“Buffy!” With a big smile on her face, Dawn ran up the stairs after her sister, Willow only a few steps behind. The men in the room, for some unknown reason, were a little slower off the mark, and then found themselves all tangled in a bottleneck at the bottom of the stairs. By the time they sorted things out and made it to the top of the stairs, there was no sign of any of the girls and they were left facing a locked bedroom door.
Giles, having avoided the mad rush up to Buffy’s room, followed the younger men at a more sedate pace. Assessing the situation when he reached the upper landing, he herded Buffy’s suitors back down the stairs to wait for her in the living room once more.
Dawn and Willow had been fast enough that they made it into Buffy’s room before the door was closed. They stood now, like bookends on either side of the door, watching the blonde Slayer methodically go from closet to bed, packing her suitcase. She made a slight detour with an armful of shoes, and darted between the young women to lock her bedroom door, before continuing on her way to the bag on the bed.
“What’s going on, Buffy?” Willow reached out a hand, trying to get Buffy to stop for a moment.
“Are you leaving me?” Dawn sounded like a frightened little girl, unsure of where her sister was going and who would look after her.
Sighing, Buffy placed a pair of pants in her suitcase and turned around. “No, I’m not leaving you...at least, not permanently. I’m going away to get married. We’ll be back after our honeymoon. While we’re gone, you need to decide whether you want to continue to live here with us when we return.”
“Um, Buffy...Which one of them are you going to marry?” Willow held her breath while she waited for her friend to answer. She didn’t know why it mattered so much to her, but it did.
“Does it matter?” There was no mistaking the steely voice of the Slayer in Buffy’s response.
“Don’t pick Angel, okay? He always treats me like I’m five years old.” Walking to the bed, Dawn started folding the clothes Buffy had removed from her closet.
Willow was quick to respond to the teen’s request. “If she picks Angel, he’ll lose his soul as soon as they marry. When vampires mate, it’s a lot more than just a piece of paper. Hey...maybe you could just marry him the human way? Not in a church, of course, and...um...not...well, don’t do that thing...that...um...you know...” Willow’s cheeks were almost as red as her hair by that point. “The thing that made him lose his soul last time. Just don’t do that, at least until I find a way to anchor his soul.”
“A human, a souled demon, or a demon without a soul.” Buffy shook her head as she dropped her cosmetics bag into the case on the bed and closed it up. “What does it matter to you, anyway?” The Slayer picked up her suitcase with ease. “The only way it’s going to affect you, is if you refuse to live here with him.” With her hand on the doorknob, the Slayer turned around for one last piece of advice. “If it’s going to be a problem for you, I expect you to be ready to move out when we get back.”
“Hey...you can’t kick her out! It’s my house too.” Dawn crossed her arms over her chest and stormed over to where Buffy was standing.
“It may be your house too, but you’re still a child, Dawn. You can’t stay here alone. You’ve got no way to pay the bills, and Social Services will demand that you have an adult caregiver.” Buffy wanted to soften her stance, but she was tired of being pushed around by everyone, including her kid sister.
“The social worker approved our home and left, remember?” Dawn crowed in triumph.
“Yeah, but she’ll be back soon enough. What will you do then? Go live in a foster home with strangers? Try to talk Dad into letting you stay at whatever love nest he’s stashed his bimbo-of-the-week in?”
Dawn opened her mouth a few times, searching for a witty retort, but finally ended up staring at the ground without saying anything. Suddenly, she felt strong arms encircle her. “I’ll be back, Dawnie. Until then, Willow and Giles are going to take care of everything.” Leaning in closer, Buffy whispered for her sister’s ears only, “Don’t worry...I promise you’ll like him.” When Dawn looked up, Buffy sent her a wink and a smile, gave her one last quick hug, and then released her sister, picked up her suitcase, and opened her door.
A little surprised to find the hallway empty, Buffy, followed closely by Willow and Dawn, made her way down the stairs. She stopped at the bottom, and looked over at the group of people staring at her from the living room.
“Ah, Buffy. It’s very fortunate that you’ve chosen to join us now. Perhaps your presence will be enough to decrease the testosterone poisoning in the room and prevent an all-out battle.” Giles cleared his throat and turned to look at Angel and Riley, who were currently standing toe to toe and breathing heavily. “Will you tell us please, who is it that you’ve decided to marry? I believe that once your choice is general knowledge, the risk to life and limb...and your furniture and knick-knacks, will greatly diminish.”
Buffy took a few steps into the living room. With a quick glance at the men in the room, including a distastefully smirking Xander on the couch, she turned back to her Watcher. “You know, Giles, it would probably be easier to just throw them all out.” At that, the two larger contenders for her hand separated, each looking at her in disbelief.
“But, Buffy...How can we get married if I’m not here?’ Stepping forward, Angel reached out to take Buffy’s arm.
A quick step to the right, and she avoided contact with the broody vampire. “Are you really that full of yourself?”
“What?” Angel asked, his brows pulling together and forming a solid uni-brow on his face.
“Do you honestly think, for even one minute, that I’d marry you? Take it from me...NOT going to happen, Angel.”
“But...You love me! I know you do!” Again, Angel tried to grab Buffy’s arm, sure that if he could just get her in his embrace, she’d remember how much she cared for him.
Buffy quickly raised her hand in the universal symbol for ‘STOP’, and Angel had no choice but to drop his arm.
“I did love you...once upon a time.” The Chosen One hesitated for a moment before continuing. “When I came back from Heaven, I returned complete...including the memory of a day we shared in LA. A memory that you had the Powers take from me, without my consent.” Buffy’s green eyes were locked with Angel’s brown ones. “That made me see you in a different light, Angel. Made me realize that in your eyes I would always be a child, and our love would always come second to whatever you felt was important...and that’s not how I want to be loved. Even more importantly, that’s not how I DESERVE to be loved. I need a man who will put me first, but understands that we’re a team and we make decisions together.”
“Why didn’t you say anything when you came back?”
“To be honest, I didn’t see any point. You were busy with your life in LA, and I had enough problems of my own after the resurrection. I didn’t want to waste time rehashing a relationship that I knew was dead.”
Angel turned his head when he heard whispering behind him, and saw Riley and Xander exchange smug smiles. Looking at the soldier, he snarled, “What are you grinning about? You left her too, remember?”
Riley’s smile faded as he looked past Angel and locked eyes with Buffy. A Buffy with not an ounce of romantic feeling for him, if he judged what he was seeing correctly. “Buffy?”
“No Riley. Not a chance. Did you really think I’d ignore the fact that you cheated on me? They say that past is prologue...and if that’s true, I’d marry you just to watch you sneak around behind my back again. So very much NOT what I’m looking for in a relationship. Besides...aren’t you already married? I seem to recall you dropping by a few months ago, just to rub my face in that fact.”
Embarrassed, Riley looked away and seemed to physically shrink a bit. He knew when he was beaten.
While Buffy was cutting Riley down to size, Angel had made the most of her distraction and had quietly withdrawn himself from the Slayer’s immediate vicinity. He wished he could sneak right out of the house, but the sun was up and he didn’t think he’d make it to the nearest sewer entrance before he became a crispy critter. For now, he’d settle for sitting at the bottom of the stairs. He’d still be able to see and hear everything that happened in the living room, but he thought he’d be out of firing range, just on the off-chance that Buffy wasn’t done with him yet.
Giles cleared his throat and stepped between Buffy and the front door. “I cannot disagree with your reasons for shying away from a union with either of those suitors, Buffy, but I’m afraid the fate of the world is at stake. Your pride cannot be allowed to stand in the way of your duty. The First Evil must be stopped, and it is you who must stop it.”
“I gotta say, Buffster, you know I’m always on your side, but I’m with the G-man on this one.” Xander joined Giles, another barrier between Buffy and the door. “I get why you don’t want to marry either of those guys, but you’ve got to marry someone.” Looking at his feet, Xander lowered his voice. “You and me...we’re friends, right Buffy? So, as your friend, I’m offering to help you out...take one for the team, ya know? Anything to help you stop the enemy.” He looked up with a goofy smile on his face, and the same hopeful look he’d worn when he’d asked her to the school dance so long ago.
Buffy sighed. Apparently Xander wasn’t as over the feelings he’d once proclaimed for her as she’d hoped. She’d really thought that he’d finally given up and moved on when he’d proposed to Anya. The thought of marrying her friend was actually repugnant to her, but she didn’t want to embarrass him in front of everyone else. Finally, she settled for pulling him into a friendly hug, and whispering, “I can’t marry my brother, Xander. I love you, but not that way.”
After she released Xander, she sent him a soft smile and then turned her attention back to Giles. “I’m not running away, and I’ve never refused to do my duty. In fact, I was on my way to join my future husband when you decided to block the door. He’s waiting out front in the car...so, if you’ll excuse me...” Turning around, she picked up her bags, hugged Dawn with her free arm, and promised to call soon.
Buffy’s last statement took a moment to sink in, but when it did, it made everyone in the room stand up and start asking variations of the same question: Who was Buffy going to marry?
Ignoring the loud outburst, Buffy quickly moved to the front door and exited the house. Behind her, the rest of the people from the living room poured out the door like ants from an ant hill. Everyone wanted a chance to see Buffy’s intended.
Angel stopped in the doorway, just out of reach of the afternoon sun. Mouth hanging open, he had to hold on to the doorframe to stay upright as he watched Buffy put her bags into the trunk of an old black DeSoto...a car remarkably similar to one owned by his irreverent, irritating, and intractable Grandechilde.
Few of the spectators realized the significance of the shiny black automobile, but those that did reacted much like Angel. Giles was the worst...his eyes rolling up in his head as he collapsed in a dead faint on the front lawn. Riley, hard-wired to be a hero, tried to catch the falling Watcher, but instead ended up on the lawn beneath him. Eventually making his way back to his feet, Riley went to stand beside Xander, and together they watched the Slayer climb into the classic car.
“What the heck? The guy couldn’t even be bothered to get out of the car and help her with her suitcase. This is the guy she’s marrying, and he can’t even take a minute to introduce himself to her sister?” Riley was outraged.
“He doesn’t have to.” Xander’s expression was blank, his eyes following the black car until it was lost around a corner.
“Huh? Do you know who it is?”
“Yeah...and you know him too.” Xander still hadn’t recovered from the shock.
“For crying out loud...would you just tell me what’s going on? Angel looks like he’s been shot, Giles is out cold on the front lawn, and you’ve turned into a zombie. We didn’t even get a look at the guy, but it’s obvious you guys know something I don’t.” Riley caught a glimpse of Dawn out of the corner of his eye, and she was jumping up and down with a huge smile on her face.
It was easy to hear the pity and disbelief in Xander’s voice when he turned back to Riley and said, “There’s only one guy in town that drives a ’48 Chrysler DeSoto, and that’s Spike. Buffy’s going to marry Spike.”
At that, Riley’s legs gave out, and he quickly sank to his knees on the walkway.
The end.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
I wanted to say thank you, for all the lovely reviews, and sorry that I haven't answered a single one, but my excuse is that I've been working on a new story. So look out for it. :-)
Betaed by Flight Of Fancy.
Betaed by Flight Of Fancy.