I agree that Buffy has every right to be scared about Angel. I think it's noteworthy how unusual it is for Buffy, even at this stage. We get a sense of how deeply scarring her whole Angel experience is going to be; she's just so young. (And I think the fear she has of Sid underscores that--she's been creeped out by dummies since she was a kid, and it's the childlike fear that makes her scream like that with Sid.)
Giles definitely bonds with Willow. I think he bonds with Anya via the Magic Box too. He doesn't like to admit it but he does really have affection for Xander; compare their near-hug in "Into the Woods" with their actual hug in "The Body." But you're right that Giles doesn't want to be a mentor figure for Xander. I think he really doesn't want to be for any of the non-Buffy Scoobies. When he leaves in season six, he's leaving a Willow he knows is heading for a bad place and should have supervision, but he really, really needs to get out of there.
Xander and Ben: It is interesting that Xander proposes it, isn't it? I don't think think it's really the same situation as here, where Xander has selfish motives that he uses propriety to cover over. With Ben, Xander's doing what's understandable--trying to interrogate the options they have available to him, and realizing how horrifying they are. As terrible as it is to say, I don't think killing Ben should have been off the table in "The Gift," but I also think killing Dawn shouldn't have been. It's obviously a very, very emotional time, and Giles is the only "grown-up" in the group who pushes for them to talk about these issues, and even he backs off. (Anya and Spike are older than him, of course, but their development has been pretty arrested.) Sigh, I love "The Gift" so much.
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Giles definitely bonds with Willow. I think he bonds with Anya via the Magic Box too. He doesn't like to admit it but he does really have affection for Xander; compare their near-hug in "Into the Woods" with their actual hug in "The Body." But you're right that Giles doesn't want to be a mentor figure for Xander. I think he really doesn't want to be for any of the non-Buffy Scoobies. When he leaves in season six, he's leaving a Willow he knows is heading for a bad place and should have supervision, but he really, really needs to get out of there.
Xander and Ben: It is interesting that Xander proposes it, isn't it? I don't think think it's really the same situation as here, where Xander has selfish motives that he uses propriety to cover over. With Ben, Xander's doing what's understandable--trying to interrogate the options they have available to him, and realizing how horrifying they are. As terrible as it is to say, I don't think killing Ben should have been off the table in "The Gift," but I also think killing Dawn shouldn't have been. It's obviously a very, very emotional time, and Giles is the only "grown-up" in the group who pushes for them to talk about these issues, and even he backs off. (Anya and Spike are older than him, of course, but their development has been pretty arrested.) Sigh, I love "The Gift" so much.