Rating: M (for chapter 4, everything else is a T)
Disclaimer: The characters here in are not figments of my own imagination. They belong to the creators and owners of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I receive no financial benefits for this story.
Pairing: Buffy/Spike
Summary: In late season five Giles stumbles up on the right book and finds a way to keep Dawn safe from Glory. It's quite simple: Buffy and Spike just have to get married.
A/N: Thanks to all the people who have reviewed. I'm glad you like this.
Something borrowed: Wedding
Despite what Tara had told Buffy about Giles' lecture over the Scoobies when he went behind her back and told them about the wedding and the reasons for it, she never would have thought it physically possible for Xander to hold his tongue about anything that involved her, Spike and no staking. But when he came to pick them up, half an hour before the ceremony was supposed to start, he said nothing about it. Buffy could see that it was hard for him not to speak his mind but appreciated that he cared enough not to be indifferent.
She never had seen anything like Giles' face when he saw her. He was smile so full of fatherly pride that Buffy felt tears come to her eyes.
"Good. You are here," the watcher finally managed to say. "We've set things up in the training room and can start whenever you're ready. And I must say Buffy, that you look truly magnificent."
A thousand of emotions were stirring within her and would she have thought of something to say back to Giles she probably wouldn't have been able to. She just kept on smiling.
"Are you ready?"
She nodded and then made a conscious effort to get the small word out of her throat. "Yes."
"Alright then." Giles lead her and Dawn, who were the only ones left in the front room, to the back door. "Dawn, you will lead the way of course."
The girl nodded and set forth and started ceremoniously walking into the other room.
When Buffy looked through the doorway into the training room realization hit her about what was going on and another wave of confusing emotions flooded her.
All the training equipment had been moved to the walls and was covered with white sheets. Tara, Anya and Xander were standing in a line to her left all looking at her. Willow stood in front of a makeshift altar beautifully decorated with flowers and candles and on Buffy's right beside Willow stood Spike dressed in a navy blue suit, white shirt and light blue tie that matched his eyes … and she now realized, her necklace, perfectly. Her heart missed a beat from the sight of him. Denying his handsomeness would have been impossible, and the look when his eyes met hers for only a second could have melted a snowball in the North Pole.
Buffy watched Dawn walk past the people and stand next to Xander. Everyone's eyes turned back to Buffy while she managed to turn her head towards Giles. "This is like a real wedding!" She sounded slightly out of breath.
"We thought you deserved one… just in case…"
She laughed, hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you!"
Giles smiled and offered her his arm and together they slowly processed past the waiting people. Buffy's smiles meeting everyone's, including her awaiting husband's to be.
When they reached where Spike and Willow were standing Giles gave her a kiss on the cheek before taking her hand and giving it to Spike who then mimicked the watcher's actions on the other cheek.
"Dear friends. We are gathered here today…" Willow started.
The ceremony was pretty standard although the wedding wows didn't mention love, death or honor like Buffy had insisted to Giles. Just the most basic stuff to make it a binding mystical marriage.
"Spike, you have a ring?" Willow asked and Buffy's eyes shot wide open in surprise. Looking over at Spike she saw that he had pulled a small gold ring from his pocket and had placed it at her finger. It was beautiful. Simple with, once more, a small blue gem set in it. "This alright?" He quietly asked her, it was almost as if he was shy.
She nodded and kept looking at it on her finger and didn't notice the tear slipping from her brimful eyes and rolling down her cheek. Just as automatically she wiped it away with her free hand, her eyes never leaving the delicate piece of jewellery now sitting on her finger. She had half expected to see the scull ring he had given her for their engagement so this was a nice surprise. She probably would have wept over that one as well.
"I don't have one for…" she started but was interrupted by Giles who was handing her a small jewelery box. Inside was a plain gold band. "I guess this would be something borrowed then," she half whispered under her breath while taking the ring from the box.
"You don't have to, pet" Spike tried telling her but she just gently took his hand and slid the ring into place.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife and you may seal these words with a kiss." Willow proclaimed proudly having completed her first wedding ceremony. But before the couple could even react to the permission a silvery glimmer occurred around Buffy and her off white dress turned to a pure snow white. Everyone except Buffy, Spike and Giles grasped in surprise and astonishment. While Buffy exchanged a meaningful glance with Giles, Spike's almost round smile widened even further. He couldn't resist any longer and greedily grabbed Buffy's waist, pulled her towards him and kissed her passionately. Without thinking about it she kissed him back.
Rice was thrown, pictures were taken and champagne was poured. After a toast to the couple made by Giles Buffy cleared her throat for everyone's attention. "I guess it's not really customary for the bride to give a speech but we've had some strange things at this wedding already, so I figure one more thing can't really hurt. I just wanted to thank you all for making this a great day. I know that this is all very strange and that you're probably all biting your tongues about what the hell I'm doing but you've given me great wedding. I admire that you are here and don't object and I appreciate the fact that you care enough to worry. I can't believe how great this whole thing has been and I hope that you can also have some fun because we really deserve some after all that has happened in the last year." She raised her glass and everyone drank in silence.
Dawn at that time pushed a button on the stereo and Bette Midler started singing Wind Beneath My Wings.
"I believe this dance was promised to me a long while ago," Spike said and held out his hand to Buffy.
Buffy couldn't help but laughing at the fulfillment of her long forgotten request of this song for the first dance at their wedding. She took his hand and they started swaying to the music. Soon everybody had paired up dancing with them.
"I also want to thank you for today, Spike," she said looking him in the eyes. "You've done much more than you had to and it's so amazing. The necklace this morning, the suit, the ring, this incredibly sappy song…." Tears of joy were just about to roll over the edges of her eyes.
"You really though I was marrying you wearing my duster and give you that piece of scrap with the scull on?"
She shrugged shoulder looking a little ashamed.
"Thought about using another song, though," he carried on.
"Really. What would you have chosen?"
"Dunno. Something proper, The Blue Danube or something, but I seem to have misplaced my waltzing shoes permanently sometime around the nineteen twenties."
She laughed again and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Your ring," Spike spoke low into her ear, "that has a story to it. It was my mother's."
Buffy's head shot up from his shoulder, eyes looking at him confused. "Spike… I can't accept… you shouldn't have…"
He silenced her by putting a finger across her lips. "I want you to have it – end of story. It wasn't her wedding ring. It was the engagement ring my father gave her. She always wore it, also after they were married, until he died. She wore her wedding ring longer than that but this one she took off at my father's funeral. So I figured this was a symbol of our whole family and that it would be appropriate here today."
When his eyes met her face again he saw tears freely flowing down her cheeks and instinctively lifted a hand to wipe them away. This brought his face slightly closer to hers and before he knew it she had closed the distance between them and their lips were engaged in a slow dance to their own music.
They had no idea how long they'd been in their own world when they noticed the watcher clearing his throat hard enough to indicate serious throat problems. Finally Anya decided to help out. "Hey Mr. and Mrs. Newlyweds! We bought cake and there are hungry wedding guest."
The happy couple finally separated. "There's cake?" Buffy asked while trying to get some of the lipstick smear off Spike's lips before turning away from his embrace. "I like cake."
"Well, it's just from the bakery across the street," Willow explained "but it's chocolate under a marshmallow blanket."
As tradition called for Buffy and Spike cut the cake together and fed each other pieces of it. But after some more cake and some more dancing the party started to unravel and people going home.
The Summers sisters, Giles and Spike were left cleaning up a little. Giles was washing dished and Buffy drying them off.
"Giles," she started "do you think you could… ah… would it be alright if Dawn stayed with you tonight?"
"Yes, of course, why wouldn't it be alright… oh you mean because of the consu… yes, right. No I don't think it will affect the … results. It would be quite alright, really."
Dawn caught the end of their conversation when she brought them the last dirty dishes. Immediately she grabbed her sister's hand and dragged her to the far corner of the room.
"You're gonna sleep with him? I thought this wasn't a real marriage."
"It's not." Buffy stated firmly trying not to be embarrassed to have this conversation with her sister. "We have to, to finish this bond thing."
Suddenly Dawn looked like she'd grown a few years. "Buffy I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have to do this. There must be another way."
"It's alright, Dawn." Buffy hugged her sister. "Look, it's strange, I know. But… I've thought about this and… it's gonna be alright."
"If you decide you don't want to I'll understand, I know you're doing this all for me."
"What? I thought you thought that Spike made the earth turn…" She was playing around now. "And honestly, what woman wouldn't like to see him naked?"
"Okay. I think I've heard enough." Dawn wiggled herself out of her sister's arms.
When the two girls returned to the main area Giles and Spike had finished cleaning up and seemed ready to leave.
"Pet, you wanna catch a ride with the watcher or… I was thinking we could maybe take a walk. It's a beautiful night." From the look on his face Buffy could see that he was hoping for a walk.
"I'd love to get some fresh air. But we only take the streets and if we meet some nasties you have to kill them because I'm not ruining this dress for Dawn."
Giles and Dawn went ahead to get Dawn's toothbrush and some clothes. Once at the door Spike stopped before locking them completely out of the store. "You've got a stake? 'Cause I've only got one."
"I've got one in my garter belt."
He needed a pause to visualize that pointy piece of wood fastened to her smooth and golden thigh. "Really?"
"Yes. I'm the Slayer. Where's yours?"
"In my sock."
"Great. Get it out and we'll get going."
He reached down for the stake, put it in his pocket and then offered Buffy his arm, which she took and snuggled up against his side as they walked.
"Did you have an alright time today or did we bore you out of your mind," she asked.
"It was alright. Nice change. No one of your lot criticizin' me or on my case, well except for the watcher's lecture just before we left."
She remembered their conversation in the cemetery the night before. "Do you think your mother would have like the ceremony?"
"I hope so. You know, the part that your dress wasn't this sparkly white right from the start would have been a disgrace in her mind. But I hope she would have like the part where I gave you her ring. "
"I'm sorry I hadn't gotten you a ring."
"It's okay, luv. You had other things to think about. You think your mum was happy with it?"
"Well…" Buffy had contemplated this quite a bit but not reached a decision. "She liked me, and she like you, but I'm not sure she'd like us together. But as far as wedding ceremonies go I think she would have liked it… who wouldn't it was amazing." She was glowing with happiness.
"I wish she could have seen you, pet. She would have cried her eyes out seeing you all dolled up in her old wedding dress."
"If she was still here, it would probably have been her and Giles getting married, not us…" Buffy snickered. "Which is totally weird to think about especially the part that is left… except… do you think a marriage could be consummated long before it happens?"
"You sayin' that Joyce and the watcher?"
"Yeah. A few years back during a spell when they acted like when they were teenagers… on a hood of a police car no less.
"Well done Rups."
"Hey!" She playfully slammed her hand against his upper arm. "This is my mother you're talking about."
"Sorry, luv. But your watcher can't really be considered a prize."
"Look! We're here so let's change the subject," she said turning the key in the lock on her front door. Before she managed to step inside Spike had swept her off her feet and into his arms. Instinctively she put her arms around his neck for support.
"What are you doing?"
"Carrying you over the threshold isn't that one of the traditions?"
He closed the door behind them without putting her down and carried her up the stairs to her bedroom where they were met by a huge pile of clothes on her bed.
