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.
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’s 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.”
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.
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