“That is quite a skill,” Buffy said appreciatively as she watched Xander flipping alcohol bottles.
“Don’t encourage him, pet. Bloke’s seen Cocktail one too many times, and do you have any idea how many times he had to get stitches while learning these tricks?” Spike wasn’t watching his friend demonstrate his skills, but rather, was watching Buffy out of the corner of his eye as she smiled happily.
“Hey! Once!” Xander pouted, still juggling.
“Three times, whelp.”
“Fine, three, but one of the times was not my fault.”
“Right, because the very act of me saying hello was enough for you to royally botch it up,” the blond man snorted.
Laughing at their easy banter, Buffy finished off her White Russian and smacked her lips contentedly. “Okay, that was just damn yummy. Could I get some water, please?” She said to Xander, who obliged immediately. “Pacing,” she whispered.
“Good girl.”
“So how many questions are we at?’ She shifted on her stool, then pulled up the top of her dress, the movement pressing her breasts up and distracting Spike for a moment,
He turned his distraction into just a moment of thought, and said, “You have 16 left, I have 17.”
“So it’s your turn, then?”
“That it is. Let me think…okay, got it. Well, it’s not really a question, more of a topic to discuss. Family?”
“Only child, parents still together.”
He waited for a moment, then prodded, “And…”
“And, what?”
“What’s your family like?”
Buffy shrugged, and called out to Xander, “Make me something new and yummy!”
“You got it!”
She returned her gaze to Spike, who frowned at her a bit. “Dad’s a business guy, his offices are in LA so he’s gone half the time. Mom doesn’t work, really, does a lot of charity stuff and social engagements and whatever. Society wife. They’re…well, let’s just say they’re married permanently, if not happily.”
“How do you mean?’
Buffy shrugged and turned away from the conversation, accepting her new drink with a smile. “What’s this one called?” Spike sighed at her avoidance, then second guessed why he even cared so much to dig around in the past of this unfamiliar woman. Although, by this point, she could hardly be called a stranger.
“It’s a Buffy,” Xander winked. “Vanilla vodka, triple sec, and pineapple juice.”
“Oooh! I’ve always wanted a drink named after me.” She took a small sip. “And yet again, you stun me with your impressive skills. Can I steal your brain?’
“It’s not much use to me, anyway,” he laughed.
The bell over the door jingled, and a dark haired woman entered, yelling at someone on her cell phone. “I don’t give a shit, motherfucker. You promised me five, and I want five. Any less, and I’m taking a hammer to your fucking precious cycle, and then your balls.” She hung up and stopped short as she saw Buffy in her dress. “Whoa. It’s a bride.”
“Oh…right.” She looked down, having almost forgotten her apparel, and the reason she was wearing it. “Long story.”
“I’ll have to hear it. I’m Faith,” the woman stuck out her hand and looked Buffy up and down appraisingly.
Spike explained, “Faith is Xander’s bird.”
“I’m no one’s bird, bleached wonder.”
“Right, sorry. She also fixed up my bike for me. Bloody genius, she is.”
“Oh, you flatter me!” Faith ruffled Spike’s hair and ducked under the counter, giving her boyfriend a heated kiss before fixing herself a drink.
“This is Buffy, she is our guest of honor this evening,” Xander said, putting back the bottles he’d been twirling.
“Awesome. So, then, we’re partying?” She asked hopefully.
“That seems to be the plan,” Spike nodded.
“Excellent. Always up for an excuse to get trashed.”
Xander said cautiously, “Remember, Faith, we’re having lunch with my parents---“
“Pipe down, baby. I’ll be just as hung-over as your mother, no more.”
He rolled his eyes. “My girlfriend, ladies and gentlemen.”
Buffy watched their interaction silently, feeling slightly uncomfortable and left out, when Faith turned to her and grinned invitingly. “You’re a cutie, B. How long have you known our boy?”
“Um. About…two hours?”
“Two and a half, love,” Spike lightly nudged her side.
“Right. Sorry,” she giggled, a warm blush spreading across her cheeks as he smiled at her.
Faith smirked at their interaction. “Wow, he must like you, if he brought you here. Most of the trash he dates doesn’t get to meet me.”
“Sitting right here, don’t talk about me like I’m not!” Spike objected, glancing at Buffy to see her reaction to Faith’s comment.
She just laughed and ruffled his hair as the other woman had done. “Aw, don’t pout. We’ll talk about you when you’re gone, too.”
Faith high-fived her. “I like this one, can I keep her?”
“Sure. You two can form a club called Let’s Kick The Spike.”
Buffy smiled and nuzzled his shoulder briefly before pulling away and sipping at her drink. His shoulder tensed the second he lost her weight on it, and he rolled his eyes at Faith’s curious expression.
“Hey, you think Buffy could borrow some clothes?” He asked. “I mean, if you still want to change, pet.”
“Oh, yes please.”
Faith shrugged, “No sweat! Come on up, B. We’ll find you a party outfit.”
Buffy got off the stool and smoothed her hands over the front of her dress. With a tentative smile at Spike she followed the brunette up the stairs, who was chattering excitedly about what to dress up in.
Once they were out of sight, Xander turned to Spike and said curiously, “So, I take it the wedding you were working today didn’t quite go off without a hitch?”
“Something like that.”
“What happened?”
“Met Buffy, she needed to get out of there, brought her here. Any other details are hers to tell.”
“Fine, fine, we won’t gossip like chicks. She’s a looker, though.”
“Yeah,” Spike nodded, taking a deep breath. “She is.”
Faith led Buffy into the apartment above the bar and headed for the bedroom, not wasting a minute before saying, “So, were you supposed to be getting married today? Or are you married? Or wearing a costume. Or what.”
“Um, sort of, the first.” She bit her lip, not wanting to spill her story but not wanting to offend the other woman. “I think I need to be a little drunker before I get into the whole saga though.”
“Sure thing,” Faith breezed, not looking remotely bothered. “Okay, I see you in black. No, wait, I’m wearing black. Red, yes, you could pull off red.” She began to dig through the messy closet, tossing items behind her onto the unmade bed. “Ah! This, this is wicked hot.”
She dangled a skimpy red lace halter dress in front of Buffy, whose eyes almost popped out of her head. “I’ve…I’ve never worn anything like that before.”
“First time for everything, right? At least try it on.”
Nodding reluctantly, Buffy took the proffered dress, then paused before heading to the bathroom Faith pointed her towards. “Um,” she said quietly. “I’m not…I’m not sure I can get out of this dress on my own.”
“Oh, yeah, duh. I was a bridesmaid for my cousin last year, it took four people to get her into the dress. I mean, the dress was hideous, but yours is beautiful.”
“Thanks.”
Faith moved behind her and began undoing the hooks and buttons up the back of the gown. “What brand is it?”
“Monique Lhuillier?”
“Huh. Sounds pricey.” She was quiet as she finished the last of the clasps. “Okay, you’re good to go. Change and then we’ll do the whole makeup and hair bit. You’re going to look so bomb.”
Buffy shut the door to the bathroom behind her, and hesitated a moment before sliding the thin, delicate straps of her dress off her shoulders, and letting it fall softly to the floor, revealing the lacy white lingerie beneath, the garter on her thigh, and the small blue bow on her underwear. Suddenly overcome with anger, she ripped the blue bow away, tore off the garter, and tossed both into the trash, then furiously kicked at the dress on the ground. Gathering her courage, she removed the bra she knew wouldn’t fit under the scrap of a dress Faith had offered her, and slid the garment over her head.
The dress hit her about mid thigh, which Buffy realized meant on Faith it probably barely covered her ass. The top was two triangles of dark red lace over black fabric that pushed her breasts up and together, creating more cleavage than she’d ever displayed. With her silver heels still on, she had to admit she looked pretty good. And not at all bridal.
“Okay, I’d do you,” Faith said the second the bathroom door opened to reveal Buffy, shifting uncomfortably. She finished buttoning up her leather pants, and adjusted her breasts in her black satin top. “We are going to make a splash. Granted, it’s just Xander’s bar, but hey. It gets pretty busy on Saturdays.” She took the wedding dress from Buffy’s arms and hung it up carefully, before dragging the girl over to the vanity.
Faith chattered away as she redid Buffy’s makeup, and pulled her curled hair back in a messy twist.
“We ready?” She asked as she finished applying her own fire engine red lipstick.
“Yup,” Buffy smiled. As the girl started to walk away from her, she said, “Wait, Faith? Thank you. A lot. This…this is good. What I needed.”
“No thanks necessary, B. Just enjoy yourself tonight, okay? We’ll exorcise your demons.”
“I will. Can I use your phone before I come down? I should call someone and let them know I’m …I’m okay.”
“By the fridge, see you down stairs.” Faith bounced off, and Buffy reached for the cordless on the counter.
It had been a long time since she’d needed to memorize a phone number, and without her cell phone she felt practically naked, but found herself easily remembering and dialing Willow’s cell.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Will, it’s me.”
“Oh, hi, Bob!” Willow lowered her voice. “Hold on, let me go in the other room.”
“Bob? Are you with spies?”
“Your mother.”
“Close enough. How mad is she?” Leaning against the counter, Buffy started to chew on her lip, afraid that somehow her mother would sense that she was “Bob” and tear the phone right out of Willow’s grasp. A lecture about responsibility and family was definitely not what she needed right now.
“Okay, privacy. She’s…um, she’s worried.”
Buffy sighed. “And mad.”
“Well, yes. Where did you go?” Willow’s voice was curious and concerned, but her clear disapproval of Buffy’s choice made the girl start to shake nervously.
“I…I made my decision. And I had to get out of there.”
“Where are you now? Do you need me to come get you?”
“No, no, I’m fine…I’m with friends.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Friends who didn’t come to the wedding?”
“New friends?” Buffy offered tentatively.
Willow took a deep, audible breath. “I should tell you, Angel saw you getting on the back of some guy’s motorcycle? He’s absolutely flipping out, Buffy.”
“I’m fine, Will, I promise. The guy’s nice, one of the waiters for the reception, he did me a favor and we’re hanging out at his friend’s bar. I’m just…decompressing.” The longer she talked, the more Buffy’s hand began to shake, and she dug the nails of one hand into her palm in attempts to focus on physical pain, rather than emotional.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come get you?”
“No, I’m of the good. Just wanted to let you know I’m alright.” Buffy was quiet for a moment, deciding whether or not she truly cared about the answer to the question floating in her mind. “So, Angel’s freaking?”
“Well, yeah. Of course. I haven’t told him you know about Harmony, figured that was your news to tell, so he’s completely…he cried, Buffy. I mean, just so you know.”
“Oh…” Resisting the pull of regret in her heart was less difficult than she’d thought it would be, yet still the idea of her Angel crying was still enough to bring pinpricks of tears to her own eyes, despite her belief that she’d done the right thing.
“So, I mean, you eventually need to talk to him. I get that it wasn’t right for you to get married, not with that hanging over your heads, but you need to…I don’t know, at least try and let him explain?”
“I will. Eventually. I have to go, though, Will.” The conversation couldn’t last another second with the guilt trip being laid on her by her best friend, and the turmoil raging within her.
“I’m sorry, Buffy, I didn’t mean to make you mad, I’m totally on your side, I just---“
“No, no, it’s fine. I just, I’m using their phone and I don’t want to hog it. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Are you coming back to the apartment, or---“
Buffy hung up and let out a shuddering sigh, closing her eyes and trying to block out her conflicted sadness.
A soft knock at the door startled her. “Pet, are you—“ Spike stopped short as he saw her standing there, and breathed out, “Wow…” He drank it all in. Blonde hair piled on her head, tendrils falling and framing her face, green eyes rimmed in black, lips full, shining and pouty, breasts almost pushing out of a dress in his favorite color.
Buffy blushed from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, his clear appreciation of her appearance making her misery lighten a bit. “It’s…Faith kind of played Barbie with me. It’s too much, isn’t it?”
“Not at all,” he managed to say. “You look great. But, not very happy. Are you alright?”
“I’m…yeah. Somewhere in the vicinity of alright.” She sniffed a bit and stared down at the ground, not wanting him to see her cry yet again.
It took three steps for Spike to reach her, and he folded her into a tight hug, wanting nothing more than to alleviate all of her pain. She relaxed into him immediately, wrapped her hands around his waist, breathed in his scent, and willed the tears pricking her eyelids away. They stood like that for a few minutes, neither saying anything, until Buffy pulled away and smiled weakly up at him.
“Okay. Nearer to alright now.” And she was. The feeling of being wrapped up in his arms was one of the purest, most comfortable sensations she’d ever experienced, and Buffy still couldn’t wrap her mind around just why this man was being so extremely kind to her.
“Ready to head downstairs? Faith’s ready to party and you aren’t there to give her a reason,” he joked, brushing the one escaped tear off her cheek.
Buffy nodded, “Sure thing. But Spike, I just don’t know how to ever thank you—“
“No need to ever. Not something I need to be thanked for.” He offered his arm to her in a gallant gesture. “Shall we?”
“We shall,” she grabbed his arm, squeezing it till he paid attention to her. He looked down at her questioningly, and she took a moment to search the depths of his blue eyes before saying, “Really, though, thank you. Just so you know. I don’t think anyone has ever been this nice to me.”
Spike observed her, thoughtful. “Well, love. Then you haven’t been spending time with the right people.”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
I'm so happy you're all enjoying the story so much, and thanks for your reviews and emails! Next update will be Saturday, but I should warn you Sunday I'm fleeing the country for a study abroad, so I can't guarantee extremely regular updates. There definitely shouldn't be more than a week in between or anything, but I don't know when I'll have internet access, etc, so I can't commit to a regular schedule. Hope you'll stick with me!