A/N Just wanted to say thanks for the reviews of the previous chapter, they were appreciated.

Chapter 6

So, he didn't want to marry her did he? Well that was just fine with her. Buffy stomped around the church dressing room, conveniently forgetting the purpose of the marriage in the first place. Well she didn't want to marry him either, she thought petulantly. Did he think he was the only one? Neither of them had been there because they wanted to be. Well it was all a little too late for that, she reminded herself as she picked up her bag and marched out of the church. It seemed that everyone had left. Not that she had really expected them to hang around like it was a real marriage or anything.

The wind had picked up a little since she was last outside and the breeze was blowing away the delicate paper confetti from earlier. For a moment, she watched the little pieces of brightly coloured paper dancing around. On impulse, she stooped down to pick up a handful, before they were lost forever and studied them in the palm of her hand before stuffing some of it into her holdall. Buffy looked around the deserted street and checked her watch. She didn't have much time left until she was due back at work. She almost let out a scream as a hand closed over her shoulder. Buffy turned around, surprised to see it was Spike's friend Angel.

"Hi, we weren't sure if you were gone or not, so Spike and I stuck around for a while,"

"That's nice," said Buffy sardonically as she started to walk off.

"Wait up, we hung on because we thought you might like a ride back to wherever you are headed,"

Buffy looked uncertain, her mind made up as she saw the bus sail by her. "Thanks, that would be great," she smiled.

She walked to the parking lot with Angel in silence, unable to think of anything to say. When they arrived at the car, Spike was sitting in the back seat with a rather obvious scowl on his face. The arrival of his paper bride and best friend did little to alleviate it. It had been Angel's idea to wait for Buffy, when all he had wanted to do was go and drown his sorrows in a bucket of beer and forget.

"Do you mind sitting in the back with Spike? It's just that I have one of my architecture projects in the front and I wouldn't like to move it..."

"I suppose I can slum it for a little while," said Buffy innocently as she looked at Spike, before opening the door and getting in beside him.

"Now you kids behave back there, I know how newly weds can be. At any point you might feel the need to get a roominess and I can stop, just say the word," said Angel as he switched on the ignition.

He grinned smugly to himself as he met Spike's eyes in the driving mirror. Spike mouthed the word wanker at him before Angel drove off into the late morning traffic.

"Hmmm, that would be about the same time hell freezes over," said Buffy studying her nails in a bored fashion.

Spike turned sharply to look at Buffy, but her expression was unreadable.

"So did you tell anyone at the diner about the big day?" asked Spike.

"Only my friend Willow. Do you think I would want to broadcast this?" asked Buffy.

"Well if you don't want to shout it from the rooftops then why are you still wearing my ring?" he asked her.

Buffy looked down at her hand. She tore it off her finger as if it burned and stuffed it in her jacket pocket, fuming inside at his low chuckle. She was grateful when Angel pulled up outside the diner.

He looked at the sign. "The last resort, so this is where you work. Kind of an appropriate name wouldn't you say?" asked Angel.

"Anyone ever tell you that you're a laugh a minute?" asked Spike.

"Frequently," said Angel, in a dramatic tone. "So what's the coffee like?"

"Lousy," said Buffy and Spike in unison.

"Hmmm, guess I will just have to come in and find out for myself," he said as he parked up.

"Fine, look thanks for the ride, but I really must get inside. Remember not a word if you please?" asked Buffy.

"Our lips are sealed," Angel replied.

She quickly glanced at Spike before hurrying inside.

Faith was waiting for her, a self-satisfied smile on her face.

"Well, well, talk about hidden depths Miss innocent," drawled Faith.

Buffy panicked for a moment, what if Faith knew...

"Er...I..." Buffy stuttered.

"The two guys I saw you arrive with, and I thought you had a dental appointment," said Faith as she motioned to Spike and his friend.

Buffy breathed a huge sigh of relief, as she turned round to look at Spike and Angel as they seated themselves at a table.

"I did not arrive with them, they just happened to come in the same time as me, that's all," Buffy replied.

"The dark one looks hot in a broody sort of way,"

"If you like that kinda thing, I suppose," said Buffy airily.

"Hello, you are a girl, you have eyes, why wouldn't you?" asked Faith.

Buffy unconsciously looked towards Spike, chewing on her bottom lip again as was her habit whenever she was deep in thought, and by the look on her face, Faith would bet a twenty that it was the bleached blonde.

"So that's the way the land lies," smiled Faith.

Buffy, blushed and tore her gaze away. "I have no idea what you mean," she replied before walking away.

"Like hell," Faith said to herself as she took out her notepad and advanced on the table of two...

Angel put down the menu, his interest immediately piqued by the arrival of their designated waitress.

"What can I get a couple of gorgeous guys like yourselves?" asked Faith.

"Hmm, a lot of things spring to mind, but for now two cappuccinos and maybe you could recommend something?" asked Angel.

Faith preened her self under Angel's obvious admiration. She glanced at Spike, who was staring at a point to her left. She turned to see what had caught his attention. Smiling to herself as she saw Buffy weaving between the tables. She turned her attention back to Spike, noticing for the first time the tiny piece of pink paper in his hair. She reached and took it out and passed it to him.

"Looks like you had a bit of confetti in your hair, something you wanna tell me?" she teased, noticing for the first time his formal suit.

"Uh, yeah, Spike and I, we just got back from a friends wedding," Angel replied smoothly.

"Wouldn't happen to be Spike's would it?" she asked.

"Why would you say that?" asked Spike

"Oh, I dunno, maybe it's that shiny gold ring you're wearing. Where's the little lady?" She asked with a slight disapproval in her voice. What right did he have to come in here and play about with B's heart when it looked like he might be involved with someone else? "I'll get the specials," she said, looking at Spike coldly before she walked off.

"Way to go Spike, you mock Buffy and you forget to take off your own ring. Sure you're not getting just a little too attached to it?" asked Angel.

Spike moved to take off the ring. "Not at all,"

"You can't do it now you idiot, it will only make things worse," hissed Angel.

"Hate to tell you this B, but you know Spike?"

If only she knew just how well...wondering what Faith would say if she said, "Yeah, he's my husband of about an hour," "Yeah?" asked Buffy warily.

"I think he's a married man," Faith finished.

Buffy flushed bright red. "Uh really? That's interesting, look gotta go someone wants serving," she begun to walk away.

"Wait up, I'm just warning you. The last thing you need is heartbreak added to your list of woes," said Faith in concern.

"If ya haven't noticed, I'm a big girl. I can take care of me just fine," said Buffy as she strolled off.

Faith watched Buffy advance on Spike's table, with interest. There seemed to be something going on here, something that she didn't understand. She watched her friend in animated conversation with the occupants of the table....

Buffy removed her apron and sat for a moment, there were times that she seriously had thought that she would never make it through the end of her shift, but here she was, still in one piece. She thought back to that morning, when she had watched Angel and Spike walk out of her life and into the crowd. Her fingers had gripped the counter so tightly as she had watched Spike leave. It had hurt worse than she could ever imagine. Why had she thought that marriage was a simple solution? How wrong she was...

She took the wedding ring out of her pocket and examined it in the bright lights of the staff washroom. She experimentally slipped it back on her finger and held it out, it looked so right sitting there...

The door was flung open and Faith came in, Buffy quickly plunged her hand into her pocket.

"Jeeze did that ever feel like the shift that would never end! Time to get me some serious fun," said Faith

"Who's the new guy this time?" asked Buffy.

"Broody guy, I got his number," grinned Faith.

"Angel?" asked Buffy.

Faith frowned "Ya, how did you know?"

"Oh I think Spike must have mentioned it earlier," Buffy replied quickly.

Faith seemed satisfied with her answer as she changed out of her work clothes and into a pair of low cut jeans and a tight red T- shirt.

"So you got any plans tonight B?" asked Faith.

"Only the ones that involve a good book and mug of hot chocolate," replied Buffy, not sure if she could take any more excitement for one day.

"You sound like my mom. You gotta live a little. I keep telling you. Shame about Spike being a married man, I think you two would have been good together," said Faith wistfully. "Oh well plenty more fish in the ocean. Catch you later," She picked up her bag and walked out of the washroom.

Buffy breathed a sigh of relief, glad to be alone again. She took her hand out of her pocket, slipped off her ring, removed the gold chain from around her neck, and put the ring onto it. After that, she quickly changed, not wanting to be late for Willow, as her friend had the late shift that evening. As she waited for the bus, a thought struck her...what if Faith and Angel became an item. Lovers often shared secrets. Well she would just have to cross that bridge when she came to it. If she were lucky, she could carry on and pretend that today never happened.

Six Weeks later

It was Saturday morning and one of her alternate weekends off, she enjoyed these days as it gave her chance to spend time with Dawn in a way she was never able to during the week. The only thing that she had found that she didn't like about Saturdays was that every time one rolled around it got her to thinking about her wedding day again. Her treacherous mind would relive the events. The first few days after the wedding, she had been unconsciously looking out for Spike in the diner, angry with herself at her train of thoughts.

Faith and Angel had become the item that Buffy had feared, but so far, it looked like Spike's friend was good at keeping secrets. Faith seemed to be under the impression that although Spike was married, he must have split from his wife recently. Which Buffy secretly thought was nearer to the truth than she realised. Faith seemed genuinely happy with Angel, and they were good for each other, both of them having previously been the love em' and leave em' sort were discovering together that relationships could be fun.

Buffy sighed, feeling a little envious. Her turn would come, but when? She hadn't dated since before her mom died, not that she had really felt like it anyway. She had had loads of make customers at the diner, hoping that she would serve them more than coffee, but only one of them had made her heart leap into her throat whenever she looked at him. She wondered what he was doing now. Spike was still living with Angel for the moment, but according to Faith, he would be moving out in a few days.

Others at work had noticed that she had become more withdrawn; most of them had put it down to the commencement of Dawn's chemotherapy. Her sister's treatment had been going well. For the first time in a long time, Buffy felt positive about things. Well at least she felt positive until she thought of Spike, and then she felt like she could cry. Why that was she couldn't tell...Buffy looked up as she heard feet on the stairs.

Dawn was awake, and automatically Buffy rushed forward to help her sister down the remaining last steps.

"Back off, I can do it myself," snapped Dawn.

Buffy was stung by her sister's words, but hid it well. She could not get mad at her; she had seen how sick the treatments had made her feel. Buffy wondered if she would be so cheerful, as Dawn normally was, in the face of so much physical adversity.

"So, what do you want to do today?" asked Buffy with a smile.

"Veg out and maybe watch a couple of girly movies. Are you up for it?" asked Dawn.

"Sure, I know its only 10am, but who cares. There's some microwave popcorn lurking in the back of one of the cupboards," said Buffy.

"Great, but I get to pick the film," said Dawn, as she and Buffy walked off in opposite directions.

Five minutes later, they were both huddled up together on the couch.

"So what is it?" asked Buffy.

"It's a surprise, one we haven't watched in a while," said Dawn archly, taking the remote and turning on the DVD player.

Buffy felt a lump rise in her throat as the film came on. It was The wedding planner. Oh boy, talk about Dawn picking them! How was she going to get through the next two hours? As the film started, the phone rang and Buffy shot up off the couch.

"Don't worry about pausing the film," said Buffy as she walked into the dining room to answer it.

She really hoped that it was some annoying telephone sales person that would drone on for at least half an hour so she could miss some of the movie. She picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Hello dear girl,"

"Mr Rayne?"

"Yes, look the thing is, there's a little bit of trouble and I have to leave town permanently. Trouble with immigration I am afraid,"

"What trouble?" asked Buffy fearfully.

"Sorry must go, I have a train to catch, but Spike will be there soon to explain it all,"

"Mr Rayne..."

"Oh and I hope you have a spare room," he interrupted.

"Yes, but why?" asked Buffy in confusion.

"For Spike to stay in of course. Well must dash. Have a nice life and all,"

"Mr Rayne, Mr Rayne?"

The phone was dead. Her head snapped round as there was a knock on the door, but before she could answer it, Dawn had pre-empted her. Her sister opened it to one very pissed off looking Spike.

"Oh God," she muttered, looking from her sister to Spike.

TBC