Her jaw dropped in shock.  “Riley… I… I wasn’t expecting you.”

He gave her a small smile, “That’s what I figured.”

Buffy stared at him for another moment before she came back to her senses, shaking her head, she said, “Did you want to come in?”

“Thanks,” he said, stepping inside.

“Uh, did you want a drink?”

“No thank you,” he said, looking at her lovingly, trying to resist the urge to pull her in his arms and hug her tightly.

“Let’s sit down, then,” she said, walking into the living room and sitting down in the chair.  Once Riley had followed and sat down on the couch, Buffy began, “You’re back… obviously.  When did that happen?”

“I flew in this morning and surprised everyone,” he told her, “Even Graham.  He told me about you two.”

Buffy felt the color drain from her face.  Graham had told Riley they had been sleeping together?  She wasn’t sure whether to be outraged or relieved.  “About us?”

“Yeah, that you guys are friends now.  I think it’s great; I always thought you two would really get along well.”

She nodded, “We get along very very well.”

Riley looked down sadly, “He also told me about your mom.  God, Buffy… I’m so sorry.  I know I can never make it up to you, but I have to tell you how angry I am with myself.  Ever since I left, I regretted the way I had done it and the things I had been doing before that, but now I am really furious that I let you down like that.  I left you all alone to deal with that.”

Buffy shrugged, “I’m not your responsibility, Riley.”

“I know that, but I love you and I should have been here for you, supporting you instead of betraying you and giving you that unfair ultimatum before running off.”

“I’m not faultless…”

“No, but I was… insane.  Yeah, you weren’t there for me as much as I wanted, but there aren’t many better excuses for being distracted, if any.  If I had been you, and had been going through all that, only to find out how I had been… you know… and then been given an ultimatum, I doubt I would have gone to catch me at the helicopter, either.”

“But I did…” she replied, making Riley freeze, “I came for you, but I was too late.  Just barely too late.”

“Oh God, Buffy…”

“We both made mistakes, Riley.  I’m not going to put all the blame on you.”

Riley nodded, “That’s true, but it doesn’t make me any more right and this is probably a really wrong time to say it, but I just have to…. Buffy, I love you.  I loved you then and I may love you even more now.  I know that I have seriously screwed up, but I am still hoping you may decide to give me another chance.  Give *us* another chance.”

Buffy was taken aback, still rather numb about the whole situation.  “Riley, I, uh, I don’t know.  I’m sorry, I’m just a little overwhelmed and I don’t think I am in a position to make a decision like that right this moment.”

“I know,” he assured her, “I don’t expect you to decide this second.  I just had to tell you that is what I want in my heart.  To be with you again.  But I know this is a big, difficult decision and I am willing to give you time, space… whatever you need.”

She smiled, “Thank you.”

“Hey Buffy, I’m home,” Dawn announced, bursting through the front door with Lisa in tow, only to halt in the entrance to the living room as she saw her sister’s guest.  “Riley.”

“Hi Dawn,” he smiled.

“Look who came back,” Buffy announced.

“I see…” Dawn answered slowly, “Uh, I have to hurry, Mrs. Pearson’s waiting in her car outside.”

“You guys!  She can come in, you know.  Lisa, your parents are going to think I have some horrible disaster of a house or something.”

Lisa smiled, “She’s listening to Dr. Something-Or-Other’s motivational weight loss CD’s, she wanted to stay in there.”

“Come on,” Dawn said, tugging Lisa by her arm up the stairs.

Buffy found Riley staring at her with an amused look on his face.  Frowning, she asked, “What?”

He shrugged, “You.  You’re so motherly and adult-like.  I mean, you had your maternal moments with Dawn before, but the whole thing with other parents… I’m seeing a new side to you.”

“Well, I’ve changed.”

“I know,” Riley nodded, “And I can’t wait to meet the new Buffy.”

***

“Oh my God, can you believe this?!” Lisa exclaimed, flopping down on her back on Dawn’s bed as the other girl pulled clothes from her drawers.

“No,” Dawn groaned, “Why, oh why did he have to come back?”

“What’s the deal?  I thought you said Riley was pretty okay, as far as boyfriends went.  You used to tell me how much better than Angel he was.”

“Trust me, anyone was better than Angel.  Buffy was always miserable because of him.  I guess Riley’s not *so* bad… but Graham is better, so I can’t be happy about Riley when I know Buffy could be with Graham.”

“Well, maybe this will be a wake-up call.  Buffy and Graham will have to announce their romance and then Riley will be out of the picture.  Or maybe Buffy won’t know who to choose and the guys will fight over her!” Lisa gasped, “Wouldn’t that be *so* romantic?!”

***

Graham checked out the window for what had to be the tenth time in the past half-hour, looking for any signs of Buffy’s car.  He’d just had the longest afternoon and night of his life.  No matter how hard he tried not to, all he could think about was Buffy and the fact that she was with Riley.

It had only gotten worse since Riley had called a couple hours after he had left and told him that he was going out with Buffy for dinner and that she would drop him off afterwards.  Graham had remained calm on the outside… but he had wanted to rage at his friend for just waltzing back into Buffy’s life after what he had done *eight* *months* earlier and stealing her back.

But then he had reminded himself that he had no right.  Buffy had never been his girlfriend and what he had been doing in the first place was wrong.  As much as he wanted to tell Riley everything that they had been doing and declare his true feelings to Buffy, he had to remain silent, let them do what they wanted to do.  And if he had to watch his best friend find the happiness he yearned for with the woman they both loved…. so be it.

***

“Thanks for the ride,” Riley said, as Buffy pulled to a stop in front of the entrance to Graham’s apartment building.

“Well, you taught me to drive, I figure I owe you,” she grinned.

He returned the smile and said, “I had a great time tonight.  I’ve missed you so much.”

“I missed you too,” she replied honestly, “More than I realized.  Oh, that’s not to say I didn’t think I missed you-“

“I know what you mean,” he chuckled, “You can have feelings for someone and think about them when they are away and not quite be able to remember exactly how great they are and how much you love to be around them.  But then you’re with them again and it all comes back to you.”

“Yeah…” she said softly.

“That’s how I feel about you.  I don’t even know if it’s possible to be able to imagine you as amazing as you really are.  You make me feel alive, Buffy.”

Buffy felt an ache in her chest; Riley was the kind of guy girls dreamed of meeting and often never did.  He was smart and kind and sweet and utterly in love with her.  And she had been sleeping with his best friend and had spent the afternoon trying to decide which guy she wanted to be with.

“I don’t want you to say anything right now,” he quickly added.  “Like you said before, you’re overwhelmed and things are different, so I am telling you not to say a word because otherwise you may say something you don’t mean because you think you are obligated.  And even if you didn’t, I’d worry that you had.  So just don’t say anything and it’s fine.”

“Okay,” Buffy nodded, “Sounds fair to me.”

“Good, then goodnight.  Can I call you tomorrow?” Riley asked, ever the gentleman.

She grinned, “If you know what’s good for you, you will.  Goodnight, Riley.”

He smiled at her one more time before climbing out of the car.  Buffy breathed a sigh of relief that he didn’t try going for a kiss.  She was just way too confused at the moment.  If she had to start with the kissing, it would lead to the sex.  And sex was something that always led to trouble for her.

***

When Riley came into the apartment, Graham was sitting on the couch, pretending that he had been engrossed in ESPN for quite a while instead of peering out the window through the blinds, trying to see what had been happening inside Buffy’s car.  Unfortunately, it was too dark, even with the streetlight right beside the vehicle.  Riley didn’t appear to have been involved in a hot and heavy make-out session, but that didn’t mean nothing had happened.

“So how’d it go?” he asked casually, after they’d greeted each other.

“Great,” Riley grinned, sitting down on the couch beside him.

Graham’s heart sank, “You guys are a couple again?”

“Well, no.  Buffy’s life has changed, *she* has changed, and we still have so many issues to work through.  But she wants to give us a chance.  I’m going to give her time and we’ll do stuff together, but be platonic.  We’ll talk and then she can decide if she wants to be with me again.”

As much as he wanted to be comforted by the fact that they were going to be platonic, at least for a while, Graham recalled how he and Buffy had behaved when they were platonic.  The images kept coming to his mind.  Buffy in bed with Riley, Buffy on the couch with Riley… Buffy in the backseat of a car with Riley.

Payback was a bitch!