*****

Willow was tugging on Giles' hand, while the rest of the gang laughed as they continued with their preparations. She fixed him with a pleading gaze. "Come *on* Giles! Its the Fourth of July, and we're gonna teach you... you stuffy Brit how we Americans do it!" Giles shrugged his shoulders, aware of the futility in arguing with Willow.

"I just don't understand why we can't barbeque on my sturdy grill, on my clean patio, and eat inside with proper plates and forks." He shook his head, watching Xander and Riley tote two fairly small hibachis and the accessories that went with them. "This just seems so... messy!"

"Messy is American, Mr. Giles." Riley smiled. He loved Independence Day and actually had to laugh at the irony of forcing this man to celebrate it with them. "Besides, watching fireworks over the water. There's nothing like it."

Buffy followed the boys out carrying bags of chips, dips, and buns while Willow and Anya carried the coolers filled with the wet stuff and the meat stuff. "Come on, Giles," she said. "Just think, if it weren't for this day, we might not have the Teletubbies."

Xander smirked at Giles, remembering one of the times he'd come over to help Giles research before the Initiative plot had been foiled. He'd knocked on the door and barged right in, just as he always did, but the horror of it all still remained with him.

There was something about watching a grown man, chanting in a British accent, "Again, again!" that left Xander with a feeling between laughing out loud and sheer discomfort. As Giles' face reddened in recollection, Xander shooed him toward the truck packed with picnicky goodness. "Come on big guy, time to get this party started!"

Riley hopped into the driver's seat and handed the map to Buffy. "Okay, you're my navigator, right?" He looked at her and saw a look of utter bewilderment on her face. "Okay, forget that," he said swiping the map from her precious little fingers. "Xander, can you read a map?"

Xander swaggered in his seat. "You bet I can. That just happens to be one of my particular talents."

Xander reached his hand over to pluck the map from Riley, just as Anya chimed in, "Well, I'd call that thing you do with your tongue a particular talent as well."

Xander smiled and hugged Anya, ignoring her trademark openness, as Buffy turned around and stuck her tongue out at him.

As Riley steered the truck, Xander leaned forward over the seat, gesturing randomly. Buffy looked more and more peeved that her old buddy was wedged firmly in between her and Riley. "So, where exactly is this place?" Buffy asked, directing the question at the two of them. "I mean, I know it's a boat and it needs water and all that... but why not just leave from the Sunnydale docks?"

Riley sighed heavily. "Because Buffy. All the party boats leaving from Sunnydale were booked. So we had to move further South. Besides, the party boats in Sunnydale frown upon bring your own."

"Oh," Buffy pouted. "Well, how long till we get there?"

Xander gave Buffy a big cheery grin. "Oh, only about an hour." He consulted the map. "Or maybe two, depending on how fast your boy here drives." Xander was smashed up against Riley as they drove. He felt Riley scooting away from him, and the muscles in Riley's arms flex as he tried to stretch out against the crowded feeling. With Xander as his co-pilot and his foot on the gas, Riley and the gang found their barbeque and party boat destination in less than an hour and a half.

The gang piled out of the truck and gathered their party supplies. They made their way down to the docks and to the small yacht called the Bayliner. It was already jumping with people making their own parties. Buffy skipped onto the boat first and pulled Giles across with her. Xander helped Anya and Willow before stepping on himself. Riley handed over their supplies one by one until he noticed one thing. "Uh, charcoal... did anyone bring it?"

Xander's face fell. He pointed accusingly at Riley. "You were supposed to get the charcoal. I got the meat, Willow got the munchies, Buffy got the drinks, Giles made the salads and things. *You* were supposed to get the hibachis."

"I did get the hibachis and charcoal. I told Forrest to load it in the-" Riley suddenly slammed his foot on the dock and cursed Forrest. "Dammnit! He told me he would get it before he took off the weekend. Damn. Look, I'll run to the store real fast. It shouldn't take me too long. We can't grill without it."

Xander looked down as Anya kicked him. Hissing, he queried, "Why are you kicking me now?"

Anya shook her head reprovingly at him. "You should go too. Grilling is manly, and if you let him go all by himself, he'll get all of the glory." She squinted at Riley, with a tinge of hostility. "Imagine trying to blame this fiasco on a nice guy like Forrest." She leaned in to Xander, "I just bet that he set this up, so he could go and gather the charcoal and impress Buffy with his skills."

Xander pondered whether or not to explain to Anya that there was nothing inherently manly in hunting and gathering charcoal at a drugstore. Deciding against it, he decided to just tag along with Riley, ensuring that Anya would reward him in one of her inventive ways.

Riley trudged back to the truck with Xander following close behind him. He couldn't help cursing under his breath as he unlocked the doors and climbed in. He waited till Xander was in and safely buckled before he gunned the engine and drove out towards the last convenience store they had passed. "I'm really sorry about this,"he said frowning as he kept his attention on the road. "Just out of curiosity, is Anya like a she-wolf for something? Because, man, she's pretty fiesty."

Xander chuckled. "Nah, she's more like a gladiator. I mean, she's all about the battle. Sometimes, I just wish I had a shield to protect me!" As they pulled into the parking lot of the convenience store, Xander looked anxiously at the Fourth of July display. "Isn't that where the charcoal should be? With the grilling stuff?"

"One would think so," Riley noted as he strolled quickly towards the aisle. Riley scanned the display for what they needed and almost began cursing Forrest again, before he found one lone bag of charcoal sitting underneath a lawn chair. He quickly paid for it and the two were back on the road towards the boat.

Xander looked at his watch. "You better gun it, big guy. The boat is scheduled to leave in five minutes." He fidgeted restlessly, as he felt the time ticking by. Riley took Xander's unsolicited advice and put the pedal to the metal and raced back to the dock.

By the time they parked and got themselves together and to the launching dock, they were too late. Riley dropped the bag of charcoal to the wood planks under their feet. "Shit," he mumbled.

Xander sank to the ground on suddenly boneless legs. "They're going to kill us you know." He thought miserably about Anya's prior reactions to his less stellar moments. He started shaking his head unhappily, as he peered at the quickly departing boat, hoping against hope for some sight of his girlfriend.

Xander's head suddenly snapped back on his neck, as he caught sight of his girlfriend. Anya was waving merrily, as Buffy held up a bag of charcoal and pointed at it. He barely heard Buffy's yell.

Riley couldn't believe it. "Well, now Giles gets to be the manly man," he said, sinking down next to Xander. "Surrounded by three beautiful women and king of the barbeque. We are so dead."

Xander looked at Riley with a lopsided grin. "At least we have charcoal!" His adoration of sublimely awkward moments caused him to burst into hysterical giggles, picturing Giles crowned with a paper plate, gesturing regally to his subjects.

Regaining some semblance of control, Xander looked at Riley. "Okay, well, at least we can see the fireworks from here." He paused to take stock, "We might need some food soon though. Charcoal is awfully manly and all, but it doesn't do much to fill my tummy." He cast a wistful gaze toward the speck that was the Bayliner. "Willow even promised me she'd get me some of those little crunchy fishie crackers that I like. And now they're out *there*, with Giles!"

"The fishie crackers?" Riley asked, wondering more about the crackers than what Giles would actually do with them. "What? Like Goldfish?"

Xander looked at Riley in shock. "You are not familiar with the deliciousness that are fishie crackers?" He jumped to his feet, doing an impromptu little dance. "I like the fishes cuz they're so delicious..."

Riley nodded his head and hummed the familiar tune from the commercial before he continued where Xander left off. "Gone gold fishing. Gone gold fishing. I could eat 'em everyday and my mom says..." his voice trailed off when he looked at Xander watching him curiously. "Yes, even I have bouts of silliness from time to time." He yanked off a Teva and tossed it at Xander.

Xander's face creased in an incredulous grin, as uberserious Commando Guy broke into song. "So, what to do, what to do." Xander gestured back toward the truck. "Food? Check the truck? We can have a little picnic all our own." Nodding happily, paying no mind to Riley, he headed toward the truck.

Riley had no motivation to get up. He sat there on the dock and removed his other sandal as he watched Xander put together an impromptu party. "Thank God Buffy doesn't know the meaning of the words pack light." he quipped as Xander located goodie food. Chips and salsa. Even a warm six pack of Coke. Riley broke two cans from the group and handed one to Xander. "So, we drink to what? Goldfish and fireworks?"

Xander shook his head. "Oh *no*, my boy. We drink to the fact that Giles has very, very good taste in beer," brandishing a six pack of Guinness "and the presence of mind to forget it."

"Well now. Guinness. Very nice." Riley grinned. "You know, this is the stuff you're supposed to drink warm." He sprawled out on the dock and let one foot dangle over the edge and into the water. "You know, this isn't so bad. At least there are no women to worry about impressing or annoying."

Xander mimicked Riley, kicking his Birks off and dangling his feet in the water, as he cracked open his first beer. "Tell me about it." He sat up, taking a handfull of chips, "Do *you* ever get tired of proving your manliness?" Shaking his head, Xander sprawled back down. "On second thought, that's probably just Anya. She gets these crazy ideas in her head, and... Well, you've seen her."

"Yeah, I have but honestly, I never worried about proving my manliness till Buffy kicked my ass. I mean, it's pretty emasculating to get whipped by a five foot, one hundred and nothing pound female. Know what I mean?" Riley sighed heavily and took a long swig of his beer. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

Xander sighed, commiserating with Riley. "But, did Buffy ever ask you to bring another guy home with you, so that she can experience two penises?" Shaking his head, Xander drained his first bottle of Guiness. "I had a hell of a time explaining that one to her."

Xander's comment caught Riley totally off guard and he choked on his mouthful of beer. "She did that? Really? What the hell did you say to her?"

Xander laughed at Riley's spluttering. "I just told her that, while I am willing to do just about anything to satisfy her curiousity about human sexuality, I drew the line at propositioning one of our friends." Xander shrugged.

Riley shook his head. "Wow. That's... pretty amazing. She's really open about stuff. I mean, I know she is about a lot of things. Okay, stupid question."

"Well, I'm fairly open about stuff too. You kinda have to be, when you've got an insatiable ex demon as your girlfriend. I just sorta balked when she wanted me to have *sex* with the other guy." Xander laughed. "I was worried she'd want me to kiss another guy, but she was just miles past that one." Xander realized that this was a weird topic of conversation. "Hey man, didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything."

"Not uncomfortable," Riley muttered as he grabbed another bottle of beer. "So, you wouldn't do it? For her?"

Xander reached for another of the beers. "I didn't say that. She's my girlfriend, you know. I want her to be happy."

He thought about what to say, as he pried his beer open. "I just, I mean I wouldn't be comfortable doing that with someone I didn't know, but then again, all of the guys I know would run screaming from the very idea." Xander pondered for a moment, debating whether or not to tell Riley that he was Anya's first choice of a bed partner for her proposed threesome.

Riley sat quietly for a moment kicking the water with his toes. He couldn't understand quite why the subject intrigued him so much. "I guess I would do it." He mused, not quite sure if he meant to say it out loud. "If Buffy wanted it. I guess."

Xander swiveled his head toward Riley, dabbling in the water with his toes. He fought for the correct words to say, that would lift this odd tension from their impromptu party. "I never would have guessed that. I mean, you're so, you're such a good guy."

Riley glanced quickly at Xander and then quickly kicked a splash of water at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"No insult meant. Its just, you're Mr. Straight and Narrow." Xander wanted nothing more than to take back this whole conversation, but as time travel was still impossible, he just kept talking. "Anya actually suggested you, you know." He shook his head, suppressing the memory of how hard he'd come when Anya was talking to him about how interesting it would be if Riley was there with them.

"M-me?" Riley stuttered, all of his movements stopping. "I mean, I know I'm pretty straight about things but not narrow. There isn't a narrow thing about me," he smiled then continued almost nervously, "On the inside I'm a poet. On the outside.. hmph.. .shake bad guys, shake..." He calmed slightly and then facing Xander, asked, "Why me?"

Xander shrugged. "She thinks you're hot. I mean, I can't blame her or anything..." He snapped his mouth shut as he realized what he'd just said.

"You ever think about it? I mean, forgetting about Anya." The sun had almost set over the horizon and the night had begun casting dancing shadows over their party.

Xander shifted, reaching for his third beer. "Yeah. Not often, but every once in a while." He carefully looked downward, avoiding Riley's eyes. "Not the stuff Anya was pushing, but just maybe what it would be like to kiss..." He broke his sentence, curling his legs upward, out of the water. Finally giving into the unavoidable temptation, he looked at Riley, afraid of what he'd see written on his face. "You?"

Riley shook his head. "Not really." he said slowly. "Until now."

Xander was so absurdly grateful that there was no condemnation in Riley's eyes, that it took Riley's words a moment to register. His lips suddenly dry, Xander darted his tongue out to moisten them, while a shiver of uncertainty crept down his spine.

Fighting down his own doubt, Riley edged closer to Xander, watching the movements of the other man's mouth closely. There were no words needed as he moved in closer and stopped inches away from Xander. He inhaled deeply, taking in the scent. Soap, scented deoderant like Old Spice, and even some sweat. It was frightening that the lack of something feminine didn't turn him off.

Closer still, he felt Xander's breath on his face. Warm, smelling of corn tortillas and ale. Again, masculine. And again, he moved closer, until finally his lips touched Xander's. Soft, yet firm and slightly more commanding, Riley opened his mouth against Xander's. Hot and wet. He moved further still, his tongue moving through his own parted lips...

Xander moved closer to Riley, basking in the perfection of the moment. Riley's lips against his, the whole scene so much better than anything Anya had ever painted for him in her words. And then, there were no more thoughts. What started as an amazingly gentle kiss quickly morphed into something hotter, more hungry. Xander squirmed closer, lifting a hand to cup Riley's cheek.

In the midst of the warmth, the soft airy feeling of Xander's breath in his mouth, and the deep, low sounds eminating from them both, the thunderous light show began over the water. Riley held on for several long moments, taking Xander's bottom lip between his teeth lightly, before closing his mouth over it and stopping.

Xander's world had narrowed to nothing but this kiss. As Riley broke it, Xander's eyes opened and it seemed that the whole mass of lights and explosions existed merely to celebrate his own internal fireworks. He leaned forward and hugged Riley.

Riley smiled and turned his head slightly to the light show before turning back to Xander. "You'd think that was some kind of divine message right there." He laid a hand on Xander's thigh as he faced him one more time. "There's something about Independence Day, you know?"

Xander gulped at the feel of Riley's hand on his thigh, torn between regret that this was it, but glad that there were no disturbing decisions to be made. Dreamily, he tore his eyes away from Riley's face, directing his gaze upward. "The Fourth is all about letting loose and fireworks and stuff." He thought for a moment, "Of course there's things like wine coolers and hamburgers and women dressed in stars and stripes bikinis, too."

Riley patted Xander's thigh before pulling away completely and throwing both legs over the side of the dock. He then laid back and rested his hands behind his head. "I was thinking freedom," he said softly, staring into the sky. "Of all kinds. But mostly the kind you allow yourself..."

Xander nodded, sprawling down next to Riley. His feet dangled into the water and he wiggled his toes, enjoying the sensation. He thought about all the words that he could possibly say, but decided against all of them, simply because Riley had put it best. He contented himself with a simple "Yeah", and settled in to watch the fireworks, and wait for the gang to return.

~end~