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Nearly three months passed, and Sunnydale slipped into a surprisingly chilly winter with an average of 28 deg F.

During these cold winter nights/mornings, Buffy had insisted that no mate of hers was going to be sleeping in a stone crypt. So that season, Spike spent his sleeping hours snuggling up with Buffy in her room with the heat cranked up. Her skin felt warm again. Spike loved it.

--= * =-- --= * =-- --= * =--

The sun had set and the temperature was dropping sharply without the daylight to warm it. Anya wrapped her coat tighter around her as she walked briskly into the famous one Starbucks of Sunnydale. Shivering, Anya stepped inside.

As she unbuttoned her jacket, Anya saw that Willow was already in the back area with her laptop and a large, steaming, foam-chocolate sauce-coffee- cream concoction. She was snuggling into one of the comfy chairs and hadn’t noticed Anya’s entrance. Buffy hadn’t either by the look of things as she was preoccupied with making another complicated coffee drink for some man who was getting impatient.

“Hi Buffy,” Anya said when it was her turn to order.

“Hey Anya. What can I get you?”

Anya placed her order and then tried to act nonchalant while walking quickly to snag the only other comfy chair before some other person did.

Buffy wasn’t too pleased with her job choice but her other options consisted of the Doublemeat Palace and the Chinese Laundry. At least she didn’t have to wear a ridiculous outfit. Buffy actually liked the Starbucks shade of green. She had, of course, volunteered for the night shift. The manager had thought she was nuts. People on the night shift disappeared by the barrel in this town.

--= * =-- --= * =-- --= * =--

“So...Willow. What are you doing?” Anya said.

“Huh?” Willow said, not looking up from her laptop screen.

“I said, what are you doing?”

“Oh.” She glanced up. “Just figuring out some new ideas...codes and things...for April.”

Her eyes drifted back to the screen and she resumed typing.

“Ah yes. How is April?” Anya said patiently.

“Willow!” Anya said indignantly when the redhead didn’t reply.

“What?!”

“I’m attempting to make civilized conversation such as one is supposed to in a coffee shop and you’re not participating.”

“Sorry. I’m busy right now.” Willow said shortly before returning to her work.

With a sigh, Anya set her coffee on the table and grabbed the latest issue of Cosmopolitan, which had been left on the small, tasteful surface. Getting comfy in her seat, she began to flip through it aimlessly.

--= * =-- --= * =-- --= * =--

The sun had set, she had finished her coffee, and Anya was rereading the magazine for a fourth time, looking for a way to kill the boredom while she waited. Why had she thought it was a good idea to show up early?

Flicking past page 86 again, Anya stopped when she saw the article “How To Tell You’re In Love” again.

She had an idea. It would kill time at least. She could apply it to her and Xander’s relationship but that would be too easy.

Anya’s eyes scanned the room.

Buffy. Perfect.

--= * =-- --= * =-- --= * =--

How To Tell You’re In Love

1. You watch each other walk away.
2. You sit superclose in social settings.
3. Your pupils enlarge when you talk.
4. It looks like a tornado hit your bed.
5. You’re happy to lean your heads together.
6. You dress alike.
7. You have a special tickle or lip bite.
8. You’re always grooming each other.

Anya was having difficulty recalling the minor mannerisms of the two vampires but unwilling to let her plan go foiled, she settled on simply needing both of them to be there. She conveniently disregarded number three; she doubted she would be able to get that close to tell. Catching a glimpse of their room would have to be postponed. Number six was true. Buffy had taken to dressing in black and darker colours lately.

That was all she could gather at the time. Looking up at the sound of the door opening, Anya smiled.

--= * =-- --= * =-- --= * =--

In her head, Anya had checked off numbers one, five, seven, and eight at different times throughout the evening.

Xander was the last to arrive. Ironic, since he was the one who had asked them all there.

After a quick glance at the clock--which read 9:15--Anya greeted him warmly. The only people in Starbucks now besides Buffy were Spike, Anya, Dawn, and Willow. Dawn had nearly finished her homework and Willow was done with her work.

Buffy’s night shift ran from seven thirty to eleven on regular days. But because today was Sunday, Buffy got off at nine.

“Where’s Tara?” Buffy asked.

“Oh. She had some studying to do. Said she couldn’t make it,” Willow replied vaguely.

Buffy knew something was up but if Willow didn’t want to talk about it then it wasn’t her business.

“I guess you’re wondering why we’re here...or you’re here. Um...uh...there's something Anya and I...want to tell you.” Xander said.

He walked over to Anya and put his arm around her shoulders, before turning to face the rest of the gang.

“We're getting married.”

“Oh my god,” Dawn said with a big smile.

“Congratulations!” Buffy said from Spike’s side.

Willow however wasn’t smiling. She felt that if Xander got married, it would splinter her, his, and Buffy’s friendship trinity even more than Buffy’s turning had. She knew that she should be glad for her friend. But all she could say was:

“That...that's...wow.”

Xander and Anya had big smiles on. So did Dawn and Buffy. And even Spike looked happy for them. Willow felt like she was the only person who realized that her two best friends were distancing themselves from her. Instead of drowning in her thoughts and emotions now, Willow decided to delay her pain, and attempt to be happy for Xander now.

“It's a big wow,” Xander said and squeezed Anya’s shoulders

“I...I thought you were waiting for the right moment,” Anya said, caught off guard but still thrilled.

Xander gazed fondly at her.

“I did.”

Xander pulled her into a kiss.

“We have to do something,” Buffy said with a grin.

--= * =-- --= * =-- --= * =--

“Buffy and Spike are in love,” Anya said matter-of-factly to Xander on the drive to the Summers residence. She was still glowing, and kept glancing at her hand and smiling.

Xander was silent for a few seconds.

“Yeah. I know,” he said quietly.

--= * =-- --= * =-- --= * =--

The party had been moved to the Summers’ living room. There was some music playing from the old radio. Giles had been called and had arrived shortly.

“And he said he couldn't imagine the rest of his life without me, and then he gave me this!” Anya said, proudly showing off her engagement ring to Dawn.

“Which I'll be paying for the rest of my life,” Xander said with a grin.

“Can I try it on?” Dawn asked.

“Oh, absolutely not,” Anya said with a big smile.

Giles and Buffy appeared from the kitchen, carrying several colourful, plastic cups.

“Sorry we couldn't do the big fancy. You kinda caught us with our parties down,” Buffy said before going over and sitting next to Spike on the couch.

“Oh, that's okay. This is just the first premarital celebration. There'll be lots more. With gifts,” Anya said enthusiastically.

Tara and Willow appeared with bowls of snacks.

“Sure, maybe we'll even have time to decorate for the next one,” Tara said.

“Why wait?”

Willow spoke a few words of Japanese and a shimmer ran through the room. When it passed, the room was decorated with paper lanterns and streamers.

Dawn laughed with pleasure while the others looked around at the enchanting decorations. Tara and Giles, however, looked unhappy and shared a disapproving look.

“This is so much better than the way it usually looks. Thank you,” Anya said before hugging Willow.

--= * =-- --= * =-- --= * =--

Dawn heard the semi-raised voices as she approached the kitchen.

“You're always coming down on me for, for doing magic that couldn't harm a fly. What's your problem?” Willow snapped.

“Willow, I j-just wish that you would stop and think about what you're--”

Tara cut herself off when Willow’s gaze slipped toward the door. Dawn looked nervously between the two witches.

“Sorry. Just checkin' on the chips.”

“It's okay. We're done,” Willow said, grabbing the bowl of chips and walking out of the kitchen. Dawn gave Tara an anxious look before following Willow back to the living room.

--= * =-- --= * =-- --= * =--

Dawn was fast asleep on the couch. Occasionally, she’d mumble something or give a snore, but on the whole she was quiet.

Anya and Xander had left with Anya expecting post-wedding-announcement sex not long after Willow had huffily announced that she was going to bed about half an hour ago.

Buffy had gone into the kitchen to refill her drink with Spike assisting her twenty minutes ago. Neither had reappeared yet.

That left Tara and Giles in the living room. Their quiet voices carried to the kitchen but they weren’t terribly concerned about Buffy or Spike listening in, and it wasn’t a huge secret anyhow.

“I guess restarting April and reconstructing my sanity kind of gave her a buzz,” Tara said before taking a sip of her root beer.

Giles nodded.

“Where is April?”

“We plugged her in to recharge in our room. Willow’s upgrading some combat abilities so that maybe she could go on patrol.”

“Ah, that will be helpful.”

There was a slight pause in the conversation before Tara said:

“I just don’t want to see her get hurt.”

For a second Giles thought she meant April.

“That’s the last thing any of us want.”

“I’ve seen people who’ve been really hurt by magick. And not just physically.”

Giles nodded again, and Tara took another sip of her drink before reaching for the chips.





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