Bells Are Ringing
 Parts 1&2


Written by: Pattyanne
 Author's Website





Summary: A spuffy-friendly rewrite of 'Hell's Bells'
Disclaimer: The show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel (The Series) and all of it's characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, & Fox Prod.
Feedback: snapkik@yahoo.com





Part: One



The dress was not only ugly, but it was itchy as well.

Buffy sighed, staring at her reflection in the mirror. "You know...I used to like wearing green. I really did."

Glancing at her sister, Dawn tried to smile. 'It was a good color for you, too. Really looked good with your eyes."

Buffy nodded. That was a true statement. Light green tints matched the color of her eyes, and darker greens deepened them to almost emerald. She'd never really found a shade she hadn't liked.

But this...monstrosity...that she'd been forced into wearing was definitely going to spoil that record.

How in the world she'd allowed herself to get shanghaied into this situation, she still didn't know. All she could figure was that she'd been so preoccupied by the wreck of her love life she hadn't even noticed the hideous gown she'd been fitted for.

Now, of course, it was too late. Swallowing the lump of dislike forming in her throat, she pinched some color into her cheeks and turned to look at Dawn. "How's the crowd doing out there?"

"So far, so good," the girl shrugged. "None of the guests are eating each other....yet."

"Xander's father?"

"Sober and grouchy."

"His mother?"

"The same."

Making a face, Buffy tucked a stray tendril of hair back into her chignon. "Are Willow and Tara speaking to each other."

"Actually, it's looking pretty good," Dawn said, moving to walk past Buffy and out the door. "And you should see the girl Spike showed up with."

Buffy's hand shot out and snagged Dawn's arm before the girl could cross the threshold. "Pardon me?"

"Hey!" her sister yelped, trying to break free. "Take it easy. That's flesh under there."

The slayer was too busy trying to process Dawn's previous comment to pay much attention to her latter one. "What... what did you say....about Spike?" Why did her throat feel like it wanted to close up and strangle her? "He...he brought..."

Dawn finally yanked free, rubbing her arm. "He brought a total skank. A manic-panicked freak that he's totally macking with right in the middle of the room."

Still having a difficult time with such a concept, Buffy swallowed hard. "Spike brought a date?"

Somewhere deep inside of her, she wanted badly for Dawn to laugh, to say , "Ha...gotcha!", to deny the whole thing.

But all the girl did was snicker. "Yeah...wait till you see her."

There weren't a lot of things that Buffy was certain of in her life. Would she live to fight another day...would she be able to meet her obligations to her sister....was the phone bill going to turn her hair instantly gray? She didn't know the answer to any of these or a thousand other questions.

But this one, she knew....was certain of beyond all doubt; she didn't want to see the girl Spike had brought with him, the girl he was apparently replacing her with.

Which was, of course, her own doing. She was the one who'd given him the shove two weeks ago. At this point in time, it was hard to remember why, although she had some dim recollection of Riley and his brand new bride blowing through town just long enough to stir up her own convoluted emotions.

"Look," Dawn said, tugging the door open, "I have to get back out there and help seat people. Are you okay? Buffy?"

Shaking off the cobwebs, Buffy smiled a little too brightly. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

Her sister just shrugged and waggled her fingers. "See you out there."

"Yeah...I'll be right there."



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Ten minutes later, Buffy opened the door and peeked outside. Who she thought she was hiding from was any- one's guess, and it wouldn't do her any good anyway...in a few minutes she was going to be center stage, horrible dress and all.

Staying close to the wall, she made her way down the corridor, then stopped dead in her tracks. Spike stood leaning against the opposite wall, right outside the ladies room. There was a girl talking to him, the 'date' Buffy presumed.

**Eww....what's THAT attraction?**

She was thin and lanky, with jet black hair, obviously dyed. The number of body piercings gave her the appearance of a colander....and was that a tattoo of a snake wrapped around her skinny arm?

The girl disappeared into the ladies room, and Buffy took a deep breath and began walking down the corridor again, deliberately 'not noticing' Spike.

'Hello, Buffy." His voice was surprisingly soft, and a little uncertain, something guaranteed to catch her attention.

"Hi,' was all she could get out. Looking at him was bringing back all those carefully set aside feelings that she'd had for him, the ones she'd denied for so long.

Spike smiled slightly. "It's a happy occasion."

She was about to open her mouth and agree with him when he cut her off.

"You meet my friend?" he asked.

Buffy returned his smile with one of her own. "No. But she looks like a...very nice attempt at making me jealous." Not precisely what she wanted to say about the girl, but it would do for now.

"Is it working?"

Oh, boy....was it ever! It was working in spades, she was dismayed to realize.

"A little," was all she would allow. "Not that it changes anything."

"Didn't expect it would." Spike shrugged. "Interesting frock you're wearing. Looks radioactive."

Her thoughts exactly, and she had to grin. "Yeah, I should have been paying better attention when Anya was ordering these...things."

His own smile widened, became genuine. It was a look she hadn't seen very often. "Well," he said, "if anyone could pull off a fashion risk like that, it would be you, love."

If he didn't stop looking at her that way, she was going to melt all over the floor. "Thanks," she replied, her voice barely trembling at all.

But Spike, who had an uncanny knack for picking up the tiniest nuance of ANYTHING different about her, caught it without even trying hard. "You all right, pet?"

No. No, she really wasn't. And she wasn't even sure why.

"I'm fine." Oh, no....her eyes were watering, she could feel it! Blinking hard, she smiled brightly. "Just...just fine."

He gave her that skeptical "don't bullshit ME, Summers" look of his. "Having a bit of trouble believing you, Slayer," he said softly, his head tilting to one side.

She swallowed another large lump in her throat. "Why?"

"Because for one thing, you look like you're about to start crying."

He was being too kind, and she couldn't bear it. "Well...it's a wedding...you know...and..." Her voice cracked. "...I'm happy."

"Buffy..."

"No, really! I am," she insisted. "Very....very happy."

"Yeah, I can see that." He sighed and took her arm. "Come with me."

"What? No, I can't! Where?" Why were her feet moving?

"Just come with me."

She didn't want to go anywhere with him!

So why were her feet STILL moving?





Part: Two



Not for the first time since his path had crossed with the slayer's, Spike found himself swimming in a sea of uncertainty.

With a firm grip on her upper arm, he hauled her along the corridor, wondering where the hell he was going to take her.

The fact that she was coming along so willingly shocked him more than a little bit. He'd fully expected her to start digging in her heels and making an attempt to remove his head from his shoulders with her bare hands.

But, instead, she was trotting along like a little lamb following trustingly after a hungry wolf wearing a sheep suit....a visual that was reinforced in his mind when he glanced at her and saw her big green eyes all wide and tear filled.

And what was that unfamiliar emotion he had to fuck around with now? It wasn't guilt for taking advantage of her obviously upset mind and body, now was it?

Oh, no, no, no...no way at all was this guilt! He was a vampire and the last thing vampires EVER felt was guilt for anything. No, this was nothing more than an opportunity to try and make the stupid little cow see the plain fucking truth when it smacked her across her sanctimonious face.

He came to a door marked "office", hesitated for less than an instant, then opened the door and pulled Buffy inside. Slamming it shut, he turned around and placed both hands on her shoulders and pushed her against the closed door.

"Now," he said quietly, "tell me what's really going on in that head of yours, Buffy?"



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



How could she possibly even begin to tell him what he wanted to know with him pressing against her the way he was doing? Who could think at a time like this?

Who even WANTED to think at a time like this?

"I...I don't know," she answered honestly. "I...I just..."

"Want me to take guess, love?"

"No!"

"You sure?"

She sighed. "No."

Spike shook his head. The Queen of Mixed Messages was at it again!

There was only one way to deal with the slayer when she was like this. He grinned at her, a little smugly. "You miss me."

"I do.....NOT!" Her conviction was sketchy at best.

His smile only widened. "You miss me...as much as I miss you."

She raised her head instantly, chin jerking up in that "kiss my ass!" manner that he loved about her, the first thing he'd EVER loved about her.

"You don't miss me!" she announced haughtily. "You already have a new girl....."

Spike leaned his weight against her. "A new what?"

"Nothing," she said, pushing against him with her hands in the most unconvincing display of rejection he'd seen yet.

"Nothing?" he repeated after her, grabbing her wrists and pinning them to the door. "Now why don't I believe that?"

"How should I know? Leave me alone."

"Don't believe that, either."

"Quit it, Spike....I mean it..."

"You were about to say....that I already had a new girlfriend...which implies that I had an ex-girlfriend, and don't bring up Drusilla's name because that's NOT who we're referring to here."

Buffy finally settled down, her breathing erratic. She was getting a bit tired of all this struggle. Everything she'd been so sure of a couple of weeks ago when she'd last seen him was slipping through her metaphorical grasp, disappearing in a cloud of sensation and memory. She couldn't think clearly at all.

Surely...that had to mean something.

"Come on, Buffy," he whispered, leaning even closer. "You can run as fast as you like...try and hide from it...but it's never going away, pet. And the second...the SECOND you stop running and turn around...I'll still be here."

Yes, she had no doubt at all about that. "Spike...."

Instead of saying "what?", he spun her around in his hands and pushed her up against the door again, molding his body along hers. His hands moved up and unzipped the first few inches of her gown. "This," he said in her ear, "is the ugliest fucking dress I've ever laid eyes on. I have a good mind to tear it right off of you."

Unable not to, she laughed. "Don't you dare. I have to wear this thing down the aisle in a few minutes."

The zipper slipped down another inch, making an excited shiver dance down her spine.

He kissed the back of her neck. "Still be prettier than the bride," he murmured against her skin. "Still want you."

As always, his touch was weakening her knees. "We can't...the wedding..."

"There's time." The zipper moved slowly down...down... down. "Come on, Slayer....kiss and make up."

Once again she was turned quickly around. Facing him, she took his face in her hands and yanked him down, plastering her mouth to his. His tongue took immediate advantage of her parted lips, darting inside and finding hers. Buffy closed her mouth around it, sucking it gently, an act that always drove him mad.

He pressed closer, aligning his body with hers, pushing his tongue more deeply into her mouth. His hands skimmed down over her hips, clutching the ugly green satin and inching it up slowly. Once he had it up around her thighs, one hand dove into the front of her panties, wedging itself between her legs.

Buffy held her breath and waited, but he just held her there, cupping her firmly. It was pleasurable, but she wanted more.

"Spike?"

"Hmmmm?"

"Use...use your fingers....do what I like."

He chuckled, knowing precisely what she liked. One finger slipped in, just one, and she was nearly ready to come all over his hand. Her internal muscles clamped down tightly and she arched her hips.

He eased back, watching her face. "That's my girl."

Buffy released her breath and whined a little, wriggling her hips. His invading finger slid out, then back in again, over and over.

"That feel good, baby?"

She nodded, biting her lower lip.

"Want more?"

Another nod.

"Pull the top of your dress down, then," he ordered.

Blindly, she obeyed, yanking the fabric down her arms, leaving her in nothing but her white demi bra, the upper half of her dress gathered around her waist.

"Now the bra...open it up."

She did, immediately. Spike stared at her bare breasts, his eyes dark with lust. His finger moved a little faster, and he used his other hand to lightly touch her clitoris.

Pleasure washed through her, uncoiling in her belly and radiating through her thighs. She fumbled behind her and turned the lock.

"My baby wants to come?" he asked silkily, sliding his finger in deeper.

"Uh-huh." Buffy thrust her hips forward.

Spike chuckled. "She will, then." Withdrawing his teasing finger, he dropped to his knees. Before her shocked mind could even begin to process that action, he had her panties pulled to one side and his head between her legs.

She felt the wet stroke of his tongue and her head thumped back against the door as a soft keening gasp issued from her throat. Already highly stimulated from his busy fingers, her sex felt heavy and hot. There was nothing gentle about his touch. He went at her like a starving man, eating her, licking and sucking and probing her inner depths until the entire lower half of her body was spasming in orgasm.

Shivering and shaking, her belly heaving and her back arching, Buffy had to clap one hand over her mouth so as not to scream.

He became calmer then, licking her gently and bringing her back to earth before climbing to his feet again. "Ready for more?" he asked.

Before she could say anything, there was a light knock on the door.

"Buffy? Are...are you in there?" Willow's voice was soft but urgent. "Buffy? Have you seen Xander?"



TBC...




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