The sun was almost directly over their heads. Buffy straddled her borrowed surfboard next to John and tried her best to relax the way he was as they waited out a lull in the wave sets. She was sure her sun block had worn off, she couldn’t stop imagining that sharks were circling them and she fought the urge to put her feet on the board and out of the water.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s just… Are you sure there’s no danger of sharks?”

“I swear, I’m going to kill Dirk!” John said, though he couldn’t hide his grin.

Yesterday, she had talked John into giving her surfing lessons. Dirk wanted in on the action, excited enough about helping to teach someone the sport he loved that he opted to forgo his usual afternoon nap to help. John had wanted to wait until later in the day when there would be fewer surfers out and the waves would be smaller.

After a quick lesson on the sand on how to stand on the board, the three of them had gone out. She caught on quickly and had been able to stay on the board for a few seconds at a time. While they waited for another set, Dirk decided to initiate Buffy into the surfer world the way he did every new surfer he went out with. When she wasn’t paying attention, Dirk had quietly gone under water and had grabbed her leg.

“I was worried about sharks before Dirk pulled that stunt.”

“Yeah, but now you can’t stop thinking about it. Fear and surfing do not mix.”

“Have there been a lot of shark attacks at this beach?” Buffy asked, putting one leg on the board.

“No. In fact the only Shark Attack I know of is the shop on the pier with that name.”

Always up for a little shopping, Buffy glanced over in the direction of the pier with interest. “What kind of store is it?”

“They’ve got some interesting displays, the great white shark being the main attraction, and they have a lot of souvenirs.” He leaned over his board and gave her a quick kiss. “You’ve never been to the pier, have you?”

“Not yet,” she said cheerfully. “But if there are shops involved, I’d love to check it out.”

“Why don’t we do that today when we’re done here? You can shop to your heart’s content and I’ll tag along to hold your bags. Then we can have dinner at Old Tony’s. They’ve got the best seafood around.”

“That sounds great.” If it weren’t for the work outs, the surfing and the rigorous late nights they’d had for the past week and a half, Buffy would be concerned about getting fat. “You’ve really been spoiling me. I think we’ve eaten out almost every night.”

He shrugged. “You’re my girl, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” She smiled, her heart swelling to hear him say it again.

“My girlfriend deserves to be spoiled, and I love taking you out.”

They sat bobbing up and down in the water for a few seconds. Buffy glanced back and saw only flat ocean.

“Don’t you get bored when you’re waiting for the waves out here alone?”

“Not at all.” John languidly stretched his arms up and yawned. “Times like this probably saved me from the brink of insanity.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, when my therapist first suggested surfing, I’d been having a really tough time. Sodding crazy nightmares kept me up most of the night and there was this deep rage inside of me.” John looked off towards the sand as he talked. “An anger that frightened me because I had no idea where it came from. Maybe from not knowing who I was. And at other times, I had all this anxiety and even some irrational fears.”

Softly, she reached out to squeeze his hand. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

“I learned to manage it all. Coming out here, being one with nature and in a way conquering it when I rode a wave really helped with the anger. Especially in the lull between sets. I could meditate and think without other people bombarding me with questions and pitiful eyes. And to add to that, I poured all my fear and anxiety into my writing.”

She wanted to confide in him, the way he had with her. Tell him about coming back from the dead and how he had been her calm and retreat. Even if it had been an unhealthy relationship, she knew now how hard he’d tried to help her. To be there for her. But she couldn’t tell him about all that. How could she tell a human who had no memories of his supernatural past about witches powerful enough to resurrect a dead slayer who in turn had found solace in the arms of a soulless vampire?

When she felt the current under her and they began to rise, Buffy glanced at John, waiting for his signal. He nodded and then both went on their stomachs across their boards.

“Let’s take this set in and get ready for our date,” he said before they raced to catch the wave.

~ * ~ * ~

The elevator stopped on the second floor. John held the door open with his back and pulled Buffy to him. He gave her a long, sensual kiss, hating the idea of being apart from her even long enough to change and shower in his own apartment.

“I’ll come up in about forty-five minutes,” he told her, stepping out into the hall.

“Make it an hour.” She gave him an apologetic smile. “Gotta give a girl time to get pretty.”

“You don’t even need ten minutes for that,” he said as the doors closed between them.

With a spring in his step and a silly grin on his face, he strolled to his apartment, only to have the grin wiped off his face when he saw Dirk’s guest sitting on his couch.

“Misty,” John said, as he glanced around looking for Dirk, who was nowhere in sight. “I see you’re still leading Dirk on.”

The redhead ran her hand over the top of the couch. “I told you, John, that’s not what I’m doing. I’m totally into Dirk.”

He rolled his eyes and headed for his room. Dirk came out of the bathroom, greeted him and then headed for the living room to hang out with his girlfriend. In the safety of his room, John tried to calm down. That bitch was messing with his friend’s head and though he’d tried to warn Dirk, the surfer seemed oblivious to her transparent motives.

Misty was the one Dirk had wanted to have over to the apartment. John had found out a few days ago. He’d been sleeping over at Buffy’s every night, but that night, they’d had their first fight and he’d opted to sleep alone. Buffy had offered to drive her car up the coast, earlier that day, to take him to an interview he had for the calendar section of the Times. When he saw the black Lexus with tan leather seats, he asked where her little blue rental had gone.

She hesitantly told him that Angel had given her the car. Jealousy had instantly reared up, but he did his best to push it aside. He’d been rather quiet on the drive to the interview and also when they stopped for dinner later. After ordering, she couldn’t take the silent treatment anymore and she’d confronted him. “John, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s stupid.”

“Tell me,” she insisted over the restaurant table.

“It’s just—I don’t get how you could accept such an expensive gift from an ex-boyfriend.”

Her jaw dropped and she frowned at him. “That’s what’s been bothering you this whole time?”

He nodded, knowing he seemed small-minded and feeling really stupid about it. Buffy took a drink of her soda and he watched her mouth close around the straw. Even when he was irritated with her, John couldn’t help but admire her.

“Angel didn’t buy that car for me. He bought it for one of his employees, but she had a hard time learning to drive and it was just sitting there never used. He knew I was renting a car and thought he could help me save money for my employer by giving me the car.”

He kept quiet about it while they ate, but he still couldn’t shake the irrational jealousy. On the drive back home, she pushed and prodded to get him to talk and they’d ended up having a yelling match as they pulled into their parking lot. She grumbled about nothing ever changing and complained about not wanting to put up with his jealousy.

He went on the defensive, yelling back that she’d never given him any reason to be jealous before and that she was insane for saying that he had been jealous in the past. Frustrated and confused, he’d gotten out of the car, slammed the door and went straight to his own apartment, only to find Dirk naked on the living room floor with Misty dressed in a negligee on top of him. Dirk had been genuinely concerned about getting caught like they were, but Misty just stared at him smugly.

He knew instantly what she was up to--trying to get back at him for dumping her by going after his best friend to cause them trouble and, at the same time, she wanted to make him jealous. In her screwed up mind, she probably thought that would wake John up and have him begging her to come back to him.

Being confronted with the stupidity that was his ex-girlfriend, he’d lain awake all night while Misty moaned loudly as they continued what they were doing in Dirk’s bedroom. It did not stir up an ounce of jealousy in him. It only made him think less of her. She’d never been loud during sex and he knew it was a blatant attempt to make him think of what he was missing. Instead, it only highlighted how stupid he’d been with Buffy, a woman with strength and class. And it proved how strongly he felt for Buffy if he could get jealous of a man he barely knew when he couldn’t care less if his best friend was shagging his ex.

There was no doubt in his mind that he was in love with Buffy. Love made people do crazy things. And a woman as amazing as his girlfriend was not worth losing over petty jealously. She insisted that Angel was in her distant past and that they were only working friends. If John loved Buffy, he should trust her. And tossing and turning that night, he realized that he did.

He’d come crawling to her, begging forgiveness the next morning and she seemed relieved, even telling him that the car meant nothing to her and that she’d give it back if he wanted. He told her not to do that, just because he was being a stupid fool. The make-up sex had been epic and he’d never felt as close to anyone as he felt to her, as far he could remember.

As he got ready for another great date with the woman he loved, he tried to push all the unpleasant thoughts about jealousy and stupid ex-girlfriend’s out of his mind. He had a lot to be grateful for and he was more determined than ever not to mess things up with Buffy.

Because she was the one.