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Four weeks later Spike sighed in exasperation and rolled his eyes toward Buffy as Giles slowly circled him with a suspicious look on his face.

“He really is human now,” Dawn assured the weary Englishman who continued circling.

“Oh, come on,” the blonde man snapped when the former watcher suddenly pulled a cross from his coat and lunged toward him with it. “We’re out in the bloody sunshine and I’m not crumbling into a big pile o’ ashes, you nit, isn’t that proof enough I’m not a bloody vampire anymore?”

“He’s right, this is silly,” Buffy sighed and looked around the busy airport parking lot. “People are starting to look at us funny.”

“Yes, I suppose you’re right,” Rupert removed his glasses and gave them a few quick wipes with the hem of his shirt before putting them back on. “We can continue this in a more private place.”

“There’s nothing to continue, you prat,” Spike declared as he whipped open the driver’s side door of the black Lexus he’d ‘borrowed’ from Angel, without the poof’s exact knowledge of the loan, and climbed behind the wheel with a huff.

Buffy gave her former watcher a warning glare over the roof of the vehicle before getting in the passenger seat. Reluctantly, Giles obeyed the tugging of the teenager next to him and got in the back seat of the car.

After a few failed attempts at starting a conversation on the drive to the apartment they’d found to rent in the city Dawn sank back against the seat with a sigh.

When they arrived at their destination Spike leapt out and went to the trunk to get the other man’s bags out. As he turned to lead the others who’d stepped from the vehicle into the building, he blinked at seeing Giles right in his face then dropped the man’s bags when he got an unexpecting dousing with holy water.

“Ah, it burns, it burns. I’m melting … melting,” the former vampire said sarcastically before slamming his fist into the former watcher’s jaw.

“You both better get this out of your systems now,” Buffy helped the older man up then gave them both warning glares. “I will not have this spoiling my wedding.”

“I believe I’m satisfied now,” Rupert tested his jaw and picked up his bags. “Still hits like a bloody vampire, though.”

“Oh, that’s his superhuman strength. It’s kind of a leftover from his vampy days,” Dawn took the Englishman’s arm and began leading him into the apartment complex.

“This is gonna be a bloody picnic,” Spike groaned as Buffy slid her arms around his waist and followed them inside.

“He’ll be fine now,” she assured him with a kiss on the cheek. “If he isn’t, you can kill him after the reception.”

“Promise?” he stopped in his tracks and gave her a hopeful grin.

“Only,” she warned, “if he interferes with our wedding. Nothing is going to spoil tomorrow for us.”

~*~*~

“I brought Zima,” Andrew announced as he burst into the apartment that evening for the dinner they had planned.

“I brought geekboy,” Xander sighed as he followed the young man inside and shut the door behind them. “Sorry. He heard us talking about this and I couldn’t shake him,” the brunette gave Buffy a hug then returned Dawn’s welcome.

“Oh my,” Giles said as he entered the living room and saw the unexpected arrival.

“Not to worry, pops,” Spike gave the older man a ‘friendly’ slap on the shoulder, “I’ve got lots of alcohol for the evening.”

“I’ll have a scotch, please,” the former watcher said.

“Sure thing,” Buffy rushed to get the drink when she say her soon to be husband open his mouth to make some snarky comment.

She went to the kitchen to get his drink and make sure dinner, all nicely prepared by a restaurant down the street, was still hot. When she returned to the room she found Andrew and Dawn bickering over some TV show while the men in the room did anything but talk to one another.

“Best bring the bottle, luv,” Spike told her dryly.

“No,” she said firmly then turned at a knock on the door. “I’ll not have anyone hung over for the ceremony.”

“Ceremony’s not until tomorrow night so peaches can attend,” her fiancée argued. “I say all of us, with the exception of nibblit and Tucker’s brother there, get sloshed.”

With a glare at the suggestion she opened the door and welcomed Kennedy and Willow inside.

The Wiccan went to give Giles a slightly awkward hug before giving the slayer a big smile.

“So what’s for dinner? And, no offense, but please tell me you didn’t cook.”

“I’m really not that bad anymore,” the blonde woman pouted slightly. “I’ve been practicing and with edible results. But dinner tonight is from the place on the corner.”

“So when we eating?” Xander sat up at that bit of news.

“Waiting for Clem to get here,” Spike explained.

“Can I get you all anything to drink?” Buffy stood in hostess mode and asked.

“I’ve got Zima,” Andrew shook the bottle he was drinking from at the others then raised the brown paper bag that held his supply of the beverage.

“Shut your gob about the bloody Zima,” Spike ordered causing the young man to give him a wounded look that had the former vampire rolling his blue eyes and wondering what the hell he’d done to deserve these twits forever in his life.

“Stop it,” his fiancée scolded him.

“What’d I do?” he assumed a look of innocence.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Buffy moved and dropped a kiss on his lips then whispered, “they’re our friends and you’d be lost without them. Admit it.”

“Lost is a gross exaggeration,” he pulled her into his lap. “I’ll concede to never being bored with them around, if I must, but I can think of much better ways for us to spend our time.”

“Dear God,” Giles said suddenly as he watched them snuggling and kissing in the chair, oblivious to their guests. “Willow - ”

“It’s not me or any kind of magic,” the redhead interrupted him quickly. “I’ve already checked. They’re just …” she looked at the soon to be newlyweds and smiled, “in love.”

“Sorry, it was just - ”

“Déjà vu. I know. I felt the same way,” Xander interrupted the man this time and rose to his feet. “Let’s go find that scotch.”

~*~*~

An hour later Clem had arrived and the whole gang was lingering over the remains of their meal.

“I still don’t see why I can’t have a glass of wine. One glass won’t kill me and kids in Europe drink from birth,” Dawn continued her meal long argument as everyone around her was showing signs of drunkenness.

“You’re a minor and this is America. No alcohol until you’re 21,” Buffy wagged an unsteady finger at her sibling.

“That isn’t fair. I’m not a minor, I’m an ancient mystical key trapped in a teenaged body. Just one glass?” she whined.

“About this business venture,” Giles pushed his empty plate aside and interrupted the little byplay. “You say you’re already taking on cases?”

“Yup,” the blonde woman said with a smacking pop on the ‘p’ sound. “It’s how we were able to move into our own place.”

“What kind of work have you had so far?”

“Bodyguarding’s what paid the best,” Spike spoke up from the end of the table. “Done a few vamp and demon removals, but the protection biz is where it’s at.”

“How much have you saved from these jobs and how much more do you need to actually launch the business?” Rupert asked with interest.

“Saved about half of what we need,” the blonde man answered. “Could probably earn the other half in a few months.”

“Oh,” the older man finished his glass of scotch, “and here I was thinking I was being softened up to fund the venture.”

“Well, mate, if you wanna chip in …” Spike smirked and trailed off.

“You guys as so muth fun,” Andrew suddenly exclaimed with a slight slur for consuming three Zima’s. “I’ve missed you guys.”

“You should really go away so we can miss you, too,” Dawn told the young man sitting beside her snidely.

“Dawnie,” Andrew turned toward the teenager with a goofy grin. “Did I ever tell you how pretty your hair is?” he reached out to touch it then wrapped his arms around her neck. “I love you.”

Willow and Xander choked on the food they were eating while Giles, Kennedy and Spike all spit out the drinks they’d been taking as Buffy just stared at the geek now kissing her little sister in absolute disbelief. Clem continued to just smile and nod contentedly at everything around him.

“I love Xander, too,” Andrew said after Dawn had succeeded in frantically pushing him away from her. “But,” he turned to stare dreamily at the man he spoke of, “I’m not supposed to talk about that. ‘It was just a one time thing, geekboy,’” the blonde made quotation marks in the air to indicate he was quoting someone, “all fifty times we’ve done it.”

“He’s just drunk,” Xander laughed weakly then rose and threw a hand over the geek’s mouth. “I think we’ve had a bit too much fun tonight. Really should be taking this puppy home before he gets sick,” the brunette hauled his ‘roommate’ to his feet and began pushing him toward the door. “Great dinner and I’ll see you all at the wedding tomorrow.”

“I really,” Andrew grabbed onto the kitchen doorway where they were gathered and resisted the man pulling him away, “really do love all you people. You’re,” he sniffled, “you’re all my friends. The bestest friends a guy could have.”

It was silent for just a moment after the duo left then Giles removed with glasses with an awkward clearing of his throat and Buffy snickered. Then Willow giggled. Then they all were laughing at the little revelation from Tucker’s brother.

“Did you see Harris’s face when the git said that,” Spike laughed across the table at his fiancée. “And me without a camera.”

~*~*~

“Stupid bloody idea, this is,” the groom-to-be complained as he was being ushered out of the apartment to spend the night elsewhere.

“It’s bad luck to see the bride on her wedding day before the wedding ceremony,” Buffy said firmly, “or something like that. You can’t stay here tonight.”

“It’s a bloody stupid superstition, luv,” he argued and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“We’ve already talked this over and both agreed that this is the way it’s gonna be,” she removed his arms, gave him a kiss then pushed him toward Clem who was waiting at the door. “I love you and tomorrow night we’ll be alllll alone together as Mr. and Mrs. Spike.”

“And then we won’t be leaving bed for a bloody week,” he growled before moving back in for another kiss then reluctantly picking up his suitcase.

“We won’t have to. We’ll have room service,” she gave him a happy smile as he and Clem turned to leave.

She moved to shut and lock the door after them only to jump in surprise when it was suddenly pushed back open.

“Just one quickie before I go,” Spike said as he stepped back inside.

“We’ve already had three of those and Giles may never sober up again from overhearing us,” Buffy chuckled a bit then firmly pushed her impatient bridegroom out the door. “We have to wait until tomorrow.”

He stomped off muttering all the way about ‘bloody stupid superstitions’ and his having become ‘a damned Nancy-boy again.’ His soon to be missus listened with a smile on her face before stumbling off to bed to sleep alone for one last night in her life.





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