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Dawn stood at the back of the hall with Giles as the music began to play. She felt the typical anxiety experienced by every bride on the wedding day plus a little bit more as she watched her sister’s progress down the aisle. Even from the back, she knew Buffy’s eyes were scanning the crowd sitting on either side of the aisle looking for the pale vampire. Dawn knew nothing would happen at the wedding, but at the reception afterwards anything could happen. She just hoped Buffy wasn’t too angry about Spike’s presence. They really hadn’t been given a chance to talk before Giles had announced the beginning of the ceremony.

Dawn felt herself start to calm down when her eyes met Andrew’s as Giles guided her down the white runner covering the aisle. She had never felt so strongly for a man. Her feeling outweighing even those of the teenage crush she had had for Spike so many years ago. He hadn’t even been surprised when she had told him of her true origins and of her older sister’s profession by stating like most of the lifetime citizens of Sunnydale he knew of all the strange occurrences in their town, but never mentioned it.

Meanwhile, the blond vampire the bride, and not to mention the Maid of Honor, were so worried about sat quietly in the back of the room blending in rather well. Perhaps, it was his hair, while still blond, it was no longer the glaring platinum it had been during his stay in the ‘Dale, the nearly unruly curls lightly framing his still angular face, or perhaps it was the suit he had worn for the wedding, the only similarity to his old leather duster and dark ensemble being the identical dark hue of the outfits.

He hadn’t really been surprised by the invitation the little bint’s big day, and yet in a way he had. Although at times, it had taken some time for her letters to catch up to him—he seemed to be constantly on the move, never really finding any spot that seemed to be worth setting up residence—nearly every letter for the last few years had mentioned this Andrew bloke in some way. Even with the miles separating them, Spike had known his Niblet was in love, perhaps before she had even realized it herself. He smiled at the thought of his old pet name for the Slayer’s little sister. That was what he found hard to believe. It was one of those bleedin’ Hallmark moments. His little Niblet all grown up. It was one of the worst clichés of the twentieth century, but it certainly was true. She was no longer the gangly teenager she had been when he had decided to leave Sunnydale. Instead she was a tall, dark, beautiful young woman with an ageless strength in her brown eyes, himself and the Scoobies being the few that knew the hardships she had faced and the energy hidden inside her being the reason for that strength.

Her beauty very nearly rivaled the Slayer’s. She was a very close second in Spike’s eyes, who even after eight years and traveling halfway around the world in an effort to put his thought’s of Buffy to rest, was still haunted by the Slayer’s face. He had told her that night when they were gathering their weapons for the impending battle with Glory that he knew that she would never love him, and he had been right. The last eight years had proven that. More than ever, he knew that he didn’t stand a chance, but that did not dismiss her from his thoughts. Seeing her again entering the room her sun-kissed hair in blaring contrast to the midnight blue dress that clung to her still shapely body—he’d have to remember to compliment Dawn on her choice of wedding attire—had brought back all those old feelings to the surface. He fought hard to keep them in check. Although in her letters Dawn had reported that big sis had been rather broodish since his departure, he knew he still meant nothing to her. He would stay long enough to help his favorite girl celebrate her big day, and then he would once again hit the road. He wasn’t going to set himself up to have his heart broken yet again!





The wedding had been a beautiful event, Buffy had to admit. That was once she had managed to tear herself away from searching the crowd for Spike. She had taken a stake to the stomach without crying, but the sight of Dawn standing at the altar had made more than just a couple tears stream down her cheeks. How she wished her mom could have been there to see her youngest daughter getting married. She would have been so proud, and probably sobbing uncontrollably herself! Andrew thought Dawn’s sister had given him a hard time. He should have been thankful he never had to meet Joyce! The hard time Buffy had given him would have been nothing compared to what their mom could have dished out! Of course, with Andrew things probably would have been different. Joyce had been fairly nice to Riley when she finally met him. It was when Buffy’s work tended to follow her home that, in the shape of Angel and later Spike, that Joyce had gotten defensive.

Buffy smiled as she remembered Joyce, the memories of her late mother no longer bringing the sharp twinge of pain it used to. So far things had gone wonderfully. She could not help but be thankful for that since she tended to have a problem with special occasions, birthdays in particular, although the last few had actually passed without incident. She had yet to spot any sign of the peroxide pest, and had began to wonder if he had even shown up for the wedding at all. She couldn’t see him disappointing Dawn by not showing up, but it had been eight years. Things change, and perhaps his affections for her little sister weren’t as strong as it used to be. They had only completed their dinner and the appropriate toasts had been given. There was still plenty of time for Spike to show his face.

Buffy couldn’t help but look at the crowd sitting around the small dance floor with dread as she followed Giles. She didn’t know how he had managed to stay hidden away from her—he was never one to blend—but she knew he was out there watching her every move. Dawn had insisted that Buffy should dance with Giles, even though for that evening he was operating in the “father capacity”. She had stated that while she loved Giles in that sense, he really was Buffy’s father, so to speak. It had been many years since Buffy had thought of him as only her Watcher. This forced Buffy to wonder who exactly Dawn had chosen to dance with in Giles’ place. Perhaps, she planned on dancing with her new father-in-law, Buffy thought, as she watched her baby sister pulled someone out of the crowd. Buffy felt lightheaded when she saw who followed Dawn from the crowd. His hair and clothes were different, but there was no mistaking those cheekbones. Of all the people she could have chosen for a father/daughter dance, but she supposed the fact that he had watched over her and did his best to protect her in those dark months of hiding from Glory, which was a lot more than any effort their own father had put forth, made him the best candidate, at least in Dawn’s mind. Buffy might not have liked it, but it was Dawn’s wedding, and right at that point, she really couldn’t voice any complains anyway.

“Buffy,” Giles whispered to her drawing her attention away from her sister and the vampire. She turned her head to see her Watcher wincing in pain, and noticed that after seeing Spike her fingers had tensed, and Giles’ hand was quickly turning a rather nasty shade of purple.

“Sorry,” she muttered making a conscious effort to loosen her grip.

“Is there anything wrong?” Giles asked, apparently seeing Spike again and the intense pain in his fingers hadn’t been enough to answer his question.

“No…yes,” Buffy tipped her head slightly towards the other couple, hoping not to draw attention to the fact that they were speaking of them. “I just can’t believe he’s here.”

“Well, yes,” Giles replied. “I was rather surprised that he was able to make it in time, but I’m sure he didn’t want to disappoint Dawn.”

“No, I’m sure he wouldn’t,” Buffy shot back sarcastically. Of course, he’d always had a soft spot in his heart for her sister, but she couldn’t help but expect him to have ulterior motives for his visit.

“I assure you, Buffy,” he told her catching her tone, “Spike has changed quite a bit over the years.”

“I can see that,” she said as her eyes ran over his body. Nothing of the old Spike remained, other than the face and the piercing blue eyes. Apparently, he had had a run in with the fashion police and finally given up on the punk look. She had to admit, he had made a pretty good choice. If she had ran into him at the Bronze—not knowing who he was, of course—she would have done a double take and probably a third and fourth.

“Not just in appearance, although I will say he has much improved on that aspect,” the Watcher stated. “I’ve spoken with Trevors, and apparently while on his travels, our Spike has proved himself quite an asset. He’s made no attempt to remove the chip in eight years, and he’s no longer arbitrarily attacking demons just for the sake of them being the only ones that he can hurt. From all the Council’s reports, he’s actually saved quite a few people in the last few years. He said Spike would have made an excellent candidate for the Council if it weren’t for the demon factor. Apparently, our Spike has grown into his own. While, he’s never stayed anywhere for more than a few months, he’s actually become rather financially stable…”

Buffy let Giles drone on as she continued to study Spike, adverting her eyes just in time when he spun Dawn about the dance floor. After all those months of trying to prove to her that he was really good, he’d gone out and become a traveling version of Angel. Well, maybe not a carbon copy, Angel was looking for redemption. She really didn’t know what Spike was looking for. Years ago, she would have said he was doing it simply to impress her, but now she was sure that wasn’t the case. If he had any interest in her anymore, wouldn’t he have tried to contact her over the years? Sure, Dawn’s letters would have the occasional “Say hi to Buffy” tacked on the end, but that was a far cry from saying he still had feelings for her.

Why did she care anyway? She asked herself after hearing his laughter float across the dance floor mixing with Dawn’s after a private joke. Had she ever heard him laugh when he was in Sunnydale? Perhaps an angry sneer on occasion, but never a true heartfelt laugh. It really didn’t matter. After her failure with Riley, and later with Spike, even though they really weren’t involved, but he had claimed to love her, and he had left, Buffy had lost all interest in having a relationship. She seemed to have a knack for making men run away—far away.

“Okay, Giles,” Buffy pulled herself away from her thoughts to hear her Watcher still droning on about Spike’s finer points. “Spike’s a great guy now, got it. You really don’t have to sell him to me. You act like you expect me to date him or something!”

“It wouldn’t be a particularly bad idea,” he suggested.

Buffy’s eyes grew wide not believing she had actually suggested that she date Spike. This had to be a sign of another apocalypse coming, and they had managed to have such a nice, long break since keeping Glory from destroying the world. “Could you say that again?”

Giles let go of her hand for a moment to push his glasses further up his nose. A sign that Buffy had learned after years of experience meant that she wasn’t going to like what the Watcher was going to say next. “I’m only saying that when he was in Sunnydale he tried to prove he was good in an attempt to gain your affection. Now after all this time, he’s done it for himself, not simply in attempt to get to you…”

“So you’re saying, since this time he’s decided to be the guy in the white hat all for himself, I should go begging him to love me?”

“I’m not saying that,” Giles replied. “I’m simply saying that I know you still have feelings for him, perhaps they’re a little mixed at the moment, but they are still there. You’re still a young woman, but you can’t be the Slayer forever. Right now that’s all you do. I remember a young girl telling me that she wanted to be a normal girl with a normal life…”

A normal life? Sure she’d wanted that for a long time, but she had also accepted a long time ago, that she was the Slayer. She would never have a normal life. She might come darn close, but as soon as the sun went down—and occasionally before the sun went down—her life was anything but normal. Now Giles seemed to think that if she dated yet another vampire, Spike, no less that her life would be normal!? Obviously, he must have hit the “special” punch once too often that evening!



Buffy strolled about the edge of the reception hall her eyes scanning the crowd carefully. Now that the traditional wedding dances were over everyone was milling about freely, but rather than joining the other guests, she had chosen to stick to the outskirts watching for any sign of Spike.

Surprisingly, he had yet to confront her. For some reason she found it necessary to tell herself that was because of her excellent job of avoiding him, and not that he hadn’t bothered to search her out. She had caught sight of him once or twice as the evening had worn on as he had socialized with each of the Scoobies in turn. They had all become more accepting of him after the battle with Glory. He had proven himself, even to Xander, when he had fought by their side and then later took care of Dawn in Buffy’s absence before the Council had given Giles the spell that enabled him and Willow to bring her back. Xander had even hugged the vampire when welcoming him back—a sight that Buffy still had trouble believing—and allowed him to hold Joyce for a while.

Spike had even taken the little girl out on the dance floor for a time. Standing a fair distance away, watching the smiling vamp whirl the laughing girl around in circles, Buffy had a hard time remembering the Big Bad that had originally come to Sunnydale out for her blood. Yet, even after he had reacquainted himself with all her friends, he still hadn’t made an effort to find her. She was beginning to feel rather stupid. All those years ago, she had gotten so angry with him for following her around, and now here she was at her own sister’s wedding stalking him.

Maybe he really didn’t care if she was there or not. When he had left, they hadn’t parted on the best of terms, but it hadn’t been on the worst either. Spike had simply wanted to move on. After Glory, things in Sunnydale had pretty much quieted down. Dawn had Buffy there to take care of her, and there really wasn’t anything holding him there. She had known exactly what he had meant when he had told her that, but she just couldn’t say what he had wanted to hear. It had been bad timing, pure and simple. It wasn’t just the Glory thing either. She just wasn’t ready for another relationship human or vampire. After Riley had left, it had pretty much proven her track record, get involved and then they leave you. Xander, Giles, and Spike had been the only men in her life that hadn’t walked out on her, and she was thoroughly convinced that was because they hadn’t dated. Then Spike had to go and ruin the theory and leave her too. It was obvious just from appearance alone that Spike had changed quite a bit in the last eight years. His feelings for her might not be the same, or he might not even have those feelings at all. He could even be involved for all she knew. Dawn would share what Spike wrote in his letters with her from time to time, but she knew that was something her sister wouldn’t announce. She had never lost the childish fantasy that her older sister and Spike belonged together!

Buffy sighed in frustration. She was being ridiculous! It was Dawn’s wedding, and since Joyce wasn’t able to be there, she was the one to act out the role of the proud parent. Instead, she was lurking in the shadows and stalking one of the guests who apparently didn’t know she was alive anymore. Granted, she spent most of her free time roaming about a cemetery staking the undead, but you’d think her social skills would be a little more refined than this!

“Buffy?” the sound of Willow’s voice stirred her from her thoughts. She had been so worried about Spike she hadn’t noticed Willow standing just next to her until she said her name. She was dressed in the same dark blue that Buffy wore which marked all of the female members of the Scoobies as the bridal party. Although Willow had made a witty comment about them all dressing alike while they were getting dressed, she did look great in it. It was much better than her usual eclectic outfits that she had worn since high school, apparently forever refusing to get any “grown up clothes.” Buffy could see the little crease forming between Willow’s eyes, a sure sign that she was confused. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, Will, I’m fine,” Buffy answered hoping that would be enough of an answer, but knew it wasn’t. The Scoobies never accepted one sentences answers, especially from her. Ever since she had returned, she couldn’t mope around her friends without them thinking something dire was wrong.

“You didn’t look fine,” Willow objected. “You were all like in stalker mode. You can take one night off you know! Besides, it’s a pain to chase vamps in heels!”

Buffy smiled at Will’s attempt to cheer her up. She already knew how much fun it was to try to run through a dark cemetery in heels was from first hand experience. The numerous twisted ankles over the years weren’t exactly pleasant memories, but Will was trying. As long as she was trying to get her to smile, she wasn’t bringing up the subject of Spike, which she was sure would be coming up shortly.

“Really, I’m fine, Will,” Buffy insisted. “It’s just a little overwhelming. You know Dawn getting married, all the relatives I don’t even remember having…”

“Spike showing up after eight years,” Willow supplied.

Okay, she hadn’t expected him to pop up in the conversation quite so abruptly. “Well, I was a little surprised that he showed up.”

“You know, he’d do anything Dawn asked him to, but that’s not what’s really bothering you, is it?” she dug a little deeper.

“I’m not bothered by the fact he’s here,” she insisted her voice a little too loud to make it sound believable.

“Really?” her friend eyed her suspiciously. “Then why haven’t you even said hello to him?”

“I just haven’t had the chance,” she replied. “Besides, he hasn’t bothered to try to say hello to me.”

“You can talk to him first, Buffy,” Will suggested. “He doesn’t bite. Well, not anymore he doesn’t. Well maybe he does bite other demons…”

“Okay, Will, I get the idea,” Buffy laughed cutting her off before she could go off on this latest tangent. “I’ll be all congenial next time I see him, promise, but right now, I think I’m going to go outside and get some air before I have to deal with the relatives. Dawn’s much better at this than I am.”

Buffy headed for the door before Will could say another word. She hated leaving her best friend just standing there like that, but she really wasn’t up to a long discussion about Spike, considering she’d just spend the last few hours thinking about the vampire! Once outside and feeling the cool night air touch her skin, she sighed in relief. It was just what she needed, not to be surrounded by people or worrying about Spike sneaking up on her!

“Rough night, Slayer?” the sound of an English accent just behind her startled her. Quickly, she spun around to find Spike leaning against the wall, a half smoked cigarette dangling from his fingers. He was standing extremely close to the door Buffy had just exited. It was a rather good thing she wasn’t going to patrol that night with as observant as she was being she’d be dead before she got a block!

“Yeah, you could say that,” Buffy answered trying desperately not to sound as nervous as she felt. “It’s not every day your little sister gets married.”

“Well, you hope not. Kidding, Slayer,” he added when she glared at him. He may have changed in the looks department, but he was the same old sarcastic vampire who loved to get under her skin. “Seriously, never thought I’d be attending Niblet’s wedding. Even after we killed Glory. Kind of hard to picture her all grown up.”

“They do that,” Buffy agreed taking a seat on a nearby bench. This was going a lot better than she had thought it would. “I know she’s really glad you could come.”

“Wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” Spike tossed what was left of his cigarette to the ground, and joined her on the bench. She felt a little uncomfortable with him being so close, but she didn’t make a move to put more distance between them. “She means the world to me.”

“Well, I know she’s glad you came,” she said softly as his blue eyes caught her own. “She really missed you.”

“Is she the only one,” Spike said after a moment’s silence, “that missed me?”

“I…I,” Buffy sputtered. His gaze seemed to wipe every intelligent thought from her mind. “We all did.”

“All, of you?” Spike pushed.

Buffy shifted nervously. She couldn’t think of a single thing to say. This was exactly what she had been afraid of! There hadn’t been a day since he had left that she hadn’t thought of him, but she couldn’t tell him that. He was only there for the wedding. She wasn’t going to tell him about her feelings only to watch him leave her like all the rest.

“How long will you be staying?” she asked when she finally found her voice.

Spike blinked a moment as he realized what she had said and smiled sadly. “I don’t know, maybe a few days. Thought I might check out a few of the old haunts.”

“Where will you be staying?” she asked happy that the course of the conversation had changed.

“Well, I guess my old crypt ought to still be open,” Spike commented as he reached into his jacket for another cigarette, “just wipe off the dust a bit, and it will be good as new.”

“You could always stay with me,” she suggested, not realizing what she had said until the words were already out of her mouth. What was she thinking? She had spent the entire evening trying to avoid him, and now she was asking him to stay with her.

“What?” Spike asked his voice filled with disbelief.

“Well,” she explained quickly, “with Dawn leaving, I’ll have that entire house to myself. It would be nice to have the company. Besides, it’s better than sleeping in a dusty old crypt, isn’t it?”

Spike’s smile grew as he placed the cigarette to his lips. “That it is,” he agreed.





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