******

Part Three

For a second upon waking up, Angel was confused.  There was an alarm clock going off nearby, and it wasn’t his.  Half awake, he vaguely recognized that this wasn’t his bed, either.  Oddest of all, he wasn’t alone.

“Mmph.  Five more minutes,” Buffy mumbled, then flailed for the alarm clock.  Her hand connected with Angel’s chest instead.  Now awake, she blinked at him in surprise.  “Hey,” she said with a grin.

Angel smiled back, then rolled away from her momentarily to turn off the alarm.  “Good morning, morning glory,” he whispered, wrapping his arms around her once again.

Buffy chuckled against his chest.  “That’s a new one,” she laughed.

“It felt appropriate.”

Buffy shifted slightly so she could meet Angel’s gaze.  She was smiling contentedly.  “I missed this.  Waking up with you.”

Angel thought back to the last time she had woken up in his arms.  It had been right before he’d announced he was leaving Sunnydale.  “I’ve missed it, too,” he agreed.

They were both silent for a long moment, content in each other’s company.  Angel realized after several minutes that Buffy was on the verge of falling asleep again and shifted her slightly.  “Buffy,” he said gently, “don’t you have class?”

“Can’t I just stay here?” Buffy pleaded.  “Right here?”

Angel chuckled slightly.  “I thought you wanted to look for an apartment today?” he reminded her.

Buffy jumped out of her bed as quickly as she could with her leg in a cast.  “I’m up, I’m up!” she declared.

“Shh,” Angel whispered, sitting up in the bed.  “Willow’s asleep.”  He gestured at the other bed in the room, where Buffy’s roommate was hunkered under her blankets.  She had apparently returned to the room at some point after Buffy and Angel had fallen asleep.

“No, I’m not,” came the muffled voice from under the covers.  Willow rolled over and poked her head out.  “Morning,” she muttered.

“Sorry,” Buffy said quickly.  “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“S’okay,” Willow replied sleepily.  “I have things I need to do today anyway.”

Buffy smiled a bit sheepishly.  “I’m…gonna go get ready for class,” she muttered, then hobbled out of the room.

Once she was gone, Willow crawled a little further out of the blankets and smiled slightly at Angel.  “Did I hear that you’re going to look for apartments today?” she asked.

“Yes,” Angel affirmed.  “I don’t want to overstay my welcome in your dorm room.”

“You’re always welcome,” Willow said hastily.

Angel smiled.  “Thanks.  Buffy and I need our own place, though.”  He heard his own words a second later and sat up straighter in surprise.  “Did I just say that?”

“Say what?”

“’Our own place.’”

Willow smiled back at him.  “Yeah, you did.”

Angel leaned back contentedly.  Our own place.  He liked the sound of that. 

******

“See, that wasn’t so bad,” Angel said easily.

Buffy scowled at him.  “I have never been so embarrassed in my life,” she muttered.

“I’m sorry,” Angel said sincerely.

“No!” Buffy said quickly.  “It’s not your fault.  She was staring at you, that’s all. I mean, it’s sort of a compliment when other girls stare at you and get jealous because you’re mine…but she’s my teacher! That’s just wrong!”

Angel said nothing for a long moment.  He simply carried Buffy’s books as they walked towards his car.  It was, somewhat to Buffy’s surprise, a comfortable silence.  She hadn’t realized how much she missed these sorts of moments with Angel.  She smiled at him to show that everything was okay, and he smiled easily back.

“Will finding an apartment make your day better?” he suggested.

“Oh, definitely!” Buffy replied enthusiastically. 

******

Buffy’s enthusiasm had waned by mid afternoon.  Sitting on the steps in front of apartment complex number who-knows-what, she looked wearily at the piece of paper where they’d been writing down what they’d seen.  Who would have thought it would be this hard to find an apartment?  In a town with such a high mortality rate, there was an amazing lack of available real estate.

“What do we have left?” Angel asked, sounding just as tired.  He leaned against the side of the building in partial shade, wearing dark sunglasses.  The bright sunny day was obviously rather uncomfortable for the half vampire.

Buffy looked closer to the paper she held.  “Well,” she said slowly, “two of the leasing offices were closed for ‘meetings.’  Who in the world holds meetings on Wednesdays?” Her voice was thick with frustration.  “That leaves…one more expensive place close to campus, and another that’s farther away.”  She paused.  “I’d like to see the one right near campus, actually.”

Angel nodded and pushed away from the wall.  “Alright,” he said easily.  “Let’s hope we have better luck with this one.”

Back in the car, Buffy began directing Angel to the next possible place.  “Angel?” she said after a few moments.  “What are we going to do if we don’t find an apartment in one of these places?”

Angel glanced over at her for a second.  “Weren’t there a couple of places that had apartments that were going to be available eventually?”

“The earliest they’re available is at the end of July,” Buffy said grumpily.  “Baring unforeseen deaths, of course.” She paused. “Turn left at this light.”

Angel followed her directions.  “We probably won’t manage to get everything - the wedding, the business - arranged until the semester is over,” he pointed out.  “You could stay in L.A. with me until we can move into an apartment together,” he offered a bit hesitantly.

Buffy’s mood changed once again.  “You mean that?” she asked with a grin.

“Of course.  But with any luck it won’t be necessary.”  Angel turned once again, pulling the car into the parking lot.

They said little else as they exited the car and walked side by side into the leasing office.  A young woman stood up from behind a desk at their entrance.

“Can I help you?” she asked politely.

“Yes,” Angel said, beginning to recite the words that they had gotten very used to saying by now.  “We’re looking for an apartment,” he began, and continued to rattle off the specifics.

The woman smiled at them once he was done.  “You’re very lucky,” she said.  “Someone just canceled yesterday…”

Both Buffy and Angel couldn’t help but smile back. 

******
Spike was not happy.  Confined by the daylight, he could do nothing but pace the crypt repeatedly.  It was surprising that he hadn’t worn a spot in the floor with this constant pacing.

Sitting tiredly in one of the chairs, Layla had been watching him do this ever since they had returned to the crypt shortly before sunrise.  She’d finally had enough of this.  “Please sit,” she said wearily.  “You’re making me dizzy.”

Spike didn’t sit, but he did stop pacing for the moment.  He returned Layla’s weary expression as he looked at her.  She was an exotic looking vampire, her dark hair, tan skin, and facial features revealing a different original nationality than her slight British accent would suggest.  Spike wasn’t sure exactly where she’d come from before he’d met her.  He could guess; her name was Egyptian for ‘born at night,’ most appropriate for a vampire.  “Sorry,” he said briefly, still frowning.

Layla lost her annoyed expression and looked a bit concerned.  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“What do you think?” Spike replied angrily.

Layla frowned at him.  “I don’t know.  There are so many possibilities,” she replied sarcastically.

“He’s my sire.  My bloody, walking in sunlight, has a heartbeat, human sire,” Spike said in disgust.  He’d never admit it, but he didn’t always mind so much that Angel had a soul.  It kept him out of Spike’s way and made it so much fun to give him a hard time.  But now he didn’t even have that small consolation - Angel was just another human Spike couldn’t kill.  “Human,” he muttered once again.

“Oh, is that all?” Layla asked.  “And here I thought you were upset that the Slayer is sort of going to be your mother-in-law.”

“What?!” Spike said in shock.

Layla leaned back in her chair.  “You need to be more observant,” she scolded.  “The girl was wearing an engagement ring.”

Spike finally took the remaining chair.  “Priceless,” he muttered.  “Just kill me now.”

“What exactly is your problem?” Layla asked.  “I mean, not that the idea isn’t revolting…”

Spike sighed.  “If there’s one thing I love about this town,” he explained, “it’s the possibility of chaos.  The Slayer and her friends are fun to tie into knots.  But throw Angel into the mix,” he said his name derisively, “this town is going to be a whole lot less fun.  Especially since I can’t even hurt him any more.”

The vampires were silent for a long moment.  “Since when do you have to be torturing people to have fun?” Layla asked finally.  “Not that it isn’t fun, but…there are more subtle ways of causing chaos that you’re perfectly capable of.”

Spike brightened considerably at that.  “You’re right.  I can.”  He leaned forward eagerly.  “And something tells me you have an idea.”

Layla smiled.  “I do.  And it’s perfect.” 

******Two days in Sunnydale, two days in L.A. seemed to be the pattern Angel was working on.  After spending two days in Sunnydale finding an apartment and continuing his and Buffy’s wedding plans, Angel was back in L.A. trying to take care of whatever he could.  The apartment was available for occupancy in one week and the wedding date still stood at ‘as soon as possible,’ so Angel had some big things to do - namely, packing.

As Angel stared at the contents of his apartment, he was interrupted by footsteps on the stairs. Turning, he was greeted by Cordelia’s impatient gaze. “Well?” she asked.

“Well what?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “What did she think of the ring?” she asked in exasperation.

Angel smiled. “I’m still engaged, if that tells you anything.”

“Angel!” Cordelia said, annoyed with him now. “I spent all that time helping you pick out that ring and you’re not even going to tell me Buffy’s reactions?”

“She was surprised,” Angel began, thinking of that wonderful moment they had spent together on the beach watching the sunset. There really wasn’t much more that Angel had the words to say.  “Why are you down here, Cordelia?”

To her credit, Cordelia dropped the subject of the engagement ring. “David Nabbit’s upstairs,” she said briefly.

Angel stopped his packing and looked at her in surprise. “What’s he want?”

Cordelia shrugged. “I don’t know. I think it makes him feel special to hang around here.”

“I’ll be upstairs in a minute,” Angel replied. He listened to Cordelia go back up the stairs, then stood up straighter and looked around his apartment. There was so much here he had to consider taking with him. It was going to be hard to leave this place. But it would be even harder to not be with Buffy after the events of last weekend.

The boxes could wait for a moment. Angel smiled to himself and followed Cordelia up the stairs.

The office was bright and cheerful - almost painfully bright. It took Angel a moment for his eyes to adjust after the darkness of the apartment below. David Nabbit sat in one of the chairs, and stood quickly at Angel’s arrival. “Hey,” he said by way of greeting.

Angel nodded at him with a small smile.

“So,” David asked with barely concealed enthusiasm, “did I interrupt some demon hunting?”

“Nope, something much scarier,” Cordelia teased.

David looked at her, then back at Angel expectantly.

“Packing,” Angel explained.

David frowned. “You’re moving?” he asked, clearly disappointed.

Angel nodded briefly.

“Where are you going?”

“Sunnydale,” Angel said. “It’s where I lived before I moved here.”

“Oh,” David said briefly, and seemed to be at a loss for anything else to say.

There was a moment of silence before Cordelia decided to explain for Angel. “He’s getting married,” she declared.

“Oh!” David said again, but this time he was smiling slightly. “Well, then…”

“Yeah,” Angel acknowledged, and smiled slightly as well. “You’re invited of course. Once we set the ate for sure.”

“Really?”

“Of course.” 

******Buffy sat in the hospital, waiting for the doctor to see her. She sat with her cast propped up on another chair, her mother sitting next to her. She knew her leg was well healed by now. It was going to be horrible getting the stitches out -what she was actually here for. But with any luck the doctor would realize the bone was healed as well, and then it was back on the job for this Slayer.

“Ms. Summers?” and official sounding voice came from nearby.

Buffy did not stand, but raised her hand to gain the attention of the inquiring young doctor. He nodded and walked over to her. “Good afternoon, Ms. Summers. If you’ll just come with me, I’ll take a look at your leg.”

“Thank you,” Buffy said in sincere relief. She climbed to her feet and her mom helped her get her crutches situated.

In a smaller examining room, Buffy hopped up on the bed so the doctor could take a good look at her leg.  As he unfastened the soft cast, he smiled at her and spoke. “So, you’re the young woman who caused such a stir last weekend, getting engaged in the ambulance.”

Joyce looked surprised, not having heard that part of the story, but Buffy just laughed. “Yeah, that would be me,” she agreed. She fought to keep her leg still once the cast was removed. “How does it look?” she asked.

The doctor touched her leg gently. “Does this hurt?” he asked.

Buffy shook her head. At the doctor’s surprised look she explained, “I heal fast.”

“Yes, well…I’ll have to take some x-rays, but it looks like you may be able to keep the cast off today.” He smiled at her. “I’ll be right back.”

Once he left, Buffy grinned at her mother. “See? All better.”

Joyce frowned at her. “Buffy, maybe you should take it easy for a couple of days,” she suggested.

Buffy shook her head firmly. “Angel’s coming to town tonight, and we have a wedding to plan,” she said. She grinned at her mother. “Now is when the fun begins.”

******

Part Four

“My place!” Buffy declared happily, practically dancing.

Angel chuckled from his seat on the floor, leaning back on his hands. They had just gotten possession of the apartment today and were gathered with Buffy’s friends to celebrate that. The group of them were sitting around on the floor of the living room with soda, pizza, and a pile of bridal magazines Willow and Buffy had bought. The entire place was devoid of furniture or any of their belongings, except for the glowing spell crystal sitting on the kitchen counter.

“Our place,” Angel corrected her with a small smile.

“Ooh, our place!” Buffy agreed, grinning from ear to ear. She pranced around her group of friends sitting on the floor before plopping herself down next to Angel. She leaned over him and reached for the pizza box. “Mmm, cheese.”

Willow was lying down on her stomach, flipping through one of the bridal magazines. “Oh, Buffy, this would look beautiful on you!”

Buffy grinned around a mouthful of pizza and leaned across the circle to look. Swallowing her food, she shook her head. “Too fancy,” she disagreed. “I can’t wear a dress with a train on the beach.”

“Well, how are you planning to wear heals on the beach? Aren’t you going to put out a carpet or something?” Willow asked.

“Hmm. I didn’t think of that.” Buffy looked at Angel questioningly. He shrugged. “Oh, you’re a big help.”

“You know anything you want, I’ll do,” he replied sincerely.

“Like I said, a big help,” Buffy retorted, smiling despite herself.

Xander stopped eating long enough to put in his two cents. “Weddings are really a girl thing anyway.”

Buffy sighed and grabbed one of the magazines from the pile as she continued to eat her pizza. “I had no idea it was going to be this complicated.”

“Maybe you should hire a wedding planner,” Anya suggested.

Buffy just looked at her. “And if I didn’t want to get married before the end of the semester I’d agree with you. As it is…I might as well ask my mother to plan the occasion. Then who knows when we’d actually get married.”

“Plus, you’d loose the whole small wedding thing,” Willow said. Buffy had already been telling her about the long argument she’d had with her mom about who to invite. She just didn’t seem to get that Buffy didn’t want to explain her entire life - and Angel’s - to random family members that she hadn’t seen since she was born. Buffy would much rather all the guests knew everything - the big secrets, as it were - in advance. The only exception was her father, and she was already wondering how she was going to go about introducing him and Angel.

She let out an exaggerated sigh at the thought and Angel wrapped a comforting arm around her.

“I don’t mean to bring in reality, you two,” Xander said, breaking the silence. “But aren’t you forgetting a majorly important aspect of a wedding?”

Buffy looked at him in confusion.

“Umm, a priest? You know, someone to perform the wedding ceremony? Because I know religious ceremonies and Not-so-dead Boy don’t get along all that well.”

“Plus, there are legal issues to consider,” Willow piped up.

Buffy bit her lip and looked up at Angel. He was looking back at her in concern, and obviously had no ideas either. Of all the stupid things to forget…

Tara hesitated, but spoke for the first time all evening. “Uh…I might have an idea…” 

******
“I’m not sure I understand what you’re asking,” Diana said slowly, looking back and forth between Tara and Buffy.

Buffy bit her lip and let Tara speak. She was so nervous!

“Jillian…uh, the head of the U.C. Sunnydale Wicca group…said that you can perform legally binding marriages,” Tara said hesitantly.

“Yes, I can,” she replied uncertainly. “But so can a priest, or a minister of the peace. Why do you want me?” She turned her attention to Buffy. “You’re not Wiccan, are you? Or your fiancé?”

Buffy glanced at Tara, then looked at the woman sitting across from her. “I’m not particularly religious,” she said.

“And your fiancé?” Diana pressed.

“He…has some issues with religion. Christianity in particular.” Still the woman didn’t look convinced. Buffy sighed. “Do you want the truth?” she asked.

Tara looked at her in surprise.

“I would appreciate it, yes,” Diana replied easily.

Buffy paused for a second, uncertain of how to begin. “How much do you know about this town? Its history?” she asked very slowly.

The woman raised her eyebrows at Buffy. “Do you mean the old Indian legends or the fact that the burned out high school sits on top of a portal to hell?”

That was definitely not the response Buffy was expecting. “Uh…the later.”

Diana smiled. “I’ve lived in Sunnydale all my life,” she said. “I know this isn’t a normal town.”  With that said she pulled aside the collar of her shirt to reveal a faded scar on her neck. A vampire bite.

Breaking the odd tension that admission created in the room, Buffy chuckled. “Oh look, we match!” she declared, moving her hair aside and reveling her own bite scar.

The woman’s knowing smile faded. “What does this have to do with you asking me to perform your wedding?”

Buffy was silent for a second, thinking about how she was going to say this. Well, straight out was always best. She somehow knew Diana would not repeat what she was told. “I’m a vampire slayer.”

The woman did not react as Buffy expected. In fact, she remained very calm. Maybe it was shock… “And your fiancé?”

“He helps me,” Buffy replied quickly. At the woman’s continued questioning look, Buffy braced herself for a reaction to her next statement. “He’s a vampire. Er, part vampire. He’s a good guy though!” she said quickly.

The woman said nothing for a long moment, just sat back in her chair. “So,” she said at last, “you want to have a relatively quiet wedding ceremony - to keep out of the eye of the local demon population and the local government - and you want it to be void of any Christian symbology for your fiancé’s sake,” she said slowly, putting the pieces together in her mind.

Buffy nodded, so nervous she couldn’t trust herself to speak.

“You know, this is the strangest request I have ever received,” Diana said after a moment.

“Will you help them?” Tara asked at last.

The woman smiled. “I wouldn’t miss this event for the world.” 

******They were close to having the last of the hurdles to their wedding removed. Still, Angel hadn’t been more nervous in the entire time since his heart had begun beating again. Not even when he faced Mrs. Summers - he at least knew a bit of what to expect from her. And that had worked out well, right?

Angel hadn’t even seen Hank Summers since he’d watched Buffy in L.A. years ago. He’d never actually met the man. He had never met the father of the girl he was going to marry.

Angel figured he had the right to be nervous.

He and Buffy were standing outside one of the nicer restaurants in L.A. He glanced at Buffy, and she looked up at him almost immediately. She squeezed his hand and gave him a nervous smile. Angel wanted to reassure her, but he didn’t know what was going to happen any more than she did. Any reassurances from him, as nervous as he was, would have fallen horribly flat.

They continued to walk into the restaurant hand in hand, only letting go when they reached the maitre de. “We have reservations…” Angel began to say when Buffy spotted her father in the depths of the restaurant. She flashed the maitre de a smile and then began weaving her way in between the tables, Angel following right behind her.

“Dad,” Buffy said pleasantly and gave him a brief hug.

“It’s good to see you, Buffy,” he said as they all took their seats. “It’s been a while.”

“Yes, it has,” Buffy replied a bit sharply.

Angel grasped her hand under the table, trying to will her some calm. She sighed, and then smiled at Angel. “Dad,” she said at last, “this is Angel, obviously. Angel, this is my dad.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Summers,” Angel said, trying to hide his nervousness.

“Same here,” Buffy’s father replied easily. He looked at Buffy. “You know, I was quite surprised when you called and said you were getting married.”

Buffy sighed. “You’re my father, I owed you that much. Even if I don’t want you walking me down the aisle.”

“Buffy…” her father protested, even though they’d obviously already discussed this over the phone.

“Listen,” Buffy said slowly, “I love you, because you’re my father. But quite honestly I didn’t even know if you’d be in the country for my wedding - or if you were, if you’d be able to make it. In the last couple of years Giles has been there for me in every way that a father is supposed to. He’s helped me through some very hard times that you couldn’t even begin to understand.

“I’m your father,” Mr. Summers protested. “Of course I’d understand.”

“No, Dad, you really wouldn’t,” Buffy replied, actually seeming more amused than disappointed at the idea. “My life…isn’t normal. Very few people understand everything that means.”

Mr. Summers glanced at Angel at that comment. Buffy couldn’t help but notice. “Yes, Angel understands. He’s in this with me in every way.”

Buffy’s father leaned back in his chair. “Well,” he said at last, “I guess recent weeks have proven how out of touch with your life I’ve been.”

There really wasn’t much Buffy could say to that.

“I…would like to catch up, if it’s possible,” he said, a bit uncertainly. “If not tonight, then at the reception?” he asked. “I would like to know more about your unusual life.”

Buffy smiled. “I’d like that. So you will be at the wedding, then.”

“I wouldn’t miss it.” 

******Outside, two vampires watched the threesome from a distance.

“Are you ready for a party, love?”

Layla grinned back at Spike. “Oh, I wouldn’t miss this party for the world.”

******
Part Five

It was the day before the wedding, and the later in the afternoon it got, the sillier the gathering became. And the more confused Hank Summers got.

“How about that time,” Xander was saying, grinning from ear to ear, “that Angel went with us to that vampire wannabe club?”

Buffy’s red-haired friend - Willow - laughed out loud. “You were so rude, Angel!” she said, quite amused.

“Yeah, well…” Angel looked slightly embarrassed. “Come on!” he said at last. “Could you blame me? They were ridiculous.”

Several of the kids laughed at that, and Hank was under the impression that there was a key element of the joke he was missing.

Angel smiled then. “Alright, Xander, turn about being fair play and all…”

Xander looked at him warily. “What?”

“How about the time you made every woman in Sunnydale fall in love with you?” Angel suggested. “Does anyone else know that ‘every woman’ included Drusilla?”

Buffy and Willow were quite amused, and Angel was grinning. Xander’s strange girlfriend wasn’t nearly as happy. “What do you mean you made every woman in Sunnydale fall in love with you?”

Hank was wondering the same thing.

Xander didn’t answer except to defend himself. “It’s a good thing, too!” he said back at Angel. “Considering that you-“

“Hey!” Buffy interrupted.

Hank Summers was beyond confused. Now he had a headache. He stood, and the young people went silent. “Go on,” he said easily. “I’m just going outside to get some fresh air.”

Buffy looked suddenly, inexplicably worried. “Um, that’s really not a good idea,” she said weakly.

“I’ll be okay,” Mr. Summers said, slightly amused. “It can’t be more dangerous than L.A.”

“Sunnydale’s more dangerous than it looks,” Buffy tried again.

“Buffy,” Giles interrupted, “as long as he stays close to the house, there should be no problem. The sun only just set and we’ll all be going our various ways soon anyway.”

“Yeah, to party!” Xander agreed.

Buffy still looked unhappy, but made no more protests as her father went towards the front door. Behind him, conversation started up again.

“While we’re on embarrassing stories, I could always tell people about the ‘talking stick’…”

“Cordelia, no. Please.”

“Oh, now I want to know!”

“Really? Well then, how about I tell about the time you got engaged to…”

The rest was cut off as Hank closed the front door behind him. He’d realized he was out of touch when he’d found out that Buffy was engaged. He hadn’t realized quite how out of touch he was, though, until today. Buffy had a close-knit group of friends, all of whom were helping her with this rushed wedding. Even the outliers of the group, like Xander or Willow’s girlfriends or Angel’s coworkers, were closer to Buffy than he felt right now. Buffy had quite a nice life for herself in Sunnydale, and her father just wasn’t a part of it.

Hank sighed and leaned against the wall outside the door to the new apartment. He and Buffy still hadn’t gotten to talk about her self-admitted strange life of the last couple of years. With her wedding party starting tomorrow night, he was beginning to doubt they’d ever have that conversation.

It was very quiet outside the apartment building. With the contrast between the jovial interior, it was too quiet. That, combined with Buffy’s concern when he’d gone outside, suddenly made Mr. Summers very nervous.

He turned to go back into the apartment, and froze when he thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. “Hello?” he asked warily.

A figure came around the stairwell from the upper story, and Hank jumped despite suspecting someone’s presence. “Sorry,” the bleached blond man said in a clear British accent, “I didn’t mean to startle you.” He smiled.

“It’s okay,” Hank said. “I’m just jumpy.”

“Yeah, the night around here will do that to you,” the man agreed. He pulled out a cigarette and leaned against the railing across from Mr. Summers. “You look familiar,” he said at last, then paused as he inhaled cigarette smoke. “You’re Buffy Summers’ dad, aren’t you?”

Hank smiled and nodded. “How did you know?”

The man shrugged. “Family resemblance,” he said. “Plus, didn’t I see her go into that apartment earlier?”

Hank chuckled, a bit sheepish. “That would do it, I guess.”

“Still…I don’t think I’ve seen you around before,” the man said. At Mr. Summers’ questioning look, he added, “I met Buffy when she was in high school.”

Hank nodded. “Buffy’s mom and I are divorced,” he explained. “I’m in town for Buffy’s wedding.”

“Wedding!” the man said in surprise. “Good for her. I had no idea.”

“Yeah,” Mr. Summers said, happy for the chance to show off his daughter, “tomorrow night.”

“Really?” the man said. “You know, I’d really like to congratulate her. Maybe I’ll see her around.”

Hank jumped at the chance to reconnect someone with Buffy’s life, just like he was trying to do. “Why don’t you stop by the party tomorrow night?” he suggested.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to intrude…”

“Nonsense!” Hank protested. “If anyone asks, just say I invited you.”

The man grinned. “Thanks, I’ll do that.” He started to walk away, then looked at Hank again. “Say, is it alright if I bring someone with me? She’s an old friend, too.”

Hank smiled. “Sure, why not?”

The man dropped his cigarette to the ground and put it out with his foot. “I’m not sure I can make it, so why don’t you keep this a surprise?”

Before Hank could reply, the apartment door opened. “Hey!” Buffy’s friend Xander said by way of introduction. “We’re taking Angel out on the town for his last night as a bachelor. Want to join us?”

“In a second. Just let me-“ Hank turned, and was faced with only the cigarette butt as a sign that anyone had been there. He had never even gotten his companion’s name, or given him directions for the party. “I’m coming,” he said to Xander at last.

Xander grinned. “Great! Let’s see if we can’t get Angel to loosen up a bit.”

Mr. Summers grinned, and his conversation in the stairwell was quickly forgotten.

******

The party was cheerful, light-hearted, and generally festive. Buffy took a moment to pause, to watch everyone interact, and grinned. She’d heard brides were supposed to be nervous on their wedding day. Standing here, right now, looking at her gathered friends, immediate family, and the one or two people she had never met before…she wasn’t nervous at all.

Anya broke away from the majority of the gathering and walked over to Buffy. She grinned. “Great idea, having the party before the ceremony,” she said. “More people should get married like this.”

“Oh?” Buffy replied, startled by Anya’s out-of-nowhere comment.

Anya nodded. “Sure. After the ceremony, you get to go straight to the sex.”

Buffy had one hell of a time keeping a straight face. “Now why didn’t I think of that?” she replied.

Someone approached Buffy from behind and placed a hand on her shoulder. She grinned even wider and looked up at Angel. He looked absolutely stunning in the fine suit he’d decided to wear for the beach wedding instead of the traditional tuxedo. Of course, Buffy wasn’t wearing a very traditional wedding dress either; just a long white dress with a bit of lace at the shoulders. But nothing, nothing at all, had been traditional about this wedding - or this relationship - from the beginning.

“What are you two up to?” Angel asked, meeting Buffy’s smile.

“Anya was just telling me how much she’d enjoying the party.”

If Angel doubted that was what they were talking about, he didn’t say anything. “There’s someone I want you to meet,” he said gently.

Buffy happily let Angel steer her away from Anya and into a little cluster of ‘L.A. people’ - Wesley, Cordelia, and some guy Buffy didn’t know

“Buffy,” he said introducing the new person, “this is David Nabbit. David, Buffy.”

“It’s very nice to…” Buffy froze mid-greeting. She could *not* be seeing who she thought she was.

“Buffy?” Angel looked at her in concern.

Buffy frowned. “Hold on a second. I have some uninvited guests to take care of.” She gave her best hostess smile to Mr. Nabbit. “Nice meeting you,” she said.

Angel followed her quickly across the room. Buffy’s entire attention was focused on the blond man whose back was to her. She didn’t have any doubt who it was. She stopped barely a foot away from his back.

“Spike,” she said in a quiet, angry tone. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Spike turned, grinning. “Hey, Slayer. Just enjoying the party.”

Buffy glared at him and sincerely wished she had hidden a stake in her wedding dress. “You’re not invited,” she insisted through clenched teeth.

“Oh?” Spike insisted. “Your father invited us.”

For a second Buffy didn’t know who to be angry with more: herself, for putting off telling her father about vampires, her father for inviting Spike, or Spike for having the audacity to show up. Then Angel’s hand was on her shoulder, supporting, and Buffy calmed until the only anger left was directed at Spike. “What do you mean, ‘us?’” she asked, dreading the answer.

Spike didn’t need to reply, because at that moment Layla came over, a plate of hors d’oeuvres in her hand. Buffy’s eyes went even wider, and Layla laughed. “Don’t worry,” she said easily, “I’m only here for the food.”

Buffy frowned. “If Spike said that I wouldn’t worry as much.”

Layla just grinned a little wider.

“No,” Buffy declared, still quiet to avoid drawing unwanted attention. “Absolutely not. You even try it and I’ll stake you before you can move.”

“Not even a taste?” Layla teased.

Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. “If I had invited some ex-boyfriends, I might be faintly tempted to agree, but as it is…you should be leaving now.”

Layla got visibly angry at that, and behind her Buffy could feel Angel preparing for violence. To her surprise though it was Spike who stopped the staring contest before it could go further. He stepped between Layla and Buffy. “No need for that,” he said quickly. “We should be leaving anyway. Home before dawn and all.”

Buffy nodded. “You do that,” she said tightly. Still Spike didn’t seem to be leaving. “Well?”

“You don’t make this easy,” Spike defended himself.

“I’m the Slayer. I’m not supposed to make things easy for you.”

Spike looked a bit amused, and a bit embarrassed. “I just…hell, I wanted to congratulate the two of you.”

“What?” Buffy asked, completely floored. “I mean…what?”

Spike pulled a large, wrapped box from under his coat and passed it to Buffy. It was heavier than she expected, and there was another smaller package tied on top. “As much as I hate to admit it,” Spike said, glancing at Angel, “you are still family. Blood, you know?”

“I know,” Angel replied.

Buffy held the package gingerly. “It’s not cursed or something, is it?”

“Nothing cursed, Slayer,” Spike replied with a chuckle. “Though I wouldn’t open the smaller package until the two of you are alone. For the honeymoon.”

Buffy could feel her face growing hot. “I think I’m scared now,” she muttered.

Spike just grinned at her.

Keeping a cautious eye on the two vampires, Buffy put the gift down and began to unwrap the larger package. She was surprised once again, and pleasantly so at that. Inside the box was a pair of matched swords, very nice and probably quite expensive. Though Buffy somehow doubted Spike had paid for them. “I never thought I’d say this,” Buffy said ruefully, “but…thank you, Spike.” She put the top back on the box. “I’m not going to hug you though.”

Spike grinned. “Not using them on me is thanks enough.”

Buffy couldn’t help but smile back.

“You two are leaving now, yes?” Angel said at last.

“Sure,” Spike said easily. “Have fun on your honeymoon,” he said with a suggestive leer. “We’ll keep the demon population down while you’re gone.” With that he and Layla left the party.

Buffy stared after them for a moment, completely flabbergasted. Angel wrapped his arms around her from behind and she leaned back into his chest. “Should I be really worried now?” she asked.

She felt Angel laugh more than she heard it. “For the demons, sure,” he said, amused. He paused, then continued more seriously. “For us…I have no idea.”

******

The sky slowly lightened, a pale rose color gracing the horizon at dawn. There was a hush over the gathering on the beach. It was not the silence of sleep that had fallen over the town in other places, where the monsters had hidden from the light and the humans had not yet risen to greet the day. Here on the beach, the quiet was expectant, waiting for things to come.

As the sun rose and cast the gathering in its golden early morning light, they watched as the bride and groom stood before the priestess with eyes only for each other. In a moment that stood along that fine line between night and day, two souls that walked the line between darkness and light recited their vows as they were joined in marriage. For a moment, it didn’t matter what it had taken them to get to this point. They were here, they were together, and they were happy.

They kissed, sealing their vows, just as the sun at last rose fully over the horizon, ushering in a new day and a new beginning for them all.

Go to the next story Take My Breath Away

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